Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Progress...

We moved forward a bit today...a friend from church imports wrecked cars, gets them rebuilt, and resells them and so, I asked him if he would take me to his shop and try to get us a good quote. He did, and we got a great quote...less than 1/2 of what I expected! He also told the guy I needed the truck as soon as possible, which is true, and so he will begin reparation tomorrow. It will take two weeks, but it is on its' way. Paul, our friend, also negotiated a better payment schedule. The guy wanted 1/2 now and 1/2 later, but Paul got him to accept 30% now and two equal payments as the work progresses.

That's the good news...the bad news is even though we've been blessed with great quotes we still will require help to make it through this period. Please pray and ask God if He would have you make a special gift for the repair of our truck.

The children continue to do well in school. When I picked up the kids at Rodolfo Rojas the 1st grade teacher was openly pleased with the behavior of Cesar and Antonio. Please pray they can continue to 'think before they act'.

Monday, August 30, 2010

One down, one to go....

Today I received the estimate to repair the other car in the accident and by God's grace I was able to pay it in full. Now we have to deal w/our truck and I suspect it is going to be higher. I will find out tomorrow, hopefully.

This afternoon and evening have been filled w/schoolwork and Pedro's tutor. Everyone put in a good effort today on their schoolwork and for that we're thankful. I went to Rodolfo Rojas (school) today and spoke w/the teacher for Antonio & Cesar and asked her to notify me daily of their conduct. She said she would and I believe she'll work with us to get these two into line. It's tough for them because they are soooooooooo good at manipulating.

Please pray the Lord releases resources for our truck.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Not what we needed..........

On the way home from church today we were involved in a very big accident. By God's grace there were no serious injuries...Angel had to have his foot x-rayed, but there are no broken bones and he'll be fine. Fabi has some whiplash and we'll have to wait and see how she is. No injuries in the other vehicle.

In San Pedro the streets and avenues are laid out in a grid w/the avenues having right of way except 13th, 7th, & 1st streets. We were just slowly driving home from church when I unexplainedly crossed 7th street w/o stopping. The car traveling on 7th street was very much speeding and hit us broadside. Although the stop sign is missing and he was speeding the fault is all mine. The other car will need everything from the windshield forward and the truck will need a new passenger side and the bed straightened.

Pray for us....I don't know how we will recover from this financially.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Just things.....

Yesterday we set the casing at 110' in San Luis de Santa Barbara and we're praying for 'mucho aqua'! Found out last night the well in the neighborhood isn't producing as much as we'd like, so we'll give the weekend and then we have to make some tough decisions. Pray for these wells.

This morning we took Antonio to the psychologist, the girls to dance, and the cat for an operation (seems one of his testicles ruptured and it's serious according to the vet. the kids adore this cat, so please pray).

Thank you for your continued faithful monthly support and please invite your friends and associates to join you in supporting this ministry and these children!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Home late.....

Another night of arriving home in time to tell Joyce good-night as she heads up the stairs exhausted after a day of watching the kids on her own. The drilling is going well and we expect to set casing tomorrow, so perhaps tomorrow will be the last day of travel for me. Please pray for the well to be a strong producer.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

More drilling...

We drilled again today in San Luis and made it to 100'. We hit a pocket of water that was sufficient enough to cover me in mud from head to toe; but insufficient for the compound. Tomorrow we try again...had two guys from our church join us today and it was really fun having them with me. We all got to know each other better and they liked it enough they're coming back tomorrow.

The four kids in the new school are all still doing well and loving it. The other kids are all doing well except for Cesar & Antonio....pray for them. They both have problems with obeying any authority figure outside the home.

Joyce had an opportunity to go to a luncheon with the women from our church...a much needed time of doing nothing but talking and visiting...no kids to stress over!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Some days are tougher than others...

Drove 6 hours today to drill 7 feet...that doesn't sound like such a good ratio to me, how about you? Oh, I forgot to mention I got soaked by a downpour. Oh well, there's always tomorrow...that's a stretch to stay positive.

The kids continue to like their new school and new teachers, and the others are continuing to flourish in their old environment .

Angel has been flying around like a whirling deverish tonight. I don't know what he got into, but we need to identify and eliminate it quickly.

Take heart...the sun will rise in the morning and Lord will be on the throne!

Monday, August 23, 2010

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly...

The Good: Today a friend and I headed back to San Luis to see if we could get our truck 'unstuck'. Using his winch he pulled to truck out after some hours of maneuvering and then was able to get the air compressor out as well. When we arrived in San Luis I didn't think we much chance because it had rained hard over the previous night and the truck was literally sitting in water...but God, and Brad, prevailed. Thank you, Jesus!

