Thursday, February 28, 2008

The Mayan Village

This morning Marc and I drove to the Mayan village where the artesan center is located. We were planning on buying merchandise for the Casa de Esperanza store. In October we walked up there. It was a long, hot walk. This morning it was a bumpy ride and we were in four wheel drive part of the way. As we drove, I could not help but notice how many children were not in school. We did see the school and I noticed uniforms must not be required in this village. Many of the kids did not have uniforms. No one had black shoes, just flip flops. Of the children that had uniforms, there were not many new ones nor ones that fit very well. Most of the uniforms I saw were way too big, in need of repair and stained and dirty. No one seemed to mind. I was really glad that the rules were a bit more relaxed in a village where if the rules were not relaxed, no one would get to go to school.

We walked in the house to buy our dolls. There was one lady working on the dolls and her children. The oldest little girl was cross-eyed. Bless her little heart. Maybe she was seven. I do not really know. There was also, probably, a three year old. One of those children that no matter what I do, I cannot get to smile. And then, there was a four month old baby girl. She liked attention. As long as Marc or I stood there talking to her, she was happy. These girls had very worn, very torn and tattered clothing. The baby had no diaper and the tattered clothing was way too big.

We could tell, by looking around, there was not the number of dolls we needed. We talked to the lady and told her how many we needed. She said ok and they would be ready tomorrow. She stepped outside and, while I did not hear her, and probably would not have understood exactly what she said, spoke something to the effect of ladies we have work to do. Women and their children began to come into the building. All were smiling. There was work.

After we paid a deposit for this work and agreed on how many dolls and when we would pick them up in the morning, we walked on down the hill to the place where the weavings are done. Again, there was only one woman in the store. She quoted us a price and we picked out a few weavings. I quickly added how much money this was and took it out of my backpack to pay her and she gave me a discount because of the number I bought. I almost cried. These ladies work so hard. I was there to buy some of her wares to help her and then she gave me a discount.

Then we saw my little friend that helped me down the hill in October. She remembered us and we remembered her. She had three little dolls she was trying to sell. What a hard life she lives.

It is hard for me to describe how this kind of poverty touches me. How gracious these women are. How grateful they are for just a little bit of work. I am so constantly reminded of the poverty and the needs of this country.

We will go back up in the morning. I wish I had clothes for some of these kids.

Terri

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Another Adventure

Friday my daughter, Nicole, and her husband Matt will be flying into San Pedro Sula and we will be getting them at the airport. Casa de Eseranza is preparing to open a small gift shop. While we were in Copan last October I saw some things that I thought should go in the gift shop. A few weeks ago, Marc and I decided to drive to Copan today, buy the gift shop items tomorrow, and go back to San Pedro Sula on Friday to get the kids.

Marc found another shortcut to Copan. It is a wonder that I even got in the car with him. We got on the San Pedro Sula highway. At km177 we turned off of the highway to take the shortcut. We had a lovely time driving the country roads. This country is full of beauty and this road was no exception. An hour and a half later as we turned back onto a highway, not the highway we thought it was, we quickly discovered we were on the San Pedro Sula highway and km190. Boy, we had covered a lot of mileage. Only we were headed back toward Tegucigalpa. We were laughing hysterically. After making a uturn, we had an uneventful trip the rest of the distance to Copan. We visited and enjoyed the beauty.

I am looking forward to being here, doing my business and seeing the kids on Friday.

Terri

Sunday, February 24, 2008

School Supplies

To many of you, school supplies is an old subject from me. I have emailed telling the high cost of sending a child to school in Honduras. This cost includes registration, fees, uniforms, books and school supplies. With wages so low here in Honduras, school supplies alone for one child can easily cost one day's wages.

Thursday, Marc and I bought school supplies for the children at Casa de Esperanza. They already had backpacks, pencil boxes, crayolas and many other things. Their lists were long and included toilet paper and soap for the bathrooms and children's headache tablets. I took for granted that those things would be furnished by the school. The other things on the list were very specific, and, in most cases, expensive. Today we had to bring some people into town and Karen said she had another school supply list that came home on Friday. This list was not near as long, but still, it was more supplies.

The schools and teachers are very picky. If a particular item is not exactly what they ordered, they will not accept it. Thursday I bought the wrong type of drawing paper. The right kind of drawing paper is one of the items on the list today.

