Update - September 2001
You
may or may not know, but Angie wasn’t exactly thrilled about our family
moving to Honduras. She was, however, willing to submit to God’s call for
our family. Since we have been here, everything has not exactly been
what you would call ‘rosy’. While our challenges do not compare to much of
what our nation has faced this month, I want Angie, my
family, and each of you to know how much I have appreciated what she has
‘put up with’ the past few weeks. Here is a sample:
1. It wasn’t until 5 weeks after we arrived that I learned Angie did not believe we could make ‘a home’ out of our living quarters when she first saw them. She never mentioned it at the time, and feels differently now.
2. I am confident of our relative safety. It is an adjustment, however, to have an armed security guard on your property 24 hours a day. Angie must fight her fears daily. Also, she is still not comfortable driving on the road here and hasn’t tried it, but she hasn’t complained.
3. My work, for the time being, has left my clothing sweaty, oily, and sooty. We don’t have a washer or dryer. Angie washes them by hand, and has never complained.
4. All open food must be kept in the refrigerator or freezer. This affects organization and menu planning, but Angie has never complained.
5. Bugs are prevalent, and sometimes really big. They are not always in our house, but it is not uncommon. Probably the worst was when hundreds of little white worms started coming out from under the bathtub and moving across the bathroom floor. Salt and Raid only slowed the progress that evening until insecticide could be sprayed the next day.
6. The biggest event was a sting. Unknowingly, I brought a critter into the house on a tool from the job site. As we all four sat on our couch watching a movie, Angie felt something in the leg of her shorts. When she reached in, she was stung on the finger by a scorpion. (See photo) After I knocked it off the back of her shorts and smashed it with the remote control, we got in the truck (thankfully it had arrived) to look for help. This has been our scariest moment emotionally. We did not know if the scorpion was poisonous, and didn’t really know where to go or who to talk to. Angie’s biggest fear was not for herself, but the fact that our own home did not seem safe. In the end, God used this moment for all of us. We met an older, God-fearing woman who knew what to do, and this calmed all of us greatly. It turns out that all scorpions on the island are non-poisonous. They are so rare, in fact, that the police chief, who lived most of his life in the U.S., has not even seen one the past 12 years that he has been back on the island. Few island residents have ever been stung. As we were looking for help, Jeremy said he wanted to go back to Mahomet. I knew this was exactly what Satan wanted us to do. For the entire time we have been here, that is the only time anyone in our family has expressed those words. With God’s help, we will stand strong, together. (And all tools are stored outside now, even at the risk of theft!)
With God’s love to all of you,
Joey, Angie, Aly, Jeremy Gruner