Claudia's family lives on a hill, and the only way down to the road was by stairs or on rocks. Her father had to carry her down, then carry her wheelchair down to the road. This photo shows some of the enormous task of building a ramp to eliminate the carrying. Morris had this ramp designed in his head before he got there, but went right to work. There was no backhoe and no bobcat to help with the digging! It is not a straight, easy-to-build ramp; rather a switchback one with headwalls needed. God bless you Morris (and others who helped)!

Ready to throw away all of those Christmas cards you got? Throw away the personal notes and names, but cut out and save the pages with pictures. We will give them to the sponsored children in La Palma and Ocotepeque for them to make cards for their sponsors next year! We can use a hundred or more.

Many of you will remember the young lady, Claudia, who has been in a wheelchair her entire life but wanted to walk. In March she was shown being helped to a standing position by Dea and Debbie--for the first time in a long time. She was thrilled to be able to stand up!

Her parents have carried her around and her father has carried her up and down the hill to their house whenever she was allowed to go to town. Several things have happened to improve her life since then.

On two trips, Morris has worked to aid her mobility by building sidewalks and ramps. On this last trip in December he engineered a switchback ramp to allow her to go in her wheelchair from her house all the way to town. Photos will not completely show the awesome task that he completed, but we will try in the next few blogs to show some of it.

Here she exercises on a bicycle that we helped her get in September. She has been given 3 trips to a therapist in San Salvador, and they have helped her a lot. She is able to walk with a walker by herself now. We would love to take an experienced physical therapist who could give her a week or two of intensive therapy and get her to crutches or even a cane. If you know of someone who might do this, please let me know.

God bless you, Ralph

Greetings! I hope you are all well and ready for a great new year.

It is time to think about and plan for the biggest trip of the year to La Palma. Donnie needs to book tickets as soon as possible, so please be setting aside the funds and praying about it. There are three primary travel dates -- Feb 7 to travel down, Feb 14 for groups going to and from, and Feb 21 to return home. The trip is in February this year to avoid being there during the national elections which take place in early March.

The group that goes from Feb 7 - 14 will be doing evangelism and teaching and preparing for the medical campaign.

The group that goes Feb 14 - 21 will be doing the medical campaign.

Both weeks will be busy, but we will try to get you away from the work long enough to do some sightseeing and visit in some homes and the Christian School. There will be lots of questions during the time between now and then, which we will do our best to answer for you.

Right now, if you are committing to go, we need you to send a check to Donnie Ellis to reserve your plane ticket. The fares are really jumping around and the planes are filling up, so don't delay too long. The cost for a one week trip will be $1300 and for a 2 week trip it will be $1445. He will reserve your ticket as soon as he receives $700, anticipating that you will pay the balance prior to the trip. Planes are typically sold out by 3 weeks prior to the travel date, so get your money in quickly.

Please send checks to Monett Church of Christ, PO Box 172, Monett, MO 65708- mark them with the name of the person going on the trip.

If you have any questions about the trip or payment, please email me or call Donnie at 417-236-5100. If you know of others who might be interested in going, please give them this information. These trips are life-changing. We encourage you to be a part of one.

We especially need another doctor and a physical therapist. We always need nurses and translators.


God bless you,
Ralph McClurg

Christmas day in La Palma was probably quiet. None of the people there came on-line during the day. Family time probably extended through the night after Christmas. School is out, so the kids don't have to get up for that. We hope they are all healthy.
God bless you, Ralph

Those of us who go to La Palma a lot are wondering how the folks there are doing today. The usual custom in El Salvador is to have a large family gathering on Christmas eve with dinner and happy visiting. They do not have all of the gifts to exchange that we have, but they enjoy the fellowship of family time.

We wish each of you a Merry Christmas and look forward to a happy new year in 2009!

God bless you,
Ralph

The proud father! Jesus is photographed with two of his children, Andrea and Jessica, at the school graduation ceremony. Andrea has benefitted greatly from the help with her crossed eyes.

Marvin, center of photo, has joined the La Palma minister team. He and his wife Rosa and 5 of their children will be moving to La Palma very soon. Marvin will be finishing his preacher school curriculum at the La Palma Bible Institute. Rosa will be working with the ladies of the church. They will begin work to plant churches in San Jose and Tejutla as well as help with the local church.

