_Yesterday we went up the mountain to see a family from church. It was so quiet and peaceful up there, just beautiful. There were only 56 children in class this pm. (Only?). Yesterday TGI Fridays in San Pedro was offering turkey and dressing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. It was tempting but a little too far away. We planned to go to El Sauce today to hand out Christmas gift tickets, but it was flooded, so we’ll have to reschedule. We’ve had torrential rains. We don’t provide health insurance for our 14 employees but we do help with healthcare. Right now were helping George, Maria and Marcus with their bills. Today it was 66 degrees at 9am in San Pedro. Next Friday there will be a soccer tournament for 8-15 year olds.
_ We had 62 kids in class this pm; those who are familiar with our room can imagine that it was packed. I gave Mirna the option of setting up tables in the carport and having class there; but she said it’s hard to control the class when they’re outside. All 62 got to eat and each one carried home their coloring paperwork the day. Part of the reason so many children are showing up is their anticipation of the Christmas gifts. Yesterday we finished handing out tickets in Nueva Campana. This registration process has been a tremendous amount of work. In the early years we encountered a lot of dishonesty and disorder when we handed the gifts out. This process we are using now helps to keep it honest. On Friday I’ll help Flor hand out her tickets back in the jungle area. Going house to house was a very fulfilling experience, especially to the ones by the railroad tracks. I hope I can find an excuse to do it again soon. The man elected president of Honduras is not a bad choice; there’s been no violence yet. We had to pay some scholarships today. I went through all the envelopes, my wallet, Nicolas went through his wallet. We scraped together all change we had. There was one lempira (5 cents) left over. God is good. -- Gary
_Today is the presidential election in Honduras. There are eight candidates vying for president. The media, including the United States, has warned that if it goes a certain way there will be violence. It’s now just 7:30 PM so it's too soon to tell what's going to happen. Over the weekend Nickolas and I continued going house to house registering the little children to receive one of the 1000 Christmas gifts that are on their way from the United States. At this point we have given out 500 tickets. Friday morning when I went outside, the porch was crowded with people. Dr. Rios, (dentist from San Pedro Sula) was there to see dental patients. The next time he comes he’s bringing his technician to hook up some additional equipment. I have called a meeting next Saturday of the church leadership. Cheryl and I really believe that God wants pastor Batista here but without a visa it's very disruptive having him go back and forth to Venezuela. We need to focus our efforts on getting him a visa and getting him stabilized here; and it will help if we have a consensus to do that.
We have spent much of the week in Seis de Mayo registering kids and issuing tickets for Christmas boxes. I saw people I hadn’t seen in years. We met one girl now 20 years old who still has the gift she received in her Christmas box as a child. It is a tea cup and she still uses it. Regarding the gifts, it looks like the container will arrive 12/1. There will be a soccer tournament tomorrow. There will be players from here in Los Portals and also from Campana. Nelson (computer teacher and soccer player) was quick to point out that the day will begin with a message from the Bible.
Marcos, one of our best guards, has been sick. Nicolas took him to a private clinic today and found he’s diabetic. We went private because the public hospitals are the worst I’ve seen them. Patients are being sent home without treatment for lack of meds. There were several people on the porch early yesterday a.m. waiting to see the nurse. There were 34 children in class. Please pray for Maria, the wife of our guard, Pastor. She has radiation therapy 5 days a week. She gets on a bus at 5 am and spends a good part of the day in the process.
The engineers from Tulsa arrived Friday noon and spent the day Saturday on the worksite. They were pleased but did recommend some changes. They will send some amended plans which Mauricio will interpret to George. The biggest change is that they are asking the locals not to pour the second floor until they return the first of the year. With that, George and Joel will begin working on the north wing which we had not started yet.
Last night I saw the brother of José Manuel, the little boy in a wheelchair, and he said José was running a fever again. I wasn't quite sure how we were going to respond to that, but when I went out this morning, José, his mom, and the rest of the family were on the front porch waiting to see Nurse Dina.
As I walk by the kitchen Victorina showed me the breakfast she had prepared for 18 little kids.
I got a call this morning regarding our friend José from the church. He's apparently critical again. Nelson Batista and I will go see him this afternoon.
Perla completed her 11th birthday yesterday; Larry gave her 11 one dollar bills.
We had a good church service both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday we worked through an evaluation form to learn what our spiritual gifts are. The pastor collected them to review in order to more effectively put together the church program. This morning our guard found a one-year-old child out in the street with no one around. The child was almost without clothes so the ladies found her address. Finally someone came and claimed her.
We are privileged to have Jim, Larry and Paul fly down to Honduras to advise us on construction for the dorms and access what part of the construction that an upcoming FUMC's team will do in February.
Left to Right George and Joel, our local construction workers, Jim Redyke, Larry Voight, Mauricio Mayer ( of Landau corporation, Puerto Cortes) and Paul Rose
Gary's is taking notes as they give their recommendations for construction on the dorms.
Discussing Alfredo's woodworking class over lunch a couple days ago, he told me three of his guys are now working for hire in woodworking shops in this region. I told him that's great news; that's part of the reason we're here. Night before last Pastor and I both felt a shaking sensation like an earthquake tremor. After asking around, it seems we were about the only ones that felt it, that is except for Ronnie (our dog) and the herd? hord? army? drove? swarm? of monkeys that live on the mountain. They went absolutely crazy. We had a glitch in the container today. I got a message from the shipper saying that we had listed used clothing as part of our cargo and that it had not been fumigated. I had never heard about it needing to be fumigated, but agreed to check on it. So I asked an agency here if we have to have used clothing fumigated. I don't think they even knew what I was talking about, but they said no, not necessary. We've never had to do anything like that in the past; hopefully that will settle it. Last night was church. As part of every service, everyone has to stand up and recite a verse from memory. I think that's a good idea. Nery Ruth was there for the first time. She is the young lady that lived with us and worked for us for about five years when we were in San Pedro Sula. Tomorrow the three construction men from Tulsa will arrive. Our local man and three others will be with them all day on Saturday.
Yesterday afternoon I had a visit from a mother who would like for me to find a home for her 17-year-old son who went to the United States illegally and is now being held in a detention center. I talked to the center on three different occasions but of course I was not able to get much information. While I can sympathize, I explained to her there is no such thing as the American Dream and that the best thing for her son would be to come back home to his family in Honduras. Pastor Batista called a church business meeting this morning to begin at 10 o'clock. The regular church service begins at 3 PM, so I was pretty sure we were in for a five-hour meeting. Well, the business meeting didn't start exactly at 10, but we went pretty much till three o'clock. We had to knock off because people were arriving at church. Those two meetings together make for a pretty long Sunday. He and I have a meeting tomorrow morning to discuss his visa, travel dates, and keeping us better informed. Cheryl spoke at Beacon Hill Baptist Church tonight; she had the whole service with PowerPoint and all. I'm sure she did great job; I wish I could've been there. The water pump quit this afternoon so I'm trying to stay clean with hand sanitizer tonight.