ICH News     Fall 2012      also        Preview of ministry plans 2013

Thank you for your ongoing interest in International Christian Hospice work around the world.  God is blessing and multiplying the seeds we are honored to plant in His name!

Guatemala Ministry

As happens so often, God’s plan for us differs from what we have on the agenda.  Because of a regional outbreak of Dengue Fever we were unable to go to Hospital Cristiana Santa Fe and work with Dr. Sergio.  There were over 1,000 cases reported, some deaths, and Dr. Sergio and Veronica his wife also contracted dengue.  God was faithful and answered many of our prayers and they now have regained their health and have returned to their home and “jungle hospitalito” to serve their people.  We are looking forward to ministry opportunities with them in 2013 and will be listing ICH trips later in this post.  If you are interested we have a short write up about Dr. Sergio that we can send to you to describe the ongoing projects that you or your church group could plug into.  Please let us know of any interest, it is very worthwhile!

We’d like to mention a ministry that we just became acquainted with called Potter’s House.  Edgar and Gladys Guitz, native Guatemalans, have been working for 25 years in Guatemala City with people who live in and work in the city dump.  WWW.pottershouse.org.gt will give you more information about this unique outreach.   ICH is looking forward in this coming year of partnering with these folks.  The work they are doing is a testimony to God’s life transforming power!

Rich and Barbara Banis, who are also ICH missionaries, flew into Guatemala to join us for 2 very busy weeks of ministry.  We enjoyed a time of fellowship with Dennis and Cindy McCutcheon who run the Vine International warehouse in the City.  They receive containers shipped from Tennessee with medical equipment and supplies donated for over 120 mission and medical clinics all over Guatemala.  The current project we assisted with was assembling wheelchairs to be ready for use.  Go to The End of the Pipeline to read their news and how their very vital work is growing. 

Last year we began working with Sonia Rivera who has opened 7 homes for the aging, Mi Dulce Refugio, throughout Guatemala (www.asocdulcerefugio.org).  I quote her in saying “Our Heavenly Father has permitted us this beautiful job of serving elders who are in need.”   We and the Banis’s have now partnered with 5 of these facilities.  It is a very full day’s drive from Guatemala City to the Peten (far northeast region) of Guatemala.  We stayed in guest housing of El Calvario, Calvary International, www.gotonations.org , in San Benito.  From there we ministered to 3 different facilities, housing about 200 elderly people.  We were so blessed to provide encouragement and end-of-life hospice training for 50 workers and staff who are committed first to our Lord then to providing a sweet refuge for these  needy and homeless folks.  One extra ministry we enjoy that really gets us in touch with the people is the eye screening for reading glasses.  The smiles are worth a thousand words!  We can’t tell you how grateful the workers were to hear our session on “Compassion Fatigue” and to know that we came from so far to encourage them in their usually thankless work.  The monetary compensation they receive is very small, if anything, but each of them are committed to the dear elders which they affectionately call “grandparents”. 

If you have ever imaged the perfect setting for an orphanage we think we found it.  While in the Peten we drove to Rio Dulce.  This river flows out of Guatemala, borders the south of Belise then empties into the Caribbean.  What a lovely, tropical place for Rays of Hope Orphanage.  Mike and Karen Rhea, who serve with Calvary Chapel, have a ranch style home, and 9 very special children.  They range in age from 5 to 16 and are unfortunately, for different reasons, unadoptable.  The home is on 10 acres which they farm raising horses, sheep and chickens.   Besides this working ranch Mike and Karen have extended ministry in a medical clinic, aid to the disabled and organizing the Calvary Chapel Church on their property with the home for children.   We were able to offer an eye screening clinic for the local community there at the church/ranch.  It was a great opportunity to join with the Rheas in serving in their mission field.  Karen told us their plans to open a home for unwed mothers. Please pray with them for more missionary staff to help with the growing work.  www.rayodeesperanza.org to learn more about them. 

    Returning to Honduras

We take so many things for granted in our lives, for example dental care.  The Lord impressed upon us that ICH has another opportunity to bless our friends Dennis and Maria and their children by arranging dental care for them while we were in Honduras.  We picked them up one afternoon and took them to Dr. Claudia Zalaya who has a dental practice in La Ceiba.  In fact she has given us, and many other missionaries, excellent dental care with her very up-to-date equipment over the past 5 years.  Franklin (13 years old), Edgar (11 years old) and Rosa (9 years old) had never been to a dentist but we were amazed at their excitement and pleasure to sit in the dental chair for their exams and cleaning.  Yes, unfortunately, many cavities were discovered, but Dr. Claudia scheduled each of them for more appointments for the required fillings and ongoing dental care education.  She emailed us later that she allowed Edgar to assist her as she did Franklin’s fillings.  We never know how something so simple can change a life!  She also told us in her email that her husband and family have joined in ministering to this very needy family by providing clothing and other basic things they need.  A special thank you to Dr. Claudia for her compassion and her offer to cover half of the expenses for the dental care herself.

