It has been bombero week at the bodega….

Bomberos are local volunteer firemen and we had different crews in the warehouse each of the first three days this week.  The next time you see your local volunteer fire crew “turned out” look them over real close.  Do you see holes or thread bare areas on those heavy protective clothes?  Crews here and particularly the rural crews don’t have enough turn out gear for the whole crew.  What gear they have will have holes in the knees and elbows, not particularly safe is it?

We are blessed to be able to help some of these crews.  We sent three ambu bags to a three ambulance crew in Rehu – they had NONE.  Dressing materials, cervical collars, exam gloves and many other items have been shared this week with at least four different stations.  Jeff Burns a friend in Burnsville NC has the JAMES Project and is sending us a bundle of stuff.  The JAMES Project sends us backboards, bandage scissors, oxygen tanks and many other things.  Jeff is an EMT with flight training and has a real heart for these real life heroes.  We hope to get Jeff down here sometime this year to do some training sessions.  We consider it a privilege to pray with these crews before they leave the bodega.  Some of them even covet those prayers I learned this week when I forgot to offer to pray and that team asked me to pray for them like I did before… Lord, help me to never loose an opportunity like that again.

Vine International is working behind the scenes with Hospital Shalom in Peten and Missionary Air Group (MAG) to start an air ambulance project to serve the largest most rural state in Guatemala.  We do what we do best and ship their gear, Tim and Sean do the hard work of shaking hands (grin) and watching a bunch of guys unload the truck.  Check out some of the stories over the last 16 months on the MAG web site linked above.  The “International Airport” in Peten has no gear to fight airport fires.  MAG and Hospital Shalom have been gathering gear for this set of volunteers.  Vine has in our bodega a large Scott Air compressor system to fill air packs – what you see centered on men’s back’s as they walk into the fire on TV.  It was exciting unloading this 5.000 lb. unit… It lifted the back wheels off the floor and I couldn’t steer or drive the forklift.  Domingo and the driver stood on the back of the forklift until we got enough of the unit out and I could re set the forks.  (I learn something new almost every day here… sometimes it is even useful!)

The crew from Station 69 (our closest fire department) came on Monday to bring lunch… well on their way to the bodega in a curve just above town there was a collision right in front of them a car and a bicycle.  The cyclist had a head injury.  So they called us and delayed lunch and took the young man to Roosevelt Hospital.  Imagine riding on your back on bumpy roads, head bandaged, siren going and smelling some one elses chicken soup and fresh tortillas.  Lunch was only delayed about an hour and a half… with time for treatment at the scene, transport, transfer of patient, physical exam, history of treatment, I think our lunch had lights and siren BOTH WAYS.  the soup was still hot when we got to sit with this crew and eat.  Felix and Emilio told us the chicken was not store bought and not farm raised, it was “a patio chicken.”  I think that means it was kept close to home and fed corn.  You should have seen the fat sitting on top of the soup broth.  Sssooo gooood!.  Emilio brought some home made hot sauce that makes Texas Pete look like a preschooler. He also invited Cindy to the party and dance when they open a new station in San Jose Pinula.  And I was standing right there, too.

So many projects and so many things to do.  Thank you for your support keeping us in this harvest field (Matthew chap. 9).  As usual photo and ministry website links are in red.  Just click your mouse over these highlighted sections to go to photos etc.

In Christ

Dennis and Cindy McCutcheon