Honduras Missions

The Ritchie Family / Children's Lighthouse

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Psalms 37:23

 Tues-What a day... Mostly sitting around all day making calls...from a tire shop. Headed out this morning to do banking, pay bills, meet with pastors, and deal with government customs about a container that is in country. Opted to swing by the tire shop and have a noisy shock replaced and check the alignment... turned out to be alot worse. Got it on the alignment rack and found the right front spindle was broken. Only one bolt barely holding it all together. Had it broke at highway speed, nothing but bad and really bad news. Head first into someone or tumble down the road. I had Lisa do a late night run with it the night before for internet paperwork, yikes. Took it apart at the shop and began looking for parts. Found one in the capital for tomorrow. So for today we welded back together and were able to get home. Fixed Wen.

We have a wonderful blessing of a 40'container donated and shipped and is currently in customs awaiting payment paperwork ect. Been 3+ years since our last container. But our new government is so bent on collecting taxes on everything they put forth new rules and they want an an extreem amount for import taxes, and they are not letting tax exempts off the hook. Not a good situation. They want $7400 in taxes and fees exc. more than 2x what we were told before shipping. That is on top of the cost of shipping and collecting. We sent a lawyer to plead with Gov officials in the tax office, but to no avail. Pay up and your time is running out was the reply. Our wonderful ministering saints who sacrifice to collect and send it, are sacrificing yet again and seeking to cover the expense but it puts a very dark cloud whether it is worth doing it again. Dont get me wrong it is still worth the blessing, even at double the costs, but it makes it questionable who is willing. If you spend $7 to get a $40 blessing with just a little risk and alot of work, most people find it a great deal, but spend $14 to get a $40 blessing with the same risk and work, not as many takers. Bottom line is the ministry and poor here suffer and will miss out more in the future. These kind of donations are another avenue to gain help tools without affecting regular support. It has been much harder to grow the ministry in the last 3 years without the extra help. Bibles, tracts, food for the orphanage and poor. It is much harder to raise funds, to purchase here, that kind of volume verses what is donated and shipped... and oft times unavailable here. Hoping conditions change on this...one thing you can count on here, nothing stays the same... except the poor who always pay some how.
One of our pastors and his second man were out soulwinning in the mountain on his motorcycle. They went to a place they thought had many homes. After dumping over the bike and breaking the clutch handle and foot pegs they walked the rest of the way in, but only found 3 homes. They did their work and saw 2 come to Christ. On the hike back out they passed the home of an elderly lady they knew who was not a christian, she was the grandmother of a church member and had rebuffed them numerous times. Tired, muddy opted to just return to the motorcyle. As they got ready to leave the pastor could not find his phone. They returned up the path looking and found it in front of the elderly womans home. Figuring it was the LORD they went to witness to her and received a warm welcome and a soul who trusted Christ as saviour. Ps 37:23 They left rejoicing after finding that which was lost.

One of our 10 year old boys got burned. A big pot of soup was on the stove and one of the teen boys was asked to help move it to be served. As he turned he stumbled and dropped it, at the same time the young boy was going into the kitched(without permission) and let the dog in. The soup landed direcly on the dog and the boy fell into the hot mix on the floor and burned his back. Two trips to the Hospital. He will be ok but it may leave large scars on his arms and back, Eric is his name. Always in need of Prayer.
 Internet and phone communications have been bad as of late. Hoping it will improve when a new cell tower is finished between us and the city. Took the older teens out fishing in the river with one of our pastors. Been a long time but a fulfilled promise to one of them. Casting the net... amen.

1 Comments:

At June 15, 2014 at 3:37 PM, Blogger Mom2347 said...

Praise the Lord for keeping Lisa safe on that late night run! God's really good like that! I could tell a few stories myself.
About the burns. God more than likely has placed a batch or two of plantain in your path. It's the best easily obtainable stuff I know of for burns and sores of any nature. Use it fresh by having the patient chew it slightly (I add 'the patient' because it's probably not a good idea to share germs) and put it directly on the owie, or dip it in boiling water for a second or two and put the whole leaf on the sore. Or you can make salve. Here is a recipe I got from A Delightful Home.com

http://adelightfulhome.com/how-to-make-plantain-salve/

Plantain is excellent for treating all manner of wounds and skin irritations. Bug bites, cuts and scrapes are some of the most common issues treated with plantain.

While it would be beneficial to treat such conditions with fresh plantain, it may not be available when you need it. Thus, the plantain salve is born.

This plantain salve is good to have on hand when you are out and about. Apply to cuts, scrapes, and bites to reduce inflammation and promote healing.

This salve is prepared using dried plantain since some may not have access to fresh. However, this could be made with fresh herbs. Just be careful that the herbs are clean and watch for any mold developing when preparing the infused oil
How to Make Plantain Salve



To prepare this recipe you will need:

1/2 cup Olive oil
1/3 cup dried plantain
1/2 ounce beeswax

Makes 1/2 cup of salve.

You will also need a pot, cheesecloth, measuring cup, and a jar (if infusing the oil via the slow/cold method).

Step One: Infuse oil

Infusing oil may sound fancy, but it is nothing more than letting herbs sit in oil for a time. Anyone can do that!

Method One:

The best way to infuse oil and keep as much of the herbal goodness intact is to place herbs in a jar, cover with oil, cap, and allow to sit for about 10 days.

For this recipe I used 1/3 cup of dried plantain and 1/2 cup of oil (I use olive oil).

Method Two:

A quicker method, which is still good, but does reduce the potency of the herbs a little (due to the heat) is to place the herbs and oil in a heavy duty saucepan and warm over the lowest possible heat setting for 30 minutes.

When I am using this method, I sometimes turn off the heat and cover the pan to keep some of the warmth in and let the herb/oil mix sit for longer. I do this because I want as much of the herbs properties to get into the oil as possible.
Step Two: Strain out the herbs

Once the oil is infused, strain the herbs out of the oil by pouring through some cheesecloth.

Be sure to squeeze out all the oil. You don’t want to waste any!

Oil infused with plantain. I love how green it is!
Step Three: Add beeswax

beeswax pastilles

Measure 1 ounce of beeswax per cup of infused oil.

For this recipe I used 1/2 cup of oil and 1/2 ounce of beeswax.

Place beeswax into a heavy-duty saucepan and begin to melt over low heat. Once the beeswax has begun to melt add the infused oil and stir to combine.

Once the beeswax is completely melted, pour into clean a clean jar (or jars).

Plantain salve cooling

Allow to cool completely before adding the lid.

Salve will keep for up to a year.

As a silly aside: A just LOVE making salve. It makes me feel very accomplished! I hope you will give it a try.

If not this salve, then maybe the Calendula salve or simple lavender salve. Both are easy and so much fun! Oh, and they are useful, too.

You can also eat it raw, or boil it like spinach. Add a little apple cider vinegar and you're good. I've thought that it should help with stomach bleeding/ulcers, and recently read that very thing.

Hope your little boy gets better soon, and the teenager who was carrying the pot is released from guilt.

Thanks for serving the Lord where I cannot.

 

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