Manantial de Vida

Posting a lot today, since the internet is working!!

Oct 13
On Tuesday morning we were planning to have school, while preparing to head on to Bloomington, IN. Wes had a meeting with Bob, one of the pastors of the church. They also had lunch with a number of men from the area. We had some trouble with kids’ emotions that morning to the point of considering turning back and going straight to PA, but we felt that would be even more disruptive to the family, since we had been looking forward to seeing so many people we hadn’t seen yet! We hadn’t realized just how thin our nerves were, having come off of 2 months of not having a place to lay our heads – or rather TOO MANY places to lay our heads!  Seriously, we felt we could relate to Jesus – or Jesus could certainly relate to us – in our traveling. We had been blessed with many places to stay, but we had not been able to offer our kids a lot of stability. We knew that was important, which is why we spent a whole month – 32 nights! – in “our apartment” in Aldan. But that wasn’t enough for some. And the good-byes were taking their toll. For every person we got to see, we had to say good bye.

We decided to continue on because the kids hadn’t seen my cousins’ kids (except Kristen), who they were really looking forward to spending a little time with.

Oct 13-15
We went to see Brad and Gail in Bloomington, IN. They had a bag of gifts waiting for the kids, thinking they wouldn’t have a very exciting home for the kids these days, since their own kids are grown and gone. Little did they know … what we needed was a peaceful place, which is what we found! This couple was at TU when we were there, and they have always been an encouragement in marriage and family life. Our first night was spent catching up – and learning about Sechuan pepper corns. You gotta try one! It’s a natural anesthetic! On Wednesday Brad gave us a tour of Indiana Univ, and while they were at work we went to a science museum. It took a lot for me to pull the kids away from that… all 5 of them! In the evening we watched the US soccer team play Costa Rica and saw updates on the Honduras game. We all REJOICED as Honduras beat El Salvador and the US tied with CR!!! This means both the US and Honduras advance to the World Cup in 2010!!!! We could hardly tear ourselves away from Brad and Gail! If only we had a week to spend with each family!!! But Tressa’s volleyball game was calling!

Oct 10-11
I have to say that this blogging is really fun! I am reliving all the joyful experiences of the trip without the stresses of getting on to the next place! This is so cool!

A trip to Upland, IN wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Ivanhoe’s. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out Upland in a travel guide. There are no traffic lights in Upland – there’s a blinker now, right? But it makes the tourist books because of Ivanhoe’s! There are at least 100 shakes and 100 sundaes on the menu, but you can create whatever you want, as well. Wes worked there after graduation, while he waited around for me. We have friends we meet there every time we’re in town. They’re also Children’s Church teachers in their church, which was our church when we were at Taylor University (TU). We taught the kids 2 years ago and then Cheryl and Tim helped them make a package of cards for us to encourage us to keep sharing the Good News of Jesus in Honduras. We had shakes with the Zeiglers as we arrived. While we were there we received a bonus gift of seeing Hilary Lightfoot – now married, but I don’t have her new last name here – all grown up! Hilary was in our high school youth group when Wes and I were in college. She was in town for less than 24 hours and she and her family had gone to Hoe’s instead of eating at home – a rare treat for them – and there we were a few tables away! It was a JOY to see Hilary, meet her husband and kids and hear what she is doing now – nearly 20 years later!

