Some Things Are Ending And Some Things Are Starting To Begin

We have had a busy week around here but it has been very good.  Tuesday David joined Noe and Obando (both are Ag leaders from Honduras) to make some visits in Lagunetas.   While out he also visited in Churischan and Chanco.   Ben and I spent the morning at home.   We did a little "school" together.  He asks almost daily to "do homeschool".  He notices that his brother has homework and things to do for school and he wants to do the same.  I have started working with him some on his letters and numbers.  

A is for Apple

Cruz came home from school with a note about an upcoming project on water animals.  They were studying water animals at school this week so each student had to pick one to present to their class.  He chose sharks.  The assignment was to make a poster about his animal and be prepared to orally share 4-5 facts about them to his class on Friday.  Here he is painting the ocean on his poster.

He is crazy about sharks!

Here is his poster.  I didn't even notice that I had used the word "sharks" instead of "tiburones" until I had printed it out and glued it onto his poster. I told him he could just use that as an opportunity to teach his class a new word in English.  ha

On Tuesday night we had homemade chili for supper.  While it was cooking I had the idea to fry some French fries and ended up making chili cheese fries.  This was not the healthiest of meals but it was oh so good!

On Wednesday morning we headed up the mountain to Tunuco Arriba to have our clausura (closing ceremony).  It was our last time to meet there for this school year.  We are excited to have an open invitation to return next January and teach there again.  

Here is a little video I took on the drive up.  We had been riding off road almost an hour already when I took this video.  To get the full effect you need to bounce up and down in your seat and rock yourself side to side really forcefully over and over and over again.  ha  Our old bodies take a good beating every week when we travel there.

Here is a video of us arriving in the village.  The road we travel ends at the school building.  I love how the kids were out in the road waiting for us to arrive.

Some of the kids and parents getting ready for the program to start.   We counted roughly 130 of us there.

 Mrs. Diana recognizing the teachers

This is Lizeth the teacher who initially invited us there.  It has been her hearts desire for years for the kids there to learn the Bible.  She paved the way for us to come and share there.  This village has been very closed to outsiders but now thanks to this teacher God's Word is being planted in the hearts of the children.  Our time there has definitely allowed the people to warm up to us and begin to trust us more.  Our prayer is that these kids will grow up with open hearts to hear the Gospel because they were taught it at a young age.

some of the children presenting Mrs. Diana with roses and thanking her for teaching them

Here is a copy of the Lubeck's recent translation project- the book of Proverbs in Chorti. The students that scored 100 on their Bible quiz received a copy as well as those that had perfect attendance.

Mrs. Diana recognizing the students who had perfect attendance

These precious ones made every class that was taught

Here is a video of everyone singing "This is the Day That the Lord Hath Made" in Chorti

The Lubeck's daughter Kathy also joined us that day.  She and her parents sang several songs during the program in English, Spanish, and Chorti. 

Kathy, Mrs. Diana, and Mr. John singing during the program

Mrs. Diana and Mr. John did a puppet show for everyone telling the story of Eve and the serpent.  

It was a great program and everyone there seemed happy to have us.  Coffee and sweet bread was served before we left.  We look forward to having another opportunity to return and share more in the future.  Keep praying for this village and the hearts of those precious children that we have had the privilege to work with.

 If there is an animal around Ben is most always sure to find it.  Here he is playing with a baby chick. 

Here are the boys trying to feed sweet bread to the baby chick in Tunuco Arriba.  They are so funny!

We returned down the mountain in time for lunch at the Lubeck's.  It is always good to sit around their table and enjoy a meal.  She served apple pie for dessert but had cupcakes for the boys- red icing cupcakes!

Do you think they were excited?

Ben after eating his cupcake, ha 

Thursday afternoon we had Bible study in Muyurco.  It is always a highlight of our week.  This week we picked up Reyes and his son to join us.  They are from the village of Nearar.  I love how our work here is more like a community effort.  Encouraging our nationals to work alongside us, having partnerships with Stateside churches, and having folks like the Lubeck's to partner with is a great blessing to us and our ministry. 

