Two weeks down - Six to go!

Ok - this is going to be a long one:) I hope that the wait was worth it ... I'm sorry that we have not been able to post. It's been a crazy week ... but praise the Lord we have made it to Tegucigalpa! Here is a brief recap of some of our week. 

I didn't get to share much from our week at the YFC camp because we had very limited internet access. We loved our time at the camp - and we have really been missing it since we left. We had such a wonderful time in the Lord ... just working with the kids and doing work to glorify Him!

Daniel did a hike with his group during the "Sin Excusas" juinor high camp!
It was intense!



Bunch of bananas that we bought from a road side stand



Our team hauling rocks from the creek to fill trenches on the YFC Camp



Daniel doing his first load of clothes -ever!  haha - just kidding! :)

VBS ended with such a bang! We had around 50 kids on Thursday ... Friday was our final day and over 80 kids ended up coming in on the bus! We had to rush to get more craft materials, etc. ready! What a blessing of a problem to have! It was incredible. We prepared a skit to the song "Set Me Free" with the youth group that we worked with there.  After the skit,  Daniel had the opportunity to present the plan of salvation and Mauricio (the national director of Youth for Christ) translated for him. That was an amazing moment ... I stood in awe as I taped this! The Lord was so present and everyone loved the skit.  I tried to post the video but for some reason it would not load! :(

The YFC Camp hosted a junior high camp on Saturday/Sunday called "Sin Excusas" (Without Excuses). That program focuses on sexual purity for teens ... a huge problem here in this culture.  Mauricio, the Youth for Christ national director, has provided a weekend retreat for these kids to come to the camp and spend the weekend learning how to live a sexually pure life and about the love of Christ.  It truly is an amazing program … we were so blessed to be able to be a part of it for a short time that weekend. We did the skit a second time for the junior high camp - and six young men raised their hand to accept Christ afterwards! We are so blessed to be a part of this. I am still amazed that the Lord chooses to allow us to be a part of his work.
We left the YFC Camp and headed to the island on Sunday!


On our way to Little Key Island
Barry (our captain) and Daniel
Me, Ms. Kathy, & Mr. Danny
Rick & Tati (their granddaughter)

Sunset on Little Key Island

We spent Sunday - Friday on the island of Little Key.  We spent the last few days doing cross cultural training, group prayer time and bible studies to prepare us for the remainder of our trip.  It was amazing - so refreshing and so primitive.  We were truly able to marvel at the Lord's creation in a way like never before. 

We were so blessed by everyone that was with us.  We had two Daniel's and two Rick's in the house - so it was fun to laugh about that!  The Lord continues to amaze us with placing people in our path to bless us and prepare us for the 6 week ministry in Tegucigalpa.  We were able to spend time with Danny and Kathy Sartin - a couple from Memphis that started a ministry called Deeper Still.  They focus on renewal, rest, and encouragement for missionaries in various places around the world.  They were amazing.  We are so blessed to have been able to spend time with them and learn under their teachings before starting our internship in Tegucigalpa.

We had it rough, during our stay on the island. By looking at the pictures it looks like we were in paradise - and we were - without running water or working toilets.  There were several hours of stillness ... absolutely no breeze.  The sun is much more powerful and potent here ... so we were constantly dripping in sweat!  It was definitely a trying week ... and we both feel like the Lord used this time to open our eyes and hearts ... and make us more grateful and thankful for the little things that we take for granted.

Here is some of my journal entry from Wednesday that I wanted to share to give you a glimpse of our week in Little Key.

When was the last time that you stood under a cold shower that was only trickling out - and found yourself with hands raised in praise to the Lord?  That was me this afternoon.  It has been two days since we have had a shower - been in the salt water here on the island but not clean.  We have not had running water ... and the little water that we have had has been rain water.  It rained the first night so we were in good shape at the beginning of the week .. but it did not rain last night so we are completely out of water supply.  I didn't realize it but the bedroom downstairs runs on a separate tank ... so I was able to enjoy a few minutes of clean rain water this afternoon.  I have never been so happy to feel COLD water in my life!