This is the December team! From left to right, Jaime, Randy, Morris, Dea, Donnie, Mary, Steve, Pat, Leo, Doug.

I apologize for not keeping this blog more current and interesting. We have had bad weather and I am preparing to give away my youngest daughter in marriage. I do not have the photos from the latest trip yet because of the road conditions.

Please be thinking about the February trip. We need to get flight reservations in early.

God bless you,
Ralph

It is time to plan for the next trip to La Palma. There will be a group going down on Feb 7. The week will be spent getting ready for a medical campaign the following week as well as teaching and evangelism. Those who can only stay one week will travel home on the 14th and a new group will arrive. That group will do days of medical work in 3 locations and spend Friday doing some sightseeing and packing for the trip home. The final travel home is the 21st. We need more medical people and translators. We also need to book flights early to get the best pricing.

The team is home. They are tired and weary, but also very happy for the experiences they had. In the coming weeks we will post photos of the trip and share experiences, plans, and visions of things to come. God bless you, Ralph

At 9 pm the team loaded in a van and departed the Tulsa airport for their homes. They had a great trip. God bless you, Ralph

The team is in Houston and things look good for them to arrive home on time. 5:30pm

The team is at the San Salvador airport ready to board for the flight to Houston. Ralph

It is 9:15 pm on Friday night. I hope to get a report from the team tonight, but teams often spend a long time discussing and debriefing the week. We may not get a report tonight. They are due into Tulsa about 10 pm Saturday. It will be good to get their reports of all the week's activities.
Ralph

The team had another successful day and accomplished a lot. They did not have time to send any photos.

They only have one more day to finish up and pack for the trip home. They have been very busy and are still healthy and happy.

God bless you, Ralph

Pat presents gifts of appreciation to the teachers of the La Palma Christian School. From left are Jose (background), Ana Graciela, Lillian (director), Pat, Norma, and Marilu.

Because of schedules, we will not have a conference call tonight. I have received reports from the group in Honduras and those in La Palma.

The Ocotepeque children's sponsor program went very well. Accounting and photos are about completed at 5 pm. Kelly Affron, from West Palm Beach, joined the team for a few days and helped a great deal in Ocotepeque.

Negotiations with an additional preacher are going well and only some details remain to be worked out. A house has been located for him and his family--if he decides to take the position.

A search for additional property to build a larger school facility on is underway--with several sites yet to be seen.

Tonight is the first night of a 3 night gospel campaign in the city park. There is a lot of excitement about that event.

The team has only 2 more days to accomplish a large work list.

This is probably the last report until late Thursday night.

It is hard not to cry when you see these children and realize that they are attending a Christian school that has only existed for 2 years. These are the graduates of kindergarten who will be next year's 1st graders. In the background you can see Pat and Jose to the right and Lillian and Norma to the left. The team said the graduation/promotion party was awesome!

Donnie, Doug, and Dea reported this evening at 7:30 via Skype. As they were reporting, a meeting was in progress involving Pat, Steve, the school director, a school principal from San Salvador, and the Chalatenango Minister of Education to resolve some issues.

Donnie was there last year at this time and reports that the growth of the church is significant! There is much more participation by the men of the congregation, the young men and women of the congregation are participating and teaching, and the Bible classes are much better attended. Mary is working with the young ladies to help them gain teaching skills.

Today they met with the sponsored children and families. It included each child and sibling getting a gift. Dea reports that the children are much healthier from the food, vitamins, and parasite medicines; the program is working.

Doug checked the school computers and found most of them working as they should be. That was great news, as we had been told there were many not working (communication?).

Steve is working with the local Minister of Health to prepare for the February medical clinic. Morris and Randy are doing some home improvement projects for church members.

The team is all healthy, and they are regretting that they only have 3 more days to get the work list done. Saturday they return home. God bless you,

Ralph

There is a tremendous amount of work required to sort all of the gifts sent for the sponsored children and make sure that all of the children get something. It takes dozens and dozens of hours to do this, but the payback is tremendous at program time. There are over 80 children and their siblings in La Palma and 50 children in Ocotepeque, Honduras to get gifts arranged for. Talk about making a list and checking it twice!!!

