Hello! My name is Amanda Romero, I am a Texas A&M ‘22 graduate, aspiring medical student, Venezuelan immigrant, and Jesus lover. I had the privilege of going on the Team Farrow 821 trip summer 2024 with the most incredible people ever! I was introduced to FIP by Dr. Farrow when he was volunteering at my work, and I immediately knew I wanted to go. This medical mission trip was the first of many, and I hope to continue going on trips like these with Faith in Practice for a very long time. This blog is from a newbie’s point of view, with lots and lots of help from Maya Condon, an incoming senior in high school and aspiring nursing student who is also a newbie. We hope this blog encourages you to join us on the next trip and see what God can do through you to bless the people of Guatemala!
Day 1: Flight/Guatemala City
Maya’s intro excerpt: “Upon arrival at the airport, Dr. Farrow’s team is filled with emotions of excitement, nerves, and curiosity. These are common emotions felt when visiting, to some, an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people, and a vague sense of what adventures await. While checking bags, going through security, and finding the gate, team members get to know one another and share with each other their unique backgrounds that form such a well rounded and diverse group. It is a group built upon surgeons, anaesthesiologists, various nurses, translators, and people who are here to do whatever is asked of them in supporting Faith in Practice’s mission.They come to know one another’s differences but are bonded by the fact that everyone on this team is here to serve a community and has a desire to do good.”
I was a little nervous to meet everyone but everyone is super down to earth and friendly! made a new friend in Maya, her dad Eric, Dr. Noel, and Karla my roommate:)
I made some friends on the plane named Pablo and Lilia. Lilia lives in Washington State and Pablo in Alabama, they were going to Guatemala to visit some family. Pablo and I watched the Colombia vs Costa Rica game on the plane for the first half and then we couldn’t anymore because we were out of the Direct TV range, but I slept well on the plane! They also told me some stuff about their country. Pray for Lilia to be successful in buying property in Guatemala! She wants to retire soon.
Hotel Barcelo was super nice!
Extremely excited about all the Lord is going to do through us this week!
Day 2: Guatemala City to Retalhuleu
Breakfast was AMAZING!
The Lord is so faithful, read Psalm 8 this morning and read Psalm 23 because it has been on my heart, been “coincidentally” listening to a lot of songs that talk about Psalm 23 the past week or so and for 2 days in a row it’s been the verse of the day… I think this is the scripture for this week! I feel especially convicted by this: I feel He is guiding and comforting me, I lack nothing, He is leading me in paths of righteousness for His name. I must not fear because He is with me. I especially feel drawn to verse 5. I have been thinking a lot about oil/anointing, I think the Holy Spirit is telling me I’m walking in the anointing and that my cup is in the process of overflowing!! Holy Spirit come and fill our hearts! Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I’ll dwell in His house for eternity TYJ
Watching the Guatemalan people on the ride to Retalhuleu is so humbling. They are such hard workers, it’s easy to see. Like how we say in Venezuela, son muy echados pa’lante. I can’t wait to serve them. Lord, Your sons and daughters are beautiful. And their land is breathtaking. How great are the works of Your hands. Lord please bless the work of their hands and bless their families! Bless them with good health and soften their hearts towards You! “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven… Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Prepare my heart to serve them as You would, thank you for letting me be Your hands and feet, use me!!! In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I adore the people on this team!!!! So much!! The nurses are so cool, I’ve made so many new friends, loving kindhearted people. Thank you Jesus!!!
Day 3: Triage and Hospital Orientation, 1st Day of Mobility Clinic
Wow what a jam packed day!!! I translated for Dr. Farrow for a bit while he was interviewing patients, then I sat outside with the patients taking pictures and talking to them. They’re all so sweet and beautiful. There were so many I wish I remembered all of their names but I will always remember their faces, my brothers and sisters
Dr. Farrow’s devotionals for this week will be about servant hearts and how they consist of compassion, kindness, sacrifice, humility, courage, and joy. Memorable quote: “To become close to the one suffering we have to be willing to be vulnerable ourselves.”
Went to the mobility clinic and took pictures, spoke with patients and their families, translated for Dr. Noel (what a guy, he is amazing).
Saw some guys about my age go through what no one should have to go through. One of them fell out of a tree while working and shattered his L1 which almost left him paralyzed but he can sort of get around with crutches (after surgery) thank the Lord! There was another one who had a motorcycle accident 6 years ago, had a brain bleed so they had to remove a part of his skull and place it on his hip so the brain swelling could go down, and then after the surgery he had a stroke which left his left side and a small part of his face paralyzed. He is still waiting for the surgery to place his skull fragment back on his head, and has been living life with his brain unprotected for the past 6 years due to the cost of surgery. Thank you Jesus for these two walking miracles! Thank you for having a purpose for their lives and for giving them the strength to keep going! I also saw a man diagnosed with spinal stenosis, had 3 surgeries, one for opening the spinal canal again, didn’t work so they did something else, and then the last one was more preventative so they put screws in to prevent it from getting worse. Pray for strength for this man!
