11/16/2006 Because of lack of software needed to
maintain a blog on this website while we are in La Palma, the daily blog will be
at:
http://360.yahoo.com/lapalmamission@sbcglobal.net
You may copy and paste this into your browser window.
3/13/06 We are in the final planning stages of the mission trip. Dea, Doug and Ralph will go to El Salvador on March 16 and be there until the 23rd doing the planning that is needed. They will meet with the Mayor, Health Minister, and others to get everyone 'on the same page'. We have over 60 on the final list to go in June. They come from 9 states and include a wide range of talents and skills. Get ready for a great trip!! Follow this blog every few days for updates and photos.
2/20/06 Applications are pouring in. The trip to South Haven, Mississippi was awesome!! The people there are as excited as we are, and many 'signed on' to go with us. It is estimated that we will have 15 join our group from that visit. Many from Mississippi and some from Florida. We have over 60 total now planning to go.
Don't forget the meeting at the Monett Church of Christ on February 28. Be there if you possibly can. Those of you from away, we will keep minutes of the meeting and discussions and post them right here. Don't miss it.
Nurses and doctors - please send a copy of your diploma and your medical license from your state. We will take those in March and get you clearance to practice medicine in the country of El Salvador. This is important. Please send them as soon as possible. Those who went last year do not need to do it again.
Everyone not close to Monett, please send a digital photo of yourself for the 'team' page. That way we can all get to know each other before we actually meet. Send it to mcclurg@sofnet.com
We still need:
Reading glasses and sunglasses
Toothpaste and tooth brushes
Fly swatters
Military duffel bags to ship clothing and stuff in
Cash - we are buying lots of Bibles in Spanish and lots of medicines to heal the sick - we need $14,000
Travel dates - start planning, we need to know soon who will travel on which days
June 1 - first group goes to La Palma to start preparations for the clinic. We need at least 10 for this group, more would be nice.
June 3 - large group arrives
June 10 -some go home, some new ones come down, some stay for a second week.
June 13 - some come down for the final week.
June 17 - some go home, the clinic has ended, only evangelism and limited construction people stay
June 20 -final group comes home
Remember you can go for 8 or 10 days at the same cost, add $150 if you stay more than 10 days (includes a sightseeing trip on the middle weekend)
Call Donnie 417-236-5100 or Ralph 417-849-0245 if you have any questions. Keep reading this website for updated information.
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2/9/06 We are really getting excited about the June 2006 trip. New people are signing on for the trip every day or so. We are approaching the number we had for 2005, except that this year we are going for two weeks. We have a group from Cave Springs, AR planning to go with us, and a group from South Haven, MS are committed to go. We will soon have to either stop taking applications or add another week.
A meeting is planned for February 28, 7 pm, at the Monett Church of Christ to go over the plans for this year's trip. Bring cookies or cake for dessert. The meeting will last for quite a while--be prepared to ask questions and have fun. Be there if at all possible.
We are going to South Haven, MS for the weekend of February 11, 12 to meet with the folks there who are interested or planning to go. We will try to meet with everyone who plans to go before the actual trip if at all possible.
In order for us to start learning about the group, send photos of yourself to mcclurg@sofnet.com and we will post them on one of the pages on this website.
We need money for medicines and supplies and to hire translators. Please ask your congregation or friends to help with this funding.
Dea Furgason has agreed to be our medical director for the trip. She is an experienced nurse and has been on previous trips. She will be traveling to El Salvador in March with Doug and myself to make the final arrangements for our trip including medicines, facilities, and supplies.
Report On The December 2005 Mission Trip
Six of us made a week-long trip to El Salvador December 3 -10. We intended to encourage the new church in La Palma, now 18 months old, and plan for a larger mission trip in June. The six included Leo Martinez and Dony Rodriguez, both bi-lingual preachers/translators, Dick Clay, a former preacher now businessman, Mark Hardwick, an elder at Monett, Doug Anders, a retired engineer/logistician, and myself. We try to have someone from here go down there every 3 months to encourage the young preachers and the congregation. Jose is a hard working, type A dynamo; Jesus (hay-soos) is a studious, dedicated worker who knows the Bible extremely well and has a voice that projects equally well in both singing and preaching. He is also a good administrator. (Humor note here: they say that Jesus is a great preacher, but I heard him for over half an hour and did not understand more than 20 words that he said!!)
