Preaching at the Orphanage

Awhile back we visited a girls home about 15 minutes up in the mountains *we're in the mts. but this is REALLY in the mts!* and became drawn to the ministry. We made friends with the directors and recently they invited Beto to preach. We went up Sat. afternoon and spent that part of the day with the girls, getting to know them a little. They have three houses each with a house mom, a cafeteria and many other things, including a trampoline *the girls wore me out!* and some pigs, chickens, rabbit, and dogs. Sunday morning Beto preached about Who controls our thoughts using Jonah as his base example. Please pray for this ministry as they are experiencing some serious illnesses onsite and changes within the ministry.

Open House!

Here are some pictures from Open HOuse. Those are my coworkers who teach other classes in First Grade, the door of my room and some work we put up around on the walls. It all looked really nice and we had a pretty good turnout. the highlight was when a parent told us he coudl see the kids work hard in class and he congratulated us as teachers. That makes up for all the negative comments we usually hear from others. I´m just happy there´s only 3 weeks till summer break!

Public Baths

Monday we had off for Mother´s Day and we were going to go visit Miguel. He had boiling coffee accidentally spilled on him about a week before and they were keeping him in the house to heal and not get it dirty. But he came! We were so excited! The burn area does look pretty bad but it is getting better daily. It was on the left side of his head, his ear and a little on his cheek. They didn´t take him to the Dr. but at this point about all I could do was put some Neosporin on it and tell him to keep it real clean (very difficult with dirt roads). We already had plans to go on a picnic to the near by swimming pool so we all took a walk. It´s really pretty, recently renovated with waterfalls, walkways, picnic tables, and huge brightly painted jugs of water and other figures. On our way home Mateo decided he´s big enough now to walk himself, and then Beto decided to throw him in the fountain for a ¨bath¨. That´s when I pushed Beto in too. Let´s just say by the end of the day we were all wet. We´d not gone swimming becuase the water was really dirty, but we were wet from the fountain or water bottles by the end of the day.
Please pray for Miguel and our role in his life.

Beto´s trip to El Salvador

The first picture is of a vulture eating an old animal carcas. I just had to share it. I think it used to be a dog and it was left by the side of the road near our apartments many many moons ago, like maybe before Christmas. Then one day some nice man came and burried it there. Well, a couple of weeks ago some animals dug it up again and the yet another person had the great idea to fling it over the fence, and since then no one´s had the guts (no pun intended) to touch it. But there must have been some kind of goodies left on it becuase there´s the bird.

On a much better note, Beto took a weekend trip to El Salvador last weekend with some good friends from church. They went to help our former pastor finally pack up the last of his things to make his move with his family to Mexico. I did´t want to go becuase the driver scares me he´s so crazy and I knew I would get sick. They could´ve bought those big fish for only $3 a head but I guess they didn´t trust them. Appetizing huh? One of the brothers in the picture is planning to raise funds thise next two years to move to Afghanistan with his wife to be missionaries. his sister is one of my english students here in our sister church. I just found this out last week just before Beto went to see them. It´s wonderful to meet so many people here who have a heart for missions. Now there is a powerful mission minded movement in all of latin america and these countries are sending out thousands of latinos to other countries such as Afghanistan where they don´t stand out as much as we white people do. Pray for the harvest and that God would continue to send out workers into it!

surprise!

here are just a couple pictures of the surprise party we threw for my good friend Jessy. She thought she was coming for her English class and she wasn´t very excited about it because we were both tired, but she was glad she came after all. i praise God for answering my prayers for great friends like her!

Earth Day field trip

Here are just afew picutres from our Earth Day all school field trip. I love the one of Jeyson in the tree. It was pretty hot for all of us mountain people, and humid, and we sought shade and liquids at everyturn. Jeyson is a special boy dear to my heart. He came in new to the school this year behind most of the kids in english. At the beginning he had a private tutor most nights for about an hour or two and is now beyond most of the others in his english level. He lives with his grandmother and uncle because all I know is that his mother is living inthe States. This is such a common sad story with children not only in our school but in all of Honduras. Many people leave all behind, including their families, to go to the states to pursue the American Dream, make a lot of money and send a lot of it back to their loved ones here. That is why a lot of our students are in our school. They can afford it becuase they have a steady ïncome¨from the States, but I know the kids would much rather have their parents with them and be in a public school than have thier parents gone just so they could have more money. Jeyson is a really smart, sweet kid and he´s one of many. Please pray for us as we minister to them and for them that they will grow to know Christ as their one and only sufficient Saviour.

good stuff

Sorry I havn´t written lately. Here are a few highlights. pictures to come later.

