Journal August 30- September 6
(Click on any photo to enlarge)Saturday, August 30, 2008, 8:34 PM
Since it is Saturday I am going to let these pictures do more talking than me. These first 3 are Pictures of 9 year old Lionel. The first one was taken about 3 weeks ago when his parents brought him in to the wheelchair distribution that we had in Huehuetenango.
The second picture was taken a week later when we brought him in to the malnutrition ward of Hermano Pedro. He weighed in at 17 pounds.
The third one was taken today. In just 10 days he has gained 4 pounds. As you can see he is much happier and far more alert.
Most of my day was filled with happy kids. Abner and Alex who accompanied me to the orphanage today had a great time playing with the orphanage kids and helping me repair wheelchairs.
All 3 of the kids that we took to lunch had a great time as well.
When I got home Alex and Abner washed my car and then the 3 of us plus 7 more kids that magically appeared out of the woodwork, walked down to the shopping mall and got some Pizza. Not exactly health food but they were as happy as the kids that we took for lunch.
Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick
Sunday, August 31, 2008, 9:04 PM
Shortly after finishing up last night’s journal I received 2 e-mails from friends that had visited here only a few weeks ago.
Please pray for the daughter and children of Pastor J in Guatemala. I just received a email from her saying that they are being extorted. They have received a letter telling them that if they do not give the extortionists $20,000 in 15 days they will kill one of their children. They are currently in hiding. Please pray for their protection. Pray for wisdom. This is not the first time and each time they increase the amount they must pay.
Thanks! Tara
Things like this are becoming all to common here in Guatemala. Unfortunately when fear tactics like this are used it is often hard for friends and family members to think rationally. In most cases weather or not a bribe is paid has little effect on the outcome and more often than not just like in this case it only marks you as the perfect target and the extortionists are back within a year.
Just last week some neighbors of mine who opened a small store in their home only a few months ago moved away with out telling anyone where they were going. Why? About a week before moving 2 men came into their home and demanded protection money. The men politely told this family that if they did not get the money their lives would be in danger. Not unlike most small family stores in my neighborhood this store wasn’t taking in enough money to keep the lights on yet alone to pay a monthly protection fee. So instead of paying these men off the family moved. Unfortunately if they try to open another store this gang or another one like it will once again pay them a visit.
I have always said that if anyone kidnaps me don’t give them a red cent. That is easy for me to say for myself but what if it was one of my kids? All we can do is pray that God will give us the wisdom what to do if a situation like this arises. I have said it before and I will say it again.
"Please keep these people that God has put in our paths, and us, in your prayers."
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.
Proverbs 29:25
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.
Last night I was once again reminded of why there is no other place that I would rather be than right here in Guatemala. Three of the ten kids that were here all evening decided that this was going to be home for them the entire night. At around 10:30 I told them that I was heading off to bed and that it would be a wise idea if they did the same within the next hour or so. Usually we do evening devotions together but since they were still going strong I did mine on my own. I am not quite sure how long after I had gone to bed I was waken up by the sound of some one talking. I recognized the voice as being that of Miguel. Miguel is one of the quieter boys so I was surprised to hear him doing all of the talking. I thought about asking him to stop talking so that I could get back to sleep but instead I listened for a while. It was then that I realized that 15 year old Miguel was praying with the 2 younger boys. I thank God for each day that he allows me to be part of this.Oh, you may be wondering what went on today. Since it is getting late I will once again try to let the pictures do most of my talking.
I don’t want it to look like I do all of the work. This just happens to be the only picture that got taken this morning. All 7 of the kids that were here for breakfast pitched in and helped with breakfast as well.
Moises and Byron love it when we stop off at the orphanage and pick them up for Church. A lot of the other kids would like to come along as well but taking more than 9 kids to church at once can be a bit of a hand full. The kids that come along from home are great about helping out with the orphanage kids though.After church we took Moises and Byron home for the afternoon. Abner and Fernando’s aunt and Uncle invited us over for lunch.
Tonight I am just relaxing at home. In a little while I will send the half dozen kids that are still here home.Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick
Monday, September 1, 2008, (Written on Saturday September 6)
I just reread my journal before publishing it and realized that I have either accidentally deleted Monday's entry or altogether forgotten to write it. Either way at my age it is hard to remember what I did a few minutes ago yet alone think back 6 days, so I guess all I can say is it must have been a rather good day because I am still healthy and I don't see any new dents on my car. Yours in Christ: Dick
Tuesday, September 2, 2008, 3:18 PM
Calin ended up spending the night here but only after we played the game of “Who’s the Boss” for nearly an hour. For no other reason than that he did not want to be told what to do he refused to wash his feet before bedtime. Even though I was already half asleep when he went to bed, and his bed was on the far side of the room, my nostrils immediately told me that he had not done as I asked.
I then told him that he would have to get back up and wash his feet but he told me that he didn’t want to. When I told him that he had no choice he accused me of being bossy and not allowing him to have any choice in the matter. I had to admit that he was right so I gave him a choice. “Wash your feet or go home.” I did admit to him though that he was write about me being bossy but then reminded him that since this was my house and I was older than him I had the right to be the boss. He turned on the tears for a while and then slowly headed towards his bed. I then reminded him that I had given him 2 choices and this was not one of them. I don’t know what got him the wettest, the shower or the tears but 20 minute later Calin was fast asleep and my sinuses were beginning to clear. This morning he was once again talking to me and even left a peace offering of a bag of potato chips for me. Some times it is hard for me to be so stern with the kids but then again if I wasn’t they might stop thinking that I loved them so much.
Judy Kurschner and I had made arrangements to meet at the wheelchair shop this morning. We had made arrangements for her to bring in 2 little girls from Santa Maria Dejesus that needed wheelchairs and walkers. I had previously thought that they would take me most of the morning to fit into wheelchairs but both girls fit comfortably into normal wheelchairs and seating them took no time at all. After that Carlos drove in from Antigua and the 2 of us met for lunch.
At around 7:30 I plan on heading for Guatemala City to pick John Bosman up from the airport. John only plans on being here for 4 days. We are heading for Huehuetinango tomorrow morning and it looks like we will have a full schedule until he leaves on Saturday.
