I can always tell when I’ve fallen behind on the blog…I start hearing from people wanting to know if we’re okay. We are okay…well, mostly. Right now, Jim and I both are sick. Jim rarely gets sick but he’s had a pretty high fever, headache and stomach stuff for the last few days. I’ve had the same thing off and on for the past couple of weeks. We’re both sick of being sick but we’ve come to realize that is just part of us being here. We spend a lot of time with people who don’t have the luxury of good health care or even good basic sanitation. That’s bound to translate to our own health suffering sometimes. It just happens more than we would like!
We’ve also been extremely busy since we’ve come back from the States. Stepping in to the role of being the overseers of CINAFE continues to be both time and energy consuming…extremely. It also allows us to spend a lot of time with the children. We are getting to know them more as individuals and the better we know them, the more complicated we find them to be. Abuse, abandonment, neglect…all have taken their toll on these children. The road to healing is going to be a long one for them to travel… it’s going to be a long one for us walking alongside of them.
Along with working with the children in establishing firm parameters which are held in place through healthy affection and healthy attention, we are also working with the staff and the administration. This culture seems to create a chasm between the two. That is tough in any line of work but when working with abused children, it’s something that has to be overcome. It is imperative that there be an atmosphere of working together for the good of the kids which means that both have to learn to be intentional and deliberate in moving forward.
The very nature of why these children are at CINAFE also opens the door for the enemy to set up camp there. Control and manipulation are major issues and there is definitely spiritual warfare being waged. We’re thankful we’re on the side which will ultimately win the war but I have to say, the battles are fierce and there have already been casualties along the way. There have been recent terminations of some staff members and we are now addressing some behavior issues in some of the children. This is not a job for the faint of heart, that’s for sure. I’m guessing this is where God is going to use a lot of my life experiences of being a mom and grandma…and my natural bent for digging in and holding tight.
When my girls were in high school, we had a foreign exchange student from Japan live with us for a year. I can remember when I grounded Mika for going to a party which I had expressly told her she could not attend, she told me that I was the “meanest mother in Johnson County.” It hurt my heart to hear those words but she never knew that. I responded that I had been in the running for that position and I was glad to hear that I had won it. Today, years later, Mika still calls me Mom and I still have a special place in my heart for my “third” daughter.
I can’t even count the number of times one of my own girls would say something ugly or hurtful or would do something that would scare me half to death. At one point I could have sworn that alien beings had come and invaded their sweet little bodies and had taken control of my darling girls…if I remember right, it was about the age of 14 with both of them. Thankfully, we all lived through those years. Sometimes being a good mom means having to be a tough one, also. Funny how we never think that when we’re holding our seven pound bundle of joy in our arms…
This past week, there was a team of 27 teens (plus 6 adults) who came from a private Christian school in Ohio to work with a local King’s Castle chapter. Along with the other areas they ministered, they spent some time at CINAFE, painting the outside of several of the casitas and just playing with the kids. They had an outing where the kids were included plus several activities with them. I think both groups had a great time!
We helped arrange a ministry opportunity for this team at a small school in rural El Crucero. This is the school where Freddy and Felix’s boys attend. The team did door-to-door evangelism in the community, passing out beans and rice packets and then afterwards, met back at the school where they put on about an hour long program for the students. It was a fun program with lots of Christian based singing and skits. The students absolutely loved it!
After the program, the school fed all the students and the team with food that was purchased by the team and prepared by the school. There was enough food fixed to feed 300 people! Because they were feeding so many, Jim and I had to go to a sister school in another community to borrow one of their big cooking pots for them to use that day. It was a great collaboration and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves that day. We also had some doors opened to us that day for some possible future ministry opportunities. I just love how God does stuff like that!
The update on Yamuleith is not so encouraging. She remains in the hospital and although she is better than she was the day we called the ambulance, she still suffers so much. Her foster family has said they don’t want her back as she requires too much care. She has begged not to be returned to her father and step-mother. The facility we had hoped might be able to take her has said they can’t. Our options are quickly running out. I’m afraid that the government’s social services department is going to have to get involved. This probably won’t be the best thing for Yamuleith but we no longer have a good choice to make. We are faced with the lesser of two evils at this point and the burden of what to do weighs heavily on us. This is such a serious matter of prayer for us and we would appreciate your prayers as well. We obviously need God’s wisdom and guidance on this.
Kenneth continues to do well. He’s awfully slow in recovering from the effects of the last chemo but each day, he seems to grow stronger and he is more and more upbeat. We are in constant awe of how God has worked through this little boy and his family never misses an opportunity to give God all the glory!
La escuela de Las Rayitas de Luz (The Rays of Light School) is rapidly growing. This is the after-school school that Danelia, Kenneth’s mom, has twice a week in her living room. She started with 10 students almost a month ago and is now up to 18. An opportunity came up to rent a house which we could use for Danelia’s school and for us to use for our Saturday English class. We had been praying about it the last few weeks and we were ready to make a commitment to rent it for a year. We took the money to do so last Saturday when we found out the man had failed to meet with the family three different times. I guess it appears that maybe he’s not so sure about renting the house after all. We were all very disappointed but we also are all in agreement that we need to wait until the house and the timing are of God.
Another house did open up but that man wants to sell it and not rent it and the price was out of our budget by a long shot. So, we didn’t even entertain that thought for any length of time. We continue to pray God will open up something for us before long as Danelia’s class continues to grow in size but her small little living room doesn’t!
Our Saturday English class with the children also has experienced growth just in the two weeks we’ve had it. We were supposed to have 11 students our first week and we ended up with 18. This past Saturday, we had 21 and we were asked if two more could join. We are packed like sardines in Danelia’s as it is but neither of us can say “no” to these kids.
These are kids who want to come to school! They want to learn! They are unbelievably well-behaved and respectful. And they are learning about Jesus every time they walk through the door, whether it’s for Danelia’s school or for English class. We have already gotten prices on chairs, tables and basic supplies and so now, we are just waiting for God to open up a building for us. We are absolutely loving this and we are so excited to see what God is going to do next with this little school!
We actually attended a meeting with some of the parents last Saturday after class. Danelia called them together to introduce us to them and to discuss their participation in their children’s education. The feedback from the parents was excellent. All of the parents praised Danelia’s efforts and were very pleased with what she was doing. With tears in her eyes, one of the moms talked about how her son hated regular school and never wanted to go. She is a single mom and life is very hard for her. Bayron is a shy little boy and he has not done well in public school but he is thriving and learning with Danelia. His mom said he loved coming to our English class and she said she has seen such a change in him the last few weeks. She thanked us all and we knew her appreciation was sincere. Seeing the look of hope in her eyes about her son’s future makes teaching in the hot, crowded little “classroom” (Danelia’s living room) worthwhile for all of us.
We have recently been attending a new church called Covenant Church. It’s a small congregation and is a bit more expressive in their worship than our previous church but we have felt very comfortable there. It is a church that has both Nicaraguans and Americans in it and we like having a more balanced mix plus it also has a Thursday night Bible study which we are really excited about. They are currently going through “Forgotten God” by Francis Chan. I was given that book by James, our pastor at FBC, when we were there in March and had just started reading it when I found out that was the study they were offering! It’s a good book and we’re enjoying the study.
Well, that’s it in a nutshell. There isn’t a day that goes by that something hasn’t happened that I wish I could share with you. The problem is that rarely do I find the time, or maybe I should say, make the time, these days to sit down and do it. It seems like every day, our plans get changed due to some “emergency” that needs to be taken care of immediately or some Impromptu meeting that must be attended or some “forgotten” task that must be managed. These are needs that we are trying to meet to help others and we are ultimately, hurting ourselves in the process. We have found that we are now working literally 7 days a week…that’s too much, regardless of how “good” the work is.
We are now in the process of trying to implement a schedule that is not quite so hectic. We know this is not what God wants us to do. This kind of busyness is detrimental in so many ways. It’s not healthy for us physically (we’re both exhausted right now as well as sick), nor emotionally, nor spiritually. There will always be needs and if you make yourself available, you will always be needed. But you won’t always be in God’s will. It’s such a simple concept and yet seems so difficult to maintain.
That being said, I’m going to bed. Jim’s already there…I wanted to post some pictures but I don’t want to disturb him by getting the camera…he needs to sleep well tonight. So, I’ll post some later. Besides, it’s late, I’m tired and we have a 7:00 a.m. meeting tomorrow morning with the staff at CINAFE. It’s important that we be there. Tomorrow morning is usually the day we take Raquel, the director of CINAFE, to the market and to Pali to buy groceries and supplies for the facility…but we had to do that this morning instead because Teresa, the cook, is going to be gone tomorrow…which meant we didn’t get to have our English class there this morning.
We also will need to go buy some supplies for our English class in Tipitapa that we have each Saturday plus for the school’s Sunday’s Mother’s Day celebration there. We have been asked to attend. We have to do that tomorrow as we have English class at CINAFE on Thursday plus a meeting with Raquel following class and then there’s our time that we try to spend with the kids there each afternoon. Friday, we have to take one of the children to the dentist and then it’s Saturday and Tipitapa and….See what I mean? It’s as hectic living it as it is trying to read it! Good night all. May God bring His rest to all of us tonight!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Rejoicing...
Started to write about my visit with Yamuleith but didn’t want to wait to let you know about the amazing news we received Saturday while in Tipitapa. Danelia had called and asked if we could come to her house early before class. I was worried as I knew that she had taken Kenneth this past week to have his liver and abdomen checked.
We stopped and got our usual load of fruits and veggies to take to them and got there a few minutes after 11:00. As soon as we came down their road, we saw Kenneth out riding his bike. He seems to love his bike! We pulled up in front of the house and Danelia came walking down the road to meet us…we must have passed her on the way but I hadn’t notice her as there are always so many people out walking around.
We greeted one another and Arturo and Danelia asked us to come in and sit down. Danelia asked me to sit in one of their plastic chairs next to her. I could tell she was nervous and we spent a few minutes just making small talk. Finally, I told her that I thought she was worried about something and asked her if she could tell me what was wrong.
She looked at me for a minute and her face got very red. She told me that the new pastor at their church had decided that we couldn’t hold our classes there anymore, effective immediately. Before I could even react, Danelia apologized and said that the pastor was very jealous of us…I’m not sure how that can be as we just met him for the first time last week. He had asked us for a ride to his house in Managua when we were leaving and I had thought we had a good visit all the way to his home. Guess it wasn’t that great, after all.
Danelia said that he didn’t want us there as we were Baptists and that he was afraid we would want to “change” everyone. She said that he said he had to protect his church and that we could not come back. Danelia was getting angrier and angrier as she continued telling me of the conversation she had had with the pastor.