David, the boys, Reyes, and his son on the trail in Muyurco.  My boys were racing to see who could get to me first.  Unfortunately Cruz won and it did not settle well with Ben.  He cried (very loudly) for the rest of our hike there.  Some days it's hard y'all! hard!

We had a great service there.  We have been having a group from the neighboring village of Porto Suelo join us.  The believers in Nearar and Muyurco have been visiting in this village and many are accepting Christ there.  Almost on a weekly basis we are hearing of new believers in that village.  How exciting is that!  They are hiking a long way each Thursday to be a part of our Bible study.   There are enough now to consider having a separate home Bible study with them in their village but we are praying about who will lead it.  We would be happy to do it but would love for one of the leaders from Nearar to take ownership of it and do it.  Pray that God would call one of them out to disciple these precious folks.  Pray for us to encourage them and assist them. Also begin praying for this new village that we are adding to our list of "villages we are targeting".  God is up to something good there!

At the end of our service yesterday this young man gave his heart to Christ.  Hallelujah!   Pray for him.  He is from the village of Porto Suelo.

This young man accepted Christ last week and the two young girls are new believers also.  The girls led a few songs during our service time.  That blessed my heart!  We might have a youth group started there before long, ha.

It is now Friday morning and we are tired and dragging.  We sent Cruz off to school for his last day of class.  I'll admit that I am a little sad about that.  The decision to leave him in Spanish school or pull him out for homeschool has been difficult for me to make. I have a peace about it now and my new role as his teacher.   It is not going to be easy but I know it is what I need to do.

 Cruz with his shark poster before leaving for his last day of Spanish school.

His first and last day of school

and he's off!!! When did he get so big??? sniff sniff

We are working today to get things ready for our upcoming team.  We are very excited about hosting another group next week.  They will arrive here in Chiquimula late Sunday afternoon.  Before they come though we'll be doing a Bible study in Lagunetas on Saturday morning and one in Nearar on Sunday morning.  Pray for us.  These are busy days, but we are so thrilled to be seeing some fruit from our hard labor.  God is Good in allowing us to see how He is working and it's just enough to encourage us to keep on keeping on.  Your prayers are having a huge impact on the work here.  Keep them coming!!!

It's Been A Good Week

Hooray for Friday!  Anyone else excited about the weekend ahead?  I am!  Before I share about that though I'll catch you up on a few activities from this past week. 

I'll start with this photo I forgot to put in my post from last weekend.  Cruz was a little sad that his daddy was going to miss going to the circus with us so he slipped into our homeschool room and made him this card.  Cruz loves to make cards and give them away.  Underneath all of that rough and rowdiness he has a very tender heart.  I just wish he showed it more often, ha.

Here is his "daddy, I'm sorry you missed the circus.  I hope this makes you feel better" card.

His class at school has been studying wild animals lately.  On Tuesday he had to do an oral presentation and explain his poster before his class.   He received a grade of "excelente" which had him grinning ear to ear when he came home to tell me about it. 

Cruz's poster and the lines he had to memorize and say before his class.

Here is a craft project I worked on for my homeschool room this week.  I used empty small Pringles cans, colored wooden sticks, and a hot glue gun.

I made three of these to hold pencils, markers, and dry erase board supplies.  I love how they turned out.

Here are the boys playing outside one afternoon.  Have I mentioned lately just how much I love the outdoor space where we currently live?  It is so family friendly!  The house in the background has three beagle dogs that my boys love to go and visit.  The owners are so kind to my boys and most always give them cookies (another reason they like to visit, ha). 

He has put a few miles on these tires just in this week alone.  I love my boys playing outside!