Although I didn't make it home in time to see them Joyce told me the kids(Fabi, Mauricio, Angel & Jesus) loved their new school. She also told me we got some test results back from the other children(Gershon, Antonio, Cesar, Rosa, Karen, & Pedro) and that they were outstanding! Another Thank you, Jesus!

The Bad: Coming home we hit a horrendous rain storm that caused many, many problems; not the least of which was a three hour traffic jam! It was difficult to sit there and watch so many just aggravate the situation by choosing to fill the on-coming lanes w/their vehicles, making things even worse.

The Ugly: The storm caused a tree to fall on the power lines and our electricity was out. When I got home the candles were down to their last flicker and the house was a kiln! Having to open all the windows brought another treat: the neighbor's kids were screaming all night and I alternately couldn't sleep because of their screaming or the sweat streaming.....

Joy comes in the morning: At 12:01 a.m. the electricity came back on...a huge Thank you, Jesus!!!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

One Tough Day...

Left the house this morning at 7:30 a.m. for another meeting at the kids new school. Back home at 10:15 long enough to change clothes and head out to pick up the compressor and move it to the new drilling location. The compressor was an hour up in the mountains and after picking it up, coming back down the mountain and returning to San Pedro, we headed for another 3 hour climb into the mountains to San Luis de Santa Barbara where we would be drilling for a hospital. One problem...much rain had made ground deceivingly soft and when we pulled the compressor toward the drill site, it and the truck sank to hubs!

After spending the entire day pulling, digging, pulling w/2 truck, and winching until the cable broke and the winch overheated...the truck and the compressor are still stuck. We just got back from the mountain in a borrowed vehicle and we're all dead to this world. If that were spiritual it would be a good thing, but it's just plain exhausted!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Just workin'....

I spent the day w/my new righthand man, Mauricio as we loaded all the drill stem, tools, hoses, and fluids onto our truck for a trip to San Luis de Santa Barbara. Meanwhile Joyce took Fabiola shopping for the last of her birthday presents and did some grocery shopping and bill paying. I think Fabi is extremely happy w/her day.

Tonight is the first of two parental meeting at Good Seed, the new school for Fabi, Mauricio, Jesus, & Angel. Tomorrow morning is the 2nd meeting that we are required to attend. Monday they are off to school!

So far, so good for Gershon; but keep praying because he is extremely adept at knowing how to get himself back into good graces.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

The sun comes up & so do we....

Sometimes it just feels as if we're on a treadmill...up everyday at 5, feed the kids, get them ready for school, do Bible Study, send them off, and head to work which means drill, build, repair equipment; or pay bills get groceries...sounds just like you, doesn't it?

Sometimes we get so busy it's difficult to remember we're here to try to make a difference and we need to focus on that. The days all run together making it hard to even remember what day of the week it is, i.e. today I scheduled everything for Monday instead of tomorrow because I thought today was Friday.

Joyce had to take Gershon out for new sneakers for school tonight...he went through the last pair in two months.

We met w/our lawyer again today and she's moving forward on all fronts, but it all takes money. She keeps dropping phrases like "Visas for the kids to travel to the U.S.", "getting the adoption process started" and we try not to get too excited about them. But you pray...God, as we all know, can kick down any doors and maybe it's our turn to receive His blessing!

Spent the evening doing homework w/the kids, math for the little guys & middle girls and Bible Study for Mauricio & Fabiola who have to know how to research and understand the Bible in their new school. Tomorrow and again Sat. morning we have parents open house for the four who start at Good Seed next Tuesday. We're eager to see how the grow when surrounded by Christian classmates.

Thanks for all you do for each of us..........

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Prinicipal, Lawyer, Physical Therapist & Child Psychologist...

Meeting day: we had our fill of meetings today
  1. First we had to go to Gershon's school to meet with his teacher over his behavior lately. The teacher told us he will never obey, pay attention, or focus in class. Joyce & I were pretty tough on him in there trying to be sure he was understanding what continuing down that road will bring. We heard that he did much better after the meeting and tonight at home he is exhibiting very good behavior; but Gershon is very, very adept at manipulating people without them ever knowing it, so............who knows; keep praying.
  2. Next we had to meet w/our lawyer over our residency and ONG status (non-governmental organization) During the meeting she again mentioned that she was working w/a lawyer friend of hers in Teguicagalpa to try to get permission for us to adopt the children. We don't know if that's just smoke or not; but let's keep it in prayer!
  3. Antonio went back for a second evaluation appointment with his new Child Psychologist. I have no idea what occurred...she asked me to leave so she could speak w/him only. Joyce & I did fill out rather extensive questionnaires and she scheduled another evaluation meeting for Saturday at 8:00 a.m
  4. Pedro's physical therapist was here again (3 days a week) and says that he feels Pedro is beginning to make some big strides. He says he sees great improvement in Pedro's memory skills which are allowing him to gain a bigger vocabulary..pray for Pedro as well.
The day of meetings is over and thankfully we don't have any scheduled for tomorrow, yet!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Celebration in the heavens........

