Mixed emotions

The political mess here seems to add more ingredients to the soup every day lately. How this will all be figured out to some resolution seems very far away, although for most people (and almost all the people in the areas not in Teguc) life continues as normal...unless you are affected by a curfew, which continue every night now, but less restrictive (tonight from 9:00 PM - 5:00 AM)

Rumors run rampant on both sides with people trying to create their own news, so one must be careful about what you believe otherwise you would be run ragged. Today there were rumors of the former cabinet members returning to set up a parallel government. So far, that has not happened. Also rumored is the closing of a radio and television station that is "spreading lies" and promoting violence, etc.....pro-Zelaya. I agree they are not helping things, inciting violence, and sometimes sharing and propagating lies, but closing them down seems to be the kind of thing that is going on in Venezuela. Channel 36 here is off the air with the traditional bar colors with a message over them "This is what the "coup guy" Micheletti wants." I say "coup guy" because I can not think of a better translation for golpista.

The group left yesterday. With a fair degree of certainty I can say there has never been a group here with more flexibility thrown at their schedule, with more different and new things that they did...it was very tiring for me personally, but amazing at the same time. I am so glad there was a group here during all this...otherwise it would have been too tempting to just stay at home and out of harm's way (like there was any harm) instead of doing what God wanted us to do.

The shoe distribution in Sampedrana...we were supposed to go on Wednesday, but with the curfew could not make it there and back in time. We went Thursday, and maybe it was a good thing, because although we had only 300 pairs of shoes and about that many already on the list...somehow we gave out more shoes than that to the many, many people that were waiting for us, despite not knowing we were going to be there for sure until 6:00AM that morning. There were many times when we would say we did not have any more of a certain size, only to see several minutes later we still had those sizes. Perhaps they were misplaced, perhaps....a lot of reasons, but there was hardly anyone we had to turn away for having a size they could not use. That figures to be a miracle in my book. The group washed their feet before giving them the shoes....it was humbling, amazing, and very cool. These shoes came from Samaritan's purse through Hazel Dell...a group that was not able to come, and they told us it was a rule of that organization to wash their feet, and it certainly seemed like a great idea. If we get the privilege of doing this again...we would do it in a heartbeat. Almost everyone came in with flip flops or work boots, and many of the group noticed that their feet did not fit at all what they were wearing. Having new shoes...for many there it was a first.

Friday we shook things up again by trying to three things...visit the hospital, do food in San Juancito, and then squeeze in some souvenir time.

The hospital was the same but different (a phrase used many times during the week.) Sad stories, kids who yearned to be touched, to be loved, to be told someone cares. Hearing the story of a child Oscar visited was especially tough (as if the rest were easy)....his mother shared that he was playing with some neighbors and she was not watching for a while. The result was his hand broken so badly, so many place and so many bones sticking out...that the hand had to be amputated. Thinking about how a parent reconciles that...not watching, someone doing that to a small boy (he was maybe 5) and leaving him...and how his live will be now with only one arm...it is hard to even understand.

The food we distributed was from that same group that was unable to come....pre-packaged ready to heat and eat food that is loaded with good stuff people need. Different from the corn we have received in the past (currently we do not have any corn) in a different way exciting stuff. My group visited a mother who was sick with two sick kids, a mother whose son just died two weeks ago (shot by the nephew of her sister's husband, whom we also visited) and an older woman of the Church who recently fell and hurt her head pretty bad. I could go on...it was some powerful times of prayer, sharing, and several tears, all lead by several members of the Church there that did a great job of using that blessing from God to reach out to people that definitely were carefully chosen, and being shown Christ's love.

Quick

Stayed with the group last night...too late to get home with the curfew (I could have pushed my luck, but decided not to try it.) and besides I got to play Spades, so it was not all bad.

Pictures attached here....no real captions...giving out shoes in Sampedrana was....amazing/humbling/great, rain on the way back not so much but pretty rainbow, line of almost 12 people outside the clinic at 5:50AM.....over two hours before the clinic is to open.

Melitis

Swelling and painful inflamation are commonly associated with Melitis. It is a dangerous condition that must be treated. Unfortunately scientists and politicians know as of yet of no cure for Melitis.

Former president Zelaya made a triumphant return to Honduras...in the trunk of a diplomatic car, being hidden and then holding up in the Brazilian embassy, where he still is. There is talk of starting a dialogue...but Mel is adament in returning to power (which he more than likely would not give up) or dieing.

There was a curfew as of Monday afternoon that continued until this morning at 10:00am to finally allow people to go and get groceries, fuel, etc. We broke that curfew after prayer and despite people advising not to do so....and drove up as a family to be with the group. We were glad we did, and God provided a safe path to the clinic with no problems...although of course there were some butterflies before we stepped foot in the river Jordan, or in this case drove out of our garage.

We helped the Church work on the wall, finished moving all the general medicine/optometry supplies to the new container location, fixed things, etc. A full day....including getting all the heavy equipment that needed moved...like a massive dental chair, refregerator, and building some new shelving units for the milk project.

Here you see the lovely starting position we had to work with in getting the dental chair started towards its new home. The ways we used to move it made us all a little more appreciative of the ancient Eqyptians.

