Physician Missions Central America

Challenge Yourself!

2012-02-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

We’re back, and now the fun begins! Just take a look at what we have to do this week, to prepare for this weekends outreach clinic. We are usually better organized when we pack after a clinic, but we just felt the need to stay longer than usual to help more people. After 12 hours of ministering we were a little tired and figured we’ll do it when we get home. Check it out the mess LOL!!!!

We are so glad that we gave more than the usual amount of prescriptions, it was like the Holy Spirit was telling us just give it all! Reflecting on this past weekends clinic, this verse comes to mind.

Deuteronomy 24:19
“When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.”

Twelve hours straight and it was well worth it, 50 souls came to Christ!
With 50 new members of the body of Christ comes responsibility, please keep Pastor Rafael in your prayers, there is a lot of work to do, remember it’s not just accepting the Lord, they must be baptized, discipled and sent out!
Challenge yourself this week to give more than the usual, bless others, go the extra mile, God will take of the rest!

Jutiapa Clinics

2012-02-15T12:48:00.000-07:00

On Friday February third we left for a small village located 45 minutes outside of Jutiapa. Jutiapa is located 90 miles south from Guatemala City, the people there are very simple, working the fields planting corn, and herding cattle. We did not know what to expect, as we were told by our host Pastor Rafael, that the people were suffering from respiratory problems. We were blessed to serve 155 patients of which 30 accepted the Lord as their savior. What a privilege it was to serve such a needy community, out of the 155 patients, 130 were affected by water born diseases. We shared basic hygiene techniques with our patients in hopes to control the outbreak of infections. All in all the clinic was a huge success, 50 new people are now part of the body of Christ, and the next time by faith we will have triple the amount of people accepting the Lord! We would like to thank everyone you gave to make this trip possible, Thank You!

....just a servant

2012-02-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

On Friday February third we left for a small village located 45 minutes outside of Jutiapa. Jutiapa is located 90 miles south from Guatemala City, the people there are very simple, working the fields planting corn, and herding cattle. We did not know what to expect, as we were told by our host Pastor Rafael, that the people were suffering from respiratory problems. We were blessed to serve 155 patients of which 30 accepted the Lord as their savior. What a privilege it was to serve such a needy community, out of the 155 patients, 130 were affected by water born diseases. We shared basic hygiene techniques with our patients in hopes to control the outbreak of infections. All in all the clinic was a huge success, 30 new people are now part of the body of Christ, and the next time by faith we will have triple the amount of people accepting the Lord! We would like to thank everyone you gave to make this trip possible, Thank You!

To serve or be served?

2012-01-30T23:00:00.001-07:00

Blessings Family and Friends,

We have entered another year, another time for opportunity and advancement. As missionaries we rely on monthly contributions to maintain our family and the ministry, but we believe that it is not only about receiving. First of all on behalf of my family and OARM, we would like to thank you for your prayers and support, without you we cannot function; you are our partners on the mission’s field. We are in this together the moment your prayers are said, and your donations go out, we become a team, a family.

In December we sent out our pray letter listing our accomplishments and current needs, but we want to pray for your needs. Katherine and I have a conviction from the Holy Spirit to intercede for every single one of our support family. We are waking up in the middle of the night, and during the day we feel the need to pray for you! Please send us your prayer petitions, we want to bless you, we want the best for you, we want God’s favor and provision over your family, work, business, finances and ministry.

The Lord instructed us to pray not only for our needs but to reach out and pray for others as well. We find this in I Timothy 2:1-6.

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."

We look forward to hearing from you, the Lord is going to do great things this year, he just waiting for those who are willing to believe and trust in him. Once again thank you for being part of our(your) ministry we are truly grateful for prayers and financial support, we hope and pray that you will continue to partner with us and perhaps spread the word to others who may want to be part of what God is doing in Guatemala. Please check out OARM updated blog, we are currently working on a new web site, as soon as it ready we will let you know.

In Christ,

The Huitz Family

Guatemala Water Project Fund Raiser

2012-01-30T22:55:00.000-07:00

Bringing laughter to the heavens :)

2011-08-17T10:06:00.000-06:00

We are saddened by the tragic death of our friend and ministry partner Willy Valencino, he was traveling with his wife, daughter (4 years -old) and father-in-law, when they were hit head-on by a bus traveling in the wrong lane. Willy and his father-in-law died on route to the hospital from server head injuries and internal bleeding. His wife and daughter are currently in critical condition fighting for their lives. Willy and his family had a clown ministry bringing many children to Christ, through the gift of laughter. Please keep his wife and daughter and family in your prayers.

New Medical Equipment!!!!

2011-05-31T11:56:00.000-06:00

We have new Medical equipment!!!!!!!!!

A very special "Thank You" to the wonderful people of Vine International, and there amazing staff in Guatemala, Dennis and Cindy McCutcheon you are a huge blessing for us and our ministry!!! Thank You!!!!

Baby News!!!!!

2011-05-31T11:54:00.000-06:00

A quick update!

Katherine is now six months pregnant and we still don't if it's a boy or a girl, our boobie snacks doesn't want to cooperate. Thank you all for your prayers, Katherine and baby are doing great!!!!!!!!

Baby Update!!!

2011-03-18T10:19:00.000-06:00

Blessings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A quick update!!!!! Katherine is 12 weeks pregnant, her US was great!!! The baby is doing fine she thinks its a boy, but I'm happy with whatever God sends us!!!!! Thank you all for your love, prayers and support!!!!!! More updates coming soon!!!!!

Blessings,

David, Katherine, Alianna and Baby

All things are possible in Christ!!!!!

2011-02-14T09:22:00.000-07:00

Blessings!!!!!

It's been a very busy new year so far!!!! Praise God!!!! The Lord has blessed us with eight clinics and 3,014 patients served!!!!! A special thanks to all of our sponsors, without your monthly support these clinics would not be possible. Thank You!!!!!

We had the opportunity to minister to a 35 year-old man who has been an alcoholic since the age of 14. When he walked into the consultation room he looked destroyed, worn out, dehydrated and lonely. We spent a good 30 minutes talking about his life, and we immediately began to intercede for him. To the glory of God, Katherine led William in prayer, and he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Yes, we have seen thousands of patients, but it's these little details that make all the long hours worth it!!!!

This is what happens when the internal damage of alcohol begins to show itself on the outside.

Heavenly Father we pray for everyone who is battling alcohol, we pray for liberation and strength for their family and friends, because we believe that in you all things are possible, in the name of Jesus, AMEN!!!

A fragile vase.......

2011-01-16T23:02:00.000-07:00

Blessings Familia!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hugs and kisses from Katherine, Alianna and David. We pray that in the name of Jesus, all you will be healthier, closer to God, and prosperous in everything you do.

Let me clarify this a bit, God is not Santa Clause! In fact God wants to bless you more every day.

How?

Above all love the Lord before everything else, serve him and he will provide what you need!!!

We are grateful to have had a great year and we are looking forward to what God has in store for us in 2011!

We ended the year with a total of 30 medical clinics, 7000 patients and countless people giving their life to Christ. We had many more accomplishments; Alianna is in school and speaking both Spanish and English, and practicing ballet. Katherine is leading a cell group of teenage girls, and together we

have done two clinics so far this year.

We are planning on more clinics and cell groups this year; our goal is to have more girls commit to their future by getting closer to God and finishing their education. There will a big difference this year with our clinics; we will still have clinics for families, but we are also going to have clinics just for just women. Women in Guatemala are under appreciated, abused sexually, mentally, and made to feel worthless. In our medical clinics I began to notice that the majority of the patients were women from ages 17-50 years old. All of them share a similar story, child abuse, alcoholic husband, depression, suicidal thoughts and feeling abandonment from God.

We have decided to make our clinics for women more like a spa, were going to offer (by faith) hand and face exfoliations, relaxing massage, and most important prayer geared towards their needs. Imagine a women who has four children, a husband that is a raging alcoholic, depressed and desperate; receiving a hand massage, being told that she is special, beautiful, that Jesus loves her, and receiving prayer from other women. Think about it…pretty cool right? We really feel that this can be a ministry that future teams can make part of their short term mission in Guatemala. As a medical missionary I have seen and heard things that would make people want to take antidepressants, yes, it’s that bad. We have 12 year old patients that have been raped, women who have a fatal STD’s due to their husbands infidelity, and by far the worse young girls raped by their own father.

