2/3/2011 Cheryl and I arrived in San Pedro last night. We flew standby, but made every one of our three connections and so were able to make the trip in a single day. It was after dark when we arrived so we stayed in the hotel and came on home this morning… Mauricio will be out in the morning; he's bringing 10 people from the factory with him, including their head accountant. Their objective is to survey our facility and come up with a specific plan and dates to be ready for production… I met with Nicholas this afternoon and he told me that most of the needy children from the villages who received scholarships to the private school are now outfitted with uniforms and have their books. The only thing left are notebooks and shoes for Carlitos, Perla, and Esmeralda, the youngest of Lourdes’s kids, who is beginning the program this year. Beto and I will take them to Puerto Cortes tomorrow afternoon to buy those… Nicholas starts his pastoral training program this weekend so Beto will drive us into church on Sunday. Please pray. After church there is a Super Bowl party at the Harrison's. We will spend the night with them. THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Earlier this week I was experiencing a new vitality, optimism, and increased sense of the Lord's presence. I was thinking maybe without even knowing it I had entered a new dispensation; or achieved a new level of spirituality; or that I had finally pushed the right button and that's how it's going to be from now on. Fortunately or unfortunately, that wasn't true at all. I just hadn't made the connection; we had ended a time of fasting only a couple days before. I'm the same person I've always been. I'm redeemed, but destined to fall again if I don't continue to pray, study the Bible, memorize verses, and have periodic times of fasting
Actually, she was returning my call. Her husband, David, had been hurt in a work accident, and I was calling to see how he's doing. Also, I knew she would be wondering about Cheryl and I wanted to fill her in. We are helping to put Lourdes through nursing school; she plans to live in Seis de Mayo when she graduates and be a nurse at the mission center.... The team from First United Methodist Church that will be visiting in March had their first informational team meeting today. The team this year will likely consist of 10 to 12 persons. One of their questions has to do with any projects we might want them to do. We are planning to have them start renovating the rent house. They will also begin the work on a horticultural project. One member of their group is planning to make a special trip down sometime between now and March just to get better oriented as to how they might best serve.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - THOUGHTS FOR TODAY: It seems ironic, but the more time I spend in prayer the less antagonism I feel toward a skeptic. Today we do not have all of our students. Some of them could not get out because of the flooding from Hurricane Matthew last Friday. Honduras was spared another big storm - Matthew was not as bad as predicted, but still widespread flooding and damage of many of the "huts". Josh Fellman arrived here in Honduras and was able to get that four foot satellite through all three terminals, but customs would not release it to us. Josh had to come up with a detailed listing of everything packed along with an invoice. We face potential high tariffs (They do not see many four foot satellites coming through the airlines). Gary and Josh are pleading their case at this time with customs. Please do pray for favor. This reduces the time Josh has to install and set up the satellite. Please pray that there will be not more obstacles and that Josh can get it up safely, quickly and get us better connections.
This is a shot of Beto and his son putting up the 3" galvanized steel pole. Josh Fellman will arrive tomorrow and Monday he and his crew will begin installation of the satellite. We had torrential rains and high winds last night and it was looking doubtful that they would be able to work today, but the rain stopped early this am and now the sun is breaking through. The hole is 3-4 feet down with a 3' cross bar and they will seal it with concrete.
There is another project in process that is very important to us. When Amy 9our daughter) presents a concert these days she is selling, among other things, these rubber bracelets that are so popular with the kids, and is donating all proceeds to Gathering Hearts for Honduras to purchase medications for children who have dengue. She has asked for and we will get thank you notes from those kids who receive these medications. The notes will include their e-mail so that contributors can correspond with them. Please pray for this project also.
|