Grad bag

It is late, but I am behind, and given that we leave for Peru tomorrow (fulfilling Valerie's lifelong dream of seeing Machu Pichu...our first vacation in over ten years) where we have no clue where we will be staying and what internet access will be like, I figured I better get this posted now.

Soren's graduation from ABC to 1st grade was this past Saturday. I am still somewhat annoyed with this concept of graduation (anyone seen the Incredibles?)...but at least we will not have to deal with it again now for several years. He seemed to handle the festivities just fine. Our school thankfully kept the whole affair relatively reasonable...but some private schools here make this quite the shindig...and quite expensive. Some public ones as well! I wonder how many families afford it...and many really can not.

Especially since we went to see Toy Story 3 after it was over. I was astonished to see that it was being offered not only dubbed, as most all children's films are...but also subtitled. And then when we got there this was a movie they offered in 3D! For $20 all four of us got in to see it...the first 3D movie I can recall ever seeing. And if there was any doubt that many people wanted to see it in English...the theater was at or very near 100% full during our screening. I do not want to spoil it for anyone...so do not keep reading here if you have not seen it...but the scenes where Buzz was Spanish Buzz...given our location, the whole theater just roared with laughter. I wonder how funny people thought it was in the US? For us it was our favorite part, plus the Spanish version of You've Got a Friend In Me rocks.

ICCC had its 18th anniversary services this past weekend. As is the norm here lately...it was a standing room only affair. That new Church building is urgently needed. Interestingly...the decorations brought at least one comment as the colors used for the baloons/streamers are Spain's colors. Spain...hello? World Cup? Not sure what the thinking was there...likely those decorating never even thought about it. We played Spain shortly thereafter...and lost. Our World Cup dreams are basically over...with no goals to show for it yet either. One more game to go, but to win for pride more than as an opportunity to advance.

I think little of the weather or seasons in the US...but seeing this picture of our Impala not only brought back to my mind the incredible fantasy idea I have of converting that to an awesome mission vehicle for here in Honduras (the idea is complete...all that is left is some TV show or insane budget to make it happen), but also to think about the summer weather in the US...which is generally not that much different than here...although I hear Indiana at least has been dealing with flooding, high humidity and temperatures. Ah...yet another reason to praise God for the generally great weather here in Teguc! I also am thankful for my family, especially my brother and my Dad for keeping her in running form in our abscence. I better stop here before I write another couple paragraphs about that awesome car. Maybe I should start another blog just about the different vehicles available here in Honduras versus the US and unique vehicles like the Impala to be seen even there. What do you think...any interest for such a blog?

Atoyot, listening to the future, and the self loather

Stickers and customizing of cars here is commonplace....but not always done to perfection. Or at least not what I would define as perfection...more like "good enough for government work" standards. Actually...the stencil they use for painting government vehicles is usually a higher standard, so never mind. Let us take a look at a few I snapped over the past week, shall we?

Stencil backwards? Not sure...you would think someone would have noticed regardless.

I would rather buy a DROF

No stencil to worry about here. I like that the Make of the truck is on the mudflaps. Perhaps this is another case of the stereo being worth more than the car? One never knows.

There are never a shortage of stickers as well. The one to the right of the license plate is a very common recent Catholic sticker. Of course, to the right of the license plate is a sticker in English "I HATE STICKERS" so....go figure. I still think of the Geo Metro posted here a few years back that as part of its racing car inspired stickers included AARP.

Stock up

Last night was a supper out since it was Nick's last night in country after three weeks. What better way to send someone off than dinner at Pizza House? But first we had an opportunity to make a stop at Stock...a Costco-ish store where having a membership lowers prices for those that shop for more than just one or two items, but is not required. As we directly showed Nick and Jana...we have a membership.

Unlike life in the US for the most part...when a good deal presents itself here, you must jump on it, or it will be lost. When we saw cheap cereal...my only thought was "how do we leave enough space in the car for all of us to sit?" Add to that a very good deal on pretzels and a few other items...and we stocked up. We are fortunate enough to plan to the point where we can do that when possible.

