Journey to the Zaparos

Today, I've gotten the opportunity to fly out with 2 other missionaries to a Zaparo community close to the Peruvian border (I've outlined where I think that it's located as best as I could). I'll be there until tomorrow afternoon giving a couple of bible lessons from John and Mark of the New Testament. The program is one that was designed by New Tribes Mission to present God's message in 52 lessons and let the community form a decision about their salvation and their place in God's kingdom. The community has been part of this study for some time now and we're getting close to the end. It'll be my first opportunity to take part in this study and I'm very excited.

I'll also be bringing in some medications in case someone needs medical attention. Please pray for a safe flight and a productive time there. Please pray for Chad and Wilson, the other two that I will accompany. Please pray for the study time and that I not 'get in the way' of His message. Please also pray for my family while I'm gone. The weather is perfect today so there shouldn't be any delays and I look forward to sharing my experiences.
Joe

Pale hands and feet

As you might imagine, South America is home to many parasites. Hookworm infections used to be very common in the Southeastern part of the US years ago but not so much these days. Living in the jungle, however, you come across them in unusual ways. In August, this little guy was admitted to the hospital with weakness and pallor. You can see how pale he was from the palms of his hands. He was found to have a hemoglobin of only 2! (it's a measure of a body's red blood cells and normally between 10 and 13 at this age). If this blood loss had happened acutely, he'd have gone into shock and died.

The cause of his anemia was quickly discovered to be related to a hookworm infection. Typically the larvae from contaminated soil burrows into the feet of a person and travels through the blood stream to the lungs where they migrate to the throat area and are swallowed. They then travel to the small intestine and set up shop - attaching themselves to the walls of the bowel and feeding off of the blood supply.

This infant was given a transfusion and proper parasite medicine and left doing much better. Education remains a big part of the treatment to help prevent reinfection.

Monday messages

Every Monday we get to start our week with a devotional message from one of the staff, either one of the missionary doctors, our hospital chaplain or some other staff person. We've been back in Shell for a little over a month now and a recent message that one of our missionary surgeons gave really resonated with the staff. Eckehart and Klaudia Wolff have been missionaries in Ecuador for more than 25 years and both are important to our hospital. As you might imagine, they've been through many ups and downs and had alot of wisdom to impart. The message started out with a discussion about tithing and where we get the idea of giving a tenth of what we earn back to God, it really is His money anyways. From there he began discussing how the "church" in Ecuador has not been successful in sending out missionaries of their own. Through the past century there has been an over reliance on foreign support for missionaries in Ecuador. For whatever reason, the church has been eager to send out missionaries but when it's time for the "rubber to hit the road" few step up to support them. For me, it was eye opening to see this, but also rewarding to know how well supported Tracy and I have been from folks back home. As you think about this, please pray that the Lord would stir hearts here to better equip and support Ecuadorian missionaries.

Tribute to a Great Man of God

We received the sad news today that Sr. Jesus Montero passed away last night after many months of bravely battling cancer. Jesus was the chaplain at our hospital in Shell for more years than we can imagine. He brought God's peace and comfort to so many in the hospital and Jesus will not only be missed in the hospital, but throughout the entire town of Shell. He was very fortunate to be with David and Beth, his son and daughter-in-law at the time of his passing. It is such a sweet thought that he went from David's arms straight into God's.

Our Morning with Parkview Christian Daycamp

We had the privileged of speaking to the kids at the Parkview Day Camp a few weeks ago. This lovely Day Camp raised money for our hospital last year. They were a wonderful audience and asked tons of wonderful questions and then surprised us with another more money they had raised for the hospital. We are very grateful for such wonderful children and their FEARLESS leader Julie Baldridge.

Can you name this baseball field?

Its famous.......
It is the middle of a major city......
It was the last stadium to add lights....
There has never been a World Series Game played here.........








This is Wrigley Field in Chicago, Ill. We got a behind the scenes tour of Wrigley Field when we visited our friends, The Slinkman Family. Unfortunately the Cubs were out of town so we couldn't see a game, but we had a great day of touring and eating in downtown Chicago.

This is all of us in the Cubs dugout.

The Slinkman's gave us such a warm welcome, we could have stayed there forever!

The kids had a wonderful time playing with Joshua, Caitlin and Maddie (lou)!

Our Visit to Paris

Here are Sebastiao and Isabella standing under the Eiffel Tower on our recent trip to Paris..... Paris Texas that is. Yes, we really have everything you need in Texas


Sebastiao read an article in magazine about the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Texas and asked if we could visit. We made a quick side trip on our way to Chicago and after a little searching we found it. If anyone from the Paris, Texas Visitor Bureau reads our blog, please, Please, PLEASE give us a little help finding this gem of Texas. Just a sign or two in town would be great. We drove around for a while and had to ask multiple people before finding it. Just a few signs.