Back in the U.S.

Fall is the time when we have the blessing of returning to our sending church, Biltmore Baptist, in Asheville, N.C., for “Compel 2012” Missions Emphasis.   What an encouragement to spend time with people who are praying for and supporting us as we continue ICH around the world.  Thank you Pastor Kelvin Moseley and all who lead BBC to reach out into the world with the Gospel!  We look forward to the upcoming opportunities to work with teams in Guatemala in 2013.

Thank you also to Bob Slaney for the invitation to “Christ for the World” Mission Conference November  2012 in Smithfield, N.C.  We look forward to participating by sharing about our Christian Hospice work with indigenous people in Central America. It will be great also to visit with family who live in Smithfield, Susan’s cousins Jane and Paul Embler, as well as Chris and Rachel Embler serving in Youth Ministry on Top Sail Island.  We hope to hear more about how God is leading Chris and Rachel since their 2 year walk of faith from North Carolina to Peru. 

2013 Mission Opportunities  (Please pray with us as we plan this coming year’s work!)

Ministry trip to Guadalajara and Cabo, Mexico to work with Pastor Carlos and Sandy Rios.  We will be partnering with 2 young churches and also teaching in a Bible Institute.

Ministry trips to Central America with focus on the indigenous people in Guatemala, Hospital Santa Fe and My Sweet Refuge Homes for the aging.

What are you praying about doing on mission in 2013?  Please consider working with International Christian Hospice as we go beyond the borders of the U.S.  Feel free to call us or email about any interest you may have in these areas of ministry. 

 

    

                                       News from Honduras       Summer 2012

Think outside the box!!!  We are learning not to be surprised when God gives us unexpected opportunities.  Who would have thought we would be molding casts in a dirt floored home in Honduras?  This is how our story of Dennis, the triple amputee, continues. We first met him in church at one of our Hospice training seminars.  Although his is not a typical hospice experience he and his family have experienced tremendous loss that has changed their lives forever.  Please scroll back in our blog to read about Dennis’s injury and his family’s faith in July 2010 and July 2011.

 Our good friend in Columbia, S.C., Ben Amberg, was the first to meet Kent Turnbow of Turnbow Prosthetics in Illinois.  Kent read our blog story and was impressed with Ron’s creativity in making Dennis some homemade mechanical arms.  The Lord has given Kent a desire to make plastic prosthetics for Dennis.  Several telephone conversations later he mailed us a package which we carried here with us in our suitcase.  It contained plaster, stockinget,all the supplies we needed as well as a custom made instruction video in which he personally demonstrated and talked us through molding casts for fitting prosthesis. This is definitely a new skill for us!  First Dennis, Maria and the children watched Kent’s video on our computer so they would know what to expect and then we began.  Working with each stump, two arms and one leg, Ron applied the plaster.  The children laughed as they tapped the hard plaster their daddy was sporting. After Ron gently removed the molds we recorded needed measurements of arms and leg dimensions.  Meanwhile Maria prepared a meal from some groceries we brought along and we relaxed and enjoyed the fellowship with these dear believers.  How humbling to observe Maria serving her husband by feeding him and dressing him.  They expressed such gratitude not just in words but through the smiles and light of hope we saw in Dennis’s eyes.  Maybe he will be able to feed himself, stand upright or pick up a tool someday with prosthesis.  Please pray that we can get the molds back to the states intact and into Kent’s capable hands.  Pray for the proper design and the logistics involved and for donations to cover the cost of the three limbs.  Thank God with us for allowing us to be His hands and feet and demonstrate the reality of His Word in Jeremiah 29:11 “  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and now to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”                             

Lexington Baptist Church ICH mission team joined us here in Honduras for a week of ministry.  Divine appointments meet us unexpectedly. But God is not surprised.  ICH has the unique opportunity to serve those whom the world would pass by.  We were transporting our team caravan style through the mountains in our Escape and Pastor Francisco’s Isuzu when his car began to overheat.  God provided a shady spot to pull off the road complete with a water barrel and a man selling plants.  The engine cooled and water was added.  In the meantime, Dr. Teresa Emmons, a native Spanish speaker from Lexington, struck up a conversation with Carmito.  He had recently experienced the death of his 16 year old son. Through financial problems he also had lost his house that had stood where we were now parked.  He admitted that he attended church in the past but he was too angry with God to talk to Him now.  His grief was written all over his face as he asked “why?”  We admitted to Carmito that we don’t have the answers but we know God sent us directly to him that day because He loves him and God wants to give him comfort and peace.  Life will never be the same without his son.  He will always love him and miss him.  What an honor to lift this hurting man up in prayer on the side of the road.  Please pray for Carmito as he rebuilds his life after so many losses.