The trip down was largely uneventful except that the 12 totes full of clothing to distribute did not arrive with us. After I explained to the Customs people that the totes contained donated goods, they cleared the totes to be brought to us the next day. That really helped. We were able to partially fill the empty shelves in the benevolence storage room with clothing which is much needed. There will be a distribution of it on or before Christmas day. We were told by Jose that we should have brought them some winter clothing and coats because it gets very cold there in January and February. We did not realize that and had brought mostly summer clothing. We will plan better next time. From what I could learn, the ‘very cold’ that Jose talked about is when temperatures dip into the 50s.
We met with the La Palma church for worship on Sunday morning. There were 60 in attendance, a significant increase from a year ago. That included 40 children. They wanted one of the Americanos to preach, and I was the selectee. I had to write out some notes late Saturday night for that one. It does not have to be as long with a translator, since he uses as much time as the speaker. We attended the weekly children’s classes at a sister’s home in the afternoon and WOW, those kids are great!! There were 32 there and they really sang and acted well. Very impressive!! They have a period where the kids color on copied pages of Bible stories. One girl about 6 did not get to color because her 3-year old brother had gone to sleep on her lap and she refused to wake him up.
We met with children again on Monday – in fact, every day we were there Jose and Jesus had some activity for the children. They are growing a generation that knows about Jesus and His love for them. These kids will grow up knowing the Bible. Those who can stay in school can become preachers and teachers. I asked Jose (he speaks enough English that we can talk) if we could go to a neighboring congregation one night for worship to meet and encourage them. He explained that he had something planned for us every night but he would try to work something out. On Monday he told us that the El Tule congregation would have a special worship service on Tuesday afternoon at 3 o’clock. I allowed as to how that would be OK but we wouldn’t expect much of a crowd.
On Monday we met with the mayor of La Palma and the Health Minister of the region. Both had been very helpful in June 2005 for our medical mission, and I wanted to determine their feelings about doing it again. They were more than gracious in extending offers to help if we would come back. The community center is available to us again for as long as we need it—both day and night. The mayor had asked us last year to go to the schools and distribute tooth brushes and tooth paste and teach the children how to use them. We did not have enough people or supplies to do it. I asked if that was still needed and he replied that it was and that he would provide a vehicle to transport our team to each of the 22 schools.
Doctor Ramirez, the health minister, said he would again schedule doctors and dentists to work in our clinic. He requested that we operate the clinic at La Palma for the entire time rather than try to operate in other towns as we had discussed. He said people think of La Palma for medical treatment and they would come from other towns if we invite them. He suggested ways to distribute tickets to the community and families to help us out with crowd control and a more even distribution. Doctor Ramirez offered to help with the government permissions. Last year it was a big hassle to get us through customs and immigration, and to get our medicines into the country. He said he would help us find good pricing on quantities in El Salvador to save both money and hassle.
The region is building a new clinic in a rural area and asked for help in equipping it. I brought home a list of items needed and will be asking everyone I know in the medical field for usable exam tables, otoscopes, stethoscopes, etc for them. The harder part will be getting it all shipped down there. We already have a truckload of clothing and other supplies to ship down so we may consolidate everything at once. The airlines have reduced the weight limit on our checked baggage from 140 pounds to 100 pounds, and that is a significant reduction in stuff we can take down when you consider up to 50 people going.