Danelia and I had talked about this a little last week. Evidently, the pastor had mentioned something to her earlier about us being there. When she introduced us to him, he seemed polite enough although he was perhaps a little stiff. She had told me then that he had asked if we were making the people pay money to come to our classes. She assured him we were not. He then asked her if we were asking anybody to give us anything. Again, she assured him we were not there to take anything from anyone. She said that she told him we were there to help the community by offering the classes for free and that we had been very well received by all of them. He told her that there are Americans who want to come her to take advantage of the Nicaraguan people and that they needed to be very careful about us.
I had noticed last week, while we were all waiting after class for a thunderstorm to end, that the Pastor was sitting by himself and not talking at all to any of the people there. The kids were playing back by him and he only watched them, never smiling at them. I asked Danelia if he was a good pastor and she said yes, but that he didn’t talk to anyone and that he seemed very serious all the time.
On the way back to Managua, he seemed friendly enough. He asked us how we knew Danelia and her family. He asked how many students we had each week in our classes and how long we had been teaching there. He asked what our denomination was (asking us this time) and what church we attended in Managua. He also wanted to know what other ministry work we had done and what we were currently doing in Nicaragua and how long we were going to stay here. He wanted to know where we lived and he wanted to know if our children were Christians. We talked about the difference of knowing about Jesus and the difference in having a relationship with Him. I didn’t think anything about his questions as Nicas are very curious people. I didn’t realize we were being interviewed. It looks like we didn’t fare too well with him.
Danelia was very upset and her eyes were filled with tears. She kept telling me that he was jealous of us. I was puzzled by that comment but I assured Danelia that it was fine and that his decision didn’t change anything between us. I told her that God was in control and that she and I love, worship and serve the same God. I told her that it didn’t matter to me what the name was on our churches as long as we knew Jesus Christ alone is our Lord and Savior. She agreed and she told me that she was so sorry that the pastor was being that way.
Danelia said she had served in that church for a long time and that she was angry that the new pastor would come in and do something like this and would not even listen to her. She said that all the people who knew us there were very glad we were there and she was very afraid we would be offended. I told her we were not offended at all and that although we didn’t necessarily like or agree with that decision, we could understand that the pastor wanted to protect his flock from those he might perceive as a threat.
I asked her if she wanted me to go ahead and teach English to her students or if it would be better if I didn’t. I told her I didn’t want her to have problems with the pastor because of us. Her face immediately brightened and she told me she definitely wanted me to teach and that she was afraid that I wouldn’t want to come back anymore because of the pastor’s decision. I told her that I would love to teach the kids. Danelia said that she was trying to find another place for us to teach. (There’s another whole story with that but that’s for another blog).
I asked her if the students knew what had happened and she told me no and that she hadn’t had time to tell them. At that, I felt sick. I didn’t want them to think that we had just decided that we didn’t want to teach them anymore. Danelia said that she would get hold of all of them and tell them what happened and that we were trying to find an alternative location.
About that time, Arturo stuck his head around the corner and said that it was time for some good news. I asked what the good news was and Danelia and Arturo looked at each other and she began to tell me about her visit with Kenneth’s doctor this week. The head of the oncology department asked to speak with her after they had the results from his liver test. She said she was very nervous to go talk to him as he was the doctor who had been so blunt that Kenneth was going to die and that nothing could be done to save his life, but only stretch his time here.
When Danelia had told him some time back that she believed that God had His hand on Kenneth, the doctor said that he had seen too many mothers who had said the same thing and then watched their children die. He told her that her faith wasn’t going to save her son. This was the same oncologist who lost his own son to the same type of cancer as Kenneth. I can understand why she was nervous to see him again.
When she went in to talk to him, there were several other doctors there. They had Kenneth’s reports and test results. They said that something had happened that they couldn’t explain. Kenneth’s kidneys and liver were fine. Recently, there had been 3 small tumors appear in his abdomen in addition to the 3 larger ones in his chest. All of those are now gone – his chest and abdomen x-rays came out clear! His blood work is good. He’s started to gain weight. He has new energy. His color is good. He hasn’t had a fever for several weeks and he hasn’t had any pain at all. They said they have one more thing they want to do and that’s to check his bones – probably more x-rays, I would imagine and he’s to have that done on Wednesday.
She said the doctor told her that the chemo could not have taken away that cancer as it was too far advanced. He said again that at best, it would only prolong his life. He shrugged his shoulders as he told her that they weren’t sure what was going on. She immediately told that room full of doctors that she knew and that it was God who had healed Kenneth and that she knew He had a great plan for Kenneth’s life.
Danelia broke down at this point and sobbed. She said that every child that had been in the same room with Kenneth each time he had been hospitalized has since died and she said she would often wonder if Kenneth was going to be next. She said that her life had become centered around prayer and that in those prayers, God told her that she was to serve Him by helping others and by being bold about what God has done in their lives. She said that God told her that she isn’t just supposed to tell others about Jesus but that she is to show others the love of Jesus.
This is where I got teary…this woman…this family…they have such mission hearts. How many folks have I known who had so much and yet gave so little? Too many…too many. Too many Christians have Heaven in their hearts but don't share it with those who are dying to an eternal death. For Pete’s sake…there are Christians who don’t even share with their brothers and sisters in Christ, let alone with those who aren’t believers! But this family shares what they do have with those who don’t have. My goodness, how God has used this family to open my eyes to the sin of selfishness in my own life. You know, when God’s conviction pours over you, He has a unique way of using the very thing that breaks your heart to heal your heart.
Back to the generosity of Danelia…here is a good case in point – the lady who cleans at the church also has been diagnosed with cancer. Her name is Claudia and she has leukemia. She is one of our students and she loves English class. What first struck me about Claudia wasn’t the scarf that covered her bare head but her beautiful smile. When Claudia smiles, that smile moves upward and her eyes sparkle like fire. She loves the Lord and that love lights up her face.
Claudia has five children and she is the sole supporter of the family. When she became sick, her husband left. She struggles to feed her children and even though she needs to be worried about her own health right now, her children are her priority. We have seen her clean when she was sick and in pain. Her job is physically taxing and she works hard at it. Claudia takes pride in what she does and is thankful that the Lord has provided her a job. Mopping and cleaning here is not an easy task at any time, but in the rainy season, the work is even harder but Claudia’s floors shine as brightly as her smile.
Danelia told me two weeks ago, that she had been sharing the Sustagen and the milk that we had given to Kenneth with Claudia. She told me that right now, Claudia needed it more than Kenneth since we were helping them with the added fruits and vegetables and that Claudia was getting weaker from the chemo.
Danelia was initially a little tentative about telling me that but I told her I was glad that she saw a need and that through what others had given, that God was helping her meet that need. I told her that’s what missionaries did. I told her that’s how we were able to help them was through what others had given to us. She thought about that for a minute and then nodded thoughtfully.
I had brought an extra can of Sustagen that day for Claudia and asked Danelia to make sure that Claudia would receive it. Danelia assured me that she would and said that she knew it was going to be a real blessing to Claudia and that she knew Claudia would be so grateful. So are we…let me just say right now, thank you for helping us meet these kinds of needs.
Okay, I digressed with my story about Danelia speaking with the doctors…back to it. Danelia said that she reminded the doctors that there were people in her church and in the United States praying for Kenneth. The head doctor said he remembered that she had American friends. He asked her if she was still going to church and if she still had faith. She said she was and the doctor said very softly not to quit.
She said she didn’t know why he said that because the tests show that Kenneth is “cancer free” and that she and Arturo know that God has done a miracle of healing in Kenneth. She began to cry again and I knew then how difficult it was for her to be free from that fear that has had its fierce grip on her heart for the last couple of years. She kept saying the tests show that there are no more tumors.
I put my arm around her and told her that God does indeed have a great plan for Kenneth’s life and that if he gives him many more years or whether his time here with us is short, it is a time that God has chosen and it is part of His plan. I told her that Kenneth’s story has been told many times and that there are so many who have come to know our Lord in a deeper way because of him. She slowly nodded her head in agreement. I told her that God was using Kenneth to soften the heart of the head doctor and that because of him, all of those doctors had heard about Jesus. At that, Danelia’s smile returned.
And now…our walk of faith continues. Only God knows what He has planned for Kenneth. I’m ashamed to say that there is that part of me that says maybe we are rejoicing a little prematurely, maybe we need to wait until next week’s results…but then there’s this Voice inside of me that says, “In whom are you putting your faith, your trust, your confidence…in man or in Me?”
So, for now, we are filled with joy and are praising His name, thanking Him for His faithfulness to Kenneth and this family. And regardless of what the bone test shows this week, our God is still our God and He is Lord! He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His name was Jehovah Rapha…is it not now?
We stopped and got our usual load of fruits and veggies to take to them and got there a few minutes after 11:00. As soon as we came down their road, we saw Kenneth out riding his bike. He seems to love his bike! We pulled up in front of the house and Danelia came walking down the road to meet us…we must have passed her on the way but I hadn’t notice her as there are always so many people out walking around.
We greeted one another and Arturo and Danelia asked us to come in and sit down. Danelia asked me to sit in one of their plastic chairs next to her. I could tell she was nervous and we spent a few minutes just making small talk. Finally, I told her that I thought she was worried about something and asked her if she could tell me what was wrong.
She looked at me for a minute and her face got very red. She told me that the new pastor at their church had decided that we couldn’t hold our classes there anymore, effective immediately. Before I could even react, Danelia apologized and said that the pastor was very jealous of us…I’m not sure how that can be as we just met him for the first time last week. He had asked us for a ride to his house in Managua when we were leaving and I had thought we had a good visit all the way to his home. Guess it wasn’t that great, after all.
Danelia said that he didn’t want us there as we were Baptists and that he was afraid we would want to “change” everyone. She said that he said he had to protect his church and that we could not come back. Danelia was getting angrier and angrier as she continued telling me of the conversation she had had with the pastor.
Danelia and I had talked about this a little last week. Evidently, the pastor had mentioned something to her earlier about us being there. When she introduced us to him, he seemed polite enough although he was perhaps a little stiff. She had told me then that he had asked if we were making the people pay money to come to our classes. She assured him we were not. He then asked her if we were asking anybody to give us anything. Again, she assured him we were not there to take anything from anyone. She said that she told him we were there to help the community by offering the classes for free and that we had been very well received by all of them. He told her that there are Americans who want to come her to take advantage of the Nicaraguan people and that they needed to be very careful about us.
I had noticed last week, while we were all waiting after class for a thunderstorm to end, that the Pastor was sitting by himself and not talking at all to any of the people there. The kids were playing back by him and he only watched them, never smiling at them. I asked Danelia if he was a good pastor and she said yes, but that he didn’t talk to anyone and that he seemed very serious all the time.
On the way back to Managua, he seemed friendly enough. He asked us how we knew Danelia and her family. He asked how many students we had each week in our classes and how long we had been teaching there. He asked what our denomination was (asking us this time) and what church we attended in Managua. He also wanted to know what other ministry work we had done and what we were currently doing in Nicaragua and how long we were going to stay here. He wanted to know where we lived and he wanted to know if our children were Christians. We talked about the difference of knowing about Jesus and the difference in having a relationship with Him. I didn’t think anything about his questions as Nicas are very curious people. I didn’t realize we were being interviewed. It looks like we didn’t fare too well with him.
