Holiday Greetings to each of you! Probably most of
you have seen snow this month. Here, we have had an
overabundance of rain, but in quantities that have
not, as yet, washed out the road. Schools are
recently finished for the year, until February. Some
of the farmers could not get their beans planted this
season because of the numerous rains, and so, must
wait until February to plant again. Because of crop
failures in other parts of the country, bean prices
are sky-high. Corn prices are three times higher than
normal because the U.S. is making bio-diesel using
corn, and so, much less is available to eat. Rice and
flour prices are up, as well. These prices affect
everyone, but especially the poorer families. Poor
families frequently were eating just beans and rice.
But, now, with bean prices five times higher than
normal, many have to fore-go even the basics.
One part of my work involves distributing powdered
milk to those families most needy. This has to be
accomplished determinedly and nearly secretly because
the requests far outweigh the supply. The powdered
milk is purchased here with donations from you. There
is no governmental or church help as in years past
when the Episcopal church had a ´source´.
Another perpetual aspect of my work is education.
There are children and teens of all age groups that
need help. Some need help with uniforms and
notebooks, etc. Some in jr.-high and high-school need
additional help with tuition and travel. Starting
this past year, nearly every student that had interest
in continuing studying, either in a technical area or
in the úniversity´, needed help with everything -
travel or living expenses as well as books and
tuition. This meant that very few could continue
studying, because this help comes from you and others
interested in seeing an interested student continue to
have that opportunity. Living expenses for a student
in a group home situation are around $2000 and the
same amount for tuition and books. I have a few
people (very few) supporting a student in this way.
Many students have the interest, but no one to help
them.
The fourth focus of my work is in the clinic. Some of
our meds. are donated. Many we have to buy, and the
doctor is always hunting via his computer for what we
need at reasonable prices,(world wide). Reading
glasses and hearing -aids are a need, nearly without a
present source. Vitamins are available for purchase
at times. Menthol cough drops we ask of anyone who we
hear is coming down from the U.S. Visiting brigades
are at times helpful with specific needs. A surgery
group is coming in March and I hope to repair a hernia
at that time.
If you have read this far, this is a personal
invitation to you to consider helping a student or a
family in one of these areas. $100 helps a great deal
with powdered milk or food staples Help at any level
for a student means an opportunity for perhaps a more
productive future. Financial help for families in
need of food needs no explanation. A seed not planted
cannot sprout.
If you are interested in helping financially in any of
these areas, you can contact me via email and I will
explain the procedure. Thank you.
I hope you enjoy your holiday season with friends and
family, and that you will consider sharing your
prosperity with those with whom I work daily. It is a
privilege for me to be able to live and work here and
to both learn and teach more of what it means to be
conformed to the image of Christ.
Here is my Christmas gift to you. It is a quote from
Brennan Manning in his book Abba´s Child, the chapter
of The Rabbi´s Heartbeat.
The rhythm of relentless tenderness in the
Rabbi´s heart makes loving terribly personal, terribly
immediate, and terribly urgent. He says ´I give you a
new commandment; it is MY commandment; it is ALL I
command you: Love one another as I have loved you.´
Only compassion and forgiveness count. Love is the
key to everything. Living and loving are one.
Heart speaks to heart. The Rabbi implores,
´Don´t you understand that discipleship is not about
being right or being perfect or being efficient? It´s
all about the way you live with each other.´ In
every encounter we either give life or we drain it.
There is no neutral exchange. We enhance human
dignity, or we diminish it. The success or failure of
a given day is measured by the quality of our interest
and compassion toward those around us. We define
ourselves by our response to human need. The question
is not how we feel about our neighbor but what we have
done for him or her. We reveal our heart in the way
we listen to a child, speak to the person who delivers
mail, bear an injury, and share our resources with the
indigent.
An old anecdote is told about a farm boy whose
one skill was finding lost donkeys. When asked how he
did this, he answered, Í just figured out where I
would go if I was a jackass, and there it was.´
Turning this in a more positive direction, listening
to the Rabbi´s heartbeat, the disciple hears where
Jesus would be in any given situation, and there He
is.
December, 2007