5:02 PM
Fernando just came to my door in a bit of a panic. Four men were outside with a wheelbarrow full of water meters that they had dug up and removed from nearly half of my neighbor’s homes. They were now in the process of digging mine up. I had Fernando ask them what they were doing but the men seemed to ignore him. Thankfully Lizet who lives next door came out of her house and they were a bit more willing to talk with her. They told her that nearly half the people in my neighborhood had not paid their water bills so they were removing their meters until the bills were paid. I told her to tell them that even though my water has been off 95% of the time I had been paying my bill regularly. The men insisted that I had not paid my water bill in over 2 months. Lizet asked the man that had a hand full of paper work to show her the bill. He reluctantly did so. Sure enough there it was in black and white, a water bill for a whopping $3. The only thing was the bill was not for my house but the one next door. The man with the hand full of bills apologized and told me that he was sorry about the mistake. I was glad that the problem had been resolved before they had the meter completely removed because 2 years ago when they had made a similar mistake I had to go to the same man’s house at 8:00 at night to convince him to replace my meter because of a similar mistake.
As I thanked the man for not shutting off my water, which has only been on for an hour or 2 a day, I noticed that one of the other men was still removing my meter. I politely asked the man that was holding the wrong water bill in his hand to explain to the other man that I owed them no money. The man with the bill in his hand then told me that while they were accidentally removing my meter the noticed that some water and mud had flowed from my alley into the hole where my water meter was so they were still going to have to shut off my water and remove the meter until the problem was resolved. “What problem?” I asked. Of course there was water and mud in the hole in the ground that is in my alley, which has about 6 inches of watter in it every time it rains. The man politely explained that the mud could seep into the sealed meter and pipe that ran through the inspection hole and contaminate the water of the entire neighborhood. I didn’t fully understand how mud could seep into a water pipe that is made to be underground but I could see that I was fighting a loosing battle. “What can I do to resolved the problem?” I asked. “I am a fare man.” said the man that I was more and more beginning to distrust. “I will give you until morning to build up the sides of the cement inspection hole a few inches so that water will not seep into the inspection hole.” He said. Great! It was now 5:30 I had to leave for the airport in an hour and a half and was planning on leaving for Huehuetinango at 6 AM. I explained this to the man and asked if there was anything else that I could do. “Oh yes.” He said. For around 200Q I can have one of my workers fix the problem for you and that way we won’t have to shut your water off at all. Now I have never been one that believes in paying a bribe but a few years ago I ended up giving a police man $25 for the convenience of sleeping in my own house instead of jail. Tonight I am another $25 poorer for the convenience of having water for an hour or 2 a day. Hopefully this will keep the storage tank that I just installed full enough to keep me supplied with water for the other 22 to 23 hours a day that I have no running water due to the community water tank that fell over last month.
Yours in Christ: Dick
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
I picked up John at his motel room at 6 AM and the 2 of us headed towards Huehuetinango. We got an early enough start that we got through most of the construction areas before the flag men were out so we made fairly good time until we got to within about 20 minutes of our first scheduled stop. This was one of those, close to an hour that leave you scratching your head trying to figure out why, type of road closers.
We still managed to pull in to the Xela orphanage at around 10:30 though so we didn’t complain. Neither did the little boy who had been with out his power wheelchair for several months. We only stuck around long enough to unload the power wheelchair and say a quick hello to the kids and then we were once again on our way.
Before leaving Xela we picked up Rolland. Rolland is a man from Sweden that I had met at the wheelchair distribution that we had in Huehuetinango a few weeks ago. He lives in Xela and is quite active in working with various organizations that are involved in helping the Guatemalan people. It was Rolland that first introduced me to most of the people that we planned on visiting tomorrow. Wishing to avoid the traffic tie up that I had encountered on my way into Xela I decided to take a road to San Francisco that I had been on years ago. Since a good part of this road was not paved and it had no signs telling me were I was at or which fork in the road to follow I doubt that we saved any time but the scenery was spectacular.
A few hours later we reached San Francisco. After reaching the far side of town we parked my car at the end of a dead end road. The family of a 16 year old boy that we had promised to bring a wheelchair to was waiting for us there. Donna Mooney had contacted them for us and told them that we would meet them there. We were still about a half hour drive from their home but I had never been there so they had agreed to meet us here. I explained to them that before driving to there home we were going to hike in to Erica’s home to deliver the 2 suitcases of medicine that John had brought along from the States. I told the man, his wife, and 16 year old son that they could wait for us by my car until we returned and that we would then drive them to their home but they decided to hike in to Erica’s with us. This was not an easy task considering that it was raining and the 16 year old boy could not walk but the man loaded him on his back and away we went.
Our visit at Erica’s was much to short but we still had to bring out 3 new friends to their home and set up the boys new power wheelchair before dirving to Huehuetinango.
We had been told that we would be able to drive right up to the home of this family and that even though the ground that surrounded there property was a bit uneven they had a large flat yard that surrounded there home. When we got out of my car and I saw no house I began to wonder. When the man took us to the edge of what looked closer to a cliff than uneven ground and pointed to the roof of his house that was located below, John and I looked at each other in amazement. 
Had I not already promised this boy a power wheelchair I would likely have changed my mind on the spot. I have my doubts that a dirt bike could have climbed the narrow trail that led to the house. O well they had told us that the yard that surrounded the house was large and smooth so at least the boy could use the wheelchair there. I wished that we had taken a rope along to help us lower the wheelchair to the house but with no less then 3 people at a time on the wheelchair we managed to get it down to the house with out loosing it. On our way down the side of the mountain we realized that, a bit of uneven ground, must mean something entirely different to the Mayan people than it does to Americans. Once we finally reached the house we also be came aware that, a large smooth yard, also has an entirely different meaning. Oh well at least he could probably use the wheelchair on the floor of the large home that this family had told us about. Guess what, the dirt floor of their small home was not much smoother, or dryer, and was a lot smaller then the small uneven yard just out side of their door. Oh well a promise was a promise. Besides that there was no way that we were going to try to get this power wheelchair back up the side of this mountain. Once we got the boy into the wheelchair we realized that it was all worth it though. 
Even though he could do little more than go in circles and the wheelchair got stuck a few times inside of the house the boy and his entire family seemed to be overjoyed. Father assured us that once the rains quit the house would dry out and that he would even try to smooth up the yard a bit. I promised that I would stop by the next time that I came through and check on them, and then we were once again on our way.
The rest of our trip to Huehuetenango was rather uneventful. Traffic was light so I was only run off the road twice. The motel here is a nice one and tonight more than ever it has a feel of home. I guess that is because the water has been off most of the evening.
