A Trip To The Farm AND Video Of The Earthquake

Robbed and shot... a friend of mine, in fact the man that made my kitchen cabinets for me, Roger Corbran, was recently shot by robbers. He and his wife were asleep and around 1:30 am in the morning, 6 armed young men broke down their door. Roger awoke, hearing the commotion and went to the front door at which point they shot Roger in the chest, stole what they wanted and escaped leaving Sue to figure out how to get Roger to the hospital alone in the middle of the night. This was the 3rd time that Roger and Sue have been robbed within the last few years.

Sue managed to get Roger into the car and drove him into town where he was treated at the hospital. Thank God, the bullet skimmed across the edge his right lung and deflated it, but didn’t break any bones or damage other organs as it entered and left his body and he is recovering.

Sue managed to get off a call to Leslie Hill before the robbers cut off the telephone. Photos of the robbers have been given to the police who have done nothing. Therefore many in the community of expatriate Americans feels that the police are probably involved also. This is not the first robbery against Americans, but each time these guys get more daring and bolder. Other diverse denominational missionaries including many Mennonites, who do not believe in guns, have also been robbed in the small community where they live.

Sunday before last, my pastor’s house was broken into and various valuable things stolen, including a pistol which I obtained for them fifteen years ago. Then the following Friday night, thieves tried to break into the orphanage, then Saturday the pastor’s son, our youth pastor, Joshua was held up at gunpoint and the thief stole his telephone. Joshua, not one to take injustice laying down, chased the thief down with his car, picked up the guys pistol which he dropped in the chase and Joshua held the thief at gunpoint and called Jose COBRA. Jose COBRA jumped in the car, went to Joshua’s rescue, tied the guy up with his own shoe laces and the police came and put the guy in custody. This week, less than a week later, he was sentenced to jail for 8 years. For once swift justice in Honduras! I think it helped that Jose went to court with Joshua and Jose had just completed his judicial “practice” for his law degree in the same court. Jose has since received a telephone call which included a threat to kill him. The thief worked as a guard for an official in the Honduran police department and used a gun owned by this official’s company in the attack on Joshua.

Roger and Sue are returning to the USA, they are tired, Roger’s shooting was the last straw for them. Another missionary doctor left a few years ago soon after he was shot in the head while being robbed, he and his wife moved to a safer place. Yet another missionary woman was shot in the eye about a year ago. These stories in the expatriate community of Honduras missionaries go on and on.

Earth Tremors… Yesterday, I decided to go to the farm and see how Oscar was doing after his heart surgery. It was the first time I had to visit with him after returning from the USA from a trip which took me unwillingly, from Kansas City to Chicago, then Miami and finally to Tegucigalpa. The flights I had scheduled were canceled at the last minute, in fact the airlines called me as I was walking out the door to go to the airport to tell me that there had been a change in plans.



This video was sent to me by email of a video of the earthquake that rocked Honduras May 28th. It was a magnitude 7.4. This is the first time that I have added a video to a page, but hopefully not the last. The video was sent to me by Dr. Enrique Cruz.

I soon learned that it was all in the plan of God as I met person after person which I was supposed to meet along the route. To much detail to go into, but each encounter was important.

So anyway back to the business at hand, I asked my friend Erlinda if she wanted to go with me to the farm and to see Oscar and of course she did. I made a quick stop and bought some chicken food, some horse shoes and some barbed wire staples for my fence then we were on our way.

On the way, we stopped by the church to see the new carpet on the floor! It looks so nice! Then we traveled on a few more miles and stopped and bought 8 rose plants and 4 hibiscus plants for the farm. They were sooooooo expensive, $1.65 per Rose Bush and $1.50 per Hybiscus. At the same time I ordered more orange, avocado, plum, anoni, nanci and several other types of fruit trees. The farm is full of fruit trees already, but I keep planting. Since the farm is the “retirement” farm, I want to be surrounded with fruit trees. But who knows if I will ever retire. I love what I am doing and never want to stop. Maybe I will die at 120 while standing behind a podium preaching or while hosting a medical team.

We arrived at the farm and the orchids on my trees were in full bloom. This is an incredible blessing which I receive once a year. Over the years I have purchased and planted or grown over 1,000 orchid plants. They cling to the cedar trees in the entrance to the farm. The yellow and white, purple and white, white with yellow, burgundy and yellow, brown and black orchids all hang from the trees and give off an indescribable scent.

I arrived and there were 10 gallons of fresh blackberries sitting on the porch begging to be made into blackberry pie, jam and juice. It is so wonderful to have fresh produce. It is even more exciting when it comes from my farm and when I can share with others. When I have nice crops, I share with everyone I can. Last year I made so much guava jelly that I am still giving it away. I have used it in the middle of several cakes and people rave about the fruity taste.