Danelia was very upset and her eyes were filled with tears. She kept telling me that he was jealous of us. I was puzzled by that comment but I assured Danelia that it was fine and that his decision didn’t change anything between us. I told her that God was in control and that she and I love, worship and serve the same God. I told her that it didn’t matter to me what the name was on our churches as long as we knew Jesus Christ alone is our Lord and Savior. She agreed and she told me that she was so sorry that the pastor was being that way.
Danelia said she had served in that church for a long time and that she was angry that the new pastor would come in and do something like this and would not even listen to her. She said that all the people who knew us there were very glad we were there and she was very afraid we would be offended. I told her we were not offended at all and that although we didn’t necessarily like or agree with that decision, we could understand that the pastor wanted to protect his flock from those he might perceive as a threat.
I asked her if she wanted me to go ahead and teach English to her students or if it would be better if I didn’t. I told her I didn’t want her to have problems with the pastor because of us. Her face immediately brightened and she told me she definitely wanted me to teach and that she was afraid that I wouldn’t want to come back anymore because of the pastor’s decision. I told her that I would love to teach the kids. Danelia said that she was trying to find another place for us to teach. (There’s another whole story with that but that’s for another blog).
I asked her if the students knew what had happened and she told me no and that she hadn’t had time to tell them. At that, I felt sick. I didn’t want them to think that we had just decided that we didn’t want to teach them anymore. Danelia said that she would get hold of all of them and tell them what happened and that we were trying to find an alternative location.
About that time, Arturo stuck his head around the corner and said that it was time for some good news. I asked what the good news was and Danelia and Arturo looked at each other and she began to tell me about her visit with Kenneth’s doctor this week. The head of the oncology department asked to speak with her after they had the results from his liver test. She said she was very nervous to go talk to him as he was the doctor who had been so blunt that Kenneth was going to die and that nothing could be done to save his life, but only stretch his time here.
When Danelia had told him some time back that she believed that God had His hand on Kenneth, the doctor said that he had seen too many mothers who had said the same thing and then watched their children die. He told her that her faith wasn’t going to save her son. This was the same oncologist who lost his own son to the same type of cancer as Kenneth. I can understand why she was nervous to see him again.
When she went in to talk to him, there were several other doctors there. They had Kenneth’s reports and test results. They said that something had happened that they couldn’t explain. Kenneth’s kidneys and liver were fine. Recently, there had been 3 small tumors appear in his abdomen in addition to the 3 larger ones in his chest. All of those are now gone – his chest and abdomen x-rays came out clear! His blood work is good. He’s started to gain weight. He has new energy. His color is good. He hasn’t had a fever for several weeks and he hasn’t had any pain at all. They said they have one more thing they want to do and that’s to check his bones – probably more x-rays, I would imagine and he’s to have that done on Wednesday.
She said the doctor told her that the chemo could not have taken away that cancer as it was too far advanced. He said again that at best, it would only prolong his life. He shrugged his shoulders as he told her that they weren’t sure what was going on. She immediately told that room full of doctors that she knew and that it was God who had healed Kenneth and that she knew He had a great plan for Kenneth’s life.
Danelia broke down at this point and sobbed. She said that every child that had been in the same room with Kenneth each time he had been hospitalized has since died and she said she would often wonder if Kenneth was going to be next. She said that her life had become centered around prayer and that in those prayers, God told her that she was to serve Him by helping others and by being bold about what God has done in their lives. She said that God told her that she isn’t just supposed to tell others about Jesus but that she is to show others the love of Jesus.
This is where I got teary…this woman…this family…they have such mission hearts. How many folks have I known who had so much and yet gave so little? Too many…too many. Too many Christians have Heaven in their hearts but don't share it with those who are dying to an eternal death. For Pete’s sake…there are Christians who don’t even share with their brothers and sisters in Christ, let alone with those who aren’t believers! But this family shares what they do have with those who don’t have. My goodness, how God has used this family to open my eyes to the sin of selfishness in my own life. You know, when God’s conviction pours over you, He has a unique way of using the very thing that breaks your heart to heal your heart.
Back to the generosity of Danelia…here is a good case in point – the lady who cleans at the church also has been diagnosed with cancer. Her name is Claudia and she has leukemia. She is one of our students and she loves English class. What first struck me about Claudia wasn’t the scarf that covered her bare head but her beautiful smile. When Claudia smiles, that smile moves upward and her eyes sparkle like fire. She loves the Lord and that love lights up her face.
Claudia has five children and she is the sole supporter of the family. When she became sick, her husband left. She struggles to feed her children and even though she needs to be worried about her own health right now, her children are her priority. We have seen her clean when she was sick and in pain. Her job is physically taxing and she works hard at it. Claudia takes pride in what she does and is thankful that the Lord has provided her a job. Mopping and cleaning here is not an easy task at any time, but in the rainy season, the work is even harder but Claudia’s floors shine as brightly as her smile.
Danelia told me two weeks ago, that she had been sharing the Sustagen and the milk that we had given to Kenneth with Claudia. She told me that right now, Claudia needed it more than Kenneth since we were helping them with the added fruits and vegetables and that Claudia was getting weaker from the chemo.
Danelia was initially a little tentative about telling me that but I told her I was glad that she saw a need and that through what others had given, that God was helping her meet that need. I told her that’s what missionaries did. I told her that’s how we were able to help them was through what others had given to us. She thought about that for a minute and then nodded thoughtfully.
I had brought an extra can of Sustagen that day for Claudia and asked Danelia to make sure that Claudia would receive it. Danelia assured me that she would and said that she knew it was going to be a real blessing to Claudia and that she knew Claudia would be so grateful. So are we…let me just say right now, thank you for helping us meet these kinds of needs.
Okay, I digressed with my story about Danelia speaking with the doctors…back to it. Danelia said that she reminded the doctors that there were people in her church and in the United States praying for Kenneth. The head doctor said he remembered that she had American friends. He asked her if she was still going to church and if she still had faith. She said she was and the doctor said very softly not to quit.
She said she didn’t know why he said that because the tests show that Kenneth is “cancer free” and that she and Arturo know that God has done a miracle of healing in Kenneth. She began to cry again and I knew then how difficult it was for her to be free from that fear that has had its fierce grip on her heart for the last couple of years. She kept saying the tests show that there are no more tumors.
I put my arm around her and told her that God does indeed have a great plan for Kenneth’s life and that if he gives him many more years or whether his time here with us is short, it is a time that God has chosen and it is part of His plan. I told her that Kenneth’s story has been told many times and that there are so many who have come to know our Lord in a deeper way because of him. She slowly nodded her head in agreement. I told her that God was using Kenneth to soften the heart of the head doctor and that because of him, all of those doctors had heard about Jesus. At that, Danelia’s smile returned.
And now…our walk of faith continues. Only God knows what He has planned for Kenneth. I’m ashamed to say that there is that part of me that says maybe we are rejoicing a little prematurely, maybe we need to wait until next week’s results…but then there’s this Voice inside of me that says, “In whom are you putting your faith, your trust, your confidence…in man or in Me?”
So, for now, we are filled with joy and are praising His name, thanking Him for His faithfulness to Kenneth and this family. And regardless of what the bone test shows this week, our God is still our God and He is Lord! He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His name was Jehovah Rapha…is it not now?
He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.” Exodus 15:26
Monday, May 3, 2010
Rough reflection...
Since this is a holiday weekend, I’ve had lots of time today to catch up on my blogging. As I’m typing this, I realize it’s still hazy out…I can’t see the hills on the far side of the lake today nor can I see the volcano. I have a feeling it’s going to be pretty miserable later on today. As it is, even with all three fans going here in the bedroom, I’m sweating.
We had really heavy thunderstorms last night…several hours of unbelievable lightning and thunder. ..it was quite a show. And miraculously, our power stayed on through it all! Although the storms brought cooler temps at the time, it was still difficult to sleep with the amplified light show. And today, it’s just hot and sticky!
There’s been lots of activity out back. With this being a holiday weekend (it’s Labor Day here), the squatters on the hillside have decided that it would be a good time to bring electricity in to their community. They started early yesterday morning by digging holes across the road to set their electric poles…which are actually slender trees they have brought in and have cut all the branches off of them. There was quite a crowd out there…I decided it wouldn’t be the smartest thing to take a picture of them while they were working as they are stealing the electricity off a power pole up the road a little ways. I’m wondering where they “bought” the electric wire from…
It just seems so crazy to me that these are the same people who are avid supporters of the current government…and yet they’re stealing revenue from the government run electric company. They are also the same folks who participate in the religious parades of their patron saints…I am sure they would call themselves religious and are quick to use the phrase, “Gracias a dios” – “Thanks be to God” but they are blatantly stealing. Baffling…
On Friday, Raquel who is the director at CINAFE, asked us to take her, the cook and one of the girls to the market and then on to Pali, which is a grocery store here. It’s like a box store and is one step above the market and one step below a regular grocery store. Some Americans shop there but not many as the regular grocery store is so much more comfortable. Pali doesn’t have near the selection and if you want your groceries in bags, you must pay for them. You are also responsible for bagging your own groceries and getting them out to your car…or to the bus or taxi. It’s a bare-bones shopping experience and not nearly as much fun as the market but it’s also a little less risky…so I guess it’s a toss-up as to which I prefer.
We went to the market first to buy some fresh fruits and vegetables. We had taken Raquel the week before and took her to the stand that we buy from. Raquel still lives at home and so her mother does the shopping. They live in a neighborhood that is quite a distance from our end of town so she wasn’t at all familiar with the Israel market.
Last week, when we went, the vendors, Juan and Gloria, were very glad to see us again and we were given all kinds of free fruit. They basically ignored Raquel until I introduced her and told them that she was there to buy produce for a children’s home. Gloria assured me she would give her a good price. Raquel and I smiled at each other…we both knew that Gloria was going to try to get every last cordoba that she could…it’s how it is done here. Both parties bargain until they come to a price they can agree on.
This visit, Natalie was back and she and Gloria had a tougher customer with Teresa, the cook. Teresa is very saavy about shopping at the markets and she knows good produce from the lesser quality stuff. We basically turned her loose with Gloria and Natalie. Raquel more or less watched and Francela (one of the teen girls from CINAFE) wrote down all the prices on their list. Jim and I ate bananas while we watched the women fuss back and forth about the prices. The market is always busy but it seemed even busier Friday. We didn’t get there until the afternoon so the selection wasn’t the best but that didn’t seem to stop the shoppers from coming. I suppose it was because people were getting ready for the weekend.
