Mario, Suyapa and Marianna and the International Practicum at SIFAT

As you are probably aware, this past year, AHMEN began to intensify its efforts toward empowering the people of Honduras to better help themselves. As a pilot program, AHMEN began a collaboration with SIFAT (Servants In Faith And Technology) to establish a three year initiative to train local leaders in community development and health care. The trial program was started in Cusuna and this August will mark the close of the first year in that initiative. Byron Morales from SIFAT, the administrator and trainer in this effort, has indicated that this experiment has been an overwhelming success.  He is now looking to expand the initiative to other areas across the Northern Coast and Central Highlands. The direction and goal for this effort is to improve the lives of our Honduran brothers and sisters and establish a foundation to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is now time to ratchet that commitment up another notch.  

Each fall 20 - 30 international students are invited to come to SIFAT and learn how to become holistic witnesses for Jesus Christ. The International Training Practicum is a truly unique experience for young grass roots community leaders within the two-thirds world. Through extensive involvement and interaction with a cadre of world class faculty, students gain skills in organizational, developmental and motivational strategies to be able to return home and make a significant impact on the lives of their countrymen. As a byproduct of their training, the students learn an array of concrete technologies that are appropriate for third world countries.  These include, among a long list of alternatives, water purification, scaled agriculture, animal husbandry, solar and other fuel-efficient means of cooking, adult literacy and microenterprise. These are skills that are necessary to achieve sustainability and independence.

As we have done for the past two years, our Annual Meeting will be held at the SIFAT campus in Lineville, Alabama. The dates are September 30 – October 1, 2011. Anyone who has ever taken part in an AHMEN activity or simply has an interest in supporting this organization is encouraged to attend. Watch the AHMEN website, the AHMEN Face Book page, or Tom Camp’s blog for additional information as it develops. 

Attendees at last year’s meeting will recall that a highlight was the opportunity to meet and mingle with the students at the International Training Practicum. This year’s Practicum runs from late August to early November and we will once again have the students and staff involved in our program. But this year will be special.

This year we hope to have three of our own at the International Training Practicum. Byron Morales was asked who amongst those people that he has met in Honduras that he would recommend coming to Lineville and receiving the advanced training. Mario Ortiz, Suyapa Sanchez, and Mariana Maldonado Ulloa de Salinas were at the top of his list.

Last week Mary and I had the pleasure of visiting with Mario and Suyapa while we were at Cruzadas in La Ceiba. Many of you know these two wonderful people by either firsthand experience or reputation. For many years Mario worked in the Cruzadas compound providing general maintenance and oversight of the grounds and equipment. Along with Larry Pitts he established a prison ministry and has also accompanied many teams as road manager, driver and guide into some of the most remote areas along the Northern Coast. Today, Mario pastors his own church in one of the most distressed areas of La Ceiba. He has developed a fantastic youth program and is recognized as a leader within his community.

Suyapa is the dorm mother of Shalom and is responsible for the growth and well- being of the sixteen “at risk” girls that live there.  Hers is a 24/7 commitment to the physical, moral and spiritual development of these wonderful young women.  Although she is always happy and pleasant, we know that coping with a house full of thirteen to twenty- two year olds is not easy. In addition to being a confidant, referee and motivator, she must oversee household cleaning, cooking, shopping and visits from incoming teams. Suyapa is a strong Christian woman and is a wonderful role model.

Anyone who has ever been to Plan de Flores is familiar with Marianna. She and her husband, Alfredo, foresaw a need for basic vocational education early in 2002. Working with members of AHMEN, Marianna and Alfredo established the woodworking school that has trained and graduated many young men to become carpenters and craftsmen from the surrounding area. Since many of the students were from far away in the mountains, a dormitory, latrine and kitchen/mess hall were added to the complex. Marianna and AHMEN later operated a sewing school for local girls at the Plan de Flores facility.

In addition to overseeing the woodworking school, today Marianna is busy with a project that is very dear to her heart. Her son, Josué was born deaf and had to be sent to Tegucigalpa at an early age to learn sign language and to finish school. Since 2009, Marianna and Josué have administered and taught in a K through 6^th grade school at the Plan de Flores compound that is run exclusively for deaf children without the resources to go to school elsewhere. As with the woodworking school, the deaf school is a resident program, complete with dormitory and feeding requirements.

Marianna is truly a woman of vision. She looks to the future and sees a much expanded vocational program at Plan de Flores. Her heart is with the people of her community and region. The benefits of the empowerment that will come from the SIFAT training will enhance her abilities to serve God and help His people in Honduras.