That week was a very full schedule of Hospice training seminars.  Thanks to the LBC team that was led by Chuck McCurry we were able to teach and equip 160 people to minister to the dying and grieving in their towns and villages.  Our attendees consisted of Pastors, educators in the public schools, high school students, church leaders and medical staff.  We worked with churches in 2 regions of the country.  In addition, and not technically hospice related, we include a   “bonus” ministry God has given us.  Usually an hour prior to our ICH seminars we offer eye screening and BP screening for the community and the church folk.  This has become so special because we can give a personal touch to each person we serve by praying with them individually.  It is amazing the stories that people will share to a listening ear!  One particular case stands out.  Jessica is 22 years old. She had meningitis a few years ago and during the surgery to place a shunt in her brain her optic nerves were damaged.  She regained her health but lost 75% of her vision.  The eye doctors told her there was nothing that could be done.  We made no promises but offered to bring her name and case to the MMI Eye Mission in El Progreso, about an hour bus ride from her.  You can read our blog story in 2010 about little Wilson whose vision was restored through God connecting the dots and we were honored to be one of those dots.  Thank you to one of our team members, Joyce Turpin, who provided funds for Jessica’s initial eye exam.  Please pray with us that God will restore her sight.

Special thanks to all of our 2012 LBC team which also included Bob Gunter and Gaylan Emmons.  Each one on the team were invaluable to hospice ministry in Honduras.   God has multiplied ICH  over the past few by leading many special people to  join us in our mission.  

Please continue to pray for us on the next leg of our mission.  We will be driving to Guatemala to work for the month of August. 

Thank you each for your interest in and prayers for International Christian Hospice as we continue to bring hope and comfort in Christ to the dying and grieving. 

In HIS service,

Ron and Susan              

Donations received

International Christian Hospice Newletter Spring 2012


Greetings friends! We thank the Lord for His faithful presence through the past few months. It has been a time of transition for ICH as well as for us personally. We have moved our home and office to another location but we are still in the Columbia, S.C. area. Our phone and email have not changed. It has required all of Ron’s handyman skills to renovate the new house/office but it looks like things are coming together.

ICH has experienced the financial challenges that many other ministries are going through. We are tightening the budget and being as wise as possible with reduced donations this year. Finances have impacted our travel and ministry time in other countries this spring but the Lord is not limited nor His plans thwarted. We have several things to report about ICH progress in Central America.

ICH in Honduras

Pastor Francisco Ilias, as ICH Central American Director, is continuing to report ongoing work. He is leading his church in very active hospice ministry in the San Pedro Sula area. They are ministering in the hospitals, doing home care and outreach through their church. ICH impact has grown this spring through a weekend ICH conference which he led. The keynote speaker at the conference was Dr. Manuel Aguilar, a director of the largest, national run mission hospital in Honduras. We have known Dr. Aguilar for 5 years and been blessed by sharing a common goal of ministry. He has broadened the scope of impact of the Evangelical Hospital, located in Seguatepeque, which is in the heart of Honduras. The emphasis of his work has grown to include hospice care, palliative care and a focus on those who are dying with HIV/AIDs. Dr. Aguilar and Pastor Ilias together presented a day of education and inspiration to a large gathering of Pastors and church leaders. As a result we have heard reports that many other churches and believers in Honduras have begun reaching out to the dying and suffering in their own towns and villages with a better understanding of their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Christian Hospice is proving to be one of the most effective, practical avenues for sharing Christ’s love and we are honored to be a part of God’s work in Honduras.

Upcoming Ministry Opportunities in Central America

ICH teams will be ministering in Guatemala and Honduras in the months of July and August this year. In Honduras we are planning ministry work in Seguatepeque, Santa Barbara, Tela, La Ceiba and San Pedro Sula. In Guatemala we will be working in Guatemala City, Chocola, San Antonio and the Peten. We anticipate a very packed schedule as our team members from both North and South Carolina join us. Thank you for your prayers for safe travel, logistics and effective ministry for the Kingdom. Please let us know if you would be interested in joining us for a mission trip.

We thank our Heavenly Father for each of our friends, prayer partners and supporters! International Christian Hospice is an extension of you so please join us in any way that you are able. We’d love to hear from you!

