Impacting One Life at a Time

Peter and Donna Pitman (Delp), serving with Commission to Every Nation
Summer 2021
What’s been happening:
Team season has continued! We have been blessed to have back to back teams since the
last newsletter. I could write a novel on all the awesome things that have happened with
each team. But for lack of space, I’ll try to highlight the best I can for each!
Thompson family: This group is amazing! We always have a fun time with them and so
many patients have been blessed by them as well! Over the
course of a few months, everyone in the family came down, and
one trip, they brought 2 friends along. We have been to villages
all over the Barra Lampara area with them, seeing hundreds of
patients. Even though the pandemic has caused quite a bit of changes and challenges to
hold clinics, this group adapted and has been flexible each time! We have gone house to
house by boat to see some really sick patients and they have done an
amazing job at thinking outside the box to use the resources that were available. There was
one patient that was a young boy with swollen lymph nodes, losing weight, and having
fevers. The main concern with those symptoms is cancer. We took him to a lab that is 45
minutes away by boat (closest one), and got some bloodwork
done. Thankfully, it all came back ok. He was having blisters on
his scalp that turned into a severe infection. After taking meds and
using proper soap and shampoo, thankfully the infection cleared up and his lymph
nodes started going back to normal size. It’s normal here for many to use hard bar
soap that is made for washing clothes by hand because it’s
cheaper than proper soap and shampoo. One village we
went to with this group was an hour and half boat ride because we had to weave in and
around a tiny little side river. There were 35 families that lived there and don’t have any
resources. There is a little school building and a teacher
walks an hour one way to come and teach 25 kids from
grades kindergarten to 6th grade, all in the same
classroom. When we set up clinic in this village, many
were concerned that we with the government health
department, checking for covid cases. We assured them
that we were not and just wanted to provide medical care to
anyone not feeling well or who had concerns, and to give
vitamins to everyone. It took quite a bit of convincing, but we finally were able to see
everyone from that village. Many of the moms commented, while watching their children
play and laugh with some of the team members, that it was so good to see them
laughing and having fun again as it’s been an extremely long time
since the kids have been able to just be kids. The team saw a
young pregnant mom and used the fetal doppler to listen to the
baby’s heartbeat. It was the first time the mom heard her baby’s
heartbeat, even though she was very far along. The smile on the
mom’s face said it all: she was so excited and happy to hear the
heartbeat! During another clinic, a little boy came and
chatted our ears off. He told us all his symptoms and
how his ears hurt when he baths in the river, and
continued to talk about his family and their symptoms. He absolutely loved spending time with the team!
Dane: We had the privilege of having Dane with us from California. We were able to do a
couple of clinics with him, with one of them being in a fairly new village, all run by women,
which is very rare. We worked on the side of a muddy
hill, seeing many patients who had diarrhea issues
from drinking contaminated water, parasites, fungal
infections, skin issues, and allergy issues from it being
damp during rainy season. They were so thankful for
the medical care as it is basically impossible for them to
get around to be seen at a clinic. The closest hospital or clinic is 45
minutes away by a boat with a motor. Most people in these villages
have little canoes. And because of the pandemic, public boat transportations have been
shut down. So, if you don’t know someone with a motor boat or have money to pay for
private transport, you are stuck, unable to get to a pharmacy or clinic.
Bill Carnell team: There isn’t enough space or adequate words to
describe this incredible team! Bill, his fiancée Lisa, daughter
Becca, stepdaughter Alana, and friend Rosellen came for a week,
but worked enough for a year, and impacted for an eternity! We
were aiming to do 3 clinics and see 450 patients. We ended up
seeing over 650 patients and literally witnessed miracles! Before the group came, I
(Donna) packed the bins with meds and because of space, I just felt like we wouldn’t
have enough. I prayed that God would literally multiple the meds
to have enough for everyone. We did the first 2 clinics, hitting
our 150 limit and then came the last clinic. We saw 350 patients!
Multiple times, Peter would come to us and tell us that we ran
out of a certain med. Meanwhile, another patient would come,
needing the same thing. Peter would double check and sure
enough, the exact med that was needed was there! This team
brought down multiple battery powered nebulizers, which became lifesavers! None of the
villages we work in have electricity. During this week, we saw so many kids that were
really struggling to breathe and needed neb treatments asap. Bill,
especially, had multiple children who needed neb treatments.
Thankfully, because of this team, the kids all received the treatment
that they needed and were sent home with nebulizers that they
could use. Rosellen had one little girl was very close to dying. She
was so dehydrated, limp, and not really responsive. Becca was
able to syringe feed her a rehydration packet and she perked up
and had a much better color in her face! If this team hadn’t been
there that day, this little girl would have died within hours. During
the 3 clinics, we traveled by boat to the village entrance or to the
docking point and for 2 of them, we needed to drive on the back
of a truck through other villages in the jungle. For the last
village, we were told that we would have to drive through a
couple of rivers as well. Because it’s rainy season, it
normally rains every afternoon and night. The mayor
explained to us that if it starts raining while we have
clinic, it’s very possible that we will be stuck in the
jungle for the night until the river receded again the
following day. We joked that we were taking our tarp to make a tent in the jungle for the night. Thankfully, God
held off the rains and we were able to make it back to the hotel that evening. Every
evening, after clinic, we also had a house call for a patient who had his appendix taken
out, but was not healing well at all. His incision had
completely opened and was needing to heal from the inside
out. Thankfully, Lisa is a certified wound nurse and did a
fantastic job teaching the wife how to pack the wound for the
next couple of weeks. Everyone did an awesome job thinking
outside the box and using what was available, while being in
the middle of the jungle, along a river, without electricity. Alana
and Becca did a fantastic job entertaining the kids while we held clinic. For many, it
was the first time in a year and a half that they could play and just be kids. We all
became family by the end of the week. We shared lots of laughs, heart to hearts, and
just loved every minute of being together. We are so incredibly
thankful for their yes to come and serve so many. Bill was already
planning the next trip down and what all supplies they could bring. 2
days after returning to PA, Bill was involved in an accident and
passed away the next morning. Bill and everyone on this team
seriously impacted so many lives, including ours, for the better. God
is still using Bill in a mighty way, even though he is in Heaven.