Then we went to find our hosts – Grandpa Chuck and Grandma Shirley, who we had also missed on the 2007 trip. Chuck and Shirley have a BIG heart for missionary kids (MKs) They were new in town when Wes was in college and have worked on TU’s campus caring for MKs ever since. We enjoyed reconnecting with them as we participated in things at “our church”, Upland Community Church (UCC). UCC – used to be Upland Evangelical Mennonite Church – was our church in college. Wes worked with the youth there for 5 years and I worked there for 2. We met THERE, not at TU. We were also Sunday School teachers and Wes did his internship there. Our schedule while we were there was FULL, but we enjoyed it. We taught Children’s Church in both morning services, talking about the battle against the Amalekites where Moses held up the staff and Joshua fought the battle. While Moses’ arms were raised, the battle was being won. When his arms grew tired and lowered, the battle went against Joshua. We compared that to missionaries and prayer. Missionaries are often like Joshua down on the battle field, but the REAL battle is holding our hands up in prayer, which Moses, Aaron and Hur were doing on the mountain! Then we prayed for the individual missionaries of their church. After church we had a reunion with many of the youth and adults who had gone to Honduras in 2008 to help us build the staff house. We enjoyed connecting with them. They have a real passion for the nation of Honduras, and it was good to share with them. After lunch we had a few hours of rest before Jr. High youth group. We shared with them about hearing God’s voice and obeying – no matter what He asks you to do. This was a part of their series on encouraging each other in the faith. Then we went right into the High School youth group. They are studying doctrines about the Word of God and asked us to share scriptures that had been particularly meaningful to us in our time in Honduras. Ellie, Wes and I each shared. Ellie and Becca stayed for the rest of youth group, but we took Joel and Abigail to Chuck and Shirley’s to go to bed. The big girls ended the night with some games and prayer with the guys who had been with us in Honduras. I got to join them at the very end, which was a highlight of my time.

Oct 12
Monday morning we pulled out to go to northern Indiana – Pokagon State Park – to meet Noah and Liz Kamper and their two sons. The Kampers are going to orientation with Latin America Mission (LAM) in Jan and hope to start language school as soon as they can raise funds. They are considering going to Honduras to work with us at Manantial de Vida. Noah would be “Assistant Director” or some title like that, and he and Wes would share administrative tasks, which would free all of us up to have more hands-on ministry, as well. This is an EXCITING possibility!! We had been emailing with the Kampers for several months and talked on the phone a little, but this was our first face-to-face. We had a great time with them and were encouraged by many ways that we are alike. They’re over 10 years younger than we are, but we’ve never been accused of acting our age! Because of rain, we went in search of shelter and hot drinks and found ourselves at McDonald’s in Angola, which was where we shopped for food while we were on vacation in July – in Angola, not at McDonald’s specifically! We had a time of prayer for them and Honduras before heading back to Upland. So we went to that familiar Walmart and picked up some food for the road. We took the kids back to Gpa Chuck and Gma Shirley’s, where they stayed while we went to a meeting with the mission board of UCC. We have met with them each time we’ve passed through. This year there may be a chance of them supporting us financially in addition to the prayer and work team support they already give!

Trip Log

I figure most people don’t want the boring details, but a few have asked what we DO on a trip to the Midwest, so I’m going to do this on the blog so those who want to read it can, and others won’t feel guilty not reading our update! We’ll send out the abridged version – “We had a good trip to the Midwest” – in our next newsletter!

The purpose of our trip was to visit financial supporters in Ohio and Indiana. If your left hand isn’t supposed to know what your right hand is doing when it comes to giving, we don’t feel we should post on the internet for all to see who supports us financially and who supports us in other ways. So we hope you understand that this trip wasn’t just to see old friends, even though we care very much about our supporters! Our purpose was to be accountable to those who are sacrificing to support us.

First let me say it was VERY hard for us to limit our trip to Ohio and Indiana this year, but we knew our family couldn’t handle a long trip through Illinois, Michigan – even into Iowa – as we have done in the past. If we were near you and didn’t stop in, I hope you will understand that we had to eliminate a few things we’d really liked to have done for the health of the family. We LOVE to see everyone. Every one of us loves to travel through the Midwest, but the constant good-byes were pretty hard on some of us this year, and the continual change was too much for some of the kids to maintain. We had to amend the trip and not call everyone we’d hoped to see along the way. That was especially hard for me – Cindy. My motto is “hay que aprovechar!” Ya gotta take advantage of every opportunity! So here is how our trip went.