Basically, there is one place in Tegucigalpa to buy all the supplies. Or, we could run around all over town and get a few here and a few there. For most people that live in Santa Ana and other communities as well, they would have to ride a bus (meaning they would have to pay bus fare) to town to get these specified school supplies.

The children at Casa de Esperanza have their school supplies, but it angers me that so many children cannot go to school because they can't afford drawing paper or toilet paper. This is the government's way to not educate as many children as possible, thus perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

Thanks to all you purchased school supplies to be sent to Honduras. The container should be on its way.

Terri

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Hard Narrow Benches


We soon will be starting a new work project in the community of Mirador Oriente aka Nueva Oriental. We drove up there yesterday to talk to some people about this project and check out the land for possible sites. We also stuck our heads in the new kindergarten building that was built last month. We saw a bunch of smiling, happy kids in their uniforms, eagerly learning. We walked further up the hill where the church and the Sunday school classrooms are located. The church building was built in April of 2007 and the Sunday school classrooms were built in June. One of the ladies opened both the classrooms and the church for us to see. I had never seen inside either one. To say the least, I was stunned.



Both the classrooms and the church are nice enough, simple and adequate. There are 150 kids every Sunday in two classrooms. When I thought about 75 kids in each one, the classrooms seemed much smaller than they really are. I could imagine all those little voices singing praises to God. There was not a lot of teaching materials and prepared literature like we have in the states. Then we walked into the church building. Two hundred adults meet here every Sunday. The benches you see in the picture is all there is. It has to be standing room only. I wondered, out loud, how many of us, myself included, in the states would go to church every Sunday if we had to sit on a hard, narrow (very narrow) bench without a cushion and without a back. And, no doubt, many people would be squeezed on those benches quite cozily. Many would be standing. I attend a Honduran church every Sunday. It doesn't matter how many people are there, or how crowded, or how uncomfortable the seats are, they are there to worship God and sing His praises and are grateful for a building in which to meet.


Would we, could we worship God every Sunday if we had to sit on a hard, narrow, crowded bench instead of a wide cushioned pew?



Terri


Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Two Babies

Our friend, Don from Indiana, went to Hospital Escuela on Monday. As everyone is when they go there, he was very touched. He met a couple of babies with which we really connected. One was an eleven month old baby boy that was having heart surgery yesterday. He prayed with the mother. The other was a few day old baby boy that had club feet and severe breathing problems and possibly other problems. He had been abandoned in the hospital.


Don and his daughter leave tomorrow. He asked if we could take him back to the hospital today to check on these babies. Of course, we could. We found the baby who had surgery. His mother was holding him and smiling. The surgery was successful. We said a prayer of thanksgiving with her.


We also found the other baby. He was in a little crib in the corner by himself. Not even identification or age was on his crib. Both legs were in casts, in an attempt to correct the problem with the club feet. As bad as this precious baby's breathing was, Don said it was better. He had the least little cry. I am not sure what anyone else did, but I prayed over this little one. A nurse came in and began to give him a bottle. We started to leave, walked out, and then walked back in to look at him again.


I have no idea what may become of this little one, but I think he needs a lot of prayers.

Terri

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

A Feeding Center and The Dump




The first few children as they came into the feeding center
People rummaging for food at the dump
Today we took our guests to work in the feeding center at San Miguel. This is an extremely poor community. Children in the community are fed one meal a day at the feeding center. Without this meal, at least 50% of the children would have nothing to eat. This community has no running water and has to buy water with which to cook and do dishes. The water is stored in the church's baptistry and is hauled in as needed. Each meal is served for about fifty cents. The cost of the water and the cost of the propane for the stove are figured into this fifty cents.
We got to San Miguel in time to help prepare the meal. I chopped tomatoes. I also helped dish up the food, serve the children and wash the dishes. I knew I had to put small portions on the plates, and I was spooning what I thought were small portions. I was told they were too big. Two hundred kids came today to eat. I thought we were going to run out of food and the portions had to become even smaller. No one complained. They ate what they were served and were grateful.


Some of the little kids were so dirty. There is no place to take a shower. There is a rock down by the stream that was the community pila. One person would come wash their few clothes and then another would come and then another.


I am thankful I got to go to San Miguel and help in this feeding center today. I am thankful for this feeding center where these children are assured one hot meal each day.


From there, we went to eat. I could not each much, after leaving the feeding center. I just boxed my food and gave it to someone that was really hungry.