As we were finishing the shopping up at the market, a little girl appeared and just kept staring at us. Gloria brought her over to me and introduced her as her granddaughter…Natalie Maria who is four years old. She is in her first year of preschool and told me she likes school but she likes to play better. She was the cutest little girl and she had to show me that her neck was sore. Her neck did look raw and irritated and so I asked Gloria what was wrong and she told me it was heat rash. I asked Jim to see if we had any candy left in the car and there were a couple of pieces. I gave them to Natalie Maria and told her I hoped her neck felt better and immediately, she was all smiles.
We got everything loaded and then went to Pali. It was packed. Pali is always a noisy, busy store and rarely do you see any manners being exercised. People cut in front of you in line, they push you out of the way, move your cart or reach across your face to get something. The first time we went, I was intimidated. The second time, I was a seasoned shopper! And although I don’t resort to any of the above behaviors, neither am I a shrinking violet when it’s time to shop. It’s kind of like driving here in Managua. You just keep moving and drive your cart both offensively and defensively at the same time. It’s controlled chaos at its best!
We had to get a few things for ourselves so Raquel, Teresa and Francela took a cart and began to shop and we did the same. We each got in a different line so that we finished up about the same time. While waiting to check out, we heard several big claps of thunder and then it began to pour. Finally, it let up some so that we could get out to the car and get all the groceries loaded.
Raquel wanted to get some cheese and cream from the cheese man who was selling his goods from a little stand set up right by the road. We all walked over there…Jim and I were curious and just observed the process. The vendor realized we weren’t buying anything so we basically became invisible. But he cut off a little piece of cheese for Raquel, Teresa and Francela to try…he knew those were his customers. American’s don’t buy his kind of cheese.
Raquel bought 6# of cheese and 4# of cream. The cheese was a soft, white cheese and the cream thick and yellowish. The cheese was sliced off a large block that was wrapped in a towel and it was weighed. The guy was really good and was almost perfect with the amount he cut. The cream came in little bags and each bag weighed a pound. The cost of the cheese and the cream came to less than $15.
I asked the gals when we got back in the car if that was good cheese and they all agreed that it was. Raquel told me that they came from the cows in Juigalpa. I asked if that was a better area for cheese and cream and she quickly said that it was. She said that there is a saying that Juigalpa is where the rivers are made of cream and the rocks are made of cheese. The Nicaraguans are such a poetic people.
We had planned on going on to PriceSmart but Raquel received a call that one of the accountants was at CINAFE and waiting on her so we hurried back to drop the gals and the goods off. We then headed over to our copy place to pick up some material we had copied to possibly use in some future children’s classes.
On the way to the copy store, we noticed there was an unusually high number of police on some of the streets. They weren’t working per se, (stopping traffic to write tickets), but were standing as though waiting for something or someone. We wondered if there were going to be more demonstrations or if perhaps, the president or a foreign dignitary was coming through. We both assumed it was in anticipation of a demonstration of some sort as the police were unarmed. They generally just stand by and watch when those occur and rarely get involved, even when there is violence occurring and people being hurt. This is an area where we judge these guys based on our own cultural beliefs…we believe the police should “serve and protect”. We don’t see that happening. I think they are more in place to try to increase revenue. It is becoming more and more a lawless land…
When we were beginning to pull in to the copy store parking lot, which is located across the street from a university, we were shocked to see such a large number of students gathered there. There were buses that were unloading students, not picking them up. When we got inside the copy store, I asked them what was going on and they said it was because of the holiday. This was almost 4:00 in the afternoon so we were surprised that they were just starting to assemble…it looked like it was going to be some party.
We left the copy place and were the next to the last car allowed to go on the main road. We saw the police were beginning to close off streets and we began meeting lots of buses coming from the other direction…all of them waving Sandanista flags. It looked as though the Labor Day afternoon gathering was going to turn in to another excuse for a political demonstration.
Traffic had come to a standstill and Jim and I both were uneasy. There were homemade mortars being shot and lots of whooping and hollering. We were on the outer lane but had a huge culvert on the right of us...we were stuck. I took several pictures but because I took them when we were moving, they didn’t come out. (Our little digital camera does not have the capability of stop action photography so unless I’m perfectly still, our pics don’t turn out. Frustrating because we or our subjects seem to always be on the move! ) Even so, I only took a few pics because for the most part, we decided to try to stay as inconspicuous as possible. We saw that many were drinking and that many of the truckloads that were passing had young men, waving their machetes and flags. The “people’s party” looked to be intent on raising cain somewhere.
Thankfully, we were soon able to start moving again and passed dozens of buses on our way home, all headed toward a central meeting place…they reminded me of lemmings going to the sea. We found out from our guard that there were going to be very few city buses running until Tuesday as the government had hired the majority of them to bring in loyal party members from all over the country to celebrate the government’s stance on taking care of the working man. I have one word for that…Ha! It would better serve the people if the “government” would get out in to the barrios and see how their people have to live. Sadly, though, I doubt if it would make any difference…greed, graft and corruption seem to remain the driving force in politics here. I can’t help but think that if Christians would do what Christians are supposed to do, that things would change. It makes me scrutinize myself and my witness even more.
Remember that children’s song, O Be Careful Little Eyes What You See? I’m about to issue that warning here…you might not like what you’re about to read. As I usually do, when I am convicted about something, I want to share the conviction!
I am currently reading the book, In His Steps, by Sidney Sheldon. I may have already told you that… It’s a fictional story that was written in the late 1800s and it began the WWJD movement years later…it’s a book well worth reading and according to Wikipedia, I’m not alone in believing that. “First published in 1896, the fictional book has sold more than 30,000,000 copies, and ranks as the 39th best-selling book of all time…” If you’ve not read it, I heartily recommend it. If you know me very well, you know I am a reader but I’m very careful about what I read and what I recommend. I have no hesitations in endorsing this one.
But as sometimes happens when I’ve read something really powerful, I’m haunted by the message of this book so that recommendation comes with a warning. More than a trite saying found on rubber bracelets, the “What would Jesus do?” question has been plaguing me at the oddest times. It’s more than me asking the question of what would Jesus do? It’s what I then do with the answer.
The effect this book has had on me has been much like Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper and The Autobiography of George Mueller. That thought occurred to me when I reflected upon us being in the middle of all those soon-to-be demonstrators. What would Jesus do if He were in the middle of a potentially explosive crowd? Would He be frightened and wish He were somewhere else? Oh, yeah…He had been in the middle of that type of crowd and He had also been in the middle of the crowd after it had exploded. So, what did He do? He remembered His mission and He remembered why He was sent on that mission…and His heart broke for His “people group”.
Reading this book has really jarred me. It is so easy to get caught up in the politics of this country…and in the politics of the States. The Three Big O’s (Oprah, Obama and Ortega) won’t save us and our politics won’t save us. The only Savior is Jesus Christ. If only our fervor for Him was as great as our fervor for political debate or for the queen of talk shows. (Don’t let me get started on Oprah!) What a different world we might live in.
We blame Satan and sin for the terrible conditions of the world…I don’t argue his involvement in the deterioration of morality. But maybe the reason he’s been so successful in his mission is because we’ve been such failures in our commission. Maybe we need to examine ourselves a little closer and take some personal responsibility for the current state of affairs. What have we, as followers of Jesus Christ, done to confront evil in our world? In our nations? In our cities? In our neighborhoods? In our homes? In ourselves?
Have we taken any action at the risk of personal loss to confront evil in any of these areas or is that the very reason we’ve chosen not to do so? Have we been willing to soften the gospel message so as not to offend? Have we been willing to close our eyes to compromise so as not to disturb? Have we substituted conviction with complacency? Have we been willing to live a life of excuses? What is Jesus going to do with those? What is Jesus going to do with us? What is He going to do with me?
Sigh. Thank you, Charles Sheldon, for making me question so many things…you have disturbed my comfort zone.
We had really heavy thunderstorms last night…several hours of unbelievable lightning and thunder. ..it was quite a show. And miraculously, our power stayed on through it all! Although the storms brought cooler temps at the time, it was still difficult to sleep with the amplified light show. And today, it’s just hot and sticky!
There’s been lots of activity out back. With this being a holiday weekend (it’s Labor Day here), the squatters on the hillside have decided that it would be a good time to bring electricity in to their community. They started early yesterday morning by digging holes across the road to set their electric poles…which are actually slender trees they have brought in and have cut all the branches off of them. There was quite a crowd out there…I decided it wouldn’t be the smartest thing to take a picture of them while they were working as they are stealing the electricity off a power pole up the road a little ways. I’m wondering where they “bought” the electric wire from…
It just seems so crazy to me that these are the same people who are avid supporters of the current government…and yet they’re stealing revenue from the government run electric company. They are also the same folks who participate in the religious parades of their patron saints…I am sure they would call themselves religious and are quick to use the phrase, “Gracias a dios” – “Thanks be to God” but they are blatantly stealing. Baffling…
On Friday, Raquel who is the director at CINAFE, asked us to take her, the cook and one of the girls to the market and then on to Pali, which is a grocery store here. It’s like a box store and is one step above the market and one step below a regular grocery store. Some Americans shop there but not many as the regular grocery store is so much more comfortable. Pali doesn’t have near the selection and if you want your groceries in bags, you must pay for them. You are also responsible for bagging your own groceries and getting them out to your car…or to the bus or taxi. It’s a bare-bones shopping experience and not nearly as much fun as the market but it’s also a little less risky…so I guess it’s a toss-up as to which I prefer.
We went to the market first to buy some fresh fruits and vegetables. We had taken Raquel the week before and took her to the stand that we buy from. Raquel still lives at home and so her mother does the shopping. They live in a neighborhood that is quite a distance from our end of town so she wasn’t at all familiar with the Israel market.
Last week, when we went, the vendors, Juan and Gloria, were very glad to see us again and we were given all kinds of free fruit. They basically ignored Raquel until I introduced her and told them that she was there to buy produce for a children’s home. Gloria assured me she would give her a good price. Raquel and I smiled at each other…we both knew that Gloria was going to try to get every last cordoba that she could…it’s how it is done here. Both parties bargain until they come to a price they can agree on.
This visit, Natalie was back and she and Gloria had a tougher customer with Teresa, the cook. Teresa is very saavy about shopping at the markets and she knows good produce from the lesser quality stuff. We basically turned her loose with Gloria and Natalie. Raquel more or less watched and Francela (one of the teen girls from CINAFE) wrote down all the prices on their list. Jim and I ate bananas while we watched the women fuss back and forth about the prices. The market is always busy but it seemed even busier Friday. We didn’t get there until the afternoon so the selection wasn’t the best but that didn’t seem to stop the shoppers from coming. I suppose it was because people were getting ready for the weekend.
As we were finishing the shopping up at the market, a little girl appeared and just kept staring at us. Gloria brought her over to me and introduced her as her granddaughter…Natalie Maria who is four years old. She is in her first year of preschool and told me she likes school but she likes to play better. She was the cutest little girl and she had to show me that her neck was sore. Her neck did look raw and irritated and so I asked Gloria what was wrong and she told me it was heat rash. I asked Jim to see if we had any candy left in the car and there were a couple of pieces. I gave them to Natalie Maria and told her I hoped her neck felt better and immediately, she was all smiles.