At 1:30 Tuesday, 28 of us from the La Palma congregation crowded into 2 vehicles and traveled 40 kilometers to El Tule. Eighteen of us were in a 12 passenger van and 10 of us were in a Nissan pickup. The El Tule congregation has been very supportive of the new La Palma congregation. They send a sister up to La Palma every Sunday to teach the children. That means over an hour on an old converted school bus each way for the visiting teacher. Both Bessie and Anna, who take turns making the trip are gracious, loving ladies and do a great job. Well, as worship got underway on Tuesday afternoon, people kept coming. I heard they came from several congregations and that many were non-members who were invited and came to visit. Dick Clay preached an excellent sermon about the church to the 60 adults who had gathered. There were 32 children in an adjacent classroom. It was a very uplifting experience. The people sing as if they really mean it, and they join in the worship with frequent "ahmain"s. As we reflected on it, we were truly blessed to participate. They swarmed us ‘gringos’ afterward and conveyed to us their appreciation for being there. I can understand ‘gracias’, and I heard it over and over again
The highlight of Wednesday was Bible study at Reina’s house. Reina is a fairly new Christian who lives in austerity. She opens her home each Sunday for the children’s program and each Wednesday for Bible study. Her small room, which serves as kitchen, dining room, and living room, got very crowded with 31 adults and 21 children gathered to watch a filmstrip on the teachings of Jesus. Some, actually several, had to stand outside. Ephraim, a mature gentleman who lives nearby, made the decision that he wanted to become a Christian soon. He told me proudly that his name was from the Bible.
Thursday was a catch-up day. Reina did my laundry. We attended the program at mid-morning for the children in the sponsorship program. This is a program we started in June to help needy families. Many children are poor and cannot attend school. We solicit $25 per month for each child. The money from the sponsors goes for school supplies, medicines, clothing, and food. They are required to attend Bible study each week to be in the program. There are now 25 children in the program, and it is growing. People in southwest Missouri have been very good to join this opportunity. Sponsors write to the child and share photographs. They are encouraged to accompany us on a mission trip and visit the child. We saw such a meeting on an earlier trip and it was a tearful, emotional, event.
We visited at length with Jose about the growth of the church, with Franklin Jiminez about a building expansion (he owns the church building we rent), and with Jorge about his church in Honduras. Jorge is what I call the ‘Hispanic Willie Franklin’. He develops rapport with his audience like only a few can do. He is a great motivator and song leader and a pretty good translator as well. Jorge broke a tooth and I took him to a dentist. Jorge explained that he had no money and asked if I would pay to have the tooth fixed. I said I would and was absolutely astounded when the doctor charged only $20 to put a crown on it. Thursday night Dony preached to a crowd of 45 adults while 18 children attended class in the other room. At the invitation, Ephraim requested to be baptized.
Friday we visited the government health clinic to see the needs and capabilities. We had no translator with us but were able to determine everything. We then visited the mayor’s office to tell him that we would be leaving but planned the June mission. He presented us with a certificate of appreciation for our help last June. It was hand printed on leather and absolutely beautiful. He also invited us to dinner at 4:00 pm. We accepted.
About noon, an elderly lady wanted to be baptized. She had actually wanted to for a couple weeks but was not healthy enough. She suffered a lung disorder – perhaps bronchitis or maybe even pneumonia. The water in the baptistery was cold. We knew that from watching Ephraim shudder last night. Jose got a large coffee pot from the motel and a two-burner propane stove from his apartment and began heating water. Sisters Marta and Brenda built some wood fires and got some large kettles and heated water in them. When the water was warm enough, Franklin drove the lady to the building and Jose baptized her. She was genuinely happy about it. Her two grand daughters, Lily and Catherine, are special girls who attend church regularly. They each gave me a gift before we left. I did not want to take them, but they will not take ‘no’ for an answer. I have a wooden napkin holder for the table and a small bracelet made from wood that I have removed only long enough to take a shower since I got back.
At 4:00 we were taken to a motel/restaurant in the country. It was very fancy with an awesome view of the mountains around it. The lady who owns and runs it assured us that the lettuce would be OK for us to eat since it was washed in bottled water. Mark, Doug, and I all ate some of the lettuce that accompanied a very nice beef steak. Dick did not get to come with us as he had a Bible study in progress. Apparently the ladies in the kitchen did not hear Matilda tell us in English that the lettuce was washed in bottled water. The three of us all lacked firm bowels for a few days, and we have to blame it on the lettuce. Dick did not have the problem.
