THOUGHT FOR TODAY: The things still on my list at the end of the day are usually not left undone because I was so busy, but because I dread doing them. That makes me more tired than if I had worked a little harder and gotten everything done.
Cheryl and I will be leaving in the morning for a quick trip to Tulsa. I will be returning here in two or three weeks. Oscar Chabarria was by yesterday morning and the hole in his neck continues to heal. He is a little discouraged but Dr. Green feels like he's making good progress. I stopped by the private school this morning to verify that there is one more scholarship; Norma has someone in Rondon that she feels is quite worthy. The director told me that Carlitos is doing very well. Yesterday he asked me when he would be receiving his pay; he (age 10 and very poor) decided two weeks ago to go on the bimonthly plan. I said “If you earn 26 lempiras a day, how much will you receive for the two weeks”? Without a moment’s hesitation he said, “312”. A year ago he wouldn't have known…. I met with the new lawyer this morning and also with the builder. We had a good meeting and I think we are ready to start dorms…. We called it pretty close this week. After getting the things we had to have this morning we were $6.24 short.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: The things still on my list at the end of the day are usually not left undone because I was so busy, but because I dread doing them. That makes me more tired than if I had worked a little harder and gotten everything done. Yesterday I met with Alfredo to talk about developing 3 levels of instruction for our woodworking students. He agreed, and also told me that he and Flor have been thinking about starting a fish farming project. They would grow the fish in the man-made ponds and then sell them to local people for a lower than market price. It looks like this idea of community development is catching on…. After church today Luis needed to get something out of the plant. While we where there he casually told me that he was going to move all of his equipment to the east end of the building and let us have the rest. What an answer to prayer! We had discussed our need for having this space and started praying about it when the First Methodist group was here, as this could double our production area…. I was going through some old newsletters and I came across this: "Jennifer and I just finished our operating plans for FY 2002…. Included is initiation of the factory for graduates to produce garments for sale…” Ten years later and the goal is still the same.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: When I fail to pray for even a day I'm off course. That's a sobering thought. Just as sobering…. so are you. Last night we spent the night with Frank and Phoebe Harrison as this may be Michael's last opportunity to be with them. They will be leaving Honduras in April of this next year. Mike left San Pedro about noon and should be in Lexington by nine o'clock this evening. It looks like Cheryl and I will be returning to Tulsa Wednesday of next week. I will be there only a short while as there are many things pending here… Yesterday the people from Land Apparel factory came for lunch. The general manager was born in Honduras but got his bachelor's degree in Kansas and his master’s degree in Texas. A couple of years ago he decided it was time to come home to Honduras. They looked at our facility and suggested sending a team out from their factory to help us set things up. We got a note today that they will make a list of machinery to donate, get the necessary approvals from their US office and then move on from there…. We met with the man here in the village that helped with construction of the mission center regarding the dormitories. He can help, but probably can't lead the project. On Monday we will meet with the builder and Porter Cortez.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Someone asked me where I get my quotes. Unless I include a citation, these are notes from me to myself. Sometimes I get a thought that helps me in my Christian walk. I share it here because I think we all have pretty much the same challenges in our walk of faith and maybe it will help someone else. I also try to develop the thought and write it down because otherwise I’ll soon forget what I’ve learned. We made 3 very important contacts yesterday. First, our contact person with Dole is no longer there. I got another name but thought it was a long shot. However before the end of the day, the general manager responded back saying, "We would be happy to continue helping…." Secondly, I called the general manager of the Landau Company to thank him for the contact he gave us for industrial equipment. He wanted to know when he and his head engineer could come out and look at our facility. The two of them will be coming to lunch tomorrow. Finally, we were praying about how to begin pursuing the legal matters involved in this new project. I remembered that the past vice mayor of Cortez, whom I've known in the past, is a lawyer and I met with her this morning. She is very willing to take on at least the first project…. Mike will be leaving on Friday to return to school in KY. We hate to see him go but are so glad he was able to be here this summer.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: We left Tela at 9 AM yesterday in order to get Lynelle and Savanna Fields to the airport on time for their midday flight. It was great spending the weekend with them even though they were here for only three days. Today Cheryl and I had our prayer day. There are so many things to be done we didn't know where to start; but after our prayer time we had things lined up at least for the next few days. There are several things that need special prayer. For example, producing goods for sale is going to raise new tax issues, require new permits etc. Please pray that these things can be done quickly. That will be a miracle as in the past they have taken months, even several years. Also, we are going to have to get cooperation of the national electric company in order to power up all the wiring that the First United Methodist team installed. That too can take months, which we can't afford.