The Lord opened the door for me to present the Gospel to our cook tonight and she had been prepared by the Holy Spirit to be receptive to it. There is indeed a celebration in heaven tonight because she prayed and asked the Jesus to come into her heart as her Lord & Savior!!!

Finally finished a well for our neighbor and was able to move the drill rig back to our bodega(warehouse) where we'll work hard to get it ready for the weekend. We will be heading to San Luis de Santa Barbara to drill a well for a hospital there that is currently w/o water...so it's pretty urgent. We would appreciate your prayers.

Pray also for Gershon...Joyce & I have a meeting in the morning w/his teacher and reports of his being disrespectful. He's on the edge and could go either way...pray!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Spiritual Warfare

Yesterday I had the opportunity to preach in our church and the Lord blessed and caused a young girl to come forward to re-dedicate her life to Him! She had been living in the states and recently was sent back to Honduras by her father because she was being rebellious. Isn't it awesome how the Lord works His will?

Today the enemy tried to steal our joy....almost all of the kids were unresponsive or just plain not paying any attention in our Bible Study this morning. We talked and talked about it, but nothing seemed to be able to penetrate them. We were studying Isaiah 1:16-17 and I finally decided they would have to memorize the two verses before the end of the day. It's so neat to see them all w/Bibles out tonight diligently studying God's Word. Spiritual warfare is all about persevering and the kids will win the battle this day!

Satan never stops trying to distract us and to lead us into areas or behaviors we know aren't good for us; but we don't have to follow him. We can resolve to cast him out and to walk with Jesus...and these kids have done that tonight!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

More Birthday pics













Happy Birthday!


Today is Fabiola's 13th birthday and she is elated to "finally" be a teenager! I told her she should temper her enthusiasm because w/additional years comes additional responsibilities....but, I did leave her off the hook. She had great day and got lots of gifts that she loved, mostly PINK things to make her more 'girly'....

Our most fun day........

Yesterday was our most 'fun' day in Honduras...

The Gilen family from our church took all of our children to a water park and then out to eat to celebrate Fabi's birthday, which is today. That gave Joyce and I the afternoon off and we took advantage of it by doing something we've been longing to do since we moved here.

San Pedro Sula is walled on the Western perimeter by very rugged mountains and Joyce & I have been saying how much we'd love to find a way to drive up in the and see what we would see. Well, yesterday our pastor's son, Mark gave us directions and off we headed. We climbed and climbed and then climbed some more. The flora was typical rainforest and it was beautiful in spite of a narrow road that left something to be desired. We climbed so high we drove right through the clouds speeding by us and then kept climbing until we emerged above them in the bright sunlight. It was incredible; the vistas were beyond on description of mountain after mountain after mountain. At one point we stopped and talked w/ a old man who lived in one of the many tiny villages on the mountainside. He was great and obviously was pleased to have a 'gringo' stop to talk w/him. He told us if we kept going we would eventually end up in Guatemala. We really can't wait to do it again...it reminded us so much of our time in mountains in Haiti.

The kids also had a great day...the Gilens purchased life jackets for everyone and they went to the water park w/a new confidence. The reports were great fun had by all AND all were well behaved, PTL!

Friday, August 13, 2010

The Lord's Appointments...

Today the Lord smiled on us by making appointments for us that we couldn't do for ourselves.

First we finally found a strong Christian child psychologist with the help of our friend Leo, a local youth pastor. He directed us to a woman in his church who has a huge heart for children. We took Antonio there for her to reach inside of him to uncover the horrors of sexual molestation that we can't reach. She's a great Christian and appears to be a very capable child psychologist. After meeting w/me and then Antonio by himself she scheduled us for 3 follow-up meetings w/Antonio for a thorough evaluation. We've been trying to get this done for 14 months and now, finally! As she handed me the appointment card for the next session she told me, "I don't want you to pay anything. This is a small way I can help with your work." She also has rescued 6 children from the streets and is caring for them. Thank you, Jesus!

Next we received a call from some fellow missionaries, John & Valerie, who attend the same church as us. They told us they had a dental team in country and wanted us to bring all of our children to their home for a check-up. Turns out the lead dental technician speaks fluent Spanish and the children fell in love w/her. She worked on all of kids for 3 hours non-stop, marking down every cavity, cleaning teeth & gums, and then giving them a new paste fluoride treatment. All at no cost, of course!

When adversity strikes...the Lord shows up!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Tests continuing...

The kids continue to work hard in preparation for daily tests this week in every subject. We think they're doing well, but aren't sure because they don't get their papers back from the teachers.

