Mirrors

I feel like a lot has happened in the last few weeks, since I wrote last. I’ve had a few rough weeks with the kids because we have been down a worker or two at the daycare. The good news is, we have a new lady working with us until Zulema recovers fully from her motorcycle accident. Deby worked with Casa de Luz many years ago, but had to leave because she had a baby. The baby is now 3 years old, and Deby was willing to come back and fill in, since we are in need of the help. She is a very happy and smiley lady, and also experienced in teaching kids this age. She teaches Sunday school at the church.

This week she did an activity with the kids, where the kids looked into a mirror at themselves, and she said something nice about them. The lesson was to explain that we were made in the image of God, just how he wanted us to look. The shocking response was when Racsel did not want to look at herself in the mirror. I wondered why. She is not usually a timid, shy girl, but looking the mirror she shied away. Most of the kids smiled and enjoyed the opportunity.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a missionary women’s retreat. It was meant to be a time of relaxing with other women who share similar lives, ministering to the people of Honduras. Although we are all spread out throughout the country, it’s nice to have a weekend to connect and relate to other women just like me. We had many times of worship and prayer groups. The name fit the experience well, Women of Purpose, Sisterhood Revive. I went to the same retreat in October and loved it then. A group from the States sponsors this time away from the stresses of life and pours into us, as missionary women. I loved it! Here are a few pictures of some art I made for my apartment in our free time.

After returning from the retreat Saturday night, I jumped right into ministry mode again, baking cakes for Mother’s Day at the church. After church, we celebrated the mothers with cake and soda. They also gave away two baskets of food to two mothers. (Dilon, the son of one of Aben's teachers)

Lastly, the newest addition to my apartment is a table and chairs. Thank you to Word on the Street Ministries for providing me with these essentials for my apartment. Now I can have people over and offer them a chair, instead of the floor J

It’s been really hot down here, and the reason it feels so hot, is because we do not have air condition. It may not be as hot as it gets in the States (I live in a cooler part of Honduras), but with no air condition, and lots of sun, it’s HOT! However, we have had a wonderful afternoon rainstorm, although the kids do not sleep well with the thunder, it gets a lot cooler, for that I am grateful.

Swimming With Prisoners

Last week was Semana Santa, Holy Week. This week in Central America is not only famous for its displays of palm branches on cars and colored sawdust carpets lining the downtown streets on Good Friday (they used colored sawdust to make pictures of the crucifiction, flowers, and Bible verses), it is also the week when the city becomes a ghost town, everything shuts down, and people leave the city for vacation and to visit family.

(the sawdust carpets lining the streets in Copan)

Palm Sunday weekend, I got to take a few of my kids to the pool. The LOVED it! Afterwards we went to Burger King, got ice cream cones (2 ended up on the floor) and played in the playground. Their faces were priceless and it took them a while to get in the pool. But when they did, they didn’t want to get out. On Monday and Tuesday we had the opportunity to bring the youth Aben works with the pool as well. We got pizza and mangos to enjoy at the pool. They also loved it, and it was a lot less work for me J

At the end of theweek, we also left the city, to go to Youth for Christ (Juventud Para Cristo) camp in the western part of the country. It was a fun time, because I had never been to the west. I got to/ had to go to visit the Guatemala border to renew my visa that expires this week. There was a group from the camp visiting the Copan Ruins (a day trip 1 ½ hours away). We got a ride,then took a tuktuk (3 wheeled taxi) 15 km to the border. It was kind of funny how short the distance, but how long it took us with the mountain hills. I could have walked up the hills faster than this taxi went. It was an experience! With a short “72 hour” stop at the border and two favors later, we returned to the Copan Ruins within 2 hours. Since we were with the group, I did not get to see the famous ruins, but I did visit the entrance. I felt like I was in the car most of the weekend, because we went to camp on Thursday (6 hours), to the border on Friday, and home on Saturday. One of the cool events of the camp was Friday night. We all sat in the middle of a pitch black soccer field, with our eyes closed, while one girl read something. She explained that we are all called to be a light, we should not hide our light, and that we all shine differently with different strengths and abilities. When we opened our eyes they had splattered us with glow in the dark paint. We all glowed differently in the dark of the night. It was a very cool activity!

