It's What You See

http://www.flickr.com/photos/venosdale/6226889341/in/photostream

I love this quote and it must have been written after taking a good look at the GOOD BOOK! 

It has been a very rough few months... Thus I have not blogged much.  I have continued to work, doing the work of the ministry, but it has been three months of crisis after crisis after crisis.  My camera died in late July and I was unable to buy another until I went to the USA in September.  That cut down on my ability to document things; others took photos and promised to send them, but many of those were empty promises. 

I have felt like I was in a war zone and I guess I am in one sense of the word.  Honduras has just been given the distinction of being named the number ONE murder capitol of the world...  That is more than Syria, more than Libya, more than Afghanistan or Columbia.  I am wondering how that is possible.  I carry on my daily life, go to the grocery store, go to church, minister in small villages and at the prison.  I minister to the gangs in the street, visit the hospitals, continue with my medical and surgery teams.  I went to a women's retreat, I drive to the farm, I pick Mandarin oranges, bananas, Calla Lilies and Birds of Paradise out of my garden and life goes on or should I say, life and death go on.

This has been three months of constant death.  Seventeen of my gang boys have died.  One of them "Gangster" had called me a few weeks prior and had asked me to be godmother to his young twin daughters.  I had told him it was a big responsibility but I would pray about it.  I tried several times to call him back and then one morning I was awakened by a call from the gang at the jail saying that the police were killing the boys in a San Pedro Sula barrio.  I thought he was in La Ceiba, but he was killed that morning along with six others.  Then a few days later three more were killed and a few days later several more.  Then a few weeks ago one who was very special to me was killed.  So why was he so special?  I don't really know except to say that God placed him on my heart in a strange way.

So what does all this have to do with the quote by Henry David Thoreau.  "It's not what you look at that matters, it is what you see."  When most people see these gang boys, they are immediately scared.  They think the worst and I have to admit, when I first started working with them, I wasn't sure whether it was the Lord speaking to me or the devil sucking me into a trap.  Now it is common to get middle of the night telephone calls to go to the hospital or to let me know that something is going on.  Sometimes they ask me to pray and sometimes they are too shy to ask, but I know they called me, where I will pray. 

I am going to explain several things in this post.  One of those things is how the Lord has changed my heart to see human beings in need of love, understanding and a shoulder to lean on; I see this when others might see a different picture.

I am going to start by showing you a photo of Fausto... Fausto is one of the gang members who I had to bury several years ago.  But Fausto has a story which must be told.  His story has been waiting to be told.  And today I feel it is time.  Almost three years have passed since Fausto was killed in a car accident. 

This is the only pre-Christian photo which I have of Fausto.  Although he is smiling a little in the photo, he was a bad boy.  His name in the gang was "Puma".  When I look at this photo, I cannot remember him this way.  When "Puma" left the prison I didn't know he was leaving.  One day I went to visit as I do and he was not there.  Soon after, he called me to visit him for Mother's Day weekend.  He had called me "mom" for a while before he left the prison, but I was surprised to have him call and request this visit.  While at the prison we had been studying the book of John.  Mostly I just discussed the chapters with him one by one, so I knew God's seed had been sown in his heart.  When he called I immediately knew that it was God... so I made plans... not knowing where I was going, as he moved around a lot, I set the dates apart on my calendar and planned to leave on a Friday and return on a Sunday. 

Needless to say those around me were not so sure that I had heard from God.  In fact one person went so far as to tell me I was crazy and another told me that I was "NOT" hearing from God. I was told to "be prepared to be kidnapped or killed or worse."  But there was that small calm, sweet Holy Spirit voice inside of me which kept saying, "This is a divine appointment, don't miss it."

I called my daddy and told him I was going to visit "Puma" and I know my daddy well enough after these 50+ years that if he had felt it was not the right thing to do, he would have told me.  He calmly stated that they (mom and dad) would pray for me and to "keep in contact".

So I got in my truck and headed out of the city on the road which goes to the north coast.  Every thirty minutes without fail a call would come in on my cell phone from "Puma" asking me where I was.  When I left home he told me I was going to San Pedro Sula, but all the sudden, he told me to make a turn.  For a minute I got butterflies in my stomach (had I heard from God?) and then I got peace from the Lord again.  I followed his directions turn by turn, point by point and arrived in a small town five interesting hours after I had left home. 

I was met by his wife, his step mother, his four brothers and his sister along with an entourage of nephews, sister-in-laws and nieces.  I had taken along enough money to pay for a hotel room and food, but there was no way his Christian step mom was going to stand for that nonsense.  I was staying in the home with everyone else and her word was the final word.  I was surprised at what a tough but gentle lady she was.  We became instant friends.

