Hello to Everyone Back Home

Hi to everyone back home!  We’re having a great week in Sumpango helping Los Olivos with their medical clinic.  The church has done a great job preparing for our arrival and they are providing tremendous support in the day to day operations of the clinic.  The Woodlands team is doing a fantastic job as well– this is a very group of people.  It is wonderful to be serving the Lord again with our friends from Guatemala. 

We attended service at Los Olivos on Sunday night.  We were introduced to the church and had the opportunity to lead the congregation through a worship song in both Spanish and English.  Brian Berg spoke to the congregation about the Woodlands/Los Olivos partnership and how we are a team working together to do God’s work.  He did this in Spanish – which meant a lot to the people of the church.

Getting our medications through customs went very smoothly relative to the experience we had last year.  However, I had an interesting experience going through security in Chicago.  I arrived at church on Friday night with an empty carry-on in case we needed any extra space for supplies.  I didn’t  see it again until it was pulled off the bus in Chicago.  It weighed about 50 lbs and was zip-tied shut.  When the bag was going through the x-ray, the TSA agent stopped the conveyor and stared at the screen for a long time with a very puzzled look on her face.  She called one of the other agents over and he pulled my bag off to the side and called me over.  The agent asked me what was in the bag.  ‘I don’t know’, I responded.  Apparently, this is not a very good answer.  I’m sure the fact that there were 4 zip-ties securing it shut added to his suspicion.  The agent said, ‘Sir, you need to tell me what’s in the bag before I cut these off’.  My response was ‘I don’t know, I didn’t pack it’.  Also, not a good answer.  So, he cuts it open and inside there are about 40 small bottles of baby shampoo, body wash, and saline solution.  It was probably the biggest violation of the 3-1-1 rule in airport security history.  Thankfully, I wasn’t detained.  Great job packing my carry-on Ryan Groshek!! 

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support.  It is truly a blessing to be able to see and be a part of God’s work.  I miss you Carrie, Sam, David, and Keyva!

Scott