POPOVERS FOR BREAKFAST

This morning I woke up and CRAVED Linda Bell's POPOVERS. This is a treat which I have eaten since childhood. Linda Bell was my trainer and boss at my job selling women's clothing, while I was in still in high school.

She remembers when Mike Huckabee, yes the Presidential candidate from Arkansas, used to drop by the store with his friend and mine, Ricky Caldwell. Linda and I have remained friends for all these years. I won't tell you how many years! She also remembers when size 3 clothes sometimes swallowed me and I could eat more than any three people put together and never gained an ounce.

If only I could get my hands on the recipe for Green Onion Cheddar Cheese Bread that the bakery next to the store used to bake! They made mini loafs and I ate a loaf every time I had a chance. Those were the days!

Linda Bell's Popovers

3 eggs

1 cup of milk

3 tablespoons of melted butter

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

preheat oven 400 degrees

beat eggs until frothy

add milk and butter

then slowly beat in flour and salt

place batter in GREASED custard cups

I use the Pyrex glass ones. Bake until dark brown and done approximately 45 minutes. Cut slits in the top and bake 5 minutes more.

These are sooooooooooooooooo good! It was just one of those mornings when I wanted comfort food and Popovers hit the spot!

Last night Honduras lost the soccer game and I needed to be comforted. Not because of the game loss, but because, I am stuck in the house while the truck is being repaired and as active as I am, I want to "GO AND DO".

Yesterday, I baked 6 cakes for the "FUTBALL" game, packaged them and sent them on the bus with Jose to share with his friends in southern Honduras. Two large black trash bags, clean of course, filled with cakes. Hondurans are "LOCO" about soccer. About 80 of them all gathered around a big screen television and had a blast! They ate chicken sandwiches and ate cake and screamed and yelled.

I must admit, staying at home has been relaxing. I have caught up on emails, studied for the Pastors Seminar later this month and baked. But enough is enough and I am ready to hit the ground running as soon as my truck is repaired. I pray that it will be finished today!

1 Kings 5:4 But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.

GOOD NEWS BAD NEWS

Good news, Tim (my mechanic and missionary friend) arrived back in Honduras after a long trip to South Africa. His wife and new baby were less than happy that he was gone for so long, but his mom passed away and he needed to go.


In Honduras it is impossible to live without a competent mechanic, if you have a vehicle. The bad news is Tim says I need a 1) Rear brake caliper piston and piston seal. 2) Rear brake rotor. 3) Oil filter. 4) 4 gallons of engine oil. The brake stuff was on the same side of the truck which was hit by the motorcycle.


Good news, the apartment didn't burn down and it could have. Bad news, the computer power supply caught fire and burned up, smoke, ashes and all. Good news, none of my memory or hard drive or anything was hurt, except the power supply. Good news it was fixed in just a couple of hours today!

Good news, I am catching up on emails from months ago, due to the computer being on the fritz. Bad news, YAHOO has blocked me for SPAM! Imagine that, I hate SPAM and they have blocked me. I can't even communicate with my parents!

Good news, I have several doctors coming to Honduras for medical trips.

Proverbs 25:25 As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

DIRTY POLITICS AND A SCHOOL WITHOUT DESKS

Jose is doing well in his bid for "DIPUTADO" for the Department of Valle in Honduras. He is working hard with the medical teams and has raised a lot of support (moral, not financial) in his bid for a congressional seat in the Honduran Congress.

JOSE (CHEPE) LOVES TO TALK TO THE PEOPLE AND HE IS COMPASSIONATE TOWARDS THE SICK AND THE POOR.

Today we found out that "SOMEWHERE" between the Liberal Party Headquarters and the Electoral Tribunal, all of the paperwork for Jose's department was stolen. That includes all of Jose's paperwork. Someone doesn't want Jose to run for Congress. Jose has one political enemy (that we know of) and he is a candidate for Congress who is up for re-election. Jose and I have caught him in lie after lie after lie and finally I took the "bull by the horns" and told the LIAR that he could not show up at any more of my medical brigades. I gave him four chances, one more than I give most people and then I sat him down and as my dad would say, "I told him how the cow ate the cabbage." Every since that time he spends more time trying to figure out how to hurt Jose than he spends campaigning.