This effort to bring Mario, Suyapa and Marianna to SIFAT this fall is a bold step for everyone who loves AHMEN and the people of Honduras. We all need to be in prayer for this plan. We know that if it is within God’s Will this action will bear great and wonderful fruit for His Kingdom. If you have any questions regarding the International Practicum or the ongoing AHMEN/SIFAT initiative in Honduras, contact Tom Camp llamacamp@gmail.com , Michael Franklin frankmj42@gmail.com or Byron Morales byromen@yahoo.com .

As in all things, funding to cover the travel, tuition and maintenance for Mario, Suyapa and Marianna is needed. The AHMEN organization touches the lives of so many people and many hands, working together can accomplish anything. Please consider sending a denotation to

        Sharon Bowie, AHMEN Treasurer

        516 Ridgeview Drive

        Jasper, AL   35504

If you prefer, you can make your donation online by going to the AHMEN PayPal link at

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=W2pDI4xDN0qwnM0I13i-7eoHwhQWajDE4uINvvgOqf1PCUQSupK0go-6Fce&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8deaa77efc63a6eb429928d42bdf5d9d2c

If you elect to use this direct pay option, please send Sharon Bowie an email at AUmomUNA2@aol.com  alerting her to your donation and telling her that it is to help fund Mario, Suyapa or Marianna in their travel to SIFAT. 

Amor en Cristo,

guf        

“It’s a God Thing” Belaire June 2011 Eye Team Report



We held the clinic on the upstairs veranda of Evelyn's home.

In the four days of clinics held June 6-9, 2011, at Evelyn Castellar’s Clinica de Los Angeles in Belaire, Honduras, the “It’s a God Thing” Eye Team evaluated 216 patients, first screening for eye diseases and administering both far and near visual acuity tests then fitting the patient with glasses to improve far and/or near vision when needed.  The team dispensed 127 pairs of positive readers, 7 pairs of negative “readers”, and 63 pairs of prescription glasses. Patients whose near vision could not be corrected sufficiently enough to read their own Bibles or those distributed by our Evangelism Team were given the large print Scripture booklet “La historia de Jesús Cristo”. All visitors to the Eyeglass Clinic were informed about the importance of UV protection and approximately 400 pairs of sunglasses were distributed.  The 100 or so remaining pairs were left with Evelyn.   

Patient Demographics

Age/Gender	Age Unknown	0-9 years	10-19 years	20-39 years	40-59 years	60-79 years	80-100 years	Totals
Male	1	1	6	14	17	20	6	65
Female	3	3	13	60	39	23	2	143
Gender Unknown	0	0	1	4	1	2	0	8
Totals	4	4	20	78	57	45	8	216

Brad Hyche measures far vision acuity
while holding a sleeping boy.

In addition, patients were taught about eye diseases and ways to protect their vision and about water related illnesses and the importance of purifying water and preventing dehydration.  Patients who could read were given copies of the eye care booklet, “Los Ojos”, as well as the booklet on water related illnesses, sanitation, hygiene, water purification, and rehydration,  “Los Gérmenes, los Parásitos, & los Mosquitos Afectan su Vida” and encouraged to share the information with others in their villages.

We met and measured this girl in February, had new
glasses made for her and then deliveried them this trip.

The team also delivered four pairs of glasses which had been special ordered from Zenni Optical in February by “Team Belaire.”

Unpacking, setting up and breaking down takes many hands.

“It’s a God Thing” Eye Team members included Lynn Giedinghagen, Dale Hyche, Brad Hyche, Hugh Guffey, and Mary Guffey from Alabama and Yaqui Sanches Calix, Patty Calderon, and  LDS volunteer Elder Jones from La Ceiba.  They were frequently assisted by many other “It’s a God Thing” team members, in particular, Angela Calvert, Michelle Hallmark, and Alicia Hyche. Even our bus driver, José, pitched in on the last day.  And almost the entire team helped set up, clean up, and pack up.  Many thanks to Brent Brady for carrying the inventory to Belaire and to José Castellar for returning it to the bodega in La Ceiba.

2011 "It's a God Thing" Mission Trip to Belaire

We are back home, safe and sound, from our mission trip to La Ceiba and Belaire Honduras. We traveled with a 23 person team fairly equally split between members of Livingston Chapel UMC in Crane Hill, AL and Hunter’s Chapel Church of Christ in Jasper, AL. Of course, there were a few Baptists plus Mary and me along one other from the Church of the Highlands in Birmingham.  We have gone with this team for the last four years. The team’s name is “It’s a God Thing” and it is led by Larry “Bucket” Guthrie from Livingston Chapel.