We got everything loaded and then went to Pali. It was packed. Pali is always a noisy, busy store and rarely do you see any manners being exercised. People cut in front of you in line, they push you out of the way, move your cart or reach across your face to get something. The first time we went, I was intimidated. The second time, I was a seasoned shopper! And although I don’t resort to any of the above behaviors, neither am I a shrinking violet when it’s time to shop. It’s kind of like driving here in Managua. You just keep moving and drive your cart both offensively and defensively at the same time. It’s controlled chaos at its best!
We had to get a few things for ourselves so Raquel, Teresa and Francela took a cart and began to shop and we did the same. We each got in a different line so that we finished up about the same time. While waiting to check out, we heard several big claps of thunder and then it began to pour. Finally, it let up some so that we could get out to the car and get all the groceries loaded.
Raquel wanted to get some cheese and cream from the cheese man who was selling his goods from a little stand set up right by the road. We all walked over there…Jim and I were curious and just observed the process. The vendor realized we weren’t buying anything so we basically became invisible. But he cut off a little piece of cheese for Raquel, Teresa and Francela to try…he knew those were his customers. American’s don’t buy his kind of cheese.
Raquel bought 6# of cheese and 4# of cream. The cheese was a soft, white cheese and the cream thick and yellowish. The cheese was sliced off a large block that was wrapped in a towel and it was weighed. The guy was really good and was almost perfect with the amount he cut. The cream came in little bags and each bag weighed a pound. The cost of the cheese and the cream came to less than $15.
I asked the gals when we got back in the car if that was good cheese and they all agreed that it was. Raquel told me that they came from the cows in Juigalpa. I asked if that was a better area for cheese and cream and she quickly said that it was. She said that there is a saying that Juigalpa is where the rivers are made of cream and the rocks are made of cheese. The Nicaraguans are such a poetic people.
We had planned on going on to PriceSmart but Raquel received a call that one of the accountants was at CINAFE and waiting on her so we hurried back to drop the gals and the goods off. We then headed over to our copy place to pick up some material we had copied to possibly use in some future children’s classes.
On the way to the copy store, we noticed there was an unusually high number of police on some of the streets. They weren’t working per se, (stopping traffic to write tickets), but were standing as though waiting for something or someone. We wondered if there were going to be more demonstrations or if perhaps, the president or a foreign dignitary was coming through. We both assumed it was in anticipation of a demonstration of some sort as the police were unarmed. They generally just stand by and watch when those occur and rarely get involved, even when there is violence occurring and people being hurt. This is an area where we judge these guys based on our own cultural beliefs…we believe the police should “serve and protect”. We don’t see that happening. I think they are more in place to try to increase revenue. It is becoming more and more a lawless land…
When we were beginning to pull in to the copy store parking lot, which is located across the street from a university, we were shocked to see such a large number of students gathered there. There were buses that were unloading students, not picking them up. When we got inside the copy store, I asked them what was going on and they said it was because of the holiday. This was almost 4:00 in the afternoon so we were surprised that they were just starting to assemble…it looked like it was going to be some party.
We left the copy place and were the next to the last car allowed to go on the main road. We saw the police were beginning to close off streets and we began meeting lots of buses coming from the other direction…all of them waving Sandanista flags. It looked as though the Labor Day afternoon gathering was going to turn in to another excuse for a political demonstration.
Traffic had come to a standstill and Jim and I both were uneasy. There were homemade mortars being shot and lots of whooping and hollering. We were on the outer lane but had a huge culvert on the right of us...we were stuck. I took several pictures but because I took them when we were moving, they didn’t come out. (Our little digital camera does not have the capability of stop action photography so unless I’m perfectly still, our pics don’t turn out. Frustrating because we or our subjects seem to always be on the move! ) Even so, I only took a few pics because for the most part, we decided to try to stay as inconspicuous as possible. We saw that many were drinking and that many of the truckloads that were passing had young men, waving their machetes and flags. The “people’s party” looked to be intent on raising cain somewhere.
Thankfully, we were soon able to start moving again and passed dozens of buses on our way home, all headed toward a central meeting place…they reminded me of lemmings going to the sea. We found out from our guard that there were going to be very few city buses running until Tuesday as the government had hired the majority of them to bring in loyal party members from all over the country to celebrate the government’s stance on taking care of the working man. I have one word for that…Ha! It would better serve the people if the “government” would get out in to the barrios and see how their people have to live. Sadly, though, I doubt if it would make any difference…greed, graft and corruption seem to remain the driving force in politics here. I can’t help but think that if Christians would do what Christians are supposed to do, that things would change. It makes me scrutinize myself and my witness even more.
Remember that children’s song, O Be Careful Little Eyes What You See? I’m about to issue that warning here…you might not like what you’re about to read. As I usually do, when I am convicted about something, I want to share the conviction!
I am currently reading the book, In His Steps, by Sidney Sheldon. I may have already told you that… It’s a fictional story that was written in the late 1800s and it began the WWJD movement years later…it’s a book well worth reading and according to Wikipedia, I’m not alone in believing that. “First published in 1896, the fictional book has sold more than 30,000,000 copies, and ranks as the 39th best-selling book of all time…” If you’ve not read it, I heartily recommend it. If you know me very well, you know I am a reader but I’m very careful about what I read and what I recommend. I have no hesitations in endorsing this one.
But as sometimes happens when I’ve read something really powerful, I’m haunted by the message of this book so that recommendation comes with a warning. More than a trite saying found on rubber bracelets, the “What would Jesus do?” question has been plaguing me at the oddest times. It’s more than me asking the question of what would Jesus do? It’s what I then do with the answer.
The effect this book has had on me has been much like Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper and The Autobiography of George Mueller. That thought occurred to me when I reflected upon us being in the middle of all those soon-to-be demonstrators. What would Jesus do if He were in the middle of a potentially explosive crowd? Would He be frightened and wish He were somewhere else? Oh, yeah…He had been in the middle of that type of crowd and He had also been in the middle of the crowd after it had exploded. So, what did He do? He remembered His mission and He remembered why He was sent on that mission…and His heart broke for His “people group”.
Reading this book has really jarred me. It is so easy to get caught up in the politics of this country…and in the politics of the States. The Three Big O’s (Oprah, Obama and Ortega) won’t save us and our politics won’t save us. The only Savior is Jesus Christ. If only our fervor for Him was as great as our fervor for political debate or for the queen of talk shows. (Don’t let me get started on Oprah!) What a different world we might live in.
We blame Satan and sin for the terrible conditions of the world…I don’t argue his involvement in the deterioration of morality. But maybe the reason he’s been so successful in his mission is because we’ve been such failures in our commission. Maybe we need to examine ourselves a little closer and take some personal responsibility for the current state of affairs. What have we, as followers of Jesus Christ, done to confront evil in our world? In our nations? In our cities? In our neighborhoods? In our homes? In ourselves?
Have we taken any action at the risk of personal loss to confront evil in any of these areas or is that the very reason we’ve chosen not to do so? Have we been willing to soften the gospel message so as not to offend? Have we been willing to close our eyes to compromise so as not to disturb? Have we substituted conviction with complacency? Have we been willing to live a life of excuses? What is Jesus going to do with those? What is Jesus going to do with us? What is He going to do with me?
Sigh. Thank you, Charles Sheldon, for making me question so many things…you have disturbed my comfort zone.
Answered prayers...
Our latest answer to some personal prayers came as such a surprise. I am not surprised that God heard these prayers…I think I’m surprised that He said “yes”! Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting that and I have to confess the reason for that is because I kind of felt like those were selfish prayers and I was even hesitant approaching God with those wants. I cannot pretend that these were real needs, they weren't. But they were real wants.
If you remember, I have mentioned several times how much I would love to have a freezer but every time we have looked at them, we have felt like they were just too cost prohibitive. Our desire to have one is very similar to the reasons we had before we were given one in the States…that was an extremely generous Christmas gift to us from my mom. That’s when we still had the kids with us and our refrigerator’s freezer just wasn’t big enough. Well, that’s the same reason we have been wanting a freezer now…except we no longer have our much-loved family living with us.
Since the temperatures have been so hot lately, (today, it’s only 91 but the heat index is above 100 degrees…nasty!) Jim is buying ice about every two days and having to keep the freezer compartment of our fridge filled with an ice bag leaves little room for anything else. Recently, the little meat market where we sometimes go to shop, had a really good cut of beef on sale for about $2.30 a pound. I would have liked to have bought some extra meat to freeze but knew our space limitations and could not.
I also thought that if we ever got a freezer, I could buy some ice trays (assuming I can find some) and make our own ice and bag it. We can refill a 5 gallon bottle of water for even less than what a 10# bag of ice costs us. I don’t know how practical that actually is but I know that when I really want something, I can come up with all kinds of ways to justify getting it!
The benefits of a freezer would be endless…or so I rationalized. Buying extra meat when it’s on sale was just the beginning of my dreaming. I could buy fresh mangos when in season, cut them up and freeze them so I would have plenty for mango bread throughout the year. I would have room for a veggie soup container…I always would save leftover veggies and toss them in a Lock ‘n Lock in the freezer and when I would have more month than money, I would make vegetable soup. I could keep my flour and pancake mix in there so I wouldn’t have to worry about bugs. Or extra bags of milk so I wouldn’t be caught without milk…which rarely happens, by the way but it helped to add it to my list of “why”. Or if someone should bring us bags of nuts or chocolate chips or York Peppermint Patties…I could throw them in the freezer.
I had a long list but I was pretty sure God didn’t really need me to justify yet another of my “wants”. We have managed without a freezer for 2 years now and I know in my heart, I didn’t have to have one…but it sure would be nice if we did.
Well, the other day, we received an e-mail that is sent out to the ICF community (International Christian Fellowship which is the church we attend). It is mainly for people in our church but anyone can sign up to receive it and it is a great way for folks to communicate needs. Items wanted, items being sold, meetings, announcements, etc. are all communicated through this means. We always read these with great interest and the few times we have seen things we have wanted, we are generally too late in responding to get them. Usually, no matter whatever the item is that is being sold, it goes really fast.
I just “happened” to be checking e-mail when this particular e-mail came through Friday morning and I read that a couple was going to be leaving Nicaragua and they were having a sale of their belongings. This type of notification is the one that draws the most interest in the missionary community. We are all looking for items that we would like to have but either cannot obtain here or cannot afford if available.
I immediately recognized the missionaries’ names…I think they are among the last IMB missionaries, if not the last ones, still in Nicaragua...and obviously, they aren’t going to be here that much longer. We found out they are going to be moving to Santiago, Chile in July.