All that evening and the following day, I shared about the love of God with Fausto.  Finally mid afternoon on Saturday, he broke and cried.  He said, "How is it possible that God could love someone as bad as me? I have been so bad, I can't even remember all the bad things which I have done!", he told me through large crocodile tears.  As I explained the mercy of God, he asked why I was not afraid of him when "EVERYONE" else was?  I told him, I guess it is because God gave me eyes to see him as he really was, a man with a gentle heart and a kind demeanor.  Hidden inside a shell which he had built because of all the hurt which life had thrown his way.  He cried more.  In all my years of ministry, I had NEVER seen anyone cry a lake of tears, but between his "burros" there was a lake of tears.  I don't know what "burros" are called in English, but they are a tan colored work boot which comes above the ankle. 

His mom called us for lunch and I told him, "It is now or never... are you going to give your life to God or not?"  To my surprise, he said, "Yes!"  I thought it might be several more hours of the Lord working on his heart, but it was not to be.  He was ready, so we prayed and the grand "Puma", one of the feared leaders of the gang, accepted Jesus into his heart.  He cried like a baby and told the Lord that he couldn't remember all his sins he had been sinning for so long; but he wanted to make a change.  And that day, he did change, in an instant, he changed. 

Later that evening his brother took a photo which he later shared with me.  I want you to look at this photo, look beyond the tattoos and see the face of a new Christian.  I had never seen him really smile until that day.

  

To make a point, I want you to look at the two photos side by side.

  

That afternoon and the following day, "Puma" was like a little kid...  "Tell my brother, tell my other brother, tell my sister, tell everyone about Jesus." One of his brother's and one sister-in-laws were already Christians and went to church with his step mother.  That weekend all his other family members present, except for one brother accepted Christ as their Savior.  His mother was delighted.

I was surprised about 3:00 pm when "Puma" said that we were going for a ride.  After we were in the car, he asked if I could baptise him.  "Of course I can!", I told him, not knowing that we were on the way to a private pool to baptise him.  His entire family was in attendance, including all the nieces and nephews.

I had never baptised anyone without them having a shirt on, but everything about this week was unconventional, so why not?  He had not thought to bring an extra shirt with him and if he had worn the one he had on into the pool, then on the ride back in the car, all his tattoos would have been exposed, which was not a good thing.  So that afternoon, I baptised "Puma".  From that time forward, he always called and said, "Mom, this is Fausto."  The name "Puma" disappeared from his vocabulary, at least with me.

I carefully explained to him what baptism meant.

After he came up dripping wet, he had a HUGE smile on his face.

Then he sat pensively on the side of the pool with a HUGE grin on his face.

And so the life of "Puma" changed to the life of "Fausto". 

The week before he was killed in a car accident, he had asked me if God would let him be a pastor.  I told him, "Yes." and he said he wanted to be a pastor to the gang.  I carefully explained that churches are made up of all kinds of people including past enemies, even rival gang members...  The thoughtful look on his face spoke volumes to me.   "Even them?" he asked.  "Even them!", I answered.  "I can do it with God's help," he said.  "I know you can!", I replied.  I was beaming with pride because I could see that in the time he was with the Lord, he had grown by leaps and bounds. 

A few weeks prior to that, he had called me to his home and told me he was tired of running.  He was tired of being chased by the police.  He was tired of hiding.  He was tired and wanted to go home to be with Jesus.  I encouraged him to consider what God wanted for his life and so when he said he wanted to be a pastor, I was pleased at this change of heart.  But it was not to be. 

Even in his death he was despised.  The news headlines said he was a dangerous leader of the gang, who was running from the law and being chased by the police at the time of the accident.  All lies.  The news said he was being chauffeured around by the Vice-Minister of Security's police chauffeur and they said a hit man was in the car with them.  What the news didn't say was that Puma's wife and the police chauffeur's wife were sisters.  What the news didn't say was that the young man with them was married to the chauffeur's daughter.  What the news didn't say was that they had just returned from a fishing trip and to visit his step mother who by that time was dying from cancer. 

So as he was despised and feared in life, he was despised and lied about in death. 

Remember I said that a few weeks ago one gang member who was very special to me was killed. So why was he so special?  One of the things which Fausto said to me a few weeks before he died was that he had brought "Cabeza" Celin Pinot into the gang and he really wanted me to focus on getting him "saved".  As a "special" favor to him, he made me promise.  Since Fausto had left gang life, he really had no contact with them.  But "Cabeza" became a point of prayer in my life. 

