On Saturday, Tee, Luke, Gabriel, and I leave for SC. As a part of their online charter school requirements, the 3rd - 8th graders must undergo state testing in May. We will be there for two weeks.
Tully's mom had surgery last week, and, in the recovery room, she suffered a heart attack. Afterwards, she had a catheterization done, which showed three blockages, one at 95%, and an angioplasty. Due to some other complications, she is now sedated and on a ventilator. Please pray with us for Mabel.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Señor Tullg
That's the way the letter started. It was very formal, even with an official stamp at the end. "Mr. Tullg." (Our names are difficult for Spanish speakers, as you can tell.)
The letter went on to say that the writer was respectfully requesting that the hospital deliver water to a school in Herradura, nearby. "The school does not have any water and the children need it for basic necessities and health." The writer was the principal of the school. Our guard, posted at the front gate of the hospital, handed the letter to us as we left to take the girls to school one day last week.
Our internet, of late, has been sporadic at best, and we had some time that morning when we were unable to get online for the kids to do their schoolwork. So, we loaded up the portable cistern and took some water over to the people who live in the neighborhood of Herradura.
The children there were SO happy. We stopped at several houses along the way to fill barrels before we got to the school. Then we went to the school where we ran out of water. We came back to the hospital to refill the cistern and take it back and were able to give some more families much needed water.
When Elijah first began to fill up the school's cistern, the water splashed up and got some of the children wet--they had SO much fun!
Me with some of the neighborhood children while we were delivering water
Elijah filling up a barrel. People were bringing out every kind of container they had to hold some extra water.
The letter went on to say that the writer was respectfully requesting that the hospital deliver water to a school in Herradura, nearby. "The school does not have any water and the children need it for basic necessities and health." The writer was the principal of the school. Our guard, posted at the front gate of the hospital, handed the letter to us as we left to take the girls to school one day last week.
Our internet, of late, has been sporadic at best, and we had some time that morning when we were unable to get online for the kids to do their schoolwork. So, we loaded up the portable cistern and took some water over to the people who live in the neighborhood of Herradura.
The children there were SO happy. We stopped at several houses along the way to fill barrels before we got to the school. Then we went to the school where we ran out of water. We came back to the hospital to refill the cistern and take it back and were able to give some more families much needed water.
When Elijah first began to fill up the school's cistern, the water splashed up and got some of the children wet--they had SO much fun!
Me with some of the neighborhood children while we were delivering water
Elijah filling up a barrel. People were bringing out every kind of container they had to hold some extra water.
Progress on Our House
The exterior walls are now complete, and the ground inside has been prepared for flooring, which will go in next as it is structural. The roof trusses are being welded together and painted now.
Looking from the inside of our house to the back of the property.
View of the "front entrance" from the sidewalk.
Looking from the inside of our house to the back of the property.
View of the "front entrance" from the sidewalk.
Good Water
It's something we take for granted, right? Here, in a developing country, it's not. We have experienced our driest months of the year now in Honduras. The grass and the mountains surrounding us are brown and dry, appearing almost like a desert. There is a fine layer of dust that settles over everything inside and out throughout the day, people cough and sneeze, we have even lost a patient in the hospital due to a severe asthma attack.
Our hospital well supplies safe water to our neighbors on either side of our property, 66 houses total. During the dry season, we have learned that our well is being taxed beyond its limits due to an increase in demand for water. Where did the increase come from? It was a puzzle for awhile--was there a leak somewhere? No, but we had to rule it out first. Come to find out, our neighbors have been giving out water to their family and friends.
Last week, we were able to install a new well pump with a more powerful motor to keep up with the demand. It was interesting to watch. I had not given much thought to the machine that makes our clean water possible until our cistern ran dry a few times due to the increase in demand for water. Then I thought about it a lot--I even prayed for it--this thing that I hadn't thought much about before.
We are delighted to say that after several days work to construct and install a scaffold in order to pull up the 5 pieces of 25 ft. pipe to get to the pump, we now have a new well pump with a 5 horsepower motor installed. Now to decide what to do about the neighbors giving away their water . . .
