Today was truly a highlight for me in Guatemala. This morning we took a truck over to San Marcos (another city around the lake) and helped a group of Americans with a medical clinic. They offer medical services free of charge for the locals and also hand out prescriptions for those in need of medicine. They also gave the gospel message to each person that was treated and prayed over each one of them.
The first part of the day was spent walking around to different houses inviting people. Come to find out, this city believes in witchcraft, so they don´t usually seek medical attention from a hospital. So we encountered quite a few people who were hesitant to even come.
In the afternoon, I sat in on the dentist. Another gal from my team, Amanda, was actually helping the dentist pull teeth as she had studied dentistry in the States before she started missions work. It was a crazy afternoon, but I loved being a part of it! My job was to help calm the children as they were getting their teeth pulled out. It was my sole responsibility to hand out stickers (that they immediately placed on their forehead…hmmm), give them toys, hold their hands and give them a little kiss when they were all finished. Though the adults didn´t seem to need or want that sort of attention, I still gave some of them a smiley face sticker for being so brave.
The dentist was truly talented and understanding. He held the novicane needle behind his back until the last moment and always had a smile on his face that was so comforting to the people!
It made me laugh that people have the same tendencies here as in America when going to the dentist. This gal in the picture above came in laughing but had that all too familiar nervous look on her face. They wiggle their toes and hold on to the sides of the chairs when getting their teeth pulled. This boy made me smile. He made this face after the doctor put the novicane in…
After today I am confident when I say no one in this world enjoys a dentist visit!
Although, I must say I wish we got as many presents after going to the dentist as we gave out!
On a side note, I ALSO had a great day because I finally saw one of my bestest friends in San Juan…Buddy!! He is this hilarious dog I came across and we always exchange quite a stimulating conversation. I normally give a howl…”AAAOOOOO!!” And he responds, “OOOOAAAOOO!!” …which I am sure means something along the lines of, “Good morning, Stacy. You are looking quite filled with Jesus today.” And we go along our merry ways. Ah, I wish you could have seen the look on my face when I saw him this morning. I literally dropped my bag, gave my camera to Amanda and chased him around for a few seconds before finally coercing him into taking a picture with me. Enjoy!