I tried several times to speak alone to "Cabeza" but he never allowed me to get very close to him.  He knew I wanted to tell him something, but I never had a chance when there weren't many others listening.  I wanted to fulfill my promise to Fausto, but it was so hard.  Finally one day, I had a small window of opportunity to really cut to the bone for a few short minutes.  I told him that Fausto wanted him to receive Christ.  He just stared at me.  He was uncomfortable, but he listened for a few short minutes, maybe no more than a minute as I explained that he needed to give his life to the Lord and that Fausto had requested that I tell him that.

 The other day, "Cabeza" was killed as he was forced to leave the prison at 11:00 at night.  He and another gang member were assassinated as they left the prison with their permission given by the court earlier that day to go free.  They were held up on purpose until it was way after dark and too late to talk to their attorneys and then they were killed half a block from the prison with automatic weapons.

I went to the prison the next day with the people from Human Rights and these are the photos they took with my new camera.

 So tonight when I was surfing the web and read the quote by Henry David Thoreau. "It's not what you look at that matters, it is what you see."  It struck a chord with me.  In fact it inspired me to blog again after several months of silence. 

You know when Jesus saw the woman at the well, he saw her as a potential minister, he saw her as she could be.  He saw her with a useful and productive life.

When Jesus saw the tax collector, he saw him as he would become, not as he was.  When he saw Saul who persecuted all Christians, he saw him as Paul who wrote most of the New Testament.  When he saw Puma he saw him as Fausto and when he saw Cabeza he saw him as Celin. 

The ending to this story is wonderful in the midst of all the killing and all the death and all the sin.  "Cabeza" left a note for his girlfriend of many years, I suppose he had a premonition that he was going to die and he gave the note to her at a court hearing the same day he was killed.  In the note and in person at the court hearing, he told her that while he was in maximum security, in lock down the last 7 days of his life, he had accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior and he was now a changed man.  A friend of a friend of a friend talked to the girlfriend and heard about the note.  She knew that I had prayed for years for the gang members for salvation and she shared with me.  What had been terrible grief for me was turned to joy!  Although I was not close to Celin in life, I was close to him because of the burden God had placed on my heart for him.

God is so faithful to answer my prayers!

Early January Medical Team 2010

This week my church, Zion Tabernacle, borrowed my farm and held a medical clinic and at the same time gave away childrens shoes and toys. Also they gave away food donated from the United States, sorted, packaged and moved by the local church here in Honduras.

Tim Knoesten far left looks at the boxes of medicine ready to distribute to those with health problems.

Tim Knoeson and Tyanne Jurka (pastor's wife) chat with another church volunteer.

The group of volunteers from the church pray before beginning the clinic.

Locals from the community wait in line to be seen. 100+ kids and over 50 families from the community were represented and received free care.

Tim and Ivonne Knoeson's son takes a look at the box of toys before they are donated to local children.

Before, during and after the brigades there is always time to have fun!

September 17 El Conchal Eye Brigade No Electricity

This was an interesting eye brigade. I have a saying, "The only thing that you can count on is that nothing will go as planned." This is my motto for Honduras. Somehow we get things done, but it is seldom easy. Today was one of those days. We arrived to find that once again a local politician, who doesn't like us had cut the electricity. He does this regularly because I am an OUTSPOKEN critic of his corruption. Since he is the person who placed the man that is in charge of the local electric department, he just gives him a call, the electricity is cut off to the pueblo where we are working and we have to work with a generator. The first time this happened, I had a dream the night before and the Lord showed me in the dream that there would be no electricity. I stopped and borrowed a generator from a church and went the 15 miles further to find that there was no electricity. The people in the car with me were trying to tell me that, "there was no problem, there was electricity, there were no power outages, etc." The look on their faces when we arrived and there was NO ELECTRICITY was priceless. God is good!!!! See my blog about Diputado Eleazer Juarez.

Waiting for eye exams.

More people waiting on their coke crate improvised chairs.

Victor Montoya performing eye exams.

The clinic was performed at a local school on the front porch with the generator around the side of the building. No bathrooms by the way... well there are bathrooms, I lied... but they have no doors and .... well you can imagine.... it made for a long day, the bumpy roads back to civilization almost shook the pee out of me.

More people waiting and talking. I didn't make of list of the patients this day but it seems we saw about 100 people and there were 13 people with cataracts. They will have surgery the end of the month.

Thank you Martin Family for your donations which help make these clinics possible.

August 27 Agua Fria Eye Brigade

This was an eye team that was a FLOP. We arrived, the people that needed exams didn't..... We only saw 23 people and only found 3 people with cataracts. It was a sad day but the people that we found will have free cataract surgery. Sometimes I wonder why people say they will notify the people and then they don't. Thank you to the Martin Family for sponsoring this team... the few were appreciative.

My favorite patient of the day.

Rolando performs an eye exam.

Victor Montoya performs eye exams on 1960's chairs.