Cousins Irma and Rosa Maria, and their children that were with them, Irma’s kids 17 yo Paola and ~4yo Eduardo, and Rosa Maria’s daughter 15 yo Heidi, absolutely stole my heart. They are both single moms whose husbands left them a long time ago for other women. They have been raising their kids together, but they have not been able to work in recent years due to their diabetes getting increasingly severe. Because of this, only Irma’s 14 yo son is still in school and working. The girls have stopped going to school because they couldn’t afford it, so they have also started working. This broke my heart. Heidi wants to be a lawyer, and Paola doesn’t know what she wants to be just yet, but I felt in my heart the Lord wanted to encourage them through me, so I prayed for them. Please keep this family in your prayers, I declare health, redemption, provision, and opportunities for this family to progress into everything the Lord has for them in Jesus’ name Amen.
Seeing patients’ reactions to them getting wheelchairs was such a blessing.
Juan had an inspiring story of a patient he met today. He was translating for Dr. Hoffman when a patient came in who had had a large, inconveniently placed hernia for the past 20 years and wanted to have a hernia repair surgery. Unfortunately, he had also recently been diagnosed with diabetes and had uncontrolled blood sugars, which prevented him from being able to have the surgery. Despite the disappointment of not being able to have surgery just yet and having already paid the hospital fee, he decided to not get a refund and donate his money so that someone else could have surgery who otherwise would not be able to afford it. Juan and everyone else around him at the dinner table, were deeply touched by this man’s generosity and purity in heart.
finished my med school applications at a bar in Guatemala, which was the only place in the hotel that had wifi. Thank you Jesus.
Day 4: 2nd Day of Mobility Clinic, 1st Day of Surgeries
Dr. Farrow’s devotional today was about mercy, not seeing judgment or shame, but rather knowing we are called to show mercy because God is merciful to us.
We had the privilege to see 18 patients in the mobility clinic and prayed with 17/18! Pray for the old man and his daughter who declined prayer! May Jesus reveal Himself to him and show him how much He loves him! Pray for Rolando to get checked for his swallowing problem with ENT, and for the orthopedists to help him extend his shortened leg! Pray the Lord puts people around him that help him in whatever ways he needs, that he continues to go to church and seek what God has for him after having this second chance at life after being hit by a truck! Praise God for being merciful!!!
First day of surgeries! This was my first time seeing general surgeries and only my second time seeing surgeries in general! Dr. Farrow and Journey (surgical tech) did a great job explaining things as they went for the laparoscopic procedures, I learned so much and am so grateful for this opportunity.
Got to hold a fibroadenoma in my hands so that was cool, praise God for that.
Got to see gallbladder removals, hernia repairs, a lumpectomy, and fellowship with others in the OR! Lord, help me have ears to hear and eyes to see.
Fellowshiping with the team members has been so fun, Emily, Karla, Juan and his wife Dania, Eric, Maya, Rosemary, Dennis, doctors Farrow, Hoffman, Noel, Elk, Lee!
Cristal shared her testimony with me during breakfast of how God radically transformed her life!! I also shared my testimony with her, God knows what He’s doing by letting me meet all of these amazing people!
Day 5: 3rd Day of Mobility Clinic, 2nd Day of Surgeries
I was thankful to be reminded of choosing joy in this morning’s devotional, how joy is a spiritual choice, it is a gift that is ongoing and does not depend on circumstance.
Had my first real breakdown of the week at the mobility clinic. I am so thankful for Dr. Noel sharing his wisdom with me and taking the time to encourage me by letting me know I’m not crazy for having these feelings. Debora is a diabetic double amputee who lives alone, cannot work anymore, has no family, her husband left her many years ago, and all three of her children died in childbirth. Her faith in God was inspiring to me. She is a living testament that if Jesus is all you have, you have all you need. I wish we could’ve done more to help her, but as Dr. Noel said, sometimes the best we can do is to pray for them and give it to God. Jesus is the Great Physician anyway, not us. Pray for Debora to have a community around her that helps her, somewhere where she feels valued, loved, and where she is able to declare the Lord’s goodness in her life. Her joy helped me learn how to be more joyful in my own life.