We drove out to the dump. The dump is a horrible place. The odor is awful. At least two hundred people live, yes live, at the dump. When the garbage trucks come in, these people rummage through this filthy, stinking, sometimes rotten garbage trying to find anything to eat. Rotten apples, banana peels, anything. They pull out plastic bottles or anything else they can find to recycle. Hundreds and hundreds of buzzards live there also scavenging for the same food these people are. Most of the people there had on clothes that were tattered and worn. That is not an adequate description at all. Iam positive this would be the only clothes they own. The shelters these people live in are also just what they can find and put together. They would offer essentially no protection from the wind and the cold. How they sleep at all, I do not know. There were little children there. Little children that should have been in school.


The dump is without a doubt the worst of the worst. It just doesn't get any worse than what I saw today. Marc and I are definitely working on a way to get those people fed once in a while.

This has been an emotionally draining day, in some ways harder than building houses. I will not forget what I saw today for a long time. I hope I don't ever forget. I need to be reminded of those that need to be served.
Terri




Terri

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Happy Sounds











The top three pictures are of some of the people for whom houses were built this week. The man standing by the ladder was so happy about his house. He has worked with us for 3 days, helping with everyone's house. He also led the prayer. As you can see, his hands are raised as he prayed. Several others that were praying had their hands raised, also.
Today we arrived at the job site at 8:30. We were excited and eager to start w0rking on houses again. Imagine our surprise when we got there to find one load of wood already there and unloaded. Imagine our bigger surprise when the second load pulled up. Things like that don't happen in Honduras. With all the lumber there, we could divide into two teams and get these houses done.

Thursday we started on a small site. Three houses were standing in that site, thus, decreasing the area in which to work. The area through which we had to carry lumber was narrow, very narrow. This morning there were more people, more kids, more dogs, less space. Everyone wanted to help haul the wood. Very small children were picking up boards, oblivious to everyone else around. Boards were swinging every direction. I was sure someone, possibly me, would get slapped in the face with a board. Fortunately, this did not happen. As I carried lumber through this narrow place, it was much like driving in Honduras. People passing on all sides, cutting in front of you. It was very chaotic, but how wonderful were the sounds of people laughing, talking, and being excited about houses being built for neighbors.


The tin was put on the third house. The sound of tin crinkling as it was being put on the roof was a happy sound as that meant another house was being completed. As we began to dig the holes for corner posts, there was the sounds of metal hitting rock, and then we laughed and talked and cheered as the post holes were dug to the proper level and rocks were removed. And for the record, Sarah and I removed on really huge rock today. We stopped and took a picture with her camera.

The sounds coming from hammers and chainsaws as they began their work meant work was progressing and the total project was coming closer to completion. All day as we worked and people could see three completed houses and two more in progress, the excitement levels increased. As each piece of wood was chainsawed and fell to the ground, there was a child waiting to pick up that little piece of wood and run home with it. Each little piece of wood that is gathered like that, is firewood that does not have to be found from some other place.

After the chainsaws and hammers were silent, that was a wonderful sound as well. That meant we were through. As wonderful as that sound was, the most wonderful sound of all was the sound of the prayers being said. All the workers and all the families for whom houses were built gathered for a prayer. One man who had helped us all 3 days and whose house was built today was going to say a prayer of thanksgiving. He began to pray loudly, praising God and saying a lot of hallelujahs. As he prayed every person that received a house, also began to pray and thank God. Everyone of them praying out loud, praying their own prayers, weeping with joy. It was the most joyous sound I have ever heard. I am sure you can guess who else was crying.

I am thankful tonight that God gave us the strength, and the stamina to get this job done in three days.




Friday, February 15, 2008

House Number Three

It has been a very long day. Yesterday, nearly everything went right and today, not nearly that many things went right. We thought we would get two more houses built. We arrived on the job site before 9:00. The first house we were to build today was 21' x 21', which is a lot larger that what we normally build. The lot was measured and marked. Digging began on the holes for the corner posts. Measure, fill in some of the holes and dig new ones, measure, set a couple of posts, measure, take out a couple of posts, measure. This went on and on. Finally, the corner posts were set and were square. We started building the walls shortly after noon. They walls went up fairly quickly without too many delays. After beginning the roof, because of the larger size, we discovered we were one roof beam short causing another long delay. During that delay, the tin was put on the two houses that were built yesterday.