Now I have to tell you that these sales are usually fever pitch events. I quickly scanned the list to see what they might have for sale and lo and behold, I saw the words “freezer”…I saw it twice! They had an old upright and a newer chest freezer to sell. I was so excited and called Jim to look at the ad. He said he thought the prices were good and so I asked Jim if he would call them and get some info. The whole time he was dialing the number, I was preparing myself for the disappointing response of “I’m sorry…they’ve already been sold.” Much to my surprise, they had not!
Long story short, because we were going to be in Tipitapa the next day when Karen and Loren were actually going to be having a garage sale for many of their smaller items and taking reservations for the most of the larger items, they told us we could go ahead and come out to see them to see if we might be interested in them.
We arrived at their home, which is not terribly far from where we live, and found only one other missionary there looking at items. I expected there to be lots of people but Loren said that most people were just calling and reserving the items over the phone. My heart sunk. We happened to know the other missionary that was already there. He and his wife have the orphanage where we use to volunteer when we first came here and it’s always good to see both of them but I figured he would be interested in the same items we were interested in. He wasn’t!!!
I didn’t expect to find the freezers in such good condition. The chest freezer turned out to be only a year old and looked to be as though it were in like new condition. The price was very good, a little over half of what a new one would cost us, and though it was the more expensive of the two, it was the right size for the two of us. The catch was that they wanted to continue to use it until July when they would be moving to Chile. The upright freezer was also a great size for us and although it had a couple of broken pieces on the inside and had suffered some cosmetically, it was definitely functional. It might need a new seal at some point but it is working fine for now. The price was very reasonable for it (at least it’s reasonable for Nicaland) and it could be moved at any time.
Jim and I talked about it. The $100 freezer would be fine…but what if the seal failed and we had trouble finding a new one? We would then be in the same shape that we’re in now but worse…we would have frozen food to store and no freezer to store it in. The brand is a Tappan and is at least 11 years old as they brought it with them. We’ve not seen that brand here at all.
After a lot of discussing, we decided we would go ahead and buy both of them, use the upright until we can get the chest freezer in July, and then, if we decide we want to get rid of it, we can donate it to CINAFE or to someone who needs one. I was so excited…we were going to get a freezer!!!
But wait…there’s more! God must have enjoyed seeing me grin from ear to ear, because He wasn’t through with the surprises. Karen also had a washer and dryer that she was selling! We don’t need a washer but oh, my goodness, wouldn’t a dryer be so nice to have, especially with the rainy season just starting? But, I didn’t have high hopes. Almost all dryers that we have seen for sale have been electric and we would have to have one that ran on propane. I asked her if it was gas or electric and I couldn’t believe my ears when she said it was gas!
Again, it’s an old Maytag dryer…another appliance they brought with them from the States, but they have had very few problems with it and it was running while were there and it seemed to be doing just fine. I think they use it all the time, from what I gathered, but we would use it only when the weather wouldn’t permit us to hang clothes out. Our “solar dryer” works great and when there’s the slightest wind, I don’t even have to iron anything. So, a dryer really would be a luxury. The price was a great price…again, compared to the other used dryers that we’ve seen here, and it was a gas dryer, to boot. Everyone we know who has a dryer has said that it’s the one luxury they wouldn’t want to give up…I’m not so sure about that but I’m willing to find out for myself! Again…a July acquisition item as they have teams coming almost up to the day they are leaving so they will need to keep it until then.
Wow…three appliances…could it get any better? You betcha! They were selling the 100# propane tanks that they had. This is another item that we have talked about getting but couldn’t justify the price as we felt like the 2- 25# tanks that we use (we always keep a spare) worked fine for us. But, with us getting the dryer, it made sense that it would be a good idea to get a big tank and use it for both the dryer and the stove. And the added benefit to that is that it is cheaper to do that than to refill the tanks plus the gas truck would come here and change the tank out for us and Jim wouldn’t have to take the tanks to the store anymore. Jim was extremely happy with that item!
There was one more item that caught our eye on their list of items to sell. I knew we were pushing the edge of our “want” envelope. We hadn’t needed any of the above items but I have to admit that I was so excited that we were going to have a few things that were going to make life a bit easier here. Did we dare even ask about this last item? Why not? It wouldn’t hurt to look, would it? The item in question were bunk beds...they had a total of four to sell.
We asked to see them and Loren took us out back to a combination tool and guest house they had behind their house. He was surprised when we expressed interest in the very plain and narrow set that was in the corner. There was another set that looked much more “American” and he had just assumed that would be the set we would want. We had initially thought we might like to purchase a better set of bunk beds than the one we have, but once we saw what he had, our focus changed. We were no longer interested in a set for us. We saw a set that would be perfect for Kenneth and Lindsay.
The set we chose is a set that Loren had made up in Matagalpa when they lived up there. It is of solid cedar so that termites are not an issue and it is very solid. Most of the bunk bed sets we see here are made of hollow metal tubing and are very prone to bending and rusting. This set obviously wasn’t going to have that problem. And because it was shorter (less than 6’ long) and a little more narrow than a single bed would be, it would fit in Arturo and Danelia’s bedroom.
The other selling point was that the beds could be taken apart so that they could work as two individual beds, so that if they ever had the need, they could separate them. (That’s something that our beds can’t do…when separated, they are too flimsy to act as individual beds). Another bonus with the set for the kids is that the colchones (roll-up mattresses) will come with them! By getting the kids bunk beds, that will enable each of them to have their own bed so they no longer have to share a bed.
So, right now, some of the things we have chosen are on “layaway”! Everything we bought came to less than $900. I don’t think that’s bad for two freezers, a dryer, a 100# gas tank, a set of bunk beds and the colchones. I know that sounds like an awful lot of money…and it is. Believe me, no one knows that better than we do. But, we also believe that God enabled us to find these items in such good condition and at such good prices for here. With the exception of the items we will be donating, we can always sell the others if we should no longer have need of them and although we probably wouldn’t recoup all that we spent, we could certainly get some return.
We gave Loren a $200 down payment to hold the items and as soon as we can find someone who will let us borrow their pickup truck, we can go ahead and get the empty gas tank, the upright freezer and the bunk beds. The other freezer and the dryer will have to wait until July…but I’m not complaining. Are you kidding me? I am not just excited that we will finally have a freezer…and a dryer, but more than that, I am so excited that we were able to see how God worked this out to bless us. As a matter of fact, that was exactly what Loren and I talked about. He was happy that his items were going to be a blessing and I was thrilled that we were going to be blessed in this way!
There were lots of other items that would have been “nice” to have but truthfully, we are trying very hard to live less complicated lives here. And from my own personal perspective, I find that too many times, “stuff” complicates. That probably doesn’t sound that way after I just listed all these things we’re buying but honestly, we don’t live a terribly “high” life here. So many of the things we took for granted two years ago, we have gained a new appreciation for now.
We still have yet to go to a movie or go for a weekend at the beach or out to dinner at a really nice place. We have one very small television and Mandy just sent us a DVD player this year for Christmas for our huge collection of 3 or 4 dvds! We don’t have a swimming pool. We have only one car and it’s almost 12 years old and well-used. We use our action packers as our end tables…I’ve just stacked two to a stack and covered them with towels. We don’t have any dressers…we use stacked storage cubes instead. Our everyday dishes and glasses are plastic. Most of our furniture is hand-made and as a result, has lots of “character”...some folks would call those mistakes. And we don’t have air conditioning.
But we will soon have a freezer and a dryer! And that makes this mama very happy! And it also makes me extremely grateful that God has brought me to the point that I can recognize and appreciate the ability to be thankful for buying an 11 year old freezer and dryer. That’s the real gift in all of this…the gift of being a work in progress…of God changing my heart, my values and moving me towards being a less selfish person. I have a long way to go yet but I just want to say, thank you, God, for changing my perspective as much as you have in the last two years. You are indeed, the God of answered prayers.
If you remember, I have mentioned several times how much I would love to have a freezer but every time we have looked at them, we have felt like they were just too cost prohibitive. Our desire to have one is very similar to the reasons we had before we were given one in the States…that was an extremely generous Christmas gift to us from my mom. That’s when we still had the kids with us and our refrigerator’s freezer just wasn’t big enough. Well, that’s the same reason we have been wanting a freezer now…except we no longer have our much-loved family living with us.
Since the temperatures have been so hot lately, (today, it’s only 91 but the heat index is above 100 degrees…nasty!) Jim is buying ice about every two days and having to keep the freezer compartment of our fridge filled with an ice bag leaves little room for anything else. Recently, the little meat market where we sometimes go to shop, had a really good cut of beef on sale for about $2.30 a pound. I would have liked to have bought some extra meat to freeze but knew our space limitations and could not.
I also thought that if we ever got a freezer, I could buy some ice trays (assuming I can find some) and make our own ice and bag it. We can refill a 5 gallon bottle of water for even less than what a 10# bag of ice costs us. I don’t know how practical that actually is but I know that when I really want something, I can come up with all kinds of ways to justify getting it!
The benefits of a freezer would be endless…or so I rationalized. Buying extra meat when it’s on sale was just the beginning of my dreaming. I could buy fresh mangos when in season, cut them up and freeze them so I would have plenty for mango bread throughout the year. I would have room for a veggie soup container…I always would save leftover veggies and toss them in a Lock ‘n Lock in the freezer and when I would have more month than money, I would make vegetable soup. I could keep my flour and pancake mix in there so I wouldn’t have to worry about bugs. Or extra bags of milk so I wouldn’t be caught without milk…which rarely happens, by the way but it helped to add it to my list of “why”. Or if someone should bring us bags of nuts or chocolate chips or York Peppermint Patties…I could throw them in the freezer.
I had a long list but I was pretty sure God didn’t really need me to justify yet another of my “wants”. We have managed without a freezer for 2 years now and I know in my heart, I didn’t have to have one…but it sure would be nice if we did.
Well, the other day, we received an e-mail that is sent out to the ICF community (International Christian Fellowship which is the church we attend). It is mainly for people in our church but anyone can sign up to receive it and it is a great way for folks to communicate needs. Items wanted, items being sold, meetings, announcements, etc. are all communicated through this means. We always read these with great interest and the few times we have seen things we have wanted, we are generally too late in responding to get them. Usually, no matter whatever the item is that is being sold, it goes really fast.
I just “happened” to be checking e-mail when this particular e-mail came through Friday morning and I read that a couple was going to be leaving Nicaragua and they were having a sale of their belongings. This type of notification is the one that draws the most interest in the missionary community. We are all looking for items that we would like to have but either cannot obtain here or cannot afford if available.
I immediately recognized the missionaries’ names…I think they are among the last IMB missionaries, if not the last ones, still in Nicaragua...and obviously, they aren’t going to be here that much longer. We found out they are going to be moving to Santiago, Chile in July.
Now I have to tell you that these sales are usually fever pitch events. I quickly scanned the list to see what they might have for sale and lo and behold, I saw the words “freezer”…I saw it twice! They had an old upright and a newer chest freezer to sell. I was so excited and called Jim to look at the ad. He said he thought the prices were good and so I asked Jim if he would call them and get some info. The whole time he was dialing the number, I was preparing myself for the disappointing response of “I’m sorry…they’ve already been sold.” Much to my surprise, they had not!