In Christ’s love and service,

Ron and Susan Naish

Donations accepted for ICH at 303 Madison Heights Dr. Marshall, N.C. 28753

International Christian Hospice Christmas Greetings
December 2011
Worldwide people are celebrating an event that was planned by God before all time began. God with us, Emanuel, Jesus Christ, Jeshua are all names of the God-man who is the true pivotal axis of all creation and history. The creator became a man. This small statement is the ultimate evidence of God’s love that is able to transform our hearts and lives. Our feeble words cannot convey the gratitude and worship He is due! May we join our praise this Christmas with Paul who wrote in Romans 11:36 “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
What a memorable year 2011 has been for ICH and for us personally! Blessings of work, travel, opening new places of ministry, seeing what God is doing in other countries. Blessings of family times, new friendships made and old friendships deepened, joy (we welcomed another new grandchild) mixed with grief (we said good bye to a dear loved one). How sweet to have walked through this year with our faithful Lord going before us and sustaining us each step of the way!
God’s timing is perfect. We returned from our ministry work in Central America in September. Many of you knew and prayed for us during these recent months. It has been a treasured time for Susan as she spent most of September, October and November with her sister Ellen in Asheville. God allowed her the honor of being present with Ellen as she fought through her final weeks of life. Ellen’s faith, courage, grace and dignity in the face of advanced Parkinson’s disease will be forever ingrained in our memories. All of us who love her still feel the bittersweet emotions of deep sadness in missing her but joy in her triumphant, victorious entrance into God’s presence on November 22. Thank you to all who prayed for our family, visited, sent cards and flowers or attended Ellen’s memorial celebration December 3.
We also want to thank everyone for your support for our family as Ron’s cousin Laquata Cordell went home to the Lord on November 23. She, with the loving support of her husband Gary and family, courageously battled cancer for 2 years. Her funeral was a celebration that she had found the ultimate healing in her Savior’s presence. Powerful messages were given by two Pastors on November 26 urging everyone to be prepared for death as Laquata was.
Both Ellen’s and Laquata’s lives and their passing testify to the scripture above from Romans that they received all things “from Him (Christ), and through Him and give to Him the glory forever.”

ICH Year End Summary 2011
People impacted by ICH 1,117 (includes families, volunteers, Pastors, medical personnel, students)
Churches and communities ministered to 64
824 copies of the Bible distributed
Gospel presentations 5 government schools and Community VBS with 400 children
Eye screening clinics 250 served

Ministered to 5 different people groups

Opened new work with 2 Homes for the Elderly in Guatemala

Opened new work with 2 Community Development organization

Teams Hosted from U.S. 3

Projected Ministry Plans for 2012
Ministry work in Central America in April and May. Hosting teams for hospice training, eye screening clinics, home visitation, expansion of work with staff and residents in Homes for the Elderly.
Ministry work in Central America in July, August and September. Hosting teams, VBS, Bible distribution, eye screening clinics, Homes for the Elderly, hospice training.
Expanding partnership with Hospital Sante Fe and Dr. Sergio Castillo during spring and fall work in C.A.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in God’s work through ICH in 2011!
May God bless you and your family as we celebrate and remember the birth of our Savior, the King of Kings!

Serving Him with you,
Ron and Susan

International Christian Hospice News Letter

August to September 2011

Continuing in Guatemala

Pastor Francisco Ilias from Honduras ( ICH Central American Director) joined us for 3 days of work in Guatemala City. God has blessed him with many connections and we presented hospice training to 112 people from 3 different churches. It is always so amazing to see the Body of Christ at work in surprising places and ways. At one of our trainings we met Dr. Luiz Granajo who runs a medical clinic with 5 other MDs in the outskirts of the city. They serve the poor in Jesus’ name and he told of over 200 salvations through the ministry of his clinic over the past year. He shared that he has cared for many people with terminal illnesses and hospice care is a huge piece of what his staff does. We thank God for the opens doors for ICH work and look forward to working with the medical staff in hospice support training in the future. Thank you, Pastor Francisco, for your ongoing work in Central America, for ICH.

It is always fun to have “reunions” away from home! Richard and Barbara Banis flew into Guatemala to be a part of ICH internationally. Rich and Barbara serve on the ICH Board of Directors and Rich is our Financial Director. They now live in Asheville,

N.C. but have served for 28 years as overseas missionaries. We appreciate their friendship and hard work for ICH as well as the wisdom and experience they share with us. The photos above are of Rich and Barbara and our friends Paul and Ruth Philipi who have served as missionaries in Guatemala for 55 years. In our visit with the Philipi's we descovered that Barbara's brother had graduated with Paul from Moody Bible College. It truly is a small world! God teaches us again just how we are all connected through the body of Christ.