Friday night there were 79 for worship. Lily sat on one side of me and held one hand. Catherine had the other. It is amazing how the kids there will sit on a straight backed chair for over an hour without wiggling or getting fidgety. A young lady named Fatima attended Friday night. She had spent time with us last June and we got to know her a little. She attended a couple of evening worship assemblies and was convicted, wanting to become a Christian. She lives with her mother and works in her mother’s store and mother did not want her to become a Christian. Fatima cried about it but knew that she needed to continue to live with and work for her mother. That would not be possible if she became a Christian. She cried during the invitation Friday night. I held my hands toward her as if in prayer and she smiled and held her chest. After worship was over we talked and she continued to have pains in her upper chest. I got her to take deep breaths and slow her breathing down but she was having a big anxiety attack. We finally took her to a doctor. He spoke English fairly well and was a religious man. He told me that she was fighting a big decision in her life and she needed pastoral counseling. He gave her some pills to relax her and make her sleep. Jose said he would spend lots of time working with her during the next few weeks. Please pray for Fatima whenever you think of her. Also, pray for her mother.
We made plans for the trip to the airport and got the totes ready to take back with us. We all stated our feelings that we really did not want to leave. Dick had found a number of people who spoke English and studied the Bible with them. He studied with Frank until midnight that night. Maurice and Frank will both have a lot of thinking to do about their lives after Dick spent so much time with them.
Saturday morning was good bye time with Franklin. It was hard to say. Sister Marta and her kids accompanied us on the bus to the airport. She is a very poor lady and probably had never been that far from home. Her kids are very, very sweet and well mannered. I fell in love with Adoni, a 5 ½ year old boy with a smile as wide as Texas. He had been my buddy all week. Every time I looked at him he grinned real big. He sat on my lap on the bus and watched the houses and hills go by until he fell asleep. I woke him up when we got into the city of San Salvador. His eyes were as big as platters as he saw the sights and people there. He would point to something and jabber in Spanish about it. I would say ‘no Espanol!’ and he would reply ‘si, si, Espanol’, then laugh and laugh. I really wanted to bring him home to play with Nathan. They would be communicating in about 5 minutes and would be speaking each other’s language in a couple days. I am happy to tell you that Marta’s children are all in the sponsor program and she does not have to shovel as much sand as she used to just to keep the kids fed. She has nicer clothing now, too. She attends every worship service or Bible study. Her oldest daughter, Roxanne, is 11 years old and has never attended school. She will be enrolling soon!
We stopped in San Salvador at a restaurant owned and operated by Miguel. Miguel has spent his life working for the Lord. He has started a preaching school and keeps it going and growing. He has a child sponsorship program nationwide with 593 children in it. He comes to the US and buys buses and school desks. He solicits sponsors for the children. He drives the bus back loaded with desks for the children to use. He sells the bus at a profit to help the programs he has going. His wife operates the restaurant and the proceeds go to support the preaching school. She has breast cancer and is not well, but she was teaching a class of about a hundred children while we were there.
At the airport we said good bye. We had mixed feelings. A hot shower would feel good and a cheeseburger would taste good, but the people here are so loving and so caring. June will not come soon enough. It was 90 degrees at the airport, which is near the coast and one of the warmer areas of the country. La Palma is at about 4000 feet elevation and the climate is nearly perfect. We had had evenings in the 60s and days of 80s. We heard that it had been down to 4 degrees in Missouri. We must be crazy to leave here. Marta had no jacket so I gave her mine. I had another one waiting for me in the bus when we got to Tulsa.
Now the real planning starts. We have the permission to go and the offers to help. There are medicines to buy. There is money to raise – about $12,000. There are tooth brushes to obtain. There are people to recruit. There are travel arrangements to make. There are goods to get shipped.
The mayor is up for re-election March 12. His opponent is a strong Catholic and might not allow us to use the community center for our worship and evangelistic activities. Pray that Hector is re-elected.
