Just one week from today there will be 21 of us from the US worshipping with the church in La Palma! We hope it is in the new building.

We travel Saturday the 6th with folks coming from Memphis, Little Rock, Charlotte, West Palm Beach, Houston, and several from southwest MO. The following week many will go home and new folks will come from Kansas City, northwest Arkansas, and more from southwest MO.

Please pray for our safety, health, and success. God bless you, Ralph

La Palma has a brand new tourism center and an Emergency Operations Center--side by side. The tourism center is quite modern and beautiful. The EOC is likewise very nice. Unfortuneately, the EOC door for an ambulance and fire truck was not high enough for the ambulance we donated to them. They had to break out a brand new floor and lower it 12 inches to accomodate the ambulance. The EOC houses the fire department, ambulance crew, and the chiefs of police, both federal and municipal.

The general rule for helping churches in Central America is: "anything more than adequate is a negative". We are spoiling the church in La Palma just a little bit. They are getting a new building, several new chairs, and 13 pews with cushions for the seats! They are getting a kitchen and space for fellowship. They are getting a computer, projector, and screen plus a modern PA system. The expectation is that the church will appreciate these conveniences and grow in number and in spiritual maturity. This may be the last of the large shipments to La Palma as the containers were quite expensive to ship.

No wasted space! The containers are rented by the trip, and we try to completely fill them. Every open space and every crack gets filled with something. That is good stewardship.

A view of the storage room that items were kept in before the loading of the containers. As you can see, it included a wide variety of items for the people of La Palma.

Melva presents Geraldo a soccer ball and a Chief's shirt and hat from his sponsor. Geraldo lives with his grandmother and they only recently got electricity in the house. He is a great student and a neat guy to visit with. He plays the snare drums in the Christian School band.

It is Memorial Day in our country. A day to remember our veterans and those who are now protecting us with their own lives at stake. It is also a day to remember our loved ones who have 'gone on before us'.
In La Palma, a funeral looks like this. The casket is hauled on a pickup, and the family and friends walk in front, beside, and behind it. The cemetery is a long distance, but they take their time. Traffic may back up for a mile or more. Funerals usually are scheduled only a day or two after death because embalming is not affordable.

God bless you,
Ralph

Closing the door on the first load! It was full, as you can see. Chad got out before the door was shut, even though we were tempted to send him. This was an more than an hour early by the schedule. Watch out when we open the door in La Palma!

Loading activity! Some pews await loading on the 2nd truck. Ladies from Mt Hope are packing computers to ship. The kitchen sink is ready to load -yes, we sent everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink! Mary sits at her 'clipboard' documenting each item on the load. What a day! Thanks for all the great help. God bless you, Ralph

This photo was taken at worship Sunday morning May 9 in the present church building in La Palma. Note the letters MBH on the back of the folding chair. That is one of several chairs that went down last year on a very full container. When the McCune Brooks Hospital in Carthage moved to a new facility last year, they donated a lot of medical equipment and furniture to our mission work. The donation included the chair above plus several uninteruptible power supplies for computers (those were stolen in the last breakin).

In the containers that shipped out yesterday there are many more items from MBH, including 35 upholstered chairs from the waiting room, 12 stacking chairs from exam rooms, 5 PADDED folding chairs, 6 office tables, a conference table, 7 office chairs, 3 office desks, some book shelves, some file cabinets, 4 refrigerators, some cabinets, 2 gurneys, 2 coffee pots, and a lot more. It takes a lot of work to gather up equipment like that, store it, and ship it, but the end result is a better place to worship and conduct school. There were also 13 oak pews (with paddding) that were donated by a church in Rogers, AR.

This young man was riding his bicycle along the road carrying a large Iguana by the tail. He gladly stopped for a photo and said he was going to sell it for $6. Lunch? Yes, for someone.

We loaded out the 2 large containers today with almost no problem. Everything we had in storage is now headed for La Palma. We had a lot of very good help and the loading went rapidly. Both loads were complete and sealed by 1 pm-- 2 hours early. Thanks to everyone who helped. Will have photos of the loading process in a day or two. God bless you, Ralph

A little boy and girl play in the front door to their home. They are curious about the white lady with the camera.

Today is loading day. We will be loading 2- 40 x 8 x 8 foot containers to ship to La Palma. They will contain medical equipment and supplies, school supplies, clothing, church furniture, and much more.

God bless you,
Ralph

An umbrella may eliminate the direct hits of the rain drops, but you will still get wet in a rain like this! They usually don't last very long before the sun comes out and the humidity goes up!