I have a daughter and I would never do anything that would destroy her, Katherine is actually counseling a young who was raped by her father, she was 14 when it happened and now has a two year old son as a result of it. Only God would love someone guilty of that, Gods grace is amazing, thinking of that shows me just how unconditional God’s love is. Our ministry is getting harder and harder we are facing more and more cases like this, as a father I just want to hug our patients and cry with them, as a Christian man, I have to be even more of an example for these women and girls.

Katherine is currently using the book “A purpose driven life” to help a young girls realize that their priceless in God’s eyes. Katherine has done an amazing job so far, the girls are closer to God, behaving better and more confident.

Please pray for us, we need wisdom, protection, and more help with our ministry. Please pray for our marriage, daughter, ministry, and finances. Our support needs to improve, as we go further and further with the clinics, the costs keep rising, but that’s a good problem because more people are hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. We would like to invite women of God to help us with our women’s medical ministry, we need prayer warriors.

Please pray for Ali she is now imitating what she sees, and we want her from now to develop a sense of fear of the Lord, we don’t want our little girl absorbing bad influences. Please pray for Katherine, the Lord has opened a door with the cell groups, she’s great at it and I would love to see the Lord take her far beyond her dreams. Please pray for me, I need wisdom and favor as a Husband, Father, and missionary.

Lastly, we need nurses, doctors, anybody who wants to help to come down for a week or two and give us a hand.

We would like to thank God for your prayers and support through your giving many have come to hear the gospel in Guatemala. God bless you all!!!

Blessings,

Katherine, Alianna and David

Looking towards 2011

2010-12-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

Blessings, it's that time of year when we eat, kiss, hug, exchange gifts, eat, and eat...:)

2010 has been a great year, the Lord moved us from Costa Rica to Guatemala. We are now living near family, and we are also ministering a lot more than last year. Last year? yes, we did a lot of work in Costa Rica, but due to high costs and low support our hands we tied. We usually did about 6 clinics a year in C.R. if we were lucky, but God is good, for whatever reason he needed us in Guatemala. We moved to Guatemala in May and since then we have done a total of 28 medical clinics, with two more to go this month! We have seen a total of 7,088 patients since May and at this pace we would seen 13,000 patients for the entire year!!! We have faith that in 2011 we can see more than 13,000 patients, we've seen and witnessed to 7,088 so far, but in 2011 we hope to witness to 13,000 plus! Wait!!!....God has opened doors for us in teens ministry, we will be starting our girls cell group this Tuesday, and we have six girls that we will be ministering to. Aside from medical, God is leading to other ministries such as Teens, sports, music, English, and translation ministry. It is our prayer that the Lord sends more teams, short-term missionaries, and supporters, please keep this in prayer as we are taking a giant leap of faith to do more in 2011!!

We want to thank everyone who has supported us in 2010 , you are all very special to us, because you are a part of all these wonderful things that are happening in Guatemala, without your prayers and support these projects would of never happened. THANK YOU!!!!

May you have a Merry Christmas and a very prosperous New Year!!!!!

With much Love,

The Huitz Family

David, Katherine and Alianna

Girls Ministry "Princesses of the King of Kings"

2010-11-29T09:57:00.003-07:00

This is a short video of a new project the Lord has laid in our hearts.

Please keep this cell group in your prayers!

Princesses of the King of Kings

2010-11-24T21:10:00.002-07:00

Blessings!!!! Alot has been happening here, the Lord has given us a new opportunity for our missions work here in Guatemala. As you know , Katherine and I have been on the missions field for four years now, and we have seen and done many things such as; medical clinics, translation, Music, and children ministry. Those areas have been the main focus for quit some time, but the Lord has opened up a new door for us....Soccer!!!
That's right!.....Soccer, your probably wondering whats the big deal? Well, the big deal is that Soccer is an amazing tool to witness to youth. Ten days ago Katherine was asked to translate for Luis Sagastume, former U.S. Air Force Soccer Coach, he and his wife Linda are now in full-time ministry using soccer to minister to youth in Latin America. The event was called camp 3D; meaning mind, body and soul, the purpose of the camp was to attract local youth with soccer , allowing the the coaches to share the gospel with the kids.

Katherine was the translator for the girls team, she was so impacted by the effect that the sport had on them. The coaches were able to share the word, as well as talk about serious issues such as alcohol, drugs and Pre-marital sex. Since the conclusion of the camp the Lord has a burden in our hearts for teenage girls, we are going to start a cell group with the girls that live in the area. Our plan is too use Rick Warren's 40 days of purpose as a guide to help the girls realize there true potential in Christ. In Guatemala the machismo is too the extreme. Unfortunately many women are abused, sexually, mentally, and emotionally and the majority of the abuse comes from there husband/boyfriends.

Most girls in Guatemala are raised as servants rather than children, there role being to cook, clean, and serve there Dad. The majority of them are discouraged from going to school, or looking for secular work. The girls are taught to serve at home and marry young in order to have many children to continue to work. It has been our experience in our medical clinics to treat a young mother of 17 years of age with six children, and sometimes pregnant with number seven. When I ask them why do they have so many children, they respond that there culture sees it as a sense of pride for the husband and the family. It is not our goal to change there culture, but to give the girls a sense of awareness that they can become professionals and still be a wife and a mother. More than anything we want them to enjoy there childhood, unfortunately they concentrate so much on chores that they forget that they are children, but more importantly having them realize that they are princesses of the high King.

We would to thank Woodmen Valley Chapel for the amazing experience, and introducing us to there wonderful ministry...Thank You!!!!!!!!!

As with any missions trip, it is important for the missionaries left behind to continue the work, if not it will be just another trip, just another bunch of pictures on the bulletin board. We don't want that, that's why we truly feel from the Lord to continue ministering to the girls we had the opportunity to meet.

You can help us continue the work, we will be conducting a weekly cell group for the next seven weeks, the purpose being to teach the girls, that they were made for a reason, and that God wants them to have a purpose driven life.

You can help us cover the ministry expenses by sponsoring one of the girls for $50. This covers all their reading materials, snacks and a small Christmas gift!

We encourage you to help these young ladies break the bond that has oppressed the women of Guatemala for so many generations.

If you would like to partner with this project please send your donations and make payable to: Open Arms Refuge Ministry P.O. Box 621853 - Oviedo - FL - 32762
Please note on memo: Guatemala girls cell group
Thank You!!!

September-October Clinics

2010-11-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

Blessings!!!! We've been really busy lately, so far since April we have managed to do 25 clinics and see 7,400 patients!!! God is so good!!! Here are some pictures of whats been done.

Disaster Relief

2010-07-19T23:16:00.000-06:00

Thank you to everyone to contributed to the relief effort.

Medical/Rehab Clinic construction Project...teams wanted!!!!

2010-07-19T23:01:00.000-06:00

This is a short video of church/rehab center we want to reconstruct. We have managed through recent donations to begin purchasing materials to put the roof on the church. We still need more materials to put down the floor, and build dormitories for the rehab center.

Alianna is going to school!!!!!

2010-07-19T22:02:00.000-06:00

Blessings to all our friends and family!!!! We would like to share with you an important event for the Huitz family! Alianna will be starting school next week, please pray for her and us( getting emotional), we wil post pictures soon.

Please lift kathy and I in prayer, we have a dozen clinics coming up, and we want more than anything for souls to be saved!!!!!

The Greatest Gift from the Greatest Giver

2010-07-19T21:51:00.000-06:00

I would like to share you a portion of yesterdays sermon, blessings!

Jesus’ death on the cross was done out of God’s grace and love for us as a sacrifice in our place to take away our sins (1 John 4:10); but it also provides an example. The perfect standard for generous giving is the cross on which Jesus died. Not only to give us life, but also to show us how to live it.
The Bible repeatedly describes Jesus’ death as an act of self emptying love which Christians are plainly called to imitate, not only with their lives in general, but with the use of their money and possessions in particular. Let us use our gifts, talents and resources to honor our Lord Jesus Christ!

