Tonight we spent the evening at one of our pastor's house. We got there about 4:00 ( we were suppose to be there about 3:00 but hand a couple of things that came up at the last minute). Patti was trying to teach Cindy how to make flour tortillas. Cindy can make the corn tortillas but the flour ones a more difficult and Cindy was wanting to learn.
We had a great time with them and their three children - Gabi (15), Yahaira (10) and José (7). We had supper with them - eggs, refried beans, crema, and tortillas - and it was great.
About the time we were finishing eating Julio (the dad) got home from work. Brad and Julio watched a movie while Cindy, Patti and kids hung out together in the kid's bedroom. We had a good time and understood most of what was going on. Doesn't mean we understood every word but we could follow the general flow.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
November 25, 2008 - Jose
This afternoon they had Jose's funeral. All the gringos at Faith Home attended along with Miguel and Marcos (two of our house parents). Once again we went to the same house where we were last night. Today Jose was in a casket and right after we arrived they closed the casket and loaded the casket into the back of a pickup.
Then all of the people at the house, probably 50 or so, walked behind the truck as it drove to the church. We were on a main road but the other vehicles didn't seem to mind. We walked for about 20 -30 minutes and then arrived at the church. They had a short mass and then we all walked behind the pickup to the cemetery. Some guys with ropes lowered the casket. They put some tin over the top, begin covering the tin with cement, and that was it.
The simplicity of it was nice. The only decisions for the family were to purchase the standard casket and a burial plot. It was a nice tribute to Jose.
Please continue to pray for Jose's wife and three small children.
Then all of the people at the house, probably 50 or so, walked behind the truck as it drove to the church. We were on a main road but the other vehicles didn't seem to mind. We walked for about 20 -30 minutes and then arrived at the church. They had a short mass and then we all walked behind the pickup to the cemetery. Some guys with ropes lowered the casket. They put some tin over the top, begin covering the tin with cement, and that was it.
The simplicity of it was nice. The only decisions for the family were to purchase the standard casket and a burial plot. It was a nice tribute to Jose.
Please continue to pray for Jose's wife and three small children.
November 24, 2008 - Jose
We returned from San Pedro Sula about 4:30 today and Miguel told us that Jose had passed away about 15 minutes ago. Jose is the gentlemen whose house we have been visiting to try and help him because he has been sick. We had also visited him in the hospital recently with Saul when Saul shared the gospel with him and Jose became a believer.
We went to our house, unloaded our stuff, and picked up Miguel and headed for Jose's house. As we turned onto the street toward Jose's house his son was in the road and directed us to a different house. We parked and went into the house. The family was there and Jose was lying on the table with two candles burning - one beside each foot. It was so different from the States but it was nice. The family was there and we were able to talk with his wife and Cindy could hug on his daughter (about 12 years old) for awhile. During our visits to Jose's house Cindy and the daughter had developed a bit of a bond.
His wife told us he came home from the hospital about 2:00 and died about 4:15. To get home from the hospital he had to take a taxi ride which is about a 45 minute ride. But, he wanted to die at home with his children. We stayed for about an hour and then headed back to the house.
Jose has worked for Hogar de Fe for 10 years and is one of our longest employees. He will be missed. He was such nice man, showed up to work everyday, and was a fixture around here.
We went to our house, unloaded our stuff, and picked up Miguel and headed for Jose's house. As we turned onto the street toward Jose's house his son was in the road and directed us to a different house. We parked and went into the house. The family was there and Jose was lying on the table with two candles burning - one beside each foot. It was so different from the States but it was nice. The family was there and we were able to talk with his wife and Cindy could hug on his daughter (about 12 years old) for awhile. During our visits to Jose's house Cindy and the daughter had developed a bit of a bond.
His wife told us he came home from the hospital about 2:00 and died about 4:15. To get home from the hospital he had to take a taxi ride which is about a 45 minute ride. But, he wanted to die at home with his children. We stayed for about an hour and then headed back to the house.
Jose has worked for Hogar de Fe for 10 years and is one of our longest employees. He will be missed. He was such nice man, showed up to work everyday, and was a fixture around here.