The ShoMe La Palma Mission trip for June 2006 is going to happen. We will have a great time. For a week or more we will live like the early Christians did. We will share things, eat together, work together, pray together, and have daily fellowship and devotional times. We will show the love of Christ in the region, and we will influence the lives of those we come in contact with. We will make them healthier, and hopefully happier. Will you join us? There are needs for every thing from pill counters to concrete mixers.
Results of the June 2005 trip
• 986+ patients registered (more than that were treated)
• Seven Baptized, dozens of prayer requests
• Dozens of Bible Studies
• Dozens helped with clothing/shoes
• Around 300 Reading Glasses distributed
• 90,000 vitamins distributed
• Thousands of antibiotics dispensed
• Every child treated for parasites
• 3 building projects completed
• Local Church Edified
• Our Own Faith Magnified
• Brothers and Sisters in La Palma Encouraged
The weekly Children’s Bible classes have doubled since our trip
06/11/05 - 7:30 pm
All of the team has departed the Monett church building for their homes. It has
been great and there is lots of talk about the campaign next year. Plan now to
go to San Ignacio. The clinic will operate June 5-9. Travel schedules will be
arranged as soon as possible.
God Bless you!
Ralph
06/11/06
At 1:00 pm on Saturday the final group is in Houston preparing for the final leg
of their journey. Prayers have been answered—they are all well.
More info later.
Ralph
06/10/05
The first group arrived home right on time Thursday night – maybe even a little
bit early. We were tired but happy. Most of us wanted to stay longer.
We left the motel in La Palma at 5:30 am and were in Monett at 10:15 pm.
At the airport in San Salvador we got the tubs which had not accompanied the 2nd
group coming down. Continental Airlines has been great to work with us as
passengers but they really let us down on checked baggage. Anyway, 17 tubs of
clothing will be stocked in the storage room in La Palma for distribution to the
poor. Great news.
The bad news in this is that two of our tubs have totally been lost, and one of
them contained Bibles, New Testaments, and other evangelistic material for the
El Salvadorans. We can only hope and pray that this material will find it’s way
into some hands that will distribute it properly.
We did accomplish much good while we were there. The Church of Christ (Iglesia
De Cristo) in La Palma has existed for only 1 year, but the whole town knows
about it now and knows that it is a loving, caring church. Final statistics will
be coming in on the number of patients served and the number of Bible studies
conducted.
Now pray for the final 20 who are traveling from La Palma to home Saturday. They
will leave the motel about 2:30 am to get to the airport on time.
God Bless you, and God Bless La Palma,
Ralph
06/08/05
This may be the last blog of the day—or I may get a chance to send
another. Eleven of us come home tomorrow. The city is hosting a dinner
for us tonight. Everything has been so great!!!!
The clinic today was even better than before. Things went smoother and
more people came through. It is really hard to turn people down who
are hurting, but we have to say “no” to many each day because we only
have 3 doctors. Tomorrow there will be no dentist at all, and Friday we
will be completely out of medicine. Carl went to San Salvador and bought
some more today, but it will not be enough. We have a lot of fun with
the kids who come. They are cheerful and playful. Photo time is
special every once in a while.
I met a man named Samuel yesterday who came because he said “the whole
town is talking about the good things you people are doing”. He began
helping in the pharmacy and helped again today by going with Carl to
get the meds. Our awesome doctor from Cassville, Dr. Harris, made a
house call to Samuel’s mother last night. She is quite sick and Doc made
her feel better.
The construction team finished painting the church building inside and
out. They also built a new wall for Reina after rebuilding the back
wall of Milagro’s house. Now they will build some shelves in the new
regional benevolent storage room so clothing and other items can be kept
in it.
Many Bible studies happen each day and people are receptive to
listening.
We have had a great week. God has blessed us greatly and we have grown
in our faith and love. We pray that we have properly glorified God.
Love, Ralph
06/07/05
Another great day in the Ozarks and in La Palma!! We had over 280
patients through the clinic plus Doctor Harris’ house call to an elderly
lady who could not get out of her home. We ran out of several of our
medicines—and only late this evening located more of them in San Salvador.