Oct 6-8
Wes came home from Florida a few days early, which gave us a whole week to prepare for this trip. We celebrated his FORTIETH birthday on Oct 5 and left Aldan, PA (just outside Philly) on Tues, Oct 6 in the morning. Now, we’d planned to leave on Wed, so I had my little list of things to do on Wes’s birthday and my little list of things to do on the last day before the trip. On Sunday I realized that the two days were one in the same!! There was a moment of panic as I tried to work all that out. So we didn’t have all the good-byes we “should” have had. We just TOOK OFF! We didn’t buy peanut butter before leaving, we didn’t pick up the cereal on sale at Giant… but we got off on time!

My cousin Yvonne has been faithful in praying for us for the past 6 years – 1 in language school and nearly 5 as missionaries in Honduras. We always get to see her family in Elyria, OH as we pass by, but often the visit is hurried, as we rush on to the rest of the trip. So we went early to be sure to have some time with them. We arrived at the Tinney’s for dinner on Tuesday RIGHT ON TIME (read that line again. It’s the last time you’ll see it in this blog!). We had a good drive, got through most of school in the car, and only had a little science homework in the evening. We had a chance to talk with Yvonne and Rich over pizza about what is going on in Honduras politically, how it has affected our ministry, how the family is doing and we even got to do a little pilates (exercises that are great for your tummy. Ya gotta try it!). We did our school work on Wed while they went about their business and then we took a field trip together. We went hiking and saw a waterfall, beautiful fall leaves, and even a cave! We saw various rock formations in the cave including flowstone and stalactites, which we later found in Joel’s science book. After the field trip and supper, we had to play the traditional card game with them – scum. We got off the next morning to our next stop – Anderson, IN.

Oct 8-10
We missed Scott and Dawn Carr completely on our 2007 trip. They were out of town when we were in the Indianapolis area. Again, we decided to stay 2 nights with them. They have 2 kids near enough to Joel and Abigail’s ages for them to fit right in together playing! So we did a few classes of school on the way to their place, and Ellie brought her science homework in… again. The younger kids didn’t remember each other, but Ellie and Becca remembered stopping there 6 years ago. We had a WONDERFUL time with the Carrs, who took us roller skating with their homeschool co-op on Friday and made delicious food for us to enjoy! Again, we shared with them what God has been doing in Honduras in spite of and through the political turmoil. We shared what we’d been up to for the past 6 years and what we are looking ahead to, but most of all we just enjoyed being together and renewing our relationship with them. We took advantage of the piano and had music class for Ellie and Becca. Dawn is a piano teacher and gave Ellie some key tips that have REALLY helped her already! Thanks, Dawn! She also helped the girls of the family figure out our skin care and makeup situations, since she is a Mary Kay lady. I don’t know what they’re really called. I’ve just always called them Mary Kay ladies. So Saturday we left all prettied up and ready for… IVANHOE’S!!

So … how do you prepare for an earthquake?  Let me tell you, last evening was much more fun!  We tried to download an old MacGyver TV show.  Didn’t work.  We did this and that.  We were calm.  Tonight, the kids are running around going, “29 minutes to earthquake!!”  And we’re saying, “You can’t predict an earthquake so precisely!!”  But at the same time, we know it might come.  According to some it’s coming at 7.  Others say 8:30.  So what do you do?

Well, we’re picking things up off the floor so we can’t trip over them if the power goes out.  Pictures in glass are going face down on the table.  We actually just bought a bunk bed for the girls, so we have two mattresses in the livingroom.  So we’re putting them in the strongest doorways of the house.  Then we’re gonna eat dinner.  If we’re still not shakin it up, we’ll put Fiddler on the Roof on the computer.  That way if (when) the power goes out, we’ll kep on watching!   And we’re gonna stretch out on the mattresses to do it!  It’s actually a school assignment, since we’re studying Russian history for 3 weeks.

Wes moved the carton of eggs from on top of the pressboard cupboard to the cement counter.   Yeah.  We don’t refrigerate eggs here.  What else?  My favorite glass candle is no longer on the TV!!  OH!  We should gather flashlights.  Last night we had some trouble finding them with all the shaking!  

