“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” Corrie Ten Boom

July 2005                                                                                                                                                                              

We, Sharon Harvey, RN co-founder of ASELSI, those attending the first training, and myself, stepped into the unknown, attempting to train local workers in basic physical therapy skills to meet the growing needs of children with disabilities in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. Would it work? We weren’t sure. I was providing the training, but I had only worked with adults after graduating.  I did have a six-week pediatric rotation in school, five years earlier. Other professionals told Sharon it wouldn’t work. The ASELSI workers worried they wouldn’t be able to learn the information. Or worse, what would the other woman in the community think when they saw the women wearing pants? Despite the doubts and fears, Sharon had a vision and I believed it was an open door from the Lord. Together, we stepped out in faith.

June 2015

We’ve discovered what God knew all along. Yes, we can provide basic physical therapy skills to children with disabilities by training local workers and use that service as a tool to share the gospel. But we’ve seen so much more!
We can bring change not only in a patient’s ability, but also in people’s perspective of those with disabilities. We can create clinical rotation sites for physical therapy students both within the US and Guatemala, exposing them to missions and Christ. Most recently, we’re working to create a partnership with a national university and/or the government to provide official diplomas for Promoters of Health in Rehabilitation, meaning we can expand our area of influence. We eagerly await to see what God will do in the next 10 years as we trust Him!

We have some fun activities planned to celebrate our 10 years of work with ASELSI in Guatemala.  Click on the following links for more information about the last 10 years in Guatemala and our 10th anniversary plans.

For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.  Isaiah 64:3 NIV