Monday, November 24, 2008
November 22, 2008 - College Football
Brad loves college football but it's not a big deal here, and they don't show it on the three and a half TV stations we get. So, he is relegated to sitting in front of the computer screen with his coke, chips, and dip and watching the helmets move on the little fake football field while hoping he doesn't lose the internet connection. He usually tires of this quickly and moves on to other things, but he does come back periodically to check the scores.
November 22, 2008 - Soccer Tournament
We did have one problem that arose during the day. Cindy became extremely attached to the little guy in the pic. He is one of the kids from the orphanage that hosted the tournament. Cindy decided what's the difference if they have him or we have him we are all trying to do the same thing. So, she begin devising ways she could justify bringing him back to Faith Home with us. She also fell in love with a little nine year old girl that was deaf from the orphanage. This little girl was so much fun to be around. She was very outgoing, expressive, and enjoyed interacting with people. Sorry we just realized we didn't get a picture of her.
November 22, 2008 - Soccer Tournament
Pics of the food being prepared - man was it good. Tortillas with peppers, onions, beef and chicken. Just being under the tent while they cooked was a pleasure. A pic of the tents provided by Pepsi for the day. The tents are also where we spent most of our day trying to stay out of the rain.
November 22, 2008 - Soccer Tournament
Pics of our team playing along with a pic of our coaching staff. That's Joel on the right and Jorge on the left.
November 22, 2008 - Soccer Tournament
The highlight for many of the kids was the fact that some players from the professional soccer team Real Espana came to the event and hung out with the kids. That's one of our kids (Dago) with one of the players. A pic of our team with all the players from Real Espana. We are told with that the one in the hat is their best player. The players from Real Espana were great with the kids and really seemed to enjoy being around them.
November 22, 2008 - Soccer Tournament
Today an orphanage in San Pedro Sula hosted a soccer tournament and invited five other orphanages to participate along with them. We went with our team from Faith Home and had a great day. It rained just about all day but it didn't seem to bother any of the kids on the teams.
The lady who is the director of the orphanage, Vivian, went out of her way to make sure we (all of us North Americans that came with our kids) had a good time. Including providing Faith Home with a list of several contacts that help their orphanage with food and other supplies for the kids.
Our team placed third at the tournament which included receiving a trophy and one of our players, Alan, got a medal for scoring the most goals in the tournament. Our kids, and we're sure all the other kids, had such a great, great time. The day included Pepsi providing free pepsis, shirts, and bandanas for each kid, lunch prepared on site by one of the local restaurants (for those familiar with Honduras it was Fogencito's) which was excellent, and snow cones.
We could not stay for the entire day and had to leave before the games in the afternoon so we didn't know how our team did. But about 4:00 in the afternoon it was easy to tell they had won a trophy. Because when they arrived on campus and piled out of the van they were yelling and celebrating and showing their trophy to anybody they could find. Here's a picture of our team getting their trophy.
Friday, November 21, 2008
November 20, 2008 - Pastor's Conference
We've had to make a change to the dates for the Pastor's Conference. One of the days we had scheduled was November 30th - a Sunday. That day is election day here. So we've moved the date to December 13 - 14, 2008. Please continue to pray. We (Saul, Miguel, Brad, Cindy) are getting more excited about the conference as it gets closer.
November 20, 2008 Honduras contra Mexico
YEEEAAAA!!!!! Honduras beat Mexico tonight 1 - 0 in the world cup qualifier game. Honduras is going crazy. They have been talking about the game for last two weeks. All this week they have been selling flags, jerseys, and other items at all the stop lights in San Pedro Sula and El Progreso. We bought a flag today ($2.50) and put it on our truck while we were driving around El Progreso.
After we got back to Faith Home we went to the boys transition house (where the all the teenage boys live) to the give them the flag for tonight's game. Alan (one of the two brothers that plays for the professional team in San Pedro Sula - they play for something similar to a minor league team that feeds into the major league team) tells us that he is going to the game and will get to be one of the ball boys during the game. The Dog! We expressed to him how much we didn't like him anymore and he just laughed.
Soccer may not be that big, on a national level, in the States but here it is huge. Saul told us earlier today that if Honduras wins tonight the fast food restaurants will being having buy one combo and get one combo free tomorrow. Might have to investigate that.