Long story short, because we were going to be in Tipitapa the next day when Karen and Loren were actually going to be having a garage sale for many of their smaller items and taking reservations for the most of the larger items, they told us we could go ahead and come out to see them to see if we might be interested in them.
We arrived at their home, which is not terribly far from where we live, and found only one other missionary there looking at items. I expected there to be lots of people but Loren said that most people were just calling and reserving the items over the phone. My heart sunk. We happened to know the other missionary that was already there. He and his wife have the orphanage where we use to volunteer when we first came here and it’s always good to see both of them but I figured he would be interested in the same items we were interested in. He wasn’t!!!
I didn’t expect to find the freezers in such good condition. The chest freezer turned out to be only a year old and looked to be as though it were in like new condition. The price was very good, a little over half of what a new one would cost us, and though it was the more expensive of the two, it was the right size for the two of us. The catch was that they wanted to continue to use it until July when they would be moving to Chile. The upright freezer was also a great size for us and although it had a couple of broken pieces on the inside and had suffered some cosmetically, it was definitely functional. It might need a new seal at some point but it is working fine for now. The price was very reasonable for it (at least it’s reasonable for Nicaland) and it could be moved at any time.
Jim and I talked about it. The $100 freezer would be fine…but what if the seal failed and we had trouble finding a new one? We would then be in the same shape that we’re in now but worse…we would have frozen food to store and no freezer to store it in. The brand is a Tappan and is at least 11 years old as they brought it with them. We’ve not seen that brand here at all.
After a lot of discussing, we decided we would go ahead and buy both of them, use the upright until we can get the chest freezer in July, and then, if we decide we want to get rid of it, we can donate it to CINAFE or to someone who needs one. I was so excited…we were going to get a freezer!!!
But wait…there’s more! God must have enjoyed seeing me grin from ear to ear, because He wasn’t through with the surprises. Karen also had a washer and dryer that she was selling! We don’t need a washer but oh, my goodness, wouldn’t a dryer be so nice to have, especially with the rainy season just starting? But, I didn’t have high hopes. Almost all dryers that we have seen for sale have been electric and we would have to have one that ran on propane. I asked her if it was gas or electric and I couldn’t believe my ears when she said it was gas!
Again, it’s an old Maytag dryer…another appliance they brought with them from the States, but they have had very few problems with it and it was running while were there and it seemed to be doing just fine. I think they use it all the time, from what I gathered, but we would use it only when the weather wouldn’t permit us to hang clothes out. Our “solar dryer” works great and when there’s the slightest wind, I don’t even have to iron anything. So, a dryer really would be a luxury. The price was a great price…again, compared to the other used dryers that we’ve seen here, and it was a gas dryer, to boot. Everyone we know who has a dryer has said that it’s the one luxury they wouldn’t want to give up…I’m not so sure about that but I’m willing to find out for myself! Again…a July acquisition item as they have teams coming almost up to the day they are leaving so they will need to keep it until then.
Wow…three appliances…could it get any better? You betcha! They were selling the 100# propane tanks that they had. This is another item that we have talked about getting but couldn’t justify the price as we felt like the 2- 25# tanks that we use (we always keep a spare) worked fine for us. But, with us getting the dryer, it made sense that it would be a good idea to get a big tank and use it for both the dryer and the stove. And the added benefit to that is that it is cheaper to do that than to refill the tanks plus the gas truck would come here and change the tank out for us and Jim wouldn’t have to take the tanks to the store anymore. Jim was extremely happy with that item!
There was one more item that caught our eye on their list of items to sell. I knew we were pushing the edge of our “want” envelope. We hadn’t needed any of the above items but I have to admit that I was so excited that we were going to have a few things that were going to make life a bit easier here. Did we dare even ask about this last item? Why not? It wouldn’t hurt to look, would it? The item in question were bunk beds...they had a total of four to sell.
We asked to see them and Loren took us out back to a combination tool and guest house they had behind their house. He was surprised when we expressed interest in the very plain and narrow set that was in the corner. There was another set that looked much more “American” and he had just assumed that would be the set we would want. We had initially thought we might like to purchase a better set of bunk beds than the one we have, but once we saw what he had, our focus changed. We were no longer interested in a set for us. We saw a set that would be perfect for Kenneth and Lindsay.
The set we chose is a set that Loren had made up in Matagalpa when they lived up there. It is of solid cedar so that termites are not an issue and it is very solid. Most of the bunk bed sets we see here are made of hollow metal tubing and are very prone to bending and rusting. This set obviously wasn’t going to have that problem. And because it was shorter (less than 6’ long) and a little more narrow than a single bed would be, it would fit in Arturo and Danelia’s bedroom.
The other selling point was that the beds could be taken apart so that they could work as two individual beds, so that if they ever had the need, they could separate them. (That’s something that our beds can’t do…when separated, they are too flimsy to act as individual beds). Another bonus with the set for the kids is that the colchones (roll-up mattresses) will come with them! By getting the kids bunk beds, that will enable each of them to have their own bed so they no longer have to share a bed.
So, right now, some of the things we have chosen are on “layaway”! Everything we bought came to less than $900. I don’t think that’s bad for two freezers, a dryer, a 100# gas tank, a set of bunk beds and the colchones. I know that sounds like an awful lot of money…and it is. Believe me, no one knows that better than we do. But, we also believe that God enabled us to find these items in such good condition and at such good prices for here. With the exception of the items we will be donating, we can always sell the others if we should no longer have need of them and although we probably wouldn’t recoup all that we spent, we could certainly get some return.
We gave Loren a $200 down payment to hold the items and as soon as we can find someone who will let us borrow their pickup truck, we can go ahead and get the empty gas tank, the upright freezer and the bunk beds. The other freezer and the dryer will have to wait until July…but I’m not complaining. Are you kidding me? I am not just excited that we will finally have a freezer…and a dryer, but more than that, I am so excited that we were able to see how God worked this out to bless us. As a matter of fact, that was exactly what Loren and I talked about. He was happy that his items were going to be a blessing and I was thrilled that we were going to be blessed in this way!
There were lots of other items that would have been “nice” to have but truthfully, we are trying very hard to live less complicated lives here. And from my own personal perspective, I find that too many times, “stuff” complicates. That probably doesn’t sound that way after I just listed all these things we’re buying but honestly, we don’t live a terribly “high” life here. So many of the things we took for granted two years ago, we have gained a new appreciation for now.
We still have yet to go to a movie or go for a weekend at the beach or out to dinner at a really nice place. We have one very small television and Mandy just sent us a DVD player this year for Christmas for our huge collection of 3 or 4 dvds! We don’t have a swimming pool. We have only one car and it’s almost 12 years old and well-used. We use our action packers as our end tables…I’ve just stacked two to a stack and covered them with towels. We don’t have any dressers…we use stacked storage cubes instead. Our everyday dishes and glasses are plastic. Most of our furniture is hand-made and as a result, has lots of “character”...some folks would call those mistakes. And we don’t have air conditioning.
But we will soon have a freezer and a dryer! And that makes this mama very happy! And it also makes me extremely grateful that God has brought me to the point that I can recognize and appreciate the ability to be thankful for buying an 11 year old freezer and dryer. That’s the real gift in all of this…the gift of being a work in progress…of God changing my heart, my values and moving me towards being a less selfish person. I have a long way to go yet but I just want to say, thank you, God, for changing my perspective as much as you have in the last two years. You are indeed, the God of answered prayers.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Felix is sick...
Well, Felix was late but he did come to work. It didn’t take Jim but just a minute to realize he shouldn’t have. He was in so much pain and he looked awful. Jim just took him back home. The visit to the other church will have to wait a week.
Felix has been complaining for some time of pain in his lower back, fever, nausea and occasional pain in the lower left quadrant of his stomach. We told him he needed to go to the doctor and he finally did. We helped him with the bus expense as that seemed to be the stumbling block for him going. Can you imagine? Our worry is no insurance…his is bus fare. That’s the difference between public health care and private health care…that is, that’s the first difference you see. Public health care consultations are free and private health care consultations are costly. That’s as good as it gets, trust me. It goes downhill from there.
Felix saw the doctor. He told him he “probably” had parasites and began treating him for that. Felix got a little better but that was short-lived. His complaints returned. The doctor then said that he needed to quit eating beans (mind you, that is the family’s main source of protein)and to drink lots of citric juice, like pineapple, orange and lemon juice. “Lots” when you are poor is very little. Once again, he felt better for a few days and once again, his symptoms returned. The doctor then decided that Felix was sick because they were drinking contaminated water and so now, Blanca boils their water.
He has been to the doctor 3 or 4 times in the last month and each time, there has been a different diagnosis and another round of antibiotics. The “free” visits to the government-run clinic in El Crucero are possible for Felix only because we are able to help him with his bus fare and the subsequent medication that the doctor prescribes for him. There is a clinic in his barrio but they are even less-equipped with staff and medications.
A few days ago, Felix came to work and apparently, he had been sick all day. We were gone until early afternoon and when we got home, we saw one sick man. Jim took him home and Felix said he was going to try go to the doctor that afternoon. I gave him money for the bus and a little extra in case the doctor prescribed any meds.
Since the next day was his day off, we didn’t see him again until Friday. He told me then that he had gone to the doctor Wednesday afternoon and that the doctor had prescribed another antibiotic and one pill for pain. He said he had a kidney infection and that he should start to feel better in just a few days. He had enough money from what I had given him on Wednesday, to buy the medication.
He came to work Friday and once again, Jim took him home early. Saturday, he told us he felt better but when we returned from Tipitapa about 4:30, we could see that his color was not good and he was feverish. His eyes are starting to look a little jaundiced. He went back to the clinic in his barrio and they told him he needed to have some tests done and that they think he might have kidney stones. He is scheduled to have a sonogram done on Tuesday morning...that is his late morning to come to work because Freddy come early.
Today, he is in so much pain, he can hardly walk and he is quite feverish. I am worried about him. I would not be at all surprised if he does have kidney stones and as bad as that is, I’m hoping that it’s not anything worse than that. We tried to get him to go to the hospital ER but he said the doctor told him he had to have the sonogram done first. So, he has to wait…and stay in pain. Jim asked if he could have the sonogram done earlier but he said that was the time they gave him the appointment. It is typical here to have to go to a specialized lab or testing place to have any kind of lab work or electronic diagnostics done…that is not free and I know Felix is worried about how much that is going to cost. I would imagine this is another area where we can help him.
We told him this morning that he needed to go home and rest. He kept apologizing and I told him that his health was more important to us than our plans for the day. I told him I wasn’t worried about it and I didn’t want him to be worried about it either. He said he did worry. We also told him that if he is still sick in the morning, that we wanted him to stay at home. He said he needs his job. I told him he had his job and that we wanted him to get well.