When I planted over 100 guava trees 5 or so years ago, unbeknownst to me, there are several medical uses for guava also. Since the 1950s, guavas and most particularly guava leaves have been a subject for varied research regarding their chemical and pharmacological properties and their history in folk medicine; with preliminary medical research in lab studies showing that extracts from guava leaves and/or bark are known to have therapeutic properties against cancer, bacterial infections, inflammation and pain. Essential oils from guava leafs seem to show strong anti-cancer properties.

Guava leafs and bark are used in Honduran folk medicine as a remedy for diarrhea and as a traditional treatment against diabetes. My neighbors often ask for leafs and bark.

Oscar is healing well, but they cut him from stem to stern. He was up the road from his house, visiting his mother. I loaned him a wheelchair and he has one of his six kids or his wife push him around to visit people. He is happy with the surgery and seems to be doing well. I am so glad as he has been a faithful worker for me for 15 years and “faithful” is hard to find here in Honduras or for that matter anywhere. Faithful workers, faithful spouses, faithful bosses, faithful kids, faithful parents, one is blessed when they find someone that is faithful to them no matter what.

I scheduled for several more wheelchair giveaways close to Valle de Angeles yesterday while I was there and I am preparing for the arrival of 550 more wheelchairs next week. There are no words to describe how thankful I am for all of the donations which keep pouring in. I have a team coming from the USA to help give away chairs in July. Two teenage boys and their dad and another man will be arriving to work with me.

Plus another 550 wheelchairs are being donated by Free Wheelchair Mission for Nigeria, Africa where my husband and I built a church and school 20 years ago. I am going to be going there soon; my May trip was put off for several months due to the huge blessing of the wheelchairs being donated for me to deliver while I am there. Rather than make the long trip two different times, I cancelled the May trip, it was supposed to be because I ended up going to the USA during that time and was able to see two of our five/six grandchildren. I also have several friends that will be going with me to Nigeria, most long time friends from Kansas City area. While I am in Nigeria I will also be teaching at several pastor’s seminars.

Erlinda and I stopped on the return trip to eat at El Anafre, a Honduran and Italian restaurant located in the middle of Valle de Angeles across from the Catholic Church.

Upon returning home, I was standing in the kitchen minding my own business and suddenly felt dizzy. Then I realized that the floor was moving below my feet. I hollered at Jose, who of course felt nothing. Then we (Jose, Erlinda, David and I) saw the problem, the dining room chandelier was swinging.

This morning I got up, called my friend Erlinda and we worked on blackberries for several hours. We made juice for the freezer, we made blackberry and banana smoothies (which we promptly drank), we prepared blackberries for the freezer and then we set aside blackberries to make cobbler and pies.

Please pray for me and for other missionaries, for protection from all the diverse and assorted dangers which we face here in Honduras. Mix all the delinquency, killings, shootings, robberies, kidnappings, car accidents and the like with amebas, dengue, malaria, Swine Flue, worms, bad roads, poor construction, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and you will determine that we are really on a battlefield.
Teresa’s definition Amebas: a one celled thing that is found in unclean water and gives you diarrhea and stomach cramps so bad you think being dead and stinking in the grave would be better.

Ameba

The ameba is a protozoan. The name ameba comes from the Greek word amoibe, which means “to change”. Protists are microscopic unicellular organisms. The ameba moves and consumes its food as it moves over it. Amebas have an unusual way of creeping along by stretching their cytoplasm into fingerlike extensions called pseudopodia. ("pseudopodia" means "false foot".) The ameba causes its body to extend and creep along. They extend out and wrap around a food particle in a process call phagocytosis. The food is then engulfed into the ameba and digested by the enzymes contained in the ameba's lysosomes. For reproduction the ameba goes through mitotic division, where the nucleus duplicates its genetic material and the cytoplasm splits into two new daughter cells, each identical to the original parent. This method of reproduction is called binary fission. A common disease caused by the ameba is called Amebic Dysentery. A person becomes infected by drinking contaminated water. The ameba then upsets the person's digestive system and causes cramps and diarrhea. A person is most likely to be infected in countries where the water is not filtered or purified.

Teresa’s definition Dengue Fever: fever, leg cramps, bad dreams and total body ache that happens when an infected mosquito bites you. As a result in a few days, you feel so bad you think being dead and stinking in the grave would be better.

Dengue Fever

According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, “you can get dengue virus infections from the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. Mosquitoes become infected when they bite infected humans, and later transmit infection to other people they bite. Two main species of mosquito, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, have been responsible for all cases of dengue transmitted in this country. Dengue is not contagious from person to person.”

Those of us who live the missionary life in Honduras have learned all to well that we must depend on the Lord and his power. There is no other way to live through the jungle of things which come against us on a daily basis.

1 Chronicles 29:11 Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

Two Themes: Nigeria and Thankfulness Encourages People!

I was thinking yesterday as I was writing about Thanksgiving that I was happy that I know how to show my appreciation to people when they do something for me. As a child my mom and dad, but especially my mom was always on me to say "thank you" on every imaginable occasion. As a result, at her insistence, I learned to say "Thank you" and "Yes, ma'am" at every turn. Those lessons, learned early in life, have stuck with me.