The Trip Back From Kansas To Tegucigalpa

What a week! I packed furniture, loaded and loaded some more. But finally I got everything moved. In 1994 the Lord spoke to me that Mike and I that we would be moving to Honduras a missionaries and we both believed Him. That same year we purchased a not so beautiful farm in Valle de Angeles and started construction on a small house.

Later we continued to purchase more and more land until finally we had purchased seven parcels equaling about 21 acres. Mike never had much of a vision for that specific land; he always said it was “A double black diamond ski slope without the snow.” But nevertheless, we began to invest in the land. I invested time and energy and he invested money. We built a shed for the animals, we built a huge warehouse and we continued to build and make improvements.

Now, 15 years later, the farm is beautiful, carefully planted with hundreds of fruit trees, anoni, nanci, guava, almond, cashew, Japanese plums, mandarin oranges, lemons, grapefruit, several varieties of oranges and of course bananas of 5 different varieties.

Over the years I brought seeds and planted perennials and bulbs and planted iris, always planning for the “move”. Many of the wood fences have been carefully replaced with PVC white 4” posts and little by little the farm has become more and more beautiful.

I never imagined at the time of the word from the Lord and the purchase how much effort it would be to get prepared to move from one country to another and to actually make the move.

Hundreds of hospital gowns were donated (they will be given to the hospital in Choluteca upon arrival) and they were used to cover the wood legs and sides of each piece of furniture as it was meticulously wrapped for the long journey. More than 30 pillows were purchased and they were used to pack chairs one on another where they would not slip and slide and ruin the wood carving. These pillows also will be donated upon arrival in Honduras. I worked alongside my parents and several friends until 2:00 AM on Wednesday morning and then we were close enough to termination that I was able to take a shower and head to the airport. My intention was to get to Honduras on Wednesday, do the last minute running around which I always do before every medical team arrives and then rest and go to the airport on Thursday to meet the team. BUT ALAS it was not to be.

I arrived at the airport on time, mom drove while dad and I fell in and out of La La Land somewhere between exhaustion and sleep. Thanks MOM! When I arrived at the airport, for the first time in my life, dad was too fatigued to wait to make sure the flight left. I ate a bagel alone at the bagel stand and made small talk with some Mexicans waiting for their flights.

Finally I was on the plane and that is the last thing I remember until we landed in San Antonio. I remember waking up with a JOLT hearing the flight attendant say, “Prepare for landing in San Antonio.” I was sitting in the first seat and I looked at her and said, “Houston.” Then she repeated, “San Antonio.” “Oh my God,” I thought, “I got on the wrong plane!” I told her I was going to Houston, not San Antonio and she said, “I know, but Houston is fogged in and we have to sit here until the fog lifts.” Evidently while I was snoozing we circled Houston for an hour and then were diverted to San Antonio. We sat on the tarmac waiting for three hours and finally we flew to Houston, but we didn’t arrive before my flight to Tegucigalpa had already left and so I was stuck!

When I walked out of my gate and into the terminal, I thought I was on the off ramp after a Kansas City Chiefs Game. There were wall to wall people. Photo to the left. I have never seen an airport so full! People were one on top of the other stacked like cordwood.

I checked into the Marriot at the airport and slept. And I slept. And I slept some more! Finally I woke up around 9:00 PM ordered a huge salad from room service ate and slept some more. I woke up just in time to take a quick shower and race to my gate. Alas, just to wait and wait and wait some more. Houston was totally fogged in, AGAIN!

The doc coming for the trip was a new doc and now I was going to be late, but how late? I arrived finally in Tegucigalpa 26 hours after my intended arrival. Thank you Doctor Spitz for being so understanding!

Macadamia Nut Cheesecake and .......

Several weeks or was it months ago, September 24th to be exact, I promised to post my Macadamia Cheesecake Recipe. Well here it is. Thanks to Dr. Yeu-Tsu Margaret Lee a General Surgeon Volunteer from Hawaii, I had the incredible blessing of owning Macadamia Nuts for the first time in four or five years!

Photo is not mine it was borrowed from: http://www.mainmainmasakmasak.wordpress.com/

When Dr. Yeu-Tsu Margaret Lee arrived for the Medical Missions trip in September she brought with her a HUGE bag of Macadamia nuts. I was so excited, I wanted to cancel the medical team and go home to bake, but alas it was not to be.

The team was full of adventure and was well worth the effort, but after I dropped her off at the airport, I went home to make Macadamia Cheesecake.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cheese Cake

White chocolate adds to the creamy texture and rich flavor of this cheesecake. I have no idea where I found the recipe, it was cut out of a magazine years ago and I just cut around the recipe and didn't save the magazine name.

