Greetings from Coban, Guatemala! Spring Break 2025
March 31, 2025
March 8, 2025
Hello everyone,
Greetings from the village of Las Flores, Guatemala. After arriving in Guatemala City on Thursday, we drove halfway to our destination and stayed the night in the city of Cobán. On Friday morning, we drove the rest of the way to Las Flores. After arriving, we spent the afternoon unpacking our equipment and setting up the kitchen, our tents, and the medical and dental clinics.
After we finished setting up the clinics, the village community prayed for us in a traditional Mayan ceremony. They expressed their gratitude for us coming to serve their community and prayed blessing over our work and time with them that week. Dr. Sherman expressed our gratitude for their hospitality, the opportunity to serve them, and for God’s gift of connecting our two communities. He emphasized that it is God’s provision and plan that is at the core of all healing and service throughout the week. The ceremony ended with fireworks and lots of dancing, and our team joined the children in the community to dance to the playing of Marimba.
One highlight of last night was having a long conversation in Spanish with Kevin, one of the young adults in the village who I developed an amazing friendship with last year. He greeted me with a huge smile on his face and we were able to catch up after a year, talking about his life, his family, his journey in school, his church, and his daily routine. I then introduced Kevin to Trevor, who was able to use his Spanish to communicate with Kevin more thoroughly. Savoie, Joseph, Jackson, and Aubrey joined us, and we talked about his career aspirations, what type of work he and his family does, and about his school community. Savoie and Trevor were also able to tell Kevin about their travels across the Spanish speaking world. After developing a friendship with Kevin last year, it was amazing to introduce him to some of my friends and communicate with each other on a deeper level, expressing our gratitude for each other in the process.
This morning, Saturday, we began the first day of clinics. Each morning and afternoon, we will see a different village from the surrounding areas and treat the medical and dental needs of members of the community. Each student will rotate through different stations within the clinic throughout the week, such as medical and dental assistant, triage, sterilization, floater, and spending time with the children of the community.
It was an absolute joy to see the purpose, intent, joy, and peace on each student’s face as they began their service in the clinic this morning. Every student’s eagerness struck me, and the team worked seamlessly to be aware of each other’s needs and meet them, regardless of if it was their assigned role or not.
It is clear to me that God guided every student on this trip here for a purpose, and I am incredibly excited to see how he continues to guide each student to serve the community throughout the week. The end goal of pursuing a career in healthcare can be difficult to see clearly in the daily toil of our school schedule, and I believe God has guided our team here to grant clarity and encouragement in his vocational mission for all of us, to love our neighbors through the vessel of healthcare. It is my prayer that through every action, word, and deed, God will guide those we serve into his loving arms throughout the week.
We will continue to serve the surrounding villages in the medical and dental clinics for the next 3.5 days. We are excited to share a devotion together this evening and share together how God has touched each of our hearts today. We are so grateful for your support and continued prayers, and we cannot wait to tell you so many stories from our trip in person.
Blessings,
Cayden
March 9, 2025
Today was incredible. One story that impacted me occurred as I was shadowing Dr Leeper this morning. I saw a hemangioma, similar to a lipoma, in the forehead of a teenage girl, and she was concerned about what it was. Dr. Leeper was able to calm her down, and help her realize that it was not malignant, which took some anxiety off of her. It was also a heavy morning with Dr. Chaney diagnosing a patient that potentially needed a liver transplant, and we were not able to treat them for the moment but helped give them a support plan to move forward short term and pointed to some organizations that could help contribute for them to get surgery if needed.
This afternoon I was with Dr. Lizzy in the dental clinic, and it was cool seeing how culture became a difference in her life and how she took a long gap of 9 years between her first and second “grades” of dental school. But now she’s been doing missions for 19 years and has been able to impact so many communities over the years. I was able to watch her extract 5 different teeth from molars to baby teeth, and also got to see her clean a cavity as well. Two of the teeth had abscesses on them which made them ultra painful on the patient, yet that patient persevered and it was so cool watching Dr. Lizzy calm them down through her Spanish and Q’echi (which is the native language of the villages).
Overall, day 2 in the clinic was such a blessing, and to cap it off, tonight I was given the opportunity to lead a devotion on Psalm 119 and lead the group in taking communion and reflect on what our purpose is here on Earth and where we have seen Jesus throughout our time here at the villages.
Blessings,
Jackson
March 10, 2025
Today we woke up to lots of rain and beautiful fog over the mountains. However, with all the rain we were concerned that we would not have as many patients make it to the clinic. Thankfully, we ended up having quite a full day.
This morning we were blessed by a devotion led by Dr. Blair, one of our dentists, as he talked about the gift of union of the Christian body. This is something that impacts how we serve while we are here because without each working piece, we would not be able to provide the necessary care. It was a beautiful reminder of how God pieced this team together for the betterment of our mission.
