October 31 2009 WheelChair Giveaway At Zion Tabernacle Church

There are so many people that need wheelchairs! I am overwhelmed with the need. Today two little old ladies showed up at church asking for wheelchairs. The word is spreading like wildfire! Bless you Free Wheelchair Mission!

October 21 2009 Omoa and Puerto Cortes

Sometimes when I have to do paperwork on containers or things that are shipped to Honduras I have to go to Puerto Cortes and suffer in the heat! Today was a day of such suffering... and then...



Looking out of the restaurant.



The food was too good to describe! The mashed round things are called tostones and are platano fried and mashed. The lobster was EXCELLENT!



Looking out the other window at the restaurant.



Not a very pretty background... but the bird just wouldn't cooperate and go to a pretty place. Does anyone know what kind of bird this is?

October 21, 2009 Eye Exams Set To The Music Of Snoring Policemen

In the midst of the “Political Crisis” in Honduras, on October 21, 2009 to be exact, I decided to take advantage of the situation to be able to reach an unreached people group with an Eyeglass Brigade.


Many of the police from outside of Tegucigalpa, police who live in small rural villages, are in town for the Congressional and Supreme Court legislated “Coup”. I still don’t understand why this is called a coup instead of an impeachment. These men have rare access to healthcare. So I plotted and planned and was able to get permission to go to where they were staying and have an eye brigade to check all of their eyes.


Rolando, of COVA, performs priliminary eye exams.


Victor Montoya follows with more exams.


Since there were 800 extra police in town, they were sleeping on the floor and outside at a military installation. We went there. As they came in from their ALL NIGHT foot patrols, they were surprised to see that we had taken over their dorm room.






All lined up and we gave them an eye exam and then they crashed on the floor to sleep. It was interesting doing eye exams to the background music of many snoring cops. I should really write a book about all the crazy things I do as a missionary! It never ends! There is always one surprise after another.

October 13 Wheelchair Giveaway And Stained Glass Cookies

Last week I received a telephone call from a woman who does washing and ironing in her home in order to be able to support her invalid mother and her children. He husband died several years ago. She was in need of a wheelchair for her mother who suffered a stroke several years ago and has been unable to get around since that time.

She had taken off several times and gone to visit the Ex-President's wife asking for a wheelchair, but there were lots of promises and NO follow through. So she called me desperate. She needed help and thanks to Free Wheelchair Mission and thanks to Dr. Catherine Taylor Foster and to the Jack Deloss Taylor Trust, this old woman was blessed with a wheelchair today. As you can see, the daughter has to pick her up to get her in and out of the car, the bed or where ever she is.

There is nothing so GREAT as the huge smiles from appreciative patients. This lady made my day!

Guava Cake Recipe & Thankful To The Lord For A Great Crop Of Guava

I am thankful for the abundant guava, lemon and Mandarin Orange crops at the farm this year. I went to the farm and returned home with 100 pounds of guava plus lemons and Mandarin oranges. Now it is time to get creative... what to do with 100# of guava... Guava cake and freeze the rest for use later in more cakes.

Guava cake or cupcakes:

125g (4oz) butter

175g (6oz) sugar

2 eggs

1 cup mashed ripe guavas

1 tsp Baking soda

2 Tbsp boiling milk

1 tsp baking power

225g (8oz) flour
Cream butter & sugar till light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time.
Mix in mashed guava.
Add baking soda that has been dissolved in hot milk.
Lastly mix in sifted flour & baking powder.

Don't overbeat the batter.
For a cake bake it in Bundt Cake Pan 325 F for about 45 minutes.
This recipe will make around 18 standard size cupcakes and they are baked at 325 F for approx 18-25 minutes. Bake until cupcakes are light golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

I make a normal buttercream icing and then I add Guava Jelly to it until it becomes runny. This is then drizzled over the top of the bundt cake making sure that the icing dribbles down the inside and outside of the cake.
Note: They are even better the next day. If you can wait that long

Casa In Aramicina, Honduras On The El Salvador Border

There are many ways to describe Honduras, each zone of the country has it's own special characteristics. The house below is typical of the area where El Salvador meets Honduras. This particular home is located in Aramicina, Valle, Honduras. The bright colors, the tile around the doors and windows all show the El Salvadorean influence in the area.



I love living in Honduras except when it comes to cooking. I miss fresh herbs and spices and being able to run to Dean and Deluca a few blocks from home if I didn't have what I needed.


There are many things which I just can't find here, like fresh mint, fancy cheeses and good BBQ sauce. I have a friend which brings me Chips BBQ Sauce from Little Rock, Arkansas when she comes to visit. Thank you Linda K. Bell!