We all had our jerseys on (Valerie's a borrowed one from Nick) because Friday is the day to wear them...so says the publicity campaign from the bank sponsoring the national team. Speaking of good deals, they offered the shirts they sell at 2 for 1 earlier than morning. Fortunately I got a few for Nick before the rest of the people who know a good deal when they hear it also overran the store (at before 8:00 that morning.) I tried to get some more for Jana and Soren that afternoon...to no avail, everyone was sold out.

When you find a good thing...you do what you can to get it, and once you have it, you tell everyone you know where they can find it as well.

I think I have heard that somewhere before....like Matthew 13:44-45 and 28:8 among others.

Window to my pain today

So I had a birthday yesterday. Here I am in my birthday present...a Motagua shirt that will double as a running shirt since it is a wicking material like dri-fit. I am standing in a bowling alley here in Teguc. I regularly bowl over 200, my high being a 257...but that being on the Wii. It has been since Cecilia was one month old that I had been bowling 'for real.' It was slightly warm...there were only two of us, and my last game I was playing by myself (Valerie already having given up due to hand fatigue)...all of which added up to quite a sweaty workout. Knowing I was on the clock(we paid for one hour)...and that I had selected two balls, I went back to back to back...for about 15-20 frames it seemed like. It was still fun...but I realized I prefer the Wii...way less expensive, no weird shoes...and it is much easier. My high score last night was a 104 I believe. But it was fun to watch the people at the next lane who had obviously never bowled before...some very, very interesting bowling throw forms there.

Contrast that with the finding this morning that another break-in was attempted at the new clinic. Our night watchman was incredulous when we told him what happened. He even came back on his own dime to see the damage for himself...he could not believe it. I will not divulge our entire security procedure here...but needless to say it will be revised to address this situation. Apparently just having him there was not enough to dissuade whomever attempted to enter this time...nor was the fact that there is a group staying in the mission house.

Again...this is most damaging to our spirits, not nearly as much to the building, which can be repaired. God lifts us up to continue...but it does wear on you, and is in the back of your mind as to the general safety.

The world cup has begun. I tried to buy some Honduran jerseys that went on 1/2 priced sale today...the crowd was overwhelming. Most places were sold out very early in the morning. We went back to get some salad after Soren got out of school...and there was a crowd in the grocery store just to catch the games. There was a crowd even at Soren's school to watch the games there. Basically everywhere you go...if there are games being played, they are being shown one way or another.

It will be quite the scene when Honduras actually plays (first game June 16th at 5:30AM local time....and you better believe everyone will be up to see it.)

Cecilia, your makin' my heart

So, how about some more fun-type news? We have some, I swear!

1. Cecilia's birthday was the 4th. Eight years old. She is getting really tall. I think she will be able to take Valerie two out of three falls in a year or two. She enjoyed her day....with her second piñata ever...that she got to pummel at school. Soren was kind enough to help carry it out that morning to the car. Nothing quite like a Disney princess purse for your piñata. Quite fitting I thought for Cecilia. Soren was bummed however that even in a small school...he was not invited to come help with the piñata...or the cake that they had. Go figure, I just assumed they would have had him there with her. Her only having her second piñata ever may sound ok if she lived in the US...but not having eight for eight in Honduras is unthinkable. Hopefully you do not think we are terrible parents. Or at least not any more terrible than before. She enjoyed her gifts from grandparents, aunts, and friends, including this snappy Hannah Montana outfit that she wore to the UCC pizza/games night that was that night. Here she is styling like J. Lo as we waited at 9:00 PM at the grocery store for Valerie...perfect time for sunglasses.

On the bonus plus side, Simone (sitting behind Cecilia here...soon to be holding her head as she fell asleep on her) was there, exposing myself and Cecilia to some more of that great British accent. Cecilia was soaking it up...but hesitant to use it until the next day. It is coming along nicely. I on the other hand proceeded to speak with the accent the entire night...except for when translating for the Honduran bloke who was there that spoke no English. Nothing like going back and forth all night from normal Spanish to British while playing Mexican train dominoes. I still maintain there is something racist about it being "Mexican train" but can not prove it....yet. A good conspiracy theory never dies...just ask me about Pat Sajak's spinning ability.

