April Update

The Los Laureles Clinic in March

Mondays: 28, 39, 37, 23 = 127
Tuesdays: 46, 37, 45, 64 = 192
Wednesdays: 36, 43, 26, 28 = 133
Thursdays: 23, 32, 49, 39 = 143
Fridays: 25, 30, 52, 15 = 122
Saturdays: 13, 17, 14, 12 = 56
TOTAL: 773 patients


The Los Pinos Clinic in March
Mondays: 19, 22, 24, 19 = 84
Tuesdays: 23, 33, 19, 37 = 112
Wednesdays: 26, 27, 32, 27 = 112
Thursdays: 31, 30, 17, 40 = 118
Fridays: 20, 29, 12, 45 = 106
Saturdays: 11, 10, 10, 19 = 50
TOTAL: 582 patients




Four Friends International North Alabama Golf Classic

When? July 13, 2019, 8:00 am shotgun start

Where? Chesley Oaks Golf Course in Fairview, AL

Format? 4-man scramble

Cost? $500/team ($125/person)

Goal? to provide medical care at both clinics for the remainder of 2019 ($250/day for both; $125/day each)




Four Friends International Birmingham Golf Classic
This first annual Birmingham charity event will take place later this summer. Details will be provided in upcoming monthly updates.




Medical Mission Trip

Pray for the team of six volunteers who will travel to Jalapa April 27-May 3. In addition to treating patients, the group will assist with the Operation Amalia diaper ministry, minister to the residents at the Jalapa dump, participate in Sunday worship activities, share a fellowship dinner with the staff of the two clinics, investigate future ministry projects in the area, and hold a Thursday night youth lock-in.




IAQs (Infrequently Asked Questions)
Here are answers to some questions about the ministry in Jalapa that you probably haven’t asked:


CLINIC IAQs

1. How many medications are in the clinics?
2. Who owns the clinics?
3. Do the clinics have a charting system?
4. How do the nurses get questions answered?
5. What hours are the clinics open?
6. Is there a security guard at the clinics?

Answers:

1. Each clinic has over 70 medications. These are dispensed to treat symptoms (cough, fever, pain, indigestion, nausea, etc.), infections (bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic), chronic diseases (hypertension,diabetes, and epilepsy), and dermatological disorders (allergic and infectious). Most of these medications are purchased in Guatemala. The rest are bought in the U.S. and transported by volunteers during mission trips.
2. After Four Friends International built the two clinics, they were deeded to the Guatemala Baptist Convention for $1 each. This ownership is an important alliance that helps ensure the integrity of the ministry.
3. Each patient who receives medications on an ongoing basis for chronic diseases have a permanent chart that outlines their treatment over time. The others have a one-day visit record that is kept on file.
4. If Lilian (Los Laureles) and Alejandra (Los Pinos) have questions, they can communicate with Four Friends physicians in the United States. With the help of Google Translate, advice is given. Occasionally they will send photos of patient’s rashes, prescriptions, lab reports, or X-ray images to assist the physicians in giving the best advice.
5. Each clinic is open 36 hours every week (Monday-Friday: 8:30 am-12:00 pm, 2:00-5:00 pm; Saturday: 8:30 am-12:00 pm). Both are open 48 weeks of the year. During the off-weeks, Lilian and Alejandra visit their families who live about an eight hours’ drive from Jalapa.
6. The Los Laureles clinic was broken into about two years ago, and an attempted break-in occurred last year. Both happened at night. For this reason, the Four Friends International Advisory Board approved the hiring of a nighttime security guard at both clinics. Each guard’s pay is $10/night (9:00 pm to 6:00 am). Hopefully this will prevent future break-ins. (In addition, it may help you appreciate your job more).

CHURCH IAQs

1. What is the church staff in Jalapa?
2. What songs do they sing in worship?
3. Do they give long invitations?
4. Do they take up an offering?
5. Who makes administrative decisions?

Answers:

1. Pastor Filiberto shepherds the downtown church in Jalapa. The pastor of the mission church in El Terero is named Raquel. Los Laureles and Los Pinos need full-time pastors but cannot support them at present. The cost would be $350/month to support one pastor. Hopefully financial assistance will come soon for this. Until then, Pastors Filiberto and Raquel are helping out there as best they can.
2. The Guatemalans sing some local choruses that are unfamiliar to Americans, but they also sing our familiar hymns. It’s always a highlight to sing songs like The Old Rugged Cross, Victory in Jesus, Day by Day, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, and Count Your Blessings in Spanish.
3. The Guatemalans don’t give lengthy invitations. In fact, they seldom give a walk-down-the-aisle invitation. Instead, they offer to meet after the service with anyone interested in joining the church or accepting Christ. The reason they do this is to make sure the person is making an informed decision and knows what he or she is doing. After the authenticity of the decision is confirmed, the person is presented to the church in a later worship service.
4. An offering is taken up in each worship service. This is used to provide ministries to the poor and to support the church staff. On each mission trip, volunteers have the privilege of giving as the offering basket is passed.  
5. As it was in Baptist churches fifty years ago, the downtown Jalapa church and the three mission churches have lengthy church conferences where major decisions are discussed and voted on. Minor, day-to-day decisions are handled by the pastor in conjunction with a church council.

Each $250 donation to Four Friends International provides a day of medical care at both Los Laureles and Los Pinos (i.e. $125/day each). This includes medications, clinic staff, and utilities. Our goal is to be able to provide care the entire year at both clinics six days each week. To date, we have received enough funds to continue care through June 23. Thank you for your gracious support of this ministry.