Browning's in Balfate, March 2010

The Slow Quiet Work
What‘s a normal day like for us? We like to say that there is no such thing as a normal day in Honduras. For example, we got new neighbors two weeks ago when a very dilapidated gypsy circus set up shop right outside our gate. We laughed so hard a few nights ago as we watched a couple of the resident free range stray horses standing two abreast watching the early evening circus activity materialize. By North American standards, there’s just nothing normal about that!
All humor aside, it’s easy for us to get caught up in the daily normalness (or abnormalness) of our jobs here and forget what amazing things God is doing in this place through Hospital Loma de Luz and its various outreaches. As our time here winds down, we have been thinking about the ways we have seen him work in the past 6 months. Wherever and whenever God is at work, it is worth sharing for God’s glory and the encouragement of his church. The following are a few highlights from our time here.

Enil: God miraculously provided the equipment (a Dermatone) needed to do skin grafts on the worst of his 2nd degree burns covering 45% of his body. He continues to heal well.
Emin: An 8 year-old-boy brought down from the mountains after being bit by an extremely deadly barba amarilla (yellow beard snake). He was genuinely more dead than alive, but responded well to antivenom, supportive care, and Christ’s gospel. Below is Emin after he had recovered a bit. Staff members were joyfull treating him for parasites and lice, knowing only live boys need that!
Louis: Another 8-year-old who came to the Children‘s Centre a couple months ago, neglected, abandoned and very sick with complications from worms. Just this week, he had surgery to repair previous surgery damage and remove more worms and damaged intestine.
Hospital Finances: In this very tough economic time, finances needed to keep the doors open continue to come in. While there has been no excess (or even breathing room) in the past couple years, God’s provision continues to be sufficient.
The Slow, Quiet Work: On average, one person/day comes to Christ through the hospital’s ministry to patients and their family members. Dr. McKenney, founder of Loma de Luz, calls this the “slow, quiet work” of the hospital. Praise God for it!

Josh’s Jobs
Josh’s recent activities have varied widely, ranging from taking care of farm chores while the farm manager is out of the country to repairing autos to remodeling. One of his recent jobs has been supervising the remodel of several tiny houses that were originally intended for temporary housing for families of hospital patients. As hospital staff, both Honduran and North American, has grown, the little houses need to be upgraded for long term living. Also in the works is the reconstruction of suspension bridges across two ravines between the hospital and one of the staff housing areas. Below, a worker mixes cement for one of four bridge foundations.If you are interested in helping out with the construction/maintenance end of things, check out the Loma de Luz construction blog: http://www.lomadeluzconstruction.blogspot.com/.

Teaching
We will be leaving about 6 weeks before most of my students will finish their school year, so I have been busily getting them lined out to complete their math studies without me, as well as planning for next year‘s math and science classes. I will miss my students!

Want to Hear More?
We love sharing about Loma de Luz and Honduras, and during our time in the States this summer, we would like to be available to speak in churches and to small groups about God’s fame here on the North Coast. Please let us know if you are interested!

Thank You
In thanking the Philippian church for their generous support during his two-year Roman house arrest, Paul called their gift “a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.” (Phil. 4:18) Thank you so much for partnering with us in this place!
Blessings,
Josh, Linzy, Guildy, and Hadley


Please Pray For:
*Breaking of the enemy’s strongholds in Honduras: legalism in the Church, promiscuity, and drug use and trafficking, to name a few.
*Christ’s love and gospel to be clearly demonstrated here every day.
*Staff needs at Loma de Luz: surgeon, anesthesiologist, family doctors, obstetrician, nurses.
*Hospital finances.
*Our upcoming travel and time in the States.
*Safety and protection.


Contact Us
Email: yznil1@yahoo.com
Blog: http://www.joshandlinzy.blogspot.com/
U.S. Phone: 406.600.6687 (Apr. 7th-June 1st)
US Address: PO Box 281, Circle, MT 59215

Politics

For those of you interested in the continuing saga of US/Honduran relations:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303737704575147622272424344.html

In Which I Buy a Boat

For quite sometime, I've been on the lookout for a cayuko, which is a small, wooden fishing boat made from a hollowed out log. Last fall, I saw one that had been cut in half the short way, fitted with shelves, and stood on end for a book shelf. I thought it was such a clever idea! So ever since, I've been sleuthing the beaches for old abandoned ones, which occasionally turn up when they become too old to be sea worthy.

