By: Charles L.
March 2016 – Trip Journal, Part Eight
Day 19
We started our day at the school construction site, things are coming along well. Tony, the missionary for Grace Project, (the organization that sold us the original land and buildings for the school) stopped by for a tour and to collect our final payment. Tony is a wonderful guy who is doing a great job at an orphanage in a nearby town. When he understood the reach of the Master Cares ministry, he promised to pray for us every day.
I then meet with the architect. We have to reduce the size of two of the buildings a little bit so that everything fits into the areas we have designated.
Carol and I spend three hours with the construction superintendents talking about the things that we want changed in the next buildings. We also expect more accurate quotes and more exact records of the cost of the projects. This is all new to them, but they are willing to learn and Carol is impressed with both of them.
We’re off to get a bite to eat before a 6 o’clock meeting with Kevin, the computer guy who wants to expand his business. Kevin is a great guy – very honest and loves the Lord – but he needs guidance in the area of business. We also set an appointment with an official of the area we are working in. We hope he can offset the taxes that will be due on the shipping container that left the USA last week.
Day 20
We pick Sal up and head to the ranch where we have a brand new kid-goat, born this morning. I do everything I can to keep Carol from touching it. We meet with the vet, Anthony, Aaron, and Bishop about the operations of the ranch and the spiritual development that is taking place with the Vocational Program students. Then we meet with the students and they are so excited because they just received their pregnant exotic pigs last week.
Now the day really starts – God showed up and showed off.
We go to the medical clinic, particularly the nutritional division, and see Ivan, the child who was brought in unable to walk or crawl. Today he is standing up! For the best part of the month, Luke had a child on his heart whose parents brought her in weeks ago but when she started showing improvement they left. The father has a drinking problem and needed his younger wife back home to go beg for food or work in neighbors’ gardens to get some food for her labor. Luke thought if we were with him he would have a better chance of getting the parents to bring the child back to the clinic. It’s worth a try!
We drive for 40 minutes down some of the worst roads that I’ve been on to this family’s house and they aren’t home. Luke isn’t ready to give up. He disappears for about a half hour looking for this child but still can’t find her. Luke requests just a little more time to find the child and by God’s grace he does. We spend the next 45 minutes trying to convince the child’s father that if he doesn’t let the little girl come with us that she will die. His dilemma is legitimate: Who is going to beg for food and work in the gardens so they can eat?
A crowd gathers and they are also trying to convince the father. Meanwhile, Carol and I are praying. I almost offered money to take the child but then everybody would want money to bring their children to the clinic and we just can’t do that. When he finally agrees, Carol grabs the child, bawling like a baby (not the baby but Carol). We load up the mother and two children in the truck and take off as quickly as we can before the father has a chance to change his mind. God showed up and showed off and a child was saved! This child is three years old but still looks like a baby due to the severe malnutrition. Sal, who has lived in this area all of his life, says he has never seen children like the ones in our medical clinic nutrition division. We drop off the mother, two children, and Carol at the clinic to get them cleaned up and fed.
I leave for a meeting with the leaders of the town. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss what we can do to create jobs. We have many suggestions but there are a couple that stand out. The first suggestion is from a female tailor (who by the way has three sets of twins!) who can train 16, 17, and 18-year-old girls to become tailors. These positions would be offered to girls who either couldn’t afford to further their education or didn’t do well enough in school to go further. There is not much future for these girls otherwise. The second suggestion is to provide training for young men who want to be mechanics to repair boda bodas (motor bikes) and cars. A man who owns a mechanic shop says he will train the young men himself. I visit with both potential trainers and agree that we will pray about the endeavors. When I come back in May we will sit down and talk about a program. The program would also include discipleship of all the students.
the master cares 