To avoid having to do two presentations close together for father´s and mother´s day, we had our own invention in april (father´s day is in march here)...Family Day. All of the classes put on a skit, song, or dance or a little bit of all of those. My friend Ms. Jessy from the high school helped me choreograph a song sung by a chimpmunk sounding character called the train of salvation. It was a lot of fun for the kids and had a good message for everyone.

Last Friday we had an all school field trip to a lake about 2 hours north. we visited an archeological rain forest park and a butterfly garden. My favorite part was eating fried fish on the lake, where we went awhile ago with friends but this time it was real hot and humid, much nicer weather! It was a real long day, from 5.30am until 6.30 pm,but it was a lot of fun.

Yesterday we were invited by our friends who minister up inthe mountains at an orphanage to eat lunch. They have a group in town so we ate with them and got to meet a lot of really great people. We spent the afternoon up in the orphanage just hanging out and having a lot of fun with the girls. It is so exciting to meet new people with a great love for God and see how God is working in all parts of Honduras.

Please continue to pray for us as we make some changes this coming summer, some of which we don´t know what they will be but we know there will be some.

Blessings!

Cant' think of one

Sorry, I always spend the most time trying to think of a title and today I am just rebelling and not putting one.
Great things have been happening lately, as usual! Last week about 10 people came forward for prayer and to dedicate or rededicate their lives to Christ, and Beto and I had the priveledge of praying with a couple of them. It was amazing to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and hear a prayer of confession from another sister of the church.

and today Beto preached! Our pastor and a group of people went to one of our sister churches in El Salvador (there's a name you can pronounce) to help them in some building projects. Beto preached on Judas, his life and ministry and how he got to the point of betraying Jesus and the applications we can apply in our lives from his story. It was really great and afterwards one man and woman came forward for prayer. Praise God that He is faithfully always working through His people!

Afterwards, we took miguel and his brother jorge out to lunch with ms. dani. Miguel has brought his older brother twice now to the church. Please pray for us as we desire to minister to the whole family. It's exciting to see progress and improvement in their livesj, spiritually and otherwise.

I tried to get a serious picture of Beto at the restaurant, but it's nearly impossible.

And of course, our blog wouldn't be complete without yet another picture of our ever growing Mateo.

Blessings and have a peaceful week!

El Samaritano...The Samaritan Rehab Center

Another ministry we are happy to be a small part of is the alchohlic rehab center. There the men learn, or use, their skills to repair bikes, make ropes, plant their own food, and weave intricately designed vests, shoes, and other items to sell. We buy them food monthly and more often than I Beto visits them to encourage, teach, preach, or listen…basically just hang out with them. It is a joy to see them every week in church too. Many lives are being radically changed for Christ everyday and we pray it will always continue that way here in our town called “hope”. Here you can see Beto modeling one of the vests made at the center.

Beto's jobs

Everyday we marvel at how God brought us together, that he brought us to La Esperanza, and that we are both teachers now in a total of 3 schools! And here now, with never before seen footage are fotos of Beto and his classes. In “Instituto Nuevo Mundo”, or New World High School he teaches Bible two days a week in a total of 15 classes with 280 students. He really enjoys the challenge and the opportunities he has each time to share Christ with the teens.
Every weekday evening for two hours he teaches 15 more young adults in Educatodos, or “Educate Everyone”. It is a program designed for adults who want to complete their high school education. He teaches a very basic beginning English class and algebra. Every Friday he or another church leader in town leads them in a devotional. For some, it is the only Christian influence they have at all.
Beto never once thought he would be a teacher, and especially to so many students. He is excited about these jobs God has given him where he has such a great opportunity to speak about Jesus to almost 300 people each week! And he’s building sound relationships with some. It’s a delight to walk with him through town and have his students greet him enthusiastically. It’s obvious that he is well-liked and repected.

bday and mateo

Miss jessy, my english student, surprised me and took us out to a bday dinner.
Look how big mateo is!