Over the years, Mike and I have given away cars, furniture, pianos, money, food, clothing etc. But it was rare that we received a heart felt "thank you". When we did, it almost always was discussed between us. Many people have never learned to say "thank you". They might be thankful, but they have not learned to express themselves. Perhaps this is why God encourages us in the Bible to express ourselves "OUT LOUD".

Many years ago I went to Nigeria several times in order to help a local pastor there. Nigeria is located in west Africa. I worked in Akwa Ibom State which is close to Cameroon.

Yesterday, I received the following note, by surprise via Internet. This note came all the way from Nigeria, West Africa. Although at the time, Rev. Moses Umoh, was not very expressive about his thankfulness for the church and school which Mike and I built for him and his congregation. It is interesting to note that indeed, he was and continues to be thankful.

When I went to Nigeria in the 80s, it was a hard place to travel. Our children were small and Mike and my mother took care of them at home in Missouri. But, after praying, we all felt that I was to go to Nigeria to visit with Moses and to minister there. I am glad that I did.

Moses had a small home, but his wife Apple kept it clean. The typical home looks something like the homes in the photo to the left, but Moses and Apple's home was rectangular.

I slept on the floor on a grass mat with his small son next to me. I bought a gecko from the local kids and put him in my room to eat the mosquitoes at night where I could sleep. I contracted Malaria. I shivered and had high temp in a place that was close to 100 degrees every day, but I returned again and again, because that was the plan of God for my life at that time.

I took my bath outside every morning using a plastic cup and a 5 gallon bucket of water brought from the local river, which was about 2 miles away. The shower consisted of several long sticks stuck into the ground and covered with banana leaves for privacy. There was no roof. One morning I was taking my shower and looked up and to my surprise a Nigerian man had climbed a Coconut tree about 35 feet in the air where he could have a bird's eye view of me taking my shower. I screamed. Rev. Moses came running and told the man to get down out of the tree.

All the women gathered at the river to get water and to wash clothes, but mostly to talk.

The first time in my life I had ever seen a pineapple growing was in Nigeria. I lived on rice, bananas, eggs and yucca or cassava. I was not accustomed to all of the spices and didn't like the the goat stew served with goat meat, skin and hair cut into squares. Yes, you read it correctly, skin and with the hair intact. UGH!

The following note is from Moses. 20 years later. Several years ago Moses showed up at my doorstep unannounced and began to cry, telling me that he wanted me to return to Nigeria. He cried huge tears as he said to me, "You came when I had no bed you sacrificed and you slept on my floor and now I want you to return and sleep on a bed, in my guest room." I could tell he was really thankful.

Good morning Teresa,

It was good speaking with you yesterday. My joy is full as I heard from you, of the great things God is doing through you in Honduras and around the world, through the seeds planted through your ministry. It was 20 years ago, that God brought us together in Oklahoma, at a WMF convention and further used you to lay a foundation of a growing ministry in Nigeria, in the town of Ukanafun.

That seed has grown now and more lives are impacted through the word, Christian school programs and media evangelism - Our Radio program; 'The Hour of Hope' has been on for 15 years now. It is a weekly broadcast on Radio AKBC. Every Monday by 5.30 pm, it reaches 27 of Nigeria's 36 states and the neighboring countries of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

The Christian school you built has grown up to a High School adding one grade at a time; many children have graduated from here to go on to colleges.

INFRASTRUCTURES: The ministry and school compound has over 15 buildings now with upstairs [solid structures], we have branch schools and churches in other places in the state and we even have a technical school in my village. Akwa Ibom State is progressively developing and Nigeria is advancing in so many areas. It is quite safe for travelers, I can guarantee this.

VISIT TO NIGERIA: Please come over and visit us in Nigeria. If you can make it in January 09, it will be fine or any time of your convenience.

Ekponobong has finished college, waiting for NYSC posting. He is gifted in so many ways, music and auditioning in broadcasting, though he read Agric Econs and Extension in the University. He is going to sing in Reinhard Bonke's crusade next month at Ikot Ekpene as the music leader. Pray for him. We are praying for him regarding marriage and a Masters program.

Samuel is 4 years old, Daniel and Deborah are 18 months old. They are growing. Please pray for Deborah to walk. She did fine until when she was seriously ill, she had a set back. Pray she will be okay.

We are praying for you on various topics like ***** that God will minister to ***** and open ***** eyes. We are also praying for your ministry as you move with compassion to reach the unreached with love, around the world. We are praying for your son's political ambition in Honduras as God will surely see him through. Be baptized with the hope that God will perfect all that concerns you. Psalms 138:8.

I pray that the Lord will grant you peace, good health, anointing and wisdom as you serve Him diligently in Jesus name. Please pray for us as we are deeply involved in Reinhard Bonke's crusade in my Akwa Ibom State. It will be a moment of refreshing from God's presence. I hope to hear from you soon.

Bishop Moses Umoh