I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas and across the street from the Methodist Church where I attended as a kid, there was a wonderful BBQ place called Chips BBQ. Every Saturday night I ate an English Muffin BBQ Beef Sandwich there. I know that sounds like a strange combination, but the truth is the English Muffin holds up much better with tons of BBQ sauce than does white bread. Meat, cheese, coleslaw and tons of BBQ on a English Muffin and you have a sandwich made in heaven. Chips BBQ is located at 9801 W Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72205-2125 telephone (501) 225-4346. Just in case you want to order some of the best BBQ Sauce in the world.


The up side to living in Honduras is that there are several kinds of parsley and "culantro" I think that is cilantro in English. Lots of varities of bananas, many fresh fruits like papaya, mango, guava, pineapple, cashew etc. and all these different fruits are cheap. I buy Calle Lilies at least once a month to place on my table and they too are really cheap. So I complain, but not too be taken very seriously.

Christmas Cookie Tree To Use As A Centerpiece

Boca Raton News - Google News Archive Search

I was looking for a Christmas Cookie Tree Recipe today, thinking and planning my holiday calender and I found this. Does anyone have a better recipe? I think I am going to cut into star shapes instead of rounds or at least scallops. Round sounds too boring!

Honduras Loses To USA In Soccer Match And We Eat Artichoke Dip As We Weep At The Loss

Claudia had more fun than all the rest of us, she didn't understand that Honduras lost to the USA in the soccer game. She just knew that all her aunts and uncles took turns holding her and she loved it!

Miguel and Ana invited us over to their home to watch the soccer game. It was nice to be with friends but it was horrible to lose the game.

At least we had good food and good fellowship. I made the Hot Artichoke Dip and it was wonderful!

Hot Artichoke Dip Recipe

1 jar of artichoke hearts in oil, drained and chopped (I use the kind packed in oil because they have a better flavor)
1/2 cup real mayonnaise (not salad dressing)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce

Mix all together and then place in the microwave until bubbling hot, remove from microwave and place under the broiler until slightly browned on top. Serve with fresh Italian bread or pita bread.

Angelitas Natural Fruit Popsicles and A Day of Graphic Design

Today was a very different day for me. Instead of giving away wheelchairs or having an eye team, I was sitting at a computer with a graphics design person. Jose (my Honduran almost kid) has decided to go into the popsicle "paleta" business. I know you are thinking, "An attorney that sells popsicles?" But it really is not as crazy as it seems. Last summer I FORCED him to read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and after the 2nd chapter, he was hooked. He has been rolling the concept of small businesses around in his head for a while.

He went to a seminar earlier this year and some old, rich, wise attorneys told him that you make money as an attorney, but you make more from the sideline businesses that you invest in as a result of your contacts. He came home all excited about the seminar and ....

Every time he sees a business, he talks about it and how he might be able to make some money at it. He has a favorite place to eat ice cream and fruit popsicles and somehow the idea of small popsicle stands came up, grew and now is almost a reality.

This week there were huge sales on appliances. So Jose bought 2 freezers, one was 50% off and the other was 35% off. He spoke with some friends and received permission to put the freezers inside their strategically placed businesses, located in the HOTTEST climate areas in Honduras. He has hired a couple to make the popsicles for him. The people to sell the All Natural Fruit Popsicles are ready and next week he will open his first two shops.

Today I had the privilege of designing the artwork for Jose's new little business. The artwork at the top of the page is for the front of the freezer. The other artwork is for hanging double sided signs from the ceiling.

I know, I know, Tequila is NOT all fruit, but most of the other 50 flavors are all fruit and all natural. Piña Colada, Rum Raisin and Tequila are the exceptions.

October 7 More Good News! 11 More Cataract Patients Receive Free Surgery And What Is This Bird?

Today 11 cataract patients received FREE surgery at COVA. These are patients which we identified over the last two months. Bad news came with the good news. :( Several of the patients were too scared to come to Tegucigalpa to receive their surgeries. The brave souls who did come returned home happily ready to tell their friends that all went well.

There have been a lot of bad news reports floating around Honduras regarding some Cuban doctors who are "volunteering" here in Honduras and evidently, if the Honduran grapevine is to be believed, several people have been blinded by "poorly executed surgeries".

One interesting concept in Honduras is that grapevine information is usually more reliable than newspaper reports. So when these people returned to their rural villages, HEALED, all of their friends will suddenly start calling asking for surgeries.

Now I need some help! Is there a bird watcher that knows the name of this bird? I love the tail. It ends then starts all over again. I saw about 20 of these birds on a country road on the way to Coray, Valle, Honduras.

October 6 2009 Tegucigalpa Wheelchair Giveaway

Chairs ready to give away.


This police officer was shot in the line of duty and needed a wheelchair.




Just one of many happy faces today.




























Today we gave away 13 wheelchairs! What a blessing for the people!