I’d also like to share some of the incredible stories from clinic today that embody this message. This morning Dr. Chaney was able to complete a minor but delicate procedure on a young boy who got a splinter stuck in his eye while farming. This would not have been possible without the help of Adicay’s director, Ana, finding and bringing the necessary supplies. The procedure went smoothly and we will check in on the boy tomorrow to see if he is improving. Without the procedure and proper resources, this boy would have lost vision in his eye from scar tissue growing over his pupil.
Another beautiful moment was the opportunity to get to know Rex, one of the men that came with us to help wherever is needed. Rex is actually an engineer, but he helps in so many ways outside of the clinic with things like the generators or other equipment, anything to help the clinic run smoothly. But I was blessed with the opportunity to learn a little more of his story and it was beautiful. It is amazing to see how the Lord works in people’s lives, and just one question can open your heart to another’s story. Rex is a true reflection of Christ in the work that he does and the heart he has for service.
To close out the evening, we ate together and then Makenzie led a devotion on John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” This verse means a lot in relation to what work we came to do. For without us walking in faith and abiding in God’s will then we would not be able to show the love of our Father to the people of Las Flores and other communities.
I want to thank everyone who is praying for us and ask that you continue to pray that the Lord guides us to do His work and show His love.
Aubrey
March 11, 2025
Hello friends,
We just wrapped up our last full day in the Las Flores clinic. Tomorrow we will see our final patients and begin the process of packing up the clinic and planning for our return next year.
It was a foggy morning in our camp as we ate breakfast together and began our day. Aubrey, a returning student leader, shared a devotional time, reading from Philippians and encouraging us with Paul’s words of unity and faithful service. With such little time left here, the message helped give our team renewed focus and commitment to one another and the work ahead of us.
The village which arrived first to the clinic in the morning brought many families, especially mothers with young children. My first rotation was assisting the women’s health nurse practitioner on the team. Nurse Julie has served on the team for several years and brings a great deal of experience and knowledge to a place with such acute needs. We had the opportunity to care for a variety of needs and ailments, but some of the most special moments came when we were called to examine pregnant mothers and confirm fetal heartbeats.
One mother in particular left such a strong impact on me. At seventeen, she was five months into her pregnancy and facing a volatile home life with her husband and his family. Tragically, this is not an uncommon story. But in spite of the darkness and difficulty of her situation (that we know such a small part of), we were able to provide her with treatment, counseling, and a heartbeat ultrasound. Watching her face light up as she heard her baby’s heartbeat was incredibly special.
After seeing our final patients for the day, we had enough daylight left to hike one of the hills surrounding the village to visit the site of the tank that provides their clean water. The view is breathtaking, and never fails to help me feel so close to God and in awe of the world He’s made and called us into.
Dr. Leeper, one of the team’s veteran practitioners, led our evening devotion time and the team reflected on the ways our lives have already been so impacted by the days we have spent in Guatemala. Being able to provide life-saving care, treatment, and support for patients facing such varied needs here helps bring both gravity and immense encouragement. My fellow students have truly been examples of Christ’s love and compassion in such practical ways this week, looking out for one another and serving with excitement and humility in the clinics.
I could write a much longer update with the countless stories we experience in every shift, but I’ll end this now with a simple expression of gratitude to all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the ways in which you support this work—your prayers and encouragement mean far more than you know.
With love,
Grace
March 12, 2025
Greetings from Guatemala! We started today off with a pancake breakfast in the beautiful foggy mountains (don’t be jealous if you’ve never had breakfast in a cloud). We then headed to the clinic for our last shift. It was a busy half day since the community knew we would all be leaving tomorrow. On the dental side, there were many teeth extracted. It was amazing to witness both the confidence and skill the dentists employed and the gratitude showed by patients in the form of hugs or smiles after decayed or infected teeth were removed. On the medical side, there were some very interesting cases. Dr. Chaney removed a cutaneous horn from a 76 year old and sutured her up. A previous patient returned for a follow up and had improved after previous removal of a splinter in his eye. Afterwards, we packed up the clinic and headed to the soccer fields with the kids. We played a very fun (and intense) game of 20 v 20 soccer. Aside from accidentally hitting a cow with the ball, there were no injuries. Following the game, we returned to camp, ate dinner, and said a very long goodbye to the children. We took lots of pictures to remember our time with everyone, and we already miss the kids. 10/10 day and ready to wake up at 4am to head for Antigua in the morning! We’ve packed up tents and are all piling into the schoolhouse to sleep so hopefully no one snores too loud. God has been so so gracious to us on this trip, and I have loved seeing the group work together to serve the community, each other, and God. He has provided for and sustained us this entire trip, and I am eager to see how he continues working in and through all of our lives.
Blessings,
Ella
Not a Trip
Category: Student Life