A New Kind of New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 2010

Since I have provided Dick with a number of journals this week, he's graciously allowed me to use his from yesterday.  (Of course, I'll need to add a few comments of my own!).  The "fancy" pictures are also from his journal.  Me, I'm more plain Jane! Thanks, Dick.  He writes:

This is my favorite picture of Virginia,
Jessica's mom. 

On Friday 2 visitors from the States, Pat, 2 of my boys and myself went and visited Jessica's family. Jessica is still in the malnutrition ward of Hermano Pedro but as well as she is doing I think that she will likely return to her home with in a few months. Now that the family has a new house and monthly support for food it should be a lot easier for Jessica's widowed mother to care for her.







Today's visit was more of a social call than anything else. Pat had not yet seen the new house and I simply wanted to see how the family was doing. Mom and the kids were delighted that we had come to visit and mom insisted that we stay for lunch.  (Mom, who usually is so serious, was delightful.  She even joined us to eat--after Steve  insisted--and had a great time teasing us!--Pat) While we were there Pat stayed at the house and learned how to make tamales while a few of the kids walked us down to a small stream that the village water comes from. (Mom told me I could now make tamales for Dick. When I replied, as any liberated North American would, that he could cook for himself, Mom was absolutely horrified.  Now I understand what it means when "cultures collide!"--Pat)

This is a delightful family and none of us wanted to leave anymore than they wanted us to but since it was new years eve I wanted to be off the roads before dark.

Over all it has been a good week but it has also been a hard one. On Thursday one of the men at Hermano Pedro that I have been friends with for over 10 years passed away and yesterday I received a phone call at 5 AM from the family of Cesar (The man who's leg I have been treating) telling me that he had passed away. This is the second son that this family has lost in less then 3 months. Pat, the kids and I picked up 92 year old father Bernardo and went and visited Cesar's family before heading out to visit Jessica's family.

(Cesar's family was the second Guatemalan family Dick had taken me to visit, back in June of 2008 when I was first thinking of moving to Guatemala.  He'd allowed me to come and translate in my very "broken" Spanish.  This visit had helped me confirm my call to serve here, and therefore, though I have seldom seen this family, they are special to me.  I am grateful to Cesar for the part he played in my jouney to Guate.--Pat)

I can still remember the day that Father Bernardo introduced me to Cesar. He was dismayed because none of the hospitals were willing to do anything for Cesar. On our drive back from Cesar's home father Bernardo told me that he would love to join me more often when I brought out wheelchairs or visited people. I quickly explained to him that I would love to have him accompany me but that I wanted him to know that I was Evangelical and not Roman Catholic. Farther Bernardo (who was dressed exactly like he is in the picture [to the left]) then informed me that he was Roman Catholic and not Evangelical.

He then looked at me and said,

"End of our theological discussion. Now lets go do God's work."

(I pray we will all live in 2011 by these words of a very wise and compassionate Guatemalan priest!--Pat)

Goodnight,


Yours in Christ: Dick



You also might be interested in seeing this trip through the eyes of one of the pastors who accompanied us.  I'm taking the liberty of posting his blog entry for today. 

Written by Gary Newton  (pictured above eating tamales), pastor of Living Waters Church, Hastings, Michigan:

Guatemala – Our visit off the beaten path
Posted: January 13, 2011 by lwch in Guatemala


We were having lunch with Dick Rutgers and he mentioned that he was going to visit the family of Jessica, one of the girls at the orphanage, the following day and he had room for 2 if we wanted to go with. So, Stevie and I volunteered to ride along with Dick, Pat, and 2 of Dick’s boys. Riding with Dick was an adventure all of its own in his Toyota Land Cruiser. We pulled off the road and wound our way across the creek and up the mountain into this ex-rubber/coffee plantation. At the top of the hill we found a village nestled in among the trees in such a way that at first I didn’t realize how large the village was. Their school had 200 students. We pulled down a path and parked a short distance later at momma’s house. That was how Dick referred to this Jessica’s mom. Earlier they had constructed a new metal home for her and her children. They installed a new wood stove and gave her a water heater. We visited and took a walk down to see what their water source looked like. They had water for 2 hours every other day.

When we got back I enjoyed watching her roll tamales in banana leaves. And then she invited us to eat lunch with her which we did. Initially it was a challenge because of my sensitive gringo stomach, but the tamales were delicious. Her living conditions were far from glamorous, but this woman was filled with grace and she loved her children. As we waited for the tamales to finish cooking we sat and visited, what a lovely time, it reminded me of camping in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Her story wouldn’t be complete with sharing the video below. It tells the story of Jessica and how she received the help that saved her life. In 2 months she will be in good enough condition to be returned to her mother who lives off the beaten path.

Thanks, Gary and Steve for coming with us.  You're just the type of folks we love to work alongside!