Spring 2011 Container Loading

The loading of the 2011 spring container was this past Saturday. As is usual, the task was difficult but with God’s help it was completed without incident.  The containers that we use are empty back-hauls owned by the Dole Fruit Company. Through Dole’s generosity AHMEN is able to ship thousands of pounds of supplies that are used by its various teams when conducting mission efforts in-country.

Several of the teams have ongoing construction projects that require sheet metal for roofing and siding.  We have been fortunate this year to have received several thousand pounds of heavy duty steel building panels from a manufacturer in Florence, South Carolina. This donation was negotiated by our good friend Derinda Conner with the Carolina Honduras Health Foundation.  Once the steel was delivered to the UMVIM Disaster Relief warehouse in Decatur, it had to be loaded onto the container. This is no easy trick.

First several stacks of the steel had to be combined and then lifted into place by one forklift. Then the stack was gently, ever so gently, slid into the container with a second forklift. This process was done twice to cover the bed of the container as evenly as possible.  The goal here is to build up the floor of the container where we could stack other stuff that had to be shipped.

A year or two ago, we did this but didn’t get the steel all the way into the container and the doors wouldn’t close. This wasn’t discovered until the container was fully loaded. As you might imagine, this was a colossal mess.  So this year special care was taken to carefully shove the stacks of steel well into the container. Using multiple boards and empty pallets, Bro Ray was able to push the stacks three or four feet well inside the container. This proved to be very wise later.

With the steel in place the task of loading all the other supplies began. Care had to be taken not to twist an ankle or bump a head, but the work went quickly.  Note that in addition to boxed supplies, we shipped numerous walkers, crutches, and potty chairs in response to a special request for orthopedic equipment. In addition several new hospital beds were loaded.

Close to the end of the exercise the crew took a minute to inspect what had been done and plan for using that last three feet of floor space.  Our loading crew was composed of members of the Livingston Chapel UMC that sponsors the “It’s a God Thing” team. This year the team is going to the Clinica de Los Angeles in Belaire.   

As it turned out the space at the rear of the container was just enough to load three stacks of concrete wall board.  This stuff is heavy and somewhat brittle. But with God’s help it went into place without mishap. Look close and you’ll see that despite the tight fit, members of the loading crew stayed in the container to direct each stack of wall board.

 

The loading is complete with space to spare. Normally we would fill every nook and cranny, but the Honduran Customs Officials have begun to crack down on anything entering the country without prior approval. So we are careful not to ship anything not previously manifested. In the fall we packed out the container and then slid a pallet of much needed food items into the empty space.  Because the food hadn’t been on the prior approved manifest, Honduran Customs held up the container for weeks and charged us thousands of dollars in extra storage fees. Governmental bureaucracy is making it more and more difficult to help people all over the third world.

Thanks to fourteen year old Kayla Cooper, we added a little message of hope to the trailer. This will be the first thing the people at Cruzadas will see when they open the doors (if Honduran Customs doesn’t confiscate the sign).    

Well it was a wonderful morning.  A good time was had by all, and the container was sent on its way.

Incident at Casa Cielo

Well after a couple of extended phone conversations with Evelyn and a firsthand account from Jeannie, I think we now have a pretty good understanding as to what happened in Cacao (I have probably miss-spelled this. It is the general village/area between Sambo Creek and Jutiapa).



Mama, Papa and Joy Jones



First let me recap the who and where of this incident. For those of you who have been with us to Belarie, you will remember Papa (Leonard) and Mama (Marie) Jones of the Casa Cielo Orphanage (http://www.casaderoc.org/). You should also recall the Jones’ daughter Joy and their daughter Jeannie and son-in-law Del Sambucetti.  



Jeannie and Del Sambucetti



Whereas, Leonard, Marie, Del and Joy’s focus is primarily on the children of the Orphanage, Jeannie is the person most responsible for the bilingual school that is across the street from the current location of the Orphanage. She is the person most capable of relating the events of last Saturday. Her powerful testimony follows:

“As I woke up Saturday morning, all I could think of was the list of things I needed to get done at the school, and all the e-mails that were stacking up on me.  I never knew that April 2nd would become a day I would never forget. As I arrived to the school I started on all the tasks I needed to get done printing tickets for the school’s barbeque, responding to e-mails, and going over plans with my mom for my birthday party.
 
