Mary, riding in the back of a truck on a country road, appears to be seeing her 'dream home', with cornfields, tall pines, and mountains!

The ladies of the church really appreciate and pay attention to our ladies who teach them.

Some items needed to equip the new facility and to help the folks there include:
Cookware and silverware
A large roaster pan- preferably electric
Some jig saws for the men who are carpenters
Single bed sheets and light blankets, pillow cases and pillows

Making a difference in the life of someone who is less fortunate than you are is what Jesus was teaching when he said "Love your neighbor as yourself". Lori made a difference in the life of Christina, and Christina tries to show her appreciation.

We had a very enjoyable picnic with around 50 folks. It is great to renew acquaintances and retell some stories. The food was great.

The photo shows Johna and Lana applying sunscreen during the long ride in the back of a truck up on the mountain. Melvin and I repeatedly offered to let the 5 women ride in the cab where we were, but they declined! They said it was female bonding or something like that. They laughed a lot. It was a great trip with lots of benevolent activity.

This is the team that was in La Palma on September the 14th. There were 3 different groups that traveled down.

This fellow has transportation that is not fast but very efficient on fuel. The barrels have sealed lids for hauling grain or similar goods. The 'shelf' on the side folds down for hauling or up for him to ride. Quite in ingenius setup.

Don't forget the picnic tonight!

This little girl, like many others, wants to get a good education so she can earn a living, a Christian education so she can know and teach others about Jesus. We need several more scholarships to operate the La Palma Christian school properly. Contact us if you want information.

God bless you.

Don't forget the picnic tomorrow at the Monett south park. Gather at 4, eat at 5--bring a side dish and lawn chairs.

On Monday night I talked to our group about being servants--Matthew 20:28 and other scriptures. I said that if you are going to be a servant, you need to be willing to get mudddy, dirty, bloody, sweaty, etc., willing to go where you don't really want to go to help someone. I was talking to people who already had the attitude of a servant. We experienced many situations that took us out of our clean, comfortable lifestyles and comfort zones. We came home tired and worn out, bitten by mosquitos and bedbugs, wet at times from sweat and rain, weary, and extremely happy and satisified. Our group was sacrificial in many ways, and every one of us knew the potential for harm to come to us. Three came home with H1N1 and without hesitation said they would/will do it again.
While there we live somewhat like the 1st century Christians did. We share just about everything. From early morning (the roosters start about 4:30)(the fireworks can start anytime) till 10 or so in the evening we share love, heartaches, joy, sorrow, health and sickness, mealtime and work. We go to bed exhausted and happy--contented and satisfied.
Consider a trip in the future. December will be a short one-- travel down on the 4th and return on the 12th. It will be cool and there will likely be no rain. You will see contentment in austerity. You will see love in action. You will never again look at your comfortable home the same. You will not feel the usual aches and pains anymore. You will know that Christ truly died for all and that God loved the whole WORLD! What can $1200 buy? A life-changing experience that lasts for eternity. He gave His life for you--will you live your life for Him?

Reunion Picnic Saturday, Monett South Park, gather at 4pm, eat at 5 pm. Be there! Anyone who has been to La Palma or supported La Palma or is interested in La Palma is invited. Please let us know if you plan to come so we can have enough hamburgers. We would appreciate it if you would bring a side dish!

God bless La Palma!

When we unloaded the containers, much of it was stored at a site provided by the Mayor. Several small truckloads of clothing in barrels, boxes, and bags went to the church for distribution. There were lots of shoes, purses, belts, and handbags in the barrels also. We had lots of help for the unloading process. It went rapidly and well. Traffic through town was rerouted during that time to provide safety and convenience to us.

PICNIC THIS SATURDAY! MONETT SOUTH PARK!

Gather at 4 pm and eat at 5 pm. Hamburgers and hot dogs furnished, please bring a side dish if you can. Come anyway. Bring lawn chairs.

See you there. Anyone who has been to La Palma or is interested in the work in La Palma in any way is invited.