So if it starts shaking, we’re going to hang on to a wall and cover our heads with the mattresses (they’re foam, not heavy!).  That’s what the FEMA website says to do.  Most injuries come from things that fall on your head.

Well, I guess we’re as ready as we can be!  We’ll let you know how it goes – or doesn’t!  So… if nothing happens, what time do we go to bed?

After reading the entry about our Easter retreat, you may ask why we don’t a big generator to be able to provide a better service. It would certainly help our ministry and make life a little simpler! It would be for more cost effective and fuel efficient to buy a few smaller generators rather than one large one.

We would need 2 diesel generators to power the tabernacle and the kitchen. In addition we’d need four battery banks to keep some security lights and minimal light in the dorms and cabins. That still leaves the people who LIVE here in the dark! Two more battery banks would allow each of us to have exterior lights (for security) and a little lighting inside. The cost of the kind of generator we’d need is at least $1,500 (plus shipping – they weigh around 400 lbs!) and the batteries for the battery banks cost at least $250 per battery (if we can get them shipped from the US). This is a total cost of over $6,000 plus shipping, not including the rewiring and installation necessary to USE the equipment. It is something we’ll do SOMEday, but it will be a big project, as you can see!

Thankfully we do have one portable generator that is coming in VERY handy right now. It is kind of old and beat up, doesn’t like to start and is louder than a lawn mower. But we love it anyway.

Sunday was an interesting day. Pastor Daniel’s sermon was very encouraging. My favorite part was when he shared about what a great pastor his father, Don Gregorio, was, and how when he died, Daniel had to take his place as pastor of Pier. His first sermon was five minutes long (sermons in Latin America usually last an hour or more!) and many people shook their heads and said that he would never make it as pastor of a church. Today his sermons are full of the Word of God, full of wisdom and practical application. Daniel is an influential leader in San Pedro Sula – both in the church and in the secular arena. Hearing his stories about his rocky start in full time ministry filled me with hope.

After running some errands we headed back to camp and arrived just as a rainstorm was hitting. We got pretty wet running the eight feet or so from the car to the front porch – it was really coming down and the wind made it almost horizontal. I wasn’t too surprised to find our bedroom and bathroom floor very wet. We had left the windows open because, after all, this is the dry season. Our bedroom is on the southwest side of the house so it gets very little direct sunlight and leaving the windows open usually allows a breeze through that cools the upstairs in the afternoon.

The power was out; no surprise there, it’s been very off and on in the past few weeks. Then Leonel came to the front door with the news that the switch on a utility pole on camp was tripped. Well, that had the potential to be good news because if the power was out only on camp, at least we had some control over when it would come back on. But it was also bad news because I would have to hire an electrician to set it up again, and camp doesn’t have a dime to spare these days. I tried to call the local electrician that camp uses in these sorts of situations, but I couldn’t get through. Then Polo called.

A branch had fallen on some power lines on camp and a utility pole was down. High power lines were lying on the ground (this is why the switch tripped). I was trying not to groan out loud when he continued by saying that the branch had also hit some sewage pipes where they cross a ravine and had broken them. I jumped in the car and drove over to check it out. The utility pole had snapped clean off about 1 ½ feet off the ground – there would be no salvaging it. I glanced over at pipes and saw that they come from “Bella Vista” where there are mainly cabins that are not in use right now.

I spent the next half hour trying to call any number of people that would be able to help in one way or another and was not able to reach anyone. I left voice messages and sent text messages and felt so helpless having not talked with anyone. There are no hardware stores open in Pinalejo or Quimistan on Sunday afternoon.

