Baxter

Baxter Institute is a school in Tegucigalpa that trains preachers from Central America for Central America. It is a four year program. Our groups use to stay on the campus of Baxter until we got too big. I never came to Honduras when our group stayed at Baxter. We work with the people at Baxter and some of them are our friends. I have been on the campus, but never toured the facilities. Pat and Chris, from AIM in Lubbock, are here and we took them to see Baxter today. I don't know about Pat and Chris, but I sure learned a lot and was very impressed.

The students that come here to go to school are poor, as are most people in Central America. The school is nice and is a step or two up for most. There is single housing and married housing, all neat and clean and nicely done. The wives of the students take some classes, not as many as their husbands though. They rotate child care duties in the day care center in order to save the salaries of full time day care providers. I was impressed with the school and its operations, but I must confess, I was even more impressed with some of the ministries at the school.

There is a clinic, much like the one we have in Santa Ana. There is also a dental clinic. Dental students rotate through and are overseen by a full time dentist, thus providing dental care to many at a lower cost to the school. There is also a nutrition center. Mothers with children can receive food every ten days. It consists of most of the things we supply when we distribute food: rice, beans, sugar, spaghetti. And milk. Powdered milk. What a wonderful idea. The mothers that receive the food have to do a little work at the school. The food is bought in bulk like we do and is repacked. Some of the women help repack. If they are in the nutrition program, they also have to be in a job training class like sewing, bread making, haircutting. The whole nutrition program is a wonderful idea, teaching people about better nutrition, helping them with food, and teaching them to work for it, and teaching them about God. The program is so organized. When we left Baxter, my head was just spinning with new ideas.

After Baxter and another trip to the fruit market, we went to Los Pinos. We have worked in this community for four years. I am always touched by the people there, the poverty there and the way God has worked and continues to work there. I know for many of us, Los Pinos has a very tender place in our hearts.

Terri