After we got back to Faith Home we went to the boys transition house (where the all the teenage boys live) to the give them the flag for tonight's game. Alan (one of the two brothers that plays for the professional team in San Pedro Sula - they play for something similar to a minor league team that feeds into the major league team) tells us that he is going to the game and will get to be one of the ball boys during the game. The Dog! We expressed to him how much we didn't like him anymore and he just laughed.
Soccer may not be that big, on a national level, in the States but here it is huge. Saul told us earlier today that if Honduras wins tonight the fast food restaurants will being having buy one combo and get one combo free tomorrow. Might have to investigate that.
Friday, November 14, 2008
November 14, 2008 - Budget
This morning Brad met with Saul (superintendent of the Bible Institute) and Miguel (president of the pastors) for about two hours. He handed over to them control of a large portion of the budget, along with the clothing and Bibles we have on hand. They are now responsible for how, where, and when the money is spent, the clothing is used, and the Bibles are used. We consider this a significant step in moving toward the pastors and leaders in Honduras being in charge of the movement. It was a good meeting and all three of them came away from it excited.
Please pray for Saul, Miguel, and Us as we continue to move down this path of transferring control of the movement. All of us need wisdom and to be able to hear God when He speaks, to know it's Him speaking, to understand His will and His heart and His desire, and then to have the courage to act. If you are willing please, please pray.
The Pastor's Conference will continue with this theme of the churches in Honduras moving from a receiving and dependency mindset to a self-supporting mindset.
Please pray for Saul, Miguel, and Us as we continue to move down this path of transferring control of the movement. All of us need wisdom and to be able to hear God when He speaks, to know it's Him speaking, to understand His will and His heart and His desire, and then to have the courage to act. If you are willing please, please pray.
The Pastor's Conference will continue with this theme of the churches in Honduras moving from a receiving and dependency mindset to a self-supporting mindset.
November 13, 2008 - Hot Water Heater Con't
We get up this morning and guess what. No hot water - again. David, Rodney, and Brad check the element in the water heater and it's dead. (ok, let's be honest here - David and Rodney do the work while Brad holds the ladder and watches since they know what they are doing and Brad doesn't). This afternoon we go to San Pedro Sula to buy a new element from a different store and install it this evening. Hey, what do you know? Hot water again. Now the big test will be do we still have hot water Sunday because that will be how long the last element lasted.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
November 11, 2008 Water Heater
We had to change the heating element on our hot water heater yesterday. We've been without hot water for exactly one week now. Took us most of the day because the valve for the water flow into the hot water heater leaks by (didn't know this) and the drain was clogged so only a small dribble was coming out. The water was going in faster than the drain could take it out. We finally had to turn the water supply off to the house but the drain clogged up and we couldn't get any water out. The only way we could drain the water was by unscrewing the heating element and letting water flow into a bucket. Once the bucket was full we screwed the heating element back in and emptied the bucket. This was further complicated the fact that the water heater is mounted in the attic so to dump the water we had to go up and down the ladder.
After we drained the water heater here is a picture of the calcium that we cleaned out of the water heater. No wonder the drain was clogged. The container is 10" x 8" and about 3" high. It is completely full of the calcium that we cleaned out.
November 10, 2008 Jose
In the afternoon we went to visit our night guard, Jose, at his house. He has been very sick and we have been taking him some Ensure to drink. His wife told us he has not eaten solid food for two months. When we got to his house his wife told us they had taken him to the hospital in San Pedro Sula yesterday and she was going to go visit him tonight. So, we volunteered to drive her and we would go visit Jose also. We were going to pick her up at 5:00 that night for 30 - 40 minute drive to San Pedro Sula because visiting hours were only from 5:30 - 7:00. We asked Saul to go with us to help with that language issue thing and for help in finding the hospital.