1 ½ cups of chocolate wafer crumbs (since I can’t get those in Honduras I use graham cracker crumbs)
1 ½ cups chopped Macadamia Nuts, divided use
¾ cup real butter, divided use
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 packages of cream cheese (8 ounces each)
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 large eggs
¾ pound white chocolate melted
1 tablespoon liqueur (I use Grand Marnier)
2 teaspoons almond extract (the recipe calls for vanilla, but I like almond better)
2 tablespoons semi sweet chocolate chips melted (I skip this as I like the white chocolate flavor alone)

Combine chocolate wafer crumbs, ½ cup of Macadamia Nuts, ¼ cup of melted butter, and cinnamon and mix well. Press into the bottom of a 9” springform pan. Bake 10 minutes and then cool.

Beat softened cream cheese until it is fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix after each addition. Stir in ½ cup of softened but not melted butter. Add melted white chocolate, liqueur and almond flavoring. Mix well. Fold in remaining Macadamia Nuts. Pour into the cooled crust.

Bake for 1 ½ hours at 300 degrees or until the center is set. Turn the oven off, open the oven door and let the cheesecake cool while in the oven. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. This is the hardest part! Serve with melted chocolate poured over the top.

Whew! I am tired! Medical Teams, Medical Teams and More Medical Teams!

Eye Teams Next Week!

This whole year has been a whirlwind! It has been medical team after medical team after medical team, but the year is winding down and just 5 more days of medical teams to go this month. Monday morning and Tuesday morning, we will have several cataract patients come to Tegucigalpa from the Department of Valle, Honduras. If all goes as planned we will perform 9 surgeries on Tuesday and 9 more on Wednesday. The Tuesday patients will return home on Wednesday and the Wednesday patients will return home on Thursday. On Wednesday, I will head to southern Honduras again with the eye team and we will have 3 days of eye exams in three medium sized villages. Friday afternoon late we will return, hopefully having identified 30 or more cataract patients which will receive surgery in January. My goal is to completely eradicate cataracts in Valle, Honduras before 2012.

Ear, Nose and Throat Team Last Week

Last Thursday a SMART Medical team arrived in Tegucigalpa from Seattle, Washington and Eugene, Oregon. We had a wonderful time in Choluteca Hospital. It is always great when a team flows and when the people are homogeneous. This team was just that! Everything flowed perfectly until we arrived at the airport 2 hours early and found that the return flight would be two hours late. Seems that bad weather in Newark delayed the flight to Houston which delayed the flight to Tegucigalpa which in turn bumped my people from their original flights to later flights. I hate the NEW KIOSK check-in things at Continental. I miss the contact with the kind Continental Airlines people.

After the team arrived on Thursday, we drove to Choluteca where we had an entire GANG of ear reconstruction patients waiting for us. In all we completed 10 ear reconstruction surgeries. These surgeries are usually three phase surgeries, most of the patients were ready for phase two. They (the patients and mothers) have all become friends and in typical Latin style, they all sit around and have a reunion while waiting for surgery. The previous patients tell the phase one patients what to expect and are generally very friendly with each other. This time was no exception.

Above one of our returning patients.

To the left, one of our return patients having her 2nd phase surgery along with the team. Genevieve Burgoyne, Dr. John Burgoyne, our beautiful curly headed patient and to the right Ken Riebeling, CRNA.

BIBLES STOLEN!

Dr. John Burgoyne also performed surgery on one patient with a deviated septum and another with a goiter. Ken Riebeling, CRNA did all the anesthesia for each case. In all 12 patients were helped and we all left feeling happy about what was accomplished. American missionary to Honduras, Mike Rudd, donated several Bibles which were passed out to each of our patients. I left the 2 extra Bibles sitting in a box outside the operating room in the Pre-Op area and would you believe someone stole the two Bibles. It never ceases to amaze me the things which happen in Honduras.

Horn Heaven!

The horn on the FORD truck died and went to "horn heaven" during the week. Ford horns are made to be used a few times a week in the USA and I use the horn a hundred times a day in Honduras. It is impossible and I do mean IMPOSSIBLE to drive in Honduras without a horn. The truck horn had a long and productive life, may it rest in peace! While the medical team was busy at the hospital doing surgeries, Jose "Cobra" went and replaced the horn.

The absolute necessity for a horn is just another example of the difference in living in Kansas and living in Honduras. I doubt I blew my horn more than 5 times a month in Kansas and I use it 50 times a day here.

Thanksgiving!

Yesterday I started a study on praise and thanksgiving since someone reminded me that Thursday is Thanksgiving Day. In Honduras we do not celebrate Thanksgiving, so I totally forgot about it.

