January 31, 2012

It doesn't seem like a month has gone by since I came back to Honduras after Christmas.  The time flies because we are so busy getting ready for teams and then taking care of the teams while they are here with us.  We are so grateful that people want to come and ministry to the people here.  God blesses with just the right people at the right time.  His timing is always perfect.  I was suppose to return on December 29th but because of fog in Houston, we spent all day flying over Texas.  They took us to Autin to refuel, we spent several hours in Austin until they could get us a plane to take us back to Houston.  Some of the people were rerouted but since there is only one flight out of Houston to Honduras every day, I went back to Houston and only the Lord knew where my luggage was.  No one at the airport knew.  I spent the night in Houston with a free toothbrush, toothpaste and a small black comb.  When I got to San Pedro Sula the next day, my luggage was waiting fo rme.  I was very excited to see it.  The trip to the lake where the ministry is located is over an hours drive so I really wanted to see my luggage when I got to Honduras.  God took care of everything.  It is amazing how much we think we are in control and we have absolutely no control unless God allows it. We have had several small teams here since I returned.  One team was from Tennessee that included a doctor and some nurses.  They also had a part of their team go to another village to install a water purification system.  When we have small teams here, the staff makes pupusas for them and they play games and share experiences from the week.  Pupusas are tortillas filles with ground pork rind and cilantro and cheese and other spices.  They are served with different topping.  We all love the time together. The doctor is an cardiologist and we call him Dr. David.  He and the nurses are so sweet and caring to the patients.  We or I should say I discovered a young man here in town that has lukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant.  One to the nurses, Katherine, is trying to get him an appointment at St. Judes in Memphis.  You can pray for this. Last week, a team of four men came from Galloway in Jackson to build a house for a family in a village called Las Quebradas.  They finished the entire house in 5 days, the roof was on and all the windows were in.  The families are always so grateful for a new home but this family really was touched by the hard work that the men did for them. We had several board members here this month taking care of business, we always enjoy their visits too.  Vicky worked on our education program so it will work better.  This program will allow us to do a better job of keeping up with our students that are sponsored by people in the United States.  This year we have over 300 children in the program.  Our chairman of the Salt and Light Board and his wife were also here.  He had meetings with our director, Henry Alvarenga, while he was here and his wife did some things with the Ladies Ministry. This week we have a new team from Maryland.  It is the first time they have worked with Salt and Light but we know them well since they have been involved with installing water purifications system in our area of Honduras.  This year, they will put a floor in a church for us.  They go to a village named El Aguije every day for the installation and education program.  On Friday, they will spend the day working on the floor.  Two days this week, their pastor will share with the pastors here at a conference. For the ones of you that know about Rubenia, I will share some information about that family.  Rubenia was here last Sunday for the day.  Allison, the lady she lives with in Puerto Cortes and the 13 other girls came to church and then we went to the waterfall to swim.  Rubenia is growing and will need a new leg this summer so she will have to go back to Chattanooga in June or July.  Her father died in September and I hoped things would be better for the family but Denis, Rubenia's brother, moved in and is abusing the two younger children.  I am trying to find a place for them to live but have not been able to get them to leave the home.  I have custody of Denis also but I can do any thing to help him only God can change his heart.  I still love him and pray for him.  The older brother, Isias, is doing well.  He came yesterday to the clinic to have some dental work done and to enroll in the scholarship program.  Later, he ate lunch with Henry and his family.  It was so good for him to see what a real, Godly family is like because he was never part of a family.  He has supported himself and gone to school since he was 6 years old.  He lived in an abandoned building and now he has moved in with his grandmother.  He will be in the 9th grade next year and his grades are really great.  Henry talked to him about going to the university after he finishes high school.  Isias picks coffee to make money for food.  He rides 3 hours on his bicycle to get to the clinic and that ride is downhill, I don't know how long it takes going up on the way back.  He also rides 30 minutes each day to school in the mountains.  Please pray for each one of these in the family. Another pray request...Katherine in the 9 year old daughter of Pastor Jesus.  Katherine cannot talk, she has Apraxia, which the inability to form words.  She can hear and make noises but she cannot speak.  Her mother and father have done such a wonderful job of working with her over the years, in spite of their lack of funds.  I found a device when I was at home over Christmas called a Vantage Lite.  The vantage lite has pictures and will talk for Katherine.  Hopefully, Katherine will be able to learn to talk some day with the device and a speech therapist if there is one in Honduras.  The cost of a new Vantage Lite is $7500 but we have found one for $4000 that is used.  Please pray about that also. Many things are happening at the clinic.  On Saturday, the teenagers sponsored in the Education Program were here to listen to different professionals.  There were talks mostly of sex education, encouraging the students to wait for marriage.  We  have many young girls here that are pregnant very early and over 80% of the households are single mothers with no education and very little resources. The staff does a great job of working with the different groups that  come here for meetings.  We are very fortunate to have a staff that is so caring of the people here. I am trying to make my blog look better so be patient of the changes.  Continue to pray for our ministry.  God bless each one of you.

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