There are occasional hard rains in El Salvador during the rainy season--from May thru October. Most showers don't last very long. This guy trying to stay dry reminded me of the night that Stephen, Ron, Doug, and I rode to Ocotepeque in the back of Jorge's pickup. It rained hard for part of the trip. We had on rain coats, but they only keep part of you dry. We did get somewhat wet but had fun.

We will be loading 2 40 foot trailers of supplies and equipment for El Salvador this Wednesday! We need all of the help we can possibly get to do the loading. One loads at 10 am and the other at 1 pm--we hope for a pizza break in between. The loading site is on east business 60, Monett, between Caseys and NAPA, south side of the highway between two rows of storage buildings.
Please come if you can help! Bring strong boys to help!

Health officials were at the San Salvador airport as we arrived, using a thermal imaging machine which supposedly would tell them if arriving passengers had a fever (swine flu). Here they are watching us after we had passed through the screening. I don't know if the guy not wearing a mask is just not concerned about catching the flu or if he realized that the ONE mask they are issued each day becomes contaminated after about an hour. All other officials were wearing masks--security guards, immigration officers, and customs officials--even luggage cart attendants.

As a boy, Jaime helped his father build ox carts like this. He remembers the details of building the wheel parts by hand, and cutting the lumber from trees by hand.
He also remembers his father driving loaded carts, pulled by oxen, from San Salvador to San Ignacio, north of La Palma. That would be about 60 miles. He would haul sugar cane up there and bring back barbed wire and other items. The trip would take 2 weeks, and he would sleep along the road.
And we think the bus ride up the hill takes a long time?

This is one of the greatest photos of our trip. The lady was very friendly, inviting us into her house for a visit.

This group of children gathered on the curb on a side street in San Ignacio about 8 pm for a photo. The roam the streets freely and go where there is any activity.

Rested! It was good to sleep in my own bed again--and a few hours late. Jose kept me up talking till after 2 am Monday night. I was tired and the trip home was tiring and we lost an hour.

In an earlier blog I mentioned getting back to 'real food'. That was a mistake on my part. I should have said something like food that we are accustomed to. We actually ate better on this trip than any before. Pollo Campero has a permanent location in La Palma and we ate there once. I love the baleadas and pupusas. We had FRESH eggs every morning--probably laid only the day before. On the way to the airport we ate in San Salvador at Miguel Arguerra's restaurant. It was terrific! We had pizza and a wide variety of foods. I guess I just wanted a juicy Wendy's hamburger and mis-spoke about real food.

It will take a while to update you on the events. I took lots of notes and Lori took a couple thousand photos, so there is material to show and write about.

The trip was to gather information, plan for June, and follow up with some new Christians with encouragaement. We completed it.

God bless you, and may God richly bless the people of La Palma and Ocotepeque.
Ralph

We are all home! Now we need to analyze how we could have done more and better, but we were blessed to be able to influence some lives and hearts.

God bless you,
Ralph

We are on the way home after a great trip. We met Gladys' mother at the airport and had our photo taken with her. Now getting ready to board for the flight to Houston where we will enjoy real food! The next posting will probably be about 11:00 pm when we arrive home. God bless you, Ralph

Ralph called this afternoon and said they may not have a chance to blog today and asked me to update here. They are all "happy and healthy." They have been very busy since returning from Ocoptepeque. Jaime and Raphael are driving the ambulance from San Salvador to LaPalma and then they have planned an evening of pupusas at Reina's. Tomorrow morning they leave out early for the trip home. Please pray for a safe trip home.

Lana

We are at Ocoptepeque Honduras tonight for worship. This morning I preached at El Tule where they had a large gathering of area congregations. They asked me to be strong in the invitation, and I was. Two men came asking to be baptized.

We had lunch with Flor, a lady who helped with the medical campaign in February. She asked us to bring her a stethoscope and BP cuff in June. She is a Nurse Practitioner but is having trouble finding a job. She fried some great chicken! She would be a great mate for Jose but thinks she is too young for him at 26.

Last night we relaxed a little bit at bedtime. I went to sleep while the others had a long laugh session.

Lori and Melva have had some great Bible studies.

We are all well and healthy. There is a lot to do tomorrow before we go home.

It was interesting at the border last night as we crossed to Honduras. There were three medical personnel masked at a desk in the open air under an awning. They asked a ton of questions such as "have you been in contact with anyone who has swine flu?", "do you have a headache?", "do you have a fever?", etc. I found it rather humorous. I considered saying, "no, but I sneezed last Friday!". They had to wear the same masks all day but were in open air! The masks likely contaminated those wearing them. There was no one checking as we crossed back into El Salvador, and there was no one checking tonight as we came back into Honduras.