Vine International ( Medical Equipment & Supplies for Guatemala )

Dennis & Cindy McCutcheon

What great fellowship for the 6 of us as we got together with mutual old friends, Dennis and Cindy McCutcheon, who serve with Vine International in Guatemala City. Dennis and Cindy serve over 120 missions and other medical ministries in Guatemala by receiving containers (which originate at Vine base in Knoxville, Tenn.) of medical supplies and equipment. They negotiate with the port authorities, transport and unload containers in the Vine warehouse, then disperse whatever the Lord sends to them to those in need.

Do you enjoy sharing hugs, giving encouraging smiles or blowing soap bubbles? So do the residents of My Sweet Refuge Home for the Elderly. These 36 “grandparents”, affectionately so called by the 12 staff members, were a delight and blessing to us! One dear blind lady told us,
“ They are so good to me! They help me dress, feed me and take care of me!” Another elderly resident patiently did hand exercises with a fellow resident suffering with contractures caused by a stroke. We were able to pray with Everardo, a new resident who just arrived. Like many of the Grandparents upon arrival at My Sweet Refuge he was malnourished, failing in health and depressed. The staff told us that most of the folks arrive in similar condition from either poor homes, abandonment or off the street.

We were so impressed with the compassionate Christ-like staff. They shared with us during our ICH training session with them that over the past 6 months 11 residents have died and 8 of those came to know the Savior in their final weeks of life. Praise God that goal of Christian Hospice is alive and well in these servants who have a heart for those who are often the forgotten ones!

In the final days of August we welcomed 2 more members of our third team to Guatemala. Linda Craig, Hospice RN from Taylorsville, N.C. and Arleen Jennings, MDiv in counseling (also Ron’s sister) joined us as we returned to Chocola for ministry work with Dr. Sergio. Here are some events of the week.

· Prayer and ministry with patients in the mission hospital
· 3 clinic days in San Antonio
· Eye clinic screening and over 90 patients served
· Meeting with Quiche (key-chay) Pastor Eligio to present 40 Bibles which were donated by Deanie and Devon Shelton (Deanie was on our first team in July and saw the need).
· Visiting the village of Xojola to learn about the community development program started by Pastor Eligio. One of the team members described him as a “visionary”. He is initiating a program for the people in his own Mayan region to improve education, health care and microenterprise all Christ centered.

A young woman named Veira came to have her eyes checked the first day of our eye clinic. We were pleased to give her the reading glasses she needed and eye drops for irritation. But God knew she needed much more. As we do with everyone who passes through the eye clinic we directed her to our final station to receive her drops and prayer offered by a team member. Arleen was giving this special attention to each patient that day. As she began talking to Veira Arleen learned that she had not heard the Gospel story nor made a decision to follow Jesus. She eagerly read with Arleen through Billy Graham’s booklet in Spanish “Steps to Peace with God.” At the end Veira humbly prayed to receive Christ as her Savior. Arleen promised that she would have a Bible for her if she returned the next day. Veira came to the clinic at the appointed time the next day and received her new Bible which Arleen prepared with highlighted scriptures to help her in her new faith. Veira told Arleen that her job was the only support for herself, her husband and 2 children. Mario has been ill and out of work for several months and they could not pay for any more medical care. She said that last night she told him about her decision to follow Christ and he was very interested in her new faith. She made an appointment for Mario to see Dr. Sergio at the clinic the next day and she was so excited that our team would be there for a third day so we could meet him. God also knew she needed a local Pastor and church family to welcome her in. At that moment Pastor Mac, who had an eye exam the day before, came back by the clinic. He graciously talked with Veira, prayed with her and they shared phone numbers. The following day Mario came to the clinic alone because Veira was working. As he was waiting for his appointment with Dr. Sergio the time seemed perfect. Ron and Arleen introduced themselves to Mario and took him aside to pray with him and share the best news he had ever heard: “God loves you and wants to give you His presence and peace.” Mario was ready and without hesitation prayed to ask Christ to be his Savior and Lord. Wouldn’t you know it, Pastor Mac was in the neighborhood again and we introduced him to Mario. None of this was by accident. God loves us and as in the parable of the one lost sheep, our good Shepherd leaves the ninety nine in the fold and goes out in search of the one lost lamb. Pray for Veira and Mario with us. Pray that their whole family will come to Christ and also for Mario’s health.

Yesenia Valesqez has worked with us in the ICH Ministry for four years. A former student and now graduate of SETECA in Guatemala City Yesenia is now working for the Law & Justice Mission also in the City. This Mission works with widows, orphans the under privilaged to provide legal counsel and Christian support for the individual and their families.

The staff begin their work week with devotions on Monday morning and we enjoyed joining in. This is a great ministry and a tremendous need in Guatemala and other developing countires.

A special thank you from our ICH team to Union Church of Guatemala City. We were given the opportunity to share with a group of 60 in Sunday school about hospice and end-of-life issues. Union Church has a unique opportunity being an English speaking church in the capitol of a Spanish speaking country. It ministers to missionaries, foreign diplomats and business people who need fellowship in their own heart language.