Honestly I don’t remember which one of the staff asked me first, but three out of our four staff said “So, there won’t be a meeting tonight, right?” (We meet every Sunday night for a Bible Study) Each time I said “Yes, we’re going to meet”. I realized that I had to walk away from these problems and focus on the meeting. But instead of finishing my preparations for the meeting, I had to deal with a generator that wouldn’t start. Polo and his nephew, Maynor had brought it over to our house so that everyone could put perishable food in our refrigerator and we were going to run the generator off and on to keep the food from spoiling. They were struggling with it, and so I joined in. Polo got it to start, we plugged in the fridge and satellite dish. Cindy got an email off with a message to our prayer list. Then the generator sputtered out. We fought with it some more, and finally decided to jump it. I brought the car over, we hooked everything up, and… nothing. To make a long story short, the three of us made our arms sore for the next I don’t know how long before Polo got it going again. This time it kept going for just over an hour, and sputtered out as I was on my way to shut it off for the meeting.

I could write pages on that meeting, but this is getting long as it is! It was wonderful in so many ways. I gathered every candle that I could find and we lit them all and our oil lamp and had a great meeting!

After the meeting Cindy and I learned that the broken pipes were not both sewage. One of them is a water main on camp, and the men had shut off the water. Cindy gathered every bucket, tub and basin we have and slowly filled each one with the trickle of water that was draining out of the faucet in the kitchen sink. Then it was time to go to bed. I still had not heard anything from anyone in response to my messages.

That was Sunday. As I write this I am sitting at the front gate waiting for a delivery of supplies to fix the water and sewage pipes. We are going to move the water line about 20 feet away from the sewage and have it cross the ravine under a bridge so that it is better protected. I tried again to call an electrical engineer from Pier, and this time I was able to reach him. He is sending someone out today to repair the damage – free!

Honestly, I’m surprised that I didn’t struggle with discouragement yesterday. As Polo and I stood there looking helplessly at the mess around us, we talked about how this 10 minute mini-storm caused so much damage, and we have just come out of rainy season with many storms far more impressive than the one that had just passed. I made some comment about how God has protected us from so much, and most times we don’t even realize it.

Many people are in dark circumstances right now. My one day of distress pales in comparison to what many are facing day after day, month after month. But there is hope for anyone who will put their hope in God. He is good. He is all-powerful. He is unchanging. His price is steep – He wants everything that you have, all that you are. But I tell you what, it’s a good bargain. He already gave everything, his very life, knowing that our all is not nearly enough to span the expanse that separates sinful man from a Holy God. And then comes the best part – He rose from the dead! The Bible is full of good news… the resurrection is best news of all! If your life feels dead right now, drag the limp thing to God and trade all you have for all He is. It’s a good trade.

We can’t quite say that the Semana Santa campout came off without a hitch, but it was a great retreat! The theme this year was “Learning to Hear the Voice of God”. The pastors from our church in San Pedro Sula prepared group sessions, small group discussions, and other activities. The youth participated with the adults and had their own small group sessions, and the children had a parallel program going on across camp under tarps. Wes’s main role was to keep everything running smoothly in support of the programs – drinking water, water in the bathrooms and kitchen, electricity, ladders, extension cords, etc. where and when they were needed. My main role was as a teacher in the children’s ministry. I had a group of about 12 12-year olds. We studied the life of Daniel. He listened to God and obeyed Him. It may not have been easy for Daniel to follow God’s Law, but he chose to do it anyway, and KINGS were changed because of it!

People began to arrive on Tuesday to set up camp. By Wednesday morning there were around 500 people here. Wednesday evening brought over 1,000 more and by the end we numbered around 2,000. Over 300 participated in the children’s ministry. Upon arrival, everyone was told to set their watches back an hour to “Hora Manantial” – camp time. This allowed those traveling to town to travel at a better hour. It helped us to take better advantage of daylight, also, since it’s light here at 5 am and people staying in tents would be waking up anyway!

On Thursday night, the power went out during the worship time before preaching. We just continued to sing with only a drum as accompaniment. It was beautiful! People used flashlights as strobe lights so we weren’t in complete darkness. When the power stayed out for a while, we raised our voices in prayer and worship. You should have heard the shouts when the power came back! Maybe you did!