This morning, I remember and am thankful for the many times I have experienced the comfort and support of His presence. I reflected on the times when it felt like no one (except for mom and dad) was there to stand and support me, when uncertainty about life, caused my thoughts and emotions to spin. I remember when everything in my heart hurt. Most of us have experienced those seasons in life. Many call these experiences the valleys in life.

David Maldonado our oldest grandson to the left. He is holding a cupcake he made with me on one of my visits to the USA.

As I continued to reflect on life, I intensely recalled those moments when in the midst of depressing and heartbreaking hours, the glorious presence of God’s tangible love invaded the obscurity, flooding me with His sweet presence and peace and giving me the courage and strength that I needed to continue. When God manifested His presence, the battle settled.

I remember after the car accident knowing that my neck was broken, seeing that Sarah was in a coma, seeing that Mike was screaming saying, “she is going to die, she is going to die.” I began to pray and thank God for His presence in that situation. About that time my sweet little Jessica (8 years old at the time) began to sing sweet praises to the Lord, sitting on the side of the road. God’s presence entered the seemingly hopeless situation and He began to touch all of our hearts. No matter how devastating the circumstances were, they were insignificant in His presence.

The only fitting response to God’s divine intervention in our dark hours is to be thankful. Thankfulness is the only appropriate response. The memory of moments like these releases from deep within me an inexplicable gratefulness for all He has done for me. God is awesome.

45 of the 150 Psalms start out with words of praise. I want to learn to be thankful and to praise Him when I am in good situations and when I am in bad situations. I want to be as passionate about praising Him as He is with me about “never leaving or forsaking me.” I want to learn to be thankful to God all day every day. I encourage you today to join with me to thank the Lord for all the wonderful things he has done for you.

Psalm 34:3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

A few weeks ago I was reading where the Bible says that God formed us in the womb. I think about that and I am happy that He chose to give me my parents. I am grateful for them, they are a blessing to me. I also am thankful for my two precious daughters. God chose to form them in my womb. I am thankful for their father, Mike. God chose him as my husband and as the father of my children before I was born. I remember praying at the young age of 14 years old for the husband that I would marry and for the children that I would have. I was 14 and was praying for God to be preparing the spouses of my children. He did. Rene and Casey are both wonderful fathers to their children, my grandchildren.

Rene Maldonado, my son-in-law with Shelah, our fifth grandchild to the left.

God is touched when we express our gratefulness to Him. He created us to have fellowship with Him and our thankfulness and praise is like a sweet savor to Him.

When I think of favorite smells, I think of grandma Jewel’s homemade biscuits baking inside the wood fired oven. I would be visiting, sleeping in my grandparent’s log cabin, under her hand quilted, cotton stuffed quilts and then I would smell her biscuits. The smell would wake me up in the morning and bring me to life. Biscuits and Blue Ribbon Syrup and fresh butter that she churned and made on the farm, just remembering them, makes me smile. This is how God feels when we remember Him and are thankful to Him. Our praise smells good to God and makes him smile when we remember to thank Him.

Casey Gonzales our son-in-law to the left with Christina, the second child of Sarah and Casey and our fourth grandchild. A more recent photo of Christina is posted below.

This morning tears came to my eyes as I received an email from my friend Susan. She has a prodigal daughter that she and her husband are praying will return home. She wrote to ask me to join them in prayer. I imagine that there is nothing that hurts a parent as much as an ungrateful child. When one gives their all to their children and the children are ungrateful and reject them, it hurts terribly. Imagine how God feels when people reject Him.

Daniel Maldonado, our third grandson to the left. He is holding two candy dinosaurs he and I made together.

Many times as parents we do things that are best for our children, because we see something in the future that they do not see. They may become ungrateful as a result of our decisions or they may become ungrateful as a result of outside influences. We must make sure that we as Christians do not do the same thing with God. Many times we are in the middle of circumstances that seem to make it impossible for us to be thankful, never the less we must discern that God wants the best for our lives. We must see things from His point of view. We must be grateful that He loves us and cares for us.

Michael "Mikey" Gonzales, our second grandson to the left. He is in the boat at the lake.

In John Chapter 12, Mary of Bethany poured out an offering of perfume on the feet of Jesus. This was her act of thanks for the ministry she had received as a result of his presence and his teaching. Mary had a grateful heart and her way of showing her gratitude was to do something very special for Him. Bible scholars presume that perhaps the costly oil she poured out on Jesus’ feet was her dowry. Because she was grateful for all that Jesus did for her, she poured out her future. With no dowry, there was no hope for a good husband and there would be no wedding. How did Jesus respond? How did the disciples respond? Read John Chapter 12 and find out.