Honduras in September

Rich and Barbara continued the journey with us to Honduras. We had a special time of fellowship and encouragement with ICH co-workers, Pastors Francisco and Wilmer, and their families in the San Pedro Sula area. Due to a strike of medical personnel in the government hospitals we had to postpone the hospice training which we were scheduled for in the Tela Government Hospital. Public education and medical care are very unstable in Central America. Government funds to pay nurses and teachers typically runs out or "mysteriously disappears” after the first 6 months of each yeat. So the workers go unpaid but as you can imagine most workers cannot continue for nothing. Therefore in the 7th and 8th months of the year “strikes” are the result and public schools and hospitals shutdown. Literally the doors are closed. The buildings are vacant. Last year the students in public schools only attended 100 days all year due to this problem. A young woman we know who has a brain tumor is still waiting to be seen in the hospital for evaluation for surgery. Peaceful demonstrations occur in the streets as workers march and burn tires which blocks traffic causing most commerce to halt in an attempt to impress the government. Those who suffer are the children, the sick and the people who really want to do their jobs. Private hospitals and private schools are few and expensive for the average person. This is an example of the cycle that keeps education and healthcare poor in most developing countries. Thus the need is great for medical teams and mission hospitals!

Our final point of ministry in September was with a family we met in April. Dennis was injured in a construction job and had both arms and one leg amputated. Maria is unable to work outside the home with 6 children and her husband to care for. The first time we met them they expressed their deep faith in God as the One who knows their situation and will provide for their needs. Mario and Maria both expressed desires to serve in their church. We were so impressed with them that we could not get them off our minds. God gave us some ideas and, praise Him, we were able to revisit them with gifts. Susan’s mother and sister were always great seamstresses. With their donations we were able to purchase and carry a portable sewing machine to Maria. Ron spent many long hours in his garage workshop developing and adapting a type of mechanical device for Dennis’ arm stubs. These will enable him to feed himself, brush his own teeth and grip objects. Ron and Dennis worked with the prototype and some fitting and adjustments will be necessary but they were excited and much encouraged about the potential. We also delivered children’s supplies for the neighborhood Bible club Maria teaches on Saturdays. We were very happy to hear Dennis’s news that the construction company has given him a job as a supervisor. What a sweet time of fellowship we had in their humble, dirt floor home! Their lives shout of God’s faithfulness and goodness even in the face of disaster and impossibility.

Thank you to all of you who pray and support us as we take hope and comfort in Jesus’ name to a world that is dying without Him. We could not be working in the calling from our Father without you all praying and giving as He has called you to do.

Serving Him with you,
Ron and Susan
803-781-0656 intlchristianhospice@yahoo.com

Tax receipts given for donations received at:
ICH
303 Madison Heights Dr.
Marshall, N.C. 28753
828-242-3090

International Christian Hospice News Letter June-August 2011

June
Thanks to everyone for your encouragement as we prepared for our upcoming ministry time in Guatemala. Many of you helped us to collect reading glasses, medical supplies and children’s supplies for VBS in Central America. We were blessed by willing volunteers who are preparing to be a part of three teams that will join us in Guatemala and Honduras over the next two months. Special thanks to Dr. Steven Satterfield for glasses, cases and eye drop donations. Also we are looking forward to using the new “culturally specific” Bible story book created by Brian and Ann Keay with Truth Action Ministry.

This month God answered a prayer we have been praying for several years. State Street Baptist Church of Cayce, S.C. sent a team to Trujillo Peru in June. This was not just any mission team but a very special one. Mary Ann Dowd, an operating room nurse, contacted us this spring requesting Hospice training for herself and her mission team. Before we met Mary Ann God had given her the desire to help a mission hospital in Trujillo establish hospice under the leadership of retired missionaries Rodolph and Mae Dixon It was our delight to help prepare the team for this task by sharing ICH concepts and materials with them. Once again God opened a new door as these new friends joined ICH in pioneering work. It has been a dream of ours to offer ICH as another tool for mission teams to take as they follow God anywhere in the world. Upon returning Mary Ann excitedly shared with us that ICH was embraced with open arms by the national Peruvian believers. They are organizing this work to go out into their surrounding villages with practical knowledge that will bring comfort in Jesus Christ to people who are dying and their families. We continue to pray along with State Street Baptist Church for God’s ongoing work in Trujillo, Peru.