Carl will go get them in the morning.
Congratulations to Carl who was notified today that he is a new
grandfather!!
We rented a storage room to distribute benevolent clothing from
throughout the year.
We made arrangements to have a campaign in San Ignacio next June.
A few of our younger folks got slightly ill—probably from some food.
They are better this evening.
The preaching campaign was again great tonight. I did not get a count
of attendance for it.
Tonight Franklin and Alicia hosted us for a barbecue at their home. It
was an awesome time as they presented each of us a gift they had made.
We are tired but happy.
Will someone who reads this call Myra McGee and tell her Leonard will
call her from Houston about how much baggage we will have Thursday
evening
Love, Ralph
06/0605
This had to be the best day yet of our trip. We are all humbled and
changed by the way God has blessed us in this city. This is the greatest
day in the history of the churches in southwest Missouri as a result of
cooperation, planning, coordinating, and completing what we set out to
do.
Our medical clinic opened at 8:00 am and it was awesome!! The great
facility offered to us by the city soon filled with people wanting help
for their bodies and willing to listen to the Word of God. We had 255
registered patients and issued prescriptions to 211 of them. We already
have run out of some of our medicines and issued most of the glasses we
brought.
Numerous Bible studies were conducted and many more were set up.
People are willing to hear preaching. 141 were in attendance tonight for
worship, including 35 children who were taught by our fine ladies.
The construction crew rebuilt the back side of sister Milagro’s house
and corrected a drainage problem to keep water from running through her
house when it rains.
I have been unable to get photos to send from here. I really wish you
could see what is going on. We will have to post some photos after we
get home.
We were blessed today by Joel showing up to help us as a translator.
He is a student at Harding University who ‘happened’ to meet some of our
team on the airplane from Houston to San Salvador. We needed another
translator very badly, and here he came.
We anticipate an even better day tomorrow. We are all well and
healthy. Thanks for your prayers—keep them going up.
Love, Ralph
06/05/05
We had another great day!! We declared war on Satan this morning at
our devotional and then attended the greatest event ever held in this
city. This was the first Church of Christ campaign in La Palma, and it
was a huge success. The plan was to have a Bible Class, worship service,
and a fellowship luncheon. The anticipation for 250-300 was far
exceeded when the final count came in at 426!!!!!!!! When the chairs were
all full long before class was over, the ladies reacted by rapidly
preparing food for the extra hundred folks.
There were over a hundred children in the classroom that was far too
small. The teachers did a tremendous job with these children and kept
them occupied with Bible lessons and songs for nearly 3 hours.
It was impressive to see where the audience came from. Although many
were from the local area, some members of other congregations drove or
rode many hours to support the campaign. They came in buses, cars,
pickup trucks, and cattle trucks. They sang beautifully and
enthusiastically. They enjoyed the fellowship and the worship. We joined with
them
in praise to God, even though we could not understand all of what was
said.
One note about yesterday that I failed to put in the blog last night.
Dony visited a home to invite the occupants to come to worship that
night. The lady said she could not come because a pile of sand in her
yard had to be moved. Dony immediately rounded up a crew from our team
and moved the sand. She attended worship that night, heard a clear,
exciting lesson on the plan of salvation, and was baptized!
Tonight the medical people and some of the other team members are
practicing for the medical clinic tomorrow. We anticipate a huge throng of
people to come.
We are all well and healthy. God is blessing us. Continue to pray for
our safety and success. I will try to attach some photos with this
blog.
Love, Ralph
06/04/05
It was a great day!! The new group has arrived from the States!! They came in
safely, almost on time. The only glitch was that their 17 totes of clothing did
not arrive and may not be here until Monday. Fortunately, the clothing is to be
donated to the poor and was not needed early in the week.
The clinic is now ready to operate. Great work by the construction crew and
medical team to get it ready. The church building looks great after interior
painting by Gary, Travis, and others!
The best news of all, though, is that there were 141 in attendance at worship
tonight and several responses. Six were baptized and more are studying as this
is written!!