Well, my boat showed up in the lagoon outside our gate a couple months ago. The lagoon used to be the river, but when it rerouted a few years ago, it left this huge body of brackish water. The cayuko, too beat up and full of holes to take out in the sea, seemed to be public property, with lots of different people using it to cross back and forth over the lagoon. I asked our gardener, Julio, if he knew anything about it, and he said he'd keep an eye out for the actual owner. That was months ago. Then last week, Julio reported that the owner was there and wanted to sell. After a bit of negotiation, we agreed on a price. Then, I just had to figure out how to get my prize into my yard. Being a little bigger than I'd thought and completely water logged, Julio and I couldn't lift it, but fortunately for us, our circus neighbors were willing to help.

I haven't gotten around to sawing it in half yet, but the girls think it's great fun to play in!

Hadley is a big fan of Dora the Explorer right now, so the boat was just the thing she needed to complete her helmet/backpack ensemble and ensure hours of adventuring fun!

In Which I Get Bit By a Dog

Yesterday, I had the unfortunate experience of getting bit by a dog. I walked into a neighbor's yard and noticed an ugly, white dog. More importantly, I noticed he was on a chain so I backed up a little and started going around him. His chain was longer that I thought, and he got me before I could retreat out of range. While I do have a nasty gash (probably 3/4" long and 1/2" deep) on the inside of my right knee and some photo worthy bruising, I actually feel really fortunate. Of course the bite could have been way worse, but more importantly, the dog belongs to someone we know and wasn't just a street dog, so I know it's vaccination history. I found out today that in spite of its many other shortcomings, the Honduran public health department is very diligent about rounding up dogs and vaccinating for rabies, so it never gets to be a problem in the dog population.

They don't generally stitch up bites, since they are so prone to infection, but today, I got some antibiotics to hopefully ward off any infection and a tetanus shot, since my previous one was 6 years ago. At this point the injection site from the tetanus shot is far more painful than the bite!

Easter Eggs!

We dyed Easter eggs this week, and the girls had a great time!

Last year, Hadley made a gigantic mess, so I assumed naked was best for this year's attempt. But she mustered all her self control and did a really good job! Our homemade dye consisting of hot water, vinegar, and food coloring made some great colors, but they kind of rub off when you take the eggs out of the fridge and they start to "sweat" in the humidity.

After the eggs were done, the girls painted paper towels with the left over dye.

Penny's Blog

Penny posts some great stuff on her blog about the hospital goings-on. Check it out!
http://johnandpennyalden.blogspot.com

Dental Update

After sustaining some dental damage a couple weeks ago, we took Hadley to a dentist to see what could be done about her broken front teeth. She sat in the chair for the first couple minutes, then boycotted the whole affair with every ounce of strength in her 2-year-old will, which, if you know her, is pretty strong:o) But it actually turned out for the better, because over the course of the next week, the tooth that looked like it was so badly broken off actually moved back down. Apparently rather than being broken off, it was just pushed up into the gums and needed to "grow" back in. So now she just has a couple chipped front teeth. Toddler war wounds!

The Greatest Show in Balfate

Last week, Josh came home one evening and said, "Hey, did you see the circus unloading?" I had walked home for a neighbor's house an hour earlier and seen no sign of such activities, but, sure enough, about 50 feet outside our gate, The Circus had in fact arrived and started to set up shop. The first thing they did was splice into the power line running overhead to electrify their operation. Then they set up their living quarter tents, complete with beds, tables, TVs, stereos, etc. The next day, the Big Top went up, and by that evening, they were ready for their first performance.