We arrive at 5:00 to pick up Jose's wife and his wife, her sister, and her mother come out to get in the truck. We already have three people in the truck and it really only seats five. No problem, this is Honduras. Cindy will just sit in the middle of the front seat and Saul will ride with us in the front seat and the three women can ride in the back. Saul and the three women tell us we can't go like this because the truck is only designed for 5 and they will give us a ticket. They are acting very worried. So, we decide to go back to Faith Home and get the van. On the way back to Faith Home we are behind a pickup truck that has a young man riding in the bed of truck. He is sitting on the tailgate with one leg in the bed of the truck and one leg on the back bumper. We ask Saul if that is ok and he says yes because they are not in the truck. We are confused but do change to the van.
After an hour of driving from Faith Home we finally make it to the hospital. Now driving around here can be pretty crazy but tonight was just plain scary. From the taxi stopping in the left lane of the highway with traffic doing about 80 kph and us almost hitting the vehicle in front of us because we couldn't stop in time, to the girl who tried to cross the two lanes of traffic on our side of the rode and then just stopped in our lane causing to take some drastic action not to hit her, to the vehicles with not tail lights, to the crazy guy intentionally trying and trying again to hit our side mirror with his side mirror. He tried several times before he did and then after he did it he stops beside us and yells at us. After several other very close calls we were ready to get to the hospital.
After we were there Cindy said "I know why it was so difficult to get here tonight." Saul had just shared the gospel with Jose and Jose had become a believer. For those that have been around when Saul shares the gospel you know he is very straight forward. Guess the crazy nerve racking drive was worth it.
We arrive at 5:00 to pick up Jose's wife and his wife, her sister, and her mother come out to get in the truck. We already have three people in the truck and it really only seats five. No problem, this is Honduras. Cindy will just sit in the middle of the front seat and Saul will ride with us in the front seat and the three women can ride in the back. Saul and the three women tell us we can't go like this because the truck is only designed for 5 and they will give us a ticket. They are acting very worried. So, we decide to go back to Faith Home and get the van. On the way back to Faith Home we are behind a pickup truck that has a young man riding in the bed of truck. He is sitting on the tailgate with one leg in the bed of the truck and one leg on the back bumper. We ask Saul if that is ok and he says yes because they are not in the truck. We are confused but do change to the van.
After an hour of driving from Faith Home we finally make it to the hospital. Now driving around here can be pretty crazy but tonight was just plain scary. From the taxi stopping in the left lane of the highway with traffic doing about 80 kph and us almost hitting the vehicle in front of us because we couldn't stop in time, to the girl who tried to cross the two lanes of traffic on our side of the rode and then just stopped in our lane causing to take some drastic action not to hit her, to the vehicles with not tail lights, to the crazy guy intentionally trying and trying again to hit our side mirror with his side mirror. He tried several times before he did and then after he did it he stops beside us and yells at us. After several other very close calls we were ready to get to the hospital.
After we were there Cindy said "I know why it was so difficult to get here tonight." Saul had just shared the gospel with Jose and Jose had become a believer. For those that have been around when Saul shares the gospel you know he is very straight forward. Guess the crazy nerve racking drive was worth it.
November 10, 2008 Container
Day seven of being held hostage waiting for the container to arrive. Yeah! It came today. Unloading the truck was not as adventurous as we expected. Inside of the two hour time limit we had the container unloaded thanks to a lot of help from the house parents and many of the kids (they love doing stuff like this).
November 10, 2008 Graduation
More pics of the kids. This is Luisa on the left and Ingrid on the right.
November 10, 2008 Graduation
Our graduates. Graduates from the sixth grade standing behind the flag from left to right: Giancarlo and Jose Pacheco with sixth grade teacher and school principal Miss Thelma. The group of little ones are the pre-k and kindergarten class with their teacher Nadia.Miss. The bottom pic are the students with the top grades in each class. Starting from the left - Giancarlo, Dago, Karen, Karla, and Angelica.
November 10, 2008 Graduation
Pics of the kids at the ceremony along with Cindy and some of her buddies. In the bottom pic from left to right - Ericka, Greisy, and Glenda with Cindy. In the top pic from left to right with Cindy - Miriam, one of the twins (can't tell them apart), and Greyvi.