Today was payday and I think that was one of the reasons he came to work. We paid him his full week’s wages, which was extra this week with Saturday being a holiday (Labor Day). What we’ve been doing goes against everything we’ve been told. Almost without exception, we have been told that we cannot be lenient with our employees because they will see us as weak and will take advantage of us. I cannot believe even by the wildest stretch of my imagination that Felix is trying to take advantage of us. If he is, God will take care of that on His end. But either way, we’re not here to guard against being taken advantage of, we’re here to show the love of Christ. And right now, I think our guard needs to be reminded that God loves him and cares for him and that God is telling us that He can use us to be that reminder. We are always so blessed when we are faithful to be His blessing to someone else…makes me wonder why there are so many times I question and even resist that call? Today is a good day to ponder that.
Felix has been complaining for some time of pain in his lower back, fever, nausea and occasional pain in the lower left quadrant of his stomach. We told him he needed to go to the doctor and he finally did. We helped him with the bus expense as that seemed to be the stumbling block for him going. Can you imagine? Our worry is no insurance…his is bus fare. That’s the difference between public health care and private health care…that is, that’s the first difference you see. Public health care consultations are free and private health care consultations are costly. That’s as good as it gets, trust me. It goes downhill from there.
Felix saw the doctor. He told him he “probably” had parasites and began treating him for that. Felix got a little better but that was short-lived. His complaints returned. The doctor then said that he needed to quit eating beans (mind you, that is the family’s main source of protein)and to drink lots of citric juice, like pineapple, orange and lemon juice. “Lots” when you are poor is very little. Once again, he felt better for a few days and once again, his symptoms returned. The doctor then decided that Felix was sick because they were drinking contaminated water and so now, Blanca boils their water.
He has been to the doctor 3 or 4 times in the last month and each time, there has been a different diagnosis and another round of antibiotics. The “free” visits to the government-run clinic in El Crucero are possible for Felix only because we are able to help him with his bus fare and the subsequent medication that the doctor prescribes for him. There is a clinic in his barrio but they are even less-equipped with staff and medications.
A few days ago, Felix came to work and apparently, he had been sick all day. We were gone until early afternoon and when we got home, we saw one sick man. Jim took him home and Felix said he was going to try go to the doctor that afternoon. I gave him money for the bus and a little extra in case the doctor prescribed any meds.
Since the next day was his day off, we didn’t see him again until Friday. He told me then that he had gone to the doctor Wednesday afternoon and that the doctor had prescribed another antibiotic and one pill for pain. He said he had a kidney infection and that he should start to feel better in just a few days. He had enough money from what I had given him on Wednesday, to buy the medication.
He came to work Friday and once again, Jim took him home early. Saturday, he told us he felt better but when we returned from Tipitapa about 4:30, we could see that his color was not good and he was feverish. His eyes are starting to look a little jaundiced. He went back to the clinic in his barrio and they told him he needed to have some tests done and that they think he might have kidney stones. He is scheduled to have a sonogram done on Tuesday morning...that is his late morning to come to work because Freddy come early.
Today, he is in so much pain, he can hardly walk and he is quite feverish. I am worried about him. I would not be at all surprised if he does have kidney stones and as bad as that is, I’m hoping that it’s not anything worse than that. We tried to get him to go to the hospital ER but he said the doctor told him he had to have the sonogram done first. So, he has to wait…and stay in pain. Jim asked if he could have the sonogram done earlier but he said that was the time they gave him the appointment. It is typical here to have to go to a specialized lab or testing place to have any kind of lab work or electronic diagnostics done…that is not free and I know Felix is worried about how much that is going to cost. I would imagine this is another area where we can help him.
We told him this morning that he needed to go home and rest. He kept apologizing and I told him that his health was more important to us than our plans for the day. I told him I wasn’t worried about it and I didn’t want him to be worried about it either. He said he did worry. We also told him that if he is still sick in the morning, that we wanted him to stay at home. He said he needs his job. I told him he had his job and that we wanted him to get well.
Today was payday and I think that was one of the reasons he came to work. We paid him his full week’s wages, which was extra this week with Saturday being a holiday (Labor Day). What we’ve been doing goes against everything we’ve been told. Almost without exception, we have been told that we cannot be lenient with our employees because they will see us as weak and will take advantage of us. I cannot believe even by the wildest stretch of my imagination that Felix is trying to take advantage of us. If he is, God will take care of that on His end. But either way, we’re not here to guard against being taken advantage of, we’re here to show the love of Christ. And right now, I think our guard needs to be reminded that God loves him and cares for him and that God is telling us that He can use us to be that reminder. We are always so blessed when we are faithful to be His blessing to someone else…makes me wonder why there are so many times I question and even resist that call? Today is a good day to ponder that.
Sunday notes...
We’re going to go visit a different church this morning and it doesn’t begin for another couple of hours so I thought I would get these updates written really quickly.
Yamuleith: She’s continuing to battle the infection in her body…I would ask that you keep her in your prayers. We are trying to boost her nutrition so that her body can help fight off the infection…the possibility of sepsis is a reality and one of my Stateside friends who is a nurse and has had some experience with these kinds of wounds, told me that she is also at risk for infection in the bone. Oh, how I wish that she were here now…
Kenneth: The test on his kidneys (which was nothing more than a urinalysis) that he had done last Wednesday indicated that he didn’t have any infection in his kidneys and that was no sign of any blood. We’re trusting God that his kidney’s are functioning as they should. He goes this Wednesday to get his liver, abdomen and chest checked again…they want to see if the tumors in his chest are growing. He still has the on-and-off fever and now, is sometimes short of breath. I’m praying that it’s just the weather that is causing the shortness of breath…the air has been so heavy lately. His color was better yesterday and when we went by the house before class to drop off the fruits and veggies for this week, he was outside with the neighbor boy, riding his bike! That was a good sign!
Miguel and Elizabeth: Neither has made any move for reconciliation. We didn’t see Elizabeth yesterday, she didn’t come to class, but we did see Miguel and spoke with him for awhile. He said that his mother said that she didn’t want Elizabeth or any other woman to come there to live. He told me he didn’t know what to do. I told him I understood why his mother felt that way to a point. There’s some pretty compelling evidence that points to Elizabeth having recently taken some money from Mama’s house. Stealing continues to be a problem with Elizabeth and when confronted with it, she refuses to say a word. Miguel feels torn between his family and his wife and has hard feelings towards both. Jim asked him if he thought if he and Elizabeth would have a better marriage if they lived somewhere else, apart from his family. He said he didn’t know, maybe. I disagree. At one time I thought that might have been a solution to the tension that exists in this family dynamic but I don’t believe that anymore. I don’t think the problem with Miguel and Elizabeth is a location issue, I think it’s a heart issue. And until the two of them are ready to humble themselves before the Lord, this problem is going to continue.
CINAFE: We are supposed to go there this afternoon and do another planting activity with the kids but our day guard has yet to show up so I’m not even sure if we’ll get to go to church, let alone to CINAFE. He has been sick this week so I’m not sure if that’s the reason he’s not here or if it’s because it’s a holiday weekend and there are hardly any buses running. Anyway…it is getting to the point we are busy 7 days a week and we are going to have to sit down and write a schedule for us. We are now helping with taking the director and cook to buy groceries, transporting to appointments, going to buy necessary materials, etc. We need our day of rest. It is hard for us to say no to all the needs but we know that if we don’t get our boundaries in place, we will become too tired and then resentful. I never know what God has in store for us but I do know that’s not God’s plan for us. I think with the exception of doctor’s appointments, if we can get a schedule written for when we are available to help, that will ease things up some…I remember wondering what I was going to do with my time when we made the decision to not return to Los Cedros…not a problem!
Well, I will go ahead and get ready for church and we’ll see what happens. If he doesn’t come, we will listen to an on-line sermon and I’ll get some long-overdue laundry done. Until next time, we encourage you to:
Yamuleith: She’s continuing to battle the infection in her body…I would ask that you keep her in your prayers. We are trying to boost her nutrition so that her body can help fight off the infection…the possibility of sepsis is a reality and one of my Stateside friends who is a nurse and has had some experience with these kinds of wounds, told me that she is also at risk for infection in the bone. Oh, how I wish that she were here now…
Kenneth: The test on his kidneys (which was nothing more than a urinalysis) that he had done last Wednesday indicated that he didn’t have any infection in his kidneys and that was no sign of any blood. We’re trusting God that his kidney’s are functioning as they should. He goes this Wednesday to get his liver, abdomen and chest checked again…they want to see if the tumors in his chest are growing. He still has the on-and-off fever and now, is sometimes short of breath. I’m praying that it’s just the weather that is causing the shortness of breath…the air has been so heavy lately. His color was better yesterday and when we went by the house before class to drop off the fruits and veggies for this week, he was outside with the neighbor boy, riding his bike! That was a good sign!
Miguel and Elizabeth: Neither has made any move for reconciliation. We didn’t see Elizabeth yesterday, she didn’t come to class, but we did see Miguel and spoke with him for awhile. He said that his mother said that she didn’t want Elizabeth or any other woman to come there to live. He told me he didn’t know what to do. I told him I understood why his mother felt that way to a point. There’s some pretty compelling evidence that points to Elizabeth having recently taken some money from Mama’s house. Stealing continues to be a problem with Elizabeth and when confronted with it, she refuses to say a word. Miguel feels torn between his family and his wife and has hard feelings towards both. Jim asked him if he thought if he and Elizabeth would have a better marriage if they lived somewhere else, apart from his family. He said he didn’t know, maybe. I disagree. At one time I thought that might have been a solution to the tension that exists in this family dynamic but I don’t believe that anymore. I don’t think the problem with Miguel and Elizabeth is a location issue, I think it’s a heart issue. And until the two of them are ready to humble themselves before the Lord, this problem is going to continue.
CINAFE: We are supposed to go there this afternoon and do another planting activity with the kids but our day guard has yet to show up so I’m not even sure if we’ll get to go to church, let alone to CINAFE. He has been sick this week so I’m not sure if that’s the reason he’s not here or if it’s because it’s a holiday weekend and there are hardly any buses running. Anyway…it is getting to the point we are busy 7 days a week and we are going to have to sit down and write a schedule for us. We are now helping with taking the director and cook to buy groceries, transporting to appointments, going to buy necessary materials, etc. We need our day of rest. It is hard for us to say no to all the needs but we know that if we don’t get our boundaries in place, we will become too tired and then resentful. I never know what God has in store for us but I do know that’s not God’s plan for us. I think with the exception of doctor’s appointments, if we can get a schedule written for when we are available to help, that will ease things up some…I remember wondering what I was going to do with my time when we made the decision to not return to Los Cedros…not a problem!
Well, I will go ahead and get ready for church and we’ll see what happens. If he doesn’t come, we will listen to an on-line sermon and I’ll get some long-overdue laundry done. Until next time, we encourage you to:
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
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