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Quigley Quarterly

Quigley Quarterly

  October 2020

Greetings from lush, wet Guatemala!

Humpty Dumpty's fall during Covid restrictions 

Like the venerable egg, Marty pulled a Humpty Dumpty and shattered his wrist in June.  The government had imposed a strict curfew, but fortunately had lifted the Sunday stay-at-home edict just prior to this injury. So first we went seeking a hospital with working x-ray department and then we had to see what treatment options were available.

Our third attempt was successful and when the ER doctor showed us how much damage the wrist had suffered, we knew surgery was inevitable.  One of Diane's friends is married to an excellent orthopedic surgeon and hand specialist, who had a busy practice in Florida before returning to Guatemala. He was willing to take on Marty's case. He used a plate and eight screws to piece Marty's right wrist back together again.

As we looked at our itemized hospital bill for all these metal pieces, we were reminded of past situations when people we know in rural villages had broken bones that needed the same hardware and care as Marty did. We were able to help them cover their expenses through the generous donations of many of our readers.

The Great Healer has worked to restore bone tissue and Marty has recovered much of the use of his hand.  Marty put his wrist to the test by driving to Uspantan, which entails constant steering wheel motion on the hairpin turns pictured below.
Bible study finally resumed
Marty got a warm reception when he met with church leaders after a seven-month absence. They are focusing on the topic of who Christ is. Please pray that Marty will have insight into how to explain theologically challenging concepts to folks with very different backgrounds in spiritual matters. 
The most recent study focused on the first chapter of John, to answer the question of how Jesus came to be on earth in human form. For a fluent reader, it wouldn’t be too hard to connect the dots between “the Word was with God” (verse 1) and “the Word became flesh” (verse 14). But reading is a struggle for most of the men, and whole sermons based on one verse are common in their villages. The practice of taking in several verses at a time is not automatic. So the next step will be to review the same texts, this time using the book of John in audio format, so that they can listen as well as read.
 
 Finally, Phase 1 exterior is done

For over fifteen years we've looked forward to seeing the first floor of the Christian school in Uspantan get "roughed in". A contact of ours provided funds in late 2019 for the terrace. Pouring a roof turned out to be a two part process.  The first half  was completed by February, but due to rainy weather and government Covid restrictions, the second half was delayed. In July the rains eased up and the second 90-foot long section of roof was poured in concrete. It will serve as the floor of the future second story.  

We have so much to be thankful for, and we are especially grateful for you, our prayer and financial supporters. 

 
Pressing on, 
Marty and Diane
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