Corey's First Triathlon

This weekend was a lot of fun for our family! We headed to Corey's mom and JR's house to spend a few days while I had a LoopDeLou party and Corey had a triathlon! The race was in Lebanon, and it was very hilly! We drove there the night before for the pre-race informational meeting and drove the bike course. I was scared and I wasn't even going to be doing it! It was a 300 meter swim, a 16.5 mile bike, and a 3 mile run at the end...whew! It was raining when they started at 7:30AM (he got there around 6 to get his bike set up in the transition area and get marked). He finished in 1 hour 54 minutes and 13 seconds. We are so proud of him! He finished the swim in about 5 1/2 min. He completed the bike in 1 hour and 4 minutes, and then came the run...he was worn out and that has been the hardest part for him. He is not a runner. It took about 38 minutes. Here are a few pictures we took during the weekend and at the race. The top picture is before the race...it was so humid that the camera fogged up when I got it out! I also took a lot of video, and will try to update this blog with some video footage once Corey edits some of it for me! Corey's mom, the boys and I had a lot of fun chasing him around all day taking pictures and cheering! After the raceThe boys had so much fun playing in JR's cowboy boots (I think they had out 6 pairs at one point!) Thanks for being such a good sport and telling them cowboy stories, JR!

You're not going to believe this!!!

Okay, so I told you that Bennett wants to do everything that Caleb does! Watch this!

Yes, that is Bennett swimming! This afternoon I wanted to have some fun with the boys, so we decided to go to the pool. Caleb was swimming around, so B started putting his face in the water "swimming" with his water wings. I asked him if he wanted to take them off, and he said yes. I was trying to help him and he insisted that I let go. He did this for an hour today!!! I had Michele video it, because I didn't think anyone would believe me!

We're home!!!

We pulled in to Paris last night around 3 AM. We had a wonderful, safe trip and I'm looking forward to sharing more details of our last two days there very soon! Thank you to all of you who have prayed so faithfully for us!

Surprise!!!

After finishing our last day of scheduled ministry, we had our devotional in the Upper Room for the last time. When we had finished, we were going over our schedule for the next day (today). Scott McSwain, Bro. Mark's son who has planned our whole trip and is called to missions here in Honduras, began saying something about our itinerary being messed up and he acted like he was about to cry...then he told us that our last day's schedule was fake. He had actually booked us rooms at a resort in Tela for the afternoon and evening so we could go to the beach!!! We are here now and it is amazing, but it is late and after a day of traveling and an early morning and travel tomorrow (we won't get home until around 4 AM on Saturday), I'm going to have to post about it later. Sorry! I will stick one fun picture on here!

Honduras Day 5

On Wednesday we went to La Escuela Rural Mixta, a small mountain school in a community called Lo de Reina. The children there were so warm and welcoming! One of the young boys even got up in front and welcomed us formally to their school. These children don't have a lot, but they are so happy. Once again we had a presentation where we sang, did a skit and shared a testimony. Today Dottie shared with the children about God's love for them. Afterward we split into teams. With the younger children we did a noisemaker craft, balloon animals, face painting and nail polish for the girls all in 45 minutes! Then we switched with the older group which had been outside playing sports. We gave these children school supplies and candy, and they were so excited and grateful.
After lunch we left for the Squatter's Village. This is an area of "houses" where people have taken up residence on government land. We are told that if they remain there for two years, the land will become theirs. The conditions these people live in are difficult to bear. It's really hard to explain...the pictures tell a better story. We did door to door evangelism at the village. It was so amazing! We began by giving the people hygiene bags, school supply bags for the children, and flip flops for all ages. Most of them were incredibly grateful for the things we brought them. Those things will last a while, but eventually they will wear out or run out. Our goal at the Squatter's Village was to leave them with something that was eternal...life with Jesus Christ. We had prayed for God's anointing, and more than any other time it was evident that we couldn't do this on our own strength. It was incredibly hot outside and we were all so tired from the other ministry earlier in the week. But we prayed together before we left the bus for God to allow us to accomplish what He had sent us there to do. We were able to see 17 people come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!!! One of the groups approached a lady who was already a believer. She told them that she had been praying for us to come and that she knew that God had sent us. My group included Leah, Scott, myself and our translator, Seunsidi. We began with the balloon animals to draw a crowd and got stopped at the very front of the village (I love balloon animals, but I have made more bunnies, dogs and butterflies this week than I thought humanly possible. I'm retiring until next year!) The sun was so hot though that they were popping almost as soon as we got them blown up. So we took them back to the bus and then tried to find out where the other groups had not yet gone. It seemed that everywhere we looked someone was already there. We began praying that God would lead us where he wanted us to go. He led us to a house where a family lived. As we spoke to them, a 12 year old girl named Sory was very interested in what we were saying. After we shared the plan of salvation with her, she prayed to receive Christ! After we finished praying, you could see the joy on her face! She had the biggest smile on her face and kept hugging me and saying thank you. While this was going on, a young boy was watching us. When we asked him if we could share with him, he said yes but that he wanted us to come to his house. We followed him and were able to lead him and his mother to Christ. Then his two brothers came up and we shared with them. This whole family of four chose to allow Jesus to be their Savior and Lord! After that it was time for us to leave, we were there for almost 3 hours, but the time went so quickly.
That evening we celebrated our last day of scheduled ministry at a restaurant called El Torrito. We had a delicious meal and wonderful time of fellowship. One of the neatest things about our trip this year is that our translators and bus driver were really a part of our team. They didn't just translate/drive for us, they painted, ministered to people and hung out with us...they were our friends. I truly believe that is why we were able to accomplish so much this week. With God's grace and a team of not just 17 but 28 we were able to do all the work we came here to do. God blessed us with an amazing last day in Comayagua! We can't wait to get back to further the work of El Ayudante and love on these precious people again next year!

