“…the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Mt. 21:42
Eucalyptus Trees
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead…. —Philippians 3:13
It seems that a good place to start this little story is with the first time I was where it takes place.
That would be way back in June of 1992. I am nearly finished with the first draft of the first book of a series, recounting God’s guidance in the founding and development of Loma de Luz. The idea is to string together newsletter articles like this one connected by some narration. But since the first newsletter wasn’t published until 1994, we’ll have to settle for the narration. Here is the excerpt from that manuscript describing the place:
The whole track since Balfate was no longer two parallel dirt paths with grass growing between. From Balfate east, it was all grass or just a single footpath. At that third stream from the Abuelita, maybe the 7th stream crossing since Balfate, I just turned off the engine in the middle of the path. No one with a car was coming any year soon. Who would be that crazy? Who would have a car? Leaving the tired old panel van wheezing and steaming there on the path, I climbed up the little bluff, then continued further up a hillside until I could see the Caribbean. There I could feel the breeze off the sea. I sat and looked out across the sea for a while, with no sign of any kind that there were any other humans on this planet .
This would be the hill that rises above the school now. But there was no school then… nor anything else. I wondered if this might be the place the Lord might lead us to; maybe I wondered that out loud. Maybe it was a silent prayer. Still, I had learned enough by then that I knew I shouldn’t presume to just declare a spot that seemed likely and plant my flag there. I needed more clear direction. I should get more input from authority. Besides, it had taken me 4 ½ hours to get there. It would be dark before I got back to that railroad bridge at the Papaloteca if the return trip took as long.
I figured I had gotten as close as I could get to that area I had seen on the map a year ago at Banana Bank Ranch in Belize. So, without another word, I scrambled down the steep hillside, back to the patiently waiting old van. After a four-point turn around on the narrow path, I headed back west toward Jutiapa,"
It wasn’t until about a year and a half later that I returned to that very spot. By then a lot had happened; most importantly, we had received approbation and direction from the Health Ministry to this specific area. By then, a tough old rancher from Jutiapa, Don Armando Canales, had cleared out a bit of the brush, had built a little wooden shack to stay in when he came this far out into the real boondocks, and, being a whimsical and forward-thinking guy, he had encircled that patch of cleared ground with some little Eucalyptus seedlings.
The trees were maybe 4 feet tall by the time Wesley Harris and I were seated on upturned buckets, negotiating, then praying, with Don Armando about selling the land where the hospital is now located.
Those are a couple of those very Eucalyptus trees towering behind Rosanne on the combined Preparatory (the year before first grade) & 9th Grade Graduation Ceremony.
Those Eucalyptus trees that Don Armando planted within the year after I first saw this place are now 33 or 34 years old, or maybe two or three times that old in Honduran-Tree-Growing years. Remember, there is no winter here. Don Armando’s Eucalyptus trees have been providing shade to school children now for more than 20 years, as they were that evening of the commencement ceremonies of the Preparatory Class and the 9th Grade Class of 2026.
The photo above catches only a small glimpse and a moment of a two- or three-hour ceremony. There were hundreds of family members seated at tables in front of the dais, filling up the school yard. The late afternoon light slowly faded, and the evening cooled. I walked around the periphery trying to be inconspicuous but supportive. At most every table I saw someone I knew linked to memories of the past. The dignitaries who had been seated at the table of honor (to give speeches and hand out diplomas), were all old friends. Lilian, now the “Distrital” (District Superintendent), was one of our boys’ public-school teachers; Orellana was Hannah’s Kindergarten teacher and works in the Distrital now. Nanci, the Mayor’s wife, has been a patient, supporter, and friend of the school for decades. Chrysti, one of our first missionaries, is now the Loma de Luz Administrator.
And Rosanne, of course, had started the school under a thatch-roofed “champita” when those Eucalyptus trees were a lot smaller. She had started with homeschooling 5, then 8, then 15 local kids, along with our own, and now that original endeavor has become a licensed Pre-K-through-High-School, nearly a dozen buildings, and a student body of 240 (and climbing). The Lord used the energy and intelligence and sweat and determination of many excellent and sacrificial missionary teachers who followed after to get here. (I did mention sweat, didn’t I?)
I often think that particularly from the prospect of transforming this country, it is probably this school which will have the most impact over the years. While I was walking around remembering the years and all the struggles, it was a little funny and a little startling to realize that I was the only one there who could remember this place back to the time before those Eucalyptus trees were planted, when there was no electricity, there were no cars, and the road out front was just a path.
While I was thinking back, I began listening to Rosanne’s speech. Her Commencement Address was given in Spanish as that is both the language of the country, of course, and the sole language of almost all of the parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts proudly gathered for their “graduates.” I’ll translate where I started paying attention. She was saying, “We are like those eggs. We cannot remain forever as an ordinary, good egg; we must break the shell. Otherwise, in time, the egg will spoil. This thought is a paraphrase of an idea from C. S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors.”
Rosanne did not include the quote in her speech. She was keeping things succinct. I mean, there were 28 five- & six-year-olds up on the stage there; and, while scientists may have refuted the 9 second attention span of the goldfish, 5-year-olds are still under investigation. But doubting any five-year-olds will be reading this, I’ll share here the C. S. Lewis quote she is referring to. It is from Mere Christianity: “It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”
The graduating 9th Graders had been looking back to when they had started at El Camino in Pre-Kindergarten 11 or 12 years earlier. The graduating Preparatory class had been looking back to their earliest memories 3 years ago when they started at El Camino. I had been walking around looking back to a moment before these trees had been planted with a mixed sense of nostalgia and accomplishment. I had been wondering what it must be like for God to look back over all of time.