Most of the tents are made of the plastic sheeting off old billboard advetisements. If you look closely, you can see where they spliced into the power line.Josh and Guildy were curious, so they attended the opening performance, and their rendition of it was hilarious. There were a couple clown acts, but mostly, they just told dirty jokes, which thankfully, Guildy doesn't have the Spanish to get yet. Then three scantily clad ladies did the classic Latin American shakey dancing. They ranged in age from early 20's to probably late 50's, and a toddler, maybe one of their kids, even strolled in and showed off his moves during their performance. When Guildy was telling me about it all, she said, "Yeah, and the old dancing lady wore socks, and that seemed weird." Yep, I bet it was.

(Shakey dancing knows no age boundaries. We went to a kindergarten graduation here a few years ago, and as part of the little program, one of the graduates got up, between the alphabet song and the Honduran national anthem, and did quite the suggestive modern dance.)

Guildy thought her first circus experience was awesome and keeps asking if she can go again every night when they fire up their speakers for the evening's entertainment. I guess some of the travelling circuses have animals like goats and snakes, but this one didn't. Dang. Maybe next time.

All in all, the Circus folks have been nice neighbors. They bathe and wash their clothes in the lagoon outside our gate, and they happily stop and visit when we come and go. They actually have to move their entrance gate for us to get past them into town. And, as a side business, they also buy scrap metal. As one of the older missionary kids said, "You've got to difersify to make it in this economy."

So random. So Honduras. I love it!

Busy Girls

Last week, Guildy and I cooked up a Modelling Goop recipe of salt, corn starch, and water that was supposed to dry "hard as rock." We were hoping to make some semi-permanent play cakes and cookies, and, as you can see, the results were quite cute. However, the weather turned hot and muggy, and instead of drying, our cookies actually seemed to get soggier and stickier as the days went on. I guess we'll have to try that one again in the parched north!Hadley is less interested in the intricicies of play food and deeply fascinated by dirt. Fortunately, we live close to the sea, so our yard is pretty much one big sand box. Snacks Outside=Automatic Tea Party:o)

Yuck!!

This is a local cow who has a big pile of nasty, perpetually bleeding warts on her rump. But she seems to doing alright nonetheless. Yuck!

A Random Assortment

Here is an assortment of completely unrelated, but nonetheless interesting photos.

Josh playing with a tarantula. Eeew!
Hadley in all her cuteness. In the past couple weeks, she has had a haircut at the hands of Guildy and taken a dive off the bed and chipped one front tooth and broke another. Unfortunately the teeth won't grow back! Josh's front teeth are mostly fake, so I think she just wanted to be like her Dad:o) The tooth that is broken off is missing about the bottom 1/3, but it doesn't seem to be hurting too badly. We are looking for a dentist who would be willing to try to fashion a fake for her. Since she's so little and wiggly and it's just cosmetic, alot of dentists don't want to do it.

Our current favorite swimming location on the Lis Lis River. Last weekend, several of the missionary families had a BBQ. Josh was in charge of the meat. It was super good!

Pico Bonito

I've been a bit neglectful on the blogging front lately. So these pictures are from about 3 weeks ago when we went to Pico Bonito National Park, which is south of La Ceiba. Josh's Mom was here, so we thought that would be a good outdoor adventure for all of us. We went up on a Friday, stayed overnight at a quirky 'eco-lodge' and hiked to a spectacular waterfall the next day. We had heard it was a short, easy hike, but 4 hours later as we crawled over boulders and hung onto vines to get to the waterfall, I was definitely questioning that!

The suspension bridge leading from the main road into the park.

Guildy hiked like a champ!Hadley rode most of the way. She even managed to catch a nap. My back and shoulder hurt BAD the next day. The handy dandy hippy sling is great for small babies and short stints, not major hikes!Hadley, Guildy, Amy, and Caleb snacking on rosquillas, our very favorite Honduran (and gluten-free) snack! They are plain corn cookies with melted cane sugar on top. And they tasted extra good after hiking for a few hours. The Lent Family came with us. Check out the size of that log!A fun fungus. Most of the trail was under canopy, so there were lots of interesting fungi, mosses, trickling streams, drippy leaves, etc. A small waterfall along the way. Grandma Linda at our final destination.The big waterfall, which, as you might guess, was infinitely more impressive in person. It was about 240' high, and because of the recent rains, it was running really hard. Definitely worth the hike!