Jose Rigoberto walking.

This fellow, Jose Rigoberto, lives up on the mountain in a simple house. He and his brother tend a fantastic tomato patch---over an acre and in great shape. Jose was born a dwarf with some physical deformities. He was referred by our February medical team as a candidate for a PET-Personal Energy Transport. We took him one, but with his short arms and legs he could not use it. He simply smiled and said, "give it to someone else who can use it". We did give it to another man who could use it, but I will be working with the PET people to get him a specially made one if possible.

We had quite a hike up to his house. He was a gracious host, getting stools for each of us and showing his big smile as he talked. We could have spent hours with him but had to keep going.

This lady had many expressions, and we enjoyed seeing her.

Melva also has the symptoms of H1N1. She says it is still worth it.

Men over 60 seem to have a natural immunity to H1N1. Melvin, Doug, and I will be OK!

We had a great trip. The people there are so receptive to us as individuals and as Christians. They love to fellowship and laugh. God bless you.

The Ocotepeque Honduras congregation is building a new facility. This is the nearly completed construction of the part containing 2 classrooms, a kitchen, and a storage room. We wired this part of it while we were there. Still to be built are bathrooms and an auditorium.

Our entire September team is now home. Most are healthy. Lori now appears to have the flu-------possibly H1N1 since her symptoms are identical to those that Lana has. Lana and Lori were seated together on both flights home, and Lana became ill on the second flight.

The La Palma church is very proud of the new pews. They were donated by the Hispanic congregation in Rogers, AR and have been stored and then shipped on the containers for several months.

Connie loves kids, and she loves teaching kids, and she loves teaching kids about Jesus. Jose helps with the translation.

This may be the photo of the year. It is precious.

The team has arrived in Houston and are waiting for their further flights.

Lana has a confirmed case of H1N1 from the trip. We were heavily exposed to sick kids in Honduras Monday, and as the nurse she was on the front line. She was OK until we left Houston enroute to Tulsa, when she got very feverish. She had already exposed the entire team to it during the 24 hours prior to our travel Wednesday. So far no one else has any symptoms. As Melvin put it: "that goes with the territory".

The team is at the gate in San Salvador for the trip home--as of 11am El Salvador time and noon our time. They will call from Houston, but I may not be able to post then. Most are going into Tulsa arriving about 8:15 pm. Mindy goes to Austin and will be there earlier.

Late night Bible study.

The team left in La Palma will be coming home tomorrow. They are very busy and know that they will not get everything done that they want to do. The work there is overwhelming.

She walks the streets of La Palma.

The La Palma Christian School was the first unit in the big parade.

Photos of the La Palma Christian School marching in the Independence day parade through La Palma. This parade is so important that the highway is shutdown. All traffic stops for a couple hours. That includes the trucks carrying goods between San Salvador and Honduras.

It was wonderful to watch the LPCS --the band has new uniforms.

Five of us came home today. Mary and Melvin went to Shreveport, Lana to Stillwater, Lori to Joplin, and me to Monett. We left a lively group still working in La Palma until Saturday.

Remember the La Palma picnic on the 26th at the Monett park. Please let us know if you are coming so we can have enough food!
Ralph

We work hard and play hard!

We had another busy day. This is the last night for many of us. Parting will be hard. We are well and healthy. Eight will stay until Saturday. Will be posting more photos soon.
Ralph

After a day of work, we had singing and prayer session at church. We then celebrated the 37th birthday of Jose. He can clown a little bit, as the photo shows. Rosa made some fantastic pupusas and then served cake. What a great day!

Tomorrow is the big parade to celebrate Independence day. Wow, this week has flown by!

Something new happened to us at the Honduras border this morning. There was no one present at the immigration booth to issue us visas. I asked for help after several minutes and a guard from El Salvador said just go on. We went through the first gate and had no problem. Second gate was customs - we had several bags of clothing but no problem after explaining that they were for the church. Went on and were feeling happy when a red, 125 cc motorcycle with 2 uniformed officers on it came up by us and pulled us over. We explained what had happened--they looked somewhat confused--then waved us on. To an extent we are here illegally, but there is not much we can do about it. We had a good laugh about possible jail time --but also realize that it is sort of serious.