Well the battery of my computer is getting low so I better say goodnight. Hopefully the electricity will come back on during the night so that I can charge it. At least the beds are soft. Now if I had only brought my flash light so that I could find my way to the shower. Oh that’s right; we still don’t have water anyway.
Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick
Thursday, September 4, 2008
This morning the 3 of us headed about an hours drive north of Huehuetinango and then turned off from the paved road onto a narrow winding mountain road that you would think no one lived on. I had never been here before but Rolland assured us that he had been here by buss and that there were numerous small villages located along this so-called road. How a bus could navigate the tight turns and make it through some of the narrow spots that had us nearly hanging over the cliffs is beyond me, but sure enough when we got into the first village we saw a few old school busses. It was in this village that we picked up Maria Garcia the lady that would be helping us locate the people that we wanted to see today. Rolland had been good friends with her son who was only in his twenties but had gotten sick and died a few months ago. Maria’s son had been involved in trying to do what ever he could to help the countless poor people that lived in this area. Rolland told us that after Maria’s son died most of the projects that he was just getting started fell by the wayside because they had not yet gotten off the ground. Maria is now trying her best to rekindle some of the projects that her son had been working on. Our next stop was at a smaller village another 15 minutes up the road.
We seemed to be the item of curiosity when I parked my car near a school that had the only wide spot that I could find in the road that would allow another car to pass, by just in case one did come up this road today. Maria walked us back down the road to a small sore where a young man named Rolando was sitting on the ground. His legs were twisted and he could not walk because of the CP that he had but he had one of the warmest friendliest smiles that I have ever seen. I guessed his age to be around 16 but his father later told us that Rolando was 21 years old. Most of the other people in the village were quite shy and kept their distance at first but after we took one or 2 pictures of Rolando curiosity got the best of them and they came over to see the pictures that were on the screens of our digital cameras. It was not long before some of them wanted us to take their pictures as well. Others were more cautious and would turn their backs or even run away whenever we pointed a camera in their direction. Rolando who has never been to school simply because he can not walk told us that he once had a wheelchair but that it became so warn out that he could no longer use it. To my surprise as we were talking another young man who appeared to be a few years younger than Rolando came up the road in a wheelchair. As he got closer I recognized him as one of three children of a family that we had given wheelchairs to when we did a wheelchair distribution near Huehuetinango a few weeks ago. Rolando’s father told us that even though the road is extremely rough this young man, who up until he received his wheelchair was mainly confined to his house, was now going up and down the road all day long. You should have seen Rolando and his father’s face light up when I told them that one of the reason that we had come today was to see what we could do about getting Rolando a wheelchair. Moments later I was taking measurements and analyzing what type of wheelchair Rolando needed.
By this time a large crowd of people had gathered some of whom were adults and Children that Roland had arranged for us to see today. Several of these people were in need of wheelchairs so I did the necessary measurements and paper work on them. Others were people who needed medical attention but had never seen a doctor in their entire life. I had to keep telling them that I was not a doctor but they were so desperate to have anyone that had even a little medical knowledge look at them that they kept coming. We now have list of people that we are going to try to get to Hermano Pedro so that they can see a doctor there. We also gave Maria some money and arraigned for her and Roland to take one lady in to see a doctor in Huehuetinango tomorrow but want to keep it at 1 until we determine weather or not the doctor is any good. In far to many cases the city doctor’s only concern for the Mayan people is to see how much money they can get from them.
After measuring up more people for wheelchairs they brought Rudy to me. Rudy is the 4 year old boy that I met at the same wheelchair distribution that the young man who was continually going up an down the road was at. Even though he was not on our list of people who were to receive a wheelchair that day we had enough kids wheelchairs with us that we were able to give him one near the end of the day. The only problem was that what Rudy needed more than a wheelchair was an artificial leg, but where were we going to find the money to buy him a leg? Even here in Guatemala the cost of materials alone with out labor for an artificial leg is well over $1000. Guess what, thanks to of a lot of prayer and a lady that stumbled across what I rote about Rudy the day of that distribution I have been contacted by someone in the USA who is willing to make an artificial leg for Rudy. Today I was able to get all of the needed measurements and John will be taking several pictures that we took and a plaster mold that we made back to the USA with him on Saturday. Hopefully Rudy will soon be getting a new leg. A few years ago we did an arm for a man the same way and it worked out great for him.
After we finished up with Rudy we saw a lot more people. Some of them we had previously arraigned to see but many of them came hoping that they could get some type of help in receiving a wheelchair for themselves or a loved one.
Others came seeking medical help for things that ranged from seizures to deafness. We will do our best to try to get some of them to Hermano Pedro in the near future but I am also praying that I can find a doctor that will be willing to come into this area with me for at least a few days and see these people.
Rolando’s father then took us to visit some people that lived further up the road. They also had various needs. Some of them were so poor that the dirt floor houses that they lived in had absolutely no furniture. The only clothing that I saw was what they were wearing and in many cases there were no beds or blankets so at night they had to sleep on the dirt floors of their homes. The needs seemed endless and it would have been easy to throw up our hands and walk away, but that is not what Jesus would have done.
After eating lunch at Rolando’s home, which had little more in it than the homes that we had just visited, we went to the home of the young man that had been going up and down the road in his wheelchair all day. 
It was this family that had originally drawn me to come here when I met them at the wheelchair distribution that we had come to a few weeks ago. This young man’s father had died a few years ago leaving his wife, and what I thought at the time were there 8 children, with out anything. We had given the 3 older children wheelchairs because 2 of them could only walk a few feet without blacking out and falling over and the other could not walk at all. I had wanted to stop at this home to share some good news with the family. A friend from the USA had read about them in my journal a few weeks ago and had offered to give some money so that we could help give this family some food each month and also put a younger sister of the 3 that are in wheelchairs into school. Even though the village has a public school, not unlike the rest of Guatemala, there are costs involved that many of the parents cannot afford. In this village it costs around $13 per month to keep a younger child in school and after grade 6 it jumps to around $30 per child. It was not until we saw this family today that I was made aware that 2 boys that were school age were not attending school either. 