To be grateful we must sometimes take or eyes off ourselves and our situations and appreciate and admire God for who He is. I am convinced that most divorces happen as a result of one of the partner's becoming ungrateful and unthankful for their spouse. This opens the door and the ungrateful spouse starts criticizing and complaining and then they are susceptible to the first "outside influence" that comes their way, to "console them or counsel them" as they are telling their story of woe. An illicit relationship is born and next thing that comes along is a divorce.

In Mark chapter 8 we see that Jesus gave thanks. But what did He give thanks for? He was in a terrible situation, He had compassion on 4,000 very hungry people, but there was not enough food to feed them. Jesus was thankful and his thankfulness paid off. God performed the miracle of the loaves and the fishes and fed the 4,000. Many times we find ourselves in seemingly impossible situations. This is preciously when we need to praise and worship God. This is when we need to look for the good in people and the good in the circumstance.

I love Luke 17:11-19, ten lepers were cleansed BUT only one returned with a thankful heart to express his gratefulness to the Lord. This was the one leper who was not only cleansed, but was made whole. Leprosy eats away at the flesh, to be cleansed and healed from the leprosy is one thing, but to be “made whole” is another. This man may have lost toes or fingers to the leprosy but he was made whole, because of his thankfulness. To be made whole means that everything which was lost due to the leprosy was returned. Jesus called the leper's gratefulness, faith. When we are thankful for what the Lord has done for us, we have a chance to be made whole, not just healed, but made whole. If you have lost something in your life, don;t just pray for healing of the hurt, PRAISE and be made whole. God will count you gratefulness and thankfulness as faith and you will be made whole.

Christina Gonzales our fourth grandchild and our first granddaughter to the left. She is tired after a day at the lake with Casey and Sarah and her paternal Great Grandma Charlene.

I am blessed even in the middle of all the corruption in Honduras. I am thankful even in the midst of all of the circumstances which life has thrown my way. I am blessed with time to study yesterday and today, because the battery on my truck is dead. The dead battery was not a blessing neither was it a gift from God, BUT I have decided that I am blessed because I have time to do what I enjoy most, study the Word and help others who need help. I have made a decision to find a blessing in everything. I am blessed because God loves me!

Christina and Mikey Gonzales with 1 of our 3 granddogs.

The Flood! and Corruption!

As a result of hurricanes in the Caribbean and huge amounts of rainfall in Honduras, we have experienced severe flooding in Valle, Honduras.

The bridge was 25 meters wide. The river was so wild, that it broke out the side of the dirt wall going to the bridge and forced it's way around it. After the water resided, the people were left with a bridge to nowhere. The river bed is now 150 meters wide.

Under where the people are standing is where the water used to flow. The water system pipes are broken and there is no drinking water on one side of the bridge.

Dr. Catherine Foster and I have been working jointly with the PMA Programme Mundial de Alimentos or WFP World Food Program which is part of the United Nations. There have been some 650 families served as a result of the assistance after the flooding in Valle, Honduras.

In the photo to the right we are receiving a "briefing" on what is going on and what needs to be done.

Jose and I were receiving calls for help from Valle so I started looking for food. I went to PMA and when I spoke with the director, he said, "Before we get started, aren't you the woman that asked for food after Hurricane Mitch in 1998 for the prisoners?" And yes I was, I sat in the office of COPECO and told them that I would not move until they gave me food. They walked around me for 8 hours and decided that I was not going to give up, so he remembered me.

When Catherine and I arrived at the river, we had to walk across a log and then climb a ladder to get up on the river bank on the other side. The photo below is the log that we crossed and the photo to the right is Catherine Foster climbing the ladder.

I am thrilled to be an ongoing part of this food aid. I have had a chance to share with many people and in the following weeks, I will have more chances to meet and get to know many others. I am working closely with a pastor from Playa Grande by the name of Fernando. He has been a blessing because he knows all of the families and has made our work much easier.

PMA gives each family a food packet which consists of:

11 pounds of rice

4 pounds of beans

33 pounds of corn

2 bottles of oil

11 pounds of a soy and wheat mix

This in theory is enough to feed a family of 5 for 6 days. The only problem is that many of the families are receiving reduced rations.

Yesterday I found several families which didn't receive their full portions, I found a family of 9 children and 2 adults which only received 4 pounds of rice, 2 pounds of beans, 25 pounds of corn, the full amount of soy and only 1 bottle of oil. Somewhere between PMA and the family, almost half of the food was stolen. I am in the process of finding out what has happened to the other food. The day prior, I found another family that did not receive their fair portion. Smells like corruption to me.

I came home today, to wash clothes and tennis shoes and am heading back tonight. This will be my last blog for a few weeks.

Just Another Uneventful Day In Honduras!