Oscar decided to go back home...they were supposed to have Nadir's birthday party, and so he took Cecilia and Soren, and they ended up spending the night there with them, while we stayed the night with the group.

During the night some stores were looted near where we live (remember, we stayed with the group) and up near the clinic there were several protests...we saw the remains of the burning tires, rocks in the road, etc....a few blocks from the clinic, but nothing right next door.

This morning we were supposed to go to Sampedrana to do a shoe distribution to people that normally can not get any shoes...but the curfew was still in place.

Just when we made plans to work around the clinic again, it was announced that the curfew is being lifted for six hours for people to get groceries, fuel, etc. We decided to go even earlier (a little risky, but we were medical professionals...that always helps) and get in line. As you can see from the picture...it was a good thing we did. The store was getting busier and busier after the curfew lifted at 10. We are waiting for some of the clinic staff to finish checking out (they have been in line now for at least 45 minutes) and then we will try to get back to the clinic for them to see patients and for us to work the rest of the day.

Pray for Honduras...for some kind of democratic/republic respecting outcome to all this. The entire world seems at times to be favoring the communist favoring, Hugo Chavez partnering former regime, which really flusters many here...one person commenting to someone in the group yesterday their frustration "what are you guys doing?" (meaning...why is the US government against democracy?)

We will likely stay the night with the group again in light of the curfew to be able to work up at the clinic again if the curfew does not lift tomorrow morning. Pray also for the group's safety, and the ability to leave back to the US on Saturday, and for our safety as well...for so many that we know that do not have food, water, etc.

We are fine...God is working so much in this group, in us, in everything...and I do not want to blow things out of proportion...but this is a very difficult time for Honduras, and it could go ok, or go South quickly and to a dark place...at this point, no one really knows what will happen, but we know Him who is in control, and trust in that no matter what we see happen around us.

The circus is back in town

(Update on the Honduran political situation is indeed contained in this post...just keep reading, just keep reading)

I knew before the group arrived that this would be a different group. All groups seem to have certain things in common, but knowing the activities we were going to be doing would be somewhat different...then of course them being delayed a day due to flight issues, the awesome day yesterday with them arriving and then going straight to Cantaranas for 11 baptisms (5 from Talanga, 5 from Cantaranas and 1 from San Juancito) and getting to experience all that....and then today's work.

With the new clinic up from the old clinic and man cave, getting the supplies needed for the clinic out of the containers in the man cave is more problematic. For months we had wanted to make the switch and move everything to make it all come together...but it is a big project. Today was the start of that project. It is kind of like one of those puzzle you play where you move the numbers around to try to get them in the correct order. To get the container we wanted to occupy with the medical/optometry "stuff" ready, that meant unloading all its current contents, which needed to go into different containers themselves...you get the idea. Getting the shelving units out of the existing container, adding some more shelves to them, and sprucing them up structurally was a big task as well.

We are not totally moved, but made considerable progress today, the group worked very hard. We cut out around four o'clock to go to the grocery store...while first hitting the dumpster to rid ourselves of trash...always an interesting trip for the smells, the sights, etc. but especially 'interesting" with the drunk man we encountered who had lived in the US for some time (and was in prison there) who tried to tell me when he walked up to the truck "hey my friend, please, my friend, wait" and when I said to him something in Spanish he said "I no speaka Spanish" Hmmmm

But the grocery store was closed. The deposed president Zelaya came back to Teguc today, and although everything is calm...tensions are higher as this is likely just the start of an uglier process of figuring out whether he will stand trial for his actions or reclaim power and stay for a very long time ala Hugo baby in Venezuela. For now he is hold up in the Brazilian embassy...but that is a situation that would seem to have its limits. No one is entirely sure even how he got in the country, which is interesting in and of itself. The latest rumor that the current president repeated is that he came via a Honduran political figures' vehicle through a border crossing with Guatemala.

So why was the grocery stored closed? Turns out there is a curfew in effect from 4:00pm today to 7:00am tomorrow Tuesday. So, we turned around, dropped the group off making sure they had supper, and headed home...which for us was no problem, but for people in the areas closer to downtown and the presidential palace....was quite a trip. Although the curfew started at 4....we did not get home until after 5 and there was no problem. As long as everyone was heading home, there was not any more police presence than normal, although overnight that will likely change.

And now tonight it has been announced that all flights from all Honduran airports are cancelled, and that the curfew has been extended to 6:00PM tomorrow...not quite a full 24 hour period. I talked with Oscar and I am going to try to get to the clinic regardless of the curfew. If I do not, no work will get done and the group would just have to chill. I am going to try to go before 8:00 with my scrub top on....needing to get to the clinic of course. Oscar thinks that would present no problems....of course then he tells me "call me if you make it and I will try to come...better one of us in jail than two." Then we laughed. So pray if you will...I do not think it will be a problem, but still it requires a little chutzpah and God's providence that this would go well...for His glory!

A picture tour of Teguc

So yesterday involved various different things...including a Friday afternoon together with Valerie doing tasks, getting things done, etc. I kept seeing things that seemed blogworthy...at least in my mind...and so here they are.