All 3 of the kids said that they wanted to go but had never been able to because their mother has no money. I thought to myself if only the family were not so large perhaps at least on of them would have had an education by now. Don’t you just hate God’s timing at times? Moments later I was brought to teers when Rolland told us that the 2 boys that were not going to school were not the biological children of this lady who had almost nothing. I was told that she had adopted them when their mother died. “Why?” I asked, “She has so little.” “Because they had even less.” I was told. After the tears left I told this mother that when the new school year starts next January we well see to it that all 3 of these children are enrolled in school.
It had been a long day and a real tear jerker at times but one that I would not have traded for the world. We had made friends with a lot of people who were afraid to come near us only a few hours earlier. We did not preach a sermon to them or even share our theology but we let them know by both actions and words that we were doing this in the name of Jesus Christ. How could we do anything less after all that He did for us?
Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick
Friday, September 5, 2008
Last night the lights in out motel room did a bit of blinking but we never fully lost our electricity. Even more important than that, the water stayed on all night. This is a luxury that I have not had recently, neither at home or in the motels that I have been staying in.
After breakfast we got in my car and drove north on past where we had been just yesterday. We had told Luis (Lionel’s father) that we would meet him out on the main road that led up to his village at 9AM. Both he and his wife were waiting for us when we arrived. Today they were going to ride back to Antigua with us so that they could visit with their son Lionel, whom we brought to the malnutrition ward of Hermano Pedro about 2 weeks ago. Luis asked if we wanted to meet his other 5 children before heading to Antigua and I instantly said yes. I had wanted to see them because since their brother was starving I feared that perhaps they were not doing well either.
As far as I know this families only means of transportation is by foot but I was beginning to wander if they possibley owned a Learjet when what I was told would be a 5 minute drive turned out to be more like 15 or 20 minutes. It also made the winding trail that I drove yesterday seem like a freeway in comparison. There were times as my tires had little breathing room between them and the cliff that I wished that my car had been a few feet narrower. We found no busses at the end of this road. Luis and his wife then walked us to their small one room adobe house that was only a short walk up the trail. We did a bit of joking about not taking my car up this trail but even a 4-wheel drive Toyota has its limits. Luis’s house looked no better than the worst of homes that we had been in yesterday. Other than a small table that was made from an old road sign and a homemade ladder the house was empty. 
When I asked where the children were Luis told to us that they were about 5 minutes up the trail at the home of their uncle, where they would be staying while Luis and his wife were in Antigua. John and I both looked at our watches as we headed up the trail. We were both wondering if the 5 minute walk would take as long as the 5 minute drive that we had just made. It didn’t matter much though because the scenery along the way was spectacular. There were streams to cross, waterfalls to look at and all different types of vegetation. The first part of the hike took us past some coffee plants that belong to Lionel’s family. Luis told us that growing coffee provides the families income. He then went on to say that if he works hard and has a good year he can clear around 2000Q. That comes out be $270 per year. When we neared uncles house mother went on ahead to tell the children that we were coming. All 5 of them were quite shy at first but it did not take long before they warmed up to us. I had been told that they had all cried the day that we took Lionel to Hermano Pedro so I had taken my computer along with me in my back pack, so that I could show them some pictures of how well he was doing and how happy he was. The entire family was thrilled and for the first time since I had met her I saw mother smile.
Father told me that all of these children with the exception of the baby had been attending school, however the older daughter had to dropout 2 years ago because putting her into 7th grade would cost the family to much money. We were informed that the oldest boy who had only 2 months of grade 6 left would also have to drop out of school after this year for the same reason. It seemed such a shame because both kids seemed so intelligent. The older girl went into the house and got her report card from 2 years ago. This quickly confirmed what I already know in just meeting her. It was then that I once again put my big foot in my mouth. “Would either of you like to continue with your education if you were able to?” I asked. Now in the USA that might not be a stupid question but here I got an immediate reply even though I did not need one. In this case it did not take long to find a sponsor. John had fallen in love with this family as well. I try to never make my journals a plea for money but if anyone is ever interested in helping one of these families out with food, shelter, education, or something that can help them to make a better living just let me know. I have an ever-growing list of names of people and what their needs are.
Driving out from where they lived is noticed a small monument that had many names written on it. Louis told us that it had been put up in memory of 46 villagers that had been massacred there in 1988. He told us that 2 of his brothers were among the 46 people that the army had killed, because they felt that the village had helped the gorillas.
Luis said that since he was just a child at that time he was allowed to live. For the villagers there was no right side to be on. Rolando’s father whom we had just eaten lunch with yesterday is still suffering from injuries that the gorillas had inflected on him at about the same time that these villagers were slaughtered. We were told that if the Gorillas or army came in and asked for food or anything else that you had you would be killed if you said no. However if the other side heard that you gave it to them they would come in and torture or kill you. No wonder some of these people have a hard time trusting strangers. Just yesterday we almost had to bypass seeing a little girl that was in need of a wheelchair because her father thought that we were perhaps there to kidnap her and some of the other children. Fortunately after meeting with us some of the villagers who’s family members had received wheelchairs from us a few weeks ago, went and talked with him and he later came out and talked with us. He proved to be a very nice man who was simply worried about the wellbeing of his family.
(Click on any photo to enlarge)
On our way down the mountain Luis asked if we would be willing to make one more stop. He said that he knew of another child who was much like his son Lionel, and wondered if I could look at him. From where we parked my car it was only a short walk in to where this child lived. I hesitate to even call this dwelling a home because it consisted of little more than a tin roof had corn stalks that had been tied together to form walls. Inside the house we found an old lady and a 10 year old boy. 
The boy was curled up on the dirt floor and it was apparent that he was quite handicapped. The old lady told us that she was the boy’s grandmother and that the boy’s mother was in another village for a few weeks picking coffee. I asked if I could look at the boy and was surprised to see that he appeared to be in fairly good shape considering his surroundings. As I started working with him to see if there was a possibility that he could be untwisted enough to fit into a wheelchair his 80 year old grandmother knelt down next to me. She showed us some stretches that she had been doing with him and said that she had been doing them every day. What she showed us amazed me because many of the things that she was doing were the exact stretches and exercises that therapists are trained to do. The little boy simply lit up every time this loving grandmother got near him. The love that she had for this child was something to behold. Even though we had mentioned nothing to her about it, she announced to us that she did not want her grandson to be taken to any hospital or orphanage. I assured her that we were not there for that reason but only wanted to see if there was some way that we could help. I had already promised Luis that I would send some vitamins back with him for his family when he returns from Antigua so he agreed to take some back for this child as well. We also told the grandmother that we would see to it that her grandson got a wheelchair so that he did not have to spend his entire time lying on the dirt floor. When I tried to explain to her the importance of getting this child out of a continual lying position she wholeheartedly agreed. 