Returning back to the daycare, it was nice to see my kids after a week. But the most jaw dropping story we got was when 3 of my kids told me they got to visit their dad at the penitentiary, and got the swim with the prisoners and gang members. Try to digest this, I’m still working on it… a three year old girl, 4 and 5 year old boys swimming with gang members, murderers, and the father in jail for raping one of their sisters.

It’s hard for me to comprehend and know how to help, how to change the dangerous situation. We laugh at the absurdity, but when the irony fades, its still the same situation. My friend wrote a quote on her blog this week that has defined my emotions the past few weeks, “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” –Flannery O’ Connor.

Pray that we can work to educate these families how to treat and raise their children without offending them, resulting in closed doors.

In other news, I have my plane ticket to return to the States to raise funds for another year serving these families. I will be in the States August 1 to September 5. Please let me know if you would like me to share with you, your family, your small group or your church. Please pray about supporting me in prayer or finances. God has provided me with big and little things along this journey, please pray if God is asking you to be involved. I will be sending out a newsletter in May with more specifics.

Thank you to everyone that has supported me with prayers and finances. I am grateful for what God has provided!

(Oliver peaking through the barred door for a picture)

A Season of Change!

Javier and the bubbles

Lizandro and a big puzzle

Diego and the soccer ball

It’s April already! Looking back, time has flown by. In the moment it seems like it may be standing still, but judging by the calendar it’s going fast! This past month I had two pilot groups, to check out the options of bringing teams down in the future.

A lot has been changing at the daycare and I’m excited to share some pictures and good news. With the two groups coming, as well as a bigger team, we have numerous supplies to last us for a while. Supporters and teams have helped bring down puzzles, sidewalk chalk, balloons, bubbles, stamps, soccer balls, coloring books, prizes, pencils, crayons, glue, clothes and a lot of other supplies! From December to March our office has exploded with materials. The kids are loving all the new things, its hard to tell what is the “favorite,” they love it all!

Another change that has occurred is the color of our building. As you can see in the pictures, the once dirty white building was painted bright green by a team, accompanied with hand prints, shapes and polkadots! It has only been a few weeks, but it brings a brighter, refreshed look to the daycare.

Some changes that we hope are coming in the next few weeks will be visiting houses of the families and meeting with them. It has been my desire to get to know the mothers more, and we have the opportunity to do that by visiting the houses. One mom stopped me on the street the other day to ask about different sunblocks she had purchased, because she knew I could read the labels for her and explain it. I am getting to know some of them more, so that is an exciting change!

Along the same lines of being involved in the families, I am going to ask one of the mothers if I can watch her kids on Saturdays. One of the boys can be very cuddly and very violent, and judging by his interaction by his brother on the street last Friday, I hope I can provide a safe place for the kids a few hours every Saturday. Pray that the two boys can behave. I’m planning to take two brothers and a sister, Gabriel, Javier and Racsel. It will be a help to the mother and the kids!

I have been thinking ahead and want to let everyone know I will be in the States the month of August. As you know, I had a 10- month commitment, so I raised funds for that time. In July the first 10 months will be finished and I will need to raise support for another year. At this moment, God has shown me that he wants me here longer than 10 months! That being said, please pray about this trip, that I will be able to raise the funds to be in Honduras another year. If you would like me to talk in your church, to your small group, or even a group of friends please let me know so I can plan what States to visit. I’m excited to share what God is doing here and how He is using me to do it.