July
The coffee lands of Guatemala welcomed us with our first team. Deanie Shelton from Lexington, S.C. and Kara Meeuwsen, who is a student at Seteca in Guatemala City, traveled to Chocola with us. Here we spent a week at a mission Hospital Santa Fe run by Dr. Sergio Castillo. It is a place that serves the poor people of this region, particularly the indigenous Mayans. Here is a sketch of ministry opportunities in which God allowed us participate.
· Vision screening clinic for reading glasses and consult with 40 people
· VBS for 100 children in the local village
· Bible/Gospel presentations in grades 4,5 and 6 in the highland indigenous school of 85 children
· Hospice training seminar for Presbyterian Quiche (key-chay) Pastor Association

Private counseling sessions with a grieving father and a 20 year old girl anticipating surgery for a brain tumor
· Hospice home visits in village homes
On Sunday evening we were invited to worship with Quiche believers in a highland village. We couldn’t refuse their request to participate in the service by the ladies singing and Ron sharing a message from the Word. Near the end of the service the Pastor was summoned away because a dear 95 year old sister in the church had died in her home. It is their custom that the body is kept at home for 24 hours then taken to the church in a wooden box and buried after the funeral service. During the 24 hour wake friends and family keep vigil over the body at the bedside with the family. It was a privilege that we were invited to go to Anna’s home along with most of the church members after the service. We all trekked through the village and over the footpath to offer our support to Anna’s family. The small dirt floor home was crowded with sympathetic folks. It

was hot and humid due to the regular afternoon jungle rain and the cooking fire. We were ushered in to a place of honor to sit on a low, rough, wood bench and the Pastor offered a prayer. On the other side of the room the family parted and we saw a small form lying under a brightly colored blanket on a narrow bed. As is the custom everyone prayed aloud with the Pastor, the women in a high wailing tone. By that time we, along with everyone in the room, had noticed that Anna’s blanket was moving and a small, boney hand was emerging. Susan joined her daughters at her bedside to hold her trembling, cool hand. Her daughter explained that she did not respond to them today and they thought she had died. They were expecting this since Anna had been sleeping almost constantly and only taking sips of liquid from the corner of a small cloth for 7 days. She opened her eyes only briefly as her daughter offered the cloth dipped in water to gently moistened Anna’s mouth. She slowly relaxed and drifted into a peaceful sleep again. With the help of a translator Susan was able to make suggestions and explain what the family could expect as Anna moved closer to death. It was obvious that they were giving her constant, tender care. Everyone could feel the comfort of God’s Spirit surrounding us as we put our arms around the tearful family and said a short prayer before we left.
Addendum: Anna went to be with the Lord three days following our visit. We ask that you pray for those who will always miss her.

Some parts of our ICH ministry is so sacred we scarcely believe the privilege we are given. We will never forget another experience we had this week. We heard that 86 year old Pastor Calel was homebound and declining with kidney failure. Pastor Eligio told us the amazing story of Pastor Calel in his early days. He was the first Quiche believer to come to this region with the Gospel 40 years earlier. The people were devout to their Mayan superstitions and beliefs. They attempted to run him off by throwing rocks at him. They did everything to make him go back to where he came from. But slowly, after many months, one and then two people began to listen to his Gospel message. Calel’s family settled in the village and a small home church meeting began. One by one people began to open their hearts to his message of God’s love and place their faith in His Son, Jesus. Pastor Eligio, as well as many of the younger Pastors, came to faith in Christ through Calel’s ministry and today they lead 16 churches in the Quiche regional association. We were honored to visit with this great pioneer of the Gospel. His wife and four adult children greeted us and Pastor Calel was resting on a plastic outdoor chaise in his living room. He was suffering with swelling from his toes to his waistline and the diuretics he had received from the clinic were no longer effective. Pastor Calel seemed to be tiring so we asked him one final question: would he like to share a message with us from the Bible? The transformation was remarkable! He rose to sit on the side of his chair and his face lit up in animation. Kara, our translator, knelt by his side to be sure that she, nor we, would miss anything he would say. He began weaving the beautiful story of God’s love and plan of redemption starting in the Garden of Eden. He told of God’s new beginning for mankind after the flood then of God’s message through the prophets that a redeemer would come to the world. His eyes glistened while he preached on about Jesus our Savior and then the early church and apostles who laid the foundation of our faith today. The hushed crowd in the room grew as others from the community and church joined us to hear Pastor Calel’s powerful message that encompassed the entire Bible. He finally turned to Kara, still kneeling at his side. He gently placed both of his rough, brown hands on her head. As she bowed her head he leaned over and kissed the top of her head as a sign of blessing and gratitude. We were awed that God allowed us to hear what was probably Pastor Calel’s final sermon. As we were leaving he held Deanie’s hand and together they sang “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart”. It was a beautiful duet of praise and testimony in Quiche and English!
Addendum: On Sunday, August 21, 2011, Pastor Calel went to be with the Lord. His friends told us that he talked to the family earlier that day instructing them not to be sad when he died because he was going to be with His Savior that day!