2. We were invited to visit an old friend from ICCC (she started attending another Church about eight years ago or so) on Saturday morning. She had invited us over to give her 85 year old mother an eye exam, which Valerie has done for her before at their home. This time Cecilia, Soren, Jana and Nick all got to go. Jana was in the midst of enjoying the battle of getting rid of her four parasites she somehow has been collecting, so she was not as enthralled with the visit, but managed quite nicely regardless. Sandra has always demonstrated hospitality above and beyond the call, and in the midst of our visit had baleadas galore waiting for us...plus awesome raspberry juice (extra sugar? You bet...every fruit drink...or in Honduras just about any drink...is always better sweeter, right?) Tamarindo, and some very nice looking avocados to take home with us....along with some more raspberries to make more juice at our house (sans sugar this time...just as good by the way!)

3. I translated at ICCC on Sunday for the sermon and some testimonies. I remember a missionary whose Spanish I respected many years ago come off stage translating very well say "that was terrible." I was dumbfounded...how could he think such a thing, he did great? I had a similar such experience that day. The funny flub was me getting tongue tied on some conjugation of circumcision. Those words that are the same basic spelling in English and Spanish (Latin based...medical terms most) are always the most fun.

At any rate...someone after Church made a specific point of coming up to tell me how much they appreciated the translation...and how much my Spanish has improved over the years. I did not get a sudden sense of pride or anything...but I was reminded of that time many years ago.

4. What kind of bird is this? Anybody have a clue? I was just walking up to the office and saw it (much more impressive through my eyes than this blurry picture caught on the fly as you can imagine) and was impressed...and watching birds is not something that would normally catch my attention...but this was a very bright orange/black with a tinge of white.

Sisko keeps killing birds...and bats...but he has yet to deliver one of these beauties to our door.

They just keep on coming

Where do I start? Good grief, I have been asking myself that question more than ever this week. And this was a week I was supposed to catch up...not get further behind!

I'll start with this "strictly business" post, and then try to give you an update on everything else witty and anecdotal.

1. Monday was a long...very long meeting with Celeo and Jonathan. We have known that the clothing quality has been very poor for about the past nine months or thereabouts, but finally the straw broke the bank, as it were, and both of them had to say no more. The global economy...its effects here, add in some aftermath/economical problems due to the political situation here for the past year or so and what you get was them losing money for every bag they took. Not a good way to keep things going. And to their credit...they have been sacrificing for quite a while trying to see this through to a brighter tomorrow as has been the case a few times in the past, but just can not go into debt any more to try to make it work.

This means the clothing ministries, which have blessed so many in all three of the communities where they serve (Jonathan in San Juancito and Cantaranas, Celeo in Talanga) will be no more. It was not an easy decision given the outreach that has been so great through that way of ministry....

And also because that is the main way that Jonathan and Celeo have been supported. We have been working our way towards trying to help them and those Churches be on a regular basis financially independent, and knew the day might come that the clothing ministry might have to stop...all together or just for them, we were just not expecting it quite this soon, or this sudden.

Obviously we need to help them as a mission, and we are hoping to try to do that...in prayer because this is not exactly something we had in our budget. We have ideas in place to help them in the future be freer in this regard...the TV station for Celeo, the coffee and plantains for Jonathan...but all of those add up to a year (the plantains) or more (the coffee) before they will be generating any income that can be used.

Another idea to help would be helping Church members create businesses...small loans to get them on their feet, so they could tithe, and thus help their pastors as well. Many of those in the body are just doing what they can to get by...not gainfully employed to be contributing financially back to the Church. But again we do not right now have the capital to follow through on that great idea.

Please join us in prayer...for these men and their families that depend on them to provide, to the Churches that depend on them to bring the Word and leadership, and for the funds needed to make that a reality and to further bless these congregations as they struggle to help each other and their own communities.