I was amazed at not only the love that this lady displayed for her grandson but her medical common sense type of medical knowledge was beyond belief. Luis then told us that she was the medicine woman for this area. At first I thought of the Indian medicine men that I use to see in the old cowboy movies but this old gall did not dance around bonfires shouting and chanting. She, much like some of the true medicine men used plants and herbs many of which are used some of today’s drug store medicines to treat their patients. She even told us that every other day she puts her grandson into the steam bath that resembles a brick oven that many of the people have next to their houses. I hope that I will see her again because I have a feeling that she could teach me a lot. One thing for certain, even though this was one of the poorest dwellings that I have ever been in it still radiated with love.
On our way home we dropped Roland off near the home of Maria, the lady that we had worked with yesterday. She and Rolland had offered to take a young lady that we had met yesterday to see a doctor in Huehuetenango. Rolland is going to keep a close eye on things so that we know weather or not is best to pay a doctor in Huehue to see some of these people or to try and take them all the way to Hermano Pedro. The drive back to Antigua took around 5 hours but everything went well. Luis and his wife had asked if it was all right that they take their youngest daughter along since she was still nursing. I said that it was fine and almost invited the other kids along as well but was not sure wether or not I could get lodging for the entire family at Casa Defay.
Even though it was past 5:30 when we arrived at Hermano Pedro they said that it would be all right for Lionel’s family to visit with him for a little while before I brought them to Casa Defay. Once again I saw the smile come back on his mother’s otherwise expressionless face, and once again I felt the love that radiated between this child and his family.
It has been an emotional week. It is always hard to see people hurting knowing that you can’t help them all but praise God that he allows us from time to time to be used by Him.
Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick
Saturday, September 6, 2008, 2:10 PM
You may wonder what I have been doing all day. After getting back home from bringing John to the airport at 3:30 AM I went back to bed for a few hours. Ever since then I have been getting caught up on this journal. It will undoubtedly be another few hours before I get the pictures arraigned and the journal posted. I would hate to count up the hours that are spent behind this computer each week but it gives me the opportunity to look back on how God has been working. I also feel that it is important to share this information with those of you that are praying.
Yours in Christ: Dick
Calin ended up spending the night here but only after we played the game of “Who’s the Boss” for nearly an hour. For no other reason than that he did not want to be told what to do he refused to wash his feet before bedtime. Even though I was already half asleep when he went to bed, and his bed was on the far side of the room, my nostrils immediately told me that he had not done as I asked.
I then told him that he would have to get back up and wash his feet but he told me that he didn’t want to. When I told him that he had no choice he accused me of being bossy and not allowing him to have any choice in the matter. I had to admit that he was right so I gave him a choice. “Wash your feet or go home.” I did admit to him though that he was write about me being bossy but then reminded him that since this was my house and I was older than him I had the right to be the boss. He turned on the tears for a while and then slowly headed towards his bed. I then reminded him that I had given him 2 choices and this was not one of them. I don’t know what got him the wettest, the shower or the tears but 20 minute later Calin was fast asleep and my sinuses were beginning to clear. This morning he was once again talking to me and even left a peace offering of a bag of potato chips for me. Some times it is hard for me to be so stern with the kids but then again if I wasn’t they might stop thinking that I loved them so much.
Judy Kurschner and I had made arrangements to meet at the wheelchair shop this morning. We had made arrangements for her to bring in 2 little girls from Santa Maria Dejesus that needed wheelchairs and walkers. I had previously thought that they would take me most of the morning to fit into wheelchairs but both girls fit comfortably into normal wheelchairs and seating them took no time at all. After that Carlos drove in from Antigua and the 2 of us met for lunch.At around 7:30 I plan on heading for Guatemala City to pick John Bosman up from the airport. John only plans on being here for 4 days. We are heading for Huehuetinango tomorrow morning and it looks like we will have a full schedule until he leaves on Saturday.
5:02 PM
Fernando just came to my door in a bit of a panic. Four men were outside with a wheelbarrow full of water meters that they had dug up and removed from nearly half of my neighbor’s homes. They were now in the process of digging mine up. I had Fernando ask them what they were doing but the men seemed to ignore him. Thankfully Lizet who lives next door came out of her house and they were a bit more willing to talk with her. They told her that nearly half the people in my neighborhood had not paid their water bills so they were removing their meters until the bills were paid. I told her to tell them that even though my water has been off 95% of the time I had been paying my bill regularly. The men insisted that I had not paid my water bill in over 2 months. Lizet asked the man that had a hand full of paper work to show her the bill. He reluctantly did so. Sure enough there it was in black and white, a water bill for a whopping $3. The only thing was the bill was not for my house but the one next door. The man with the hand full of bills apologized and told me that he was sorry about the mistake. I was glad that the problem had been resolved before they had the meter completely removed because 2 years ago when they had made a similar mistake I had to go to the same man’s house at 8:00 at night to convince him to replace my meter because of a similar mistake.
As I thanked the man for not shutting off my water, which has only been on for an hour or 2 a day, I noticed that one of the other men was still removing my meter. I politely asked the man that was holding the wrong water bill in his hand to explain to the other man that I owed them no money. The man with the bill in his hand then told me that while they were accidentally removing my meter the noticed that some water and mud had flowed from my alley into the hole where my water meter was so they were still going to have to shut off my water and remove the meter until the problem was resolved. “What problem?” I asked. Of course there was water and mud in the hole in the ground that is in my alley, which has about 6 inches of watter in it every time it rains. The man politely explained that the mud could seep into the sealed meter and pipe that ran through the inspection hole and contaminate the water of the entire neighborhood. I didn’t fully understand how mud could seep into a water pipe that is made to be underground but I could see that I was fighting a loosing battle. “What can I do to resolved the problem?” I asked. “I am a fare man.” said the man that I was more and more beginning to distrust. “I will give you until morning to build up the sides of the cement inspection hole a few inches so that water will not seep into the inspection hole.” He said. Great! It was now 5:30 I had to leave for the airport in an hour and a half and was planning on leaving for Huehuetinango at 6 AM. I explained this to the man and asked if there was anything else that I could do. “Oh yes.” He said. For around 200Q I can have one of my workers fix the problem for you and that way we won’t have to shut your water off at all. Now I have never been one that believes in paying a bribe but a few years ago I ended up giving a police man $25 for the convenience of sleeping in my own house instead of jail. Tonight I am another $25 poorer for the convenience of having water for an hour or 2 a day. Hopefully this will keep the storage tank that I just installed full enough to keep me supplied with water for the other 22 to 23 hours a day that I have no running water due to the community water tank that fell over last month.Yours in Christ: Dick
Wednesday, September 3, 2008I picked up John at his motel room at 6 AM and the 2 of us headed towards Huehuetinango. We got an early enough start that we got through most of the construction areas before the flag men were out so we made fairly good time until we got to within about 20 minutes of our first scheduled stop. This was one of those, close to an hour that leave you scratching your head trying to figure out why, type of road closers.
