These children waving Honduras flags welcomed our evangelistic team to the small town of La Antigua. This is the site of a new congregation.

Mark works with some young men for a photo shoot. They all seem to be enjoying it.

This young man seems somewhat apprehensive about having his photo made.

This well dressed young lady sits in front of her home. The people in La Palma have 'open homes' in contrast to our closed homes. Until they go to bed and lock the doors, the windows and doors are open. Usually there is no front yard - the houses are built right at street-side. People walking by are greeted from inside and welcomed in. As you walk down the street you are often a few feet from the family inside.

I continue to be impressed by the willingness of these youngsters to get down and color on the floor. They are not bothered by a lack of tables or chairs.

Dea admires some very beautiful flowers overhead along main street in La Palma.

When we first started going to La Palma, trash was a serious problem. The people just threw trash on the ground as they went down the streets. There was no trash pickup service, and it was either burned or dumped wherever it was convenient.

The mayor and local government now operate a trash pickup service. It is crude, and the man in the back of the truck is the compactor. It goes to a regulated landfill.

The mayor also installed trash receptacles along the streets, and that has helped the situation. He has hired a street sweeper to clean the streets on a routine basis.

All of these efforts have helped to make La Palma a more attractive place to visit and to be.

Continue to pray for Little Andrea, who has uncorrectable heart problems. She just had her 5th birthday and is unlikely to live for another year. She likes Winnie the Pooh and the Little Mermaid, so we will take her some toys along that line.

Those of you who have been to La Palma will recognize Claudina, the manager of the Montana hotel where we stay. She is shown here with son Justin and a new daughter born while we were there in June.

Ecclesiasastes 3: 11 says,
11He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Beauty close up and distant as well is displayed in this photo. There are some very pretty flowers and flowering trees in La Palma.

This photo reminded me of Psalm 121:1 which says, "
1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth."

Another group of award recipients at the intramural event.

On June 20, after the students from the La Palma Christian School paraded through the city of La Palma to the soccer field, they participated in some intramural games of soccer, basketball, racing, tuf-of-war, etc. Here is one of the award ceremonies held after the games.

A pretty little girl poses for a photo in Ocotepeque. Children want to be loved and accepted no matter where they live.

This crowd gathered in the community center to hear Tony Dishman preach during our June trip to La Palma. People there have fewer distractions than we have and will come to events like this in greater numbers than here. Although the building is not fancy, it is comfortable and convenient.

This is Gloria Rodriguez in Ocotepeque Honduras. She works tirelessly to make sure that each of the 50 children in the sponsor program there get what they need. The supported children get food, clothing, medical care, and school supplies. It is a huge job and she does it with all of her heart. As an accountant, she records each expenditure and exercises good stewardship.

These young men proudly display their craft projects at VBS while others are still working on theirs in the background.

Pat is calming the children as Jesus calmed the sea. Some nights the children were 'wired' and had to be reminded to be quiet.

The Christian Chronicle is having a contest to see the most unique places where people read the Chronicle. We posed for a photo at the border between El Salvador and Honduras. Front row - Ralph and Cara; back row - Dea and Kelly.

We have a group of 16 going to La Palma on September 6. Be praying for the safety and success of our team.

To work with the children during VBS requires getting down on the floor with them. Our ladies did just that, and were successful in teaching the children.

Becky assists some children with their craft projects during one of the VBS sessions in June.

Connie makes a point as she teaches the kindergarten and first grade classes at La Palma Christian School.

This great group of ladies worked with the La Palma Christian School during our first week in June. They are from Aurora, Houston, Indiana, and Memphis. The children learned new English words, phrases, and songs and got health checkups that week.

The following week a group continued the English lessons.

We have a group of 16 going to La Palma on September 6 for more preaching and teaching and other work to boost the churches in the region.

God bless you, Ralph

Carolina teaches dental hygiene to the children at La Palma Christian School. Each child received a toothbrush and toothpaste and instructions (with supervised practice) on how to properly brush.

The blog yesterday and today contain movies of the school children in their intramural game competition in June. Today shows a jump rope race across the field.

I hope everyone is able to view the movies. Please let me know if you cannot.

After the school children paraded through La Palma, while we were there in June, they went to the soccer field and had games and contests. Here is one of the games of tug-of-war.

Two boys, probably brothers, pose for a photo. You can see lots of energy in them, as well as some curiosity--perhaps even some mischief.

I always wonder what the future holds for them, and only God can answer that.

Leigh and the 1st graders pose for a photo after a class craft project.

Teacher find some special challenges when they have to cross the language barrier, but everyone enjoys it.

When we have something difficult to do, we get Morris Ellis to do it. He is the guy in the white shirt and bush hat. He designed, supervised, and helped with the forming, mixing, and pouring of the steps up the hill in the left background.

When the electrically operated bed arrived for Claudia, we had Morris take it up the hill to her. Here, he and Tony Dishman are unstrapping it from the dolly and preparing to carry it the final distance to her house. The bed helps Claudia get up and down easier.

Stephen took this photo of a saddle mounted on a horse. It obviously is not pretty, and it probably is not comfortable. It is functional, and that is enough.

Though horses and mules are not as common as they were in the past, there are still lots of them being used for transportation and transporting. They haul people, grain, feed, firewood, milk, and whatever is needed. They can get through the traffic sometimes much easier than vehicles can.