Please pray for Zulema, one of the ladies I workwith. She had a motorcycle accident last week with a pack of dogs. From what I can understand she flew off the bike and the bike ran over her foot. They thought it was broken, but I’m still not sure. Also pray for Bessy’s ear. She has had an ear infection and began to lose hearing. She has been to a few specialists and been on a lot of medication, which is not cheap. She found out on Thursday that it is beginning to heal, but she has to continue to see the specialist. Also continue to pray for the kids and their families. I have been having some difficulties disciplining because most of the kids are used to harsh words and hitting. Of course I don’t use those methods, so it has been a challenging experience to see what each child responds to. I have been very busy and emotionally overwhelmed, so pray that things begin to settle down and get back to normal.

One more big change! Michelle is back. Her family moved back in November, then her mom was out of work, so they pulled her out of the program. This week she returned because her parents have found work. It’s exciting to have her back!!

March Madness

March seems to be the beginning of the “team season.” It seems that from this point on, there will be various mission’s teams visiting the country doing a wide range of ministries. I had my first group here last week, from Tuesday to Tuesday. It was busy and full of activities and ministries to do. Of course whenever anyone comes down, the schedule fills up and it feels like a roller coaster week. Thankfully, everything went smoothly with no problems! Gracias a Dios J

With the couple from South Carolina, we had the opportunity to take the kids to the zoo and Picacho (a huge statue of Jesus overlooking Tegucigalpa). The kids loved it. Although we were all hot and thoroughly exhausted at the end, everything went smoothly, even avoiding the teacher strike blocking one of the roads on the way out. Thankfully the pastor is also a taxi driver, so we changed routes before the strike took the intersection completely! The kids loved the zoo and all the animals!

The other days with the kids, we got to love on them and play with them. We sang songs for the visitors and enjoyed the sidewalk chalk they brought us (as well as many other needs!) On Sunday we had a parents seminar for all the parents in the program. We did coloring crafts and played with balloons, while the parents attended a seminar. I had a chance to talk again with one of the mothers. She had pain in her back and had a very worn out look in her eyes. She is the mother of 7 and works outside all day, every day selling things. Her husband, or the father of the youngest 3 children is in jail. Usually she is positive and smiling, but this Sunday she looked worn out from life, and I got to talk to her a little bit and listen to her problems. Its moments like these that remind me why God wants me here. To listen, invest in their lives and offer hope when their lives are so difficult.

Please continue to pray for the families and opportunities to share with them. We have another team coming next week and I think we will have the opportunity to help in the houses of some of our families, as well as, paint the walls of the day care.

On another note, my car is for sell. It has been more trouble than use. Please pray that is sells quickly, before another thing breaks. Aben and I have been sharing it for both ministries, and has been a blessing on many occasions. Now it is time to pray that it sells quickly and I will be able to raise $3,000 more to have a reliable car. Not only is in not reliable, we have noticed that everywhere we go the cab and a half is full of people (with the flip down seats in the back) as well as 3-4 people in the bed of the truck (sometimes more). This is a big need that I will need prayer and finances for, please pray about this and pass it along to anyone who may be able to help in this area.

This week looks like a normal week in my life, except for today there was a teacher strike blocking the 2 main roads I would take to the daycare. Its safe for me, but it’s very close to my apartment, so I am staying inside. The public school teachers, taxis, and busses have been striking a lot, so it has made for some big traffic jams or parking lots. Next week will be busy again. Pray for all the teams coming and going this month. I will have 2, but there will be others here visiting the ministry and area.

Here are some pictures and a video from this week!