Guatemala disaster relief effort

2010-05-30T21:09:00.001-06:00

The death toll in Central America from landslides and flooding triggered by the year's first tropical storm surged to 83 on Sunday, as authorities struggled to clear roads of debris and reach cut-off communities. Torrential rains that have pounded an area stretching from southern Mexico nearly to Nicaragua eased somewhat, as rivers continued to rise and word filtered out from isolated areas of more deaths in landslides.
In Guatemala, 73 people were killed as rains unleashed lethal landslides across the country, according to government disaster relief spokesman David de Leon.
Tropical Storm Agatha made landfall near the nation's border with Mexico with winds up to 45 mph (75 kph) on Saturday and was dissipating rapidly Sunday over the mountains of western Guatemala.
In El Salvador, President Mauricio Funes warned that the danger had not yet passed and reported nine deaths.
"Although the storm appears to be diminishing in intensity, the situation across the country remains critical," Funes said.
In Honduras, one death was linked to the weather, and a fishing boat was missing off the Pacific coast with eight aboard.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that remnants of the storm were expected to deliver 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain over southeastern Mexico, Guatemala and parts of El Salvador.
Nervous residents still remember Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which parked over Central America for days, causing flooding and mudslides that killed nearly 11,000 people and left more than 8,000 missing.
As of Sunday afternoon, 75,000 people in Guatemala had been evacuated, many to shelters. At least 3,500 homes sustained major damage.
Thirteen died in one landslide that tore through the community of San Antonio Palopo on the steep banks of Lake Atitlan, a popular tourist attraction 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of Guatemala City.
Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom said 4.3 inches (10.8 centimeters) of rain had fallen in Guatemala City's valley in one 12-hours period.
The rains unleashed chaos in the department of Quetzaltenango, 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of Guatemala City, where a boulder loosened by rains crushed a house, killing four people including two children. Four children were killed when rain-soaked earth gave way in the town of Santa Catarina Pinula, about six miles (10 kilometers) outside the capital.
Cesar George of Guatemala's meteorological institute said the coastal community of Champerico had received 11.8 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in 30 hours.
Rainfall from the Guatemalan interior also flooded rivers coursing away from the storm toward the Atlantic. The Motagua River flooded 19 communities near Guatemala's northeastern border with Honduras.
In El Salvador, there were at least 140 landslides throughout the country.
Civil defense officials said the Acelhuate River that passes through the capital, San Salvador, had risen to dangerous levels and was threatening to overflow into city streets.
Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras all declared emergencies designed to increase immediate government aid and resources.
Guatemala City's La Aurora airport remained closed Sunday because of heavy ash that fell from last week's eruptions of Pacaya volcano. But volcanic activity had tapered off Sunday , allowing helicopters and small planes to deliver aid to communities still unreachable on washed out roads.
The Honduran national emergency agency Copeco reported one man was crushed to death by a wall that collapsed in the town of Santa Ana, near the capital of Tegucigalpa.
Flooding and slides destroyed 45 homes in the Honduras and prompted authorities to evacuate 1,800 people, according to figures released by the agency.
We will be preparing bags with food, toiletries, and water to distribute to the communities along the Pacaya Volcano. Guatemalan authorities have requested the help of OARM to help with the relief effort. OARM will be providing the relief packages, and emergency medical attention. My family and all of our medical team members here have decided to donate part of our June support to gather funds to purchase all the items needed. If you can help the effort with a donation please make checks or money orders payable to Open Arms Refuge Ministry, on the memo line please note Guatemala relief mission and send to: Open Arms Refuge Ministry P.O. Box 621853, Oviedo FL 32762. Please keep us in prayer, Thank you for taking the time to read about our ministry!!!!

Blessings,

David & Katherine Huitz

Medical Clinic San Andres de El Quechi, Guatemala

2010-05-21T14:08:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday we held a medical clinic in San Andres El Quechi, Guatemala. The trip was nine hours long, we left at 4am and arrived in San Andres at 1pm. As soon as we turned the sugar cane farm we saw a multitude of people waiting on line. We saw 93 children, 277 women and 6 men, we were amazed at the amount of skin, gastrointestinal and back problems we found. The people of Quechi are very humble people, many can't read and write, or even speak Spanish. We relied on translators to help us communicate, and by some miracle we were able to see everyone in about 5 hours. As soon as we got out of the van we were greeted by the mayor of San Andres, she welcomed us with a very delicious spicy soup. The temperature was 96 degrees...yes hot soup for lunch! I have never experienced having a multitude of people watching me eat, apparently in their culture it is customary to watch a guest eat and wait for there reaction. Of course I smiled and slurped away, knowing that they used well water, and it was going to make for a very interesting ride home!Yes..you guessed it, I had Diarrhea for the next two days, but we are ready for more!

The trip however; didn't start without some kind of problem, on the way down the mountain our brakes overheated, but luckily there was pile of dirt and sand that we crashed into to stop. On our way back up the mountain the car overheated...three times! Dr. Salva and I had to go hiking to look for water to put in the radiator, luckily I packed a flashlight, something told me that morning to pack it.... I'm glad I did. We found water, and managed to drive 20 minutes before overheating again...and again. Luckily we all had a great sense of humor, so that made the time go by quickly.
We will be returning in June to El Quechi to see 500 pacients, we will be concentrating our efforts here for the next few months, the Mayor of El Quechi estimates the population to be around 6000 people. All in all we had a successful clinic, everyone was treated, but most importantly everyone heard about the love of Jesus Christ!!!
Please keep us in prayer as we are currently planning logistics for the June Clinic, we need to rent a 15 passenger 4x4 van and a 4x4 pick-up for June's Clinic. We have received a generous donation of medications from Baxter and Bayer for June, but we still need $300 for transportation. Please pray with us for God's provision in June, but more importantly that 500 more people can come to know Christ!

Blessings,

David, Katherne and Alianna

Good Times

2010-05-21T11:10:00.001-06:00

We had the privilege of having two very good friends come down to Costa Rica for a visit. Rick & Myrna Harding, we hope that they will come share there ministry in Guatemala as well!

Waiting at the gate

2010-04-30T18:23:00.000-06:00

The time has finally come, we are leaving to Guatemala!!!!! Our flight leaves at 705pm, please pray for a safe trip the weather is pretty bad. As soon as we are setup I will update you all!!!!!

Blessings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Were Back!

2010-04-25T20:46:00.000-06:00

We are back from Limon! We had an amazing time with Dr, Juan and crew! We arrived in Limon at 345am, and began setting up for the day. We began attending patients at 6am, it was incredible how many people appeared out of nowhere that early in the morning. I had the privilege of working with five amazing doctors!
God is so good, after dealing with so much red tape, here in Costa Rica, we finally got the cooperation of the CAJA ( Dept. of Health), they actually sent one of there doctors to help us!!!! Katherine and I are so blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing people, we will miss them greatly, but God has amazing people for us to work with in Guatemala; Speaking of Guatemala, can't wait for our doctor and pharmacist friends to arrive in Guatemala in October!!!! We attended in total 125 homeless in five hours, ten of which will begin rehab with Dr. Juan in the next couple of days!!!!! We are so grateful, that after four years we able to be a part of huge evangelism effort in one of the most dangerous towns in Costa Rica! We thank you all the you love, prayers and support, we look forward to continue partnering with you in Guatemala!!!!

Off to the enemies camp!!!!

2010-04-23T16:36:00.000-06:00

Blessings,

Tonight Kathy and I will be leaving to Limon, a city located on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. We will be accompanied by Dr. Juan and the rest of the team(should make for a really fun bus ride!). We will be having a medical clinic for the homeless,prostitutes, drug addicts etc. This is not your ordinary clinic, where the patient comes to you, in turn, we will be going into the ghettos and crack houses to treat patients. Please pray for protection and wisdom as we go into the enemies territory. We are confessing that many will come to Christ, and accept the opportunity to rehabilitate there lives. As soon as I can, I will post pictures of the clinic. Thank you all for your prayers and support!!!!!!

Blessings,

David, Katherine and Alianna

We found a moving company!!!!