August…..
We owe a huge thank you to our next team, Don and Sue Smith, Linda Lovern and Linda Gill from Lexington, S.C. Eva Aguilar, a seminary student at Seteca served as our translator this week. It was a beautiful trip from Guatemala City up to Quetzaltenango (Xela or shala to the Mayans) between the steaming volcanoes at 8,000 ft. Don’t worry, it is a normal and good thing if they are venting and releasing steam. We spent a jam packed week presenting 6 ICH training seminars in 5 days. Here is a list of the opportunities we had.
· Traveling to a Highland Mam (Mayan dialect group) village and teaching a group of 30 CHE or Community Health Educators/Evangelists. They work scattered throughout the highlands for a Christian organization.
· Traveling in another direction to teach Highland Quiche (key-chay) CHE workers. 45 people gathered and welcomed our team into a village home for the day.
· Teaching a morning and evening session to students at Hands that Help and Harvest Bible Seminary in Xela.
· Traveling to a coastal Quiche village to teach more CHE workers and Pastors.
· Eye clinics for reading glasses in all 3 locations.
· Traveling back toward the capital to give training, support and encouragement to staff at a newly established facility for elderly, “My Sweet Refuge”.
We were thrilled with the results of this week that 166 people from 54 different churches have received Christian Hospice training. Many of these people are Pastors, church leaders, medical workers and students. They represent three Mayan dialect groups: Quiche, Mam and Quetchekal.
You can imagine that we spent much time on the road to cover this much territory. We are here to testify that we know that God is answering the prayers of all of you who are lifting us up for safety in travel. It is the rainy season and flooding is common. As we were returning to Xela from the coast we drove through a particularly huge storm. The driving rain soon overwhelmed the shallow, roadside ditches and flowed across the road. For fear of getting stuck behind smaller vehicles that were stalling we eased into a flooded river crossing. We were following a 4x4 truck with enough clearance so felt that if he could make it so could our Ford Escape. We could hear the sound of waves against the sides and undercarriage of the car as Ron excellerated. He didn’t dare stop now, we were committed. A few tense moments later we began to emerge onto higher ground. Everyone breathed a collective sigh and lifted praise to God!
We’d like to share one final story of how God honors ICH ministry with unique opportunities. We are often given the privilege of walking with those who are often forgotten.
“I can’t believe he is really gone! He said he was going to work, just like he always does on Saturday.” The shock and disbelief of Anna’s fresh grief broke our hearts. Her 17 year old son had left home that morning as usual. His friends returned in the evening with news that he had gone to the beach with them that day, instead of work, and drowned and his body could not be found. How do you comfort a mother? How can we understand the life she tried to make for her two sons? When they were young she came to the Capital from a Quiche village. Her plan was to give them an education and a better life. Somehow she found herself, her sister and brother-in-law living together and trying to provide for the two boys. Their home, of 15 years, is a 10x12 house made of tin in the city dump. Her older son returned to their indigenous village and married but the younger son stayed with his mom in the city where he has grown up. “He was a good boy, made good grades in high school and had a job. He trusted in Jesus and we went to church all the time.” Jesus is the Way Baptist Church is only a few blocks away from over 300 families who make up a village inside the dump. Pastor Saul told us that many of these families, including Anna’s, attend his church and receive medical care by his wife who is a doctor. He also provides pure drinking water through a filtration system installed in the church by a mission team. We were honored to see Pastor Saul’s ministry firsthand when we visited Anna at her home in the dump. After listening to her story and praying for her we set up an appointment for the next evening with one of our Lexington Team members. Linda Gill is a nurse and licensed psychological counselor who specializes in life losses. It is just like our heavenly Father to bring Linda to Guatemala to be able to minister to His dear, grieving child Anna. It was not too difficult for Him to bridge the language barrier with translators from English to Spanish as we counseled with her. We also believe He directed our path to intersect with Pastor Saul. We praise God for this example of national believers who are giving their lives in service to their own people. Pastor Saul is offering education and 2 meals a day to children from the dump village for $4.00 a month per child. Everything he is doing involves reaching out in Jesus’ name. We look forward to the future opportunity of ICH training for his church members in the area of hospice and grief care.
Addendum: Two weeks later, in a phone call to follow up with Anna, we learned that the church took Anna and her family to the shore for a memorial service for her son. She is still grieving and will always miss her son but we heard that she is “doing a little better.” Please remember her in your prayers.
As always we thank you for following our news of how God is using ICH to minister to people around the world. We look forward to continuing our August report from Central America in another entry.
God bless you and yours!
Serving in His Grace,

Ron and Susan