We started our journey going to get a piece of paperwork from our lawyer for me to get my residency renewed (normally easy...this time just a bit more complicated since we are getting our migratory status changed from "missionary" to "permanent resident." Then we went back all the way around town to renew the card, then back to the other side of town for the other tasks. Here we go!

Construction around town is down on whole due to the political uncertainty, however some big projects especially are still going full force. This big building keeps going, and going. As I recall, this building was begun when I was running on that side of town...over two years ago. I am sure there will be plenty of parking to go along with that building...that never seems to be the case with such buildings here.



I am not a big fan of the new Audi grill treatments, but this car owner (spotted at Pricesmart) must really be excited about it. I am always tickled at taking very plain underpowered four door cars being modified (at least on the outside) into "super dope cool" machines. Add of course the requisite big tail pipe that makes lots of noise and you have the ensamble complete. The only other option is the in-dash DVD player. If you wonder why someone is driving odd...sure, it could be talking on a cell phone, it could be texting...or several times I have seen that it is someone engrossed in the movie they are watching.




This building used to be a bowling alley. It has been a Church for probably six years. Every time we drove by, I always complained to Valerie that it made no sense to me that a Church that big, that wealthy, would not have any sign on the building. If you did not drive by on Sunday morning...easily you would never know there was a Church there. They finally put up a sign....not much of a sign, but a sign. And since Valerie was with me...it gave us something to talk about for a few minutes again.





Especially we had the time because we were waiting in traffic...just to get into traffic. This is a nice picture of the hospital that a former first lady raised the money to build (too bad we could not get the four lanes of traffic...on a two lane thoroughfare...in the frame as well. This beautiful building, with a great location was built five or six years ago it is hard for me to remember exactly, was championed as a new children's hospital to provide good care where the public hospital was failing. Who was not excited about that? But then the time came to dedicate it...and instead of raising the funding to build the building and hire the staff, they instead built the building and then gave it to the government...the same people trying to run the failing public hospital they already had. Basic answer upon receiving such a nice gift? "Thanks...but, uh, we are already having problems running one hospital, how could we operate and fund another one?" So....there it sits empty, as it has since it was built.

We actually took a few minutes to enjoy a strawberry smoothie at the grocery store after doing more shopping. Dora is a character that has returned to the La Colonia grocery store to cut prices all over the store. I say she is a rip off of Dora the Explorer. Valerie disagrees saying she looks nothing like Dora. I remarked that obviously she needs her eyes examined, because it was obvious that in the US we have a Latin Dora, and here they have thought the best thing was to combine a Caucasian Dora with Edna from the Incredibles. Riveting conversation we have as always.




And finally....can you guess what can be seen in this cloud formation? The right cloud...the big bulk of a cloud, has something in profile that can be seen. I mean, really look at it before you read what we saw, which I will tell you right now was a very clear gorilla. We do not get clouds of the what-can-you-see-in-them kind. Today I even saw the Great Gazoo...but alas I did not have my camera. Go figure.

Different sort of view

How about a quick recap of today's pertinent activities:

Valerie finally had to surrender and stop seeing patients. If she stops seeing patients, you know she is hurting. The leg, the stress, everything just combined to the point where her body finally said "no más." Of course, she did not get home until almost noon even after deciding that (for a while she was down on one of Reina's exam tables trying to calm down) and will take off at least tomorrow, probably Friday as well. We pray this time will refresh her spiritually, emotionally, and physically what with her continued leg problems.

Elizabeth was drafted into helping Oscar with the new cistern....she is not sitting up there because she is being punished (and yes, she got up there with the ladder you will see in the next picture that Oscar needed to get water out of the old cistern...keep reading.)

Work has stopped to let the concrete cure (the forms holding up the floor will be needed to hold up the top when it gets poured...so another week until that starts) but it needs to be wet for that....so Elizabeth sat on the side while Oscar passed her buckets of water to pour into the cistern. Fifty gallons or so later....and should be enough water to keep it curing nicely for several days.

Here is a shot of the top of the new clinic from the bottom of the cistern...I was probably six feet lower than Elizabeth, just to give you a different perspective of the clinic...and to show that with the height of the cistern, hopefully it will be enough gravity to not need a pump to get the water in the pipes. The different colors of the roof are where we painted it with asphalt to seal it for leaks. Surely that does not help the heat issue inside the building, but it was certainly necessary. Once the new cistern is being used, the black plastic one will not have to sit on top of the building either. We are thinking about getting sponsorship and using it to go over Niagra falls.

In between, during, and after all that involved making a meal list for the group (so Dora can work out the quantities) going over the wall construction funds with brother Jorge, trying to figure out the security cameras in the clinic (still not working) and going to the grocery store for the first time for milk for the milk project all week. After following Valerie home to make sure she could drive ok, I went to the bank, the grocery store...again, and while there talked to a guy in the parking lot who was very interested in buying the Defender. Hopefully he calls back to get a test drive in a week or so when he gets back from the Mosquito coast. A botanist who travels all over the country to places like the Mosquito coast? Yeah...a Defender would be perfect.

