I just finished writing our greeting and message to our employees who will be having their graduation and Christmas parties tomorrow. This year we have invited the families of each of our employees so it should be a joyous occasion. Before we left we bought each of the ladies a blender and each of the men a leather wallet. As you know, the 15th, Wednesday, was the day when each employee receives his/her regular paycheck and an additional month's pay. As is often the case that turned out to be quite an adventure. We didn't have quite enough to cover the check that I left for the occasion, but there were four smaller checks which, added together, brought us within $2.96 of having enough. I was thrilled until I received a phone call from Nicholas about an hour later. I had forgotten that the bank requires that I estimate the actual date when each check will be cashed. That being the case, each of the checks had a date sometime later on in December or in January. Thus, we were right back where we started. That is until today when we received notice that another check had come in which covered the entire amount. I shared this with the employees so they know that God has answered their prayers and ours as well.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day today. Jenny and Marco were here as well as Jeff and two of his friends, Miguel Bustamante from Honduras and Justin, a fellow ORU student from North Carolina. We talked by phone with Michael who was spending the day with the Fields family and other missionaries in Kentucky. Marisa called from New York City and Amy from Los Angeles. Even though we were not all together at least we got talk and share the joy of the special day. I had a note from Nicholas yesterday that Alfredo arrived in San Pedro on schedule, at one o'clock in the morning. Flor and the kids went to the airport with Nicholas and he said they had a happy reunion. Yesterday morning I called Dr. Rios in San Pedro regarding the student dentists he plans to take to the mission center. They will be going either this Sunday or next. This will be a very good thing for everyone.
Yesterday Cheryl went to the ladies meeting at Helen Gilin's house where Helen treated them to Russian borscht. While she was there I went to the hospitals to pick up laboratory reports, and also did Christmas shopping for the employees. The perspective welding teacher was supposed to be here at 1:30, but didn't make it. The president of Honduras was in this area and when that happens they shut the telephone service down. That slows everything will crawl. Today Nicholas took the little boy, Levi, to the hospital in San Pedro for a pre-surgery examination. His operation will take place on Friday at 3 PM. He is a little boy who broke his arm in and it was not set properly.
Denny Boersema left yesterday noon. It's always great to have him here. He gets a lot of work done, but also encourages us in the work. I tried to call Alfredo tonight and couldn't get through. No more than 15 minutes after I stopped trying he called me. He has moved up his departure date from the US and plans to arrive back in Honduras in December. As you recall, he's the one that we wanted from the very start to teach our woodworking classes. He and his wife, Flor, have worked with us ever since we arrived here in Honduras. We interviewed a man this morning for the welding teacher position. I don't think he has the experience we need, but possibly can help us with the construction of the dormitories. Tomorrow, a man is coming from Progreso to interview for the job. Nicholas and I went to City Hall this morning to try to talk to the vice mayor and or mayor about property taxes before I have to leave on Tuesday. We were unable to see them today, but have an appointment on Monday. I also went to the Atlantic bilingual school and gave them a certificate of appreciation for having provided interpreters during the medical clinic. They are very gracious and eager to work with us in the future. Lourdes came last night to help Cheryl with the packing. She is now attending nursing classes three times a week and when she gets her certification plans to return here to work.
We have started writing up formal job descriptions for all the employees. Today Cheryl and I met with Mirna to go over hers. Over the last several weeks Cheryl and Helen Snipes have implemented a more structured program and attendance has increased. It will take time, effort and attention for Mirna to become comfortable with it. I made another visit to the Mario Uguarte vocational school today. The director called yesterday and said maybe he can help us find the right welding teacher. When I arrived he showed me a picture of himself and other Hondurans at Oklahoma State University where they were attending a conference. I was very impressed with him, the facility, and their program. I think this may be another very good contact.
Norma went to San Pedro yesterday and had the protruding screw removed from her knee. Today Cheryl and Helen change the dressing.
Junior didn't show up to translate today so Sonia took the English class and I went into the preschool with Helen while she told the story. I think she had 17 kids today. In any event she gave them a memory verse at the end of class, Luke 10:27, and as soon as she did they started reciting it from memory. As it turns out, that is a verse Myrna had given them some time back and every one of them knew it from memory. Interesting. It occurred to me last week to try to speak to Alfredo Orillana about our woodworking classes. We began working with Alfredo back in the year 2000. He is a good friend, a Christian, and an excellent woodworker. He is the one who made kneeling benches out of mahogany for Jennifer's wedding. Several years ago Alfredo went to the United States to try to earn a living for his family and has been there ever since. Tonight I spoke with him in North Carolina with regard to his future plans. He says he's planning to return early next year, as soon as he comes up with enough money for a plane ticket. However, the longer we talked, the more interested he got in possibly returning to work with us. He said he will call me back next Tuesday to discuss it further. With our plan to produce goods to be sold in the US market, he would be my first choice as one to help with that program. This might be something to put on your prayer list. I've spent a fair amount of time the last couple of days working through the issue of insurance for our building here. We have had coverage against earthquake, fire, and hurricane, which on the surface sounds pretty important. However, I did some research and found that as far as earthquake is concerned there have been no serious earthquakes in Honduras since they started keeping records back in the year 1530. There have been earthquakes in Central America, but they have been confined to Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Of course we do have hurricanes, but in checking with some pretty well-informed local people, there is hardly ever much wind damage to buildings as a result. The damage is through heavy rains and flooding; but we are on high ground here so that doesn't seem to be a problem either. As for the thought of this building burning to the ground, it is made of concrete and rebar, that is not likely either. I had a conversation with Bill Hoff who has Bible Institute south of San Pedro and he is pretty much in agreement with what I am thinking. His thoughts were that our greatest exposure is with the contents of our building. We do have contents coverage through Clements International in Washington DC and my thinking right now is to use our money to increase that coverage and cancel the other. Over the weekend we received enough money to get the red van fixed. Therefore, we had a wrecker come out and pick it up today and take it to San Pedro. No word yet on what problems might be. When we were with Frank and Phoebe Harrison over the weekend, they offered to let certain of our employees attend their discipleship training seminar presenting a technique called"storying." I talked to Beto about it and he seems quite enthused. He and Joel would be the ones to participate . I also spoke with him and Nicholas about offering the diploma discipleship class first to our employees, just to get started. They both seemed quite enthused about that. They asked that we announce it at our next luncheon/staff meeting so it is clear that it is our idea and not theirs. We had further evidence today that Cheryl's foot is doing better. Joel walked into the office upstairs with a live, 6 foot long snake. When she saw it she did a dance that would challenge most anyone. Dr. Green and his team arrive on Saturday. Cheryl has spent a good bit of her time lately getting things ready for that.