During those long delays, we had opportunity to visit and play with the ever increasing number of children. A group of little girls, most of whom were 8, 9, and 10, asked me how old I was. I honestly told them and then said mucho viejo (very old) causing gales of laughter. They could not even sit there with me. They all ran off laughing. I guess 8, 9, and 10 year old little girls are the same in any country, in any language.

Other exciting things were happening. After the tin was put on the house, two houses were finished. One family was sweeping and cleaning and getting ready to move in and make the house a home. One family began moving their stuff. It was exciting to us, it was exciting to the families and it was exciting to the neighbors.

Using a hammer is not one of my talents. I do not do it often because I slow down everyone else on the job site. Today I hammered and hammered. I hope I can get out of bed in the morning. I am already feeling a lot or soreness.

We began packing the truck shortly after 5:00. House number three is not finished and house four is not even started. Some days are like that. We will be back early in the morning. This house will not take long to finish in the morning. And hopefully, we will get houses four and five built tomorrow as well.

Terrj

Thursday, February 14, 2008

First Day of School


In Santa Ana, today was the first day of school. Preparations for this day have been going on for a couple of weeks. Karen went through all the uniforms and made a list of what pieces were needed. Last year's white shirts were bleached. Buttons have been sewn on, little tears repaired, skirts and pants taken in or let out. New pieces to complete each uniform were purchased. Notebooks were purchased. Pencil boxes and backpacks were packed and ready to go. Shoes were polished and lined up by the door.
I went up at 7:15 to take some pictures. Most of the kids that were starting back to school today were dressed, with their backpacks on sitting at the table waiting for breakfast. They ate breakfast wearing their backpacks. Everyone was so excited. Ashley, Karen, and I were snapping pictures as fast as possible. Pamela came out wearing a pair of shoes that were completely shot, holes in the soles and all. Karen told her to throw them away last week. I guess sometimes we all need to cling to something familiar. At last, it was time to leave for school. We were leaving for town to start building houses. We passed Dorian walking everyone to school, all walking in single file and smiling and waving as we passed.
We got to town to start building some of the houses that were destroyed by fire. There was high excitement there as well. We planned on building two of the five houses today. There was a lot of activity as we began to get things ready and others were clearing sites that will have new houses built in the next few days. One of the sites on which we were building today, had a lot of rocks that had to be moved. Beverly, I thought of you. There was no where near as many rocks as you and I moved that day.
One thing I immediately noticed, since our kids had just left for school, was there were dozens of kids hanging around watching. I just kept hoping that perhaps their school had not started yet. Around noon, a few kids begin to show up in uniforms. Only a very few of the children in that neighborhood were attending school. The vast majority live in families that cannot afford to send their children to school. I had tears in my eyes. I also saw a few children with pretty severe handicaps. I am not sure one little boy knew he had a handicap. His legs were mangled and twisted, yet he was running the best he could and laughing all the day. More tears.
We had a huge audience all day. Many from the community helped us, most just watched in eager anticipation as homes were being replaced. The first house went up quickly. The second one, not quite as fast. I was feeding wood to people on the back wall and got built into the house. Marc had to scale the wall and cut the door so I could be freed.
On one of the lots where a house will be built, there was a tree. Marc chainsawed it down. A huge crowd gathered to watch. If they only knew, they would have been running the other way, not gathering in closer.
Except for the tin, both houses were finished. Oh, how passionate were the prayers that were said by some of the people getting new houses. Again, my tears flowed freely. It was definitely a day of tears.
Luis, David, Jonathan, both Josues and some of their friends helped us today. We took them all to eat pizza. How fun that was, to watch those boys eat after working so hard today.
Tomorrow we tackle two more houses.
Terri

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Enjoying the Birds

Today I was in a rush. I was rushing to get the laundry finished, rushing to get more things done in my house, rushing to get caught up with the never-ending paperwork and many other things that needed done. Marc started to leave for town and as he opened the door, there was a beautiful coal black, shiny-coated, red-headed woodpecker. I walked outside and just watched him. I watched for quite while. I had never seen him around before. We regularly see several huge blue birds, much bigger than jays. As I watched the woodpecker, I began to see the blue ones flying in and out of the branches. They were talking and singing. The longer I watched, the more birds I saw. One flew by with streaks of yellow in his wings. And I saw a yellow butterfly. I think I stayed out there with the birds for about 30 minutes. I needed that break. Listening to them, watching them go about their business. When I finally came back inside the house, I began to think about the birds and remember that they don't worry and fret. Why should I? The same God that takes care of them, takes care of me.