Dependence day

September 15th is independence day for Honduras (and several other countries in these parts....independence from Spain) but I want to take this time to remind myself, and perhaps you, dear reader, as has been noted many times before....we may think we are independent, but we are only fooling ourselves. So I celebrate being dependent on God, because I know there is a way that seems right to a man, but it leads to death, and God's way is better in every way.

So I spent much of this past weekend getting ready for preaching at Union Christian Church on Sunday. I had known I was going to preach for two weeks, but pressing affairs kept me from getting much prepared until Saturday. We also played that morning, and I had to get the Power Point presentation for that ready as well. Valerie did a good job picking out some new songs to sing, like "No Not One" some familiar songs "Take My Life" and some familiar songs that we had never sung in Church before "God of Wonders" among others. The sermon is not up on the Church website yet (I was filling in for pastor Darren who had to take an emergency trip to Canada, and he does all the website work) but I can tell you the title was "God Can't"

Monday was seeing the clothing ministry guys, meeting with the Church construction directive about the coming group helping them, and trying to do a little work on the office computer (which inexplicably had water in it...the only thing I can figure is a leak in the roof...right over the computer) all with the kids in tow since they had Monday off for the Tuesday holiday. In the afternoon I did some mission banking that needed to be done. Our personal banking will have to wait...since I was in line and doing business in the two banks I had to visit (within feet of each other in the mall) for almost three hours. One perk from doing this banking the day before independence day was that the mall had invited a band to play, so at least part of the time in line we had some nice music. They played some interesting selections...from Latin rhythm to marches to US pop songs.



Monday Elizabeth had her hands full, literally and figuratively, working on some organizational items that normally would have fallen in my lap. She has been very helpful in doing quite a few things that otherwise have been on the back burner, like this picture showing her seeing what new shoes we have to make sure we will be able to do the upcoming activity with the group that arrives on Saturday. As she can attest, working in the container surrounded by boxes can make for some very hot work. She also sorted meds and clothes that we receive via a pilot that flies down with a major airline, has been organizing the construction container, and of course helping Nerys with the milk project three days a week. I think we are keeping her busy enough for sure.

It is weird to watch fireworks from a mile or two away. We are not sure really where they were being set off, but that did not bother Soren, and it seemed like an interesting way to take a picture, so I tried this out our window. They seem so low when you are higher and far away. Fireworks are not limited here to independence day, there are a few times a year when different organizations or business break them out for a show...and usually not just a five minute spread either. I must be getting old because even if I hear them going off...it is not enough to get me
out of my chair and over to the window.



And the cistern work continues. Not sure when the dogs will be unleashed in terms of the water coming down the pipes, but I think we will be ready when it comes. Expensive work to start, but it should save money in the long run not buying water for the bathrooms as well as not having to buy drinking water (when we purify what comes down the pipes.)

Prayer requests still needed for Valerie....her one problem has been resolved, but the leg pain is still there all the time, and I am leaving now to go help her and possibly bring her home (she just called) as she sounds like she is suffering from extreme stress. I have to admit...sometimes it seems to me to be stalking me as well.

A five star birthday in a five star country

Valerie update....her health is still debatable. I watched her for a while at the clinic yesterday. She was cleaning a prosthetic eye when I walked in her exam room....and just walking to the sink was painful, and she had to elevate her leg while using the sink. Through the grace of God she gets through the day, but after supper (what supper....with her constipation problems that have led to self-imposed extreme dietary restrictions dinner is usually a orange/fiber/spinach smoothie) she usually works some more and then crashes to sleep. She is trying to start the process to get more tests, but it requires clear liquid diet, then fasting...hopefully she can get the next step done tomorrow or Saturday. Of course on Saturday she has a band practice for an event coming in October....and we have band practice tonight for playing at UCC on Sunday (where I will be preaching as well...at some point also needing to make time to prepare that sermon...I have the basic structure, but developing it will take time I so far have been investing elsewhere putting out fires, taking care of important things, etc.)

The cistern construction continues. They will have to stop at some point to allow time for the concrete to cure, but the work goes well. I talked with Jorge yesterday about pricing and measurements for the property purchase...we should have an answer next week. I also had opportunity to discuss the purchase with the clinic staff since several of them heard about it at Church, and talked to our old buddy Miguel (who had all the car keys Valerie lost in her purse....meaning in the end she lost one lock key, her driver's license, some money, and her cell phone...a huge blessing that everything else was recovered.) I will not get into the details here, but it is enough to say that it is a complicated issue to be sure. The amount of faith required for this...and the work required are overwhelming, but we continue forward in Christ that if this is the right thing for the mission, it will come together.

Soren's birthday was Tuesday. He is now five years old...and demonstrated upon greeting Dilcia after school that he is able to confuse grammar in Spanish as well as English by telling her "ya soy cinco!" Which if you speak English makes sense "I am five now!" but in Spanish does not make much sense "I am a five now!" since the Spanish translation would be "I have five now!" In so many ways I think that for both the kids their first language is Spanish, but in times like that I can see it is more of a mix than sometimes I thought. Even with the bilingual aspect of their current school, I do not have to hang around for very long to see that in everything done outside the classroom, it is all Spanish being spoken....not that we have any problem with that, we just have to continue to make sure that they are getting both equally for their unknown future. He took candy to school to share with his classmates, and they sang Happy Birthday to him...although he was not sure in which language until we sang him both options to remember. Here you can see we celebrated by going to Pizza Hut...since they have a play area that the kids were able to enjoy.

