In the summer of 2016, 15 year old Cameron Holbrook shared how he felt that Caroline's Promise needed more men on their mission teams. His heart was touched by the boys and young men he had met in Guatemala and he began to pray for men to catch a vision for the ministry. That Fall Cameron played football for the first time and met Coach Jared Rolfes who was not only a great coach but a follower of Jesus. Cameron asked Coach Rolfes if he would be interested in taking a team of guys to Guatemala and that opened the door for Lisa to have several conversations with him.
We all laugh that Coach Rolfes turned Lisa down 3 times!
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| Kristi Clary at the medical clinic in Gerona |
Once he finally agreed to take a team, he invited Phillip Clary to join him. In the weeks that followed, Phillip's wife, Kristi expressed an interest in going on what we thought would be an English teaching team at the same time. Lisa remembered that Kristi was a nurse for a local
pediatrician, Leslie Smith - who just happened to be the Holbrook's doctor. As Dr. Smith was completing a recommendation form for Kristi, she realized that she would like to join the team and within a few days the English teaching team turned into a medical team!
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| Dr. Leslie Smith |
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From that point on we all saw God work in amazing ways - both in the lives of the students and team members as well as the Guatemalans that they served. The guys conducted sports camps while the medical team hosted clinics for children. At the end of the first day of clinics, a mom showed up with a baby that was less than a year old. She didn't live in the community but was visiting a friend whose kids attend our Sunday afternoon Kids' Church. Dr. Smith and our Guatemalan doctor, Tiffany Quan both realized that the child was near death. Tiffany jumped into the back of a truck with the mom and baby and took them to the nearest fire department where they were rushed to a local hospital. The mood was somber as we boarded the bus, each of us realizing that unless God intervened, baby Marvin would not live for very long.
Two days later Dr. Tiffany learned that baby Marvin was still in the hospital but getting better. The following Sunday our team saw baby Marvin and his Mom at our project in Gerona! It truly was a miracle!
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| Baby Marvin & his Mom - now healthy! |
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This is just an example of how God uses people who step out in faith. Cam heard from God and acted on it, being bold enough to ask Coach Rolfes to take a team. Coach Rolfes stepped out in faith when he agreed to lead the team, and then was bold when he asked Phillip Clary to join us. Kristi did her part by telling Dr. Smith about the trip, and Dr. Smith responded by saying "yes"!
In the end, Baby Marvin was seen by our team of doctors and is now thriving.