The team had another good day. The school promotion ceremony took nearly 3 hours but was great! The children have grown physically, intellectually, and spiritually.

Work started on a ramp for Claudia's wheel chair. The medical supplies were inventoried, and lots of school business was completed.

Reina hosted the team for pupusas at dinner time. Jose says he ate 3 of them just for me--and then two tamales!

The team is all healthy and busy. Each day has lots of challenges.
God bless you, Ralph

Some of the 200 young people who attended the regional youth rally Saturday in La Palma enjoy the fellowship dinner which followed.

Some members of the Dec 08 team relax as they wait for their pupusas at a stop on the way from the airport to La Palma. You can see Mary, Morris, Pat, Steve, Dea, and Leo.

The photo shows the large group of children and young people who came from throughout the region Saturday for a program presented by Leo. There were an estimated 200 who heard and ate.
The team is healthy and working. They report 157 in attendance for church this morning, counting children. Some of the team went to El Tule in the afternoon, where Steve presented a lesson to some people eager to listen.
Most of the work Monday will be with the school. Reina is going to feed the team pupusas at dinner time.

Not a lot to report except that the team worked very hard and accomplished a lot. They had a very good meeting with the mayor. They learned of some new challenges with the school that have to be dealt with. Leo presented a great program to over 200 children. They got gifts arranged for the children in several programs. They are tired but happy. Tomorrow will be slightly easier and then Monday will get rough again.
Donnie and Jaime both had birthdays-there was a cake and singing to them.
God bless you,
Ralph

The team has worked hard all day, and Dea is feeling fine today. I will get a full report about 7:30 via skype and post more info.

The team arrived in La Palma OK and went right to work. Dea was queasy from the rough flight and the bus ride up the curvy hill, but the others are fine--and she will be.
There is a lot to do on Saturday and they are already started on it.
God bless you and the people of La Palma. Ralph

At 2:15 pm the team was enjoying pupusas in our favorite pupuseria near the airport. Things were going well; Dea was laughing!

The team has arrived in San Salvador after a safe flight!

The team all arrived in Houston OK and the flight has departed to San Salvador--estimated to arrive 2 minutes early.

A team travels to La Palma on Friday the 5th of December. They are Steve, Pat, Donnie, Morris, Doug, Randy, Mary, Jaime, Dea and Leo. I will post updates on their travel status as often as possible. Pray for their safety, security, health, and success. God bless you, Ralph

Most of the region is open range. I do not understand how the livestock know where they can go and when to go there, but herds like this go up and down the streets seemingly untended. These are at least following the direction signs.

This is Gabriela, one of my favorite children in La Palma, trying to face me down in a staring contest. Gabriela is a real sweetheart. Her mother and father are both active in supporting the La Palma Christian School and church.

The Federal Police are better equipped than the municipal police, but they have a larger area to cover and are less interested in our welfare. They appear to do a good job of patrolling and controlling the area.

This is one of the municipal policemen under the direct control of the mayor of La Palma. They have been very helpful to us, and they appear to be genuinely interesting in helping us and protecting us. In turn, we help them with items for their families.

The foods that we can eat on our trips are limited for our own protection. We get a lot of chicken and beef and mixed vegetables and rice and tortillas. It is a great treat when Marcy and others cook spaghetti. That is a highlight of the trip.

This girl has to wait outside the bank while her mother does business inside. She hangs on to the rooster, which is either just traded for or on it's way to market.

This young man, Julio, is the son of the lady who managed the restaurant while we were in La Palma in September. He spent several hours playing with this 2-wheel dolly. He would load it one way, haul it a short distance, unload it, reload it, and on and on and on. His mother worked about 13 hours each day, and he entertained himself all that time without getting into trouble. He was very well behaved.

Two boys sit in front of a store. Who knows what they are waiting for or thinking?

Morris is an expert at building what is needed. When space is limited, he is the 'go to' guy. Here he admires a computer desk built just the right size for the small space available. Morris will be part of the December team, and we look forward to seeing photos of his latest accomplishments.

This large family came to visit us in September. Two of the children are crippled and cannot walk. They hoped we could help them get wheel chairs for the two. We could not help them at the time, but we have their contact information and have 3 children's wheelchairs to ship to La Palma in January for February delivery.

