Saturday, February 26, 2011

Some Videos For Your Viewing Pleasure!!!

Here are two videos we figured you all would like to check out. One is a video of Angel TRYING to play his guitar and sing "Trading My Sorrows" and the other is of Rosa dancing.

The second video literally blows my mind because this is not the Rosa many people remember. Many know her as a shy, introverted, individual. This is a side of Rosa a VERY few ever get to see. I am so blessed to see Jesus changing the lives of these children!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Catch Up...

As far as drilling goes not much has happened this week. The rig was at Galdamez's shop and will be there until Sunday afternoon when we go to pick it up in order to drill for a village in Choloma with a team that is coming in from Denver.

The shop was able to bolt the piston back on, re-seal the swivel with graphite, and take care of some maintenance as well. The guys at the shop are pretty reliable and honest. They like us very much and help us out in any way they can.

Tuesday we went an hour and a half to meet up with two missionaries that were taking us to the location of their ministry near Santa Cruz. We went their to see if we could find a location to drill a well there so they could have potable water. They have a submersible pump in the creek nearby but, people from around the area sneak in and steal wiring from the area thus making it very difficult to even keep the pump running. In order to keep thieves away, the husband sleeps out near the creek every 3 nights. It is an amazing ministry they run. They take Honduran youths and teach them the Word, give them shelter, show them how to work and make a variety of important things. When the students "graduate", they send them out in groups to minister in different areas. The amazing part is that until last month (a young couple that graduated from the ministry was called to assist them), it was just the husband and wife running the show!

Thursday, Bob and I headed back to San Luis De Santa Barbara to gather the equipment and pick up some Bentonite for Monday.

As far as the kids go, I am really growing close to some of them. I am really starting to bond with Rosa and Mauricio. It just blows my mind with how Rosa is changing socially. She used to just be like a shadow that never spoke. Now, she is full of life!

For Antonio, it seems like God just flipped a switch in his brain. He has not urinated in his bed for 12+ days!!! Plus, I was able to have a very good conversation with him. He seems to have changed a bit over night! He still has his moments, but overall he seems a little different to me. God is changing these kids before my very eyes and He has allowed me to witness it!

Thank you all for your prayers!

Here are some pics from the trips we took on Tuesday and Thursday:

1. Photos from the missionaries' ministry:

"Where we will drill the first hole"

"The dining area"

2. Some photos from San Luis De Santa Barbara:


"Would you like to live here?"

Monday, February 21, 2011

Jig saw puzzles as art...


The kids worked long on hard on these 500 piece jig saw puzzles and then Joyce turned them into wall murals.

Crazy Hats!!!


This weekend the kids were given the assignment of making a "Crazy Hat" for Monday morning. Later in the day, whoever has the "craziest" hat, will be declared the winner of the school. As you can tell, these hats are literally crazy-looking! Joyce put a lot of time and effort into these hats for the kids and I am surprised she did not go crazy! I was under the impression that she had created a crazy hat before but she informed me that this was her first time ever! She did a great job too! It is a good thing the "assignment" was not given to me (Will) because I thought a crazy hat was when an individual just threw some glitter, and silly string together over a ballcap! Take a look at Joyce's "crazy" handiwork!







Sunday, February 20, 2011

Saturday, February 19, 2011

A Good Week? You decide...

Monday & Tuesday of this past week we couldn't drill because we were waiting for the repair technician for the compressor. On Wednesday they finally said he would be there in the morning so Will and I loaded up and headed out to San Luis once again. The tech never showed up, but the compressor ran all day and we went through 60 feet of rock. Thursday, back to San Luis and again the compressor worked well until we hit too much clay and had to pull the stem to change bits. While pulling the stem we pulled the one at 50 feet and it wasn't connected to anything! We had been at 115' so you can do the math and figure out where the air hammer was...or at least where we thought it was.

We prayed and gave the problem some thought before attempting to fish out the hammer, a $5000 piece of equipment. We decided to buy 1/2" alum. tubing and connect them while feeding them down hole hoping to strike the other stem and then fall inside the stem. If we could do that then we could slip the drill stem over the 1/2 tubing and possibly re-thread them and salvage the hammer and the 13 drill stems down the hole. Again, we prayed fervently before starting and to our surprise we hit something that sounded like metal at 13' ...it should've been down 50'! Sure enough it was the wayward stem and we were able to get the tubing inside it and then feed the drill stem down to re-thread. Almost too easily we salvaged everything...it was almost 600lbs suspended in the middle of the hole with 65' of clear hole below it. If you had ever done any drilling you would know this was a miracle just short of Lazarus walking out of the tomb! Why was it waiting at only 13' for us? You can choose your own answers.

We had to head home quickly because this was Joyce's 70th birthday and the kids had a party planned for her and were waiting for Will and I. We made it home in time and had a great party for our ánchor' !

