Love Is Blindness...Or So They Say

Well, the Maine Eye Team has arrived in Quiché, and today marks thefirsts full day of surgeries for them. What's on the docket you ask? About 12 cataract surgeries for a people who have had basically no access to eye care. Its great when sight can be restored with a simple procedure that the Maya would never receive otherwise.

This morning while Lance and I were doing some work around the dorm, a woman from the team, "Jane", came in to get some papers, etc. However, she burst into tears before she could tell us what she needed. "Jane" had just told a Mayan woman that she would never see again, due to advancedglaucomaa. Even though she had worked in the medical field for over 40 years, she had never felt this level of hopelessness or despair. She then commented that this is very hard for "an old atheist". My heart broke for her...its difficult enough to watch this from a faith perspective, knowing that whatever happens, I can have peace because Christ is in this. I do this out of a love for Him, and His people. I cannot imagine what it is like to deal with this type of mission without Him.

That experience also reminded me that the heart of our mission rests with the Guatemalans, but also with the medical teams that come down here. Many of them are, in fact,atheistss, or agnostic. They are a separate mission field unto themselves, and I usually spend more time with them than with the Mayans. Its about loving these professionals in practical ways that speak the love of Christ to them. I've said this before, and I will say it many many times: I'm glad its not my job to save the world. I will gladly leave that up to God, and let Him use me as He may, when He may.

Lance and I are doing great and enjoying our trip so far. I forget how long the days can be here. We are finding jobs to do to keep ourselves occupied and entertained. Later on today, we might venture out to market on bicycle...

Hasta Luego!
Carrie

"Love is blindness
I don't want to see
Won't you wrap the night
Around me
Oh my love
Blindness."
~'Love Is Blindness' U2

Of Course I Said Yes....

Well, its officially official. Lance and I are engaged! Yay! We went to Crystal Beach on Saturday, and Lance got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was not expecting a proposal since the ring wasn't supposed to be here until November. It was a wonderful, beautiful surprise, and it was the proposal of my dreams. Here is a pic of us from this summer. (I couldn't upload the ring pic, so here is the website if you have any notion to browse .....http://www.topazery.com/antique-jewelry-item-rg1636.htm . And he picked this one out all on his own, folks!) The wedding will be on March 24th, here in Houston at Cherry Hurst Park, and reception at Taft. I hope to see you there!

Love FromThe-Soon-to-be Mrs. Dickson,
Carrie

Movers and Shakers Unite

So I might actually be the worst blogger of all time.... (its actually been two months, maybe three since my last post)

Dr. Bell and her husband are settled in at their new residence in Guatemala, and doing a fabulous job. We are all so thankful that the organization can continue to function as it was meant to! The Bells work long and difficult days, but they love it so far. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue to serve the Maya people of Guatemala.

Lance and I will be headed down to Guate in two weeks for about 10 days. An eye team from Maine is on their way to do surgeries and clinic. After this team, I will (hopefully) be stateside until June. As it is, I get back from Guate on the 28th of October, and move into a new place on the same day. I will keep you updated better while I am there this time...I promise!

For all of my Teen Mania friends, I thought I would be able to make it to GV, but alas, I have a benefit show for Agape and a wedding that weekend. Give all my love to Ron and Dave and the whole family...

Peace,
Carrie

Stateside = Brightside

Just a quick note to let you know I'm back in the States...until Sunday, July 30th. Then its back to Guatemala to get our new doctor and her husband all moved in. I'll keep you posted on details later...

End Of The Line

Sorry to be absent for so long! We have been without internet for the majority of our time here. Somehow, updating my blog in a "cyber cafe" in a crumbling adobe storefront in Guatemala fell a little bit secondary to other pressing business. But we have hi-speed internet at the dorms now, and it only took 5 weeks! Seriously.

We will be coming home next week, and it has been quite the adventure. We´ve all had our fair share of Guatemala stomach, but mostly, we are all healthy and happy. And, I can safely say, ready to be home again.

So here is a brief glimpse of the last four weeks....

The bio-med repairman, Chuck, came down and we went all over the state of Quiché repairing medical equipment and embarking on all kinds of adventures (like forging two rivers in a pick-up truck to fix an ultrasound machine in the middle of nowhere, manuvering the "road" to Canaja, and braving Saturday traffic in Guatemala city with nothing but a trusty map and a pluck of courage). We had a great time.

We´ve also had three teams down, and the last one is here now. They have all been wonderful and kind, and so helpful. The team that is here now has been fantastic, and we are definitely ending on a high note. Its been so fun to watch their progression over the week...they come with one perspective, and leave with a completely different one. Its great to see a visible change that God begins...

We took four-day break (after not having a day off in over a month) and went down to Monterico, which is on the Pacific coast and has all black sand beaches. The accommodations were...rustic, but the experience was one of a kind and totally worth it. Then we went to Lake Atítlan and enjoyed riding the boats, eating exotic foods, interacting with the locals, buying all kinds of fun but useless stuff, and taking in the gorgeous volcanos and sunsets over the lake. I was nearly eaten alive by coffee flies (think mosquitos but so much worse), with 118 bites on my left leg and about 70 on the other. I looked like a leper for a few days, but I am now to the "I don´t really have chicken pox, but it looks like it" stage.

