Dear friends and family,
We are just about ready to go. I have finished packing and am waiting for Toby to return from hopefully picking Daniel's biological parents to weigh the luggage to see if we need to shirt things around. Things got so moldy this time that we are taking several things back to where they won't mold. I had 92 patients yesterday. I was completely exhausted and still am. I had a young man come in with severe bacterial infection in his foot. It is not severe enough to be admitted into the hospital but it will take a while to heal. A little boy who came in last week with malnutrition and a bad infection in his legs and feet is now looking a lot better. There were several other people I referred to doctors, who help me out, because they have chronic asthma and are not improving. Others I will not be able to provide care for since we are leaving so I wr Last night, Toby had the ministers in for a last meeting. He gave out the funds that will need to be dispersed while we are gone. Henry will be cashing checks so the ministry can continue. Toby answered all the last minute questions. Emilio and Henry will be calling the Bankroll's lawyer (Daniel's adopting parents) to find out when his biological parents need to go to the capital again. They are in charge of doing whatever needs to be done for Daniel's adoption as well as the ministry. They will also be calling once a week to give updates. We still don't have water. I bought a bunch of baggies of purified water so I could have something to drink. A neighbor above us has cut everyone off and no one is getting much water. We had just enough today for us to take a shower for the first time in 3 days so that was a blessing. Yesterday, Toby brought water up from the clinic so we could take a sponge bath with as well as to clean the house. We took our dirty dishes down to the clinic so they could be washed. I am going to take the last of the dirty laundry down to the city so while we do errands we can get it washed so it won't mildew. I We will be based out of my parent's house while we are in the states. We aren't planning on traveling around a lot since my pregnancy will prevent that. I will be 36 weeks along shortly after arriving in the states. We will have e-mail there so we look forward to hearing from you. We will send out pictures when Jonathan comes so you can get to know him. We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. May God bless you, Toby, Amy, Cassandra, Sarah, and Jonathan Hill Here are the clinic totals for 2005. January 257 February 271 March 128 April 300 May 350 June 372 September 237 October 350 November 295 Total 2560 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dear friends and family, November 20, 2005 We thought Gamma would miss us but it decided to come and visit us since last Wednesday. It has been a constant downpour of rain. There are uncountable landslides throughout the mountain (one carrying a house and family we don?t know what happened to the family). The river where Daniel?s biological parents live is raging and impassable. It is taking huge boulders and smashing them into tiny pieces. The road is almost cut off in several places and trees are down everywhere. We are hoping and praying the road doesn?t get cut off until after we leave on Please be in prayer that Daniel?s biological parents can find a way to get across the river so they can attend their meeting with the Supreme Court so that Daniel can be adopted. They are going to watch our home for us while we are in the states. They have at least one other meeting to attend before Daniel can be adopted. Without us here they need to be close by so that can talk with the lawyer to find out when they need to be in the capital. Asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia continue to be the big problem I am seeing. When the baby died several weeks ago in our village it was a blessing in disguise in some ways. The people in this village experience a lot of respiratory problems and usually wait to receive help. The death of the baby has caused them to seek help. Several people were furious with the family of the baby that died. The only reason they did not seek help was because of laziness. I am grateful that others are now getting help for their precious little ones. Toby has been working with the ministers and getting everything done that needs to be done while we are in the states. He meets with the ministers constantly going over everything and encouraging them in their responsibilities. He has really been concentrating on trying to get the work in Cofradia started. The ministers are new to starting up a church and all that entails so it takes a lot of work to show them what to do. Thank you for your prayers and support, Toby, Amy, Cassandra, Sarah, and Jonathan Hill ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear friends and family, October 10, 2005 We have a big praise! God has found us a mechanic that specializes in fuel injectors who also knows every other specialist in the city. This is such a blessing. We have had problems with the fuel injector in our blue truck since we bought it. We found out it was a problem that came from the factory and it had been recalled. The BMW specialist fixed the problem in a day or two. This will allow us to do ministry instead of making due. Toby had a meeting/dinner with all the ministers on Monday. The churches in Las Brisas/La Union have reopened and are doing well. The water project in La Union is being accomplished. Enrique is feeling back to normal and has even put on 5 pounds(he is Very skinny). Before we leave, new discipleship groups will be opened up in Cofradia. We should be renting a house there for our ministers before we leave. Not having the vehicles working really held back the work in Cofradia. Toby went to preach at a new plac Please pray for Daniel?s adoption. Elections occur November 27th here. This has a tendency to shut the adoption process down. Please pray that the Supreme Court will see Daniel?s biological parents before we leave and that the Honduran adoption agency will finish the adoption immediately. We are thinking of paying his dad to work for us since they have a least 2 more times they have to go to the capital. It is about impossible to reach them during raining season so if they are down here the other ministers can check in with the lawyer to make sure they get there when needed. The clinic work is going