Our Bus Ride was HOT!

We flew down on Saturday, June 4, and traveled in an old school bus to La Ceiba, Honduras. La Ceiba is the home for our host church, Cruzadas del Evangelio. Sunday morning, we worshipped at one of the local Cruzadas churches and then we loaded the bus and went to the Clinica de Los Angeles in Belaire where we set up our pharmacy, medical clinic and eye glass clinic. We began our four days of clinic the next morning early and ran over late in an attempt to see the many, many people who came to the clinics. Belaire is a small village that is centrally located amidst several villages and at the base of a small mountain range where the “cloud forest” people live. Many of our patients walked several hours to arrive at the clinic, only to wait several more hours (or even over night) to see our staff.

The pattern for our days was pretty consistent. We would meet each morning at 6:00AM at our hotel for morning devotional, load the bus and go to the clinic at 7:00AM, eat a quick breakfast and begin clinics before 8:00AM. We’d break for a quick lunch at mid day and then start trying to close the clinics by 5:15 – 5:30 PM. Somewhere during this time, a small portion of the medical team would travel into the cloud forest to tend those who could not, or would not, come to the clinic. We’d try to eat supper by 6:00PM back at our hotel and then have evening devotionals. Most everyone would be exhausted from the day and would be in bed trying to sleep by 8:30 – 9:00PM.  

A Beautiful Morning

I took this picture one morning while walking on the beach of our hotel at sunrise. It is a load of Garifuna fishermen setting out for a day’s fishing from the nearby village of Sambo Creek.

Brad does his Thing.

Mary and I have been involved with more than twenty mission events in Honduras and this was the best experience that we have ever had. Our medical team saw around 800 patients. We saw about 160 people in the eye clinic. Every visitor to our eye glass clinic is examined for cataracts, pterygia, and several other problems that are common place within this population. In addition everyone’s near and far vision acuity is checked. At times, the crowds were so heavy that we ran double lanes for both the near and far vision exams.  One of our examiners was Brad Hyche. He and his new bride, Alicia, gave up their honeymoon to join our team.

This picture shows Brad testing a patient while holding her sleeping child.   (Note: the use of the symbols chart indicates that this patient could not read and did not know her numbers. Unfortunately this is all too common for this area.)

Sixteen Lovely Ladies.

The children’s ministry team met with and taught 200 or so kids each day. But the real success, the primary reason for our going to Honduras, is the number of people who came to Christ upon profession of their faith. Both the medical clinic and the eye glass clinic had prayer teams stationed at the exit points of the two clinics. Here, each patient is offered an opportunity to have our prayer partners pray with them regarding any need or problem that they may have. When appropriate (if the person professes not to know Jesus) the partners offer to lead the person through a five or six step approach to confession and salvation. During our four days at the Clinica de Los Angeles, our prayer teams had 36 salvations, either through first time professions or rededications. We are often asked why we spend so much of our time in our second home of Honduras -- This is the reason that we go.

When we completed our clinics at Belarie, the team loaded up our equipment and returned back to La Ceiba to begin our interactive/relationship building portion of our mission. We spent considerable time visiting with the girls of Shalom at the Cruzadas compound. This is a dormitory styled group home for sixteen “at risk” young women who come to La Ceiba for protection, education and Christian training. This is always a special time for Mary and me. 

guf, Maribel and Mary

We get to visit with Maribel, the young lady that we sponsor. Maribel is one of the older members of Shalom. She is an accomplished artist and is currently pursuing a degree in graphic design at the University in La Ceiba.   

There are many difficult things that we do in Honduras. For Mary one of the most troublesome of these is our visit to the feeding kitchen at the La Ceiba dump. All over Latin American, and elsewhere in the two-thirds world, you will find pockets of people who live adjacent to the large municipal dumps and landfills. Their survival depends upon what they can scavenge from the mountains of trash that are disposed of almost daily at these dump sites. In one sense, it is the ultimate recycling program but it comes at considerable human costs. The dump children rarely go to school and many look forward to a lifetime of living off the trash of others. Many of the AHMEN teams participate in the feeding program that is administered through the Cruzadas Church that serves these people. 

Lining up for Chow

Here the children line up to go into a serving area to claim a bowl of spaghetti and a cup of milk. They bring their own bowl and cup (most often a bottle or jug that was found in the trash, with the top cut off to form a bowl or cup). We are amazed at the number of kids who do not eat their meager meals at the feeding site, but instead carry it home to share with others in their huts and shanties.   

