Today was church in San Pedro Sula. Our plan as of a couple of days ago was that we would begin training Beto to drive in San Pedro so that he could take us to church a couple times a month and Nicholas the other two. That way they would each have two Sundays off during the month. However, that idea was pretty much scrapped Friday when Beto had another couple of near misses in San Pedro traffic. We will have to come up with another plan to give Nicholas a couple Sundays off per month. After lunch today we had the biannual church meeting. The big item on the agenda was to appoint two elders. Nominations were made and will be presented to the congregation in two weeks. When those names are announced I'm sure that many of you will recognize both of them. When we got home tonight I went to print some documents on the computer, and discovered that the printer has disappeared again. Not quite sure what the problem is; we will have to look into it further tomorrow. About that same time, Cheryl called from the utility room where she discovered that the freezer was not working. I'm not sure how long the problem and been going on, but much of the stuff that was in there was thawed. Will have to look into that tomorrow, too, along with an air conditioner that's not been working properly.
Cheryl and Helen worked in the clinic sorting, classifying, and labeling medications. I think they got things in pretty good shape. We got a call midmorning that the van was ready, so Nicholas took Bill's truck back and picked it up. So far it's working alright. We'll see if it starts in the morning when we get ready to go to church.
Today was our big day to go to town. We had all of our stops carefully organized and our times set so that we could get everything done and get back to the mission center at a decent hour. Well, the day turned out to be quite an adventure. Our first stop was Office Depot. We did our shopping and when we came out the van wouldn't start, again, just like yesterday. Nicholas tried the same thing he did yesterday, but this time it didn't work. So, they called the mechanic and he came from across town and got the van started. He took it to the shop and we took a cab, dropping Cheryl and Helen Ruth at the grocery store and I went to the insurance company to pay our car insurance. However, my debit card was denied. So I went back down to the taxi and on over to the supermarket were Cheryl and Helen were still shopping. I called the bank and they said that the clerk had evidently made an error in submitting the information. I told them that was quite possible because while he was working with me he was ordering lunch over the telephone and quite probably he did get confused between ordering shrimp,broccoli and carrots, and rice, while trying to submit the data on my debit card. From the supermarket we were to have lunch with the Hoffs, so Mark and Joy picked us up at the supermarket and we all met at the restaurant. Sort of looked like we were back on track. After lunch Cheryl had an appointment and I had to go to the dentist. By then we had borrowed Margie's car for Cheryl and me and Beto went to the repair shop to pick up the van. They said it was fixed. We had a little more shopping to do so we met at Price Mart. When the guys went to get the car it wouldn't start. So, Beto took the van back to the shop, Bill and Nicholas took Margie's car back to the house and got Bill's pick up which Nicholas took back to the repair shop to pick up Beto and they in turn came back to Price Mart and picked us up again. We got back to the mission center after dark. Bill's pickup is here and the van is back in the shop. I think I'm going to go to bed.
Our meeting at the mayor's office went well today. It took most of the morning but finally we got to see the vice mayor who listened to our case and then asked for us to submit copies of the legal descriptions of our property. Thank the Lord, we had taken the file which had copies, so that part didn't take very long. He conferred with the assessor's office and then said that he will take our case to the mayor and then next week will make an appointment for us to see the mayor and see if we can be relieved of having to pay property taxes. That is the outcome that I had really hoped for. I don't want to have to pay property taxes, but I want it to be an official decision that is documented in the record. I got to thinking, we have been here now 11 years. About one year and nine months of that time I have spent in waiting rooms of the various government offices. After the mayor's office we went to the Costa Azul Hotel to make reservations for Dr. Green's team coming on the 23rd. That went without a hitch. We then went to the bakery to pick up a cake for the staff luncheon. When we came out the van wouldn't start. It was 11:30 in the luncheon begins at 12. We called and asked Beto to come get me in the pickup. Just before he got there Nicholas got the van started and we all arrived back to the mission center in time for lunch. As usual we had good fellowship over lunch.
