5.30.2009
Earthquake!
Well friends, we have officially survived our first real earthquake!!! It was pretty scary, the house was rocking and rolling quite a bit and it really did seem to last for a looong time (though it was probably about 30-40 seconds). We were a little scared, but God is good and not one thing fell and we never lost power! We were really surprised about that especially since it was CRAZY shaking! Also, we were surprised that it was all so quiet. In movies, you hear screaming and crashing, and creaking and cracking, etc. This was pretty strong shaking, but hardly any noise! Not even the neighborhood dogs were barking! And the rumbling noise wasn't very loud at all! All the next day there were aftershocks and even the next night I woke up at 11ish when the house shook again from a milder shock! According to the USGS website map-thing, what we felt here was around a 5.5ish quake! Anyway, it was exciting and scary and I thought I'd share it with you guys!
5.23.2009
An end and a new beginning!
HELLO EVERYONE!
A lot has happened in the past couple months! We are almost at the end of the school year! We have only one more day of exams, and then a "celebration day" left with the students. Then we have a week or so of teacher work days and the senior graduation. We are excited about the close of this year and the things God is preparing for us to do this next year. Here is an exerpt from the support letter we are sending out with details on what we will be doing:
Two close missionary friends of ours, Pastor Jeff Hines and his wife, are starting a community transformation project in a community outside of La Ceiba called Las Delicias. The people there are living in what would make most people shudder. No water, no electricity, no floor, some even with no beds or outhouses. Rather than live, they work to survive. The first time we went with them, as the Lord was quickening our hearts to help with making a difference in these people’s lives, Julie told us that they had been praying we would do just that. Specifically they need a photographer and someone to help coordinate short-term missionary teams, two positions that could have been hand-crafted for us. As God continued to give confirmation after confirmation, we became fully convinced that He wanted us to set aside something good (teaching in Rio Viejo) in order to know something better!
The first project is the installation of a well that will pump purified water. After that, as a team we will be building community showers and sinks, outhouses for the homes that don’t have them, a community center, a playground, and a day-care center. God willing, there will also be a home (down the mountain in a neighboring community) where kids in the worst situations (either from more extreme poverty or abuse) can stay for one month intervals until their situation at home improves. Until we raise all of our support we will be house-parents there, then training the people who will take over after we get our funding.
The girl on the left is named Carla Patricia, and she is one of the sickest children we have seen up there. She has a number of conditions that went untreated for a very long time. She is currently getting medical attention, thanks to Jeff and Julie. Please be in prayer for her as she makes a long road towards recovery.
Here are a few of the things we have been up to:
We got to go to Copan! Ancient Mayan ruins are the main attraction in Copan, but we also had the opportunity to go horseback riding while we were there.
Science Fair! Science fair 2009 was a big improvement over the previous year. Dave was in charge of organizing the event and assisting all of the students in grades 8th-11th with their projects. Here are the first place winners from 10th-11th grade, Lorena, Carolina, and Amanda. They had a great project on which type of soil is best for construction.
We had an end of the year, school-wide chapel a couple weeks ago. Students from across all grades had an opportunity to use their talents to praise God. If you know Becky and I, you know we didn't sing or play any instruments, but it was a big blessing to share in it.
We have been getting to attend some baseball games here in La Ceiba. One of our students, Cristo, plays on a local team and we like to support him. Go Dragones!
The school celebrated "Dia Tipico" (Typical Day), a Honduran holiday, with games, costumes, and native foods.
Another missionary family in the city has set up special days for the kids of Armenia Bonito. The first, girls day, involved helping to "beautify" the girls of the community. First, most of them needed to be de-loused. Becky, since she is so awesome, was in charge of helping comb all of the lice out of the girls' hair. Afterwards, they got hair cuts and styles, "manicures", and accessories. Most of these girls don't have the opportunity to use shampoo, and they were so excited to have their hair cut by a professional!
A few weeks later, they also did a boy's day. With shorter hair, lice wasn't a big problem so we organized a soccer tournament, spent time with them at the beach, and fed them a good meal at a local restaraunt.
