Quiero ser un parte!

Se parte de un cambio extremo!
This was the theme of the 5th annual encuentro de jovenes (youth rally) at Baxter this past weekend. It was amazing! Youth groups from all over central America- Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica- and others. Baxter, which normally has fewer than 200 people, grew to hundreds of hundreds of people. There were two main guest speakers: Roberto Moises Alvarez from Guatemala (Pinares del Notre) and Luis Fernando Rosas from Miami, Florida. Both are Baxter grads. The whole weekend was about being a part of an extreme change. There were classes throughout the three day rally as well as combined sessions. The youth were taught new songs to take back to share with their congregations. When we weren’t in class, the groups had a tournament of volleyball, played a lot of soccer, and skit night on Saturday. Nancy Moon Gonzalez and I sang for our “participation recognition.” On Sunday, after a combined church, everyone went to the Picacho park (for those of you who know Tegus, it is the part where the massive Jesus statue overlooks the city). The encuentro has become a family reunion of sorts. I got to see Allan from San Pedro Sula, Steve and crew from Costa Rica, Gary from Panama who works in Nicaragua, tons from Tegucigalpa, and so many more! I also was the “on-call” nurse. No real emergencies- just a few hypochondriacs. I learned another old wives’ tale here. On Saturday night, the girls were telling ghost stories, and some girls got scared. The chaperones from their group told them that they needed to wash the scare off. Evidently, when people are scared here they won’t feel better until they shower. The only thing I can figure with this is the wash the sweat off! Yet another to add to the books- along with holding a newborn upside down when they’re born to ward off any evil surrounding the baby. I spent the weekend on campus with nancy and manuel gonzalez in the Casa Blanca (White’s house). Oh, how could I forget? I went to the Damas de Baxter, Tegucigalpa Chapter, on Friday night. It was a fun evening. I have been to many events hosted by the Nashville chapter and it was nice to be a part of the Tegus chapter. I did have a problem coming home from the dinner. I drove a few of my friends to the dinner- Nancy, Karla, and Arely- and my brakes went out on the way home. That was one of the most scariest things I have ever been through. My heart was racing a 1000 mph! Luckily, I didn’t have to move my car the rest of the weekend since I was staying at Baxter.







Monday was the first day that we didn’t have a doctor at the clinic. Our normal doctor has gone to the states for 2 months on vacation. Last week, we had a visiting doc but we are looking for someone a little more permanent. Tuesday was a crazy day at the clinic celebrating Children’s day. Dia de los ninos is a huge thing down here. People can’t believe it when I say that we in the states don’t celebrate it (since everyday seems to be Children’s day). Anyway, everything went well. We are short on money in the clinic so we weren’t able to do everything we planned but I think what we did do was just perfect. We bought piñatas, candy, Chinese fried rice, cake, and goody bags for each kid in the nutritional program. Well, to be honest, I ended up buying the candy for the piñatas and goody bags, rice, and drinks. For all of you who know Baxter and the JMA clinic and are thinking about end of your contributions- this is a great cause. Or if you would like to sponsor a child, write me: keckley@hotmail.com. It’s $25/ month that changes the life of a child- and is tax deductible. Just some thoughts. Here are some pix from kids’ day. Love to all. Dios les bendiga!










A good time by all. The theme of the nutritional program is “Restoring smiles.” If you had seen the kids, mission completed!