Dear friends and family, February 21, 2008
Toby has been really impressed with how much the men are taking in. He is thinking about adding on another day for the Bible Institute. Please be in prayer for us as we pray about what is the best thing to do. Toby is pretty exhausted after teaching twelve hours a day Monday through Wednesday.
The local paper on Monday sent out an announcement that all churches have to register with the government and comply yearly with that year’s regulation or they will be forcible shut down (yes we are heading toward communism here). The Honduran Churches of Christ/Christian church meet approximately ever 3 months. They recently came together to discuss this issue. The minister who represented our churches did not understand everything. Toby and I will be checking out what our group of churches is doing and whether or not we need to register our churches in the mountain with the government. The lawyer the ministers have found may not know all the work that needs to be done. It is typical for a lawyer not to know his stuff and not to do the work. They provide constant excuses until they won’t see or talk to the client. We have a lawyer that knows his stuff and gets it done. We tried for almost two years to get Jonathan’s residency with a different lawyer. We started the process with the new lawyer in November and we will probably have his residency in April. We need prayer to know how to proceed. We want to make sure we comply with government regulations by the deadline in January.
The Institute continues to do really well. Leonel, who helps the students study in the afternoon, has been learning so much that he considers himself a student. Toby focuses a lot on how the Bible applies to daily living, leadership, church issues, dating, and marriage. Two of the men are dating. Toby continually points out what they need to look for in the woman they decide to marry, how that will affect their future, and how it will affect their ministries. I share with Toby what I learn from my patients at the clinic and what we have observed from the culture (relationships are pretty much a soap opera here). It has really made the men think and will hopefully help them make wise godly decisions.
Last night in his general class, he talked to the group about older women discipling the girls starting at the age of 8. Most people here in the mountain do not continue their education after sixth grade. We have had so many young ladies leave the church, flaunt their bodies, get pregnant by the age of fifteen, start living with the guy(if the guy hasn’t left them when they get pregnant), have a couple of kids, the man leaves them, and the girl’s family raises the kids. We all know what separation anxiety is with little kids but here it is a fact of life that both parents may abandon the kids. In our village of maybe 300 people there are around 60 single moms. Toby is really working with the women in the group what the Bible says their responsibilities are. Cassandra is in Bible school classes with fifth and sixth graders (she is in first grade). She can read, write, and understand things better than they can. There are many parents that don’t care that the teachers don’t teach or don’t show up for school. They don’t care if their children have food, shoes, clothes, or if they just eat junk food. Can you tell we have had some very frustrating thing happen within the church and in the community?
The Bible calls us to a change of culture (mindset). The work Toby is doing is so very important. These men’s minds are being opened to why the Bible says the things it does and how it affects their lives, their families, their community, and their country. It has really shocked and scared the guys at times. They have been taught so differently. Please keep these men (Leonel, Belarminio, Elvin, and Rony) in your prayers. They are really growing. It is difficult to go against what is the norm here and stand for the truth. Also keep the night classes in your prayers. Please pray for Santos and Maria especially as they have been lied to about what the Bible says. We have been really impressed with their hunger for the Word but at times it must be very difficult for them because of all the lies they have been taught. We appreciate your prayers and support.
May God bless you,
Toby and Amy Hill
Dear friends and family,
In this e-mail I will let you know about the clinic work. Most of my frustrations I expressed in Toby’s e-mail come from my work at the clinic. Recently I have had several girls between the ages of 12 and 15 coming in pregnant. Two have been with complications. My heart broke for one patient. She is 17 years old. Her boyfriend left her when he found out she was pregnant. Her baby was born with several deformities and died 9 days after he was born. The doctors performed a vertical c-section and sewed her up like a piece of cloth. This type of stitching is so incredible painful. She came in to have her stitching taken out. The incision was probably 6 to 8 inches long. The thread tends to stick to the skin making it very painful to put out. There is no gentle way to take it out. Then I find out that it had been tied off in the middle underneath the skin so I couldn’t take it out. Most people here do not sob in front of others but this young lady was absolutely heart broken. She just sobbed which is pretty rare for an adult. I spent a lot of time praying with her and talking her through what to expect. Then her mom tells me she is 3 months pregnant when she is 7 months pregnant. I talk to her about what her daughter needs right now and she walks out the door all excited about her pregnancy when her daughter’s arms are bare. Please pray for this young lady as she lives with her mom and several brothers. From what I see the family is not helping her go through the grieving process and making it worse.
A 16 year old came in with cramping and spotting. She is 2 months pregnant. Her last pregnancy she lost the baby at 6 months. I think the mother was depressed and not able to take in information on how to take care of herself and the pregnancy. I referred her to the hospital. I hope she went.
It is very common for pregnant teens to wear extremely tight close throughout the pregnancy. We have several ladies in the church that are pregnant and the get a lecture every time we have church. Some are learning though. The other day I had several pregnancies come into the clinic. I finally got so tired of the lecture I told Anabel to start giving it. These ladies have no idea how to take care of themselves and then come in for complications. I also talk with them about the soap opera lives they have. It is a blessing though because I can come home and tell Toby all about it. He then talks to his students. The students have never connected the dots on how this affects their lives. When Toby walks them through the issues the light comes on. Just think all the things that are portrayed on soap operas and that is normal life here.
School started this week in the mountain. I have treated a lot of children for worms. Most families treat their kids for worms and get them vitamins so they can start the school year right. In a couple of months they will come in for lice treatment. I have also been seeing a lot of scabies, retrovirus, and dysentery.
Toby and one of the minister’s is visiting with the family of Gerson who died yesterday. Hopefully, I will know more when he returns. Thank you for praying for this family.
May God bless you,
Toby and Amy Hill
Dear friends and family,
I saw an eleven year old boy today. His relatives are well known today. His dad brought him down and knew nothing except that he had been vomiting for 2 days. I examined the boy and the only thing wrong was rapid breathing but clear lungs and a slightly elevated pulse. I told the dad that the breathing concerned me but that I couldn't write him a reference letter because they would not attend a normal looking boy. The father decided to take him down to a clinic in the city where he died some time this afternoon or early evening. All we know at this point is that Gerson died and they are bringing the body up. Toby just left to take the boy's aunts family up. The mother of the boy may not even know at this point that the son has died because there is no way to comunicate up that far. We decided to at least get someone up there before trucks loads of people/family from the city arrived with the boy's coffin.
It is the law that you have to bury the dead within 24 hours of the death unless there has been a murder or something. His body will be brought up tonight and he will most likely be buried tomorrow morning. This is a wonderful godly family. The dad is studying to be a minister at a Pentecostal Institute. Please pray for the family as this is very unexpected.
Thank you for your prayers,
Amy Hill