We then opened presents...from Cecilia, from us, and from grandparents and some aunts in the US. For a while we had Skype for US observers to see the action since sending video via email is not exactly easy. Taking this picture was more than odd for me....something I would never have imagined when I was five...taking a picture with my grandparents by hugging a computer screen, it makes for a different sort of relationship with your grandparents and relatives than I think I cannot really comprehend. But we are thankful that they get to talk to and see their grandparents as much as they do....some kids that live in the US do not get as much time with their grandparents who only live a state away.



The milk project had its celebration for "kid's day" yesterday, the actual holiday...yes, a real holiday, falls today. We had just enough toys from past containers to give every child at least one toy, plus similar distributions will be able to happen in the Churches in San Juancito, Cantaranas, Sampedrana and Talanga...with some toys also making it to the school for distribution in Guasucaran. This toy may not look like much to you...but for kids that have nothing, it means Somebody cares. So far the expansion of the project to three days a week is going well, Elizabeth is helping with that, and we have been able to improve the quality and nutrional aspect of the food we are giving, and will slowly be working on encouraging them more and more to attend Church, and with other CHE based lessons for their health and hygiene. We are also working on getting some of the TVs that were donated fixed (when they got here...no volume) so we can show some Christian DVDs to the kids during their time at the project, something they do not see much or at all in their homes.






And how about another picture from the "driving in Honduras" series. Sure it is a 90 degree turn coming up there, and the bus had little momentum going up the hill to turn, but why should that get in the way of trying to make a few dollars more at the most? This is fairly common here...since there is no control on when the buses leave other than when they feel like it and/or when they can maximize the number of people they are picking up....sometimes they get close enough to where one wants to pass the other to get those waiting paying customers. If you have been here and think we drive crazy....these guys pass like this going downhill as well...at speeds I would not attempt in our vehicle even if I was trying to get to the hospital, of course at those speeds many people have made it to the hospital...one way or the other. There are several reasons that riding in buses is not the safest way to travel here...this is just one of them, and yet this is the only means of transportation for the vast majority of Hondurans.

Random photos and perplexing thoughts

I have time this afternoon and was thinking, and thought it might be cathartic to put some of those thoughts, and pictures I have not had space for in other posts, here on the blog.

I often times have time to realize that everything going on here is much more than I can handle or comprehend. God is doing so much...I can identify with Job in chapter 40...I see everything going on around me and I feel I should put my hand over my mouth rather than speak before a God that (in 42)"I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know"

It can be daunting sometimes to see people here or visitors look to me for answers about what is to be done, decisions to be made (sometimes involving people's lives, an entire Church body, and huge sums of money) and know who I really am and that what is in me is not up to such a task. I am reminded of Genesis 41:16 (how? Good question.) where Joseph is called to interpret the Pharaoh's dream...." "I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires." This world can be intoxicating by giving us the impression that we can do it, we have the answers, etc. but I praise God for the continued awareness that I can not do it, and need His guidance. Take Church this morning for example. I have a cold, and it was hot/humid, I was not feeling my best. They announced that after Church immediately we would sit back down for a 1/2 hour meeting about the Church selling the mission the property where our buildings are located. As the meeting was beginning, Manuel called me outside and Valerie came. He did not want us to have to hear anything negative that would be said at the meeting or any critical questions that might come up from the congregation, as well as that maybe our presence might hinder some from saying something they would otherwise say, and kind of hum hawed around and invited us to take leave...it was obvious it was not something that he was comfortable bringing up, in other words, not something required or some strong point of view, more looking out for us, at least, that is the way I took it...after all, everyone could be looking at us. Valerie expressed a strong desire to stay, that things should not be hidden, and that if something was going to be said at a congregational meeting, we should be there, and that since they have had other meetings in smaller groups several times before today in the different neighborhoods, if someone wanted to say something, they should say it. Manuel said of course that was fine, whichever way we wanted. Both of them looked at me...and I had another of those moments where I wondered what people are looking at, because surely I was not capable of reaching a decision. But of course I had to indeed make a decision, and we decided to stay. The meeting went well in terms of our participation, although of course it was a bit awkward for us to be there, almost all the comments were directed to the leadership of the Church, nothing really towards the clinic or the mission, and the vote was overwhelming to sell the property to the mission. The story behind the story is even more complicated and long, as stories involving people often are, but it is enough to leave it at that for the time being. Now they need to continue with figuring out how much property it is, and what price they are going to ask per vara.

I got this picture from a friend who works at the public hospital (also a scholarship recipient who will upon graduation will work as a doctor and hopefully pastor for the mission in possibly a new clinic/Church site...talk about another item on my long list of things that are a bit beyond my comprehension.) From what I see when I visit, things have improved greatly over 10 years ago, but he sent this picture with the subject line "this is the reality of our hospitals in Honduras." Just from a few conversations with him....just from talking to nurses, and brief two hour exposures to that atmosphere, it frankly amazes me that the staff and students are not overwhelmed more often.