This horse and rider appear to be work oriented. There is no comfort or pleasure accessory in sight - just functional.

They don't come any cuter than this!!

Melva helped the lady lighten her load, and came away with some great tasting fresh bananas.

This lady came by the hotel with fruit for sale. She has several pounds on her head and maintains balance effortlessly.

It would be interesting to know what these men are discussing.

NO ONE could turn down the invitation to hold this little gal!

Needed: A good working VCR player/recorder for the La Palma Bible Institute. Do you have an extra?

There are homeless people in La Palma, too. This person just covered up and slept in front of a store. His/her belongings are still there.

A couple weeks ago we discussed Pollo Campero, a fried chicken franchise that is very popular in El Salvador and now moving rapidly into the US. They have delivery service. In San Salvador there are hundreds of these motorcycles delivering this fantastic tasting food.

Having finished his shopping, this gentleman waits for the bus to take him home.

Two boys pass away the afternoon in their doorway.

These two girls, both beautiful in their own way, posed for Lori to capture their images.

Lori does a great job of taking candid photos, finding people acting normally in their environment. Here she captured an elderly man crossing the street. He seems unaware that a police vehicle is heading toward him escorting a military contingent through town. The lean stature, firm jaw, and other characteristics make you wonder what stories he could tell if we could just sit and talk.

The highways in La Palma are shared by pedestrians, buses, moto-taxis, diesel trucks, cars, and cowboys. This man rides a relatively nice horse along one of the main roads.

Would you care to speculate on the topic these men are discussing? Is it politics, farming, the economy, family? This was a gathering at the park in preparation for the independence day celebration.

Chris tried to imitate a chicken in front of the Pollo Campero mobile store. The local young man watching him did not seem to be impressed. We all enjoyed the flavor of the chicken they served.

Security is prevalent throughout the country of El Salvador. Gas stations and auto dealers and most larger businesses deal with a lot of cash. Here you see the Pollo (Chicken) Campero mobile store being guarded even before it opens for the day.


I had mentioned this chicken franchise in an earlier blog. Here is some more information on it:


DALLAS (May 12, 2008) – Pollo Campero, the world's largest Latin chicken restaurant chain, has opened a restaurant in the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Rowlett, Texas, its first ever in a Wal-Mart Supercenter.
“Pollo Campero’s unique offering of grilled and famous fried chicken creates a wonderful opportunity for Wal-Mart customers to experience the great taste and excitement of the world’s largest Latin chicken restaurant chain,” said John Murphy, Wal-Mart Regional Vice President, North/Northeast Texas. “We were attracted to Pollo Campero because of its unique, broad appeal to all our customers, providing a perfect complement to the Wal-Mart shopping experience. I’m impressed with the advance technology behind their food preparation and the highly trained team that will serve our customers -- great concept… great food!”
The new Pollo Campero restaurant is located inside the Wal-Mart Supercenter at 2501 Lakeview Parkway in Rowlett, Texas. Pollo Campero's goal is to open 20 more restaurants inside Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. by the end of 2009. The restaurant is a corporate store owned by Campero USA Corp., the U.S. division of Pollo Campero. A grand opening celebration for the new restaurant will be held May 15.
“Pollo Campero’s presence in the store demonstrates Wal-Mart’s sensitivity to its customers and underscores their commitment to enhance Latin American customers' experiences while bringing diversity to others,” said Robert Denegri, president and chief operations officer of Campero USA. Corp., which is headquartered in Dallas. "Pollo Campero’s 35 years of quality customer service and its more recent and aggressive expansion plans in the U.S. will help grow our relationship with Wal-Mart.”
Founded in 1971 by the Gutiérrez family in Guatemala, Pollo Campero opened its first U.S. restaurant in 2002 to record-breaking sales. Since then, the company has opened 40 locations in the United States from California to New York and Florida. Having recently established headquarters in Dallas, Campero USA Corp. has launched an aggressive expansion plan.

ABOUT POLLO CAMPERO Pollo Campero, the world’s largest Latin chicken restaurant chain, and the only one to offer both grilled and bone-in fried chicken, is expanding aggressively in the United States by continuing to serve the best Latin chicken in the world. The company’s mission is to win the heart and palate of its customers with flavorful, authentic food, an exceptional experience and uncompromising quality. With 290 stores worldwide and 40 so far in the United States, Pollo Campero is actively seeking new franchisee partners.

