After a great 4 days in Antigua for debrief, we arrived at our ministry site in Quiche. This month we are living in tents. I thought i’d be more excited about that but when we arrived and pitched the tents, I was not at all excited. I was tired from the bus ride and hungry. I was just not in a good mood. I had to spend some quiet time and check myself. Maybe it was because I was so spoiled in Honduras. Maybe it was because eveyone’s tent was twice the size of mine(that did make me feel some type of way). Again I had to check myself.
For the first week my team was doing ministry at the home base and at the hospital. The first 3 days were spent building these carts that help people who do not have legs or have difficulty walking to ambulate. The carts are called P.E.T (personal energy transporter). After building the carts, which are hand operated, we walked the streets of Quiche looking for people who needed them. At the square we found a beggar who had no legs and a lame arm. His name was Miguel. We chatted with him and showed him the cart. He was very interested in having one. Before we knew it a crowd of people gathered around us. Miguel is apprearently well known in town. News reporters started to gather in the square. I have no idea where these people came from. We put Miguel in his wheelchair and started to wheel him to hospital where we were staying. The plan was to take him back, teach him how to use the cart, pray for him and take him home. As we are walking the streets headed back to the hospital, the news reporters started following us. They were snapping photos and video taping us. The reporters wanted an interview and as the only spanish speaker in the group, it was up to me to do it. I had about 5 or 6 reporters around me with microphones and camaras. I answered a couple questions about who we were and what we were doing in Quiche. After the paparazzi moment, we continued to the hospital with Miguel. As we walked by, people recognized who we were and were letting us know that we were in the news. Just like that, news of what we were doing spread through the town and was already on the news.
(Newspaper clipping of our walk to town. The headline was “they give away special vehicles”)
We brought Miguel to our compound by the hospital and taught him how to operate the cart. A couple reporters followed us and interviewed the people from Agape in Action.
As news spread of the carts people started showing up to the cmpound asking about the carts. We were able to give away all 10 carts that we built. Each time someone showed up it was an opportunity to teach them and pray for them. The best part was seeing the joy in their faces. They were now able to easier get around on their own.
Stay Blessed
Kim 🙂