We still managed to pull in to the Xela orphanage at around 10:30 though so we didn’t complain. Neither did the little boy who had been with out his power wheelchair for several months. We only stuck around long enough to unload the power wheelchair and say a quick hello to the kids and then we were once again on our way.Before leaving Xela we picked up Rolland. Rolland is a man from Sweden that I had met at the wheelchair distribution that we had in Huehuetinango a few weeks ago. He lives in Xela and is quite active in working with various organizations that are involved in helping the Guatemalan people. It was Rolland that first introduced me to most of the people that we planned on visiting tomorrow. Wishing to avoid the traffic tie up that I had encountered on my way into Xela I decided to take a road to San Francisco that I had been on years ago. Since a good part of this road was not paved and it had no signs telling me were I was at or which fork in the road to follow I doubt that we saved any time but the scenery was spectacular.
A few hours later we reached San Francisco. After reaching the far side of town we parked my car at the end of a dead end road. The family of a 16 year old boy that we had promised to bring a wheelchair to was waiting for us there. Donna Mooney had contacted them for us and told them that we would meet them there. We were still about a half hour drive from their home but I had never been there so they had agreed to meet us here. I explained to them that before driving to there home we were going to hike in to Erica’s home to deliver the 2 suitcases of medicine that John had brought along from the States. I told the man, his wife, and 16 year old son that they could wait for us by my car until we returned and that we would then drive them to their home but they decided to hike in to Erica’s with us. This was not an easy task considering that it was raining and the 16 year old boy could not walk but the man loaded him on his back and away we went.Our visit at Erica’s was much to short but we still had to bring out 3 new friends to their home and set up the boys new power wheelchair before dirving to Huehuetinango.
We had been told that we would be able to drive right up to the home of this family and that even though the ground that surrounded there property was a bit uneven they had a large flat yard that surrounded there home. When we got out of my car and I saw no house I began to wonder. When the man took us to the edge of what looked closer to a cliff than uneven ground and pointed to the roof of his house that was located below, John and I looked at each other in amazement. 
Had I not already promised this boy a power wheelchair I would likely have changed my mind on the spot. I have my doubts that a dirt bike could have climbed the narrow trail that led to the house. O well they had told us that the yard that surrounded the house was large and smooth so at least the boy could use the wheelchair there. I wished that we had taken a rope along to help us lower the wheelchair to the house but with no less then 3 people at a time on the wheelchair we managed to get it down to the house with out loosing it. On our way down the side of the mountain we realized that, a bit of uneven ground, must mean something entirely different to the Mayan people than it does to Americans. Once we finally reached the house we also be came aware that, a large smooth yard, also has an entirely different meaning. Oh well at least he could probably use the wheelchair on the floor of the large home that this family had told us about. Guess what, the dirt floor of their small home was not much smoother, or dryer, and was a lot smaller then the small uneven yard just out side of their door. Oh well a promise was a promise. Besides that there was no way that we were going to try to get this power wheelchair back up the side of this mountain. Once we got the boy into the wheelchair we realized that it was all worth it though. 
Even though he could do little more than go in circles and the wheelchair got stuck a few times inside of the house the boy and his entire family seemed to be overjoyed. Father assured us that once the rains quit the house would dry out and that he would even try to smooth up the yard a bit. I promised that I would stop by the next time that I came through and check on them, and then we were once again on our way.The rest of our trip to Huehuetenango was rather uneventful. Traffic was light so I was only run off the road twice. The motel here is a nice one and tonight more than ever it has a feel of home. I guess that is because the water has been off most of the evening.
Well the battery of my computer is getting low so I better say goodnight. Hopefully the electricity will come back on during the night so that I can charge it. At least the beds are soft. Now if I had only brought my flash light so that I could find my way to the shower. Oh that’s right; we still don’t have water anyway.
Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick
Thursday, September 4, 2008This morning the 3 of us headed about an hours drive north of Huehuetinango and then turned off from the paved road onto a narrow winding mountain road that you would think no one lived on. I had never been here before but Rolland assured us that he had been here by buss and that there were numerous small villages located along this so-called road. How a bus could navigate the tight turns and make it through some of the narrow spots that had us nearly hanging over the cliffs is beyond me, but sure enough when we got into the first village we saw a few old school busses. It was in this village that we picked up Maria Garcia the lady that would be helping us locate the people that we wanted to see today. Rolland had been good friends with her son who was only in his twenties but had gotten sick and died a few months ago. Maria’s son had been involved in trying to do what ever he could to help the countless poor people that lived in this area. Rolland told us that after Maria’s son died most of the projects that he was just getting started fell by the wayside because they had not yet gotten off the ground. Maria is now trying her best to rekindle some of the projects that her son had been working on. Our next stop was at a smaller village another 15 minutes up the road.
We seemed to be the item of curiosity when I parked my car near a school that had the only wide spot that I could find in the road that would allow another car to pass, by just in case one did come up this road today. Maria walked us back down the road to a small sore where a young man named Rolando was sitting on the ground. His legs were twisted and he could not walk because of the CP that he had but he had one of the warmest friendliest smiles that I have ever seen. I guessed his age to be around 16 but his father later told us that Rolando was 21 years old. Most of the other people in the village were quite shy and kept their distance at first but after we took one or 2 pictures of Rolando curiosity got the best of them and they came over to see the pictures that were on the screens of our digital cameras. It was not long before some of them wanted us to take their pictures as well. Others were more cautious and would turn their backs or even run away whenever we pointed a camera in their direction. Rolando who has never been to school simply because he can not walk told us that he once had a wheelchair but that it became so warn out that he could no longer use it. To my surprise as we were talking another young man who appeared to be a few years younger than Rolando came up the road in a wheelchair. As he got closer I recognized him as one of three children of a family that we had given wheelchairs to when we did a wheelchair distribution near Huehuetinango a few weeks ago. Rolando’s father told us that even though the road is extremely rough this young man, who up until he received his wheelchair was mainly confined to his house, was now going up and down the road all day long. You should have seen Rolando and his father’s face light up when I told them that one of the reason that we had come today was to see what we could do about getting Rolando a wheelchair. Moments later I was taking measurements and analyzing what type of wheelchair Rolando needed.