The next day it was off to San Luis again (2-1/2 hours each way) and again we would have to leave early because two couples from our church were taking Joyce and I out for her birthday celebration. We tried reaming the hole, but couldn't get past the rock; so we used a smaller rock bit and drilled to 135' before everything fell apart. The hydraulic piston on the drill mast blew out 4 bolts and became unfastened from the mast, the newly packed swivel wouldn't stop leaking, and the engine wasn't able to maintain rpms. Because we had a dinner date we loaded up everything and headed back to town pulling the rig with us to a machine shop we know in San Pedro. We made it just before they closed and they agreed to work on the problems over the weekend.

So, the week was filled with tons of trouble, setback after setback, frustration upon frustration, fatigue, lots of diesel fuel used going back and forth, four (4) flat tires, and still no water. BUT at the end of the day our King is still on the throne and the sun will be up in the morning. We have survived to fight another day and we will...it is very aggravating, but we believe God has a purpose we can't yet see and we will do all we can to complete what we fill He's called us to. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

"Daniel jumped into the frame to have some fun"


Above is a video we took when we had to blow the water out of the hole at the end of the day.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Confidential....

Today "someone" within the family turned "?". I can't reveal much information for fear of bodily harm. I'll leave the dirty work to Bob. Here's some pictures!!!! (if anyone asks....it was Bob that uploaded these pics!)

"Mmm...Cake!!!
"
"What in the world do I do with this?"
"Answer hidden in the message!!!"


I think I've shown too much!!! :)

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Cesar Turns 8!!!

Well....at least, not yet. He is officially 8 years old tomorrow but we celebrated it today after church due to the kids having school plus, Bob, Daniel, and I are headed back to the mountains to try and drill some more in San Luis De Santa Barbara. Cesar has changed so much! As I am sitting here typing this, I look at the pictures below and am just amazed at the physical differences that have occurred over the last 2 years! Because of Christ and your prayers...he experienced this day!

"Power Ranger robot thingy....no Kung-Fu action chop included."
"Senor Ocho!"

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Jack Of All Trades........In Training.....

In case you are all wondering what this is, it is a lattice of EPIC workmanship! Joyce wanted to start on it but had to go pick up the kids so I figured I would give it a shot. The funny part is that the piece on the bottom of the lattice is smaller than the others due to the fact that I thought it looked longer than the others. I was wrong......about 3 inches wrong. Eat your heart out Richard Parker!

Cesar gets a surprise visitor...o


Cesar was emptying the bathroom trash when the critter below fell off the bag and onto his shirt. Needless to say he left out a scream and we all came running to see the biggest scorpion I've ever seen! In the picture below he's all curled up from the effects of the Raid spray, but you can get an idea of his size by realizing the blocks are 12" square! The visits to the bathroom are much, much shorter now!!!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

A Huge, but pleasant surprise...

Last night I received a phone call from Irma! Irma is the 'hefe' or boss of IHNFA the "Child Welfare System" of Honduras and it was she who was in the middle of the removal of Gershon, Karen, and Jesus when we last spoke. Naturally, I wasn't thrilled to be hearing from her again.

She didn't tell me what she wanted; only that I should be at her office today at 3:00 p.m. Joyce and I arrived there on time and were promptly ushered into Irma's office where she began to tell us of her need to visit us and that she expected us to take her to our house right now. So, we loaded up and headed to the house. Fortunately we had told Will to put a movie in for the kids so when we arrived there wasn't a lot of commotion going on. Irma came in and spoke to the children each very briefly and then ask for a tour of the house. Joyce and I took her to each room and told her who occupied each of them and then she was done.

She told us she was very pleased with us that she could see the happiness in the children's faces and see the growth in their bodies, that she would çontinue' to help us (?), that it was her responsibility to help us, and that she would tell the judge that all was good in our family. We have no idea what any of that means, but it is certainly much better than what we had feared. In our Bible study in the morning we told the kids about her call and ask them to pray to God asking for protection from any attack she might bring against us. We also, had Will gather the children at precisely 3:00 p.m. and pray the same prayer again.

We got more than protection...we got a glowing report! Thank you, Jesus!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Saga continues...

Yesterday we headed out to find tires for the truck. Not as easy as it sounds...we had to go to three different tire shops before we found with the right size tires. I was thinking I might just get six new ones so everything would be in alignment, but...........they were $192.00 each! I ended up getting 3 new ones...2 for the front and one for one of the duals in the back...the others are okay for now.

So, we headed back to San Luis and arrived there just before dark. This morning we were up early and as I walked outside praying I noticed one of my brand new, almost $200 tires, was flat!!! Can you believe that? 3 flats in two days and one them less than a day old.

We started drilling about 7:30 and all was going well until about 10:30 when the air compressor quit on us again. The same problem as before...something is sending a signal causing it shut off, so....