He also sent me this picture..."this patient, I reconstructed their face" Needless to say, between studying and operating....anybody in this line of work keeps fairly busy...not to mention family who depend on your newly found medical care, and friends....and those same people when someone dies, for you to help with the preparation for burial, etc.









This last picture includes our friends Mark and Susan who were here last week...Susan made lasagna, which was awesome, and even brought Kroger garlic bread from the deli/bakery. Good stuff. Also pictured is Elizabeth, our latest intern. Fun meals like this are not commonplace around these parts very often, to the point where one of this caliber was certainly photo worthy.

Friday...was an interesting day. I started the morning in paperwork, but then went up to the clinic to take care of a few things, and since Elizabeth was without work from Valerie and Dora for a few days...I took the opportunity to give her enough work (besides her milk project duties) for the next several weeks...all stuff that a few years ago I would have done, but just do not have time for anymore...organizing, sorting, using the weed wacker, all very important stuff, just back burner for me for the time being.

Valerie was able to get an appointment with a gastro-intestinal/proctologist specialist downtown at 4:00 through one of our nursing students, who also lives in that general area (the amount of bus time she has every day to get to the clinic....easily over an hour if not more) and she went with us. The appointment went well...although there were no hard answers as to what is wrong with Valerie. He recommended seeing another specialist, and some tests. Now Valerie will have to make the time to get those done. Not cheap, but still cheaper by far that doing it in the US.

(Added side note...I did not notice this when I took the picture, but if you blow up this picture, you will find a poster that talks about infant feeding and nutrition...with scenes that anyone who has been here for any length of time will no doubt recall seeing every day, but I doubt such would make it on such a poster in the US.)

We caught a bite to eat after that because it was about time for supper, and because it would eat time that otherwise would have been spent in traffic anyway, and then went home to change for the wedding that night. We got to the wedding (which was on the invitation to start at 6:00) at 8:00. This is totally normal here, and we were anticipating that we would be fine...and we were, they had not begun yet. Although it turns out they had been waiting for the mother of the groom to start for some time. The odd thing was that other than a handful of people from the Church we knew, almost everyone else was there for the bride. And God would have it that we found a table with a family that had a three year old boy with strabismus...a patient for Valerie on Monday to see if she can help him use glasses.

(here is just a small shot of the decorations they did for the wedding...this took many hours to do no doubt...and people take the baloons down as souvenirs later in the evening...one woman asked me to help her get down a decorative bunch that were hanging over the door. Why she asked me as I hit them with my head walking in the door, who knows right?)

We stayed until they started to serve food at 10:00. Upon leaving (with a full car, giving rides) Valerie discovered her purse was missing. She had gone during the ceremony to get some medicine, and after going to the bathroom heard the alarm going off. She walked outside, turned off the alarm (with everything looking normal) and did not think anything else of it until we discovered the purse gone. It was very hard for her as you can imagine. Lots of little stuff in there, but the big losses were all her car keys (she kept them all in her purse) all her ID, credit card, her cell phone, which we just replaced after the last one fell and was quickly stolen, and her appointment cards and such from her appointment she just had. How we resolve the keys for the vehicles situation could be the hardest thing to fix, I will have to look into it...the ID and such will just take a day or day and a half to resolve...she will have to make time now for that as well.

Today Valerie went to pick the clinic staff up for a morning of prayer and fasting. Everyone came....mind you on their day off, no pay, they just all had wanted to do this for about two months. After that we went to take them all out to lunch at Little Ceasar's, and Valerie took several of them home and then went off to a women's meeting for a conference coming up in October. All of this driving of course without her driver's license. All I had digital copies of to print out for her was her residency card and passport. She was undeterred from driving however, and got back home without incident.

Sounds depressing, but other than the feeling of being violated in a place of trust, and the time that will be invested to get things replaced, really it could have been much worse, and we are grateful that nobody got hurt, and are in prayer for the person that stole her purse. Life will continue, and frankly the health issues Valerie is facing are more concerning that material stuff.

I took this video at the wedding last night...because it was just too funny not to take. I blame the lack of elementary education in music, singing, choir, etc. that most schools in the US still do for scenes such as these, which are fairly common. I could not get everyone into frame, but I think I counted six different clapping rhythms...it was almost hypnotic.

And this picture taken from the hospital where Valerie had her appointment, captures the two of the most important things in Honduran life...Christ (statue on the left), and Coca-Cola (sign on the right. )

Insert your own funny, witty, acerbic, or sarcastic comment here.

Things that make you go hmmm

Several people have asked me recently how things are here politically. Until today I would have said that things are fine, some protests, but for the most part, things were in a holding pattern anticipating the elections in November.

Then comes the announcement today from the US secretary of state. Feel free to read it at http://honduras.usembassy.gov/pr-09-03-09-eng.html

Termination of assistance, as it is titled, pretty much sums up the jist.

