A couple of things I´ve been ticking over lately...

Its actually quite a task to just list a couple of things... my mind and body is on 'go-fast' setting as we get ready for moving to Guatemala in just a month.  As I write this, it is currently 2:12a.m.  I should definitely be tucked up in bed, making the most of these precious hours of sleep and the fact that our boys are fast asleep.  However, this is the time of day that I start to think - or perhaps the only time I can hear myself think!  So anyway hear goes, a 'couple' of things...

1. That 'calling' thing ;)

I've been thinking about that famous word so often heard in the Christian world... Calling.  What is that??  I guess I realise that for me it has definitely been a process.  I never had a lightning-flash moment where I just knew that I had to go to Guatemala.  Rather, it has been a series of events and circumstances that have woken up a longing in me.  Let me try to summarize them:

• Growing up hearing stories about my Grandparents as missionaries in Peru and stories of relatives in Brazil - and being totally fascinated.
• Hearing about a cousin´s gap year in Uganda - and being totally inspired.
• A sudden urge to want to study Spanish, so that I could one day travel to Latin America - and just knowing that I needed to learn the language.
• Having my first taste of short term missions on visits to Moldova - and my eyes being opened WIDE to a whole other world and level of poverty.
• Getting that one line from a song we sang in Moldova stuck in my head - 'til this very day... "Let me comfort those who suffer with the comfort you have given" - and somehow knowing that was one of my goals in life.
• Dipping my toes in the water when I visited Peru and Ecuador for 4.5 months - then coming home and dreaming night after night about returning during the following year.
• Going to Latin Link events, hearing about people's experiences in Latin America - and just feeling like a little (but hugely important) bit of me came to life!
• Studying nursing, qualifying as a nurse - but having very little desire to nurse in the UK.
• Finishing at nursing school and the very next day jumping on a plane to my first nursing job, in a Patzún, Guatemala, as a volunteer/short term missionary - and absolutely loving it.
• That moment on the camioneta ('chicken bus') when I somehow felt more at home in Guatemala than I ever had anywhere else.
• That smile from ear-to-ear that Guatemala brings out in me :)
• Ok, sure - meeting my man, who is Guatemalan! - and sharing his same heart to help the people in his country through health care.
• Spending 6 years living in Spain - and the whole time feeling that it was a lead-up and preparation time for our return to Guatemala.

And there are probably way more things that I could add to the list... but you get the idea, right?

2.  This one's shorter:

"Not a sacrifice, yet a privilege".

See, I've naturally had quite a few moments where I start to think about all the family, friends, places and things - food even! - that I'll be leaving behind, both in England and Spain.  But I read on a friend's blog some months ago, that it really isn't a sacrifice stepping into God's calling, even if it will undoubtedly involve uncomfortable, or culturally difficult moments at some points.  Its a privilege.  

privilege

 

advantage, benefit, birthright, claim, concession, due, entitlement, franchise, freedom, immunity, liberty, prerogative, right, sanction      

- www.collinsdictionary.com (thesaurus definition)

Its a massive privilege for this little family to be used as a teeny part of the huge plans that God has for that little town of Canillá, Guatemala.

Right, time to sleep!

Hugs,

Naomi.

So, this just got real! Very real!

Have a little look at what we just did!:

Yep, we have just bought our flights to Guatemala! We will be leaving Spain on Monday 5th January 2015!

Hasn't quite sunk in yet... but we are happy to have taken this huge step at last. :)

Also, you might like a sneak preview at the apartment the guys at Adonai are preparing for us.:

 Love all that natural light :) 

Exciting times!

In the midst of the storm...

Often we ask God for a supernatural experience, whether it be something spectacular, such as a vision, a dream or a miracle, to see an angel, or even to see Jesus in person!  But sometimes God shows Himself in our lives other ways, like during illness, distress, in the impossible - in the storms or turmoil you could say.

Some days ago I was asking God for just that - something supernatural, powerful - striking even!  However, God showed Himself in a different way; amidst the storms and trials.  A few days back we visited England to see family and to carry on sharing our heart and God's vision for people in Canilla, Guatemala.  To start off with, everything was great; time spent with our lovely family; we visited two churches and could feel how God spoke through us for the poor (not because we are good, but because of His mercy).  We could really sense that God was there.  One of the pastors said that during the presentation we gave, he could feel a strong spiritual connection - in other words, something that came straight from the heart of God.  We saw how God was touching the heart of the church, showing that there is so much that can be done outside of the church - that we can share God's love and His kingdom with those who don't even have a church to meet in.  It was incredible!!

But since that special moment, something striking - shocking, even - occurred, changing the course of our time in England.  Our little baby Isaac, just 6 weeks old, became ill to the point of having a serious infection in his brain.  The doctors diagnosed viral meningitis and everything changed...

There were moments of uncertainty, anguish, sadness, tiredness - to not even knowing what to do... but it is then that God draws near: reminding us that He is right there with us; that He will never leave us; that His peace will carry us through the storm; that He will be our strength.