2. The Church buses side of our land deal is closer to reality. We have received enough money to help purchase both buses and get them licensed here in Honduras...now we are just seeing if we can get the drivers with CDL licenses, myself, and clothing from people/Churches along the way for the remaining clothing ministry stores here all coordinated for mid/late August. It is starting to come together...but taking quite a bit of work, and prayer of course since we are still looking at the shipping costs and costs related to getting them to port in the US. God is clearly and obviously making a way where there would seem to be no way, we are just continuing to walk in faith and trusting in Him as to the plan as it unfolds. It is kind of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle...where you think you know what it is supposed to look like...but sometimes the image starts changing a bit as you put it all together.

This week we are also adding more to that puzzle. Oscar has been looking for a vehicle for Julia...which would free her to run errands and be more independent, and allow him even more time for ministry work. He is looking for a 2000 or newer 4 cyl little SUV that is in good shape (no luxuries required) that is (and here is the key) $5,000 or less. We have a few feelers out to see if there is anything like that (a RAV4, CRV, Vitara, Tuscon, etc.) because if we can find it there... I could drive that to port while the CDL drivers take care of the buses.

3. Last month Jonathan rather graciously ceded the money we had raised for Cantaranas Church property to Celeo to buy the property he found in Talanga. That was...very loving in a brotherly way.

This month...a bargain falls out of the sky right in the area he was looking, but much, much cheaper. A close by lot was going for $12,000 that would have required a bulldozer for us to even build on it...there was that much of a slope to it.

Now, a residential development is going in, and what seemed like a good deal in Talanga now pales in comparison. For the same price as the land in Talanga (about $10,600...or less if we pay in cash) we could get almost double the land in Cantaranas now...and this with frontage to the main road that is in the process of being paved.

(Looking at these pictures...if you have been to Cantaranas and distributed food to the poor invasion down by the river, our property would be right next to them but as part of this bigger nicer development with roads, etc...and lots of lots, like 230 or something to be exact...a very big piece of land being divied up here.)

This is the kind of opportunity that does not come along every day...or every year, or...you get the idea. Oscar went yesterday because Jonathan said the lots were going quickly. He was right. Just when Oscar showed up for their private meeting to talk turkey...six more buyers showed up and reserved lots. Oscar even reserved a lot for himself. I asked him why...he said he figures the lot values will double within a year. Bummer I do not have any money to buy a lot or two as an investment myself!

So...we are highly contemplating going into debt with ourselves to make this purchase now...and then let God show the way on how we can fundraise to pay it back....praying that is the right decision all along.

4. Add to all that a bunch of other little things...normal everyday business items that come up, and it really is a testament to the fact that it is most definitely God who keeps all the plates spinning!

No sheriffs or deputys here

Last night during supper we talked about how things went at the clinic for Valerie, Jana and Nick. It was quite interesting, I figured it was worthy of inclusion here.

As they approached the clinic, everyone could see there was quite the line of people waiting. Just as they finished handing out numbers to everyone that could be seen that day...a speeding police truck rushed up the hill...with a policeman who needed treating for being shot in the hand. Either the bullet was already removed for analisis or some other reason, but mostly they brought him there to be patched up.

The real remarkable part of the story to me was that the police brought their gunshot victim to our little clinic rather than to a government hospital. It goes to show that they respect how they are treated there...but I still was rather surprised.

Valerie told me that a vendor down in Ciudad Lempira (fruit) also came to have some shrapnel removed from his foot, plus there was a woman that passed out in front of the building....again all of this before the regular number of patients were being seen.

No one who ever worked there said life around the clinic was ever boring.

How about a lovely picture or two?

I like pictures, I figure you do too...so enjoy just a couple here that are beautiful...but fail to capture really what was seen. There has yet to be a camera invented that is better than the one God designed.


Case in point mostly here...this was
taken from the mission house looking down on Tegucigalpa, and as great a picture it is...seeing it live is quite something else. Reservations are available.












This is a great picture of life for many, rural or urban: Living room/bedroom, plastic chairs that break at the slightest hint of leaning back, stuccoed adobe with a painted concrete floor...and the pièce de résistance with the broom/mop. Our house has one...I presume every other one does as well.












