Group it up

I have been lax, in letting you know how things are going with the FAME group here. I think about five hundred patients have been seen so far. I am preparing to leave (should be now) to get up there to head to Sampedrana for the last brigade.


Obviously this much work packed in to a short time (did I mention the clothing distribution on Sunday?) requires some interesting relaxation techniques. What better to do when almost 30 people, including us natives, are waiting in line for supper?







Oh, that and inventive ways how to best produce nutritious lunch items in a quick, efficient manner.




This group has been great, having a great mix of people that have come back for a second, third or more time, and first timers as well. As always, I am learning more via translating on frontier medicine (one can never learn enough about weird rashes I am discovering), and God is using us to reach out physically and with prayer to many that obviously need it. There have been several times when a good, scientific, explination for the pain, problems, or other abnormality is lacking. We might not be able to diagnose what is wrong with you, I tell them, but we can pray to Him who knows all things and can touch you in physical and spiritual ways we can not. There have been tears, many words of thanks, and some problems explained and much medicine given, but the most important thing is of course....that God be glorified through it all!

Aaaaahhhh

I have mentioned before that I do not know why we are here.

Why did God choose to send us instead of someone else who would do a better job?

I was listening to a sermon about Gideon (thanks to Dennis B.) and as he mentioned winnowing the army, Moses and his whining, and others...it hit me.

I am here because by myself I could not do all this! In this way, whatever Kingdom work gets done, God gets glorified, by me as I recognize there is no way I could do this, and as others see the Holy Spirit working in me and through the others in the mission and what happens here and realize the same thing.

Is that not really encouraging and great? I know I feel better.

The pig and the chicken.

I am watching the Daytona 500. I am not devoted enough to watch the whole thing clear through, but quite a bit of it. Who cares what my motorsports habits are? Be patient, that was the prelude!

So they are sharing an anecdote, and immediately it occured to me that it reminded me of some (perhaps others might say "many") in the Church today. I looked it up, and the expression has been around for some time, and in a few different forms, but it still was new and fresh to me:

When one is eating bacon and eggs for breakfast...the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed.

It just reminded me that often times in life we are willing to give up what we need/have to get rid of anyway, or what does not cost us much in the long term, something to equivalent to punching a time card...but making a commitment, in our lives to Christ, changing how we live, breath, act, and think....ah that tends to be a little more rare.

Now let me take a little time to think about that myself. Talk amongst yourselves. I will give you a topic: topics are neither on top, nor have pics. Discuss.

Well, last night was Gerson and Iris' wedding. Many of you know the culture here, and how that relates in a timely manner to how weddings take place. Several jokes were made about the time to start being 6:00. We left relatively secure that we would have no problems (even with Cecilia being in the wedding and Valerie playing the piano) at 6:45.

I quit looking at my watch after that.

Although to defend the fairer sex...the bride was (closer to being)

on time, it was the groom who was later of the two. Of course, her being closer to on time might have had something to do with the fact that Oscar picked her up (he and Julia were the padrinos)

It was an uneventful ceremony (hard to hear from my seat in the back as well), and more conversations and fun after it was done as everyone waited for the food (if you do not know...it would be very unusual to have a wedding here without a meal served afterwords)

We left as things were winding down...as I recall that was around 11 or thereabouts, but I have a feeling the party did not end (and the bus depart) until closer to midnight.

As you can see here from these dapper individuals, it was a gala evening. I joked that the women of the Church have never been so tall (high heels, some approaching perhaps 5 inches or higher, abounded), and Oscar, being part of the wedding...had not only a tie, but also a sport coat! And no fanny pack! I had to attach a picture here lest you not believe me.

Leví 236 Blues

Leví Duron is the newest addition to the clinic work. You might have heard tell of him. He is the guy in charge of accounting daily for everything moneywise, but not Miss Moneypenny. He is also in charge of evangelism at the clinic (video playing, tracts given, praying with patients, etc.) He speaks English, not that he has to use that very often (I forgot he was a translator for us in the past...he never spoke English to me!), and hopes to return to study in the university here next semester. Pray that hiring him will help us be more financially accountable to ourselves, those that support us, and our patients (we are now giving receipts for all exams, etc. as well as for any expenses we have...this has been a long and arduous process, but a necessary one for the obvious reasons.) Also just pray for him: his testimony and witness, evangelism, and meshing well with the current staff.