Our September team was privileged to travel to one of El Salvador's beaches on the Pacific ocean. We had traveled to a new church open house in El Rosario and took advantage of the proximity to the ocean to go there with little Andrea as our guest.
This beach was deserted--vacant--no one was there. We only had a few minutes to enjoy the beauty and get our feet wet. We had barely reached the water when we were approached by vendors with jewelry and souvenirs to sell. We did not see where they came from--but they knew that we had some in our group who were intent on helping the local economy. It was a good match of buyers and sellers.

This photo has a lot of significance. The tree is huge! It represents durability and strength and maturity. Jim, on the left, is a wonderful man from Houston, Texas. He is a great translator, preacher, teacher, and mentor for younger people and newer Christians. On the right is Carlos. He is a young man who wants to be a preacher of the Gospel. Carlos is learning English. He is one of the first students in the La Palma Bible Institute and is now taking the course on "Heaven". Carlos knows the tasks ahead of him. Learn the Bible and how to communicate the message of the Bible to others. Please pray that God will continue to bless Jim and Carlos.

My apology for the late posting. My only excuse is that I forgot it this morning!

God bless you, Ralph

Two ladies cross the street in La Palma carrying their loads on their heads. This is a skill that girls learn at an early age. Many do not need to use their hands to balance the basket.

Tomorrow is the biggest election of the quadrennial period! I am sure we are all praying that God will help decide the outcome and that HE will be praised in the results.

Here are the best predictions that can be made as of now-regardless of the vote totals:


1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him. And God approves this message!

ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS REALLY IN CHARGE.

God bless you,
Ralph

Rather than show any photos today, I would like to make you aware of some specific needs for the La Palma mission.

1. For La Palma Christian School we need about 10 headsets to allow the students to listen to computer programs. These would replace speakers on a computer. Microphones are not needed- only earphones. These can be bought for about $10-15 new.

2. Claudia, the girl in the wheelchair that we have shown several times, needs an exercise bicycle for her therapy. It needs to be a good sturdy one to build her leg strength. We have one borrowed from a local benevolent organization, but she needs her own.

3. We had some electric wheelchairs donated to give to people there who cannot propel one by the use of their hands. These needed repairs and new batteries. Even with significant discounts for this benevolent use, the batteries for these units cost $280. Please consider helping buy new batteries.

God bless you,
Ralph

Jim, Lori, and Melva enjoy a Bible study with 2 young ladies. This became a common scene as the September trip neared the end.

El Salvador has a long coast line on the Pacific. The beaches are beautiful and are largely undeveloped, but that is changing rapidly as hi-rise units are being built rather quickly.

Here, Cathy enjoys the waves during the short time we had there.

This is a video of Julio riding his Personal Energy Transport for the first time. He usually gets around by scooting his body and walking on his hands holding wooden blocks in them. Wheel chairs don't work for him because of the lack of sidewalks or adequate street surfaces.

Watch him put the wooden blocks in the platform of the unit as he climbs in.

Julio is 33 years old, and this gift changed his life!

Volunteers around the US build these machines and donate them to people like Julio who have no legs. This one was built in Mt Vernon, MO.

God bless you, Ralph

A father-son team travels up the street. They are able to ignore the high fuel prices. Fuel costs more in El Salvador than it does here.

Many celebrations take place in September in El Salvador. This one involved parades featuring young ladies, similar to homecoming parades that we have. The vehicles are different, but the crowds were very receptive and appreciative of the entries.

Do you sometimes think the street you live on is rough and poorly maintained? This is about a block west of the hotel we stay in in La Palma. It has mostly foot and horse traffic, but cars and pickups do come down that way occasionally--and slowly.

Some have asked how the people there store the toothbrushes and toothpaste that we give out. Enlarge this photo--click on it -- to see how one household does that. Their water barrel is about 20 yards from the door. There is no plumbing indoors,

Melva, Marcy, and Lori 'hang out' in a doorway before the big parade. Later, Chris and Cathy 'hang out' in the same doorway. Can you tell that they are tourists?