There was more rain today. Actually the weather is very comfortable, but there is flooding all around. Russell, our new shop teacher, was supposed to stop by today to discuss his salary and start date. However, he has had to take a temporary job in San Pedro and didn't make it. We are eager to get him started while we still have a fair amount of time left before we have to return to the States again. Tomorrow will be a busy day. I plan to be at the municipality at eight o'clock in the morning to visit with the mayor or vice mayor about the issue of property taxes. With all of the setbacks last year we are no closer to getting our tax exempt status than we were a year ago. While they have allowed us more time, I am uncomfortable continuing to move forward with the tax issue unresolved. I'm planning to explain our situation and try to get a feel for how we should proceed. The government is very friendly towards us at this point, but there will come a day when these people will no longer be in office. One option is to just go ahead and pay the taxes. Hopefully we will get to the right people and get an accurate reading on what we should do. Tomorrow being the first Thursday of the month, we have our staff luncheon. There are several items on the agenda including comments about our current financial situation; an exhortation to arrive at work on time and look for things to do without being told; prayer needs; new projects; and upcoming events, such as the medical team coming in three weeks with Dr. Green. We will also be discussing the issue of security. With so much activity and so many people coming and going is imperative that we not become careless just because we have not had any incidents. The lunch menu includes fried chicken, potato salad, rice, tossed salad, and cake for dessert. This is always a very blessed time.
Rent payment was due on the rent house today, $65.53. Not too surprisingly we didn't have cash in hand so we had to take a loan from the Gathering Hearts employee co-op. At the last employee luncheon, which occurred while we were in the States, they voted to create a co-op whereby each employee would put into a collective savings account a certain amount of money each payday. Then, when someone needs to, they can take out a loan from the co-op at 5% interest. Interest is due at the time of the loan, in our case $3.18, and payments are made on each scheduled payday. In our case we have 30 days to repay the loan. A savings account...not a bad idea. It has been suggested by more than one person that we remodel the rent house and use it to house teams until we get the dormitories finished. It would not take much to turn it in to a pretty nice place. It has two bathrooms, two rooms that could be used for bedrooms as well as a kitchen and other room. This may very well be a good project for some visiting team that doesn't really want to do heavy construction.
Today I went to CEMESA Hospital here in San Pedro to visit with Dr. Hisashi Nikaidoh. He is a pediatric cardiac surgeon and is head of Saint Francis Children's Hospital in Tulsa. This was his fifth time to head up a group of surgeons to do surgeries on children here. He is a fine Christian man and said perhaps next time he can help us.
When Cheryl's not here I don't eat as well as when she is; I don't like to cook. Last night someone served me an ear of field corn fixed over an open fire and I ate the whole thing…. this noon I had rice, beans, ground beef, and a tortilla. Tonight I'm having rice, beans, ground beef, and a tortilla. Seriously, I should be grateful; some folks have less than that... It was raining this pm so the only people in church were Luis’s family and me. However, Selvin preached like he had a full house.… Cheryl suggested canvassing Nueva Campana before service next week. It’s still cool and rainy today so I have the windows open; the monkeys up on the mountain are going crazy… Lately I've read several admonitions to memorize Scripture. I've known the value; how soon we forget… Latest grade report; Perla-94; Carlos-97!! (He also got “MB” (?) in morality and socializing; I’ll have to check that out). _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Our morning devotions are not just a show of respect for our Savior. They are most practical and essential. Without definite and daily direction from God it is highly unlikely that at the end of the day we will have accomplished His purposes for us. That’s bad news. The good news -- tomorrow we get to try again. (You remind me; I’ll try to remember to remind you) we just returned a few hours ago from the Honduras missionary conference in Siguatapeque. The conference speaker was Roy Camrie, and a lifelong missionary from Zimbabwe. He is now past 70 years old and told story after story of God's intervention into situations in a miraculous way. It was like sitting and listening to stories from other heroes of the faith. We arrived there at about midday on Thursday and the conference adjourned just before noon today. There were about 125 people there made up of missionary families throughout the country of Honduras. Many were people we have known from the past and it was great to be together once again. Helen Ruth Snipes was with us and had opportunity to work with the children's ministry.
|