Friday night’s meeting began with a presentation from the kids of what we had learned and was followed by an amazing time of worship and celebration, and the preaching began. The children, as usual, were across camp under a tarp with power through extension cords. The service was being filmed to be broadcast on the church’s TV channel. And the power went out. It was a bit different when we weren’t already singing! With over 1,000 people in the tabernacle, a huge pavilion, no one could hear the pastor’s voice. Slowly worship came from the front to the back, and we joined in. After 15 minutes or so the power came back. The cheer from the children’s tent was enthusiastic, but while the cheer was still in the air, the power blinked out again for the next 22 hours! This left Wes and the sound team scrambling!

We heard cars starting up all over, and people pulled them near the tabernacle to shed a little light on things. Since our gasoline generator is a Loud motor, it doesn’t work to connect the microphone system. They used the pastor’s car battery to power the monitor that is usually used by the worship team with the microphone plugged in. The sound wasn’t as clear, but it worked! Cars were immediately sent over to the children’s ministry to give them enough light to finish their program (which depended on a laptop and projector for a lot of the group sessions!). They finished a bit early with the kids, and we transported them to where their parents were sitting in the tabernacle family by family. It was QUITE a process, but all children were eventually united with their families!

In the meantime, Wes was connecting a generator to the freezers and refrigerators in the kitchen. This wasn’t a simple affair, since they had to rewire the whole box to hook it up and then stand by to keep filling the tank as the gas ran out. By morning they were trying to siphon gas out of cars to keep it running, but apparently there’s an anti-siphoning device in tanks these days. By about 1 am Wes was back home and READY for bed!

Saturday morning included a time of prayer for people who needed special prayer or wanted to make a commitment to follow God’s leading with their whole heart. Wes and I were invited to minister to people. It is SO nice to feel like we CAN do that in our second language! I remember days of FEARING that someone would ask me to pray for them or share deeply from their heart and I wouldn’t understand a word! You know how hard it is to understand a crying person sometimes? Put that in a second language, and it’s a bit scary! But God has always been faithful. I didn’t need to be afraid. This year was different, though. We were anxious to be able to serve in that way. We had hearts full of love AND minds full of words to say!

We were all exhausted when the majority of people left between 2 and 3 on Saturday. They go back to the city to prepare for the Easter Sunrise Service. We enjoyed the retreat. We had visited with friends we don’t see very often, participated in worship and ministry, and worked hard on top of that! It was truly a great experience!

Thanks for praying for us!

It’s harder than I thought it would be to keep up with this blogging thing! I have SO much I’d like to share, but I feel like I have to do it in the right order! And then I don’t want to put too much up at one time because then no one will have time to read it, so I try to put just a little. Then I forget that I didn’t put EVERYTHING up… So this might be long, and you can just read a bit and get on again later to read the rest!

Earlier this month we had a small team come to camp from NY. Each person is connected to Houghton College in some way, which is Jen Hess’s college. That’s how they connected with MdV. We are SO thankful for these guys! They were amazingly flexible! The main ministry they came to do actually got cancelled before they even came, but they’d already bought their tickets, so they came anyway. We’re so glad!

We worked in the rain; we worked in the cold – which to them didn’t feel so cold, since they were coming from a NY winter! Their expertise is along the lines of wilderness camping, so they were used to any kind of hardship we could provide them with! We had several power-outages, lots of unseasonable rain, and many other setbacks. But with their good attitudes and persistence, it was nothing. In the evenings, we ate dinner with the camp staff and their families and had times of worship and sharing testimonies. We also had several coffee hours just sitting on our back porch during hard rain, celebrating birthdays, etc. We had the pleasure of celebrating birthdays with 2 group members!

Actually, that’s a fun story! When we found out we’d be celebrating 2 birthdays, Wes went to town to see if he could find a cake. It was the day OF one of the b-days. He asked at all the places we sometimes find cakes and finally found ONE that was available but not ready yet, so they told him to come back at 4. He snuck away around 4:30, got the cake and we were able to have a nice little surprise party! It was lots of fun.

