Mission Guatemala » Last Word

Sharon Smart-Poage of Mayan Families

Tom — Sun, 16 May 2010 00:33:28 +0000

Hello! My husband Dwight and I run an organization in Guatemala called Mayan Families.

We are very excited to hear about the plans for a clinic in San Andrés. There is a great need for a clinic to serve the community and the surrounding communities. Many people here in Guatemala die every day from diseases that are totally preventable if they could have access to a doctor and medicine. We see the tragedies that occur every day here because of the lack of medical help. Mayan Families will be able to help keep the clinic very busy.

Mayan Families is also considering taking over the operation of an orphanage in San Andrés. If we do, this will also necessitate the need for opening a boys’ home for older boys who will be aging out of the orphanage. We hope to be able to partner with Mission Guatemala to help with the many needs that will come with the opening of this home. The clinic location offers all kinds of possibilities for a vocational training center for these young men.

We are very enthused about this project and can attest first hand to the great need. It will make a difference in the lives of these poor Mayan people.

Cory and Staci Herrin

Tom — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 03:25:11 +0000

We consider it a real blessing to be a part of Pastor Tom’s life and we have felt privileged to support the good works of Salud y Paz. When the opportunity arose to visit Tom in Guatemala, we were excited about the chance to see this mission site in action.

We traveled to Guatemala with a team from The Turning Pointe and St. Paul’s United Methodist Churches in Evansville, Indiana. We had a plan to build a playground and conduct a vacation Bible school at Salud y Paz. Beyond that, however, we did not know what we could expect from our visit.

What we discovered is that God is using the staff at Salud y Paz to provide amazing services for His children. The Guatemalan children are loved and cared for at the preschool and patients at the clinic are diagnosed and treated with love and respect. The staff at Salud y Paz is a dedicated group who have truly heeded God’s call to love “the least of these”.

As I write this, we are approaching the end of our week in Guatemala. We will be sad to leave, however, we will take with us many memories of our time at Salud y Paz. We will remember the blisters and sweat as we toiled on the playground, and the joy we felt when the children descended onto the equipment for the first time. We will also remember the many smiles and hugs we shared with the kids at VBS. We will certainly remember their patience as we struggled with broken Spanish and the laughter as we realized that we don’t need common words to share God’s love.

Most of all, however, we will take with us the awareness of God’s hand at work at Salud y Paz. Hopefully, the families that use the school and the clinic will be blessed by the work we have done there. We know, however, that it cannot compare with the blessings we received by serving them.

Todd Outcalt – Sr. Pastor Calvary UMC Brownsburg, IN

Tom — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:56:41 +0000

Some months ago, my friend, Tom Heaton, sent me a small supply of cloth wristbands which had been made in Guatemala. Tom and his son, Manuel, are serving as missionaries, caring for the people of Guatemala through a health clinic that provides medical assistance, nutrition and care. And me . . . I have been wearing one of these “prayer bracelets” on my wrist since I received it.

Every time I think about the bracelet, or feel it, I offer up a prayer for Tom and the work. And I’ve found myself whispering prayers in some unique places: in the grandstand at a high school football game, in the car, or while lifting a cup of coffee to my lips.

We don’t have to say flowery or lengthy prayers to remember God’s work and we certainly don’t have to set aside days or weeks in order to remember others. Rather, our prayers can be whispers and sighs.

I’m also remembering Tom and Manuel and their work through my writing, as I have been giving royalties from my books and CDs to their work. Everyone has something to give. Our creativity, time, and effort can have an impact on others . . . even those who live in another hemisphere.

So, do what you do best. Give as best you can. Pray. Hope. That’s something to write about.

Don Long – Sr. Pastor Godfrey First UMC Godfrey, Illinois

Tom — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:08:53 +0000

It must have been something I ate… the last thing I wanted to do was “rock on the dock with the crock,” entertaining dozens of children at our VBS: “Crocodile Dock.” Instead, I wanted to insulate myself from the world and isolate myself from everyone, but duty called, so off I went. It turned out to be one of those “I’m glad I did it” moments in my life.

The 90+ children hanging around on the dock were so excited to sing songs of praise, share in the stories of our faith, and challenge one another to raise money for missionaries like Tom Heaton in Guatemala. The kids ended up collecting over $500.00 for Salud Y Paz from their own nickels, pennies, dimes and quarters—that’s a lot of change. But the real change was the one taking place in me, in the lives of those kids, and we hope—in the lives of those touched by the ministries of Salud Y Paz.
Dr. Phil Plunk, Director of Salud Y Paz once quoted a line from a song saying, “if we could only forget our problems as easily as we forget our blessings…” well, that day I forgot my problems because of the rich blessings of our children. I was filled with the joy of God’s salvation and the blessings of sacrificial fellowship because of our kids. I’m glad I choose to connect.

John Ortberg, in an astute observation about Jesus’ parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13), writes that the rich man was alone with his wealth. When the rich man had a bumper crop and needed to make a decision about what to do with it, he had a discussion with himself, asking, “What shall I do?” The rich man had no one to talk to: “He thought to himself…” Jesus pictured the man utterly alone: “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops… this is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself….” It was all about “me, myself, and I,” if you will.

It’s interesting. This parable is Jesus’ response to the request of “someone in the crowd” asking Him to settle a dispute between himself and his brother regarding an inheritance. I used to think this parable was about focusing on people as opposed to possessions; on God, not the world–you know,–store up your treasures in heaven… But now I think it’s more about sharing our possessions with people. Jesus asked, “Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (vs. 20) His question is about WHO will share in the blessings with the rich man. It’s not a question of WHERE his blessings come from.

The greatest blessing that came from the “Dock” was sharing in the blessings of our children sharing their blessings, unrestrained, for children they’ve never met. And to think, I nearly missed it because of some undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato… bah humbug.