If you know good eats in Teguc...then you have had the opportunity to see this live and in person. If you have yet to have the best steak available (in mine...and others opinions) then a trip to El Patio is a must.

Sermon up

For those interested, I was privledged to share the sermon at Union Christian Church this Sunday, as well as play the guitar for services. It was an action packed Sunday as well with a meeting afterwards that finished around 3:00PM, but in a good way.

I would appreciate any positive or negative critiques if you have them if you want to have a listen...with a purpose I left some things up in the air there for further study for all.

http://www.unionchurchhonduras.com/

And pertaining to the meeting...do any of you know of any bilingual Church congregations? We heard of one in Guatemala, but it seems that the Church here in Teguc is highly considering changing in a big way to not be an English speaking Church, but somehow incorporating both English and Spanish...in a way more than perhaps just having two separate services.

Full House

After getting back from Guatemala...it was a very busy, awesome, different, unique week.

We brought Aaron from CIY back with us Saturday to see more of the mission where their organization sends groups fairly regularly for the past several years, as well to see where our coffee comes from in Sampedrana...God seems to be working on ways in which He will use that in even greater and different ways, and making those connections is always a way God reminds me He is really calling all the shots.

Sunday we picked up Nick, an intern for three weeks who is looking at going pre-med in school. He is working mostly with Jana now in the clinic, observing, helping out wherever needed, and definitely keeping busy playing with Cecilia and Soren. Jana was gone this past weekend to Costa Rica to be able to stay until August here legally (long story with visas here and the CA4...you are probably not interested, so I will skip her expensive and rather interesting trip...needless to say: we felt for Jana) so Nick spent the first few days hanging with Aaron, myself, Oscar, and Travis.

Travis works with World Mission Builders, and it happened to work out he arrived Sunday as well to scout future possible sites for that organization to come down (at least a year from now even if we are approved) and build Church meeting buildings.

So...we had a full house, which was awesome!

The trip to Sampedrana on Monday the 24th was...one of the most interesting drives I have had here. We went in the mighty Defender which is up to just about any kind of driving task.

It has been raining here quite a bit...and that Monday it rained pretty much all day, making for muddy and interesting driving conditions the likes of which I dare say we have not seen. We have been stuck or seen rock slides before...but nothing quite compared with the overall condition of the road like that Monday. Good thing we still had the Defender for the trip!

We went to scout a new building for the Church there...there is space next to the house for it, as well to see the coffee property, which to date I had not been able to visit. Despite Gender thinking it was five minutes from the Church (by motorcycle perhaps) it is not close, but certainly beautiful. Of course in this country beautiful usually means not easy to access. You can see the path we walked to get to the river to see across to the property...by no means were we going to attempt to cross the swollen river...it was a path/stream. The property you are seeing does not sum up all the coffee production (above the river...there is a "road" that passes there on the front of the property), but does give you a rough idea. Hopefully in the future we can buy more property, perhaps property closer to the Church building even.

We made another such trip to scout the newly purchased property in Talanga

the next day. With total indebtedness we give thanks to the Church body in the US that donated the money to secure the property there. Despite what you might think...good property here is not cheap! To visit and see that blank space there in the middle of a neighborhood where there are no Churches...it is exciting and scary stuff as well to think of everything involved to get to where they need to be. We are praying that World Mission Builders will be able after all to be able to help with the construction there...as well as the Church itself already saving money for the future needed blocks and working towards a temporary lean-to for services alrea

dy since they are going to be quickly without a rented location due to the necessary move they need to make.

Caught up in the tempest

I have so much to say...and it has taken me so long to actually get the time to blog. It occurs to me...that is usually the case. When you are experiencing quite a bit, it can sometimes be when you have the least time to engage in this particular activity. I won't try to sum up the last two weeks in one post, so I will start back then and work our way forward over the next few days.