Now we wait again for Commercial Laiesz to come to the site to watch the compressor while working to see if they can determine the cause. Water for this compound is evidently something Satan is dead set against.......but in the end we all know he loses!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Swimming against the current...

Today Will & I finally picked up our air compressor and headed back to San Luis to finish the well there...well it wasn't quite that simple! We pulled into the repair shop and backed up to the compressor and the technician said, "What's up with your tire?" Actually nothing...it was FLAT! It was on one of the dual wheels so we were able to drive a few miles down the road and get it repaired (2 hours). I tried to purchase some new tires, but they didn't have any to fit the truck so we headed back to the repair shop.

This time we picked up the compressor and actually were on our way, 3 hours after we had left our house! We were nearly at the top of the mountain on a deserted stretch of road when I heard that all too familiar noise outside my window...I pulled over and sure enough...another flat! This time on the front. It took forever, and all the strength Will had, but we finally got the truck jacked up and tire removed(our jack looks like it's for a tonka toy), However, we couldn't do anything about changing it because our brand new spare tire is secured underneath the truck and the device needed to lower it had been stolen in customs on the way into the country. (I've had many people tell me they would make one for me and many others tell me they could find one for me; however, we were without the tool!)

I was able to reach Daniel and fortunately he loaded up another jack and made the one hour trip out to our location. Once he got there we jacked up the back of the truck and moved one of the duals up front and put the flat tire on the back with the other dual. Now we headed into the mountain to a pueblo where Daniel knew a tire repair man. Sure enough, the guy plugged the tire and we were good to go. Daniel blessed us by taking the compressor the rest of the way to his house. Why didn't Will and I continue on to the drill site? I made on small omission when packing for the trip....the key to the drill rig!!!

Yes, I'm a blooming ........., but Satan doesn't win that easily! We will buy new tires tomorrow and head back to San Luis...as Daniel says, "manana is a very important Spanish word!"

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Joyce's Handiwork

When Joyce wants to relax (if she has the time) she literally goes and plays in the dirt! She likes to plant and I (Will) have learned to be VERY, VERY careful around these plants! I damaged one already and it literally made me feel like I had to go cut my arm off, give it to her, and let her slap me around with it due to all of her hard work. She has made the house look very nice! Take a look!

"Nice arrangement"

"Pretty Flowers"

"Close Up"

"From A Distance" (The one I damaged)

Saturday, February 5, 2011

'Mash"- Honduras!

Last night I had to make a run to the emergency room...seems Will and Joyce were closing the electric 'porton' (Gate) and they forgot to remove Will's hand! Result...gaping hole and 4 stitches. Will now has Honduran stitches in each hand...a matched set!

Lots of illness in the family...myself, Joyce, Angel, Antonio, Will, & Pedro are all suffering from sore throats, coughs, and head colds.

Send Pierce and Hawkeye quickly............

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Giving Hearts!!!

Today we took a big bag of rice to a family in a poor village. Since Rosa and Cesar did not have studies until later in the day, they came with us. For Bob and I, it was a great sight to see how Christ had changed the hearts of these two wonderful children. We originally were just taking some rice and grits but we ended up taking some extras along the way.

Cesar wanted to give his Iron Man action figure away to a boy, and Rosa wanted to give a few things of her own away: 1 really nice, big car. A barbie, AND a BIBLE! Before we left the house, Rosa motioned towards a woman passing by, gave her the Bible, and explained to the woman why it was important to study the Bible on a daily basis. AMAZING!

Also, Joyce took Antonio to the hospital to have the test performed on his brain and everything came back normal. Continue to lift him up in your prayers! As you look at these pictures remember that because of our awesome Savior and your continual prayers, these two young children of the Lord got to minister to others!

P.S.: Sorry! I got caught up in the moment and forgot that I had the camera in my own hand when Rosa and Cesar were giving. I did get one of Cesar though! ;)

Imagine waking up each morning and seeing that everywhere as a child

A shelter we passed by.

Water that is usually used for bathing, washing clothes and dishes, etc.

Bob handing over the bag of rice.

Cesar giving away his coveted Iron Man toy.



Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Doctors & Mechanics

Today was a long day...this morning Joyce spent 3-1/2 hours with Antonio getting a consultation from a neurologist who recommends we take Antonio off of all medications???? Tomorrow morning I will take him for a new brain scan and we will wait for the results of that before making any decisions about removing him from meds.

This afternoon I took Antonio to his psychologist appointment and told her about the neurologist's advise to take away all meds. She says she has some concerns because normally her experience has been that they wean people off meds; not take them off all at once.

Finally..........the air compressor is repaired and ready to go, but it's still Honduras. Now the people we're drilling for can't accommodate us until next week.

Just another day of waiting and nebulous reports to go along with more postponements.