A picture of the scaffold that was constructed to replace the well pump.
Pulling up a section of pipe.
Eli sitting beside the old pump--it has done SO much good for SO many people--I couldn't believe how little and skinny it is!
Our hospital well supplies safe water to our neighbors on either side of our property, 66 houses total. During the dry season, we have learned that our well is being taxed beyond its limits due to an increase in demand for water. Where did the increase come from? It was a puzzle for awhile--was there a leak somewhere? No, but we had to rule it out first. Come to find out, our neighbors have been giving out water to their family and friends.
Last week, we were able to install a new well pump with a more powerful motor to keep up with the demand. It was interesting to watch. I had not given much thought to the machine that makes our clean water possible until our cistern ran dry a few times due to the increase in demand for water. Then I thought about it a lot--I even prayed for it--this thing that I hadn't thought much about before.
We are delighted to say that after several days work to construct and install a scaffold in order to pull up the 5 pieces of 25 ft. pipe to get to the pump, we now have a new well pump with a 5 horsepower motor installed. Now to decide what to do about the neighbors giving away their water . . .
A picture of the scaffold that was constructed to replace the well pump.
Pulling up a section of pipe.
Eli sitting beside the old pump--it has done SO much good for SO many people--I couldn't believe how little and skinny it is!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Dengue
I wanted to ask you to pray for Tully. He has had a bad cough for a couple of days, and we thought it was just bronchitis. Last night, he was up pretty much all night coughing. Today, he has had a high fever, chills, and hurts everywhere. Our lab technician drew some blood to check for dengue fever, and it turns out that he does have it. It will take a few days of rest and drinking alot of liquids, but please pray that he will recover quickly.
Thank you for praying with us!
Thank you for praying with us!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Helping Hands
We had gone to Tegucigalpa to pick up our friend Summer Millican from the airport. Summer had served with us for 4 weeks last fall through the Wingate School of Pharmacy in Charlotte NC. We were so excited for her to visit again.
After we picked up Summer and were heading back through the north end of the city, we were driving in a bad part of town through an area of constuction. There was a lot of traffic congestion where the traffic was narrowing from three cars wide to a single lane. Drivers here will continually try to nose in front of you, so you have to stay within a foot or two of the car in front of you, or else the whole world will pass you by. I was following the car in front so close that I could not see the pavement in front of my car.
Then it happened. The right front tire fell into an uncovered manhole that I had not seen. (People steal the man hole covers to sell for scrap metal.) I accelerated forward and in reverse but all I did was squeal the rear wheels. We were stuck. It was a little bit scary being in the middle of heavy traffic in a dangerous part of town, stuck and not knowing anyone to get us out.
Dawn and I were trying to decide what we could do when all of a sudden 3 men from a nearby tire store came over to our car. Then they waved to some friends and 6-7 more men came to our car. They proceeded to lift the right front of our van and I was able to gently accelerate out of the hole.
I thank God once again for his provision and protection on the mission field. And I prayed and asked God to bless the kind men who helped us get out.
After we picked up Summer and were heading back through the north end of the city, we were driving in a bad part of town through an area of constuction. There was a lot of traffic congestion where the traffic was narrowing from three cars wide to a single lane. Drivers here will continually try to nose in front of you, so you have to stay within a foot or two of the car in front of you, or else the whole world will pass you by. I was following the car in front so close that I could not see the pavement in front of my car.
Then it happened. The right front tire fell into an uncovered manhole that I had not seen. (People steal the man hole covers to sell for scrap metal.) I accelerated forward and in reverse but all I did was squeal the rear wheels. We were stuck. It was a little bit scary being in the middle of heavy traffic in a dangerous part of town, stuck and not knowing anyone to get us out.
Dawn and I were trying to decide what we could do when all of a sudden 3 men from a nearby tire store came over to our car. Then they waved to some friends and 6-7 more men came to our car. They proceeded to lift the right front of our van and I was able to gently accelerate out of the hole.
I thank God once again for his provision and protection on the mission field. And I prayed and asked God to bless the kind men who helped us get out.
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