The other day, a new school was being inaugurated and "the liar" showed up at the inaguration. When he arrived, he arrived with 10 used school desks. Upon arrival, the local mayor and everyone else were seated at the head table and one of the people said, "Now we are just missing one person, Chepe Benavides." When "the liar" heard that he growled at the mayor and all of the local commissioners, "If Chepe arrives, then I will NOT donate the desks to the school." Immediately the Public Relations person from the Mayor's office called Jose (Chepe) to tell him that the meeting had been postponed until the following week, but Chepe being an ex-policeman, "smelled a rat". So he proceeded to the inauguration posthaste. When Jose arrived, everyone turned green.

"The liar" left the seats with the school, but told the Public Relations man from the Mayor's office that he never wanted to see him again. Needless to say, everyone is mad at "the liar".

Does anyone know a school district that wants to donate a bunch of school desks to a rural school in Honduras? I THINK WE HAVE A CONTAINER COMING FROM SEATTLE, WASHINGTON SOON.

Today Jose went to San Lorenzo, Valle for a brigade that we sponsored for Osteoporosis Screenings. Since both cars are being looked at to see what they need to be "fixed" and since it involved a bus ride and I don't do buses, I did not participate in the brigade. He arrived back in Tegucigalpa, really tired. THE LABORATORY WORKERS SAW OVER 275 PEOPLE AND GAVE INSTANT REPORTS AT THE OSTEOPOROSIS SCREENINGS.

All in all it was a good day!

Proverbs 8:7 For my mouth shall speak truth

Up and Running!

Well, just a few very longgggggggggggg days after being rendered car-less, we are up and running again. Thank God! I have worked at my computer and on paperwork for so long I am feeling like I am losing my tropical tan.



Speaking of tropical tans, the Lord blessed me with a few THOUSAND tubes of Banana Boat Sun Tan Cream and I am sharing it with all the people I can find, who spend time in the sun. I am saving some for the surgical patients, where they can rub it on their scars, to keep the sun off.

We were also blessed with thousands of Tylenol and thousands of Ginkgo Biloba capsules.



I taught last Sunday at a church in San Lorenzo, Honduras on "The healing miracles of Jesus in the New Testament."

In researching for the study, I found that over 75% of the miracles that Jesus performed in the New Testament had to do with healing. As I was studying for the sermon, it occured to me that Jesus enjoyed healing the blind.

As we have helped people regain their eyesight through cataract surgery, I have been thrilled to see the reactions just a few short days after surgery. People lose their sight gradually with cataracts and only when the cataracts are removed and they can instantly see again, do they realize how bad they were.

Jesus said, Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Jesus was pleased that he preached the gospel to the poor, healed the brokenhearted, preached deliverance to the captives, gave the blind their sight and set at liberty the bruised! He is pleased when we follow in His footsteps and do the same.

In the midst of all the circumstances that life throws my way, rather than be discouraged, I am encouraged, because I know that I am doing what I was called to do! Flat tires, broken clutch plates, computer printers that don't work, lost brake shoes, canceled medical teams, and strange rashes and false accusations are all just a part of life on this planet. I have made up my mind to "keep on keeping on" in the words of my earthly dad.

FORD Brakes and Presidents

What a day! After 1:00 PM the mechanic arrived. Seems the impact of the motorcycle against the tire when it hit, ruined the "impaques" (which I would call round rubber 2" rings) which keep the brake fluid from leaking out. So I called around and found the "impaques" these 4 little rubber rings, which I could have cut off of any 2" hose, cost $44.00 and the taxi ride. Any way when these little rubber thing-a-ma-jigies ripped and disintegrated from the impact, the brake fluid leaked out, but more importantly than that, one of the brake shoes slid out and was lost somewhere between the accident scene and the garage. So I had to buy brake shoes also. I am spoiled, because, all of my brake shoes are donated to me in the USA. Another $45.00, ouch! The mechanic is still working on the car. It is after 8:00 PM, but I think the FORD may be up and running! I sure hope so! The upside is I pay $5.55 per hour to the mechanic! The downside, FORD parts are really expensive here.

I spent most of the day doing paperwork, which is not my favorite thing and now, I am tired.

Hugo and Fidel!

I just heard that President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is coming to Honduras on the 25th and Casa Presidencial, (the white house) is only 3 blocks from where I live, so I am going to make plans to leave the city that "crazy day". Hugo and President Mel Zelaya of Honduras seem to be really good buddies. For the last few weeks, we have seen on national channels, video of Hugo and Mel every commercial break. Now, it has become apparent why!