A day prior we had a meeting with the parents of the school to find a solution because the classrooms are so hot. One of the ideas was getting air units for the classroom, and we had scheduled for Saturday to be the day to get the price quotes for them.  We were raising the money to purchase them by having a barbecue the next week.  I received a call from Jessy, one of the student’s mom, she had told me she would be arriving in 15 minutes to pick me up. She had picked up the money from the treasurer, who was suppose to go with us, to put a down payment if we saw something affordable.
 
My mom was trying to finish telling me all the details, and to go ahead and take advantage of the trip to La Ceiba to pick up the piñata and cake for my birthday.  After I kissed my mom goodbye and warned Joy that she better finish her homework, I walked out of the school to head for the truck.
 
I opened the back door thinking the Treasurer of the PTA would be in the front seat, but at the last moment she had decided she couldn’t go. I went around the truck to get in front, waved and smiled at the bodyguard in the back of the truck. My smile was the last smile Kenneth ever saw.
 
As I got in the passenger seat of the truck, I started to look at the paperwork with her to make sure I didn’t forget anything. Something caught Jessy's attention; she turned around and saw a truck that had started opening fire on us. While she was getting her child on the floorboard of the car she started screaming, “They are shooting at us, they are shooting at us.” I immediately started to repeat the name of Jesus, and started to pray for protection. I slouched as low as I could in the passenger seat and continued to pray as Jessy screamed for her daughter, who was in the back seat. I looked into her eyes, and told her, “We are going to be ok.”  I thought they were never going to stop shooting. Glass and bullets were flying in the car.  By this time all I could see out of the front window was a shadow of a man with a gun, the window had shattered and it was very difficult to see through it. I thought, “ Now they have come to the front to shoot.” I started screaming the name of Jesus even louder.
 
The back door opened in the car and Jessy started to yell, “ Not my daughter” over and over again. By this time, I could hear they had taken something with them, and I thought they had taken the little girl. I thought, “Ok, God I’m ready” as I thought they were going to open my door next, they didn’t though. They opened Jessy’s door, and that is when I realized her daughter was still in the car. They had taken her purse and when they opened her door they wanted mine. I quickly passed the purse to them. Seconds had passed when we didn’t hear anything, as I turned around I noticed they were closing the doors of their truck and backing away.
 
 As soon as they left we ran into the school with Sofia, who was bleeding severely from several different areas. As her mom fell to the floor of the school my mom caught her, and started praying for her. As I took Sofia to the bathroom, I started to examine her. Her head was bleeding from the glass that had shattered, and their was a bullet hole in her back. As I opened the door of the bathroom, I looked at the floor and could see the locks of hair that had fallen from her hair.  I’m assuming it was from the glass that was flying in the car.  As I went outside, the bodyguard was laying face down, in the font of the truck. My mom was screaming for someone to help. Joy was frantically calling my dad and Jessy was calling for someone to pick them up to take them to the hospital.  All I could hear was screaming, Jessy for her daughter, and my mom mom who was now praying for life for this 20 yr. old boy.
 
As her husband arrived we jumped into the car.  Sofia started throwing up and was having seizures. I had one hand on Sofia, and one on Jessy as I was fervently praying for peace, healing, protection, and that God would reveal himself to them.  While we were in the car the Mayor and his bodyguard were looking back and forth to make sure no one was following us. I thought to myself, “Why did I get in this car?” but I knew that God wanted me there. Sofia had lost a lot of blood, and I had not stopped praying. Moments later we were at the hospital and Sofia was being looked at.
 
 At this point, I was settling down and could feel pain in my chest and back, I hadn’t thought to check myself for bullets. I quickly went into the bathroom to wash the blood off. I could not find one bullet hole in me, my only injury was a 2mm opening from glass that had hit my hand. I had just experienced a MIRACLE!!! As I sat in the emergency room I prayed until I knew Sofia was stable.
 