Honduras Day 4

Once again our day began at 6 AM with breakfast and devotions. We had a planning meeting to discuss special situations we might face at Fundacion CasAyuda, a special needs school. We left at 8 and when we arrived we split into 3 teams. One team did sports, one team did balloons, and the third team painted. The children were split into two groups, special needs and hearing impaired. The children were precious, so loving and happy to see us! The sports group had the deaf children first, and the children gave each of them signs for their names that related to their actual name and/or how they looked. In the balloon room, we had between 40 and 50 people in a 13x15 room. It was so hot, and we were making balloon animals as quickly as we could! The moment one was made, we'd hear another one pop. Most of the children thought that was funny, but it did scare a few. So we just kept making them for 45 minutes. We must have made at least 250 bunnies, dogs, butterflies...it was so much fun seeing how much joy the balloons gave them! Then it was lunch time for the children. Part of the team served them chicken and rice while others continued painting (we had the goal of painting the cafeteria, one of the classrooms and the outside of one of the buildings...and we got it all finished!!!) Afterward we had a program with all the children. We did our Daniel and the Lions Den skit, sang a few songs, and then Jordan Haskins shared a testimony with the children. I have to say that one of the most wonderful moments for Corey and me was seeing Jordan speak to all the kids. He was one of our youth in Bemis, and it brought us so much joy to see him stepping up and leading by speaking in probably the most intimidating situation we have had since we've been here. This required 3 way translating and speaking with a translator at all definitely takes getting used to. After the program, we all changed into painting clothes to join Corey, Mark, Dwayne and Jack who had painted all morning. We finished up with all the painting a little before 2 PM and then went back for lunch. As we left, the children who live at the school were standing at the gate waving the "I love you" sign to us...so precious! They had asked throughout the day if we would be back tomorrow. After lunch, lasagna, we were initially going to a school, but because of the strike they weren't open, so we loaded up on the bus again for the 45 minute drive to El Ayudante. Once we arrived there we finished up priming the guys dorm area...that means that the whole building has now been primed!!! After dinner we had our group devotion led by Matthew McSwain. This was another one of the highlights for Corey and me because he was one of our youth also. Today was a long, exhausting day, but it was good and we got so much accomplished.

Hotel Casagrande

This is a picture of John and Adrianna Mattica, our missionary friends who have stayed with us for a week the past two years. They have become dear friends and partners in ministry. I thought that in addition to the work we're doing, many of you would be interested in where we are staying.. It is in Comayagua and is a small bed and breakfast called Hotel Casagrande. It is very nice. From the street, you can't really tell what it is like at all, but once you enter there are rooms on either side with beautiful wood doors. Ahead of you is the courtyard. It has a beautiful fountain, plants and statues. Our rooms surround the courtyard area. The rooms aren't fancy, but they are clean and the beds are actually pretty comfortable. You might forget that you are in a third world country until you go to the bathroom. Even when you first enter it, it is very pretty with the colorful tile. However when we brush our teeth, we can't use the water from the sink, we have to use bottled water so that we won't get parasites. Also, we have to be careful to keep our mouths closed in the shower. The other thing that is the hardest to get used to is that we can't flush toilet paper down the toilet. Therefore it is called hygeine paper here. You just have to drop the paper in the trash can beside you. Also, we eat at Casagrande for a lot of our meals. The place where we meet and eat we jokingly call "The Upper Room," but there actually is a staircase at the back of the courtyard that leads up to that room. I'm enclosing pictures of our Honduran "home."
Our meals are also something that are interesting. Most meals are served with beans, including breakfast! Most of our meals have been traditional Honduran food. We've had chicken, steak, tamales, tortillas...and then of course Burger King!