For unknown reasons, we had only about 200 kids come to our feeding kitchen this day. And I suspect that I was wondering why (on busy days, the counts can go nearer 400). But as anyone who has done mission work knows, God had a Divine Appointment in store for our team. After most of the kids had gone through the line, one of our interpreters introduced a fifteen year old girl who was sitting waiting on her younger brothers and sisters. She was dirty, poorly dressed and wearing a baseball cap that was drawn tightly down on her head. As it turns out, she had had a tumor removed from her brain and the surgery had left a terrible scar over half of her head. When I asked if she was doing ok now (I’d expected some response about how wonderful it was to have survived) the girl teared up and said she wished she had her hair back. When we left, the team had arranged for the girl to be taken in to be fitted for a wig and for some new clothes.

Yoemany and guf

Over the course of Friday and Saturday, we were in and out of the Cruzadas compound several times. We got to visit with many of the dorm girls, the staff of Cruzadas and other friends from past mission trips. Always a favorite for me, was my chance to catch up with Yoemany Yamileth Ulloa Maldonado. Yoemany was part of the adopted family of the late Jane Cox. We went on several of Jane’s mission team to Limon and Plan de Flores. It was here that I met Yoemany and it was my privilege to negotiate Yoemany’s move to Shalom on Jane’s behalf. In addition to Yoemany, Mary and I visited with both Mario Ortiz and Maria Suyapa Turcios Sanchez. Mario is an old friend who has taken Mary and me into some of the most remote areas of Honduras. He pastors a Cruzadas church in the La Ceiba area and we hope that he will be coming to Alabama this year to attend the SIFAT International Student Practicum in Lineville. Suyapa is the dorm mother at Shalom and also hopes to come to the SIFAT Practicum this year. We look forward to having both Mario and Suyapa as guests in our home.

Other highlights of our stay in La Ceiba included a visit to the Casa Cielo Orphanage.

Guard Parrots

Joy

The picture is of one of the five or six pet parrots that guard the property. This is the children’s home where Mama and Papa Jones of the ROC Ministry care for 24 unadoptable wards of the government as their own children. Mama and Papa are ably assisted by their daughter Jennie and her husband Del and their eleven year old daughter, Joy. As a matter of fact, on the day we visited, Marie (Mama Jones) was stateside tending her mother and Leonard (Papa Jones) was gone with the boys for haircuts.  So Joy led the tour of the orphanage, school and the property where they hope to build a new facility. It was clear that Joy is as accomplished and as involved in the ministry as either Mama or Papa. She is a wonderful young lady.
 

Dramatic Skit

On Friday evening the team attended worship at the Cruzadas church at the compound. The message, delivered by our own spiritual leader, Dale Hyche, and the special singing by several of our team’s members for Dale’s church in Jasper, was wonderful and inspiring, but the real highlight was a dramatic skit performed by the young men of the church.

The drama began with the devil and a band of his demons (each labeled with a different vice or transgression) as they capture, chain and torment a poor soul. Then a Christ Figure comes forward and banishes the devil and his demons and is worshipped by his new Christian Disciple. The whole program was awesome and a blessing for everyone.

Outbreak

Then on Saturday evening, we returned to the compound church to join in the evening service of a two day youth rally that was in full swing. Anyone who has witness a service in a Spirit driven congregation in the Latin community knows that the pace and depth of the service is exciting and unique. Add to this mix the enthusiasm and sheer energy of several hundred young people and you have an experience worth the trip. The first hour of praise was punctuated with numerous specials (mini dramas, skits and musicals) that were prepared and presented by the numerous youth groups that came to the rally. Then, in what appeared to be a spontaneous eruption, most of the kids got up danced in front, in aisles and then began dragging our team into the fray. Before we knew it most of our team was up and amongst them and their vacated chairs were swept up and stacked out of the way. After a while the teens and gringos returned to their seating and the service continued.   

One of our younger team members, Kayla Carden gave her wonderful testimony and the message was delivered by our own team leader, Bucket Guthrie. In closing, Bucket and the assembled youth leaders called for those who wanted to dedicate their lives to Christ to come forward. By the time the evening was over, three rally attendees had accepted Christ for the first time.  

UPDATE (June 16, 2011) from Janet Coons:

“Hi Guf, here's an update on the girl with the hair loss. Marlene took her and bought her a wig and 2 new outfits, and had her picture taken with them on. She is a different person! God was truly at work there!”