October Update

BOO! 

(I know, a day late - but it's the surprise of it that makes it scary. Bet you thought I was going to type Hello All):

I can't believe another month has flown by! It has been busy and we are looking forward to a brief visit to the US. It can't get here soon enough.

I have just returned from the another trip to the Rio Coco. It is such a blessing for me to have this incredible opportunity. You can read more about it here.

We continue to dispense glasses through our new optical office in the Clinica Medica Cristiana which is part of the Misión Para Cristo facility. Our old autorefractor is showing its age and we are blessed to have a newer tabletop version on the next container. We have been using the old one as a mobile unit, even taking it to the Rio Coco, but it is not designed for that. We have prospects of getting our hands on a new handheld, mobile unit as we await results of some grants.

This is a picture of a little girl, Carmen Alicia Lopez, wearing sunglasses. You have assisted in providing transportation from Jinotega to Managua several times for doctors visits. This week she went for her fifth (and hopefully final) surgery to repair her eye conditions. Since birth she began developing a form of juvenile glaucoma and cataracts. Since helping her she and her family have attended church with us and blessed us with bags of corn to share with the staff. Just wanted to share a very tangible result of your generosity.

About eight months ago one of our workers came to me to inform me that he told a community member that Sheila and I would be the God-parents to their soon-to-be-born baby. This was quite a surprise and when asked what all that entailed he told me that mainly it meant prayers and they might occasionally need help with something. That scared me. All I could see was having to foot the bill for a quinceanera in fifteen years. I was assured that was not the case and so far we have only been asked to buy a package of diapers and a bottle of medicine after she had a short stay in the local hospital. She and her parents drop by about once a week to say, "Hi." Her picture is attached also. Her name is Eliara.

We are hoping to file our residency papers this next week. We ended this month by turning all the official documents over to the Nicaraguan attorney for official translation and notarization. God willing, we will make a trip to Managua next week to the immigration office with the completed packet. Please pray for prompt and positive responses to this and the processes to follow. 

Hope to see some of you soon.