The Wonder of It All

Entering the week before christmas here in Honduras.  I returned on December 3, with our two grandkids, Eryn, 12, and Benton, almost 11, in tow. Thus began a new era in the lives of Grandpa and Gran!  Its been amazing how fast they both have acclimated to a new land, culture, language and family. They are redecorating our home and our lives- with much laughter and adventure!  Eryn began experimenting with the Bilingual School, El Camino, run by the McKenneys, to see how she would adjust in the 2 weeks she had with them before they dismissed for Christmas break. We'll reassess down the road a bit to see how she is doing. She is only there a few hours weekly, and will spend the rest of her time with me at home. Benton has all his classes with me. Both are having spanish language lessons here at the house. 

kids after decorating


Because they came in during holiday season, its been a bit partyish since arrival, with movies next door for the highschool coop there, the missionary Christmas party, a 15th birthday party of one of the kids here, and anticipating the annual christmas pageant next week, in which both have a part. This more than normal excitement has made their entry festive and fun!  We've decorated a bit, baked a lot, delivered presents. The weather has been pleasantly cool, to ease that adjustment. They have yet to learn to live in a land of unrelenting heat with its discomforts! They are enjoying frolicking in the ocean, running up and down the steep hill to the hospital gate, arising early with the sun and going to bed early with the same. All in all, the Lord has blessed them immensely with good adjustment.
Within the first 48 hours home, I had assisted in a Code in the hospital, much to the kid's consternation when I flew out the door and hopped on the motorscooter. During the next night, a fellow missionary went into labor and I awoke the kids to accompany us to their home to assist John in the delivery. They were initiated immediately into the need for flexibility. Since then, I have not been much in the hospital, will take an indefinite leave of absence.from direct hospital involvement until its clear the 2 grandkids are thriving in school and in their personal lives. They are our primary mission right now.

This past Monday, they accompanied me into San Luis, a nearby village, to assist Lindy in teaching guitar and scripture to a porch class. Both kids got to learn some chords with the kids, and added spice to their .
day. In addition, provided spanish interaction.
Please pray for them in their first Christmas away from their mom. Pray for her also. Eryn leaves us a love note on our pillows many nights- she learned it somewhere! Both are very huggy and sensitive- their mom has been a good teacher. We don't pretend to take her place...but pray for God's grace in their lives to use this time with us to grow mightily. I know that God will honor their nightly prayers for healing for their mom. Thanks to all who have been (and ARE) a part in making this work for all of us. Getting us school books, making trips to deliver things to a courier passing thru Tulsa...all bless us immensely. May you all be touched by the wonder of this special season as we are. John and Penny

HE LIVES! by John Alden (December 12, 2010)

HE LIVES! No, I am not confused, I know that this is Christmas and "He Lives" matches with Easter.

Yesterday was not routine. In the wee hours of the morning, we had a baby. Never suggest to a pregnant lady that having a baby is routine, but most of the time you know where you are going and most of the rest you are ready for. Being on ER call is different, Sometimes, if you knew what was coming, you might call in "Sick". In these cases, the best preparation is prayer. I am not speaking just of my own, but those who routinely pray for us and the work here at Loma de Luz.

Jose Contreras is a 23 year old whose family lives in Las Crucitas. For those of you who speak Spanish, you might think that it is a Catholic community, but that is not the origin of the name (and that is a different story). Yesterday, Jose got into a fight with his chain saw; he did not win. If your favorite color is a dark red, you might like the picture. No, I don't think so!

You do not have to know much about Human Anatomy, to know that there are some big arteries in the back of the leg. We could not have collected blood and transfused him quick enough to save Jose's life. An hour drive to the city, rainy season, rivers without bridges, and the State Hospital that looks more like the County Fair Ground than a hospital, Oh, LORD!. The LORD looked down upon us with grace.

An available, ambulance-like Land Cruiser, (Thank You, Iain and Liz), an ambulance driver (Jon Lent) and nurse (Norma Hunt). A couple of fast running IVs, a tourniquet and your routine prayers. Jose arrived at ATLANTIDA (the State Hospital) with a hematocrit of 11 (normal 40). They had a unit or two of blood available and he was off to San Pedro Sula where there might be a vascular surgeon.

 I heard late today that Jose Contreras lives. Praise GOD!

Thank you for your prayers for the work here.

John

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.....