By this time a large crowd of people had gathered some of whom were adults and Children that Roland had arranged for us to see today. Several of these people were in need of wheelchairs so I did the necessary measurements and paper work on them. Others were people who needed medical attention but had never seen a doctor in their entire life. I had to keep telling them that I was not a doctor but they were so desperate to have anyone that had even a little medical knowledge look at them that they kept coming. We now have list of people that we are going to try to get to Hermano Pedro so that they can see a doctor there. We also gave Maria some money and arraigned for her and Roland to take one lady in to see a doctor in Huehuetinango tomorrow but want to keep it at 1 until we determine weather or not the doctor is any good. In far to many cases the city doctor’s only concern for the Mayan people is to see how much money they can get from them.
After measuring up more people for wheelchairs they brought Rudy to me. Rudy is the 4 year old boy that I met at the same wheelchair distribution that the young man who was continually going up an down the road was at. Even though he was not on our list of people who were to receive a wheelchair that day we had enough kids wheelchairs with us that we were able to give him one near the end of the day. The only problem was that what Rudy needed more than a wheelchair was an artificial leg, but where were we going to find the money to buy him a leg? Even here in Guatemala the cost of materials alone with out labor for an artificial leg is well over $1000. Guess what, thanks to of a lot of prayer and a lady that stumbled across what I rote about Rudy the day of that distribution I have been contacted by someone in the USA who is willing to make an artificial leg for Rudy. Today I was able to get all of the needed measurements and John will be taking several pictures that we took and a plaster mold that we made back to the USA with him on Saturday. Hopefully Rudy will soon be getting a new leg. A few years ago we did an arm for a man the same way and it worked out great for him.After we finished up with Rudy we saw a lot more people. Some of them we had previously arraigned to see but many of them came hoping that they could get some type of help in receiving a wheelchair for themselves or a loved one.
Others came seeking medical help for things that ranged from seizures to deafness. We will do our best to try to get some of them to Hermano Pedro in the near future but I am also praying that I can find a doctor that will be willing to come into this area with me for at least a few days and see these people.Rolando’s father then took us to visit some people that lived further up the road. They also had various needs. Some of them were so poor that the dirt floor houses that they lived in had absolutely no furniture. The only clothing that I saw was what they were wearing and in many cases there were no beds or blankets so at night they had to sleep on the dirt floors of their homes. The needs seemed endless and it would have been easy to throw up our hands and walk away, but that is not what Jesus would have done.
After eating lunch at Rolando’s home, which had little more in it than the homes that we had just visited, we went to the home of the young man that had been going up and down the road in his wheelchair all day. 
It was this family that had originally drawn me to come here when I met them at the wheelchair distribution that we had come to a few weeks ago. This young man’s father had died a few years ago leaving his wife, and what I thought at the time were there 8 children, with out anything. We had given the 3 older children wheelchairs because 2 of them could only walk a few feet without blacking out and falling over and the other could not walk at all. I had wanted to stop at this home to share some good news with the family. A friend from the USA had read about them in my journal a few weeks ago and had offered to give some money so that we could help give this family some food each month and also put a younger sister of the 3 that are in wheelchairs into school. Even though the village has a public school, not unlike the rest of Guatemala, there are costs involved that many of the parents cannot afford. In this village it costs around $13 per month to keep a younger child in school and after grade 6 it jumps to around $30 per child. It was not until we saw this family today that I was made aware that 2 boys that were school age were not attending school either. 
All 3 of the kids said that they wanted to go but had never been able to because their mother has no money. I thought to myself if only the family were not so large perhaps at least on of them would have had an education by now. Don’t you just hate God’s timing at times? Moments later I was brought to teers when Rolland told us that the 2 boys that were not going to school were not the biological children of this lady who had almost nothing. I was told that she had adopted them when their mother died. “Why?” I asked, “She has so little.” “Because they had even less.” I was told. After the tears left I told this mother that when the new school year starts next January we well see to it that all 3 of these children are enrolled in school.It had been a long day and a real tear jerker at times but one that I would not have traded for the world. We had made friends with a lot of people who were afraid to come near us only a few hours earlier. We did not preach a sermon to them or even share our theology but we let them know by both actions and words that we were doing this in the name of Jesus Christ. How could we do anything less after all that He did for us?
Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick
Friday, September 5, 2008Last night the lights in out motel room did a bit of blinking but we never fully lost our electricity. Even more important than that, the water stayed on all night. This is a luxury that I have not had recently, neither at home or in the motels that I have been staying in.
After breakfast we got in my car and drove north on past where we had been just yesterday. We had told Luis (Lionel’s father) that we would meet him out on the main road that led up to his village at 9AM. Both he and his wife were waiting for us when we arrived. Today they were going to ride back to Antigua with us so that they could visit with their son Lionel, whom we brought to the malnutrition ward of Hermano Pedro about 2 weeks ago. Luis asked if we wanted to meet his other 5 children before heading to Antigua and I instantly said yes. I had wanted to see them because since their brother was starving I feared that perhaps they were not doing well either.
As far as I know this families only means of transportation is by foot but I was beginning to wander if they possibley owned a Learjet when what I was told would be a 5 minute drive turned out to be more like 15 or 20 minutes. It also made the winding trail that I drove yesterday seem like a freeway in comparison. There were times as my tires had little breathing room between them and the cliff that I wished that my car had been a few feet narrower. We found no busses at the end of this road. Luis and his wife then walked us to their small one room adobe house that was only a short walk up the trail. We did a bit of joking about not taking my car up this trail but even a 4-wheel drive Toyota has its limits. Luis’s house looked no better than the worst of homes that we had been in yesterday. Other than a small table that was made from an old road sign and a homemade ladder the house was empty. 