November 10, 2008 Graduation
Today was graduation for our school. The students graduating from Kindergarten and those graduating from sixth grade. It was held in the cafeteria/church/auditorium. All the kids that attend the on campus school were there along with few of the older kids, all the house parents, and all the gringos that live on campus (that would include us). We got to be Olvin's godparents as he graduated from Kindergarten to first grade. He looked good in his tie. That's Olvin behind his diploma and sitting beside Brad.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
November 9, 2008 - Pastor's Conference
We are having a pastor’s conference with all the pastors in Honduras on the 29th and 30th of this month (November) here at Faith Home. This is the first time we will have all the pastors together in one place at the same time. We are extremely excited about the conference. It is going to be such a great time of building a bond of unity among all the pastors, sharing the vision with the group as a whole, and encouraging the pastors through love and a nice dinner (i.e. Applebee’s) for Pastor Appreciation Day.
About 40% of our pastors must travel to attend the conference and be housed and fed while they are here. We are asking for those who believe that God would desire they support this conference to: (1) PLEASE begin praying now for this conference. Pray for the pastors and for us as this conference comes together; (2) Please consider supporting one or more of the pastors for this conference. The average cost for a pastor to attend is $60. This includes transportation (to/from the conference), all their meals, and the special Pastor’s appreciation meal at Applebee’s. Eating at an Applebee’s is such a special treat for the pastors. It’s just not something they can do on their own.
Donations may be mailed to: General Baptist International Missions, 100 Stinson Drive, Poplar Bluff, MO 63901. Please write “Honduras Pastor’s Conference” on the memo line. If you decide to contribute please send us an email (lucy1314@hotmail.com) to let us know so we can track it. Even if you can’t get the money in by the conference if you will let us know how much you anticipate contributing it will help us tremendously.
These men and women are always giving out to others. We want to make this a special day and half for them to receive something. Please PRAY that it will be a special time for these special men and women.
We are including the names of the pastors so you can PRAY for them by name: Saul, Miguel, Milton, Marcial, Marcos, Elias, Humberto, Renaldo, Julio, Raul, Oscar, Mercedes, Tino, Pastor (his real name), Jose Luis, Aura Estela, Ramone.
About 40% of our pastors must travel to attend the conference and be housed and fed while they are here. We are asking for those who believe that God would desire they support this conference to: (1) PLEASE begin praying now for this conference. Pray for the pastors and for us as this conference comes together; (2) Please consider supporting one or more of the pastors for this conference. The average cost for a pastor to attend is $60. This includes transportation (to/from the conference), all their meals, and the special Pastor’s appreciation meal at Applebee’s. Eating at an Applebee’s is such a special treat for the pastors. It’s just not something they can do on their own.
Donations may be mailed to: General Baptist International Missions, 100 Stinson Drive, Poplar Bluff, MO 63901. Please write “Honduras Pastor’s Conference” on the memo line. If you decide to contribute please send us an email (lucy1314@hotmail.com) to let us know so we can track it. Even if you can’t get the money in by the conference if you will let us know how much you anticipate contributing it will help us tremendously.
These men and women are always giving out to others. We want to make this a special day and half for them to receive something. Please PRAY that it will be a special time for these special men and women.
We are including the names of the pastors so you can PRAY for them by name: Saul, Miguel, Milton, Marcial, Marcos, Elias, Humberto, Renaldo, Julio, Raul, Oscar, Mercedes, Tino, Pastor (his real name), Jose Luis, Aura Estela, Ramone.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
November 8, 2008
Here in Honduras the next holiday is Christmas. They don't celebrate thanksgivings here - don't understand why????
We went into Diunsa (kind of the Honduras equivalent of a cross between Walmart and Target) last week and they had Christmas decorations EVERYWHERE. No exaggeration, they had at least 50 artificial Christmas trees of many different varieties put together and on display with many of them decorated. Since it is illegal to cut down your own tree here - as best we can understand - and following our philosophy of - if the store has what you want and you plan on buying sometime in the near future your better go ahead and get now. Because when you come back to buy it later it may be gone and there is no guarantee they will ever have another one. So, we are now the proud owners of a low cost artificial Christmas tree. Seems a little odd putting up your Christmas and sweating. Cindy did all the decorating.
November 8, 2008
We are now into our sixth straight day of no rain and beautiful days. We are also into our fifth day of waiting for a container to arrive from the Puerto Cortes. It was suppose to be here Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday, then for sure yesterday (Friday), and now they tell us it will definitely be here today (Saturday). Our approach now is when we see the truck pulling through the front gate then we will believe it.