The seniors did an insect collection as one of the big projects for fourth quarter. Here, Francis shows off her impressive collection. Honduras has some cool insects as well as hard-working students!
Finally, the school held their econd annual Fun Day, which was oganized by Becky! Students competed all morning to see which team was the best- congratulations to the brown
team. At the end of the day, the students went back to school and got hosed down by firefighters from the local fire department.
A lot has happened in the past couple months! We are almost at the end of the school year! We have only one more day of exams, and then a "celebration day" left with the students. Then we have a week or so of teacher work days and the senior graduation. We are excited about the close of this year and the things God is preparing for us to do this next year. Here is an exerpt from the support letter we are sending out with details on what we will be doing:
Two close missionary friends of ours, Pastor Jeff Hines and his wife, are starting a community transformation project in a community outside of La Ceiba called Las Delicias. The people there are living in what would make most people shudder. No water, no electricity, no floor, some even with no beds or outhouses. Rather than live, they work to survive. The first time we went with them, as the Lord was quickening our hearts to help with making a difference in these people’s lives, Julie told us that they had been praying we would do just that. Specifically they need a photographer and someone to help coordinate short-term missionary teams, two positions that could have been hand-crafted for us. As God continued to give confirmation after confirmation, we became fully convinced that He wanted us to set aside something good (teaching in Rio Viejo) in order to know something better!
The first project is the installation of a well that will pump purified water. After that, as a team we will be building community showers and sinks, outhouses for the homes that don’t have them, a community center, a playground, and a day-care center. God willing, there will also be a home (down the mountain in a neighboring community) where kids in the worst situations (either from more extreme poverty or abuse) can stay for one month intervals until their situation at home improves. Until we raise all of our support we will be house-parents there, then training the people who will take over after we get our funding.
The girl on the left is named Carla Patricia, and she is one of the sickest children we have seen up there. She has a number of conditions that went untreated for a very long time. She is currently getting medical attention, thanks to Jeff and Julie. Please be in prayer for her as she makes a long road towards recovery.
Here are a few of the things we have been up to:We got to go to Copan! Ancient Mayan ruins are the main attraction in Copan, but we also had the opportunity to go horseback riding while we were there.
Science Fair! Science fair 2009 was a big improvement over the previous year. Dave was in charge of organizing the event and assisting all of the students in grades 8th-11th with their projects. Here are the first place winners from 10th-11th grade, Lorena, Carolina, and Amanda. They had a great project on which type of soil is best for construction.
We had an end of the year, school-wide chapel a couple weeks ago. Students from across all grades had an opportunity to use their talents to praise God. If you know Becky and I, you know we didn't sing or play any instruments, but it was a big blessing to share in it.
We have been getting to attend some baseball games here in La Ceiba. One of our students, Cristo, plays on a local team and we like to support him. Go Dragones!
The school celebrated "Dia Tipico" (Typical Day), a Honduran holiday, with games, costumes, and native foods.
Another missionary family in the city has set up special days for the kids of Armenia Bonito. The first, girls day, involved helping to "beautify" the girls of the community. First, most of them needed to be de-loused. Becky, since she is so awesome, was in charge of helping comb all of the lice out of the girls' hair. Afterwards, they got hair cuts and styles, "manicures", and accessories. Most of these girls don't have the opportunity to use shampoo, and they were so excited to have their hair cut by a professional!
A few weeks later, they also did a boy's day. With shorter hair, lice wasn't a big problem so we organized a soccer tournament, spent time with them at the beach, and fed them a good meal at a local restaraunt.
The seniors did an insect collection as one of the big projects for fourth quarter. Here, Francis shows off her impressive collection. Honduras has some cool insects as well as hard-working students!
Finally, the school held their econd annual Fun Day, which was oganized by Becky! Students competed all morning to see which team was the best- congratulations to the brown
team. At the end of the day, the students went back to school and got hosed down by firefighters from the local fire department.
Let us know what you think of our post- we love your comments!
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