I had taken my mom’s phone, as mine was stolen, and called my dad to pick me up. Del was cancelling our credit cards and checkbook. At that point I broke down. I didn’t have to be strong anymore, as my dad was on the phone with me.
 
Only by God’s grace was I able to come out of that truck alive. Only by His grace was I able to keep it together for so long. I replay the incident over & over in my head, and have wondered how can I thank God enough. I’M ALIVE!
 
As my dad and the police inspected the scene, it was concluded that the truck was shot with an AK47 and another revolver. They had found over 22 shell casings, and people at the scene had picked many others up. The attack was meant for the mayor as an assassination attempt on his life.  It just happened that his wife drove his car that day.
 
I’m sharing my experience with you because I want you to know what Jesus did for me, and to say that He would do the same for you. As only 24 hours have past since this experience, I am gratefully eternal to God for protecting me through it all. Please, continue to pray for me as I deal with all the emotions that someone goes through when something like this happens. Also, for my mom and sister who witnessed what happened. We need continual prayer for our safety.
 


I pray that my experience touches others, so you can see how special we really are to HIM!”



The First Lady of Jutiapa



Again, those of you that have worked at the Clinica del Los Angeles will probably remember Jessy. She is the wife of the Mayor of Jutiapa. Since her husband owns the private clinic in Jutiapa, Jessy often helps our medical teams both as a nurse and as a source of medical supplies. She is a devoted friend to Evelyn and, by extension, to AHMEN. We are so very grateful that Jeannie, Jessy and Sofia survived the shooting and are expected to recover physically. And we pray that God will embrace each of these and grant them piece of mind and spirit in the days ahead.

At this point it is not known with certainty who or why the attack occurred. But there are facts that suggest a most probable cause. When Jessy’s husband was first elected as Mayor he initiated a campaign to clean out corruption in the local government. One of his first official acts was to fire several members of the established police force. To accomplish this, the Mayor called in Federal forces from Tegucigalpa. This was viewed by the bad guys as being an informant. It has been no secret that one or more of these individuals carries a grudge against the Mayor.

It is worth noting at this juncture that Jessy and Sofia were not in Jessy’s car on Saturday, but were instead had borrowed the Mayor’s vehicle. It is also important that the gunmen did not kill the women when clearly they could have. The general sentiment is that the Mayor was the target, and Jeannie, Jessy and Sofia were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Where does this put us? The world is a dangerous place, and we have for some time known that there has been an escalation of violence throughout Latin America. We must continue to be vigilant and security minded in our work and travel. We must also know that there is more need now than ever for us to be in prayer and action in Honduras. I am looking forward to being once again with our friends at the Clinica del Los Angeles and at the Casa Cielo Orphanage in June. I ask that we all pray for these wonderful people.

Amor en Cristo,

guf      

Donations of Wheelchairs, Crutches and Walkers are vitally needed.

Periodically AHMEN is called upon to provide used orthopedic equipment for needy people in Honduras. Once again we are in dire need for usable wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, splints, and orthopedic type stuff. The need for wheelchairs in all sizes is especially critical. If you have any such equipment that you can donate, please let us know ASAP.

Back in 2008 we delivered a pickup truck load of crutches and walkers to the only free orthopedic rehab clinic on the Northern Coast. Your donation will help others regain their mobility and their dignity. We will be loading out our spring container of equipment within a couple of weeks so contact us today.



Comprehensive Rehabilitation Center of the Atlantic Coast




Walkers, Crutches and Potty Chairs




Patients Awaiting Physical Therapy



CHHF April Newsletter

The April 2011 Edition of thw CHHF Hearald is now available. To request a copy and/or donate to this worthy cause contact:

                  CHHF

                  P.O. Box 528

                  Barnwell, SC 29812

Limon Nurture Center Newsletter

The April, 2011 Edition of the "Limon Nurture Center / El Ministerio Unidad Familiar" Newsletter is now available. To receive your copy and/or to donate to this worthy cause contact:

                        Limon Nurture Center
                        c/o Christ United Methodist Church
                        PO Box 790
                        Jasper, AL 35502