The lady in the last post stepped on a nail while working. Today it was very red and swollen so they made her go to the clinic. Pray for her--that could be very serious.

Mowing the lawn is not as easy in La Palma as it is here. In this photo Deyci is doing the trimming around the La Palma Christian School classroom building with a machette. They have practice doing it this way for years and are very good at it--leaving it looking like it was mowed by machine.

There was a work day at the La Palma church Saturday. See how these guys and ladies get the grass 'mowed'.

The La Palma Christian School would like to have more band instruments. They especially want trumpets/cornets, but also clarinets or flutes and trombones.
Please let me know if you have some you can donate.

Just two weeks from today our team will wake up in La Palma!

Here is the Ocotepeque building with the roof trusses in place. This seems light by our standards, but remember there is no snow load to carry.

This is a reposting of the blogs written by US people living in La Palma and supporting the churches in the region.

Monte's: http://lallifamilymission.blogspot.com/
Lori's: http://soylori.blogspot.com/
Ruth's: http://ruthinlapalma.blogspot.com/
Teresa's: http://lapalmagirl.blogspot.com/

The walls are completed and the metal is on-site for the roof of the Ocotepeque auditorium. We hope to install the electrical system while we are there September 10-18.

El Salvador has had more rain that usual and lots of damage. Many roads and bridges have been washed out, making transportation difficult. This does not affect the travel of our team in September - yet. Lori reports that the rains have decreased, but September is a heavy month for rain.

Blessings International is the organization that we buy most of the medicines from that we take to El Salvador. Here is a nice story about them in the Tulsa World:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20100820_11_A3_CUTLIN793929&archive=yes

Monte got a good report from the doctor this morning. Is improving -- needs to finish meds and continue keeping leg elevated a little longer. But doc was happy with improvement.

Monte seems to be getting better from the blood clot in his leg. He has been reclined for the last 2 days and it is improving. He visits the doctor in Nuevo Concepcion Thursday morning for a checkup.

Only three weeks from Friday when the team leaves to travel to El Salvador. Pray for the success and safety of this trip. Ralph

Had a good crowd this morningat Blum, TX for a presentation on the work in La Palma. Will make another presentation in Covington, TX tonight.

Monte is reportedly doing better--swelling going down and color better in affected area. Wanting to get out and do stuff but sort of limited and stuck at home for a while. People will come to him for teaching instead of him going to them. New classes start at the Bible Institute soon. He can attend those with his leg elevated.

Monte got medicines for the blood clot and is resting at home in La Palma. No hospitalization was needed.

Sorry for the lack of blogs lately. Lori, Ruth, and Monte have written such neat articles on their blogs that I felt like mine was not needed.

Now, I have a request of each of you. Monte has swelling and pain in one leg that may be a blood clot. He visits a very good doctor tomorrow morning, and may need to go to a hospital in San Salvador. Please pray for a favorable outcome for this situation. Ralph

All four walls are now up and the stucco application has begun on the new auditorium at Ocotepeque.

The walls are going up on the new Ocotepeque building. The auditorium side door is to the left.

In case you missed them on the previous posting, here are the blogs of the folks living in La Palma now:

Monte's: http://lallifamilymission.blogspot.com/
Lori's: http://soylori.blogspot.com/
Ruth's: http://ruthinlapalma.blogspot.com/
Teresa's: http://lapalmagirl.blogspot.com/