Lift, Stretch, Grow

Several weeks ago, there was a team in town that came to work with the Christian school. There was a physical therapist in the group who was aching to work with some disabled kids here in Honduras. After we met, through a fellow mission worker, the rest of the week was a blur of trying to keep up with Bobby as he raced from one Little Hands kid to the next always ready to do anything he could to help. His expertise was a huge blessing! We were able to write up specific plans for several of the kids and even make up special excercise sheets with pictures for the moms so they can see just how to stretch and manuever thier child's muscles. Bobby explained how important it is for the children to have good shoes to support weak ankles. For Ruth, one little girl who has one leg that is shorter than the other, we made a lift out of a pair of flip-flops and inserted it inside her new shoes.

Rebin, Santana's son, has CP and has very little muscle tone in his neck. He is barely able to hold his head up. Bobby, Mr. Otto and Brian worked together to make a "standard", a padded wooden structure with several fabric ties. Now, Rebin spends time everyday, standing in an upright position. His neck muscles are gradually getting stronger and he is able to play with toys placed on the tray near his face. Before this, Santana had dug a hole in the ground and placed Rebin in it, so he could strengthen his neck. The standard is adjustable so it will grow as he does.

Bobby spent time with some of our other children as well. He provided insight into Erica and gave Alissa some direction on how to best help her. His enthusiasm and passion for helping special needs kids was a great encouragement to all us us. Having Bobby here made us realize how much we need someone with his gifts and expertise to give the Little Hands kids the best chance of reaching thier full potential. Please pray that God will send the right person to fill this need. We hope to see Bobby back here again in the future!

Carlos Update

Carlos is now up to twelve pounds and is doing well. Today he had a checkup with a Dr. visiting from the states and she prounced him in good health. What difference today from those first pictures! We are praising God for his recovery!

Group #2

I'm trying to just write a little snippet when I can, whenever the Internet is working.
Things went well with our second group. They built a bathroom and pila, (a big cement tub that is used for washing clothes, dishes, children, ect.) for Santana and her family. There were two ladies in the group that spoke fluent Spanish that had a real heart for sharing the gospel. At the end of the week, Santana made a decision to follow Jesus and was baptized at the beach. What a perfect ending to a great week! We know that the things we did to improve the physical life of Santana and her family will eventually crumble away, but her faith has begun something eternal that will last forever!
The second most exciting thing that happened during this time was... we were able to buy a truck! This is the same one we have had our eye on for months and all the details finally came together. This will make our day to day life here so much easier! We are thankful every time we use it. What a blessing!
The group also worked on the perimeter wall, helped out with the children's Bible class, and worked at the Christian school. One of the ladies who is a teacher spent time with our kids for our home school evaluation and we were able to send that back to the state of New Hampshire where our permanent residence is. Overall it was another busy time, but a blessing to us. Brian was able to spend some time with the men who were an encouragement to him. The kids loved every minute of time with "people that speak English"! I enjoyed working with the women. Again, it was great to meet and work with more of our brothers and sisters in Christ. How blessed we are to have that special bond because of Him!

Internet Problems

Yes, we're still here. Sorry to be so out of touch. We're having major problems with our Internet connection at the house. We are looking into some other options that might give us better service on a more consistant basis. Please keep us in your prayers. I have alot of pictures and stories to share if we can ever get this thing up and running again. I'll write when I can!