In other news, the US funded wall continues to go up along the border. No, not that wall, although throwing us a bone from that money would outfit us with a even more impressive structure, but rather the wall from cut up containers to protect the one side of the Church property. Now we will have added security, no more trash or dead dogs dumped, and no more visitors of the kind that come for something other than a spirited discussion on US foreign policy as it pertains to immigration at midnight...or as the case happened to be, 8:00 Saturday morning (luckily the guys working during the week from Sampedrana were in the garage with a loaded weapon to "discourage" them from entering. Imagine the rudenss of not knocking on the door...but rather smashing into it, and then deciding to take a Biblical slant to theft and tearing a hole in the roof to lower their non-paralitical friend down. One container cut up, one more to go to hopefully get us to the bottom corner of the Church's property. Our gates are ready for garage door opener installation when that happens, and the Church has a gate for their entrance on the opposite corner.

Catching up a bit

This week has been more of the same....fun administrative stuff, waiting in line at the banks (oh, plural by a factor of...more than I care to count) writing reports, reading stuff, getting ready for the two containers coming. Valerie, Oscar and myself mostly going in different directions (other than renewing Cecilia's long since expired passport on Tuesday)

Our brother Mark came down last weekend (advantage to working for an airline...not to be forgotten) to help with the computer school, as well as help me a bit here at the house for home office networking.

Here he is giving Karen a gift she has dreamed and prayed for over at least the past three years. God answers prayer, in case we forgot, and He answers them all...whether we like it...or not. (she liked it in this particular case, as did we that Mark was able to come)

Cecilia's passport is now being processed, should be here in two weeks. Some paperwork, new pictures, and printing out pictures as proof that we did not just find a blonde girl here on the street somewhere and try to pass her off as Cecilia, and we were good to go. $85 for a passport that is only good for five years seems steep, but what are parents to do. At least we were sufficiently derelict in our duty to have waited almost six months after it expired to get it renewed!

Looking at others should be a way for us to look at ourselves

So I was watching the end of "Deal or No Deal" the other night. I really was not planning on doing so. I will presume just about everyone knows the premise. The woman on when I tuned in had two cases...either $200,000 or $1,000. She received an offer for a little over $100k. She decided against everyone in the room and good sense to follow through to the end...and ended up with $1,000. That was sad enough how her greed pushed her to that, but then Howie said how incredible she was, and then the audience stood and applauded.

Applauded what? How greed blinded her? How she made a terribly emotional decision instead of living in reality? The whole thing was just sad. I felt sad...for her, for them, and for me because to be sure on a big or small scale I have done the same thing. Why would I want to continue to watch that? I have nothing against game shows or the like...I mean watching when playing to win turns into greed blinding someone to what is obviously not a wise choice.

Then another reminder tonight. I had to give Cecilia a pow-pow for eating before it was time and then pitching a fit about having to sit down as punishment. No big deal in and of itself, but the hissie fit that fell into pure sinful anger as I held her and prayed for her was tough. God gives me patience and strength in those situations, as someone screaming at you that you are bad, you do not love them, do not pray for them, etc. can be...trying.

But through it all, I think I had the patience and strength because I think of myself and so many others in the Bible that although not five years old...did the exact same thing.

I suppose thinking of such things is not "positive" in terms the world uses, but for me to see myself and my actions in that of others, and to see God's grace living in me, gives me hope and renewed strength in the work He has given to each of us and for those around me. Whomever they are, they are no different than me. And for me, a positive self image is only the same kind of deception as the woman who was sure she was going to win $200,000. Wanting to believe something does not make it so, and trying to pretend we are "good" (as if good would serve to fulfill the perfect righteousness of the law) when the opposite is true is just a waste of time. I am reminded of a saying that took me years to understand as a kid:

if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

An apple

Did you enjoy your high school time? I know I sure did...not.

However, I can look back and be very thankful to several of my teachers. Teaching is certainly not a gift I have, and I suppose that gives me a better appreciation for it? As it is with many things in life, we best appreciate what we ourselve do not posess. Ah, what a better omage to their being beauty in difference that God put in each and every one of us.

For example, my appreciation and love for playing music...where would that be without Mr. Albro and his sublte but directing hand in leading me where I did not want to go (at the time)? Praise God for him (and my parents) who did not let me back out like I wanted to back in the sixth grade.

And Mr. Priest....good grief I use all that algebra and math more than I would have dreamed. Had I been burdened with the other less than stimulating math teachers I met along the way in my life for the time I had him...my outlook on the subject might have been quite different.

And most reflecting this particular venue, Mr. Eiler and my better grammar. My handwriting would still be illegable if not for him. What a pain! And now what joy. Wow. And to this day it bugs me if I inadvertantly try to end a sentance with a preposition. I suppose I just did, but in that particular case, I violated no rules I know.

As much as I would want to impart some of that to my children...and I do, more than that I hope I am giving them lessons even more important, on trusting and living in the Word of God, living a life in accordance with His will for our lives, and in doing what we say, not just saying it to hear ourselves speak. And since I am definitely not getting an A in doing that....good thing I still have teachers teaching me so I can better teach them.