Toothbrushes and Fingernail Clippers

Yesterday I, once again, realized everything we take for granted. First I noticed this with my kids, then I noticed it again in the conversations I had last night. This past weekend, one of my friends gave me kids toothbrushes, so we can start brushing the kids teeth while they are at the daycare. Cool, I thought! Then yesterday, I had the opportunity to do it with them. After spending sometime with my nieces, I figured this could be a very difficult process getting the kids to cooperate and actually brush their teeth. Since the day I brought the toothbrushes in (Monday), till we first used they yesterday, the kids pestered me about when we are going to brush our teeth. So yesterday, after they were labeled, I took them outside one at a time to brush their teeth. To each one, I would say, “I’m going to do it first, then you are going to do it,” because I want them to reach all the teeth and learn to do it themselves. As I did it, I would ask them what color their toothbrush was and if they had one of these at their house. To my surprise, its not wonder they were so excited and obedient, 13 out of 15 have never had a toothbrush or brushed their teeth before. Obviously looking at their rotten teeth, you can see they haven’t, but hearing it from them and seeing their excitement was eye opening to me.

We also took the time yesterday to cut fingernails and toenails. It was sad to see how long the toenails were, some of them growing into the skin. Then I got to wash their feet. It was a fun processfor each of them to let me wash their feet. I would cut their nails, then carry them outside, wash their feet and carry them back in. They loved it. Another thing we take for granted from when we are born. Our parents usually take care of us, teach us to brush out teeth, wash our hands, and cut our nails for us. Its engrained in us.

Another addition to the routine of teeth brushing and hand washing is taking vitamins. We have had them, but they weren’t being used. I know hygiene is not a high priority of some of these mothers, working to feed their families. It’s a neat experience to be able to provide this for them.

The other conversation we had was with a friend, on the way home from Casa de Luz was about what the United States is like. The conversation started with why so many North Americans come down to Honduras. When we explained, that the reality is that very few come down, he asked why? This is when we started describing the luxuries of everyday America. The first is hot water. There are 2 temperatures with every faucet. Every shower has hot water, with few exceptions. His response was “Like a ducha?” I am posting the picture of a ducha. It plugs into the wall and heats water as you take a shower. The people I work with, this kid included, only have cold water faucets. I fortunately have a ducha, but it’s not the same as having hot water from pipes.If the water pressure is too strong, the water does not have time to warm up. If the water pressure is too weak, it will burn you. Something we take for granted in the States. This is something indescribable to a large percentage of people here. The other luxury is that we throw our toilet paper in the toilet. Here, if you did that, you would clog your toilet. We talked about other things to, and with every new topic Iwas more aware of what we take for granted living in the States.

After all this, Aben and I were discussing the churches in the poor communities. They have church almost every night of the week. Why? Because they do not have the money to go out and do other things. Why would you not spend all your time in the presence of God at church? We take this for granted to. Church can only last a certain amount of time because we have other things to do. If we took the love of money out of the picture, what better thing would we have to do than be at church, in community? Since we have money, we arrange time to spend it. If we don’t have it, we don’t have to waste our times arranging how to spend it. It made me think of the verse in Matthew, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Their lives reflect dependence on God, so of course they are going to grow closer to Him.

Tonight we had a time to Skype with a group of kids from a church in Miami. We sang songs for them, and they sang some for us. Then some of the kids talked. I wish I could describe the atmosphere. Knowing both cultures, it was funny blending the two together. I could picture the group in Miami, sitting and waiting and being in their seats most of the time. On our end, pure chaos from a North American’s perspective; kids running in the streets, trying to round them up to come inside, babies screaming, one kid with a stick poking people. An experience you can’t witness from Skype. But it was fun for me to see the kids outside of the day care. I’m glad I had the opportunity to go because many time I don’t have the opportunity to spend time with the mothers or talk with them. Tonight gave me the opportunity to talk to a few of them more and play with the kids while the mothers were around. I loved the opportunity.

Things are getting busy this week and teams start coming! The spring break season thru summer brings lots of different teams, not all for me, but with all the connections, there is always bound to be a team here. Pray for protection and safety as teams come and go. Also pray for the relationships I am trying to build with the mothers.

Mister Jenny

I’m finally back in the groove of life! I have been back a week and a half, but I feel like I have been here a month now, which is a good thing. Things are going well and I have been very busy.