On Wednesday we had Bible classes in Tunuco Arriba.  This week we had 63 between the two classes- 34 kindergarten and 1st graders and 29 2nd - 5th graders.  It is always fun being with these precious kids.  

Mrs. Diana getting ready to teach the 2nd - 5th graders

some of the kids in Tunuco Arriba 

some of the kids in Tunuco Arriba

Last week Mrs. Diana gave a review test and she had five kids make 100%.  Here she is recognizing those five kids. 

Next week we will be having our clausura "closing service" with them.  Because of the Lubeck's annual fall trip to the States we will be wrapping up our time at the school for the school year.  We will be doing a program for the parents, and the children will be sharing what they have learned.  We anticipate a great time there next Wednesday morning.  The teachers have already given us an open invitation to return next January to teach again in the new school year.  (The kids here go to school from January - October). 

On Thursday morning we headed to the grocery store to stock up on supplies.  Ben loves to go with me and push his own smaller shopping cart.  I put some items in my cart and some in his.  He also loves to unload everything onto the belt.  He is a great helper!

While out we also noticed that our new Taco Bell was getting ready to open.  The workers were like busy bees getting everything finished.  They opened the doors on Thursday evening and when we drove by after Bible study it was a packed house.  They had people lined out the door waiting their turn to go inside.  It was crazy!  We are excited to visit but I think we'll wait until some of the hype dies down.

I snapped this photo on the way to Bible study in Muyurco on Thursday afternoon.  David had surprised me with this chocolate treat and it was just what I needed to get me through the afternoon. 

My boys playing in Muyurco before our Bible study began.

Cruz in Muyurco

I went out to check on them one time and found them off playing with a goat.  Here they are trying to feed it leaves. 

We had a good Bible study there and a good turnout.  Many of you have been praying for the family there who lost their baby and we say thank you.  I let the family know that this week and it blessed their hearts to know that fellow Christian brothers and sisters in the States were praying for them.  We blessed them with some food supplies and loved on them all afternoon.

Here I am with Nelba (the baby's mother).  She has the sweetest smile but would not smile for the camera.  She said "I look better being serious".  ha  She is precious and I am praying for her everyday.  I think one of the worst pains on this earth would be losing a child.  I cannot fathom what that feels like but my heart breaks for those who have.  I have found myself praying more this week for those I know who have experienced this pain. 

Many of the children have started hiking with us back to our car and seeing us off.  They just laugh and giggle all the way.  They love to run alongside us and try to out run us as we drive off.  I am sure we are a great weekly entertainment for them. 

Some of the sweet children we teach each week in Muyurco.

So far this month we have done eight Bible studies and a funeral.  We have six more Bible studies lined up and a team before the month ends.  These are some busy days but oh so good!  Pray for us to get adequate rest and have the energy we need for the days ahead.  Working with two young ones in tow can be exhausting but I wouldn't have it any other way.

We are excited about the weekend ahead.  We need to make a trip over to Honduras to meet with a few folks there.  It has been several months since we have been there and the boys are so excited.  I'm a little excited myself because I know that our trip will include a little Jim's pizza and coffee and dessert at Welchez Cafe.  Oh, I can't wait!  Pray for our time there and pray also for Bible study Sunday morning in Nearar. 

Have a great weekend everyone!  Hasta Lunes!

Catching Up

I am a little behind on updating about our day to day life.  This post will cover the past two weeks.  Week before last Cruz was on a school break.  They were out for 1.5 weeks.  He had missed several days of school when he was sick last month so his teacher sent all of his work home for him to complete over the break.  Needless to say it was not much of a "break" for Cruz.  He had over 30 sheets of make-up work to complete!  Most of it was handwriting which was a lot of fun for both of us- not. ha. The one thing I am not going to miss about Cruz being in national school is the amount of homework he has every.single.day! 

