Heavy Rains continue in El Salvador. Schools have closed throughout the country for the rest of the week.

Several months ago we started the process to get crates shipped to El Salvador via USAID programs. Eighteen crates are ready to go and waiting government approval (US). It appears that approval is very close to happening. Please pray today for our shipment to get rapid approval.

Ralph

This fellow is a real gentleman. He needed a new wheelchair, and we could not help him with one. He needed padding for his old wheelchair to replace the stack of newspapers he was sitting on. Mary made him cushions for both the bottom and back of his seat. We will get him a better one when the next shipment arrives.

These 4 ladies really did a lot of rock throwing. They made hard work seem like fun.

One day we had a load of big rocks for fill that needed to be moved into the building, but there was a pile of gravel between the rocks and the building. The solution was to throw the rocks to the other side of the gravel pile. It turned into a fun challenge for those who participated. Some from La Palma joined the ones from Ocotepeque and had fun throwing big rocks. The rest of us just had to stay away and be careful!

La Palma and the region have been spared by Tropical Storm Matthew as of now--just lots of rain. The storm is still wandering around the gulf and may come back for another round.

A view of the interior of the temple of the Black Christ in Guatemala. This building is immense in size! The columns are larger than many homes of the people who worship there.

The congregation in San Ignacio is 6 months old and the audience overflows each week.

Tropical storm Matthew is heading toward Central America, and the Lalli family and Teresa are preparing as best they can. It is unclear where the storm will hit--just look at the possibilities in this set of models.

Mary taught Gloria some advanced sewing techniques, and said she was a great student and fast learner. Here you see her concentrating on her sewing, and admiring the new dress they made for Cesia.

The congregation at Ocotepeque, Honduras has outgrown the building it uses for worship; that is why we are helping them build a new facility. Here, you can see that the crowd flows out into the street for worship.

This shows the logjam in the Ocotepeque parade. The reviewing stand was on the left halfway up the block, and the parade was halted for over an hour as politicians and educators gave their addresses. Many units were backed up out of sight. Some just stacked their instruments in the street and found shade for a while.

These retired Honduran soldiers were happy to have their photos taken with the veterans in our group.

This group of Honduras retired military men formed outside our hotel about 8 am-well before the Independence day parade began. They stood and stood and stood and stood while other units formed and marched --and while the politicians spoke to a crowd up the street. These guys were patient. We later went down and did some photo ops with them, which they really enjoyed. We felt badly that they were relegated to the rear when they should have been at the front.

This is the inside of the new church building auditorium in Ocotepeque, Honduras. Our team installed lights and receptacles in it, as well as leveled the floor in preparation for concrete. We helped mix some cement and the footing for the pulpit area can be seen toward the front.

Some things are quite amusing at times. We spent 8 days in third world countries with no real danger or excitement. Got home and started unpacking and found a small bull snake (10-12" long) behind our waste basket. Carol screamed-- I took it outside and worked it over with a hoe.

In case you have not seen it lately, here is Lori's blog spot. She writes some great stories.

http://soylori.blogspot.com/

HOME! I believe the entire team is home now. We had a great trip with some awesome results. We need to rest up a bit, and will start showing more photos with stories.

In Houston...

Just received a text that they've landed in Houston. Here's a pic of Dea, Amy, and Mindy yesterday in our "backyard"--the jungle area behind our house, the church, and the school.
-Lori

Saturday morning...

Ralph has called to say that the team has boarded the plane in San Salvador and is headed back to the United States. They will land in Houston and from there will go several different directions. If you are interested, you can check their flight status at this link: http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/travel/flightstatus/default.aspx?NFT=SM and entering flight number 829 on that page.
-Lori

Friday night...

Ralph called from the hotel near the airport and said that they have enjoyed a dinner at the hotel and are getting ready to head to bed. They will fly out early tomorrow morning to return to the United States. Please pray for safe travels for all of them.
-Lori

We finished our morning's work and are preparing to leave La Palma at 3 pm. How many of you believe that our bus will be on time?

