Marcedona

This precious, 32 year-old, mother of 6 was in a horrific accident in late August.  She was cranking up a machine that grinds corn and her hair got caught in the axle and torn off 90% of her scalp, one ear and half of the other.   Her whole entire family (mother, father, sister, brother, husband, kids) and people in the village rushed to help only to find her laying on the ground unconscious.  They thought she was dead and were afraid to touch her, so she laid there for about 30 minutes unattended.  When they realized she was alive, she was put in a truck and driven 30 minutes to the nearest "town".  (They live in a very remote village in the mountains).  There, she was transported by ambulance to a hospital in the city - over an hour away.  Now you are probably thinking that once she got to the ambulance, she was stabilized and given pain medication, etc., but I highly doubt it.  Where they were, I am sure the ambulance wasn't much more than a means of transportation.

Marcedona spent 2 months in the national hospital.  She had several skin graft surgeries and a surgery  to insert a tube where her ear was to keep the ear canal open so she would not lose hearing.  When Chris went to visit her family shortly after the accident, they were very concerned about the skin grafts because they had never heard of that before.  He explained it to them and that helped them to understand that she needed it to survive.  They live in a small remote place and have little knowledge of "modern" things.  In all, skin was taken from 7 places on her thighs - very painful she said.   She still needs one more surgery and possibly one that will give her a prosthetic ear.

Her youngest daughters

We went to visit her at home and she is doing well.  One of the most difficult parts of the whole ordeal was being away from her 6 children and the rest of her family.  The memory has left a lasting impression on everyone and we are praying that God will heal that so they can move on.  She is grateful to God and how He has provided for her and her family.

We shared her accident with our prayer team,  the hearts of a couple of people were touched to help.   As a result, bus fare was provided for her dad, husband, and brother to go see her when she was in the hospital.  They've been blessed with food, the medicine she needs until her wounds heal, and a water filter so she can wash her head with clean water.  Some folks sent sterile bandages and gauze that we could not get here in Guatemala.  The timing was perfect because she needed the gauze and a team was coming a few days later.  During our visit we explained that it's not the "Gringo's" who have helped, it's God who has provided and He has a plan for her life.  He brought her through this terrible ordeal and she's a miracle.

Please keep Marcedona in your prayers.  Pray that she would be healed mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically from all that she has gone through.  Thank you!!