2010-04-06T23:06:00.000-06:00

After weeks of searching, our good friends in Guatemala found us a moving company. We were getting worried that we would have to sell all of our stuff, if we didn't find something soon. Moving day arrived.... so did a massive 18 wheeler...the big deal? The town we live in is very small, with very low power lines....!!!
To make a long story short, as the truck rode into town he took the power lines with him for a ride!!!!! I don't know how he did it, but he managed to dodge the angry mob, and pull up to our house. As the driver breathed a sigh of relief, a passer-by told him he should make the u-turn up the road a bit.....bad idea. He got stuck, holding up traffic during rush hour, taking out a drive-way, coffee plantation, and a sidewalk that was in pretty bad shape anyway, in an attempt to make a u-turn (He eventually made the u-turn). As the day went on he told Katherine that they held him up in Nicaragua for three days, she felt sorry for him and offered him some dinner, our dear Ruth, as always, has the ability to make a bad day seem good, she encouraged him, and sent him on his way smiling. The moral of the story, our driver experienced two sides. The angry mob wanted blood, and we on the other hand, understood its was nobody's fault. Katherine and Ruth showed him patience, love and compassion, all in the effort to show Christ to him. Hopefully he arrives tomorrow to Guatemala with our stuff, and hopefully he had time to think about letting the Lord work in his life. In either case we always have to be aware of our actions, you never know when the opportunity will present itself to minister to someone.

.......Back in Guatemala!!!!

2010-03-26T23:12:00.001-06:00

....I' m back!!! I had a good flight, customs were very friendly, and I rode standing up in the back of a pick up truck through the city...nice!!! I love this country, its my heritage, my people and they need Jesus. I met with Dr. Rivera today, to discuss our future plans for medical missions in Guatemala. We went over a plan to incorporate, medical clinics in rural areas, and combining public heath facilities as part of the program. The idea is to have a set agenda to what our daily activities are going to be, thereby giving short term teams the ability to serve in clinics, hospitals and orphanages. We want to give our short term teams, an experience beyond what is already what I call the "cookie mold missions trip". Our vision is too have those who really want to get immersed get an experience that will truly leave them, impacted spiritually, mentally, and physically. Our medical clinics gears itself to the poor who don't have any access to a doctor, and those who find themselves in a hospital, terminally ill, critically ill, abandoned, or simply searching for a purpose.

We have a plan in place to serve as companions to those in the hospital. Team members can feel free to pray for patients, listen to what they have to say, and be there friend. We have a long standing partnership with Casa Samuel an Orphanage located 45 minutes from the El Salvador border, we will assist the staff by having Medical and Dental clinics. We will also spend time with the kids, allowing ourselves to be kids as well also. Through medicine, games, and fun activities we will incorporate the message of Jesus Christ, the object being, to give everyone we come across the opportunity to have a life-changing-experience with Christ. Medicine, games, food, and clothes are great, but if Jesus is not in the center of the picture, then it's just another activity.

I'm excited to help my wife combat illiteracy, in Guatemala, the illiteracy rate here is alarming. She wants to help teach people of all ages,to learn to read and write with the use of the bible. The Lord has placed this burden in her heart, therefore I will support her in this cause. We will also be assisting staff in a hospital dedicated to treating and caring for children who have HIV and AIDS. All of the children in this hospital are in need of round-the-clock medical care, but most of all, they need to be held, hugged, and played with. I'm praying for a cure, I know my God is all powerful, and he will do his will, but a child is still a child, perhaps we can't cure them, but we can certainly, love them as they deserve to be... you can be a part of this too. There is alot of work to be done, and we need your prayers, support, e-mails, and hopefully a visit. We are grateful to God for the opportunity and trust he has bestowed on us, please pray for wisdom, humility, discernment, our marriage, Alianna, my parents, doctors, and our monthly support. We look forward to all the new things God will do in the near future.

God Bless,

David, Katherine and Alianna

Moving to Guatemala

2010-03-11T09:40:00.000-07:00

So far...so good... The Lord is opening doors in Guatemala, we couldn't imagine. We have found a house in a gated community where my parents live, only one block away. We are so happy, Alianna will have her grandparents close, and we will have our family and friends close as well. We are very excited, I will finish my studies at the Universidad Mariano Galvez, it is a christian university recognized in the states, enabling me to sit for the USMLE board exam. Katherine and I will be working under Open Arms Refuge Ministries, working in collaboration with Jesus te Ama Missions, and AMENSI medical ministries in Guatemala.

Jesus te Ama ministries dedicates itself to providing school supplies to underprivileged children in impoverished towns, as well as, shoes, clothes, and bible studies, to Orphanages, and Children's Hospitals in Guatemala. My parents Pastors Santiago & Blanca Huitz are the founders of Jesus te Ama Missions, there vision is to bring the message of Jesus Christ to all the poor, abused , and abandoned children of Guatemala. Katherine and I will be helping, by any means necessary to bring these children to the Lord.

AMENSI, is part of the Adventist Medical Ministries dedicated to bringing, free-Christ-centered medical attention to the impoverished communities of Guatemala. Dr. Francisco Rivera is the director of the medical mission. He is dedicated to bringing,Doctors, medicines, interns, food, clothing, and equipment to understaffed medical clinics around the country. AMENSI provides a free medical clinic monthly in a different community, every month, attending close 600 patients daily. Katherine and I will be serving with Dr.Rivera's team, planning logistics, soliciting donations, and hosting short-term missions teams. I will be assisting Dr.Rivera, and Katherine will be working in Pharmacy.

We are very excited to be working with such a committed team, as well as working alongside the University Hospital, Casa Samuel Orphanage, Maria Vitteri Children's Hospital, and the Hospital for Cancer Research. The Lord has made it possible, that we have permission to pray and minister to patients in these Hospitals. We look forward to what God has in store, please join us in prayer for direction in Guatemala.

January Medical Clinics

2010-02-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

Blessings,

I would like to share some statistics from the January Medical Clinics.

1,017 Patients were attended
112 people made a decision for Christ
89 people recommitted themselves to Christ
140 people requested a pastoral visit to there home

This January was a complete success, the focus was more spiritual than medicine. Katherine and I believe that the human body can not be fully healed, unless there a true encounter with Jesus Christ. In total 201 souls were won for Christ, an outstanding job by all the medical team members who stepped outside the box to minister to patients. May God bless you, and pray for Katherine, Alianna and myself as we continue to do the Lord's work, here in Latin America.

In Christ,

The Huitz Family

...Back in Guatemala....2010?

2009-12-11T15:08:00.004-07:00

Greetings.....so much has happened, Katherine and Alianna had a birthday this month!!!! I flew back to Guatemala, to learn from a group of missionary doctors, so many doors are opening up here!!!! Katherine and I are currently praying for the Lords guidance as to if he really wants us in Guatemala. We have met a group of Adventists missionary doctors, who share our vision for medical missions. We really feel that our ministry would flourish here because of the extreme need for medical attention. We have already establish a good relationship with a local Pharm D, as well as a few pharmaceutical companies who believe in our vision. We have developed a great friendship with three amazing doctors who serve full time in medical missions. Katherine and I were amazed as to how much we, interns, students, and short term team can do here. The amount of learning, serving and life changing experiences in Guatemala would far exceed what would be done in Costa Rica!
Costa Rica does have needs, but they do not have the extensive poverty that Guatemala has!
The amount of clinics we have done here in Guatemala in October, and December is more than half of what we did this year in Costa Rica. The U.S. dollar goes alot farther, and with the new connections we have made here in Guatemala, we wouldn't have the same problems with "red tape or administrative politics" like we have in Costa Rica. This is a very serious decision, as we don't know what will happen with our sponsors or the mission, we have no idea if they will agree or not, but in the end it's about what God wants and whats best for the family. Please help us with prayer, Katherine and I would like to thank everyone who supports us, we truly value your participation in our ministry. We hope to continue along with you and many others who believe in Christ centered medical attention. Katherine will begin working a secular Job in January, the amount of support we have received in the last couple of months has moved us to make some difficult decisions. Katherine will still be working in the mission, but I will be assuming more responsibility to even the work load. Our support will not be increasing by much this move is temporary, until we can get our support up, with our current support and Katherine's salary we will be at 40% of our total support. I will be posting a detailed budget, we hope this will better explain our support needs. We would like to thank everyone who is or has supported us, you have blessed us and many people in three countries. We hope you continue partnering with us in Medical Missions, we have big plans for 2010, we would like you and many others to part of what God is going to do next year!