Sarah with baby Ellie and Benton

Last night, our 33 yr old daughter, Sarah, began singing the old favorite Mennonite doxology from her youth group years, and I joined her. "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below....praise Him above ye heavenly hosts....".  It came at the culmination of several days of phone calls, emails, scannings, visits, all directed towards helping our other daugher, Kate, secure a passport for her 10 yr old son, Benton.  I am bringing he and his 12 yr old sister, Eryn, back to Honduras to live and study for awhile, and teach John and I what its like to be 10 and 12 again!  To get a passport with such little notice proved to be quite a task- without the help of Senator Coburn's office, it would have been unreachable.  A 5 hr. drive to Dallas yesterday proved victorious and we returned with the passport in hand- and today, Thanksgiving Day, we made their flight plans to return with me next Friday.  Deserved the Halleluia Chorus! The cherry on top was John's voice on the Skype phone today when he realized I'd be returning on the previously scheduled date and not having to delay to wait for a passport. We miss each other!

I have now been in Tulsa, OK for 4 weeks. A thyroid mass was the reason we planned this trip, and my first 2 weeks were spent pursuing a diagnosis. The needle biopsy showed it to be benign, so the endocrinologist's suggestion was to attempt to reduce the size with lowdose levothyroxine. If its unsuccessful and continues to grow, then down the road we'll discuss surgery. A big YEAH!  Thanks to the many who prayed and followed this closely with encouragement and humor!  In the end, I think John concurs with me that the thyroid was just the bait the Lord used to get me to Tulsa before our projected time to be able to address a family need and to enjoy a 2 week visit with our Sarah and 2 yr old Ellie, who came supposedly to nurse me back to health after surgery. Instead, Sarah has been invaluable in helping me deal with this family need and also building up my health thru her awesomely wholesome and delicious cooking.   

Son Jake, with Eryn and Benton

Please uphold us as we begin a new chapter in our lives, that of loving our grandkids up close in our Honduran home instead of investing in their lives from afar. We need your prayers as we begin to homeschool them and teach them Spanish. Pray for the huge adjustment in their lives too, that they would both form close, edifying relationships and grow and blossom like the jungle flora.  That they would meet God in a BIG way at Loma de Luz....see Him in all His Glory. 

We are thankful for all of you who have invested so heavily in our lives- in encouragement, in loaning vehicles, providing lodging, hummus and cottage cheese, accompanying me on doctor's visit, lending reading material, winter clothing, sending hospital supplies back with me, buying a new grate for our honduran grill....oh, the list goes on and on! Bless you all. Merry Thanksgiving to all .   

Change of Pace

 The scenery is very different looking out the window here in Tulsa!  I have traded the jungle out back and the ocean out front for tall trees with various shades of turning leaves, squirrels, and increasingly cooler air. I left Honduras when our last guests, Bob and Alexis Jack and their engineer friend, Ben, left the country after fixing our electrical system in the hospital. 4 weeks earlier, I had noted a small mass on my thyroid and we began making plans for me to come back to the US to have it evaluated. I'm now 1 1/2 weeks into my visit and still awaiting the definitive thyroid diagnosis!  However, we had very good news today in hearing that the PET scan done to prove that the mass was not part of something more extensive turned out negative. More news and a plan of attack should be forthcoming after a Friday visit with the endocrinologist and a Monday visit with a surgeon. I've needed some recovery time physically as was very tired on returning, so have been content to spend a lot of time reading, praying, and visiting with friends mostly here where I am staying. Just now getting out walking and enjoying the late Fall sunshine with the kids and grandkids.     John has stayed behind this trip with the 4 kids committed to caring for me if its necessary to have surgery! Sarah and baby Ellie will be arriving here in Tulsa on Monday from Philadelphia, figuring that a toddler is good laughter-therapy- especially this one! Eryn has said she'll skip school to help me, Dan says he'll take time off work....I am richly blessed. I appreciate them all, and with the good news that its nothing more than a thyroid problem, I am confident I'll be able to just enjoy them all and need very little help!


aftergame treats with Eryn and Benton

 The plan, Lord willing, is for me to return to Honduras Dec. 3.  So until then, no pictures from Honduras!  Please pray for peace for John there alone. The heavy rains have begun in earnest, he's dealing with the normal bridge outages, internet being out, inability to get to his mountain clinics, and having to keep up the house alone. We're thankful for all the prayers in this health problem....praying that I will be a good steward of this time the Lord has given me.

...and now, for the rest of the story!



Proud nurses releasing our miracle baby



1:30 and the 5 hr trek is just beginning, with sunset at 5:30!



Last entry left 2 week old Miguel Angel just having begun recovery after a rough week. He continued to improve, mom Rosa very happily nursing him after her every 2 hr. pumping to build up her nonexistent milk supply on arrival. It had been hard for her to do so, not understanding the principle of milk production, and knowing her baby was dying. but she had trusted and done it- and got to see the fruits of her obedience- Miguel rapidly grew a second chin and fat thighs. We grinned each time we heard him having a tizzy- we couldn't get enough of him. Almost 2 weeks after that last entry, I had the privilege of driving Miguel plus his 3 yr old big sister who had also been admitted with pneumonia and diarrhea, and mom and dad to the start of the trail that would take them home. Know our nurse visitors, Lori and Amber, can't wait til next Sept. when they return, when we all plan a victory march up the mountain with a pinata for Miguel's first birthday.