When I asked where the children were Luis told to us that they were about 5 minutes up the trail at the home of their uncle, where they would be staying while Luis and his wife were in Antigua. John and I both looked at our watches as we headed up the trail. We were both wondering if the 5 minute walk would take as long as the 5 minute drive that we had just made. It didn’t matter much though because the scenery along the way was spectacular. There were streams to cross, waterfalls to look at and all different types of vegetation. The first part of the hike took us past some coffee plants that belong to Lionel’s family. Luis told us that growing coffee provides the families income. He then went on to say that if he works hard and has a good year he can clear around 2000Q. That comes out be $270 per year. When we neared uncles house mother went on ahead to tell the children that we were coming. All 5 of them were quite shy at first but it did not take long before they warmed up to us. I had been told that they had all cried the day that we took Lionel to Hermano Pedro so I had taken my computer along with me in my back pack, so that I could show them some pictures of how well he was doing and how happy he was. The entire family was thrilled and for the first time since I had met her I saw mother smile.
Father told me that all of these children with the exception of the baby had been attending school, however the older daughter had to dropout 2 years ago because putting her into 7th grade would cost the family to much money. We were informed that the oldest boy who had only 2 months of grade 6 left would also have to drop out of school after this year for the same reason. It seemed such a shame because both kids seemed so intelligent. The older girl went into the house and got her report card from 2 years ago. This quickly confirmed what I already know in just meeting her. It was then that I once again put my big foot in my mouth. “Would either of you like to continue with your education if you were able to?” I asked. Now in the USA that might not be a stupid question but here I got an immediate reply even though I did not need one. In this case it did not take long to find a sponsor. John had fallen in love with this family as well. I try to never make my journals a plea for money but if anyone is ever interested in helping one of these families out with food, shelter, education, or something that can help them to make a better living just let me know. I have an ever-growing list of names of people and what their needs are.Driving out from where they lived is noticed a small monument that had many names written on it. Louis told us that it had been put up in memory of 46 villagers that had been massacred there in 1988. He told us that 2 of his brothers were among the 46 people that the army had killed, because they felt that the village had helped the gorillas.
Luis said that since he was just a child at that time he was allowed to live. For the villagers there was no right side to be on. Rolando’s father whom we had just eaten lunch with yesterday is still suffering from injuries that the gorillas had inflected on him at about the same time that these villagers were slaughtered. We were told that if the Gorillas or army came in and asked for food or anything else that you had you would be killed if you said no. However if the other side heard that you gave it to them they would come in and torture or kill you. No wonder some of these people have a hard time trusting strangers. Just yesterday we almost had to bypass seeing a little girl that was in need of a wheelchair because her father thought that we were perhaps there to kidnap her and some of the other children. Fortunately after meeting with us some of the villagers who’s family members had received wheelchairs from us a few weeks ago, went and talked with him and he later came out and talked with us. He proved to be a very nice man who was simply worried about the wellbeing of his family.
(Click on any photo to enlarge)
The boy was curled up on the dirt floor and it was apparent that he was quite handicapped. The old lady told us that she was the boy’s grandmother and that the boy’s mother was in another village for a few weeks picking coffee. I asked if I could look at the boy and was surprised to see that he appeared to be in fairly good shape considering his surroundings. As I started working with him to see if there was a possibility that he could be untwisted enough to fit into a wheelchair his 80 year old grandmother knelt down next to me. She showed us some stretches that she had been doing with him and said that she had been doing them every day. What she showed us amazed me because many of the things that she was doing were the exact stretches and exercises that therapists are trained to do. The little boy simply lit up every time this loving grandmother got near him. The love that she had for this child was something to behold. Even though we had mentioned nothing to her about it, she announced to us that she did not want her grandson to be taken to any hospital or orphanage. I assured her that we were not there for that reason but only wanted to see if there was some way that we could help. I had already promised Luis that I would send some vitamins back with him for his family when he returns from Antigua so he agreed to take some back for this child as well. We also told the grandmother that we would see to it that her grandson got a wheelchair so that he did not have to spend his entire time lying on the dirt floor. When I tried to explain to her the importance of getting this child out of a continual lying position she wholeheartedly agreed. 
I was amazed at not only the love that this lady displayed for her grandson but her medical common sense type of medical knowledge was beyond belief. Luis then told us that she was the medicine woman for this area. At first I thought of the Indian medicine men that I use to see in the old cowboy movies but this old gall did not dance around bonfires shouting and chanting. She, much like some of the true medicine men used plants and herbs many of which are used some of today’s drug store medicines to treat their patients. She even told us that every other day she puts her grandson into the steam bath that resembles a brick oven that many of the people have next to their houses. I hope that I will see her again because I have a feeling that she could teach me a lot. One thing for certain, even though this was one of the poorest dwellings that I have ever been in it still radiated with love.On our way home we dropped Roland off near the home of Maria, the lady that we had worked with yesterday. She and Rolland had offered to take a young lady that we had met yesterday to see a doctor in Huehuetenango. Rolland is going to keep a close eye on things so that we know weather or not is best to pay a doctor in Huehue to see some of these people or to try and take them all the way to Hermano Pedro. The drive back to Antigua took around 5 hours but everything went well. Luis and his wife had asked if it was all right that they take their youngest daughter along since she was still nursing. I said that it was fine and almost invited the other kids along as well but was not sure wether or not I could get lodging for the entire family at Casa Defay.
Even though it was past 5:30 when we arrived at Hermano Pedro they said that it would be all right for Lionel’s family to visit with him for a little while before I brought them to Casa Defay. Once again I saw the smile come back on his mother’s otherwise expressionless face, and once again I felt the love that radiated between this child and his family.It has been an emotional week. It is always hard to see people hurting knowing that you can’t help them all but praise God that he allows us from time to time to be used by Him.
Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick
Saturday, September 6, 2008, 2:10 PM
You may wonder what I have been doing all day. After getting back home from bringing John to the airport at 3:30 AM I went back to bed for a few hours. Ever since then I have been getting caught up on this journal. It will undoubtedly be another few hours before I get the pictures arraigned and the journal posted. I would hate to count up the hours that are spent behind this computer each week but it gives me the opportunity to look back on how God has been working. I also feel that it is important to share this information with those of you that are praying.
Yours in Christ: Dick
posted by Dick | 8:52 PM
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