This has been a great trip. We just ate super gringas at Eric's tacqueria--and they are terrific!

Pray for our safe travel now.
Ralph

We had a great day! Got the work list done at the new Ocotepeque church building, had lunch with Jorge and family, then went to Guatemala for a tour of a large temple. Oh, and the ladies did some shopping. We are back in La Palma preparing to move toward the airport tomorrow night for the trip home. This has truly been one of the most outstanding trips ever for fun and work.

I just came from the church where Yaniksa's husband's funeral wake is to be held. There was a HUGE crowd, and I did not wait to visit her. Will try to do that tomorrow.

We do have several small work items for tomorrow morning before we leave here. We are well and healthy.

The photo is of Jose, a very cute boy who is also a clown. Here he is saluting Melvin.

Notice: please be in prayer for the La Palma School today. Janitsa (spelling not correct), the teacher of the first grade and kindergarten, just lost her husband in a motorcycle crash. He is papa de Vladimir, a sweet little boy. Details coming but that is what we know right now. She just got through one crisis last week and this will be another terrific blow to her. The other teachers are also struggling with the news.

One photo of parade activity yesterday.

Some of the work we do is not so easy as painting. There is lots of gravel to move. We have made great progress. The lights in the new auditorium are now functional.
No one could ask for a better team than this one. EVERYONE is terrific!
Tomorrow will be half work and half tourism as we plan to go to Guatemala for a quick tour.
We are well and busy.

We had another fun and productive day in Ocotepeque. We got a lot of work done and enjoyed a new eating place and new food. This team is truly great in every way. Tomorrow is Independence day, and they love to celebrate here. There will be a large parade, and traffic will just have to wait, even though there are trucks and buses traveling up CA-4. Just to make sure everything would go right, they had a dress rehearsal today, including holding traffic for a while. We will work a while, watch the parade, and then work again. We are all well and healthy. The ladies sing as they paint, and they are all good singers.

We had a great day and got a lot of work done today. We made big progress on the wiring of the new building in Ocotpeque, got lots of walls painted, leveled part of the floor, and prepared for even more work tomorrow.

The photo shows our team before worship yesterday. We are all well and healthy--and tired tonight after a big day of work.

We went back to that same restaurant for lunch and "The Coward of the County" was playing as we walked in!

After a productive day of worship and shopping and traveling. Dinner with country music playing and later our group singing gospel songs (the old ones) finished off the day. We are now preparing for a hard day of work. We are blessed.

Sunday night...

Ralph asked me to post to let you know that the group is settled in at the hotel in Ocotepeque. We enjoyed a meal with them at a restaurant a few doors down from Jorge and Gloria's house. During the meal, there was a CD of country music playing and we enjoyed a sing-a-long of various songs. Here's a picture of Mindy singing "Coward of the County" along with Kenny Rogers. Later we also got some pictures (and perhaps some video exists) of Mindy when "Rhinestone Cowboy" came on the CD. It was an enjoyable and relaxing meal and there is a big week of work ahead. Ralph will not have internet access until sometime Monday and will try to update with more information then.
-Lori

A large group of men (perhaps 40) from a church in Miramonte was at the hotel last night for a retreat. It was awesome to hear them singing "Amazing Grace" in Spanish from a distance! Their preaching was also dynamic, but I understood very little, so I put my earplugs in and went to sleep.

We had rain last night but the day now looks to be bright. I am drinking coffee made from fresh picked, fresh roasted, fresh ground beans. We are blessed. God is good.