This is also haircut week...and it takes that much time to get everyone through the barber's chair. But they do look much better.

Colds & sniffles continue, but don't appear to be getting worse...meds, meds, and more meds!

We request your prayers as, once again, we are experiencing internal attacks in our organization. Pray and help us to overcome.


Wednesday, August 11, 2010

More Hospital...........

Yesterday it was Joyce's turn in the hospital...we spent 4 hours there while she was having a biopsy done on her stomach ulcer. The doctor told us he believes it's benign and we also believe that, but would ask you to pray for her. We get the results back late Friday.

This is test week in school so the kids are all doing extra duty in the study area at home. I think they will all be glad when Friday comes.

Still fighting lots of coughs and runny noses, but nothing serious. Sunday we will have another birthday....Fabiola turns 13! Another teenager...not sure that's what we need.........


Monday, August 9, 2010

My turn in the barrel.....

This time it was me who ended up in the emergency room...this morning I was experiencing dizziness and a tingle in my arms. As the morning progressed the symptoms continued to get worse until I began to worry about what might be the cause. I was having great difficulty standing and just an overall uneasiness about me so I asked Joyce to take me to the E.R.

Once there they gave me an I.V. and did a series of blood tests which showed very little..perhaps an infection and slight anemia. I was waiting for a doctor to come in see me, but after 3 hours I decided I felt good enough to come home, and did so.

Tonight I'm feeling pretty good and will just mark it up to another attempt by the enemy to steal our finances and our peace.

Some of the kids are still battling minor colds and coughs and we continue to pick up meds for them hoping to get them healthy soon.


Sunday, August 8, 2010

Great day......

After church, and lunch, today we went home and Joyce and I did some home work with the kids. Then we all loaded into the truck and headed out to La Confiensa, a village where we had drilled a well and made two exceptional friends in Armando & Kevin. We were returning to take a Bible to Armando's father who had accepted the Lord a week earlier, but we also had some clothes for both Kevin & Armando that our kids were in between sizes.

We found both of the boys and gave them their new shorts and they were ecstatic and then as we headed out we handed out toys to children along the road. We stopped at Armando's house and gave his little brother a pair of great shoes that no longer fit any of our children (he was barefoot) and we were about to leave when Joyce pointed out a mother and daughter watching us from across the road. Joyce asked if we had anything else, but all we had was another Bible. I asked the woman if she could read and she said yes. Then I asked her if she had a Bible and she replied, "no".
When Joyce handed her the Bible she beamed the brightest smile I think I've ever seen. As we were pulling away we looked back and there she stood with the open Bible in her hands smiling from ear to ear. She looked as if she had just won the lottery...even better!!!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Back again.......

Sorry about the long absence; we've been busy with teams and projects, but here is a recap of our activities:
  • Sat. July 31 our children, our daughter & family, & a team from the D.C. area all headed to the waterfall at Pulhapanzak to celebrate the birthdays of Antonio (11) & Michael Gaitonde (?)...great day of adventure and swimming
  • Sun. Aug.1 Bob Adams (son-in-law) and I took some tarps to an old friend, Armando, in Siete de Septiembre. His random tin house had many leaks and we were getting heavy rains. When we arrived his father was asleep on the bed and it was difficult to get him aroused, but Armando did it. We explained why we were there and then gave him the tarps and started to leave when the Holy Spirit prompted us to share the gospel w/Armando's father. Turns out he didn't know the Lord, but he was ripe for the story and now is a member of our flock! Then outside the house the six siblings, who were listening, also invited Jesus into their hearts. Thank you, Jesus! Great day!
  • Mon. Aug. 2 we all headed to El Eden to begin building houses for the poor and on the first day we put up the blocks for three houses...a tremendous amount of work that required the help of man, woman, and child...literally. At the end of that day all were 'pooped'!
  • Tues. Back to El Eden to continue building and to begin VBS' and the distribution of many goods such as: clothes, shoes, schools supplies, hygiene packs, toys, etc.
  • Wed. El Eden and working in the rain, real rain, blinding rain...miserable rain
  • Thur. & Friday...more VBS', many people prayed for to accept the Lord, and 3 houses completed.
  • Sat....spent the morning w/Angel in surgery for a benign tumor under his tongue...he's home and in great shape....found Jesus was H-pyloric positive and picked up 3 kinds of meds for him, Rosa has an ear ache and Karen has a stomach ache, but all will be fine.
  • Mauricio, Fabiola, & Gershon (for two of the days) worked with the teams and made themselves proud. They were great examples for us all.
We had great teams (and family), accomplished much work, and touched many lives for the Kingdom! In between times the computer was down and the work kept me too tired to blog even when I got the computer back. Will try to do better.......