We are tired and going to bed early.
It was a great day!!
06/03/05
Woke up to a gorgeous, beautiful, awesome sunrise with clouds and fog visible
below the mountaintops in the east!!!!! God is great!!!
Finished counting and sorting and labeling the pills. Dea is doing a phenomenal
job. Got into the community building and cleaned it. This is a great place to
be setting up a clinic. It is convenient and big enough - could not have done
better. The patient booths are almost set up. The meds and supplies are in the
'pharmacy', the lights are on and the fans work!!
The construction crew finished painting the classroom at the church building.
It really looks much better, in fact, it is beautiful.
There were several Bible studies conducted, and the word is getting out in the
community that we are here. A man stopped me on the street and asked if I was
part of the group setting up a clinic. He spoke English and we had a good
conversation. I was walking to church for evening worship and invited him to
come along-he came.
There were 73 for worship tonight - 34 of them were non-members. Studies were
held with 3 young men immediately after dismissal and they were very
interested. Tomorrow will be even better!
Tomorrow we will get 12 more team members as the last group arrives from the
US. Sunday we will have a great day with Christians from all over the area
coming for morning worship.
We are having great food. Dony Rodriguez and Dick Clay are the food service
coordinators and they are doing a superb job!! The men in the lower motel room
(poolside) now have hot water in their shower.
Pray today for Franklin, Frank, Omar, and Hector -they need to become
Christians.
Pray for our continued safety and success.
God is great!
Love,
Ralph
06/02/05
2nd letter today.
We continue to be blessed. All are well - no sickness.
58 in attendance at worship tonight with 18 first time visitors! These
people are awesome.
Plans are being made for a fellowship meal Sunday with up to 300
possible attendance.
Tomorrow we start setting up the medical clinic.
Door-to-door visits are going well with cordial greetings.
Pray for God to continue blessing our campaign.
Love,
Ralph
06/02/05
Yesterday was absolutely awesome!! The bus trip to the airport was
uneventful, and we even stopped to get paint and fans while we were in San
Salvador. The plane was late and it took a long time to get through
immigration because of the large number of flights arriving at the same
time. Our team was almost last to get in line at immigration, so that
part went rather well – the workers were anxious to get home. Two
checked bags did not arrive and it took a long time to get the claims
submitted, so when the team got to customs, they got almost no inspection and
went right through—including the medicines!!
The team was pleasantly surprised with the large tour bus rather than a
converted school bus as they anticipated. The seats were comfortable
and the ride was cool when the bus was moving. With one fuel
stop/bathroom break we arrived in La Palma at 11:15 pm, unloaded the bus, had a
brief meeting at the motel, and prayed. We thanked God for our safety
and security and our opportunity to be here to serve. We prayed
especially for Franklin Jiminez who has been so helpful to us in arranging
what we needed. He is very close to becoming a Christian, so we asked God
to soften his heart and to help Franklin submit himself in baptism. We
went to bed at midnight and rose this morning to enjoy a beautiful view
of the mountains sticking into the clouds.
After breakfast we had a devotional and a group picture, then went to
work. You can be very proud of this team. They love the Lord and each
other and the people of La Palma.
God continues to bless our plans. We will have our doctor Harris
joined by 3 other doctors and a dentist from San Salvador. We can now treat
up to 3000 people rather than the 800 that we might have otherwise.
The mayor asked us to send a team to the 31 schools in the city and teach
children how to brush, then give them each a tooth brush and tooth
paste. That would be over 4000 tooth brushes and we only planned for and
brought 2000. God’s plans are bigger than ours.
As we are joined by more people for the campaign and the clinic, our
costs are rising. We are required to pay the expenses of the
professional people who will be helping. Donnie, bring more cash!!
Today the evangelistic team will be distributing literature and tickets
to the clinic and conducting Bible studies. Tonight we will worship
with brothers and sisters from 3 countries and will be joined by more
tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday. The construction team is painting the new
classroom and the exterior of the church building. The medical team is
sorting our materials and supplies so we can move into the community
building tomorrow and set up the clinic.
