Agape in Action, which is my home for the month, is on the grounds of the Hospital Nactoral Canta Elena. The hospital serves a population of over 1 million people, most of which come from small towns where people have to travel 5 or more hours to even get medical service. Families stay outside in the grass, with no tent or other possessions , for days on end as their loved ones receive medical attention.
The first two days of ministry my team was able to go the Hospital before the church was ready for us. Mrs. Sally, a midwife , who moved from the US to Guatemala for ministry purposes is considered a Saint at the hospital. She serves them whenever she can and is well respected by all. So when we walked in with her we were all welcome with open arms and walked right through the barred doors with no opposition.
This isn't a hospital like you are thinking in the United States though. Its a large concrete building with concrete floors, no air conditioning, dirty bed sheets on inch thick "mattresses". Its a hospital where nursing students are able to do medical work because it is extremely understaffed. The medical equipment is aged, machines that we had in the 1970's in the states would be more advanced and ultrasounds are too expensive for women to have. There is an area labeled dental but it hold no tools or dentist behind the door. There is no emergency button to call a nurse when something goes wrong, no monitors to record a struggling heart rate , and patients are often left alone for hours at a time.
Mrs. Sally gave my team a tour of the hospital. As we walked down the first hallway there was a little boy, maybe 3, sitting in a wheel chair all by himself. He had no family. We then walked down the children's ward there were many similar stories. Often times children with disabilities either physical or mental are not fed in Guatemala because their lives are not considered valuable enough.
In another room was a little girl, Rosanne, who was dying of malnutrition. Her grandmother was with her and when asked Rosanne's age she replied 2 , however the size of her teeth indicated the frail girl was at least 4 or 5. We took time to ask grandma some questions and pray over Rosanne, her big brown were eyes staring back at us the entire time as her bony fingers lay lifeless at her side. As we left, Mrs. Sally told us that she only had a few days left to live unless a divine miracle occurred. As tears flowed shamelessly down many of our faces she reminded us of the importance of the spiritual battle. And that for this sweet angel, her earthly home may not be the best place for her, and though there is little we can do for her physically we can do so much more by praying for her salvation.
In an attempt to lighten the heaviness, Mrs. Sally lead us to the room with newborn babies and their mothers. We were able to witness new flourishing life and the beauty of a tired mothers smile. We started to ask the names and then learned that in Guatemala they don't name babies until they are 10 days old because the morality rate is so high, leaving the precious children nameless is an attempt to ease the pain if life could not hold on.
The duration of the afternoon was hard as my team processed what we saw and how we could possibly be of help to these broken people with so little. We ended up going to the market and buying some coloring books, stickers, and sweet bread. We went back to the hospital the next day in hopes of bringing a little bit of hope into a place full of heartache. We shared life: tears, smiles , and prayers with the families and children and did our best to be Jesus' hands and feet.