For the second birthday, we thought we’d make a cake, since it was so hard to find one already made. Jen found a cake mix, but didn’t get any icing. Wes went back to town to look for icing – ALL over town! There was none to be had! They looked the next day, and there was still none available. So we decided to make it. We didn’t have any powdered sugar and all the good recipes called for powdered sugar. NO PROBLEM! We learned how to make it in language school! You just put granulated sugar in the blender and pulverize it! But the power was out. (reminds me of Thanksgiving ) When the power came back, the blender overheated. We ended up making the sugar about half a cup at a time, and it came out nicely… or so we thought. When I tasted the icing, it was all grainy! It seemed so smooth at first, but it was NOT! I put it in the fridge, hoping that would help somehow. Nope. It got worse. So we tried the opposite. I cooked it. That helped some, and the flavor was really good, so we decided not to worry about the texture. One of the group members came to help put the party together. We were just putting water on to boil for hot tea when the WHOLE group came to the door! They wanted to have tea, since it was so rainy! They were an hour early!! We scrambled to ice the cake with hot icing, boiled water for tea, and had everything together in as much time as it took to boil the water. We enjoyed a second little birthday party with cake, tea, and the water from a few coconuts to top it off!

Between birthday parties, we had the privilege of helping with a camp for kids in the Compassion International program in Chamelecon, on the outskirts of San Pedro Sula. Several of the kids in the program weren’t able to leave home because gangs prevented it. We learned even more about flexibility during those days! We had asked how we could support their program and were given a time to share a few testimonies and a time to play games with the kids. The games were planned; we were just to play with the campers. Well, just before the kids arrived (1 ½ hours late) we were asked to do a welcome activity with them, so we put together a song and a welcome speech. When we got to the group games time, we saw that the boys were all to play soccer (which a few didn’t want to do) and the girls were to hang around with a ball watching or playing. We’d prepared a few game ideas just in case, so several team members took groups of girls with a few boys to different parts of the field to play. I had an injured foot, so I sat on the ground and immediately had about 5 kids piled on top of me! Literally. The kids were FULL of questions about us and the group. We had a good time playing and sharing.

At testimony time, one person shared how her response to God brought her whole family out of alcoholism and into GOD’S family. It was a message of hope to kids in a gang-filled neighborhood. I really believe God brought her here to share that with them! Another group member shared how we choose to follow God – basing his testimony on the colors of bracelets we had to share with them. Each child received a bracelet and instructions on how to use it to share the Good News of Jesus with their family.

We also attended their worship times and Bible teachings. That was a cultural experience for many, since it was a very charismatic group. The kids were FULL of emotion as they worshipped God. It reminded me of the story of Mary wiping Jesus’ feet with her tears and anointing them with perfume. She had much to thank God for. These kids live a life we can hardly understand! They rely on the Lord to protect them daily in a way few of us comprehend. It was neat to see them pouring out their hearts to God in worship, even when it was uncomfortable for some team members.

Overall, we had a wonderful experience with this team, who hopes to make this an annual trip. We enjoyed working, worshipping, and ministering together – and playing too!

Here is a link to some pictures:)

At 8:00 I decided the day was sunny enough to dry a load of wash. Meanwhile Wes was trying to call the dentist to see when we might be able to get 5 people in for our “annual” cleaning, which we’ve been due for for about a year. The local dentist was recommended to us as excellent and trained in the US. Wes came running into the house calling for us to get our shoes on. The dentist was ready to see us right away! A pro of a Honduran morning.  The dentist in Pinalejo was able to squeeze in 5 cleanings that morning!!

It is our desire to pay into the local economy whenever possible, and teeth-cleaning seemed like a safe way to do it. Yeah. That was BEFORE the dentist pulled out his drill to clean our teeth. No, I’m not kidding. A CON of this Honduran morning: we weren’t sure if that was a drill he was using, though it sounded and smelled and FELT like he was using a drill. And then what do you say? And HOW, when your mouth is full of … whatever it’s full of when you are at the dentist?