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: A woman said to me, "My cousin is a missionary, but I was never called." She was about 30 years old. Neither age nor circumstance should cause us to dismiss any possibility for Christian service. Let go, and let God make the assignment. He'll do it based on factors we would never consider. After a great week we dropped Larry Voight, Mike and Damon Platt and Mike Brady at the airport on our way to Tela to attend Paul Gilen’s and Cessia Errazo’s wedding. The Gilens are our good friends from Russia and the Errazos are Youth for Christ of Honduras leaders who Amy used to travel with to do Christian concerts. Tela is a beach up on the north coast and has some good memories. About ten years ago Mike and I were both feeLing a little homesick so we came up here for a weekend just to lift our spirits. There was a small TV in our room and when I turned it on the University of Tulsa was playing OU in a football game at Skelly Stadium, only a few miles from our old house.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Would revival really radically change our personal lives? With the problems we are facing, and the church becoming weaker all the time, what is the likelihood that after sustained prayer with a willing heart God would lead us to continue following the same routine we’ve followed in the past? Sunday Larry Voight arrived. Yesterday Jim Redyke got here and Gene Moffit and Clark Millspaugh left. Before leaving they turned on the lights in the manufacturing building; 14 eight-foot fluorescent lights. It looked like the White House at Christmas. We also found the electrical cable trays for connecting the industrial sewing machines. They are unavailable in stores, but the Landau Company put us in touch with a supplier that sells them used. They are even going to deliver them. This project is turning out to be much more than we would ever have imagined; it's really exciting.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: When walking according to our own plans, we pray because we know we're supposed to. When walking by faith we pray because we know we have to. One is a discipline; the other is the only way to move forward. We sent our information to the Manufacturer’s Association on 8/11 and they sent it to their members on the same day; we received a response from the Landau Corporation 8/12 and were invited to tour their facility in Puerto Cortes on 8/13. I was expecting a shop of 50 workers or so; it turned out to be a factory with almost 700 employees. They gave us the tour, committed to donating two industrial machines, offered a source where we can get more at a good price, and offered to continue helping us in any way possible…. We all went to church at ICF this morning; then Gene Moffitt and I went to the airport and picked up Mike Brady…. Instead of having a regular church service here this afternoon, Luis’s daughters and sons in law, and our team members went into several homes in Seis de Mayo to share the Gospel. Four people accepted Christ.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Living in a third world country, you realize how greatly we in the USA have been blessed. However, those blessings not kept in perspective will diminish our dependence upon God The first members of the FUMC group arrived today: Clark Millspaugh, Mike and Damon Platt, and Gene Moffitt. They started right in working on the electric for the manufacturing building; tomorrow morning we’ve been invited to visit a clothing factory in Puerto Cortes, the result of other meetings we had the past couple weeks….We had just about given up on finding parts to fix the Chevy van. We knew they were available in the States so I decided to give it a shot. The mechanic here had told me in Spanish exactly what we needed; Bill Hoff translated; I called Glover Chevrolet in Tulsa; they referred me to O’Reilly who ordered the one part they didn’t have from Dallas; to be picked up by Jeffrey and delivered to Larry who will bring them to San Pedro. Whew! I think we’re going to do it.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: It’s ironic, we teach and preach about prayer; and then we perish for lack of it. Nickolas is getting a chance to experience God's answers to prayer. We had an emergency that required an electrician. He was here quite a while and I doubted we had enough to pay him. I had 500 lemps and Nick said he had 200. We asked for the bill and he said…700 lempiras. Nicholas broke into a big smile and proceeded to share with the man how God has answered so many of our prayers. But now we were broke. Less than 10 minutes later he came to say that Nelson had just given him 4500 lempiras that he had collected for the student's tuition. His comment, “Two miracles in less than 10 minutes!”.... Today Joel sent his report on the water treatment project to the engineers at OSU. Unfortunately, we're right back where we started; only 3 out of 10 passed the test…. We had lunch with the Hoffs in San Pedro Sula; got some good information on where to find the last of the electrical supplies for next week.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: It was little over a week ago that we had our day of fasting and prayer. The next day that we “just happened” to run into some acquaintances from the past that resulted in a meeting with clothing industry leaders which is proving to be extremely important. The timing of it all has been amazing. What's even more amazing, it may be days, even weeks before I set aside another day to fast and pray. How can we forget so soon? We don't realize the power of prayer. |