Please pray for the president of Honduras, Mel Zelaya. Pray that he will hear the voice of God and that he will make good decisions.

I have never been very involved in politics, but here, it seems that if you don't know people in political positions, you cannot get much done. Soon after starting to do missions work in Honduras Mike and I discovered that the phrase "It is not what you know, it is who you know." must have been invented in Honduras. It quickly became apparent that we needed to know the Who's Who in political circles.

After having lived here for 4 years, it is more apparent than ever, that we must not keep our head in the sand regarding political issues.

To the left is a photo of me with President Mel Zelaya at the 4th of July event at the Ambassador of the United States home here in Tegucigalpa.

With Jose running for Congress and all the other political friends which I have made here, life is much easier than it might otherwise be. Recently when I had a hospital director try to cancel a "gringo" medical team at the last minute, the President's wife called the hospital director and asked him to explain. Then a few minutes later the right hand man to the president and (former Minister of Health) called to find out what was going on and why. The hospital director told them that it was "just a misunderstanding" that the team had never been canceled. Funny response, since I put the cell phone on speaker when the hospital called to cancel and three people heard the "news".

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Today Was A Day In Court

Today's photo is of Esther, my standard French Poodle. She is one of only 5 Standard Poodles in all of Honduras. The others are all her brothers and sisters. I want to breed her, but the nearest male is in El Salvador.

Esther is my constant companion, except at night. At night she is a deserter, she and Jose share Jose's twin bed. She sleeps at his feet and I never see or hear her unless she hears an unusual noise. Then she is "BRAVO". I never knew that poodles were such good watchdogs.

Esther is really intelligent. In Honduras, when someone comes to visit, they enter the house and kiss you on the right cheek. No one taught her, but she stands up on her hind legs and kisses people when they come in the door. She watched and learned. She is totally spoiled and loves spray whip cream out of a can.

Esther is a Honduran Champion and lacks one point being an International Champion.

HONDURAN COURT

The court room hearing today was much as I expected. We arrived early. The judge arrived early and the other party arrived late and since he was only 19 years old, he had to call his mother to come to court, so we had to wait another 1.5 hours.

The judge started reading the paperwork and the corrupt police stated that Jose was at fault, but they also stated that Jose was the one driving the motorcycle. So then the judge walked out of the courtroom and went to find the policeman who then had to re-write the entire accident report. About 30 minutes later, we resumed.

The bottom line is the kid has no money, the mom has no money, the father is not in the picture and the judge found him guilty of driving down the wrong side of the road and following to close and passing where he should not have. He has to pay all of the expenses, but can only pay about $20.00 per month and the expenses are about $550.00 so far and that means 28 months of me having to chase him down every month or I can hire an attorney, put him in jail after who knows how long and go from there.

I arrived home at 1:00 PM wiped out and went to bed. There are some things that I just cannot understand, like why didn't the kid have insurance?

Psalm 34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

Looks Like I Will Be Parking In The Horse Parking Lot For A While

This horse parking lot is adjacent the local market in Caridad, Honduras. We were there just last week with an eye team.

Sadly, tonight my brakes went out on my car. The pedal goes to the floor. After talking to a real FORD repairman, he thinks that it may be as a result of the impact of the motorcycle against the back wheel with a force strong enough to explode the tire.

Tomorrow morning I have to go to the courthouse in a taxi at 7:30 AM. It is Jose's court date for last weeks accident. They never did find his blood and urine tests and his complaint that was in the computer at the Prosecuting Attorney's office is also still missing. Go figure!

Tim, regular mechanic and another missionary at the church, doesn't return until tomorrow and after a flight all the way from South Africa, it is doubtful that he is going to feel like fixing the brakes.

Pray about a second car for the ministry. To rent a car here is close to $85.00 per day. Taxi's are not safe because of all the assaults and most of them are in ill repair. I have felt for the last three months that we need to get another truck for the ministry. I do not want to say it out loud, but the Mazda is a 1986, she is asleep in the garage and has been asleep for the last month. Tim says, the gas tank leaks and cannot be repaired, must have a new one and the clutch disk or something like that is broken.