Of course, it would not be political without saying things that it is careful not to say. Very interesting stuff. It comes close in one part to saying they understand why what happened happened, to then in the end saying they would not even support the elections as the situation stands. Hmmmm. They use terms seem chosen to bother the current government, and mention that this termination, which makes big news, follows up on an already placed suspension. Hmmmm.

I watched some TV news tonight...some supporting the protests and ousted president, although I had to turn off the channel that falls over itself to support Mel after the host cursed at a caller and hung up on her...she and several other callers did not support his stance of tacitly supporting protestors who today defaced a Church and school (while kids were in classes...supposedly terrified) because the supporters have identifed the pastor as being involved in the coup (un golpista.)

The other stations I watched both tried to put a positive spin on this announcement, although recognizing it will hit not only Hondurans (and most of them already those that can least afford it) but also all of CA in different ways.

I waver between thinking they were painting the pig, to whether or not they really believe what they said...basically that this was not good news, but it at least one sense it was, because Honduras needs to solve its own problems without being dependant on handouts from the US or other countries. Of coures, if we handled donations and did the work on the higher levels that were supposed to be done instead of all the stealing/absconding of funds that happens, maybe we would not need so many. That may seem like it misses the point for the country as a whole...but if the leadership perpetually shows one thing, it is logical to think that the general population would follow suit.

Regardless...this is a blow for US/Honduras relations. The US has been an ally for Honduras for quite some time, and without making this political, now we see the US cutting ties to support a growing socialist/communist president, and annoucning elsewhere in the paper here relaxing even further sanctions against Cuba. Hmmm

So...we continue to pray and take a "wait and see" approach. The clinic staff is having a morning of fasting/prayer on Saturday. Valerie showed me the list of topics tonight....prayer for the country, elections, and leaders was top on the list. Regardless what we may all personally "feel" we need to pray for God's direction, plan, and Holy Spirit working through this situation, the leaders and movers/shakers and all of us in working for Him and not for what is around us.

ghost cisterns in the sky

So I thought you would like to see where the cistern is being placed for the clinic, and then expalin why. Of course, at this point you can not see much of anything besides a little white of the shirt of the guy in the hole, and the guy in green. They are preparing the footers for the columns....in the midst of a great big rock. Reason #1 why put the cistern there....there is a big rock there which makes doing anything else hard. As a matter of fact, it makes putting a cistern there not a piece of cake either. Reason #2, the water coming from the street enters right there. Why columns to raise it off the rock? Reason #3...if it is high enough, we can hopefully rely on gravity to keep pressure to all the sinks, etc. in the building and not need to use electricity or a pump. Reason #4 is not a real reason, but I think it will be cool to get to paint it, and climb on top of it to get a really good view, maybe even appropriate for bungy jumping. Or maybe not.

I have not posted much to do with Honduran society lately, and while I was in the middle of errands and was waiting for Pricesmart to open (they open at 10 and I was heading past there at 9:50....to get several hundred dollars of supplies/food for the mlik project) I sat parked next to DK'D. DK'D is a donut operation that started quite a while ago, over a decade for sure. The story as I heard it goes that everyone knew it as Dunkin Donuts, but they were threatened with a lawsuit, and thus just switched the name to DK'D. I hear it spoken as "DKD" just the letter spelled out, although not that often, they are not any cheaper than Dunkin Donuts, which showed up on the Honduran scene a few years ago, so I do not know many people that eat them with any regularity....most people I know if they are going to eat donuts find a local neighborhood woman who fixes them...much cheaper.

Valerie had a rough morning this morning. I had to make a trip up to take quite a few things that she forgot when she left...just so much to do it is hard to remember everything sometimes. Prayers for her peace of mind working, her health with at least two problems, and just some time for relaxation sometime in the next few months would be appreciated. Her extra busy morning had something to do with switching vehicles due to the Musso needing some repairs. Speaking of which...if anyone in Honduras out there is looking for a Land Rover Defender 110...hit me up for all the pertinent information, we are selling ours, a great vehicle nothing wrong with it other than that it is time for us to part with it.

Ever vigilent...yuck

We like to think that we do a good job on security on the things God has blessed us with...after all, they are our responsibility, and we want to be good administrators of everything. We had another break-in Monday night at some point. The worst part of it is that they broke into a container that had a puck lock placed on it...they opened the container, but could not get it closed. They took some computer CDs and a few pieces of equipment, along with some notebooks, etc. From what we can tell, they had a key. How did they get it? Did we lose one? We are not aware of anything like that happening. That leaves us with the supposition that it is someone that works or worked for us, either "borrowing" the key that was in the clinic, or making a copy somehow. Not a fun prospect to have to be suspecting those around you of such a thing.

Rather than give into that, we are going to re-evaluate our security, get some new locks, change who gets to use them and when, and even change some of the locks on the clinic for keys that can not be copied (trying to fix a problem before it becomes one) and pray for those that did this, but not starting a witch hunt looking for someone that we could not find beyond a shadow of a doubt anyway.