Since our Jacksonville, OR trio left, our neighbors from Moses Lake, WA, Mike and Claudia, have also spent a week with us. Claudia left having made curtains for the children's center, and Mike did his normal "fix-everything" routine. We enjoyed the fellowship immensely!



Mike and Claudia

Update on Michaelangelo, onward to baby Elder

Baby Michaelangelo (Miguel Angel) 6 hours after extubating himself

Been a roller coaster week in the hospital. Baby Miguel Angel has kept all the RN visitors busy, and the locals besides. He was intubated twice, both times took a decisive role and yanked out his breathing tube.  The second time, yesterday AM early, we had just spent many hours making an ambulance to transport him to San Pedro where rumor has it there is a ventilator. At the last possible minute, he went bad again, it took awhile to stabilize him- and he yanked his tube. We all prepared to say goodby to our little friend. I have pictures of mom and dad tearfully cuddling him.  But he perked up, and this picture is of him with a full belly of breastmilk, mom and dad just enjoying him. Who can know the mind of the Lord? His folks are totally at peace with just being with him, waiting on God to either take him HOME or for them to carry him back up the mountain 6 hours away.


Baby Elder, hypothyroidism, 4 lbs at 2 months old



As we were backing off from baby Miguel, letting his folks care for him, breathing a sigh of relief and thinking we might begin sleeping normally again, we received a tiny 4 pounder, who hasn't gained any weight since birth, but 2 months old. Every rib showed. Dr. Sharon made what looked like an instant diagnosis, and we began intervention. He looks like a starving baby from Africa...had a blood transfusion during the night. Another baby to pray for.  The second of our 4 visiting RN's leaves today, so that leaves us our 2 visitors, Amber and Lori, to be the extra hands. 

John and our visitors, with his assistant Xiomara, attempted a trip to the Cayos islands offshore to do a Women's health clinic. They had to return within 24 hours as Hurricane Matthew was descending on the north coast of Honduras. They boated in at noon, the rains hit by 3, and John made a quick transport of a laboring patient as darkness hit.  Thats our 4th delivery of the week, 3 transported out to the city. We have had trouble finding time to eat or to visit all together with our company, but we surely have seen God at work protecting patients, protecting long hours on the road.   



Michaelangelo

Magda,RN in government service, with baby Miguel Angel

13 day old Miguel Angel is fighting for his life.  His mom and dad carried him 6 hours down the mountain the end of last week with a bad pneumonia- imagine being a newly delivered mom, hiking that distance! Little Miguel went bad Friday night before we got back from the city with our 3 guests, Amber and Richard Shields, and Lori. Its not been a restful visit for any of them, beginning with all day Saturday doing wound care in the hospital, helping John deliver a baby Saturday midnight, then working all day sunday in the hospital helping John stitch up ER patients.  I went with Richard to church, and returned to help in the hospital til supper time. By then, it was obvious Miguel was not doing well, so Amber and Lori stayed the night to special-duty him. By sunday night, Sandy Hurst, a nurse anesthetist friend, had arrived, so because surgeries were cancelled on Monday, she was free to special-duty Miguel Monday. By afternoon, she had decided to intubate him as he was just wearing out. Since that time, someone has been breathing for him by ambu, as there is no ventilator here nor anywhere close!  "For such a time as this"- we surely see God's hand in the timing.  Never do we have 2 extra RN's and an anesthetist!  So baby Miguel Angel has received the best Honduras can offer.  I just dropped Amber and Lori off at the hospital for the 3rd straight night....Please pray for this little fellow to turn the corner and begin to recover.  Pray for mom and dad, a young, VERY poor couple with 3 other children back up in the mountains. When I began speaking with them yesterday about the possibility of transferring the baby, their main concern was how to pay for all this. I told them that they could pay us in bananas, chickens, mangoes....he said , "You don't understand. We are being given housing where we are. We have none of what you are describing. We have nothing".  I asked him if he was a Believer, and he visible lit up, saying yes, he'd been walking with the Lord for 4 years. I pointed to his wife, a very sweet young lady, and commented that she was quite a treasure too. Then I asked him if he was healthy, and he assured me he was capable of hard work.  I summed up out brief conversation with, "Hm, you said you are SO poor, you have nothing.  I think you are a very rich man!  You have Jesus, your wife, 3 children that are being cared for by your pastor, and say you are strong and healthy. Yes, you are a very rich, blessed man. Lets just deal with today, with Miguel Jesus. We'll find a way for you to be able to pay your bills."
Yes, there are many kinds of poverty. This man is poor in $ only.  I'd rather be that kind of poor.