Recent photos are below.
God is great!
Love, Ralph
06/01/05
We got final approvals for everything except some of the medicines
which expire soon. They will not allow those to come into the country.
The mayor held a meeting last night with us and his staff. He is great.
Will give us an extra vehicle, chairs and tables, and got another
doctor and dentist to help us. He had the mayor of San Ignacio come meet
with us and they invited us to come there next time. We had hoped to
plan a future campaign there.
We got rooms for everyone in the same motel at a great price. One of
the rooms is even poolside, but has no hot water in the shower!! This
is better than summer --camp-air conditioning included.
I am eating only very hot food. The doctor told us that May is the
month of flies--and the doctors call it the 'month of diarhea' --for good
reason.
I opened birthday cards from my family this morning. 'Abuelo Rafael'
is now 60 years old. Carol sent me email birthday wishes. I feel no
older --yet.
This has been a great experience in faith for me. I have had to rely
on God for things that I normally would do for myself. He changed the
minds of some politicians here and made them do something in 3 hours that
they said takes 60 days.
We leave shortly to pick up the Wednesday incoming crew. The bus ride
will be shorter than they planned on- 2 1/2 hours instead of 4.
Unfortunately, they will not get to see the countryside because it gets dark
here at 6 pm.
Everyone here is excited and friendly. Christians are coming from as
far as Nicaragua for the evangelistic campaign. Many will be from
Honduras. Jose and Jesus anticipate as many as 300 for Sunday worship!
God is great!!
Ralph
05/31/05
Ennio and I arrived in La Palma after a very busy day. Nothing happens
fast--and you know that is tough for me.
We got a permission slip from the Health department for the mission.
Immigration is aware that we are coming. The doctor and nurses have been
certified.
We got air conditioned rooms for everyone--it appears we can all stay
in the same place.
Banners are being hung over the main street to advertise it.
God wants this event to happen!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Ralph
PS-no time for my birthday this year. I will just stay the age I was
last year.
05/31/05
Ennio and Ralph arrived safely in San Salvador. We meet with the
Health Minister this morning and the mayor this afternoon.
God is great!
05/30/05
“Ennio and I leave today to get ready for the later groups coming. We will make
final arrangements for buses and water and buildings and stuff. Please pray for
our safety and success.” Ralph
05/25/05
We are 99% packed and ready to go. The final team meeting was Tuesday night and the excitement is high. We are ready to roll into La Palma!!
There are three groups going down – Monday the 30th, Wednesday the 1st, and Saturday the 4th. We really hope and pray that all of the totes and bags get there with us.
When Donnie and I began planning this trip, we said we did not want to have more than 30 team members because we were afraid we couldn’t handle that many. Now we are delighted to have 33 going! Everyone will be useful and have fun.
Thanks for your prayers while I was ‘down’ for a while. I am going strong and eager to get to La Palma. Love, Ralph
05/23/2005
“Welcome new team members for the June trip!! They are Lisa and Micah
Waldroop from Broken Arrow, OK.
They will join the group going down on June 4 – will meet at the Houston
airport. Here is a photo of them so you will recognize them when you see them.
They will be working in the medical area and we are delighted to have them with
us.
Welcome Lisa and Micah!!!!”
05/13/05
32 Christians met Tuesday night May 17 to count, label and package vitamins –
over 60,000 of them. This will save lots of work when we are actually running
the medical clinic. Additionally, we packed many more of the shipping totes and
got them ready to go. We should finalize the packing at our meeting May 24.
People have been very generous. We have been given lots and lots of things to
take and to use and to give to the people there. The following items are still
needed:
Several extension cords, from 12 to 25 feet long.
Ball caps to give away
Staplers to use by the medical assistants doing
administrative work
Diapers - large quantities – cloth preferred
Large beach towels for baptisms
Regular or queen size, non-fitted bed sheets to make room
dividers in the medical treatment area
Safety pins
Duct tape - lots of it
We need prayers always!!
05/10/05
The meeting we had on May 10 with most team members present. Packing is
underway and will continue as long as needed.