Heading to El Sal...

Ralph is headed to El Salvador to perform Lillian's wedding ceremony tomorrow and then head to La Palma. His flight out of NW Arkansas was delayed due to weather but he managed to catch the connecting flight to San Salvador with about a minute to spare.

We share lots of things on mission trips. Lisa and Sherry share music.

Posts will be sporadic for a few days. I leave for El Salvador tomorrow and will officiate at Lilian's wedding Saturday before going to La Palma.

Eating at the Hotel La Palma does NOT help you lose weight like eating at the Montana did! However, we don't go there to lose weight--and it is a good thing for some!

Doc sneaks into a pose by Shirley, Katrina, and Suzanne.

The preachers name was Antonio Lara. Pray for his congregation and family.

Jose reports that the preacher owned a small business and was paying for "protection" of the business each month (extortion). For some reason he did not pay last time, and that is the reason for the shooting. The shooter has been arrested. Antonio was 50 years old and had grown children.

You may have heard on the news that a Church of Christ preacher was shot to death during worship Sunday morning in San Miguel, El Salvador. The report is that he stepped outside momentarily and was shot several times.
San Miguel is near the east side of the country, a long ways from La Palma. Jose is sending a report later tonight on what happened. I will post that and other information as soon as I can. Ralph

Katrina had taught the little boy to do 'high five' and he wanted to continue. She had to work to get him to look at the camera.

Fern impressed the children at the school by getting down and playing 'jacks' with them.

Stephanie is doing one of the 'vitally' important functions of a nurse's job!

Toyota is having some recall problems with newer vehicles here in the US, but the older ones keep "mooo"ving right along in El Salvador. They appear to be very reliable autos.

Melvin improvised his work area to fit the situation. Here he uses a truck bed to make reading glasses.

This young lady (younger than me anyway) worked and worked and worked. Occasionally she had to be told to sit down and rest. Becky is from Shongaloo, LA.

It is quite rare for a herd of cattle to run through the waiting room of a medical clinic--unless it is in San Jose Sacare!

Katrina continues honing her nursing skills!

Katrina patiently checks the vital signs of a patient. She did this hundreds of times daily.

Getting organized! The logistics of a medical mission are huge. The meds have to be accounted for and dispensed with great care. Each day presents a new challenge at a new location to set up a pharmacy.

I will be in El Salvador April 30 to May 6. This is primarily to be at Lilian's wedding, but I'll be doing some other stuff also. I plan to be in La Palma Sunday, Ocotepeque Monday, La Palma Tuesday, and San Salvador Wednesday and Thursday meeting with government officials. Anyone who would like to go along on this trip, please contact me. Ralph

Katrina ponders her next task in the medical clinic. Her job was to take vitals of every patient (there were over 1200 total for the week!). After a couple days she admitted that she loved taking vitals a little bit less than she did before she came. She was a wonderful asset to the team, and she kept us alert with her wit. I learned a lot from her; I had never known that 'chill' and 'pill' were two syllable words until she told me to 'go take a 'cheeull peeull'! We loved the southern accent that she and Becky and Mary have. It is always amazing to see how God puts such a diverse and talented group together for these trips. We love the people from Shongaloo, LA!

The Directora of the La Palma Christian School, Lilian Guzman, has announced her upcoming marriage to Victor, a Church of Christ minister from San Salvador. She has been the directora since the establishment of the school in February 2007. The wedding will be the first of May. It would be very nice and appropriate for many of us from the US to express our congratulations. Due to the difficulty in taking a gift, a "money shower" will be sent with Ralph McClurg who plans on attending the wedding. Ralph will present her a card with the names of all who contributed.

If you would like to send your congratulations, please send your check to Pat Turnbull , 711 Terrace Dr. Aurora, Missouri 65605 or it can be made out to Lilian Guzman by Tuesday, April 27. Any amount will be appreciated.

Any questions should be directed to me at patandsteveturnbull@hotmail.com .

Jose explains to an elderly lady how to take the medicine she has been provided.

This family showed up for medical care--mother, three boys, and baby girl. Just look at those boys! Do you think they know how to have fun?

Many were impressed by the bravery and ingenuity of this young man, Victor. When the tent frame had been disturbed and in need of repair, Victor trusted his friends with his life by climbing a ladder that they held for him!

Last night Jesus told us that MANY people in San Ignacio have expressed their appreciation for the medical consultation and medcicines that they received during the medical campaign there. It is great to know that they have such gratitude.

In 2004, the TGCBI began with the goal of training Hispanic ministers to work in the Texas Gulf Coast Region. Since then, God has opened many doors for us, so that now we work with 46 sites in 17 countries, and have more students in other countries in our online program.

So we are changing our name to Texas International Bible Institute, to reflect our expanded mission and reach. We are excited about the new possibilities still ahead, and we ask for your prayers that God will continue to lead and bless us.

(Our new website address is www.texasbible.org, and our emails all will end with @texasbible.org. If you go to the old website or use the old emails, they will be forwarded for a time, but we recommend you update your records.)

This is where the La Palma Bible Institute gets lessons from. The teacher may be anywhere but the students see him live and can interact with him.

Doc Harris was able to relax on the bus after a long, hard week at work in La Palma.

Another bridge was washed out west of the airport back in November. This one has been temporarily replaced by a Bailey Bridge providing one-way traffic. Bailey bridges are a product of the US Army Corps of Engineers and can be installed without cranes. I learned how to do that back in 1968 at Ft Belvoir, VA. As the rainy season progresses in May, the bypass for this and other bridges will be unusable.

Hurricane Ida took out a lot of roads and bridges back in November. This one is still out and the bypass around it is not very well maintained. In the coming rainy months there will be lots of days that this road is completely closed. It is between the airport and the port at La Libertad.

Message from Stephen Beilich about Carolina:

Okay, Carolina has written back about the flights. You can inform “the world” that they are flying in on May 5. Plans after that are unknown – we’ll talk wedding info when she is here.

They need to settle in to the American ways, both need to work on their English (and I my Spanish), I need to teach Carolina to drive and Astrid may/may not be enrolled into classes for May. We might enroll her for school in the fall but not have her attend school the last 3 ½ weeks of the 2009/10 school year.

Esteban

Christian was a super helper at the clinic this year. He is a great guy all around.

Sometimes you just cannot stay awake. This little guy seems uncomfortable, but it is not preventing him from sleeping.

Triage in a rural clinic can have settings very unusual for our medical workers. Marcy and the others adapt very well.

Just in case anyone felt sorry for those girls who had to spend Saturday and Saturday night in El Salvador and then go home Sunday, I had to post this photo of them at the beach. It was taken Saturday afternoon while some of you were frantically trying to get home.