Good old fashioned revival meeting!

Some things no one mentioned in the blog before because they happened on the last night and final morning before we left San Jose. After that we had no access to the internet as the hotel in Tela as we had expected (it was out of order). On Thursday night all four church's congregations gathered at Gladis' church for a guest speaker from the Dominican Republic. He and his entourage took "the stage" (actually the back yard of the people who live next to the church). It was incredible how they transformed the front area of the church into an outdoor ampitheater atmosphere, they brought giant speakers from somewhere and strung a couple of lightbulbs across the yard. They had a microphone and keyboard hooked up to an amplifier (all run off car batteries) and the place was packed! With about 15 rows of benches and plastic chairs - obviously borrowed and brought over from all the churches - there was standing room only. Had to be at least 500 people there. We sang, we prayed, we heard testimony, hands were waving, people of all ages - it was awe-inspiring. I especially enjoyed seeing some of the bibles we donated being waved in the air and WWJD bracelets on the teens in the crowd. It was supposed to start at 7, but actually didn't start until 8 and by 9 we were exhausted and ready for bed. People could still hear the rejoicing through their ear plugs (too keep snoring and rooster noise out) at 10 p.m. It was neat. Friday morning before we left, the youth bible study class from the Catholic church came to meet with us and discuss questions they had. We both sangs some songs for each other and then said our goodbyes to the health committee and other kids that were hanging around to see us off. It was a great way to end our time in San Jose.

Mike returns to his flood damage and is thankful.

Yes we're all home. Back to our familes and the lives that we left before San Jose. I've been home by myself all day, doing laundry and cleaning up after my flood. There are still many boxes of things that are wet and I'm trying to decide what to save and what to pitch. But the experience of San Jose is still very much in my mind. I keep wondering how far along they are on the toilets and sink in the kindergarten, whether the children are washing their hands like we taught them and whether the people we gave bibles to are using them. I think about the children, wondering what Eddie, Stephanie and Belke are doing. I think it will be awhile before the time we spent there fades from my constant memory. I hope it stays for awhile. Thank you all for a wonderful and rewarding week. We did a lot and I can only wish that it will make a difference. We go down their to give our time and our talents and hundreds of pounds of needed materials, but it seems as if we leave with much more than we took. Hope to see you all at the get together. Mike

Please pray for the Honduran Government

Hopefully you have all heard the news by now that the Honduran Government is experiencing a coup. It began on the morning we left. We were aware of the unrest most of the week thanks to to our Shoulder to Shoulder coordinator having a cell phone and getting reception up on the mountain. Praise God we did not run into any delays due to rioting. The people there are very concerned over this and ask that we pray for their leaders to uphold their constitution which the president was trying illegally to change. It is a very scary situation, their future is at a terrible risk. I am praying for the democratic process to work as it should and for peace among the people. Their country seems divided between the "rich" and the poor. Unfortunately, the president spent much of their money that was to be used for desperately needed infrastructure on campaigning for his cause. Extremely sad, they have so many needs. Especially in light of the recent 7.1 earthquake that happened last month. Recovery is extremely slow.

Eye surgery news...

I wanted to let everyone know, that we have been praying about helping a little girl we met last time (in 2007) with crossed-eyes. And our prayers were answered on the last day in San Jose. We found her mother and got permission to pay for the surgery. It will happen on August 4th when a Opthamologist Pediatric Specialist will be visiting the city at the base of the mountain (El Progresso). Unbelievable, the surgery cost is $250.00 Praise God. Special thanks to Dr. Bower for his referral and for all the surgeries he performed in El Progresso last week while we were at work in San Jose.

Home again

Hola Amigos! Well, I remembered a little spanish and learned a few more words too. It's good to be home. First stop, the ice cream shop. There was a great surprise warm reception at the airport by our pastor and a family members with signs and flowers - really nice. And Sandra Lane was late and missed us at the airport - so met me at the ice cream shop with her sign and pom poms - simple adorable as usual. My favorite part was that in her excitement, my scrabble queen friend spelled mission wrong - misson on the sign. And she is NEVER late - so it was perfect as everything in Honduras is late - we call it Honduran time. It's hard to adjust to, but after a week, you get used to it. So it was no problemo for me. I just logged on to read the blog and the comments from friends. They are great. I'm so proud of the team and all the hard work that was done. It was worth every bead of sweat. I'm relieved we all made it home safe and am looking forward to next time. Now, it's picture sorting time and presentation preparation getting into action. The pastor mentioned we are already scheduled for July 19th - GREAT! Time for bed, I'm exhausted.

I just heard from Susie. They are in Houston, ready to board the flight to Pittsburgh, which is on schedule. They should be arriving about 8:45. In case any of you have heard about the coup in Honduras this morning, there is no need to worry. There were members of the Honduran military at the airport to ensure it stayed open, but they saw no other signs and had no difficulty.

Jack

Susie asked me to let everyone know that they are in Tela. They don't have Internet access at the hotel, so they haven't been able to post or send email. Susie found a wifi network with her iPhone while they were having lunch and was able to get a short message out to me. We won't likely hear anything else until they reach Huston tomorrow.

Jack