I see that I made some typo errors in the earlier blog, but this machine won't let me correct it. Later

Hola, is it 2 pm here. Some of our team is in Honduras for the day to work with the church and program children. Others stayed to work in La Palma. Today begins a week of celebration---Independence from Spain. The streets are crowded and there are parades tomorrow. In Honduras the parades are limited because of the new presdident's unelected status. There does not appear to be a problem as far as violence is concerned.

We are well. Later

We are all well and healthy and happy. A great day is ahead of us after a wonderful time Sunday. Not enough time to tell all about it. God bless you, Ralph

We need to be reminded that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills (see Psalms)

Ligia was baptized last night. We rejoice along with her and the angels.

We are well and healthy.

We are having an awesome experience. We try to present ourselves as Jesus would do---be compassionate and kind, showing love to all. Teaching and helping are ongoing activities. People keep asking how much a walker costs, or a blanket that we give them. They do not expect free gifts like that. We are making Iglesia de Cristo a well-known term.

Today was long for those traveling, and those of us here put in a long day also. Tonight we had some great pizza after the new team arrived. We gathered for a short meeting and prayer. The new people went to bed early. We know that those who left this morning arrived safely in Houston, and by now they should be home.

The weather has been nice all week. It rains almost every afternoon and evening, but the days are nice.

Tomorrow we will worship with the local church, and some of us will worship in Ocotepeque tomorrow night.

Keep praying for our safety and success.

Ligia, a 19 year old lady with whom we have studied for quite a while, came right after dinner tonight and requested to be baptized. That was a great experience for our new team members, and we are happy to welcome her as a sister.

We had some humbling experiences today as we met people in need. A couple of them are shown.

Our new team has arrived safely and are excited to join us. God bless you.

We had another awesome day in La Palma. Most of our team went to Los Planes and La Granadilla to present a PET (personal energy transport) to Saul in the photo. He is 21 and this will give him freedom that he has not had in his wheelchair. The trip was great from a scenery standpont, and we had many opportunities to serve.

We just ate pupusas at Reina's house. Tomorrow three of our team go home and six more arrive. We are well and healthy and happy.

I finally loaded one of the videos of Emerson getting in his new wheelchair. Please watch it all and have the volume up to hear him squeal!

These videos and photos show Emerson, age 6, being introduced to his new wheelchair. His mother had carried him wherever they went before this. There is still a challenge for her, as their apartment in a basement and there are stairs to negotiate when they leave it.

The presentation was emotional. The mother had been struck by a car just yesterday and had some stitches in her chin. She was carrying Emerson when it happened, and he was unhurt. I believe we all choked up a little bit and cried some upon seeing his joy and hearing him squeal with delight.

There is some irony in this situation: The wheelchair was obtained by Rotary International from the Wheelchair foundation. It was made in China and sent to Rotary Medical Service Network in Tulsa, OK. When I found out that we needed three children's wheelchairs, I contacted MSN and was told they would soon have some. I later picked them up at Tulsa as a representative of the Monett Church of Christ, and they were shipped on the containers to El Salvador. When we had trouble getting the containers released, we re-consigned them to Rotary, and the release was obtained. Rotary then gave the containers back to us, and we gave the wheelchair to Emerson today. A couple hours later 2 representatives of Rotary visited us and were told the whole story. We gave them a tour of our school, church, and the stored goods from the container.

As we left the home after presenting the wheelchair, Mary said, “Well, how are you going to top that one?” I said that it almost made the wait worthwhile!

We had a great day with teaching and working with program children and sorting the goods from the container and the presentation to Emerson.

Sorry, I can't get the videos to load. Will try again tomorrow.

For those of you coming Saturday, the room outlets are 2-pronged. If you have 3-pronged plugs, bring adapters.