We have two new kids, Heydy (pronounced Haiti) and Oliver. Heydy will be 2 this month and Oliver is 3, they are brother and sister. They are very well behaved and quiet.They entertain each other, its pretty cute and they both have beautiful smiles. Other bittersweet news is that we lost 3 boys. The good news is they have started school! It’sencouraging to see theparents putting them in school to educate the next generation. Many kids in this neighborhood do not go to school and many Hondurans only go to school until sixth grade. So it’s bittersweet, they will be missed, but they are moving on and growing up J

With this transition, and the start of a new school year, we have reorganized the “big kids.” We have moved up two 3 year olds into the big kid class, so this week it was fun working with them on holding a pencil correctly and having more responsibility. Thanks to family and friends, I got to bring down coloring books, puzzles, picture cards, sidewalk chalk, little toys and balloons for the kids. They have enjoyed using all the new stuff and are excited to learn. Also, at Christmas a church in the States donated a lot of books, so many that they still are not all here yet. The kids love to hold a book and look at the pictures. It’s been fun teaching them how to hold the books and look at the pictures from left to right. When they get their own books, its fun to listen to them all talk through the story/ pictures out loud.

Here is a funny story from the big kid class, with 2 brothers in it now (since the younger one moved up). After doing all the usual stuff, then going over the new picture vocabulary cards we got to color pictures. As they were coloring, Javier- 3 asks me a question. I don’t even remember the question because I was distracted by the beginning.. Mister Jenny (pronounced Meeester Jenny). I am used to being called Miss (mees), but mister made me laugh. Their mom always says this when she drops them off, and of course I don’t want to correct her. So I was thinking, this is my opportunity to correct the boys, then they can correct their mom. I explain, ‘mister’ means a man, and ‘miss’ means a woman. I am a woman so I am ‘miss’ Jenny. They kept saying it; I kept explaining it. The whole class started saying it, then the other little 3 year old girl got it. She started calling me Miss Jennys (she likes to add the ‘s’ to my name). The end of the time, everyone except the two boys were calling me miss Jenny. The boys…. still calling me Mister Jenny. Oh well, some battles take a little more time.

Another funny story about these brothers, frustrating but funny, is every day at naptime. We have learned they have to be separate from each other and separate from the other kids. So all the kids sleep in the main room, Javier in the back classroom, and Gabriel in the office. The first 30 minutues of naptime every day they are yelling back and forth to each other, “brother, whats up?” “brother what are you doing?” “brother”… this, “brother”…. that. It’s pretty frustrating to get them quiet, but it’s actually really cute that they are so terrible together and love each other.

(here is a picture of Gabriel and Javier from the fall)

I’m glad to be back and will continue to keep everyone involved by posting the stories and pictures of my life and casa de luz!

Time for an Update!

I have been in the States for one month now. I have been from Jacksonville, Florida to Ashville, NC to Cincinatti, OH to Grand Rapids, MI to Jackson, MI to Owensboro, KY to Nashville, TN to Chattanooga, TN to Atlanta, GA back to Jacksonville, FL to Tallahassee, FL to Jacksonville, FL!!! And I'm still not finished! Its been a whirlwind of a visit, and I have been here for 1 month! I am returning to Honduras on February 2 (which I found out today is next Wednesday, not Tuesday like I thought).

I spent Christmas in Honduras. We went and gave out food in the city dump and the market place and then spent time with family. It was a great Christmas!

After returning to the States, I had a second Christmas with my other family (on New Years day). We exchanged gifts and had good quality time in the snow, cold, and rented cabin in the NC mountains. It was good to see family! After that, the roadtrip began. I got to see more family and friends all over the east coast :)

I have been raising support along the way, and things are going well with that. I'm encouraged with how it has gone :) I have also collected things/ toys for the kids along the way, so it will be fun using them in these coming months! I'm ready to be home and with my kids, I have missed them!!

Here are a few pictures of my past month with family and friends!