February 17, 2003
PAT PRYOR, a physician and member of First Baptist Church of Waco, examines a child at a temporary medical clinic in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Pryor was part of a team from the church traveling to Guatemala with Buckner Orphan Care International. (Morris Abernathy/Buckner Photo)
WORSHIP SERVICE:
First Baptist Church, Waco, in Guatemala
___By Scott Collins
___Buckner News Service
___HUEHUETENANGO, Guatemala--Bob Lemley stood with one foot propped on scaffolding and the other foot planted on a nearby table. Above him hung a 300-gallon water tank with pipes snaking from its sides to a water heater through a wall and into a showerhead on the other side.
___Outside in the courtyard of Fundacion Salvacion, a Guatemalan orphanage, Sydney McCarty held two children on her lap while a third orphan climbed upand over her back.
PASTOR Scott Walker of First Baptist Church prays for a Guatemalan orphan who has Down syndrome.
___Across town, the line waiting to see doctors Pat Pryor and Sean McCarthy grew faster than the two physicians could see patients. Pre-med students from Baylor University and volunteer nurses triaged waiting patients and dispensed free medicine.
___The activity in this city of 130,000 resulted from a weeklong missions trip to Huehuetenango sponsored by Buckner Orphan Care International. The team was led by members of First Baptist Church of Waco and included more than a dozen students from Baylor University and its Truett Theological Seminary.
___Team members divided into three groups, with a crew from the church providing physical improvements to the orphanage. A second group led Vacation Bible School for the orphans, and a third group operated a medical clinic.
___"It's almost beyond words what it means to me," said Lemley, who runs a computer programming office in Waco. "My spiritual gift is the gift of helps. I was fortunate that God gifted me with the ability to do things. And coming down here and doing things for people, that's getting to use the gift that I've been given."
___Lemley, who was nicknamed "Bob the Builder" by his fellow team members, worked on the construction crew. The teamchanged assignments once they saw the desperate needs of the orphanage. In a week of work, the Texans constructed and installed the water tank to provide hot water to the boys' shower, built and installed a Formica kitchen counter, braced bunk beds that were dangerously loose, purchased 40 new bunk beds and new chairs, and bought and installed a new kitchen stove, oven and griddle.
BOB LEMLEY, nicknamed "Bob the Builder" by coworkers, puts finishing touches on a water tank and heating system at an orphanage in Huehuetenango, Guatemala.
___Meanwhile, other team members led the VBS, providing much-needed attention to the 40 orphans.
___Robert Cole, a Truett Seminary student, said the trip allowed him to share "the one thing I have the most abundance of and that's love. That's what they need here. They just want people to come down here and love on these kids. These kids are desperate for somebody to love them.
___"I came down here thinking I was going to be such a blessing to these kids, that I was going to love on them and we were going to bring them all this great stuff like toys and clothes and medicine and we were going to be such a blessing," added Cole, who is a graduate of Howard Payne University. "But after five minutes, your view changes because you get so much from these kids. They just want to be loved and they want somebody to love. They are so excited about that."
___At the medical clinic, Gail Pryor, whose husband was one of the volunteer doctors, said the experience in Guatemala allowed church members to physically demonstrate God's love.
___"We just feel like we need to be loving other people in God's name," she said. "God tells us to love each other, and Christ modeled helping people. We are just trying to follow that."
___Along with seeing dozens of patients, team members provided free medicines. And after each patient visited a doctor, Baylor students shared their faith in Christ and prayed with each person.
___Scott Walker, pastor of First Church in Waco, said he views the mission work in Guatemala as part of the church's worship.
___"We come to God's sanctuary to prepare to go into the world and worship him by the way we live," Walker said. "The true worship of God is the way we live our lives. It's not what happens in the sanctuary. The way you praise God is the way you love his children, and we are trying to do that here. This is a service of worship. What we have been doing this week is worshipping God."
___Editor's note: Buckner Orphan Care International has planned seven additional mission trips to Guatemala in 2003, and more volunteers are needed. Volunteers are especially needed for a trip June 6-14. For more information, contact Buckner at (214) 388-1442 or visit www.helporphans.org.
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