Alaska team: Aziel and his family host a team from Alaska every year.
The one member is a nurse and we held a few clinics while she was
here. They also had a chiropractor this year, which was a blessing to
so many patients as a common complaint is aches and pains from
their hard work and carrying extremely heavy items on their head. For
each clinic, different teens helped in the pharmacy area and played
with the kids. A lot of the common issues that we saw are
allergy issues, skin infections, diarrhea from contaminated
water, and head, neck, and joint pain.
Galilea team: A local church, who normally hosts a
construction team annually, also brought 2 nurses down this
time! We had the joy of having them help with clinics locally.
Each clinic day, the 2 nurses came along with 2 different members of the team
to get a taste of what it’s like to do clinics here in Guatemala. The whole team
was absolutely wonderful and did a fantastic job, seeing and treating hundreds
of patients! We had a couple patients who were really sick and the team did a
great job coming up with a treatment plan. We held 4 clinics and a deworming day, which also
entailed handing out clothes to everyone that came. Near the end of their time here, we had
them all over to our house for tacos and had a little worship time.
 Thyroid surgery: In May, we met Raul, who is friends with our boat
driver in Rio Dulce. He has had a mass growing on the right side of
his neck for 8 years and it had gotten to the point that he was
struggling to breathe, especially at night. We got him a CT scan
done, which showed 2 masses growing on his thyroid. Thanks to
missionary friends who work with surgical teams, we got connected
to a doctor in a town about 10 hours from this man’s home, who was willing to do the
surgery at a reduced rate. When we met with the surgeon, she explained how this was the highest risk surgery
because of the size and location of the tumors. Surgery happened the following morning and went beautifully,
without any complications! We are keeping him at our house for the week, while he continues to recover and to
be able to take him to his follow-up appointment with the surgeon. Thank you to some generous
donors who covered his surgery and for those who have been praying!
Ceiling: For the last couple of years, Peter’s mom’s ceiling has been cracking
and large concrete chunks have been falling, making it unsafe to live or use in
that half of the house. Currently, construction is underway to totally redo the
part of the house that had rusty rebar in. Thankfully, some locals had the time
to do the construction and make her house safe again.
Haines sibs: In July, we had our awesome friends, Emily and
Conner come for a week. It was a much needed time of fellowship,
sharing heart to hearts, and encouraging one another. We took them
up to Rio Dulce and out to a village that was in need
of some solar lights. This village doesn’t have any
electricity and normally uses candles at night. We
were able to give them 2 solar lights to put on their
pavilion, which is the village’s area for important
meetings. Conner also brought some soccer balls
that have the different colors to share the gospel and
gave them away to kids along the way.
Translators: With each team, we could not do what we do without amazing translators! Huge thank you to
Brooke, Yelsi, Aziel, and the locals who have been working so hard to translate with each group. Many of
these villages only speak a dialect. So, we have needed multiple locals to help translate from their dialect to
Spanish and then one of our translators to go from Spanish to English for the team, and back around.
How to Help: We are partnered with Commission to Every Nation, which is a highly accredited organization. Peter and I
run medical clinics and continue working with children. If you feel led to donate and assist with our living expenses,
activities for children and youth, travel expenses for clinics in far, hard to reach villages, and medications and supplies for
the patients that we care for, please donate through this site: www.cten.org/donnadelp or send a check to the address at
the bottom of this page. Make your check payable to CTEN and include a note, stating it’s for Peter and Donna Pitman. All
donations are tax deductible. If you would like to come for a medical trip, help with the children, or assist in some other
way, please feel free to contact us through Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp (011 502 5470 4197), or email:
do101499@gmail.com

Prayer requests: continued financial support as our ministry grows, funds for land and to build a clinic, an area to build a clinic
and a place to set up clinics in the meantime while we look for land, for spiritual protection, health, and safety, and for rest in the
midst of trials.

Commission to Every Nation *PO Box 291307* Kerrville, TX 78029-1307*

1-800-872-5404 Donate online at www.cten.org/donnadelp
Website: www.1lifeatatime.com