It would not be a big deal except we only have two hours to completely unload the container or they will charge us extra money and there is some very heavy stuff on it that will take all of us to unload it. Thus, we can't really leave the campus in case the container should show up while we are gone. So we have basically been held hostage by the container now for five days.
Yesterday was a big day for Cindy. Because David (one of our teammates) and Brad needed to stay at Faith Home in case the container arrived they couldn't leave the campus. However, Tania (David's wife) had to go to the bank in San Pedro Sula to do some banking for Faith Home and to pay the electric bill (all utilities are paid at the bank). So, Cindy drove for the first time in the city of San Pedro Sula. It was just her and Tania. They made it to the bank and back without any major incidents except for hitting a couple of large pot holes - it's almost impossible to miss all of them. Unless you've had the experience of driving, or at least riding, in San Pedro Sula it's hard to appreciate the accomplishment.
It would not be a big deal except we only have two hours to completely unload the container or they will charge us extra money and there is some very heavy stuff on it that will take all of us to unload it. Thus, we can't really leave the campus in case the container should show up while we are gone. So we have basically been held hostage by the container now for five days.
Yesterday was a big day for Cindy. Because David (one of our teammates) and Brad needed to stay at Faith Home in case the container arrived they couldn't leave the campus. However, Tania (David's wife) had to go to the bank in San Pedro Sula to do some banking for Faith Home and to pay the electric bill (all utilities are paid at the bank). So, Cindy drove for the first time in the city of San Pedro Sula. It was just her and Tania. They made it to the bank and back without any major incidents except for hitting a couple of large pot holes - it's almost impossible to miss all of them. Unless you've had the experience of driving, or at least riding, in San Pedro Sula it's hard to appreciate the accomplishment.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
November 5, 2008 - Dinner
Tonight we had the family that lives by the Bible Institute over for supper along with our teammates - David and Tania Willis and Julia Phillips. It was nice. We had pizza. Hung out together. Laughed together. And the boys all got cookies from Cindy before they left. A picture of the three boys.
Monday, November 3, 2008
November 2, 2008 - Church
Tonight we went to the church we work with in La Sabana. It's about a 30 minute drive with most of the drive being on a gravel road that has been torn up by all the rain and flooding. We could only drive about 20 kph and still it was a very bumpy ride. Brad preached tonight - in Spanish - and Cindy said she understood most of it. Guess there is something to one gringo being able to understand the Spanish of another gringo. We've included a picture and a short video for your viewing pleasure.
November 2, 2008 - Raul
This afternoon we went to the house of one of our pastors and had supper with him and his family. Cindy jumped in and was helping make tortillas and learning how to make them even better than she does now. The little one in the pictures is their youngest daughter - Genesis Joanna (she's a cutie and a character).
While the women were cooking Brad and Raul are working hard in their chairs. Notice the remote in Raul's hand. It's the same everywhere in the world - the guy must have a remote.
November 2, 2008 -Jose
We have been to check on Jose, our night guard at Faith Home, on Friday and then again today (Sunday). Friday he was not doings so well, but today when we arrived he was sitting in the hammock on his porch and looked better. We are concerned that he may have more then just pneumonia. Please continue to pray for him.
His wife told us he has not eaten solid food for two months. We went to the store and got him some more Ensure and, per his request, we got him some pineapple and some watermelon. Hopefully he is getting better.
As you can see from the picture some of the neighbors were not anxious to move out of the road so we could get to his house.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
November 1, 2008
How would you feel if the police came to your door and said we have a problem? Not a problem with you or anything associated with you. They have a problem they need us to help them with. Hum, could it be it's the first of the month and they want their monthly payment. Yep, think that's it. We pay them 500 limpiras (~27 dollars) each month. Some people call it protection money, some people call it a bride, here we just consider it the cost of doing business in Honduras. We give them their money then make them sign a receipt saying they received the money (signing a receipt for your "doing business" money - that's different) and we keep a copy. A little different than the States.
Day six of rain and counting.
Day six of rain and counting.
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