Honduras Day 3

Today has been AMAZING!!! We had breakfast at 6AM, prepared for our programs, and then left for Jose Trinidad Cabanas Elementary School. When we arrived at the school we were told that the teachers were on strike. Every time God closes one door, He opens another. One of the teachers told us to go to a local soccer field where two of the schools would be playing. Because of the strike, not all of the players were there, so we had a captive audience! We did our strange but entertaining version of Daniel and the Lions (I was a lion, and Becky was the narrator). Then Matthew Mincher shared his testimony. Several of the children prayed to receive Christ, but it is really hard to know for sure how many decisions were made. Then we played soccer with them, did face painting and made balloon animals.
We then traveled to Juterique, a small but progressive town. The mayor had heard that we were coming and wanted to meet us. So, when we arrived, we stopped by the town hall for Corey, Scott, Bro. Mark and our translators to meet him. He told us how glad he was that we were in their town and that they want us to come back and share Christ with them again with the full support and backing of the local goverment!!! What an exciting open door for the future! The hard thing about that stop was that it put us an hour behind (which is not a big deal to the Honduran people). So we went to Instituto Polivalente Gregoria in Juterique School. We shared a few songs, Becky shared a beautiful testimony, and then Corey shared the plan of salvation in a very clear, complete and wonderful way. When the invitation was given, we had them come to the front sign their names, and gave them gospels of John. Once again, it is hard to know exactly how many were saved because of the group situation, but many came forward and without a doubt there were several who are now our brothers and sisters in Christ! After the presentation we played sports and spoke one on one to some of the children.We then headed back to Comayagua for lunch at Burger King again (communication problem...we were supposed to have lunch at Casagrande), but that worked out well because we didn't get to eat until 1:45PM. We had about 10 minutes at our rooms to reload our supplies and then headed to the Plaza. There we toured the cathedral which has the 8th oldest clock tower in the world, the oldest in Central America. We split into teams of 3 for personal evangelism where we went around the square and shared with individuals. We had two specialized teams that did sports evangelism (playing soccer in the square) and another that Becky and I were on that did balloon animal evangelism! The others teams walked around the square sharing with different people. It was so amazing...we know for sure that 6 people were led to Christ during this time! I was able to share with a little boy named Bryan and he was so happy when he prayed to ask Jesus into His heart...it was such a special moment for me!We were able to get back to our hotel a little earlier tonight for dinner, preparation for tomorrow, devotions, and a share time. We really enjoyed basking in all that God has done today! Please pray for us tomorrow. We will be at a special needs school where some of the children are deaf...this will require three phase translating. From English to Spanish, Spanish to Sign Language which none of us have experienced before. May God's grace remove the language barriers and allow us to show them His love!

Honduras Day 2

Today has been a wonderful first day on the field in Honduras! We woke up at 6 AM and went to breakfast...eggs, tortillas, refried beans, and fried bananas. Then around 8 we drove to the El Ayudante site. El Ayudante is the future ministry center in Comayagua that a man in Brownsville began several years ago. They have already built the walls, put the roof on, and begun plumbing and electricity for the dorm building that will house mission teams when they come. A team recently came, bought the building materials for the medical building. They had begun the walls for that building as well. We had a morning worship service and a time to prayer walk around the El Ayudante property and then we primed the walls in the girls side of the dorms and the main meeting room. We are hoping to return later in the week to finish priming the remaining parts of the building.We headed back to Casagrande for a few hours to relax a little while (we are still exhausted from so little sleep yesterday), get showers and well, I blogged! Then we left this evening to go to the church in Lo de Reina. We had a worship service and then fed them Arroz con Pollo-Rice with Chicken. It is so amazing worshiping with people who are singing in a language that you don't understand, but knowing that God's Spirit is among you! We sang a song for them and then I was able to share my testimony, and Brother Mark McSwain (the pastor from Bemis) preached. They were so welcoming and shared that although we are from different countries, in Christ we are one! How neat to worship with my brothers and sisters in Christ!We then headed back to Casagrande and had a typical Honduran meal for dinner. It was 8:30PM, so we were all very hungry...does anyone else notice that I talk a lot about the food on here? We had steak, refried beans, rice, fried bananas, tortillas, toast, cheese, and pico de gallo. It was very good...except for the cheese. It's very salty and none of us liked it. But for dessert we had a delicious cake with whipped cream and fruit. It was delicious!

After dinner Corey shared a devotion and we made preparations for tomorrow. It is now 11:30PM and we will be up again tomorrow at 6, so I'm going to head to bed. Thanks to all of you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers! I have a few more pictures from the worship service this evening that I'll post tomorrow.