God bless you, Ralph

Blog Sat May 9, ’09

We are mindful of the wind damage to Southwest Missouri that caused problems for some of our homes and the homes of many team members not on this trip.

Yesterday we were joined by little Jorge. He came from seemingly out of nowhere for breakfast and again for dinner. He is roaming the streets apparently, but he remembers that we pray and clean our hands before we eat.

Marcy has been teaching English classes in the school each day and again each evening at the church building. The classes are well received and attended. Emily is her assistant and does a remarkable job.

Lori and Melva taught ladies classes last night and are conducting Bible studies during the day.

We arranged for roof repairs on the home of a lady from the church. The adobe walls were deteriorating rapidly because of the rain

Today we are scattered in home visits and Bible studies

Tomorrow we travel to El Tule for a regional worship in the morning and to Ocotepeque Honduras for worship in the evening.

Today’s photo shows the interior of the new church building. It is ready for the concrete floor to be poured.

We are all well and healthy.

God bless you, Ralph

OK, time to catch up on our trip a little bit.

We had a nice flight down and were on time. The health department was set up as we entered the immigration area with a thermal imaging system that is supposed to tell them if we had a fever. We had not seen anyone masked at Arkansas or Houston, but all government employees were masked at the San Salvador airport. It was strange to see even the security guards, immigration agents, and customs folks masked up. It made communication a little more difficult.

At customs I led the group to the lane and they checked my baggage. It was OK so they let the rest of the team thru. We boarded a small bus to the nearest hotel and spent the night. They had a fantastic breakfast buffet, which we enjoyed. We then loaded a van and took a detour to the ocean before coming to La Palma. It was homecoming as we were welcomed to the area. We toured the new school facility and the new church building before we ate. We made few home visits that night and then I spent a long time visiting with Lillian, Jose, Jesus, and Marvin.

Thursday we were visited by an inspector from the Ministry of Education. They recommended adding some windows for light and ventilation before we move into the new classroom facility. It was more than a recommendation—it was a requirement, and not a bad one. We now wait formal approval to make the move in June.

I spent a long time with the mayor asking his feelings on the government change and expressing my disappointment for the fact that someone could steal everything electronic and none of it be found. He also gave us a tour of the new emergency operations building which is just now being completed. It will house offices for the police chief, fire department, and the ambulance crew along with the new ambulance they just received from us. It is a very modern facility and very nice.

We are trying to arrange as many details as possible for the June trip. We believe that the folks here understand what our goals are and will help us achieve them.

We are eating well and sleeping well. We are all healthy and busy. It rains every day. Those of you coming in June need to be climbing steps and walking a lot to get ready. Spend time in the sun to avoid burning when you get here.

The photo is of the new church building as the exterior is being completed.

This entry delayed several hours while waiting for the internet.

Tomorrow is less busy --we plan home visits primarily.

God bless you, Ralph

Here is our team yesterday morning at the hotel. We spent the night near the airport, loaded up a van including suitcases on top, drove a little ways to the beach, spent 15 minutes there and then up the hill to La Palma.
Since arrival we have been busy, busy, busy, and expect it to stay that way. It is unbelievable how much stuff these folks try to cram into our trips!

We are all well and healthy. Today we went different directions in our work. I will try to write more later tonight, but for now we need to go for our second meeting with the mayor.

Pray for our continued safety and success on our trip. God bless you,
Ralph

Monte received a text from Lori and they are safe & sound at the hotel in San Salvador. Hopefully they'll get a good night's sleep and be ready to head to LaPalma tomorrow!

Lana

Six of us are traveling to La Palma today to plan for the June trip and to do personal evangelism. Pray for our safety and success. We expect a hassle at the San Sal airport by health officials as they try to prevent Swine Flu.

We will try to post our progress here on this blog, but may not be able to. Keep checking!

The six are: Lori, Melva, Marcy, Emily, Jaime, Ralph

God bless you.

AAnother photo of the medical team leader! He redefines 'wearing two hats'!

This is the 'leader' of the medical mission in February in full field gear! Does he look like someone you would follow into combat? God bless him.

Jaime left El Salvador as a teenager. He returns often to visit family and to help with mission work. He is a great asset to the team.

This is NOT a busload of people leaving a swine flu outbreak! It is a group of medical people on the bus going to a mountain location to conduct a clinic! They are having a good time of fun and fellowship. God bless them!