There was a lady in the mobility clinic who was coming in for a wheelchair because she was old and likely had age-related arthritis. She used to have a wheelchair, but she had given it to a lady who she said was dragging herself into church and needed it more than she did. The Guatemalan people have a heart of gold and no one can convince me any different.
Cristal is so sweet! She gifted me something so thoughtful, she has a heart of gold! What a good friend.
Today was Mr. Byron’s birthday! He works for Faith in Practice and he is deserving of everything good! He himself is wheelchair bound, but he has made it his mission to help build wheelchairs in the mobility clinic! He is an amazing human and I am so glad we were able to celebrate him. Went to bed early today, am ready to rest in order to be fully recharged for tomorrow.
Day 6: 4th Day of Mobility Clinic, 3rd Day of Surgeries
The devotional today was about how our hearts are unconventional and how our unconventional hearts are pleasing to God because we were uniquely made in His image to serve Him in the good works He has prepared for us. I was reminded of 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, many members but one body. Everyone serves a unique and important purpose, and I am so grateful to be part of a team that is appreciative and honoring of everyone’s work and is an encouraging environment.
Pray for “M”, he has severe kidney and liver issues but has not been able to follow-up with specialists. He came with his mom and a friend, who were reasonably very concerned. It’s encounters like these that make me frustrated at global health systems and make me want to make a change. Not only is he physically sick, but he is having symptoms of delusion and suicidal ideations. Dr. Noel explained that sometimes liver disease can cause psychosis. Thankfully, “M” is aware and wants help, but there are no resources in Guatemala for people like him to get psychiatric evaluations at a reasonable cost unless it’s through the government hospitals which are very expensive and far from where he lives, or private practices which are even more expensive. If you are a psychiatrist or psychologist, please consider volunteering for FIP! The people of Guatemala seriously need increased awareness and resources for mental health issues or complications.
Pray for Elmer and his mom, he is a young 23 yo man with cerebral palsy and a beautiful smile.
Maya is such a sweet girl. She went to the preschool near the hospital and went to sing for the kiddos. What an angel!
Dr. Hoffman let me hold a gallbladder AND pour it out AND hold the gallstone after the surgery was completed. Best day ever. Not to mention, he is a 10/10 teacher and human! Had the whole OR captivated by everything he was teaching us!
Maya, Eric, Dennis, and I were able to go play mini golf near our hotel, great way to wind down from the day with great friends!
Day 7: Last Day of Clinic and Surgeries
The devotional today was about humility, and I think this whole week was a lesson on humility for all of us. We don’t HAVE to do this, we GET to do this. We GET to love others because Christ first loved us.
Lonnie showed me how to build a wheelchair! It was fun and exciting to get to use power drills again!! Him and his wife Amanda have such big hearts for God and for people, they are just two amazing examples of the 26 incredible humans on this team this year.
I learned a lot about patient care, surgery, family medicine, and bedside manner from all of the healthcare professionals here! I can’t wait to continue to work with people like them in the real world.
The Guatemala staff including Fito, Claudia, Lidia, Anita, Byron, and Moises are such hard workers, may the Lord bless them for their beautiful hearts!
The menu at the hotels were very good and catered to everyone’s dietary needs.
During rounds and after the surgeries, I saw a lot of the patients that I met on the first triage day. It was so rewarding to see everyone’s relief and gratitude for the work we’ve done this week, and I pray God uses the work we’ve done in His name for His glory in the patients’ communities, families, and future generations.
Day 8: Retalhuleu to Antigua
Karla, Marco, and I had our own personal tour guide in Jeanine. We all fell in love with Antigua and made vows to buy little houses next to each other there and be best friends. I loved learning about Guatemalan history, culture, and art through its people, cities, and food.
Thank you Jesus for allowing us to have the experience of a lifetime this week! There are not enough pages on this seemingly infinite Google doc that can fit all of my experiences, emotions, and lessons from this mission, let alone everyone else’s. I hope that you got a little glimpse into what our week looked like where strangers became family, patients’ needs were met, and most importantly the name of Jesus was glorified. Our team of 26 was able to see and treat 175 of our Guatemalan brothers and sisters while learning many invaluable lessons in humility, mercy, compassion, and joy! We were blown away by the gratitude and beautiful hearts of those we served. One of the patients explained that she and many others had been praying for the surgeries and mobility assistance we provided, and said that we were God’s answer to their prayers. We are so honored that God uses us to be His hands and feet to help bring His love to the Guatemalan people. If you are thinking of joining a mission trip, do it! Your life will be changed and the Lord will use you to be a blessing to many.
Acts 2:42-47
-Amanda Romero