Valeria Miller, RN & Dr. Yeu-Tsu Margaret Lee were still sound asleep in their beds after working until 3:15 AM Saturday morning with the one team of local, Choluteca, dedicated nurses and CRNAs who stayed to help.


Dr. Margaret Lee is on the left (the short one) and Val Miller is on the right. (the tall one)

Everything seemed to be going well, at least in my dream, when all the niceness was interrupted by a call from a frustrated Dr. Chung. "No one speaks English here and I want to get started and there are no sterile gowns and, and, and ....." I immediately knew that it was to be one more uneventful day of surgery in Honduras. Dr. Chung was at the hospital chomping at the bit to start surgeries at 7:00 AM but it was not to be. The surgical gowns (photo above) didn't arrive clean and sterile until almost 11:00 AM. Dr. Chung was alert and ready to go, because he had returned to the hotel at 7:00 PM where the other surgeon could take her turn in the OR.



Due to one uncooperative local CRNA we were relegated to one surgery room and one team of surgeons the afternoon and evening on Thursday and Friday and it looked like Saturday was shaping up to be similar.



We were able to accomplish one surgery before lunch break on Friday, at which time the CRNA announced that she was taking a one hour lunch. I pleaded with Albertina Cruz to help, but she flatly refused. With no patience left and ready for a fight, instead of fighting, I did the next best thing and called the hospital director and reported her. The head nurse was sent to make a written report and the war was on. Albertina had refused to help the day before and we were way behind on the surgeries which we had promised to perform. Patients were losing patience! ... and so were we.



When the head nurse came and Doña Albertina realized that I was making a written report of her actions, or lack thereof, she walked out of the hospital NEVER to return. She left her post. She didn't talk to anyone, she just left. This is a HUMAN RIGHTS violation in Honduras, because she was the CRNA on duty for emergencies.



Evidently Albertina had been a bit of a problem since the beginning of her time at the hospital, but no one was willing to face the wrath of Albertina so they all walked around on eggshells and no one said anything. As I was writing my report with the head nurse, several of the nurses walked by and gave me the thumbs up sign and I was instantly a hero among her co-workers. All of the sudden, nurses and CRNAs who were NOT on duty began to show up to help. Albertina stuck her head out the door and I pointed to her with my finger and said, "She is the one."



Anyway, back to Saturday, when the telephone rang, it was almost 10:00 AM. I jumped out of bed, quickly ate my cold breakfast which I am sure was wonderful at the time when it was ready to eat at 7:00 AM. By the time I woke the other team members, the ones that had worked late, we were on schedule to arrive at the hospital a little before 11:00 AM. When we arrived the surgery gowns were STILL not clean and sterile from the night before. But, they arrived shortly thereafter and a frustrated Dr. Chung was able to get to work.



Everything went well after that until about 5:30 PM when we had a torrential rainfall and the entire OR flooded. Dr. Chung was a "trooper" and in the midst of all the water, he finished the surgery and then we unplugged all of the electrical cords in the OR. Dr. Chung worked perched on top of a wooded box as he used the cautery machine and finished the thyroid surgery.



Val and a local nurse then moved the patient to the flooded recovery room, photo on the left and then we all started cleaning up the mess.


Dr. Chung grabbed a broom and started working. For almost an hour we all cleaned and took photos of course.

When all of the water was finally out, I called a supper break and we left for the hotel to eat, while the floors were sanitized where we could start work again after supper.


We all arrived at the hotel, soaked to the bone, shoes wet, socks wet, pants bottoms wet and we were all tired, but exhilarated from all the excitement.


Dr. Charles Chung below, showing his broom expertise!

Sometimes I laugh when think about the differences in Mike and I. Mike would not have done very well in this particular situation. There were too many variables. Mike is Mr. Schedule, so the late surgical gowns would have driven him crazy. Mike is Mr. Plan Ahead, so the lack of having a backup plan in case of a flood would have driven him to drink. But the chances of a flood were so slim, who would have thought that you would need a backup plan.

Meanwhile, I laughed and waded through the situation along with my adventurous friends.


God makes each one of us different and I know that I am called to be here in Honduras living adventure after adventure, because I thrive on making sense out of the chaos.


When there is a crisis, I seem to be at my best. Many years ago I learned NOT to pray for patience, because the Bible says that tribulation makes us learn patience. I am not a fan of tribulation, so I don't pray for patience. However, I have learned through the tribulation which has passed my way unexpectedly that we can be happy and make the best of bad situations or we can grumble and complain and lose our chance to be blessed.



Dr. Yeu-Tsu Margaret Lee and Val Miller, RN smiling in the midst of our trial. Booties wet and no longer sterile, shoes wet, socks wet and still smiling!


I was taking the photo! SMILING of course!

Romans 5:3 but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;