But Rosanne was focusing her speech on looking forward. She contrasted the Spanish “Ceremonia de graduación” with the English (OK, from the Old French) way of looking at it as “Commencement.” The word “Graduation” focuses on having accomplished one stage. The French/English “Commencement” emphasizes the beginning of what follows.
She continued, “How did they do it? How does an egg become a bird that can fly?” She answered the rhetorical question with “Transformation comes through the small decisions we make every day and through the effort we put forth when no one is watching.” And clinched it with Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” She ended with: “Les Felicitas todos Felicidades! Bien hecho y ¡Buen trabajo! Que sigan transformando sus corazónes y renovándos sus mentes para el propósito y la gloria De Dios.” (“Today I want to congratulate each one of you. Congratulations! Well done! Good job! My prayer is that you will continue transforming your hearts and renewing your minds, so that you may fulfill the purpose God has for each of you and live always for His glory.”)
I thought it was a very good speech. Even the 28 five- and six-year-olds on the dais woke up, straightened their wayward blue mortarboard hats, stood and applauded. But it is not lost on me that I’m not writing to many 9th Graders, and probably no 6-year-olds. If you are reading this, you may be of an age and station in life that you consider yourselves past any more graduations. If so, I would beg to differ with you. If you are reading this, there will be at least one more graduation… for all of us. So let us keep before us the orientation of the Apostle Paul to the church at Philippi:
“Brethren, I count not myself to have obtained: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
–Philippians 3:13-14
In God’s Grace,
~Jefferson McKenney, M.D.
Allison
Alison is a good little girl. Alison is a smart little girl. Alsion is 10 years old and in the 6th grade in school. She likes to paint (and to cook). Alison dreams of becoming a teacher (or a chef) when she grows up.
Alison lives in a little village about 4 or 5 hours from Hospital Loma de Luz by at least three buses. When Alison was a newborn baby, she was born with a blockage of the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid through her brain. She was developing hydrocephalus. Her parents took her to every hospital they could get into to try to find help. They had to walk and hitch rides and ride the bus everywhere. Because, of course, they don’t have a car. Only 2.2 % of Hondurans can afford a car. After months of trying, Alison’s parents heard of Loma de Luz and brought her here. We put in a system of tubes and a valve beneath the skin from inside her brain to her abdomen called a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. This brings the excess fluid to the abdominal cavity where it is absorbed.
Alison did well until she was 5 years old, by which time she had outgrown the original shunt. When she was five, we replaced the whole thing with a different kind of VP shunt. Again, she did well. But last week we saw Alison in trouble again with headaches and abdominal pain, and a couple of days before she had suffered a grand mal seizure. She had been to a local Pediatrician who put her on antibiotics, but she wasn’t getting better. Her parents again made the long trip to Loma de Luz. She was admitted to the hospital and prepared for surgery. She was pretty scared but smiled a little after Rosanne explained how she was going to do the anesthesia and prayed with her. Our chaplain, Pastor Javier, spoke with Alison and her parents, prayed with Alison, and led her to the Lord. Then we operated and found that the shunt had just separated from all the growing Alison has done. We replaced a part of the system with extra room to grow, then flushed and reconnected everything.
The shunt is working well now. No more headaches. No more seizures. She left the hospital with an appointment to return in a week to take out stitches and check on everything. If all goes well, this shunt should last at least another 5 years, maybe more. “Another 5 years, maybe more” is as good as any of us gets. But she also left the hospital a new creature in Christ. That lasts forever.
Alison is what we are here for.
News & Needs
1 – New Teachers: Along with last year’s teachers staying on for another year (though 2 going on furlough), the Lord has blessed El Camino School with teachers just when we needed them–Lydia, Emma, Andrea, and Sydney.
2 – Doctors: We also have great new young Doctors coming on at Hospital Loma de Luz–Drs. Alejandra, William, Dayani, and Daniel.
3 – El Camino Administrator: The Administrator at El Camino is a key position, and Karla Caballero de Asfura, the wife of our Chaplain, Javier Asfura, will be our new El Camino Administrator for this upcoming year.
4 – Need for Short Term CRNA or Anesthesiologist: We have become busier and busier with surgery at Loma de Luz, with patients coming directly to Loma de Luz from all over Honduras. While we are increasing our Honduran OR tech and nursing staff, it would be really helpful if we could schedule a short-term missionary CRNA or Anesthesiologist to augment our (2) sometimes over-burdened full-time Anesthesia providers for at least one week per month.
5 – Hospital Inspection: After preparing vigorously for a hospital inspection last year, on the day of the inspection, the inspectors didn’t come. They recently, however, made a surprise inspection. They were very appreciative of the work being done here but will also meet with us in August to provide a list of what they want done. Please pray that it will not contain anything structurally impossible or overly burdensome to accomplish.
6 – Video to Share: We thought you might like to see this video recently put together by Loma de Luz Missionary David Hubbard, interviewing our Chaplain about the spiritual impact of Loma de Luz. https://youtu.be/XW1RvfhqMyI?feature=shared
7 – Compounding Interest—an encouraging note from Chaplain Javier (an introduction he sent out recently at Loma de Luz): I present to you Pastor Jorge Flores. He has been in ministry 15 years. What’s surprising is that he found Jesus through the chaplain at Loma de Luz 19 years ago. It’s beautiful how the hospital is a source of ministers and servants of God.