I wrote earlier this week that we had decided after last Friday that Beto would not be able to chauffer us around San Pedro. It was obvious that he does not have the driving experience necessary. Since then he has been pretty much down and dumps. Today I had a talk with him. He said he has been driving around the San Pedro Sula area since he was 17 and has never had a car accident. However, he acquiesced to the fact that he will no longer be driving. I mentioned to him that even though he won't be driving he is a gifted Bible teacher, and we can emphasize that area. Afterward he seemed to feel better. I met with Nelson today to arrange for his week of vacation next week. He gave me some topics that he would have been covering in the computer class and will give me the books he uses to teach English. The plan is that Helen Snipes and I will cover his classes. I forgot to mention yesterday that since we did not have a translator Helen handled the children's class all by herself. There were 22 kids plus moms and other teachers, none of whom speak any English at all, and she did a very fine job.
Norma Bonilla returned to Honduras April 24 after undergoing a successful knee replacement surgery in Brunswick, Maine. We were trying to locate a wheel chair for her use on arriving back in Seis de Mayo, but after our guard, Nikolas picked her up at the airport, he called very excited and said “she can walk”! Norma has been our sewing teacher for over seven years now, interning under our daughter Jennifer. Norma used to walk each day, crippled, and in the hot sun, to wait at the gate each day for a place in Jennifer’s sewing class. Norma not only got admitted into the class but she passed all three levels of the sewing curriculum and became an excellent sewing and Bible teacher to the women in the surrounding villages. Through a dear doctor, Dr. Rosquete, who comes to Honduras to provide orthopedic surgeries, arrangements were made for Norma to travel to the States for her knee replacement. Through this experience Norma has shown herself to be a very courageous person. She had rarely been out of her village, much less travel by plane to the United States. Understandably she was very anxious. Gary and I were concerned and asked for some help in getting her a contact person who would look after her during her hospital stay. Kelly Junk, missionary coordinator at First United Methodist Church, Tulsa, OK, put us in contact with a couple in a Methodist church in Maine near where Norma would be having surgery. Greg and Holly Lane were our hands and legs in caring, praying, and providing translation for Norma and keeping us updated about Norma’s condition. They took ownership of her care, just as we would have done. We are so grateful for the Body of Christ to care for their own, regardless of the distance, culture or language. Here is an excerpt from one of Greg’s letter to us: Norma "OK, think of a wagon wheel. Norma was the hub, the rim was God's providential plan, and the spokes were the individuals and groups involved. Very few of the spokes knew about the other spokes,evenwhen they got to the hub. The Lord 'recruited' believers and unbelievers. One spoke was Sherry (orig. Panama) and Maggie (orig. Mexico) who were informed of Norma's need by Mary Hermann, wife of former Maine Governor Angus King (they live locally). Sherry and Maggie provided translation when I showed up Wed. evening. " What a testimony to the effectiveness of the body of Christ.
The computer class offers an injured construction worker an opportunity to learn a new skill10/13/2010
On Tuesday when we went on our walk through the village some people came out and asked me to go into one of the houses and talk to Raul Ford. He's a young man we have known and who has been very helpful to us over the years. He was laying in bed and I was shocked when I saw how thin he was. I found out that about a month and a half ago he had an accident while working at the cement plant about halfway between here and San Pedro Sula. He was helping with construction of the metal building when a wall with steel beams fell on him. According to his account it's a miracle he's still alive. His back was opened up by the surgeon and six staples were put in. Obviously he will be unable to do heavy construction again. With that in mind I took Nelson over to see him and we arranged for him to begin computer and English classes in November. Russell has still not made contact with us about teaching the welding and carpentry classes. So, yesterday I went to talk with Alfredo's brother. Alfredo is Flor's husband, is an exceptional worker, and helped us a great deal in the beginning when we were back in the jungle. He's the one who made kneeling benches out of mahogany for Jenny's wedding. He's in the States now and I get the feeling from his brother he might come back if he had some assurance of a job. We will be getting his telephone number tomorrow and I plan to call him and see what his plans are.
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