In Christ,

David, Katherine and Alianna

Guatemala Medical Mission

2009-11-09T10:06:00.001-07:00

Blessings,

God bless! Were back, its been a week since our return from Guatemala. We are so excited to tell you what happened on our trip. We were able to meet an amazing group of doctors from Adventist Medical Missions, there are the most humble and compassionate Doctors I have ever met, nothing against the wonderful Doctors that help us in Costa Rica. We were immediately excepted as family by the Doctors, we served together in Zapote and Sumpango. Zapote is a very poor town with no sewer system or clean water, the residents of that town migrated there on there own. The government never had plans to use that land that's why they have no sewage or running water. The majority of our patients were Children, Mothers, Pregnant women, and young ladies. We were amazed at the extraordinary amount of malnutrition, low birth weight, parasites, lice, infection, respiratory problems, menstrual, Hypertension, and Diabetes problems. Many of the patients had no idea they had a problem, because of there lifestyle. In Sumpango we attended the Indigenous people of Chimaltenango, they are a simple people still dressing in traditional clothing. I was quite a sight to see mothers carrying babies wrapped in a blanket tied to there backs, while balancing a huge jug of water on there heads. We treated people mostly for pain, hypertension, allergies, and sunburn. We were able to go to the Maria Valletio Children's Hospital, this hospital is especially for children with HIV/AIDS and Cancer. Dr. Francisco Rivera who is part of AMENSI and our team helps the hospital with donations of medications and doctor visits. The hospital is not sponsored by the government they completely rely on donations, Dr. Rivera made it a point that we make the hospital part of our trip. We did not see patients, we went to spend time with kids, playing with them, carrying them, giving them much love and attention, because there orphans. I especially was touched by a 3 month old girl who is HIV positive, and little boy who had so much energy. We returned to the hospital a week later only see the this little boy was in isolation because his immune system dropped, the reality of the hospital is that many children are here and gone with the Lord tomorrow. We decided to donate the remaining medications, supplies, and some money to the Hospital, they need it now and God will provide for us as he always does. Our trip ended with a trip to Casa Samuel Orphanage, 30 minutes from the Guatemalan, El Salvador border. The orphanage houses 43 children from 3 months to 17 years old, we enjoyed our time playing and watching the kids enjoy the clown ministry of Luis and Eric. We also brought medications for the kids and found that there was a lice epidemic amongst the children, unfortunately we found a young girl named Andrea who was sold as a child prostitute. She was looking for work to help her family when she saw an ad in the paper for child models for clothing stores. When she arrived to the interview she was kidnapped and used as a prostitute, she was raped by 20 men in one day. Unfortunately she is suffering with the emotional, mental and physical trauma from that time, Dr. Rivera will be visiting her with a Gynecologist and Psychologist this week, please keep her in prayer. We are praying that we can go back in December to meet up with Dr. Rivera's team, there is so much work to be done there.

Blessings

....just for a season

2009-09-13T00:19:00.002-06:00

I just received news that our very good friend Jason, lost his father earlier today. I have no words to say, because they cannot possibly fill the void his father left. We rejoice knowing that he did know the Lord, and we trust in faith that he is now rejoicing in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord is the author and finisher of our faith, he always completes what he started. We can rest assured that what was done through Jason's father will be complimented by, what is to come, through Jason. I can say that I never met him, but from what I have seen, heard and experienced through Jason, dad did a great job leaving behind a man of God. Our prayers and love go out to Jason and Mysha. We love you.

....have faith as if your life depended on it

2009-08-18T19:31:00.007-06:00

"I'm proud to be a man on a day like this, to be alive.....it's God"

What an amazing lesson of faith and perseverance. During this scene we see a perfect example of optimistic and pessimistic faith. It is sometimes during tragedy that a leader must use all the faith he/she has to bring many to the summit(salvation). The rescue scene is a testament of two leaders one faithful to his belief that God was involved from the beginning, the other leader although along for the ride was sure of defeat(death). The reality as in the movie, is that many will join for the journey, but only a few will make it to the end. That is why it is so important to take advantage of the time God gives us with one another . The question is, which one is stronger your optimistic or pessimistic faith?
1 Peter 4:7
Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything.

We need each other to survive, the body of Christ needs all of its parts! We shouldn't wait for tragedy to unite, we should embrace every moment to serve and love one another. We need each other to reach the summit.

.....are you willing, even if it means no?

2009-08-17T12:30:00.004-06:00

Matthew 8 (Amplified Version)

¹WHEN JESUS came down from the mountain, great throngs followed Him.

²And behold, a leper came up to Him and, prostrating himself, worshiped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You are able to ^a]">[a]cleanse me by curing me.

³And He reached out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed ^b]">[b]by being cured. And instantly his leprosy was cured and cleansed.

I personally love this story in the bible, it is really a lesson of true worship. I'm really moved by the word "willing", to me this suggests, waiting and perseverance. I could just imagine how much this man had to wait and go through just to see Jesus. We have to go back in history to understand just how bad it was a person with leprosy. People with leprosy were usually ostracized from society, many were shipped off to far lands, caves or islands. So lets think for a minute, how did this man slip by unnoticed, I'm sure with the news of Jesus coming, Roman soldiers would have been on crowd control, as well as the Pharisees. Can you imagine having open soars all over your body, waiting in the heat of the middle east, covered head to toe, smelling of infection, just to see if Jesus was "willing" to heal you? Well this man did, if there is anyone in my opinion who could complain and simply ask " heal me" it was him, but instead he prostrates himself and worships. This man recognized who Jesus was, and who he was to Jesus(think about that). Notice that this man humbled himself(act of faith that Jesus was the true son of God), worshiped, and then told Jesus his petition. Lets not miss the important point here, he said "if you are willing", signifying that regardless of the outcome he was going to continue worshiping Jesus, even if he was unwilling! I believe this story is teaching us that God wants more worship, our needs are important to him, but there is no better place than his presence during worship! We need to worship regardless of the outcome!

Psalm 84:10 (New International Version)

¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Lets spend more time in worship, it is there where we will receive rest, fullness of joy, and his perfect will.

Opps

2009-08-17T11:10:00.002-06:00

Blessings,

A quick petition, our digital camera has permanently retired! Please pray that we can get a new one asap, we are so busy, but no pictures to share. Our current posts have no pictures we apologize. God Bless!!!!!

Thursday......

2009-08-13T15:56:00.003-06:00

I had an amazing time staying home with my daughter Alianna. We played games, laughed, talked to grandma,grandpa on Skype, and miraculously kept the house clean! Meanwhile Katherine was off with our short term missionaries to the Pueblito orphanage. I'm sure there having a great time, the director of the orphanage expressed how happy she is over the past few days of activities. I'm sure its going to be a little emotional today as Lynea is leaving us next week, and today being her final day of activities with the kids. It's been a year since Katherine began establishing a relationship with the orphanage, Costa Rica is very strict with the welfare of the children, even christian organizations are given a hard time getting in to do activities. Since Katherine began doing activities at the orphanage, it has allowed for other missionaries to get in and minister, but this is not about who gets credit. The message here is simply when God wants something done he opens the doors to get it done, now what we do with those opportunities is another story. The question is, "are you a talker or a doer?" Faith without works is dead, if you don't act out your ministry(talents), then your not exercising faith that God truly called, and equipped you for that ministry. Let today be the day you begin to walk in faith!