I hope you get a chance to enjoy the birds or something else wonderful that God created.

Terri

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Hunger

I am living in the second poorest country in the western hemisphere. Along with poverty comes hunger, extreme hunger in many cases. In the summer when groups are here, we, literally, distribute tons of food. Other groups and organizations do, too. There are feeding centers operated by churches and other humanitarians that make sure children are fed one meal each day. In spite of all these efforts, thousands upon thousands of people in Honduras are hungry every day and no resources with which to buy food. We go in houses where there is no food or a few corn tortillas.

I don't think I have ever been hungry. Really hungry. Sure, I have done stupid things when I was much younger and wanted to lose weight. And then there has been medical fasts, where I thought I was starving to death ten minutes after the fast began. I have fasted and spent time in prayer instead of eating; admittedly, I have not done this near enough. But I have never known true hunger.

After thinking long and hard, I decided to find out about hunger. I want to have more compassion as I attempt to minister to the Honduran people. I decided that for five days that I would eat nothing but lunch. Of course, I could have one cup of coffee of a morning, but no breakfast, supper, snacks, desserts or cokes. I tried to maintain my normal activities and walked Monday, Tuesday, and Friday mornings, as well as many other things during the week. I did not eat extra at lunch, just what I normally do and I did not load up on Sunday night. When I ate my lunch every day, I ate slower than I normally do and enjoyed every bite.

Day 1 Monday. This was so easy. I did not get hungry at all. I had my coffee after walking and then ate lunch around noon. I was trying to do this without telling anyone. We stopped for fuel and Marc bought me some M&Ms. For those who know me really well, you know that was quite a test. I opened my backpack and dropped them. In fact, I still have those M&Ms.

Day 2 Tuesday. I was hungry by lunchtime, but not as much as I thought I would be.

Day 3 Wednesday. This was the hardest day. I woke up hungry. I had rice and beans for lunch and rather small portions, at that. I was still hungry after I finished lunch. I went to bed hungry. At times, I thought this was stupid and was tempted to forget about this and eat. I remembered those M&Ms in my backpack.

Day 4 Thursday. Since I went to bed hungry, I expected to wake up hungry, but I was pleasantly surprised. The hunger I was feeling was not near as bad as when I went to bed the previous night. Again I was ready for lunch and didn't feel quite satisfied. We had somewhere to be at 4:30 and had some time to spare. We stopped at Wendy's for a drink . Marc had a coke and I had water. There was a popcorn machine and they started popping popcorn, one of my favorite foods. The smell was overpowering. There was no choice but to get up and leave. That very pleasant odor lingered in my mind for sometime, leaving me with the desire to eat something. I didn't.

Day 5 Friday. I did get up and walk for 45 minutes. Again, I was really ready for lunch and was thinking how good breakfast was going to taste this morning. I was so busy this morning getting that last room ready to paint, that I forgot to eat this morning. I did eat a nice lunch.

Yes, I was hungry at times, but I was playing a game. A game for which I made all the rules. I still don't know true hunger. I could have eaten anytime I desired. On Monday, when I ate lunch, I knew I would be eating lunch on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I did not have to ration my food because I did not know when I would see food again. I once saw people rationing their food here in Honduras. It was about a jar lid full. I did not have to get up every morning and look into the eyes of my hungry children and know I could not feed them. Again.
We regularly see people going through the dumpsters trying to find anything to eat. Sometimes the food is rotten, but it is all they can find. I never once thought about crawling in a dumpster trying find something to eat. People sniff glue to kill the hunger pains. That thought never entered my mind either. The combination of malnutrition and sniffing glue leave people with the inability to learn anything.

The times this week that I was hungry, I know I was not as hungry as I could have been. I don't know how people sleep or work or take care of their kids or go about daily life when they haven't had food for days. Yet, they do manage to go on. They spend most of their waking moments trying to find food.

I do hope I learned more compassion this week, but lets all be thankful we have food to eat and have it aplenty.

