An Unusual Morning

Yesterday was not a normal morning by any means. NCM's Director of Medicine, Jan, and I were suppose to start the morning by touring two new churches to decide how the medical clinics were going to be set up for next week. Apparently, we had a more important job before we were to leave the church. At about 9:45am, I heard a loud screaching sound like wheels from a bus locking up and then a loud bang. Jan happened to be close to me but did not know what had happened. I grabbed her and told her what had happened. She asked me if we should go check on the man, and I said yes. When we got over to the man, he was not moving, and there was already a big gathering of people. All of them were arguing with one another about whose fault it was, and not one of them was checking on the man. The police were already on the scene, since they stay on the corner where the accident happened. I had to tell them that we were medical professionals so we could get to the man. Jan is, of course, but I am not. The man was not moving at all, and there was blood all around his head.

I ran the 50 yards back to the church and grabbed what we needed (gloves and gauze). When I got back, other police officers had already showed up, and I had to tell them again that we were medical professionals in order to see the man. Jan and I put on gloves and did what we could to stop the bleeding from his head. The man was barely breathing and was not with it at all. Jan told him that Jesus loved him and prayed over him. We then had a pastor's wife show up next to us, and I asked her to share with him the Lord's Prayer. I saw his head move a tiny bit one time when she talked to him about being saved. After that his eyes had no life, and the ambulance was finally showing up (30 minutes after he had been hit by a bus). Unfortunately, the man died in our hands. There was not a lot we could do but hold him and pray with him. There is much more to the story, but I do not want to put that on the blog. Please pray for me, as it has been a little hard. I am not sure how to take a man dying in my hands, but I have had a lot of friends around me that I can talk to.

Blessings,
Alex

May 2008 Newsletter

Hello wonderful people! Thanks for checking up on us and reading our newsletter. If you click on the images, they will enlarge so you can read them easier. We'd love to hear from you! We hope you are well in body and spirit. Thanks for your prayers. You are in ours too!

Blessings,
Alex & Holly

Another trip to the ER

Yesterday we tested our new health insurance. Alex has not been feeling well for two days now, but yesterday things got worse. His whole body was hurting, and he started getting a fever. The fever was at 103 when he decided it was time to make a trip to the hospital. The hospitals here are so much better when it comes to the ER. We always get to walk right in, sit on a bed, and they start the questioning. Of course, we have to answer in Spanish, because they do not speak English, but they understood that he had the flu. Alex had the symptoms about 2 weeks ago for the flu, but we thought he had shaken it. Once they saw that he had a high temperature, they decided to give him a shot to take care of the fever. The doctor gave him some medicine to help with the pain, the fever, and to kill the germs in his body. When we went to leave, the bill was about $170 dollars for less than an hour in the ER. Since our full insurance benefits kicked in on May 1st, we are covered at 90%, so we only had to pay $17 dollars. We give thanks to the Lord for allowing us to have this insurance. We are not sure why, but he still had a fever of 101 all night long, but it broke for the first time today. Alex is feeling better now, but his body still hurts all over. Plus, it is hard for both of us to sleep because of his coughing. Please continue to pray for him as he gets over the flu. Please pray that Holly does not get what Alex has. We pray everyone back home is doing well, and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

April 2008 Newsletter

Click on the images to enlarge them for easier reading. Enjoy!

Construction Conintues...

Here is a picture of Alex at the beginning of this month digging a hole for one of the support columns. The construction for the church is really moving along. We just finished pouring the foundation for the perimeter. We should be ready to actually pour the foundation for the main floor this week.

Update on Holly's Grandmother

Thank you so very much for your thoughts and prayers for my grandmother, Domenica! I just wanted to update you quickly that she is at home now recovering. There was a mistake in her ultra sound, so she still has one kidney stone, and actually the other kidney is not functioning at all anymore. Because of that, they were not able to do the angiogram for her heart. Her heart is working at 25% and is out of rhythm. Her doctor has ordered a CAT scan, but she’s not strong enough to get out of the house for that just yet. She lost eight pounds while in the hospital and continues to lose weight.

My mother has been with her throughout this time and will be staying another week as she hopefully regains her strength. We’re not sure if she can be alone in her house anymore, so my mother’s brother and sister will join her in Las Vegas shortly to discuss the options. Please pray for all of them and for wisdom in the situation. Please continue to pray for my grandmother’s strength both physically and emotionally. I know she feels very old and a little hopeless. She underwent quadruple bypass in ’99 but had my grandfather’s support then. Now she is very lonely without him. I am eternally grateful for all your love, encouragement, and continued prayers for her.

I, too, have been very sick these last two weeks. I have had a severe sinus infection that comes with extremely bad headaches. I’m sorry I can’t email you all individually, but I do appreciate your emails greatly. Hopefully, I’ll be back on email in full swing soon. May God bless you all abundantly.

With hope,
Holly

Sharing the Word...

Last week was not an unusual one for me (Alex). I am pretty much in charge of all the construction we are doing here in Peru. I'm not sure how I got the task, but I like it. Hope House (our girls' orphanage) had a new water pump installed to help pump water from the bottom of the property up to the garden, where they grow their own vegetables. Now the girls do not have to carry it by bucket, which was a pretty hefty task if you saw the bottom of the hill where the water was coming from.

So one day, I was just going around checking on things to make sure everything was working like it was supposed to. I was on my way back from Hope House to the land where we are building the Sports/Medical Clinic & Church, when I saw two Jehovah's witnesses talking to Janett. Janett works for us on the land; she brings tools to all of the workers as they need them and makes sure that each person signs in and out when they get to work each day. I do not know what was said to her, but I know that it got her thinking about the Lord.

The next day I arrived at the land pretty early, and Percy (our contractor) was there with his Bible showing her the Word and teaching her that whatever they were saying was not true to what the Bible says. It was a pretty cool thing. All the guys that work on the land belong to one of our Sector churches, which is how Percy knows them. However, he met Janett through another friend, and she does not go to one of the churches. It was just awesome to see that even in the middle of all the construction going on, he took time out to show her the Word of God. I hope this little story blesses someone.

Alex