Today we received the biggest load of building supplies yet: 400 rebar, lumber, 400 pounds of anchoring wire, steel channels, etc. Our crew has grown to seven and they are making good progress; they’re almost ready to pour the second floor. Jim Redyke and Larry Voight will be coming from Tulsa for that event. Our lawyer called and said she’d be here today. Then she called a second time to say she’ll be here tomorrow instead. She’s bringing the money we deposited for some papers which we never got. In church the other day I sat beside Gloria’s 7 year old daughter, Jennifer. I was amazed how much English she can speak. She’s being scholarshipped to the private school by partners of GHH. She also asked me for a little “dough” to take to school; and I think she asked me to be her father at the upcoming father’s day celebration. Her dad died last year. Nelson was telling me recently how that a number of his students' lives have completely changed since they started coming to computer class. A good example is Jose. He had started drinking and his parents couldn’t control him. Now he’s in church three times a week.
Last night seemed like a dream come true. We held the graduation party for the computer class. Nineteen students recited scripture and gave their testimonies in ENGLISH ! There were a lot of tears and sad good-byes as this class has really bonded together and with Nelson their teacher the Pastor Batista and Gary and I. They spend a lot of time together out of class and linger around here eating and playing soccer . Their families came to see them receive their diplomas. The dream that we have had is that the students receive Christ and then attend the church. This is the first year that we have had a church and pastor for them to go to and now many of them have become Christians and attend our church. (one couple joined another church closer to their village), but we rejoice they are Christians.
Their testimonies were so precious in their broken English, but it was evident that their hearts were truly given to the Lord. Gary and I told them that they were the future of Honduras and that their future was in the Lord. To use what was given to them to further God’s kingdom, develop the church and to be productive for their families and country. Pastor Batista gave a message along the same lines: total surrender to the Lord and using their education for God’s work We arrived back in Honduras Monday noon and by evening had pretty much settled in again. Pastor Nelson and Juliza Batista arrived that night at 8 pm and stayed at the Paz’s hotel. They came out this afternoon and then we had dinner at our place tonight. We were able to get caught up on several things…. Nelson Osorto, computer teacher, preached three times while the pastor was gone and several of his students are attending church regularly. Three have accepted Christ
Nelson began putting together his next class today, and so far he has 45 new students including one of the local pastors. They now have access to the Internet and that helps to get new students. I also signed a stack of diplomas today for his graduating class as well as Norma's. They will have their ceremony near Christmas time. Alfredo called again last night from North Carolina and he has moved his arrival date to November 24. He will be arriving at 1 AM; Nicholas will take Flor and the kids to meet him. Amado Perez, the man who has been recommended to be our welding teacher, came today. He's 45 years old, has several certificates, and a good deal of experience. He lives about five hours away, which poses something of a problem. If he were to work for us he would likely move his family close by. We gave him the talk, the tour, and lunch, and afterword he seemed pretty excited about the thought of teaching here. I think we will probably offer him a job. He's a Christian and active in his church. I saw Gladys, one of our best sewing students, at City Hall today. I'm not sure why she was there, but her topic of conversation was the fact that there are no jobs here and she has to support her family. I explained our plan to teach the sewing students to produce items for sale and she became very excited. Today is payday. Nicholas went to the bank to get the money and on the way back the truck broke down. He doesn't dare get on the bus with that much money so Beto took the van to pick it up. Joel stayed to guard the place. It's 8:45. Beto brought the money back but I still haven't heard from Nicholas so I'm not sure what's happening with regard to the pickup. Guess that's about it. Cheryl and I will be leaving in the morning to return to Tulsa.
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.
Sixty new students began this session of computer classes. We are blessed to have received new computers on this last container that enable us to not only equip our classes but have some on hold for graduating students who have earned their own computer. Our computer teacher, Nelson, said in his broken English,"God is perfect in his numbers, we have twenty-one students in our shifts and God sent exactly twenty-one computers for our class."
In addition to their computer studies, we started a new Bible Curriculum that Eleazar Bermudez brought to us. This curriculum will help in not only leading students to Christ but also in discipling them. Eleazar has had a lasting contribution to the ministry. |