The day after the SOCC group left, Oscar, Jonathan and I left for San Pedro Sula...en route to the CIY Central America meeting to be held in San Raymundo Guatemala. With normal conditions that is about a four hour drive. However, with road construction, rain...and then upon arriving to San Pedro seeing the result of torrential rains (flooding, congestion everywhere...cars under water or sunk to the axles in the mud) it ended up taking somewhere close to seven. It had been quite a while since I had been able to see our brother Julio Corea and his family, and just getting to talk and share a little bit was encouraging.

We left the next morning at 6:00 AM in a caravan of sorts (four vehicles) for the border. And as you can imagine...about nine hours later we had some interesting stories, really good bought from the side of the road pineapple, and had arrived in San Raymundo. The meeting that night went well...accompanied by a couple breaks required by the deafening rain and thunder, and included Aaron from CIY in the USA to see more about how things can work more to God's glory through these international conferences. The second day saw a trip together to Antigua...which I will sum up in the following: "Like Valle de Angeles but older, much bigger, more expensive and with way more people both national and foreigners." We got back just about in time for the special Church service scheduled because of all of us being there which was followed by a tamale looking potato dish that was awesome! I forgot how much I love Guatemalan food! Every meal we had we were well taken care of...and there was always a good home made spicy salsa to add. The following morning we left at 4:00 AM to drive straight through to get back home to Teguc right around 6:00 PM. The drive back was easier since Oscar drove. We are funny that way, I drove all the way there...he drove all the way back. No switching off. Go figure.

Again we were confronted in our Spanish that every country in these parts has significant different slang and new things to see:

We have a word for a walking pedestrian bridge in Honduras. I did not know this word however. Oscar chuckled as we read it...then he told me that is the word that is used for the cat walk that models use. Unfortunately we were driving, so I did not get to strike a pose.

I just love creative thinking and plays on words. Having your taco joint called Tacontento may only amuse you if you speak Spanish...but I thought it was awesome. Again, no chance to stop here...we were usually driving on a mission so to speak, so stops were extremely limited to absolute necessaties. I can tell you that the leaves on the plants there were nice and green however.

We have a one word phrase for a tire repair shop in Honduras...llantero. I was surprised that Oscar and Jonathan were surprised to figure out what a pinchazo was....basically a llantera. This form of advertising for your pinchazo is very reminicent of Honduras as well.

It cracked me up the little tiles placed here at this one fairly smooth portion of sidewalk. Handicap friendly? Are you serious? Not to mention that even I walking was feeling not too welcome by the not great sidewalks...but forget about leaving those sidewalks with your wheelchair since cobblestone was every part of the not too smooth road. I could not decide if this was a cruel joke...or if someone actually thought that sidewalk was actually cool like that.

Buses here are much more ornate than Honduras. Honduran buses are probably the most tame I have seen of Central America in fact other than Costa Rica. Not only the painting on the outside...but we determined that most of the buses we saw actually were not as new as they appear, they have new noses....either classic Ford super duty influenced (as seen here) or as Oscar said they were others called "Chinese noses" which looked to be very new noses from International buses. I originally thought he might mean they were copied and made in China...but that seemed unlikely. Then he specifically pointed out the rather modern formed, rounder, slightly inclined headlights that is the trademark. Probably four of those bus sightings later...it hit me what he was getting at by calling them Chinese. They say things like that all the time here and mean no racial slight or dig, but sometimes it is hard for me to separate myself from the cultural preconceptions I grew up with...and the differences in what is seen as acceptable in terms of the language used for different skin colors or design differences in our appearance... is hard.

I was encouraged to see that my participation those several days seemed like it was actually worth it....to everyone else and to me as well, but after much contemplation, I am trying to further separate myself from such meetings in the future...I have so little time for all the rest of my work...let alone family and marriage. There is no question that it is important to continue to support these conferences since the Churches we support see the fruit of all the work that go into them, but I am afraid that no matter how much I would like to go next January, I have for the most part been successful in working myself out of a job. That is a good thing...I just struggle with missing the compañerismo, the learning from so many people I do not get to hang out with on a regular basis, and also miss that when I am out of the country like that...there are no phone calls, no emails to answer, no regular work that can be done.