Back fromTalamanka

2009-08-12T08:05:00.011-06:00

Were back! Our journey began last Saturday at 2am, but it actually started back in June. Endless days of counting medications, labeling,separating,and many,many phone calls led to a successful medical clinic. We left Jardin Sagrado at 2am to arrive in Talamanka around 6am, little did we know that we would actually get there two hours early. Everything looks different at night especially when your driving through the rain forest in pitch black. Luckily, Katherine remembered her way to the village....but we had to get out of the bus because on two occasions the bus got stuck!
We finally arrived to our destination, well at least where we had to park the bus. ...So far so good, but a bottle of cooking oil exploded during transit and spilled all over our equipment! As always having a good team during hard times helps, everyone had a great attitude looking for ways to clean off the equipment, worrying more about the Indians than there own comforts. It begins, a 45 minute hike up and down muddy, rocky, and dangerous, but beautiful scenery on our way to the village. We finally arrive to begin the real work, Dave Manore and his construction team began putting up black garbage bags as walls around a wooden frame to serve as doctors offices for the clinic. Katherine began to put together the Pharmacy with the help of Amy,Lynea and Linda, together they filled a total of 755 prescriptions, they did a great job keeping up with the doctors getting everyone there medications on time. Erin and John Delmont put together on of the best programs for children's ministry I've seen to date at a clinic. They had arts & crafts, face painting, sports, coloring, and bible stories for the children to enjoy. Dave Manore along with his team of handy men,did an amazing job escorting patients to different stations, keeping the doctor's offices covered, and evangelizing regardless of the language barrier. We were blessed to have Isa and Coqui with us,they are such a great couple, helping to feed everyone at the clinic, patients, staff, volunteers, and a couple of stray dogs here and there. We were so blessed to have Don Guillermo, his daughter Julie and his 4x4, man was that a blessing, imagine carrying all that gear for 45 minutes up a muddy mountain! We attended a total of 151 patients of all ages, we were blessed once again to have Dr.Randy,Dr.Emanuele,Dr.Alejandra,and David to help attend everyone. The only bad part, of this entire trip was cleaning up and saying goodbye, we wished we could of stayed longer but there is always a next time.
I must apologize that we don't have pictures to put up, our camera finally decided to retire, as soon as we get pictures from the team will will put them up.

Blessings

David,Katherine and Alianna

Little by Liittle

2009-08-07T14:15:00.002-06:00

It has been amazing how much work was done this week,considering the weather. We have been blessed once again having Dave Manore and his team come down to Costa Rica. It is inspiring to see the progress that has been made. Just two and a half years ago I came to El Jardin to meet up with Nathan and Amber. I remember Nathan showing me the roach-infested kitchen, and what seemed to be the walls and foundation to the celebration center. After many teams and hardships one can begin to appreciate the original vision of El Jardin. I know that many people,churches, and new comers to Christ will be blessed by the physical sacrifice of the many who have come to build. Tomorrow at 2am we will be embarking to Talamanka to serve the Caveca Indians. We will be bringing; medicine, food, clothing,childrens ministry and most importantly the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Please pray; that Pastor Thomas recovers from a machete injury, that we will have the materials needed to finish his house, that we will have enough medications, food, clothes, wisdom,courage,safe passage and compassion for the Caveca Indians.

Opps......!

2009-06-29T00:37:00.002-06:00

Opps...is right!!! we are in need of new or used(not too old) laptop, ours is on its last leg!!!!

We really need the following:

Laptop
External hard drive 350gb and up/w usb
Otoscope
Bovie Aaron change-a-tip Hi-lo Cautery kit

Please pray that we get these items soon!!!!
I'm currently in the States until July 9th, if anyone would like to help and send it to me in Florida.

David Huitz
10812 Scepter Drive
Orlando FL 32817

Greater things are yet to be done.....

2009-06-23T23:36:00.004-06:00

It's been a while

2009-04-23T12:36:00.003-06:00

It’s been four months since we wrote about what’s happening in the mission’s field. We would like to share with you the wonderful things the Lord is doing here in Costa Rica.

In January we were pretty busy since day one, we had a construction team come from Palm Beach Atlantic University, to help us improve the camp putting up; a new fence, paint, and plant a vegetable garden named, “The Gregory Garden” after the Gregory Lloyd School of Pharmacy in West Palm Beach, Florida. We now have the privilege to serve year round at a homeless shelter in San Jose, helping with intake, laundry, room assignments, and serving dinner. We have also have been hard at work with medical clinics; to date we have done seven multi-day clinics this year. Last year we did a total of twelve clinics; this has been such an encouragement, especially during these rough economic times. It is truly a blessing to see God’s faithfulness, and provision when we had nothing to work with. We have treated over 1,800 people in our clinics, this year so far. The Lord has opened doors for us to expand our clinics beyond Cartago to places like; Turrialba, Tucurrique, Los Diques, La Reforma (men’s prison), Desamparados, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. We are pleased to report that 200 people have accepted the Lord, and 100 have reconciled with the Lord at our clinics.

February was no easy task, as we had another construction team come down to help. We were blessed to find out that a nurse was among them, so of course we took advantage and made a one day clinic at the Camp. We treated approximately 200 people with the help of, Dr. Gabriel, Dr. Dionicio, Dr. Randy, Dr. Alexandra, and Dr Molina (Alianna’s Pediatrician). For sure this was a blessing having Dr. Molina with us; many sick needy children received treatment. The purpose of him helping us became known when he told us his wife was a Christian, but he wasn’t. He began talking about joining us on future clinics, and how he wanted to come back and follow up on his patients, free of charge. He continued helping by donating baby formula, to under weight children, and asking us to set up a day where he can come back to speak to all the mothers of Orosi, about proper nutrition. Truly God had a bigger purpose for him joining us, please keep Dr. Molina in prayer that he may make a decision for Christ in the near future.

The Lord blessed us for three months with; Ruth, Carly, Mateo, and Neil. We had the privilege of working, and sharing the word with them at the homeless shelter, clinics, and orphanage. We can’t wait to see them again, Lord willing we can see them when we visit the states. The Lord has definitely been faithful, Alianna is growing up, she’s talking up a storm, were not sure which language it is but we think it’s spanglish, God has blessed us with a beautiful, smart, happy baby. David and I continue working with Festival con Dios once a month, at the Homeless shelter, and with The Pueblito Orphan House. The work continues we are planning future clinics for June with Palm Beach Atlantic University. We will be going to Chira Island and the ghettos in San Jose, to share the gospel through medical clinics. In October we are planning clinics in Guatemala with David’s father a mission’s pastor serving throughout Central America. We ask you to please continue praying for us and David; he is currently looking for the finances to finish medical school here in Costa Rica. Please pray for his trip to the states, that he gets the papers needed for his residency, school transcripts, and his efforts to raise our support. Recently I was disappointed to have my visa denied, I really wanted to go to the states, visit family, churches, especially David’s sister she hasn’t seen the baby yet. God knows what’s better and I trust that in his time Ali and her Aunt will meet, please pray for that. We need to build up our support, help us pray for our, car insurance, health insurance, plane tickets to Guatemala, our need for a bigger house, and David’s tuition. For God nothing is impossible, please join us in reaching Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Guatemala for Christ.

We thank you for your prayers, and support, your dedication to our ministry has helped bless hundreds of Costa Ricans, Nicaraguans, and soon Guatemala. We pray that you can join us, further the kingdom, may God bless and prosper you always!

10 Weeks

2009-03-16T20:32:00.008-06:00

Blessings, it has been a while since our last entry! We have been very busy, with teams non-stop for the last 10 weeks! Now that Kathy and I have some time off, we are going to spend it at the DMV tomorrow, renewing our licenses (very romantic). So much has happened, since the last update, so where do I start? Alianna is now 14 1/2 months old, and she is getting bigger everyday.
She prefers to walk, instead of carried, she likes Taco Bell fries ( thanks Ken) , and now makes it a point to steal some on my Coca Light, whenever she can. Kathy and I are doing great, we are definitely growing in our marriage, parenthood, and ministry. We have had the opportunity to meet amazing people the last couple of weeks, and have been truly blessed in the last 10 weeks.

We have had the opportunity to carry out eleven medical clinics so far this year!!! It is amazing how God provides even in the midst of an economical crisis, the Lord truly provides for those who continue to trust him in there giving, to there local church, ministries, and missionaries like us. God has truly challenged Kathy and I this year, with limited funding to expand our medical clinics to more remote parts of the country. Just recently Costa Rica suffered an earthquake in the province of Alajuela, flooding on the Caribbean coast, and severe drought in the northern pacific.

So much work and so little help, but we have blessed with volunteers from right here in Costa Rica. We have been blessed with the help of Dr. Gabriel Munoz, Dr. Randy Rojas, Dr. Alejandra Quesada, Dr. Dionisio Flores, Dr. Juan Carlos Molina, and Dr. Juan Madrigal. It is amazing to see how non-believers are truly influenced by good testimony, these doctors are ready and willing to help whenever we need them. We are praying that by our testimony, professionalism, and compassion these doctors can one day come to know the Lord.