We had a great day in La Palma and got a lot of work done while having a good time. Lots of people came to seek medical help, and nurse Dea along with Hiliana was very busy. Celia translated and Mindy operated the pharmacy. Art hung several racks and curtain hangers for Lori and repaired some doors and built a cabinet for the sewing machines. Kirk got the church projector working very well and the large TV in the preacher school to display images from the Polycom for videoconferencing. Monte cut hair for nearly 20 young boys ranging from 2 years up. Amy repaired some sewing machines and assisted in sewing classes. Mary taught several ladies about sewing and had one of them teaching others. Carol and I were ‘go fers’ and tried to keep the other folks supplied with needed items. Melvin made around 30 pairs of reading glasses and stayed busy all day.
A highlight of the day was when an elderly man in a wheelchair came to get help for a sore on his lower back. He was sitting on newspaper for a cushion. Dea worked with him to find out how to best help him. She had Mary make a cushion from some foam blankets while Art repaired the armrest on his wheelchair. The old fellow was very gracious and plans to come back tomorrow for his custom-made cushion. Melvin made him some glasses while he was here.
Mindy and Amy went with Lori on some home visits (see photo of them receiving hugs from two cute little girls).
We had pupusas at Reina’s house for dinner, closed out with a short devo and prayer. Tomorrow promises to be busy also—we will move to Ocotepeque in the afternoon.
We are tired and happy.

We are in La Palma. It has been a long and great day. We had 4 tourism police on our bus, but there was no apparent danger. The route buses are running again. The threat has subsided after several gang members were arrested.

We have a busy day planned for tomorrow in La Palma and will spend tomorrow night here. Sunday afternoon we will move to Ocotepeque, Honduras for several days.

This is a great team! Kirk, Mindy, Art, Amy, Melvin, Mary, Dea, Carol, and myself. God is with us and we are with HIM!

It was great for Carol and I to see our children and grandchildren! They are doing so much here--it is wonderful.

The atrocities of 9/11 do not mean much to the people here, but we will remember. There is no Muslim influence here at all.

In La Palma

Lori just called and the team has been in La Palma for a little while. They settled in, ate dinner and I heard singing in the background. She said they were singing a little before bedtime. Please pray for a successful week!

The team arrived safely in San Salvador and are meeting up with the bus. Pray for a safe trip up the mountain!

On the plane!

Everyone arrived and met up in Houston. The team is now on the plane to San Salvador.

We are set to go. Just a few more hours and our journey begins! The transportation problem is much better and we are prepared!

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Limited posts until we arrive in La Palma, but I will get some updates put on here along the way.

Ralph

On Monday a problem arose with buses in El Salvador. In and around the city of San Salvador some gangs are trying to extort money from the route buses for "protection".
One bus was held up Monday and after the passengers got off, the bus was burned with a warning that this was not the end of the problem.

On Tuesday some buses refused to run their routes (actually the drivers/owners refused). Today, many are running and some are not. The government has put thousands of military police out to correct the problem, and it is believed the buses will begin again.

The bus we had arranged for our airport pickup on Friday is NOT a route bus, and those are not targeted. However, we arranged for two armed Tourism Police to ride with the bus round trip as a precaution. The driver will also avoid the areas most likely to be problematic.

Again, we request prayers for our safety and security and success. Ralph

Lori and Ruth have fallen in love with this little girl, who is holding two dimes--one for her offering to God and one to spend for a snack for herself. Look at her and imagine that you would not love her?
Her name is Selena. About a year ago her brother, Francisco, became involved in alcohol and had to be admitted to a rehab program. Some of you donated to help him stay in that program. He is now doing OK. Because of the showing of concern for her son, the mother has become a Christian and is a faithful attender and worker.

Another view of the roof being installed on the new church building in Ocotepeque.

Friday our team travels to La Palma, and then on Sunday we will go to Ocotepeque, Honduras. We have a lot of work lined out for us, and we know that many things will happen to change our schedule. We are continuing to ask you to pray for us and the people we come in contact with.

We need to occasionally be reminded of our reason for working in El Salvador and Honduras. It is to glorify God, change lives, help others, preach the Word, and save souls. We do lots of stuff, but those are the driving reasons.

The roof is probably on the new auditorium in Ocotepeque by now. We will get another update on it Monday. This photo shows the roof material being installed. We will be able to do electrical and paintint work inside without rain interference while we are there. We may even 'get' to do some concrete mixing and pouring.