Back in the Saddle Again

I'm baaack! It's been too long since I've visited this blog. At last night's team meeting I shared a theological statement from my UMVIM (United Methodist Volunteers in Missions) training manual that helped me refocus on the upcoming mission. Our team is shaping up and our fundraising plans are underway. We have a great mix of new people and returning San Jose Alumni for our next adventure to the rain forest in June 2011. I feel so blessed to have such a talented group willing to give of their time and energy for such a great cause. It's great to start forming our plans for ministry in the village. Among other details, we were trying to describe the experience of taking an ice cold shower to one our new team members. Hard to imagine temperatures so hot that a cold shower is actually a relief. I can't wait to go back. What does the Lord have in store for us this time? Bringing a science fair and music ministry to the people is thrilling. Praise God for His word that can bring hope and inspiration to so many. It's my honor to fulfill this calling and I pray for the Lord's guidance and strength to get through these next 8 busy months. It's exhausting, but so worth it in the end. God's gifts, priceless.

Wow, what a rush!

Hola! Amigos y amigas. We were ahead of the soldiers through the airport as they were deployed to protect their borders but enough of our "escape" on the wings of the Lord! The mission was an unqualified success. SOME of the highlights: We gave out 250 Bibles, and the crowds of kids and families were still in line for more. It broke our hearts to turn them away, but the demand exceeded our supply. We began building flush toilets and a side bathroom off the kindergarten to replace the pit toilets in the back of the schoolyard. We had the new paint delivered to the clinic so that the kids could paint. It looks great! We taught several hundred 1st through 7th grade students about hand washing, germs and how to avoid spreading colds, swine flu, etc. We brought microscopes to the 7-9th graders and showed them how to use them, and left all the supplies, laminated posters and equipment for the teachers, and much more. They were thrilled! The village spokesmen surrounded us before we left to tearfully thank us for "springboarding" their health educational program years into the future from what they could have done alone.

For me, it's all about the kids. They are the future of the country, even the world, and they have so little opportunity to get an education and be contributing members of society, not helping in some way is to me just unthinkable. I still have tears in my eyes when I remember their hopeful faces, the sweet eyes. They followed us like puppies and appeared like magic every time we came out of a building. We taught them to play Uno and soccer, and hugged them. The mothers and fathers were every bit as thankful and affectonate. The "Village Health Committee" came to wish us goodbye and thank us, and we all were overwhelmed by love and gratitude. Even the "macho" men of the village hugged me back. I daresay we took back full hearts to take the place of the hundreds of pounds of supplies and Bibles we brought. It was our gain. Again, my thanks to you all who prayed for our safety and supported us. They told me it would be a life-changing experience. I was skeptical, but they were right. Seeing God's plan in action, and experiencing true worship with folks who had church or prayer meetings EVERY evening, was an extraordinarily humbling experience. They said they were privileged to worship. My heart is full.....Vayo con dios! Br. Sam.

Hard to Leave, Good to be Home

On our last morning in San Jose, I was feeling so excited to get home to see my family. I missed them terribly and thought I was ready to go home, but as we took off driving down the mountain in the back of the pickup, a great sadness overcame me. I thought of all the people I was leaving who I wouldn't see for at least 2 years. I thought of all the projects we had started - the bathroom, the painting, the bible studies - and wondered how they would turn out. I expect that we will get to see pictures from other people, who knows how long that will take. And hardest of all, I didn't get to say goodbye to my little friend Lilian. Lilian was a 10 year old little girl who seemed to especially like me for some reason. She came to the clinic almost every day and we colored together, played clapping games and even sang songs together. I became very attached to her as well and was expecting to see her on Thursday night or maybe even Friday morning to say goodbye, but she never came. I will miss her most of all - my little shadow. I'm getting teary-eyed now just thinking about it.

So here's my goodbye to Lilian, even though I know she won't see it. "Adios Lilian, mi amiga. I will think of you often when I am back at my home in America. I can't wait to hear your giggles again when I come back to San Jose someday. I will be praying for you and your family and I hope you will pray for me too. Via con Dios! Love, Susana."

Thanks to all the other team members and our translators who made this such a wonderful experience. I'm so thankful to be home, but I miss everyone already! I can't wait to see all the other pictures and re-live our week at the reunion.

God Bless,
Susie :^)

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.