Frank Vega, my pastor back home, always told me that many non-believers behave more Christ-like than Christians. I can truly say that I see that in these doctors, there are full of humility, compassion, and sincerity, truly a lesson to take to heart. Katherine has advanced in her knowledge of Pharmacology, she has already took charge running the pharmacy with Promundo's Festival con Dios twice. We are very grateful with Dr. Lydia, for taking the time to train Katherine every chance she gets. I have also advance in my training in medicine, I have been interning at a family clinic under the supervision of Dr. Juan, he has given me an open door to come during the week from 2-6pm. I have also been able to attend patients during our clinics, Dr's Gabe and Randy have allowed me to be there Physician assistant during clinics.

Kathy and I are praying that after my return from the states in May-June, I can finalize the process of finishing Medical school here in Costa Rica. The Lord has shown me that he wants me to serve him in other areas, besides leading worship. We are excited to see what God does this year, we are planning our next clinics, in Nicaragua, Chira Island, and the arid plains of Costa Rica, please keep these clinics in prayer. We would also like to ask for prayer as we have begun the Visa process for Katherine, we are planning to visit the states later this year as a family. We would also like you to join us in prayer for my upcoming trip to the states, May- June, I need to bring back documents needed for immigration, and present our ministry to raise support, please keep this trip in prayer as we are still raising funds for expenses.

I will be posting more pictures soon, keep praying, and thanks for the support.

God Bless,

The Huitz's

Pastor's Retreat

2008-11-11T06:36:00.006-07:00

Chuck & Karla Blackler

Katherine Huitz & Pat Karn

A time of forgivness

Katherine, Alianna and Daddy

Pastor Mike Hayes and Family

George Hernandez, and David Huitz

This past weekend we were blessed to work with a team from Rim Rock Church, South Dakota. Katherine and I were asked to lead worship and translate for this years pastor's/marriage retreat. This was a tremendous blessing for us because we were ministered too as well while we served. Pastor Jose did an amazing job putting this retreat together along with pastor Tony. The Lord moved and touch all who attended, Katherine did an amazing job translating, for Pastor's Pat and Connie Karn, God used them to restore marriages that otherwise were over. I had the opportunity to minister along side George Hernandez, a blind well known christian singer in Costa Rica. I was especially humbled when a pastor shared how she was deaf in one ear, and while we sang Holy,Holy,Holy she was healed. We were blessed to have pastor Mike Hayes, and his wife here with us, Katherine and I see them both as family and mentors, on what it is to be Christ-like. We experienced; healings, restorations, forgiveness and great fellowship, this was a much needed time for all those who are serving in Costa Rica.

Back from Gaunacaste

2008-11-05T10:57:00.007-07:00

Recently I wrote about the flooding in Guanacaste, and now we can present to you at least a glimpse of how devastated the area really is. A total of 100 volunteers, Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, and lay people handed out; food, water, clothes, cooking utensils, shoes, and free medical attention. Here are a few pictures fo this past weekend.

Worship Ministry

2008-10-27T22:37:00.004-06:00

For the past couple of months, the lord has opened another door through music. Since April, I have been leading Sunday worship here at The Jardin Sagrado. During this time the Lord has moved a couple of the teens to take up music lessons. Five very dedicated teens have not only taken an interest in an instrument, but to use there new knowledge to worship the Lord. I am very proud to be there teacher and fellow worshiper, I have been truly blessed to see there growth spiritually and musically. This is just another lesson on how God blesses those who invest in his kingdom. Everyone has something to offer unto the Lord, no matter what it is he can use you.

Flooding in Guanacaste

2008-10-27T20:04:00.008-06:00

This has been the worst rainy season on record yet in Costa Rica. As you know we plan in conjunction with Promundo, a medical clinic at the end of every month. We usually have 40-60 volunteers to attend about 200 people in need. This past month has marked the worst flooding, Guanacaste has ever seen. As of right now approximately 36,000 people are homeless in the northern region.

Teletica, a nationally recognized television station contacted Promundo, to help collect, food, clothes, bed linens, and kitchenware for all those who lost everything in the floods. This is an awesome testimony, as Katherine and I are part of the medical team for promundo. We are very proud of Mauricio(founder of Promundo), for his relentless efforts in spreading the gospel through, medical clinics, homeless shelters, and Festival con Dios. As you know Katherine and I are part of Global Outreach Missions, and it is a pleasure that our relationship with Promundo is coming together quite well.

This weekend we will be heading out to Guanacaste, with a team of hopefully 100 plus. We will be handing out food, clothes, shoes, and bed sheets to as many as we can. We are looking at treating close to 2,000 people medically, and hopefully evangelizing as many as we can. Please keep us in prayer as we are going over logistics, we pray that God will provide more volunteers to drive, and hand out relief packets.

La Cruz Medical Clinic

2008-09-29T18:44:00.006-06:00

This past weekend we went to La Cruz, a town on the Nicaraguan, Costa Rican border. We were a total of 30 team members, doctors, nurses, dentist, pharmacists, and Children's ministry. We drove all night to the Nicaraguan border, and arrived around 5 am. When we pulled up to the building we were going to have the clinic in, we were amazed that at least 100 people were already waiting on line. This clinic was an awesome testimony as to what happens when the politics, and religion get put aside, and Christ's love and salvation is the focus. We were joined by the local Catholic church, and it was great to see Nuns, Priests, lay, and born-again Christians working together. Its amazing when we do exactly what Christ commanded, preach to the nations, and make disciples it flows so easily. The Lord truly revealed to me, how he longs for his children to just go and serve him, no religion, no politics, just Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Salvation through Jesus Christ, that's what the world needs, compassion not religion. I pray that this will blesses your life, as it did ours, a special thanks to our wonderful family at Palm Beach Atlantic University, for helping us get to la Cruz.

The price has been paid

2008-08-28T10:06:00.005-06:00

Blessings,

As you know Costa Rica is a very devout catholic nation, recognizing the authority of priests for marriage, funerals, baptisms etc. As of yet Pastors are not given this authority to perform any ceremonies. It is the tradition of the Catholic church in Costa Rica to celebrate the "day of the virgin" in homage to the appearance of the virgin Mary to a little girl on a farm in Cartago. Currently the Basilica stands where the appearance took place, every year August 2ND, tens-of-thousands of Costa Ricans make a pilgrimage to the Basilica. Many people walk, months, weeks, days from the very borders of Nicaragua and Panama to Cartago. People believe that by paying with a physical penance, promising the Virgin Mary they will serve her better, she will them return the favor with a miracle. The sight of 30,000+ is quit impressive, many are crippled, in wheel chairs, stretchers, mothers with new Born's, children, and elderly people all walking or crawling to perform penance for a miracle. We decided this time to go offer free water, take vital signs, and announce that the debt has been paid. Every year people pass out from exhaustion and dehydration, and we were very privileged to be there to offer a helping hand, and announce to our Catholic brethren, that the debt has been paid.

Back in Costa Rica

2008-08-27T09:41:00.003-06:00

I'm back! I really missed my wife and daughter, being gone for one month felt like an eternity. I was able to speak in a couple of cell groups, and churches about our ministry. We are still well below our target support, and we pray that this trip will produce some support. Please join us in prayer for the Lord to touch hearts for our support. While I was in New York and Orlando, my wife and our short-term missionaries were quit busy! We had a great group from Detroit come down to help with construction here at El Jardin, they did a great job. The team blessed us with new bunk beds for the cabins, and fixed our walkways damaged from recent flooding. My wife always felt a burden in her heart for orphans, but she was just waiting for the Lord to tell her when and where. The Lord answered; Katherine along with Aimee(short term missionary) spent the last three weeks ministering at the El Pueblito Orphanage en Paraiso de Cartago. The kids enjoyed arts & crafts, games and music, all with the purpose of showing them the love of Jesus Christ. We are now planning a Christmas party for 115 orphans, please help us with your prayers for this activity. Now that Katherine and I are back together, we will pick up where we left off. Besides; medical clinics and Orphans ministry, we take to the streets to evangilize. Katherine and I will begin knocking on doors again, we offer taking vitals for free as a tool to talk about Jesus. We never thought such a simple gesture would have such an impact. There is a great hunger for Christ, and we just amazed at what God does with an idea and a willing heart. Please pray for wisdom, discerment, and compassion as we hit the streets, and continue seting up clinics.