The cistern work continues, and at a pace I can get used to...we are paying for the job, not by the day, so they monitor themselves and make sure everything is done in the right order, etc. with all the curing cement and such. We are hoping to help Isabel get back into college this semester, even though she has had some problems with some teachers not getting her grades into the public universities system, hopefully she can get that fixed while doing one semester at a private university to take some clases...something better than nothing. Progress on getting the coffee plants to get the property planted in Sampedrana is making some strides...we are coordinating the procurement of the plants, and the Church will take care of all the clearing (not the big trees, just the weeds and such) of the property, and the actual taking care of the plants and the planting. Oscar and I will need to make a trip to take the plants up there, as well as getting the rolls of chain link fence for them to continue the work on the soccer field, hopefully in the next week or so. Oscar will be gone this Thursday, along with the Church pastors, to the quarterly Body of Christ pastors meeting, this quarter taking place in San Pedro Sula, and then making a trip to Guatemala to visit a brother who has started a Church there, and has been diagnosed wtih Gilian-Barré syndrome, something from which he will need 1-2 years to recover. He is going with some other pastors and a rep from the mission that started that Church to see what can be done to keep things going, and keep his health a priority, during this time.

September update (for those not on the update list)

Ah, greetings! Blithely I am trying to write an update this month with a theme. Cecilia is not involved, but it could be good practice for her. Doubtful I am that many of you will notice the theme at this point, but allow me to explain. Exactly what I am trying to do is start each sentence of this email with the entire alphabet, A-Z and starting over again if it comes to that. Fortunately this has not proved to be too difficult so far, but we shall see as we progress.

Grace and love in our lives, August was a great month. Happenings include more political protests and such, but the overall reality is that for most of the country, life is back to normal, and the scheduled November election ads/propaganda are heating up as usual. Initially we thought that with the cancelled group we would have no visitors this month, but our pilot friend Lynn and some other visitors came for a few days, providing opportunities to bless a rural village with clothing, and a trip to Sampedrana to take more furniture, mattresses, and other odds and ends. Just in case you missed it, all those supplies are needed up there for the latest construction project that is completed except for more furniture needs. Knowing that some might want more information, I should include that the construction project is the mission house facility there, no nickname being applied yet except "Mission House 2...this time it is personal."

Leche is how we say milk in Spanish, and the milk project has officially moved into new digs using the old clinic. Much time is needed before we will be ready to start the remodel using that space for the mission house, so it seemed like a good idea to use the bigger space for the milk project that has been cramped for some time down at the church. New also is that through some additional support the milk project is happening three days a week instead of one, with better nutrition, and an increased focus on encouraging the kids to attend Church (less than 10% are now) as well as teaching them about hygiene and how to take care of themselves.

Offering help for that expansion of the milk project, as well as helping Dora with the garden project and many other odds and ends, we have Elizabeth here now until mid December working as an intern. Perhaps a bit odd for an intern's first week, she was joined the day after she arrived by other good friends Mark and Susan who were here to participate in a wedding as padrinos. Quite a pleasure that wedding, as it was for the optician in the clinic, Lourdes, and her husband Nahum, something of a topic of prayer for some time. Really interesting was that all in our family were able to participate...Valerie helping all over the place with transportation, organization, playing the piano, and more, Cecilia the flower girl, and Felipe who did the actual hitching (his first time doing so). Soren participated by eating an adult plate of food and drooling for cake, perhaps not a pivotal role, but one he filled nicely nonetheless.

Time to talk about the kids a little more, in that we moved them from the school near the clinic to a bilingual school that runs on a US schedule and will offer them the opportunity to get not only a Honduran degree but also one for the USA. Unusual as it is for them to speak in English for long periods, they are adapting well, and hopefully this will be very good for them in the long term. Volunteering to give us a 50% discount (since we are missionaries) is what enabled us to enroll them in this small, newer school, otherwise I do not think we would have been able to afford it.

Water is a necessary part of life, and the clinic/mission house are one step closer to being hooked up to the new public water works project that will be starting soon in our neighborhood, only needing at this point to build a cistern to house the water, and hopefully from then on out we will not have to buy water from trucks, or bottled water if we can get a purifier for both the clinic and the mission house. Xenon lights could not illuminate more clearly that Valerie is still plagued with health issues. You might think that all the pain, fatigue, and tiredness would slow her down...but God keeps her going through it all, although prayers for relief would be most appreciated. Zealous it is fine to be, provided the purpose is good, so says Galatians 4:18.

All this ends in prayer requests:

Blessings and guidance on the marriage between Nahum and Lourdes
Continued prayer for our country, its politicians, and population to move forward
Developing a good, new routine for Cecilia and Soren in their new school
Encouragement and protection for the pastors, Church leaders, and clinic staff
Finding more markets and possibilities for the Hill Climber coffee
General progress being made on the possibilities to buy property...for Cantaranas Church, and the clinic/mission house property
Healing for Valerie

In Nomine Domini Nostri Jesu Christi,
Just us workers Colbys

Knowing that some might be interested, here we have information on how to make donations to the mission. Lest there be any doubt, please send any checks, which must be made out to "His Eyes" to
Denny Smith
3036 E. Bricklin Ct.
Bloomington IN 47401
Make sure to include a note in the envelope if you want your donation designated for the Colbys or some other line otherwise it will be put into the general mission support.