Terri

Friday, February 8, 2008

Before and After














































Here are some before and after shots of our house. The before shots were taken as soon as I got here. Our container was not even here. Notice the lovely block walls. The first two are of my kitchen. The next one is of the bathroom. Again, the block walls and a concrete shower. I really did not like that shower. The fourth shot is of the extra bedroom. This is the best shot of the floor, tile that had been painted ugly gray.
The first after shot is of the arch. They cut this out to open the duplex. The house is now open and spacious feeling. The next one is the new tile, quite an improvement, don't you think. If these Hondurans knew what they could make in the states as tile layers. Then the kitchen, without my stove and refrigerator. The last two are of the bathroom. A nice tile shower and the vanity. The vanity was the only thing I really wanted. I was so excited about these changes. I began to snap pictures immediately. I should have waited until everything was painted. Everything is painted now but one room.
There are now extra bedrooms waiting for you to come see me.
Terri

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Five Homes




Last week I wrote about the fire season and the terrible losses that might be suffered in the next few months. About the time I wrote that, a raging fire was blazing in Tegucigalpa, with five houses and everything that was in them being burnt completely to the ground. No thing survived. Fortunately, no person perished. There are more than forty people without a place to live. Four families were living in one of the houses. The mayor called and asked if there was anyway we could rebuild for these families. Marc put out a plea for help and many people pledged money to help rebuild these five houses. Not just houses, but homes.


We met the mayor today at the site where the fire happened and where the homes will be rebuilt and to assess what we needed to do. There was nothing left. Nothing. The ground was as black as black could be. Houses that were still standing had charred sides from the fire. The houses remaining were certainly not the worst we have seen, but certainly not the best either.
The lot on which 5 new homes will be built is small. Many of the people that are displaced were there today. There was a lot of smiles as the mayor told them construction would begin one week from today. I was crying as were some of the people that will soon have new homes.
The top picture is a of a little girl talking to the mayor. She is wiping her eye. She is crying because she wants her house. She cried and cried. I had a piece of fried chicken in the car since I did not eat all of my lunch. I got to share with her. A piece of chicken and a piece of bread doesn't really take the place of a house, but she did stop crying and looked up at me with the most angelic eyes as she said gracias.
The other picture is some of the people for whom new homes will be built. Marc, the mayor, and our friend Maurio are also in the picture. My little friend is standing on the front row. She has on a yellow shirt and is holding the bag with the chicken and the bread.
This was a terrible tragedy and Iam thankful there was no loss of life.
Terri

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Simple Pleasures

Due to the fact that Marc has had shingles, (and by the way, he is much improved) we did not get to move into our house quite as soon as we had planned. We slept in our house last night. At last. Oh yes, I still have a lot of things to do in this house and I still have a lot of stuff to haul down from the dorm since everyday for the last 5 weeks I have hauled something from the house to the dorm, but I am back in my house. The bed is put together and has clean sheets. The blinds are hanging on the windows. My grand canyon picture is hanging. Home sweet home.

Last night, I read in my bed with a lamp beside me. I have not had my bedside table and my lamp beside my bed since September 1. I thoroughly enjoyed reading with the lamp and not having to get a position where there was enough light to read. How nice it is, to be sitting on a couch in my house using the computer and not having to go to the Casa office or back porch.

Marc and I both worked hard today to get things moved and cleaned. I know in just a couple of more days we will finally be settled in. Wait a minute, this is Honduras, I don't know anything. I think and I hope in just a couple of more days we will be finally settled in.

Terri

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Sunrise Service

One just never knows what might happen around here at any given moment. I try to roll with the flow, but sometimes I am amazed and caught off guard, especially when I am asleep.

This morning we were awakened at 5:30 by some heavy duty preaching. From what I think was a megaphone. On this property it is usually hard to tell from exactly where a sound is coming. A truck on the street sounds like it is coming right through the property. While we don't know for sure, we think the preaching might have been coming from the Nazarene church a couple of doors down. But it sounded like it was in our room with us. First time ever that I have attended church while I was still in bed. After our church this morning, Karen said it sounded like it was in her room,too. Marc said that he was going to cut the power cord. I could just picture Marc traipsing down the lane at 5:30 to cut the cord.

After several minutes of some good hard preaching, a band began to play and someone sang an invitation song. Another person prayed, urging all to be saved. I have an idea some responded, maybe not to the invitation, though. At 6:00 sharp, church promptly ended.

We were getting up and going to church anyway. We still went to our church, even though we had already been to one church service. I guess there is not a better way to start the day than hearing God's word. Perhaps, everyone did not think so.

Terri