Dear Loved ones,
Once again I will try to put in words for you some of the things that have happened this past month here in the Miskito jungle. We were so incredibly blessed to have our pastor and wife, David and Cathy Gidcumb, as well as brother Mike Elwood and daughter Harley from Salem Missouri for a week. Just having them present was more than exciting, but they also helped us repair the widow Alma’s house while they were here.
I wish they could have seen her full appreciation of her newly remodeled home, but she was so shy about it that it wasn’t until after they left that she felt free to express her joy. She got all giddy as she said, “I feel like a princess in a new house with a beautiful kitchen.” She and the girls spend a lot of time in the kitchen, where we hear them singing or giggling as they hang out there, cooking, washing dishes and enjoying the place. She told me that now it doesn’t even matter if it rains at night because everything stays dry in the house, and they can just sleep on through it and not worry about their clean clothes or their bed getting wet.
I am so thankful to God and to the ones who gave money for the materials, as well as the team who helped make this a reality. This and the food we are able to give her family daily has definitely opened their hearts to allow us to minister to them on a deeper level about God as well. I am convinced that the day will come when some souls will be added into the Kingdom of God because of these acts of Love that we have been able to do for them.
Another exciting thing has taken place since the last update. We have gotten the money in to buy the rice huller machine! A family gave a little more then the price I put down for the bigger model, but to my great disappointment, when I came to order the machine, the price was a good bit more than what I was told it was. So after a few days of grief and praying, not knowing what to do, I find out that a few more people gave towards the machine, so today I bought the machine and am having it shipped on the next truck out. But what is amazing is, the price of the machine and the shipping cost was exactly what was given for that purpose. Praise our wonderful God!!
On the medical building; The leaders told me just before I came down this time, that the building and land is all back in their name, and that they plan to get the paperwork started soon to get it into our name so we can start working on it. It will need a lot of work to get it cleaned and sanitized from the cattle living in it for years. It also needs; the inside walls finished, a few coats of paint on the inside and outside, a big water tank for water storage, and doors and windows. I haven’t got an estimate together for it, but will try to have it next month.
Since we have fed the community a few days a week for a couple of month while they didn’t have much food, our general fund has gotten very low. The last trip up I haven’t been able to take much medicines, but thankfully there haven’t been as many sicknesses recently, so we have only run out of a few kinds of medicine. And as nice as it is to have our boat going, I’ve had to come on the slow boat this time, because it’s cheaper to pay the pass than to fill the tank with gas. But it’s good, we get to make progress and move forward at the exact speed the Lord wants it to happen, in the areas He wants it to happen, because He’s in control of all of it.
Our missionary friends Clint and Marilyn Hanley (who live on the road between Waspam and Puerto Cabezas) gave us a two meter radio to use, which we just got set up, so now we can have contact with the outside world in case of emergency. They are the ones who fly the little plane for medical emergencies. They are such a blessing to this whole area with the help they offer for free. If we have the funds to, we will probably be working with them directly in some cases of emergency, like the girl who died in our community from a snake bite yesterday. I could have called him on the radio, and taken her to a village about 30 minutes upriver that has a little airstrip where he could have picked her up and flown her to the hospital.
He only flies life threatening cases, but with the combination of the radio, our boat, his plane, and about $75.00 in gas per trip for the boat, more lives can be saved. If you feel led to provide the funds for such an emergency, you can do so, labeling it as that, and when we use the funds, we will try to send you a photo of the person it was used for.
Mary and Eva are in the States for a few month to take a jungle medicine crash course. It sounds like they are doing well, and the Lord is blessing their time with friends.
The work on the children’s home is waiting for the river to go down enough so that we can get more sand and gravel. The permissions from Managua have not been acquired yet either. The regional office has some paperwork things to straighten up with the central office, about other matters, before they can get it, so it will be Dec. before we know more about that.
Benjamin is doing better. It has been interesting to see the response of the adults as well as the children when we took him and had him ask forgiveness from a girl he had hit and pushed in the mud earlier. It seemed like that was totally a new thought to them, and didn’t know how to respond to it. Thank you for praying for him. It tears us up to think about leaving him behind in Nov. when we go to Managua to get our residencies renewed, but there is no way we can take him with us, because of child trafficking laws. We don’t even know who to leave him with.
Next time I’ll try to tell you how the young boys of our community came to us for help with something they really wanted to do, and how we were able to help them with it, therefore gaining an even greater respect from them.
I’m sorry I don’t have photos to put in here about the things I wrote about, but I just didn’t get everything together before I came. I will try to bring them next time. Thank you so much for continuing to pray, and give as the Lord leads, so that we can continue to move forward in the work the Lord has called us to do. We love yall! Eli, Leah, and family