Well, apparently Wes had his suspicions when he was in, but I figured he was joking or wrong. The kids had all gone after Wes and before me. I had watched the dentist doing Abigail’s cleaning, and he didn’t use a drill. But then it was MY turn. As I sat there with my mouth wide open and some cotton in it, he began to spray something in my mouth – nothing unusual. A little water, right? YIKES!! Is it purified? I can’t see where his tube connects, but it sure SEEMS like it comes right from the wall. He wouldn’t treat his patients with impure water, would he? But wait! The flavor – it had flavor – was sour! It was more like vinegar than water. We have friends who have better water than we do in Pinalejo and they use vinegar to wash their vegetables. So … am I rinsing with vinegar? And out comes another tool. No sharp metal pick. He had just told me that I had a spot on one tooth that needs special care to not turn into a cavity. He got out this thick paper that looked like super-fine sandpaper and gently shoved it between my two front teeth. He sawed back and forth several times and came to the conclusion that I don’t have a cavity. Now saliva spits out when I talk fast!He also used some light that seemed high tech to say that there was not a cavity. He sure SEEMS to know what he’s doing. And then it comes. He pulls out the drill. But it can’t be a drill because he’s going over all my teeth with it! But it sounds like a drill. It feels like a drill. It SMELLS like a drill!! It was a very prayerful experience! And now we are praying that the Lord will restore what the drill has eaten!!! When we got home, I saw that my back molar is a different shape than it used to be! There was nothing wrong with that tooth before, but now it has a little cave in it. And it’s no longer smooth.

As we were leaving, the kids across the street were getting out of school – at 10:30 am! The parents were told they’d be out at noon, so no one was there to pick up the two kids that live on camp. We offered them a ride, but there was no cell signal on camp to let the parents know that we had them. Suddenly one of the kids realized she was supposed to wait with her cousin, so we went back to the school. The little girl was waiting alone, so we called her mom, who left work immediately to pick her up. She had been told school would end at 11:30. So we were off – again! We stopped to get propane, but there was none to be had. Just as we were leaving town, we got a call from one of the staff that they needed flour and Coke. So we went up and down the street trying to find the store where they have credit. We found it, sent their daughter in for the food, and went on our way.

Well, I typed all that as I sat waiting to hear the orthodontist’s opinion on the fate of our teeth!! He didn’t notice anything wrong with the kids’ teeth, though a cavity that the dentist said needed to be filled he says can probably be treated with fluoride treatments and brushing. It’s more like a pre-cavity. And he looked at my teeth. He can see where the enamel was … shall we say buffed? Sanded down? But he doesn’t think there is real damage. With fluoride treatments, I should be okay. OH! And the drill-like thing was NOT a drill … we don’t think. It only smelled like a drill because there was so little liquid running through it. And we’re pretty sure that liquid was mostly vinegar. That’s better than water here!! I just hope it wasn’t watered down! So we were advised not to return to that dentist, which was a conclusion we’d already come to. He’s probably well-educated and able, but doesn’t seem to have all the tools needed to care for teeth. We’ll stick to buying dry goods, fruits and veggies in town and see to our medical and dental needs in the city!!

Right around New Year’s, my family (Cindy’s) decided to have a surprise party for my dad’s 70th birthday. They invited me.  In a whirlwind of events, I was able to arrive in PA right around midnight on January 9, sleep a bit and get to his party on the 10th. When Dad and Marlene arrived at my brother Doug’s house, they put a box over me, and I got to wait there till the box was opened. Thankfully, I was the first present unwrapped, and, needless to say, it was quite a surprise!! Like a good grandpa, Dad immediately looked around the room to see if there were Williamson grandchildren to be found. This year I went alone, but in as little as another year we hope to be taking a trip all together.

Meanwhile, Wes was holding down the fort at home. Other than one frustrating day of running around, he was on vacation from camp duties and was able to focus on school. Together they got through four days of school while I was out gallivanting! Not bad!!