This will be brief. (GRIN)

Woody Woodson brought Amy Turnblazer and Jason her husband and Sam Johnson Amy’s dad.  Amy has joined Vine International to help tell the story of Vine to venues that will provide grants and financing to improve quality of the donations to medical missions in Guatemala.   Woody in the USA is a laid back repentant hippie, down here in Guatemala he is known as Hurricane Goody (a name he earns  every trip).

I picked them up at the airport about noon on Sunday, to the Barcelo Hotel, met Tom Sanders of Shalom Foundation and went  to the facility that he has overseen the renovation of, called Moore Pediatric Surgical Center for a tour.  Next was a tour of Asociacion Vine International Guatemala bodega (warehouse) for Amy to see what we do.  We then toured Fundo Ninos orphanage and had supper with Manolo and Vilma Benfeldt, some of their family.  Manolo is one of our board members here in Guatemala.  We also had the supreme pleasure of having the Tejeda-Harris family share the evening with us.

While the team flew on Monday to Peten and toured Hospital Shalom, Cindy and I worked here at the house to prepare for the Community Chapel team coming on Saturday and praying that a container would come that we were expecting.  I also took the crew from International Christian Hospice to an elder care home for My Sweet Refuge in Palencia.  With much thanks to Andrea Tejeda, the container came on Tuesday while the team was traveling back to the city after visiting Ranchero de Esperanza , an orphanage and dear friends of our ministry in Rio Dulce.  Mike Rhea then drove for us the rest of the trip.  I volunteered to share the driving but Mike kept mumbling something about me being trained by Dennis Rice Driving School.

The whirlwind kept up on Wednesday with visits to Clinica Ezell a work of Health Talents International and Hospital Santa Fe then up the mountain to Quetzaltenango (Xela) and the night in the Modelo.  We met another board member John Diehl and his wife Alma at the best Italian Restaurant in the western hemisphere, Bennie Cardinelli’s.  From past experience I ordered ½ order… thank you Bennie.

Next morning we beat feet to Panajachel and Lake Atitlan.  When just past Solola we ran into a protest that blocked the road until after 11:00… that meant that crossing the lake would potentially be a little choppy.  We crossed to Santiago and visited Hospitalito Atitlan and took tuc-tuc rides from and to the docks.  Santiago is probably the largest indigenous village in the world well over 40,000 population over 98% Mayan.  The clothes are colorful.  The ride back across the lake was a little choppy as predicted.   We ate a late lunch and met Tom Heaton and Dave Burns of Mission Guatemala and drove up the mountain to their new medical and dental clinic and feeding program.

The next day we were up early to beat the strike we knew was going to occur at the same intersection… which we did with success but we ran smack dab in the mob that cut the main road protesting in sympathy to the friends down the mountain.  We sat for over two hours.   Late to Chimaltenango we met Lissett Mooney, Chris Mooney’s daughter at the wheelchair shop of Bethel Ministries/Joni and Friends.  An amazing ministry… Then Antigua where we met missionary friends Dick Rutgers and Stephanie Hawley and had a good nights rest at Cindy and my favorite hotel, Hotel Aurora.

We tried to introduce Amy to a broad mix of ministries that our “Pipeline” supplies in part.  She saw new and old, national and expatriot supported medical missions, hospital and clinic settings.  We had amazing things happen along the way, but that will make for other stories.  Lots of pictures accompany this story.  Check the photos out here.

We are preparing to work with Community Chapel team on a wall for an orphanage early in the morning.  I will share more in near future.

Much more later… God continues to show His amazing provision.

In Christ, Dennis and Cindy McCutcheon