Monday, June 25, 2007

June 2007 update

I hope you all are enjoying your summer.

I am making preparations in my final week before returning to Honduras for about a month. I leave on Friday, the 29th and will return on July 22nd. During the first half of my time there, I will be working with a group from Georgia that is overseeing the sponsorship program of the Christian school in Trujillo. They have organized a VBS, among other things, to be carried out. Then, on July 11th, my mother will fly in (for the second time!). We plan to purchase food and supplies to be distributed in Trujillo and to take Carmen Garcia and Osladis Romero on a doctor’s visit. Please pray that these appointments yield definitive results and a clear and viable treatment plan.

Carmen and her grandson, Luis.
On June 16th, the Cadillac Church of Christ had a garage sale to help the scholarship program. Over $500 were raised! $1,300 including individual donations. I was very encouraged and blessed that the congregation I grew up in chose to work together in such a giving and willing way to make this fundraiser happen. Many thank yous!

Please read about June’s student of the month: Vanessa Lizeth Ponce Roman.

Exciting news…In addition to the car and the reinstatement to my job position, I have another blessing to add to the list: my first home. It is located only a few blocks from Craig and Stephanie’s house. The transaction is currently pending. I hope to close when I return from Honduras. I’ll pass along my new address once all the paperwork is signed and official. I would love for you to come visit!

Life in Detroit has proved to be interesting. Curiously, there are some striking similarities to life in Honduras. For example, Hondurans and Detroiters have a similar level of regard for traffic laws and courtesies. Ice cream is a hot item to sell on the street in both places. One day, I saw a boy sitting in the back of a truck holding a megaphone, two adult men on a bike together, random dogs in the street, and heard firecrackers. If the temperature had been a little bit warmer, I might have been confused as to where I was. Ah, the cultural anomalies…

I’ll leave you with the story of Albert. I met Albert at a gas station. He appeared to be mentally and addictionally incapacitated. Nonetheless, he offered to pump my gas in an effort to get food for his girls. In his barely intelligible words, he told me his story, tears and saliva running down his face. I invited him into the store with me to buy him some food. He kept telling me how I was a good person and that God was going to bless me for this. At the cash register, he tried to light a cigarette and got a little mouthy with the teller, but when I told him to stop, he apologized and went outside to wait for me. While we were in the store, his backpack was stolen with his few belongings inside. I drove him to the intersection near the house were his girls were staying (only because Craig, Stephanie and my dad were with me). In the car, he continued to reiterate the things he had been saying, sometimes gratefully, sometimes with a laugh, sometimes angrily while waving his digitless right hand. I only pray that Albert’s daughters were able to eat that day and that he would find some way to overcome the situation his has found himself in. As Craig reminded me, “How do we know that we would not have turned out the same if we had grown up in the same environment?” God has chosen to bless us. Let us use those blessings as Stephanie says, “in the many ministry opportunities that surround us.”

Bless and be blessed,

Nadine

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