Journal, Sunday, March 7 - Sunday, March 13, 2011

Your life will be measured, not by the amount of money or power or fame you gain,

but by the way you allow God to touch others through you.

Another week has slipped by and I have found that I have not done any journaling. Usually Pat has baled me out on occasions like this by letting me publish some of her journals. However this week has been a busy one for her as well because she has been in the process of moving into a house that is located just across the street from where she had been staying. After church on Sunday 8 of my kids and I helped her move the bulk of her stuff but it is taking her a while to get everything unpacked and organized.

Monday was spent at Hermano Pedro with a group that was here from the States. I had met with them on Sunday night and shared a bit about Hermano Pedro and all of them seemed really eager to meet the kids. Fact is when I told them that Monday is the day that they do pool therapy with the kids all of them said that they would love to get into the pool and help out with a few of the kids if that were possibles. Unfortunately when we showed up Monday morning the weather was a bit cooler than usual so there was no pool therapy. This however did not seem to dampen the spirits of this group of mostly teens and after I gave them a tour of the orphanage they quickly went to work on loving on the kids. Since this group was rather large we decided not to take any kids out to lunch but I checked out about 8 of them so that we could take them to the park in the afternoon. Unfortunately just as we were about the take the kids to the park one of the doctors looked up at the sky which was partly overcast and decided that it was to cold for the children to go to the park. I did not have a thermometer with me but it had to be in the upper seventies. The group was a bit disappointed but they rallied and did well with the kids.

On Tuesday and Wednesday the weather was about the same but the Doctor was in a better mood so with the help of Dave, a few of his friends, and Miguel we managed to take a few of the orphanage kids out to lunch.

I spent Thursday and Friday at a wheelchair distribution that
...took place at Hope Haven's wheelchair factory in Antigua.

Most of the workers at Hope Haven's Factory

are themselves in wheelchairs and they take a lot of

pride in reaching out to their fellow Guatemalans.

Calin had no school on Friday so he came along...........

and helped out at the wheelchair distribution.............

I have been fighting a head cold for the past week so I decided to stay mostly at home and take it easy on Saturday.

I can't exactly explain how you can take it easy when there are

10 to 12 kids with you in a 3 room house but at least I tried.

The kids that could not fit in my house played out in the yard.

On Sunday 8 of my kids and I went to church

and then out to lunch then we went to a

soccer game that some of the boys played in.

People to pray for.

Pastor Bill is now at home after undergoing 9 hours of surgery. They were not able to reach the aneurysm that is in his brain but he is doing fairly well. Bill is doing quite well but will have to take it easy for at lest several months. Please keep him and his family in your prayers. I visited with him and Barb over the phone a few days ago and found that Bill has defiantly not lost his sense of hummer.

It has now been nearly 2 months ago that Jason mysteriously disappeared. No one has seen him and I fear that he is no longer alive.

Esben and Elder are 2 of the boys that spend most of their time at my place. Their mom lives only a few blocks away but wants nothing to do with them or their 15 year old sister Olga. Olga use to come over at times and would often come along to church with us. Recently Olga ran away from the home that her and the boys now stay at and for a while no one knew where she was. It has now been discovered that Olga is living with the 18 year old father of the baby that she is will be having.

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

James 5:16 b (New Living Translation)

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick