Honduras Missions

The Ritchie Family / Children's Lighthouse

Friday, November 27, 2015

problems...

Jr has finished lifting another missionaries kia but wheels have not arrived yet so he put on our old ones to test drive it. Runs great. Still need to finish the rack and seating but it is sidelined for a time because of a more urgent problem. We had neighbors in the area who kept turning on the water out by the road and running our pump dry which burns up the pump. What we did not know until we tried to pull it is there is a problem in the casing. Either it broke and shifted  when we had an earthquake months back or the overheated water from the pump melted  the pvc casing... only needs 100 degree water which the pump could have done. So we have no good options. Best option is redrill an new well... this one took us 8 years and lots of money.
A new one will be about $25,000. Second option break off the pump let fall back down and use the top half of the well water. Problems are:
1...we do not know where the pump/pipe will break as we pull on it, might break high making well very shallow usable. Can use a backhoe to lift and break it.
2 breaks low and we end up with half a well. But we ran dry on the full well we will magnify that issue being shallower. Plus we have no idea how far up the damage continues in the casing is until we trial fit a new pump. A pump cost around $1000.
There are no cheap fixes and hauling water daily for a home for children is a full time job alone... limits all other ministry.  Karen is doing better, ministering saints saved the day and operation was paid for she will bed in bed with casts and pins for 3 month and need phy ther when done but should recover fully, amen!
Need prayer, wisdom, provision, because it is a bigger problem than we can do alone... thank you

Monday, November 16, 2015

one more thing...

Had one more person call on the Lord Sunday. Amen.
The retention wall in San Geranimo has been rebuilt and reinforced.
We got a late night message that Lisa's dad had a heart attack. That set a series of events into play. Ministering saints provided a way for Lisa to quickly return to the US and be with family. He is doing better but has many issues that cannot be  addressed. So she is helping her mom and dad for a time. Lots to do on the home front here. Two weddings and school restarts soon. Prep to teach in a couple of our churches, maybe put together a preachers meeting for our men. Plus Christmas, New Years and going to Nic to preach. And still maintain our "normal" house and ministry as well.
Have the wrecked kia painted and reassembled. Still need a bumper but it is drivable and looks ok for now, will make a front bumper when the other project below is done....
In case I was wasting a little time....We took on another project as well. A missionary in the north who runs an air ambulance service saw our kia. He asked if we could build his the same way to use in the moskitia where there are no paved roads. We said yes so he bought a new one Monday, drove it across the entire country and dropped it off wend. Once build and sent back, it will never see pavement again.
So we are raising it(ie making a lift kit) to fit bigger tires and wheels, lengthening the steering shaft, arranging to build new wheels, building a rack and seating system to facilitate any kind of load like blocks, motors, people, stretchers or coffins... If it is like here often several different cargos in same day... old school skills for me, but Jr is doing most of it. Weee. I was in a missions conference a long time ago at our church. The men had challenged each other to give the missionaries nice tools. Snapon wrenches, worm drive saws ect. Top quality stuff. As they were casting lots to who got what I overheard a very young missionary say to his
 wife, "I don't need tools I am going to preach, I'll just take a screwdriver." I thought he is not going to make it, he will need every tool on the table where he is going. I was right he lasted less than 6 months... a missionary wears many hats...
And one more thing. Pastor Renee came by today with a big bag of corn on the cob as a thank you to us for prayers. His wife's results came back neg for cancer. They are treating her in a different way. Prayers were heard... a big thank you to our ministering saints. The prayers were heard. Praise the Lord for His goodness...

one more thing again. We had a very good day all thing considered. So we thought. I almost posted as such. Till screams after supper. The kids wanted a quick round of hide and seek before I called them in. Karen climbed our mango tree in the dark to hide. The branch broke and she fell to the concrete from half way up.
Broke both ankles in 2 places each. She needs to be operated on to walk right. Sched for 6am to open her up and screw her together. Private clinic, not sure how much or how to pay for it but it can easily be 2-3000 even here... need some more prayers and miracles...need a wheelchair as well

Friday, November 6, 2015

Keep moving forward...

Still moving ahead. The retention wall repair for the San Geranimo church is going up thanks to help from ministering saints. The pastor's wife there is having exams for cancer, no results yet. Needs prayer, name is Clare.  Was able to find a headlight for the kia, just need to make a bumper and fix the door and cab corner and paint it all. Another mountain church is dealing with three possible funerals at same time. We are prepping for 2 weddings at Lighthouse property. Various gov officials might be attending Jenny's along with a local paper.  The industrial sewing machine that was donated is in the mountain. Our school year is over but will start up again in just a few weeks... One more trusted the Lord this Sunday. Several in our home have gotten sick over the past weeks, just the normal stuff. Need to visit the mountain churches more, teach more ect. Just never enough time or funds. Mostly the later... Have several prospective church plants. Just need labourers and funds...want to go into Nicaragua the first part of January teach and outreach with the church plants there. An evangelistic medical team will visit here the later part of Jan, should be a great blessing. Hard to captain the ship and paint the hull at the same time, need just the right conditions for the same guy to do both...wont happen in a storm or narrows or shallows...
Went to check on the church wall this morning and clutch went out on kia. Hyd cyl went out found an seal kit for a hyundai that would work and got it repaired while running...Why? It was hot and had kids with me in the airconditioning. Weee. Not what I hoped to do today.... yesterday fix the boys shower. Water would not shut off, cannot get replacement seals or even the same valve to rob parts. Option one,  chip out the concrete and tile make a big hole to repair. Option two,  add a valve to the top near shower head...money and time dictated option 2 for now... weee. Gotta do what you gotta do to keep moving forward...amen...keep us in prayer... thank you

Added ... Wall going up on the San Geranimo church retention wall repair... AND, the walls going up on our first Nic church. Lots still to do but building the walls continues... they want me to go in Feb for the first in building service.
Amen.


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