Other things to talk about on a more serious note... Juanito died last month after a very long, difficult bout with leukemia. Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for peace and comfort and healing for his family. Praise God that Juanito is home in His arms.

Relationships at the hospital have been great, but the conditions are less than acceptable. A few weeks ago, a baby in ICU died because the incubator stopped heating and the baby´s core body temperature dipped too low. Nobody caught it until it was much too late. Most of the patients share a room in the ICU, and flies cover their faces and bodies because it is an open-air facility and the resources just aren´t available to make things function properly. I witnessed a man bleed out on the surgery table because the suction machine could not keep up with the blood flow and the surgeons couldn´t see well enough to control or stop the bleeding. And there was no blood available to transfuse. These are regular occurances here, but they are still difficult to accept and witness. Its overwhelming and numbing at times, and its a struggle not to feel too much, or completely shut down. Its sometimes hard to strike the balance.

We want so badly to be able to make a lasting difference, to practically share the love of Christ, and build on the foundation that Dr. Street so lovingly laid over the last 10 years. It is sometimes easy to lose sight of the what is important here, especially when the needs are so overwhelming. But God is bigger than the need, and its not up to me to "fix" Guatemala. I will continue to take comfort in that fact, and rely on Him.

It is a privelage to serve and love the Mayans of Quiché. Thank you for your prayers, your love, and your support. I´m coming home soon.

With Joy,
Carrie

The Missionary Life (Week 1)

This week was... challenging, to say the least.

We had the youth team here from Houston, and they were a great bunch of kids. We were thankful to have such a grounded, joyful group of young people, and I almost didn´t mind sharing my room... that is, until I got sick. Again. This time, it was a bonified parasite, complete with simultaneous vomiting and Big D, while hallucenating and convulsing on the bathroom floor. I haven´t been so ill in a very long time. I managed to completely rid myself of all expendable bodily fluids, and then some. The poor girls who were sharing the room with me were scared that I was going to die, but little did they know that this is not an uncommon experience when you are in a foreign country. I still don´t know where I picked it up, but it hit me really fast. Luckily, the medicine took effect quickly and I am nearly recovered. Too bad for Bethany though... she had to pick up my slack with hosting the team, and I know she must be so tired.

We went to see Jacob earlier in the week, (Jacob is our main contact and Guatemala Agape trustee), and he asked for assistance for one of his former students, Juanito. Juanito is 13, and has been diagnosed with Leukemia. Its a tough disease to beat with the best technology, and nearly impossible with third world social medicine. The doctors have sent Juanito home to die, and his family cannot afford to buy the pain medicine that will make the last weeks of his life bearable. Jacob asked if we (Agape) could buy it for him... I cannot fathom what it must be like not to be able to afford the medicines to numb my child´s terminal pain. I cannot imagine what it is like not to have hope and what it must be bring my child home to die. Those things are more universal, they touch all of us in any culture one way or another... but not being able to buy the medicine? Its unimaginable. Whatever things I seem to be consumed with (hot summer days, parasites, daily stress of living in another country, etc.) somehow seem very trivial when labored in this light. I am also thankful that I operate an organization that is able to ease this child´s suffering, even if we cannot fix it.

Pray for Juanito and his family. May Jesus be with yours and ease the suffering in your hearts tonight.

Peace of Christ,
Carrie

This Is My Mountain

Well, the team is here (a youth team with lots of energy and a great attitude) from The Woodlands. We are having a great time so far. More kids came than expected, so I am sharing my room with three girls, ages 15-17. They are definitely taking me back to my Teen Mania days...

Its raining and thundering and lightening all the time, but it is so beautiful. You can set you clock by the 3:00 downpour that occurs everyday. Its amazing to watch the clouds roll in, gray and white against the dark green mountains. The property next to ours has a magnificent white horse, at least 18 hands high, who stands stoically as the rains fall down.

I am in love with Quiché.

Last night we went to our first church service. They were very appreciative of our being there, and that is a concept that I just don´t understand. How can they possibly be humbled by our presence when we are so in awe of who they are? The Mayans are a people who have endured 20 years of civil fighting and ethnic cleansing, and only in the last 10 years has there been peace. And even still, they are oppressed by the government and extremist Ladinos. To look into anyone´s eyes, who is over the age of 15, and know that they have witnessed the worst sides of humanity, (rape, child enslavement, ethnic cleansing, mutilation, destruction of entire villages and farms, etc...) and still continue to laugh and love and open their arms to us... I cannot fathom the contrast in my un-elastic Western mind. How Christ, when dwelling within the human spirit, can truly cover our worst injustices with His consuming love. It is a broad and dangerous landscape to step into.

This experience is sweet and wonderful and so heart-rending. Being away from Lance is difficult, and I am eager to get home. (I´ve never in my life felt such an ache as I do now.) But I know this is my calling, this is my mountain. So even as I step out my door every morning and look into the distance at other mountains and villages, I feel the Spirit of God comforting my heart, whispering His promises in my ear. I am at peace with this place. I am consumed by His love.

May His love consume you today.

Carrie