Cruz writing his cursive letter "b" with the vowels

I decided to take advantage of that time also and do a little schooling of my own.  I did a mini VBS with the boys several mornings.  I did an Obedience theme with them.  We studied Daniel, Jonah, Esther, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo.  We learned about how each of them obeyed God.  We read stories about them, sang songs about them, and had coloring sheets for each lesson.  It was a lot of fun and the boys learned a lot. 

 

Here are the boys coloring sheets from our VBS. 

I also did a science lesson with them.  We went on a  "color walk" around our neighborhood.  I took a box of crayons and the boys had to find something that matched each color.  When we returned home I had them use those crayons to draw what they saw.  Here is Cruz's paper.  I thought he did an excellent job!  They have asked several times since to do it again.  


One day we studied all about owls.  We read stories about them and watched several you tube videos about them.  It was very fun and interesting for the boys.  Afterwards we made this craft.  I ran out of brown paint so we had to use crayons for the wings, ha.

We spent some time also reading and writing for Cruz's phonics homework.  I worked in his school work with ours fun work and that made it more enjoyable.  It was like a small glimpse into our home school future.  

Thursday before last we traveled to Muyurco for Bible study. Rafael, a believer from a nearby village went with us.  He is also David's helper at the Bible study in Nearar.  He did a great job of leading music and encouraging the people there.  We hope to have him join us more in the future. 

Rafael ("Rafa"), David, and Cruz hiking the trail in Muyurco

Little Ben a.k.a. Batman hiking the trail in Muyurco

I shared in another post about our long weekend in Jocotan doing some work training so I'll fast forward to this past Wednesday.  We traveled up the mountain to Tunuco Arriba for our weekly Bible classes in the school there.  Wednesday is a long day for us.  We leave early for the two hour (one-way) drive to the village.  We have two back to back classes in the school, and then travel two hours back down the mountain home.  We are usually exhausted by the time we get back.

some of the children at the  Tunuco Arriba Bible class

Mrs. Diana did a review of the Creation story.  She made a review game for the kids to participate in.  They had to come up and attach the strings from the day to the correct picture of what was created on that day.  It was a lot of fun for the kids.

Creation review game

Here are the boys with Mrs. Diana and Javier in Tunuco Arriba.  Javier travels with us most weeks and does some visitation and prayer walking in the village while we have class.  He is a fluent Chorti speaker and loves the Lord.

When we got down the mountain Mrs. Diana invited us in for lunch.  We gathered around her table with her Chorti Bible translation team and enjoyed a delicious meal together.

Homemade soup and tortillas.  Yum!

We had Bible study again in Muyurco on Thursday afternoon but I did not take a single photo.  We were surprised this week to find about 20 smiling faces waiting for us when we arrived at the creek to park our car.  Most were from a neighboring village.  They hiked the trail with us and joined in on our Bible study time.   We had a great afternoon together.

The rest of my free time this week has been working on my home school room.  Because we have a hotel next door we have decided to turn our spare bedroom into a school room instead of a guest room.  We will definitely get more use out of it that way.   It is coming together nicely and is making me very excited about starting school in just a few short weeks.  Here is a little peek at it so far.  I'll post more pics when I'm done.

I'll leave you with this picture that I snapped on a recent drive into town.  We used to have a different circus come through Chiquimula on a regular basis but it's been seven months now since we have seen one.  Cruz asks me all the time when is the circus coming back.  You can imagine our surprise when we spotted this large group setting up in a field near the center of town.  Cruz and I squealed!  ha  I am not sure if we'll squeeze in a visit over the weekend or not, but I am certain we'll be visiting it in our near future.  I cannot wait.  Our family loves the circus!

We are excited about the holiday weekend.  We do not have a whole lot planned but we will take some time to cookout and celebrate America. More than anything else I plan to spend a lot of time over the weekend specifically praying for America.  I feel like what America needs most right now is prayer.  Would you join me in taking time out of your celebration to spend some time in prayer for our Country?  Have a safe and enjoyable weekend everyone!