March Newsletter

Allison Family Newsletter
March 2009
www.allisonfamilyinguat.blogspot.com

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

One of my (Lori’s) favorite things to do in Guatemala is to go on housecalls. Normally, my role here is more of a “support” or a “behind the scenes” role. When I get to tag along on housecalls, I actually get to be with the people. I don’t add any value medically but I love to see the people and how they live. If you are keeping up with our blog, you know that we went on a housecall recently. We went to see a young woman who had a baby six weeks prior. She wasn’t able to walk and she thought she didn’t have enough breastmilk. (See our blog entry from March 15th for more information.) We had to walk quite a distance up a mountain and then down again to get to their house. When we rounded the corner of the house, we saw many little children. My first thought was “they are so cute and . . . so dirty”. Now we are not afraid of a little dirt at our house. My children get dirty with the best of them but this was the kind of dirt that comes from not having water in plentiful supply. As I looked around the house and then into it, I noticed that their floor was dirt which is very common here. Their house was adobe so it was made of dirt. Of course, the children were dirty with a deep down kind of dirt.

I feel like the Lord has been cleaning our “deep, down dirt” for the past 6 months. It feels like He has been scrubbing us clean and stripping off the things that we are trying to cover ourselves with. We have had to walk through some difficult times in the past six months: our computer crashing, Don losing his driver’s license and credit card, losing Caleb’s glasses, our clutch going out and Hannah’s broken wrist - to name a few. Peter Scazzero in Emotionally Healthy Spiritually puts it this way: “He (God) has a unique purpose for each of us, knowing how much there is to cleanse out of our inner being, and how much he wants to infuse of himself into us for his great, long-term purposes. Our Father knows how much we can handle.” There were many times when I felt like He had given us more than we could handle, yet we feel that we are stronger because of all of these trials. We have also had to learn what it means to trust the Lord and lean on Him at a deeper level than we ever had before. We are now in the process of trying to “see” what the Lord has next for us, but we don’t want to miss what He has for us today. We don’t want to look too far forward and miss what He has for us in the four weeks we have left. We also want to wait on Him and His plan. This is all part of trusting Him.

During the housecall, while the others were inside the house examining the patient and the baby, I was outside playing with the “dirty” kids. I asked if I could take their picture and then showed it to them on the camera. They just giggled when they saw themselves. I am pretty sure that they weren’t thinking “look at how dirty I am!” Often we can’t see our own “dirt” either! The kids would try to look so solemn while I took the picture and then break into giggles and smiles after. The only time I noticed their dirt was when we first arrived. After that initial thought, I only noticed how cute their smiles and giggles were, how sweet they were and how much fun it was to make them laugh. I didn’t add a lot of value to the housecall that day except to make some kids laugh. It brightened my day; I pray that it brightened theirs as well.
Check our blog for the adventures that the Lord has for us during our last 4 weeks. -The Allison’s

February Newsletter

Allison Family Newsletter
February 2009
www.allisonfamilyinguat.blogspot.com

“so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”
1 Corinthians 12:25-26

“to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”
Ephesians 4:12

It is such a blessing when we meet people who immediately treat us like family simply because they know we love the Lord as they do. This is what it means to be part of the family of God. This is what it means to be a member of the body of Christ. The Lord wants us to love one another, support one another, care for one another, suffer with one another and rejoice with one another. He wants us to build each other up and encourage one another. All of this simply because we know Him and the love that He has for us.

The team that came from El Shaddai, a church in Guatemala City, was amazing. They embraced us and the work that the Fickers are trying to do here. They came alongside them and served them while also blessing them. The nutrition program that Leslie does in her clinics is so important here. She hands out dry milk, vitamins and other dry goods to families, children, widows, single moms. It is a part of the outreach that is a priority. However, it all costs money and when times are tough in the US, the missionaries feel it. The Fickers continue to give because they trust in the Lord’s provision and know that His heart is to take care of the widow and the orphan and His command is to feed His sheep. When the team left, they left behind huge bags of the food, beans and rice and other dry goods that can be distributed to the poor and hungry. The Lord continues to provide through relationships and provisions from the unexpected. He is amazing and it is such an honor for our family to be a part of the work that He is doing here in Guatemala.

With only two months left, we are trying to keep our eyes on today while not worrying about what the Lord has for us once we return. If you think of us, please pray for the Lord’s plan for us. Thank you for your support and prayers. We could not be here without all of you. We pray for the Lord’s blessings over you and your families. May He draw you closer to Him and may He always be the Rock that you trust.

Here are a few pictures of the team from El Shaddai. The first is the pediatrician. The second is one of the dentists in action. The third is the ladies taking care of the “pharmacy”. Nicolasa is the shortest one. They needed her translating skills for distributing medicines to those who spoke only Quiche.

January Newsletter

Allison Family Newsletter
January 2009
www.allisonfamilyinguat.blogspot.com

With the New Year comes new hope, new beginnings, new dreams, new resolutions and new goals. It is the time of the year to examine where we are at and where we are going. The New Year will also contain new struggles, new heartbreaks, new issues and new problems, and maybe even some of the old ones. For us, the New Year means that we have now arrived at the halfway point of our trip.

The last three and a half months have been filled with many blessings, lots of adjustments and some struggles. Our latest struggle was losing Caleb’s glasses in the river. We had walked along the canal for 45 minutes to get to the river. After the glasses dropped in, we spent lots of time searching and watching and praying. I (Lori) kept asking the Lord to show me where they were. I felt so bad about losing the glasses and about ruining our day. The kids had been having so much fun exploring and climbing.

The Lord didn’t answer my prayer the way that I wanted. While I was looking around with tears in my eyes, my mind came back to a song we sing in church. It is called “Blessed Be Your Name.” It talks about praising the Lord “When the world's 'all as it should be'” and also “On the road marked with suffering”. It reminded me that God is still God even when things are hard and when He doesn’t answer my prayers the way that I want.

Caleb cannot see without his glasses and getting him new glasses while living so far from home is not easy. However, our situation cannot compare to the struggles that many here in Guatemala are currently walking through. Don had a mom and her children in clinic on Sunday who were complaining of a stomach ache. They didn’t seem to be ill, so Don was not sure what to do and asked Leslie. Leslie told him to ask her if she was married or if she had to buy her corn. The patient told Don that her husband had left her three years ago and yes, she had to buy her corn but she didn’t have any money. You see, in the dry season, the only way to have corn is if you planted enough in the rainy season or you have to buy it. As you can imagine, it is very expensive to buy corn during the dry season. The women’s stomach hurt because she was hungry. Don ended up giving her a bag of beans telling her that it was a gift from Jesus. This will get her by for a while but then what will she feed to her children?

This patient’s struggles are so much greater than ours. Our family has not once gone hungry. Our family is intact and we have a great optometrist/friend in the US who immediately responded to our call for help. Fortunately for us, many pairs of glasses have been donated to the Ficker’s ministry. We found a pair with Caleb’s prescription that had wire rims. He put them on and jumped up and down yelling, “I can see! I can see!” Our family also knows Who to lean on during these times of struggles. The Bible says in Romans 5:2-4 “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Our hope for this New Year comes from knowing that the Lord holds us in the palm of His hand whether we are in a time of blessing or in a time of struggling. We pray that your New Year is filled with the hope that comes from knowing Him. Happy New Year from the Allison’s.

Here are a few pictures from our trip along the canal.