Skip to main content

U.S. Team; Mark & Lana; Shoes for Chuntrun; Earthquake

This blogging idea is a good one, but I have been quite lax in keeping it up. In the last several weeks much has gone on:

Loma Larga - Loma Larga is a place just across the river from us. It is accessible by foot bridge (swinging, of course) year round. It is accessible by car during the dry season and by some vehicles year round. We can see this place from our back window. We went there to drop in on some of the locals and invite them to church. We had a couple impromptu Bible studies while there, and invited the children to our Wednesday morning movies.

December U.S. Team - The December U.S. team has come and gone. There was much done that week. visit to Chuntrun (I stayed in La Palma), Campaign in San Ignacio, VBS in La Palma & San Ignacio, school graduation ceremonies, many meetings, and much last minute activities. After the visit to Chuntrun we all met in San Ignacio for a meal prepared for the U.S. team (and my family) by the ladies of Chuntrun and San Ignacio. I preached in San Ignacio and gave the commencement speech at the graduation. I also gave the reflection for the Lord's Supper in Ocotepque completely in Spanish without a translator. Also, in Ocotepeque, we gave out many stuffed animals to the children in the Children's Program.

Mark & Lana Visited - After we dropped the team off at the airport, we went to the nearby hotel to pick up Mark and Lana Wilkins (Lori's sister and brother-in-law). They had come for a week-long visit. We had an adventure way up (WAY UP) the adjacent mountain.
Getting ready to leave for Cumbre de Gramal
On the way back down, we stopped in Cumbre de San Jose.
Lana (an RN) and Hiliana (a local RN) set up a mini-clinic in Cumbra de Gramal (sp?) and we gave out vitamins, medicines, clothes, and toys to lots of people. We got a little nervous when some of he local youth got curious and took up observation points in various locations, but they were just curious and getting up the courage to swallow pride and ask for help. Later in the week, we went to Tazumal and visited some Mayan ruins - incredible! Then we headed to the beach overnight before returning Mark and Lana to their hotel. They returned to the U.S. Saturday.

Shoes for Chuntrun - Many of you will have seen the posts on Ralph McClurg's Facebook and mine about the need for shoes for the children of Chuntrun. Today most of them (except for 2 families) came to the church compound and went a family at a time to the shoe store to receive their new shoes. We showed a movie (VeggieTales - in Spanish) in the auditorium, but most of the children spent their time coloring pages from a Fun Pad (sent by someone from the U.S.), playing on the playground equipment, or playing futbol in the courtyard.

Earthquake - As I was typing the second paragraph of this blog an earthquake occurred off the coast of El Salvador; magnitude 5.6; 58 km SW of San Miguel. We felt it here. I am still a little dizzy from it - like I just got off a ride at Six Flags. No one hurt here and no damages reported yet.

Maybe pictures will follow soon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I smell chocolate.

A lot has happened since last I blogged about the happenings here in La Palma. I mentioned in a post last week that I had been asked to speak in one of the local schools. It is quite a different feeling to basically give a Bible lesson on parenting at a public school function. I guess coming from Webb City I am more used to biblical foundations in the public schools than some, but it is still a strange concept to go into a school and give a lesson on what God wants from parents. I gave my only credentials for being qualified to teach on the subject to start, "Hi. I'm Monte. I've been married for eighteen years and have a teenage daughter and a son who is almost ten. I am a parent, but not a perfect one. What I am going to talk you about is some of the same things I'm still trying to get right." It was met with a very good reception. Two teachers who also were to speak and the school director during her speech all referred back to what I had said. The director ...
1 comment
Read more

What an opportunity!

In my last post, I told you that I had something exciting to talk about. Well, I do. We are a little more than 5 years into the work here in La Palma. I'd like to say I was part of it from the start, but I was not. The children in the Sponsoship and Scholarship programs have started graduating from high school. I believe there was one last year and there will be two this next year. This is truly exciting in an environment where as soon as you are old enough to do some kind of money earning work, you are encouraged by your family to help with the family income. We have children in the program that display a dip in their grades, and we find they are putting off study for work as early as third grade. This is a problem, for sure, but these programs are truly having an amazing impact on the lives of many children. These programs would not be possible if not for the generosity of many of you! Now we are discovering a new and exciting opportunity to help these children. Of the two gr...
Post a Comment
Read more

First Sunday in La Palma

Today was a good day. We got to worship with the La Palma family. After for lunch we went and ate super gringa's at Eric's. Then we had some time to repack our suitcases and rest a while before Romeo (pronounced Ro-may-o) came with his big truck to pick up our luggage to take to what will be our residence while we are here. We loaded them up and then piled the five of us into the cab of the truck (3 seater). Nathan on Lori's lap and Erin on mine made for a long short trip - poor Erin kept slipping off my lap with all the downhill driving. We dropped off the luggage, no problem. Then I left with Romeo and Nathan to go pick up the 2 wardrobes and 2 bunk beds built for the children's home, for us to use while we reside there. ¡No estaba listo para ése! Romeo and Mauricio (who built the furniture) speak no English, and though I can understand more and more, it was not enough and I felt very much like a fish out of water. Mauricio's neighbors had a good laugh at my expen...
1 comment
Read more