well. With all the rain, I have had a reduced amount of patients but the last 2 days have been around 30 patients. Asthma and bronchitis are the main things I am seeing due to rainy season. I am also seeing a lot of dysentery. I have set up with Anabel, my clinic worker, protocols for my Hypertension patients and respiratory patients. These patients are very relieved to know they can still get help while I am gone. We have had one death in our village from, I believe, a respiratory problem. The parents didn?t come to get help The people up here love Christmas cookies so in the next hour I am having some people come in to make them. I made the batter last night and today we will start baking. This time instead of doing 700 in one day, I will spread it out over 3 days. They have come to like this tradition and were said that they might not get to do it since we are returning to the states. So we are going to make them early which is great with them. My dad has his first chemotherapy treatment. It took about 4 hours. He only had a slight case of nausea that night but besides that he is feeling great just a little more tired. Please pray that all his blood values remain in the normal range and that the Lord will keep his body strong. Please continue your prayers for my dad and keep up the e-mails they mean a lot to him. May God bless you, Toby, Amy, Cassandra, Sarah, and Jonathan Hill -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear friends and family, October 26, 2005 Monday, my dad went to St. Louis to see a lung cancer specialist. Although this doctor said they found cancer in a lymph node or nodes he felt dad?s great attitude would beat the odds. Statistically, the chemo he received gives a year to live but the doctor felt with dad?s health and outlook he could live between 4 to 7 years. The doctor feels the chemotherapy should only keep him down for 2 to 3 days after each treatment(which is done every 3 weeks) and that he should not loose his hair. The visit was very encouraging. Keep up the prayers they are making a difference! Enrique, one of our ministers, had surgery yesterday. His left testicle was severely twisted and dried up. It had swelled up to the size of a grape fruit. It was very painful. He stayed in the city overnight since he has a doctor?s appointment this morning and Toby will bring him up since our vehicle has the smoothest ride. Please be in prayer that God will provide the $1,000 for the surgery and for Enrique healing. Also pray that he will follow the doctor?s instructions bathing and resting are not one of his priorities especially since the water is i Please be in prayer that our vehicles would be fixed and remain in working order. The blue vehicle has been in the shop for over a month now. The owner has shown himself untrustworthy but Toby doesn?t have too many options where to take the vehicle. We are thinking about selling the blue one because the maintance fees are so expensive and it is the one that usually breaks down. Toby really needs the vehicles fixed so everyone can get their jobs done. Toby has been kept busy taking people places since we only have one vehicle working. Toby has been really encouraged by all the exciting opportunities for the ministry. He has been busy checking them out and getting all the information together to make the best decisions. Toby took Jim Webster, one of our board members, to Cofradia. After driving through both felt at least 4 churches could be planted in the area. We have found a place where the guys can be trained in a trade so not to depend on U.S. funds. The program lasts about a year just for the learning of a trade. We really enjoyed having Jim Webster as well as Ron, and Jan with us. Toby was really encouraged be able to discuss various things going on with Jim and receive some advice on what direction to take. It was also great to show him the ministry so he could envision it more when we talk to him as well be more informed when making decisions. Ron really helped Jim when discussing winning people to Christ with the ministers as well as helping the music leaders with leading worship. He worked with one church and Toby said the singing was greatly improved in just one short lesson. Jan was a life saver. I have been so tired and not had a lot of ener makes it nice as well. We appreciate your prayers. Please keep them up. May God bless you, Toby and Amy Hill ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear friends and family, October 15, 2005 On Monday we enjoyed having Dave and Marty Sperrow with La Cima mission here for a medical brigade. I loved having a physician?s assistant with me. It was great to be able to tell the patients I was seeing that they could go see the doctor. Lots of things were diagnosed and treated that I could not have done on my own. We had approximately 130 patients. One older man had 2 maggots taken out of his leg(there is a name for it in English but here it is called Torsillos). One lady who was severely burned on her arm several years ago was given hope for a s We currently have one of our board members with us. Jim Webster is teaching our ministers. Ron is going to be working with the churches teaching singing and music. Jan is helping me get comfortable with homeschooling as well as organizing my house. I hate to organize so it is a great blessing to have her here helping. It also allows me to get caught up on things. They are being a great encouragement and blessing to us. In the next two weeks we will be starting home Bible studies in Cofradia. In the next month or so we will be renting a house for the minister and his family to live in to start to get to know the area and find the best site for a church. They will be working on building up a church through small Bible studies. We have decided to have Jonathan in the states. After talking with my dad?s doctors and my OB doctor it was decided that was the best option for all involved. Worst case scenario is that my dad has 5 months to live. We are hoping and praying that God blesses us with A LOT more time. Due to my asthma, road conditions, timing of his birth, plus government shut down(which means we would not be able to get to the states until February) it was felt by all that it would be best to have Jonathan in the states. I also recently found out that I have gestational diabetes. We greatly appreciate your prayers and support. May God bless you, Toby, Amy, Cassandra, Sarah, and Jonathan |