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!

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!

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.

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.........

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.

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!!!

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.......