Back in the U.S.A

2008-08-10T23:31:00.002-06:00

Hey there! It's been a while, I've been quit busy for the last three weeks. I spent my first two weeks in New York, felt great to be back. I was able to stir up some interest about our mission, many people are willing to help out, we'll just pray for there hearts to commit. I was able to see friends and family, but I was not able to complete some transactions with the embassy in N.Y.C . I should probably be disappointed but, Kathy and I are learning everyday that our trust is not in man , but completely on the Lord. I love NY, I did manage to spend a day in the city with family and friends. I really enjoyed having real pizza!!!!!! Nathans Hot dogs!!!! Diner food!!!! Slurpee's!!!!!
Deli food!!!!! The New Yankee Stadium!!!! Riding the Subway again!!!! China Town!!!! REAL HIGHWAYS!!!! Target!!!!! Dunkin Doughnuts!!!! Friendly's !!!!!! Organized Traffic!!!! Oh yea....REAL PIZZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God is Good!

Precario Heredia

2008-07-06T18:10:00.004-06:00

Hey there, we just came back from our clinic in Heredia. We went to an area directly behind the Paseo las flores shopping mall. One would think that in such a wealthy area there would be no slums....wrong! Katherine, The Dundons, my father and I were completely awe struck at the level of poverty and crime . We attended approximately 600 people in 6 hours, Katherine was in pharmacy, My Dad and Ken in evangilism, Heather in children's ministry, and myself, sherri, and Brittany in medical.

We had many surprises, including gun shoot wound, and stabbing victims coming to the clinic.

Stab wound

Wish List -Plane Ticket

2008-06-09T23:49:00.003-06:00

Hey there! I just wanted to update whats been going on with our wish list. I just got my multi-stop ticket!!! Thank you so much! I want to mention names, but not sure of the "whats proper" , but I want to anyway. Thank you so much Dr.F!!! Please continue praying that the Lord fills the needs from our wish list. We are also going back to Los Chiles, June 28th. Please pray for this trip, for safe travel, and much needed support. God Bless

Medical Clinic in Pavas - January team

2008-05-31T10:33:00.003-06:00

This past January we had a team from Canada and the U.S. come down to do medical clinics here in Costa Rica. We set up clinics in the ghettos of Pavas, Paraiso, and Tucurrique. We only had three weeks of preparation, but the Lord provided. We were able to attend about 800 people in eight days. Many came to the Lord, many reconciled the trip was overall success.

Flooding in Costa Rica

2008-05-29T19:39:00.006-06:00

It's been raining non-stop for days! We have lost several feet of land behind the camp and our house. We have received reports of houses washed away by the river as well as missing persons. This is a picture of the main road from the camp to Orosi, if you've been here you would know that the crescent shape used to be a coffee field, now part of the river. This road is now closed , because the ground underneath has been eroded. We have trees that have collapsed here in the camp, and water damage to one of the cabin bathrooms.

Frequent Flyer Miles

2008-05-27T08:51:00.002-06:00

I was just looking at several airlines , and what they charge to transfer or donate miles. I had no idea it was just as or more expensive than buyuing a plane ticket. To everyone who is helping me get a ticket, thank you. I looked around and a multi-stop ticket is going for $520-600 usd, I hope this helps when you get to the transfer fees, to compare whats the better option. If anyone out there can help donate a multi-stop ticket, I have to go for 2 weeks to NY(LGA), and 2 weeks to Orlando(MCO), from San Jose Costa Rica. Either July or August.

Blessings

Upcoming Clinics

2008-05-26T14:29:00.005-06:00

We are currently putting togather, three-one-day clinics before the end of the year. We are currently raising funds for transportation $600 USD in total is needed for all three clinics. These clinics will be different instead of 15-20 members, we will have a small team of six people for each clinic. We will be targeting very poor areas, working togather with the local church to spread the gospel. We will be going to Rio Azul, Tucurrique, and Turrialba all of which are dealing with Drugs, prostitution, and mostly uninsured people. Please pray that our needs will be met for these clinics.

Los Chiles Clinic Video

2008-05-26T10:54:00.003-06:00

This is a video of 10 year-old boy who burned his foot, while his mother burned thier garbage. It is common practice in very poor areas for people to pile up there garbage and burn it.

Los Chiles Clinic Video

2008-05-26T10:33:00.003-06:00

This is a video of a 60 year-old man with a herniated stoma. He had recently suffered a bowel obstruction, and recieved emergency surgery. Unfortunatly he cannot get the surgery needed to correct his hernia, let alone his colostomy reversal. He is like many uninsured people in Costa Rica, they recieve emergency treatment, but because they are uninsured many are denied follow-up medical attention.

Los Chiles

2008-05-25T18:40:00.006-06:00

Hey there, were back from Los Chiles! We just spent an amazing week with a group of students from Palm Beach Atlantic University, and a group from Open Arms Ministries. It all started with an 8 hr bus ride to Los Chiles(tico time), and a few stops(pollo crispy)...you know. It was incredible to see the need when we got there, we handled everything from burns, herniated colons, and open wounds.

We had the privilege of having Dr. Dionisio Flores, and Dr. Gibdel Wilson two tico doctors who volunteered there time for this clinic. We would also like to recognize the generous contributions from the Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy in West Palm Beach, and the Rim Rock Church in Black Hills, South Dakota. Hundreds of uninsured Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans received prayer, free medical and personal hygiene products. Aside from the clinical part, many children were able to hear the gospel through games, arts and crafts, and of course water balloon fights.

Dr. Judith a dentist from the Dominican Republic was on hand to provide free dental care, she joined us from Open Arms Ministries in Oviedo, Florida. This year Global Outreach combined three teams to carry out this medical mission, Palm Beach Atlantic University provided the pharmacy, Open Arms Ministries, the evangelism teams, and Global Outreach, the medical staff.

This clinic was a special one because it was the first clinic that Katherine and I were completly responsible for. Our first night began with a blackout, no water, no fans..nothing. We had to move half of the team to another hotel during the night, and leave the other half in rooms that had power. We thought we had solved the problem only to find out that two of our mini-vans were broken into during the night. As day two began, we found out that the team that stayed behind, woke up to flooded rooms, so once again we moved half of the team to the closest hotel, 45 minutes away! Despite the bumps on the road the entire team kept there focus on what we were here for, we stuck togather and God glorified himself. We attended 415 people in two and a half days, many accepted the lord, but the most amazing part was that many of them were entire families coming to Christ.

As with any missions trip there are always ways to improve. We desperately needed equipment, we had a hard time not being able to help certain people because of the lack of equipment. We need a portable; ultrasound, fetal monitor, infant scale, ECG, vaginal speculum, exam tables, head lamps or exam lights, and auto clave all portable. We also need more, stethoscopes, electronic stethoscopes, tympanic thermometers, otoscope/opthalmoscope kits. However, this is a good problem it clearly shows the need for more resources, to run a evangelistic medical clinic. We have some equipment, but as the Lord opens doors the demand also rises.

We will be posting video stortly of this trip, but we hope that this brief summary would give you an idea of the ripe harvest waiting to be harvested.

Los Chiles

2008-05-07T20:55:00.001-06:00

Just six days to go!
We will be going to Los Chile's next week with a team of Medical, Pharmacy, and Nursing students from Palm Beach Atlantic University. It's amazing how time goes by, just about a year ago we were just playing with the idea of going to Los Chile's. After allot of prayer, fund raising and red tape we finally got the needed resources to make this trip a reality. We would like to thank everyone who prayed and donated to this project, we are estimating ministering to at least 1,000 people over the course of four days. We will be attending patients at the local elementary school, while the children's ministry will be attending children across the road at the soccer field. We will post pictures as soon as we get back. Please pray for safe travel, and wisdom as we will encounter many medical and spiritual problems there.

Mission Costa Rica

2008-05-07T20:38:00.000-06:00

Greetings,

Well it finally happened, we moved from San Rafael to Orosi last week Monday. This is definitely a change for us as we decided to be closer to the camp we minister out of, to be more effective for the mission. Its definitely a change, were used to being able to go out late and do our grocery shopping, but not here. People wake up at 4:30am and go to bed by 7pm....WOW! The upside besides being close to the camp is we finally have internet! go figure we lived in the city and our block had no internet. The most important thing however, is the we can finally catch up on letting you know what the Lord is doing in Costa Rica!