I found a FORD Ranger 2000 Super Cab. The truck had been in a hail storm and was beat up all over, more than anywhere in particular. When I looked at it, the guy wanted 125,000 lempira for it and all the taxes had been paid. It sat around for three months and then disappeared. So I called to see if he had sold it and he said, "No, he had all the hail damage repaired the the entire truck repainted."

I asked how much he wanted for it and it is still 125,000 lempira. That translates into $6,600.00. I think I can talk him down to $6,000.00 if I have cash. A nice tool box that comes with it!

If you know anyone that has a heart for missions and is interested in buying the truck for us, or helping us with a donation, please let me know. There is no time like now!

Radio and Television Bible School for the Rural Department of Valle

The ministry is going well. I am teaching a lot, studying a lot and seeing the hand of God move in healing and growth for the people around me. God is moving and blessing me. I am going to start a radio program next month, teaching the Word of God. It will be 30 minute teachings every day, but I will record the teachings with an interpreter on a biweekly basis.

Pray that the Lord will send in the money that I need for the program. I know He is telling me to do radio and television. The television is 2,000 lempira per month plus production or about $200.00 per month for 30 minutes per day. I can use the same interpreter and the same program for both television and radio, so that will duplicate the listening audience, but will save me time.

The program will be a Bible School where the people can listen and write down all the scriptures and study them and then they can take a test every month and get credit for Bible School. It will be for just one Department in Honduras. There will be diplomas for each teaching series and when the people successfully complete the sessions, they will receive a diploma.

August 12, 2008 The Motorcycle Accident Continued

Tuesday August 12, 2008 Update on the Motorcycle Accident

Oscar went to the hospital last Tuesday and it is now in writing that he needs a new heart valve. A new heart valve will cost 30,000 lempira or about $1,600 US dollars. We are thankful that Dr. Catherine Foster has agreed to donate the money for the new valve.

The “CRAZY” motorcycle driver or his company obviously had paid off not only the police department but also the Prosecutors Office. Jose went today for the results of last weeks with which he must prove in court on Thursday that he was not drunk. The Prosecutors Office could not find the computerized complaint, we do have a copy. The Forensic Medicine Department of the Prosecutors Office cannot find the blood and urine tests to prove that he was not drunk. We have the note where they were ordered.

So in typical Honduran style the saga goes on. Tomorrow is another day and if they do not have his tests for him tomorrow, a criminal report will be filed for corruption against those who received the complaint, those who took the blood and urine tests and the police who gave a false report saying that he was drunk.

The new back tires cost $350.00. Ugh!!! Unexpected expense!

Since Jose is running for Congress, it is really important that his name is cleared, or this might could come back and bite him later.

Tuesday August 5th, 2008 Crazy Motorcycle Drivers And Corrupt Police

Tuesday morning about 10:00 am Jose took the Ford F350 and left to go to Hospital San Felipe to pick up Oscar, my farm worker who recently suffered a heart attack. As they were returning, with Oscar in the car, Jose made a left turn and a “CRAZY” motorcycle driver came up the middle of the road passing all of the other cars at 100 mph and hit the driver’s side rear panel of the truck.

The back tire was punctured. The back panel was banged up and the motorcycle was hurt. The motorcycle driver however was fine.

But in typical Honduran style it didn’t end there. The motorcycle driver works for a big company whom he called and the company he works for then called the Policia de Transito. In Honduras when you have an accident you can count on waiting for at least 3 hours for the police to show up, but by some stroke of “luck” the police showed up in 15 minutes. When the police showed up so quickly, Jose called me and said, “Something is up.”

Everything seemed to be going well, the motorcycle was clearly at fault and then at 10:30 am the police had Jose take a breathalyzer test for alcohol. The police took away Jose’s drivers license gave him a ticket and told him to show up in court August 14th. Since Jose was a police COBRA for so many years, he knew that there was a major problem when they took away his license and wrote that he could not drive until the court date, so he called me, and I drove him directly to the police station. We talked with high officials and found out that Jose was supposedly drunk.

So we went to the prosecuting attorneys office and asked for a blood and urine test to prove that he had not been drinking. Four hours later after threats of lawsuits and threats of corruption charges, they finally agreed to do the tests. We are guessing that the company, for which the motorcycle driver works, had arranged with the police for Jose to be “drunk” where they would not have to pay for the damages to the truck. Thank God Jose knew that the citation was not normal.

The accident took place at 10:15 am and we finally arrived back at the office around 6:30 pm. What a day!