From the moment we arrived in A&E (E.R), God was there with every medic, nurse, with every person we could feel God's favour upon us.  We also felt God show His love through the many people who sent messages of encouragement and love - people who were praying across the world - in Spain, England, Guatemala and the USA.  We felt God's love and goodness in all those who came to see us in hospital, those who phoned and wrote messages saying that God was with us and had control of our baby.  I clearly remember a friend of Naomi's family saying that God had provided the lamb for the burnt sacrifice, just like when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac... It's amazing!!!

God is good and He always has control of our lives.  The vicar (pastor) from St.Thomas' church came to visit us at the hospital and we are certain that God sent him at just the right time, because we were feeling tired and sad, in fact I was also feeling ill... and the Lord told us through him, "When the disciples were in the boat, all of a sudden a storm broke out and the disciples were worried they might die, but Jesus calmed the wind and the sea and brought great stillness.  He calmed the storm.".

The pastor told us that Jesus was in our boat; that He would calm the storm, and in reality, that's just what happened.

God wants us to walk on water with Him., for us not to be afraid in life's storms and difficult moments: He wants to be with us in the boat.  Jesus wants us to walk together, for us to have faith in Him, to share His love, power, glory, goodness, justice.  He tells us that we are not alone, Jesus wants you to know that He is interested in you, and that in this life with Jesus we are stronger, because only in Him are we more than conquerors.

All the glory to God.

Hugs,
Luis, Naomi, Joshua and Isaac.

Written by Luis.

Naomi with Isaac, waiting for tests to be done on our first night in hospital.

After finding out we were being discharged! 

We continue our adventure, knowing that Jesus is aboard this boat!  ;)

Still, quiet waters or raging river rapids...

Our littlest man has just turned 5 weeks, and as I think back over this past month and a bit, its crazy how much our lives are changing. In next to no time, we have gone from being a cosy little 3 member family unit, to a fun (and exhausting!) family of 4. Luis has graduated from his four year medical residency and gone from 4 years of stable work, in a time of unstable economical crisis, to the unknowingness of unemployment.

With so many twists and turns and at times, we have no idea which way these crazy rapids and going to to take us. But God remains God, He remains good.

The next stop on our journey towards Canillá, Guatemala, is POTES, a little town buried between mountains.  Luis was told not to worry, that there would be plenty of supply work available over summer, but as he kept his phone close to him, alert not to miss any calls regarding job offers, nothing. Silence. For 5 weeks. So He surrendered this time to God. Knowing deep down, that this pause from work was important not only for him, but for this new famliy of 4. But it hasn't been easy all the time. There are sweet, endearing moments of sleepy cuddles with a newborn baby, and a big brother learning to love his little brother. Then there are moments that you just want to fast forward through - a colicky baby at 4a.m. or a 22 month old struggling to express himself at this time of huge change.

What keeps me going during so many changes is the reassurance I have, yet cannot explain, that God remains the same throughout all this.

That very morning that Luis gave in and handed over his hurries and worries to God, he got a phonecall saying that there was work available and he could go and choose his job! So we will be spending 2 months this summer in Potes where Luis will be working in the health centre.

 Seen by many as almost a punishment, so far away from the city, we had the opposite reaction. In fact I am convinced that it is part of our "training" in the run-up to Canillá - a far more rural setting, a completely different caseload, and a completely different culture to what we have lived the last four years in Santander.

And one of the things I love most about God, is His eye for detail in our lives. After searching high and low for a place to rent, with no success, out of the nothing a friend of a frined put us in touch with a landlady who had a few apartments available. Although the situation had seemed hopeless, I said to Luis, "If God wants us to move far away from our friends, church family and stability, I'm asking him for a nice place, even with a little garden where Joshy can run around and burn his energy!". (Luis laughed and told me I had a lot of faith).

I'll let the photo's do the rest of the talking :)

  Joshy already burning energy in the garden! ;)

   The front side of our home for 2 months this summer.

 View of Potes 

Luis in front of his new work place, the health centre in Potes.

And so we take courage in the fact that God remains the same, whether life leads us down raging rapids or by still, quiet waters; a constant in times of change.

Canillá, Guatemala.

I'm writing this with one hand, because my sweet new son, Isaac, is occupying my other arm...

Welcome to our blog!  We are a Christian family who believe that God is love and that He is really interested in those who are most in need.

For that same reason, some time ago now, we asked ourselves the following question: 'Why don't we use medicine to reach the most disadvantaged people?'. Those without opportunities, who live without hope. People who haven't got enough food to eat, who can't afford to buy paracetamol, never mind the antibiotics to save the life of their child suffering from pneumonia. People who are discriminated for being indigenous... Why can't we simply help our neighbours?

Yes, that's how our dream started out - our passionate hope that everyone should be seen equally, of the same value.  After all, we are all made by - and are children of - the same God.

So you see, that's how our road to Guate began.  The road towards a region in the highlands, more precisely in the department of Quiche, in a little town called Canillá.  Its in that very place where we will be living from January 2015 and working with an awesome group of people, in a hospital where we'll be able to help many people, whilst at the same time transmitting God's love, through Jesus.

Hugs, Luis.

Photo: Presenting Canillá, our future home as of Jan' 2015!