This trip has already transformed my heart.  At home, life carries on day to day without us having to be dependent on the Lord for anything.  The water ALWAYS turns on at the sink.  The toilet ALWAYS flushes.  A shower is ALWAYS ready and available - no matter what time of day or what kind of weather we have had.  There is ALWAYS an option to go to get WHATEVER food you want - fast food restaurants, sit down dinners, 24 hour grocery stores.  There is never a real moment where you find yourself praying for your basic needs to be met.

Here - I literally rejoice when the toilet flushes after I add water to the tank.  I am so thankful when it works - and I don't have to start back at scratch because of water wasted in an attempted flush.  (FYI - it takes a LOAD of water to flush a toilet)  I find myself genuinely THANKFUL for whatever food that is put in front of me ... even if it is something that I would never eat at home.  I am grateful and thankful that my stomach will not be empty.  My heart is so much more THANKFUL than ever before.

Even though it is a struggle to get some needs met here - the Lord's presence is overwhelming.  I see Him everywhere.  I am grateful for this experience ... to have to call on Him for everything throughout every day.  I have been able to SEE Him in a way like no other time in my life before.  I have already come to love having less - because it allows me to see and call on Him more.  I would not trade that for a hot shower any day.

We really did have a wonderful week in the Lord - despite any of the struggles or obstacles.  Daniel, Rick and Rick got to go out early one morning and catch some dinner for us - baracuda, tuna, and mahi mahi.  He loved every minute of it!  We enjoyed the Mahi Mahi and Tuna each night for the rest of the week ... boy was it good! :)

What a happy boy! :)

We left Little Key Island and came to Utila for the night on Friday ... the boat drive across the Carribean was INSANE.  We were in a boat that was 37 feet long and 5 feet wide ... with 8 people and a TON of luggage.  When we got on the boat and saw that our captain put on a rain coat with a hood and tied it SUPER tight, we should have known that we were in for it.  I literally clung to the rope that was holding me down and prayed the entire way across to the island ... just trusting the Lord to see me through.  Even though my knuckles were white and I was DRENCHED from head to toe, He delivered us across to Utila!  Praise the Lord! :)

We spent Friday night in Utila and left Saturday around 2pm on a boat ferry to the main land.  The waves were terrible!  I have a video of the boat ride, too ... I am determined to figure out how to load these things!

Pretty Toucan in Utila

The boat rides over the last week have definitely stretched my comfort zone!  We made it back to shore around 3pm and had to call two taxis to take some of our group/luggage to the nearby bus station.  After the week that we had in extreme heat (not to mention the several hours without a breeze) and the crazy traveling, we were all at our end!  Thank the Lord that we were blessed with two very patient taxi drivers that carried us to two separate bus stations - only to carry us back to the first station that we checked on.  The bus ride to San Pedro Sula (where we flew in originally) did not leave until 7pm so we had a few hours to spare.  We left our luggage with Daniel at the bus station and went to get something to eat ... and took our two new "amigos" with us :) 

Our two taxi drivers that were SO patient!

 We got on the bus at 7pm and arrived in San Pedro right before 10pm.  We spent time getting situated and settled down finally around midnight.  The 5:30 wake up call came SUPER early this morning.  We hopped on a shuttle to the bus station at 6:30 and caught a 4hour busride to Tegucigalpa. 

Needless to say, we were SPENT.  Between my sunburnt shoulders and all of that traveling, I was ready to pass out!  We cooked up some baracuda from the island and called it a night!

Today we spent some time in the city.  We picked up another intern that flew in this afternoon from TN.  She is 16 and came by herself for an internship.  She will be staying with Kim & Rick while she is here.  After picking up Bree we went by a local ministry called "Mi Esperanza".  The ministry focuses on single mothers.  They teach them trades like how to sew, computer skills, and other skills to help them make a living.  This store had handmade jewelry, bags, and other things for the community to purchase.  All of the procedes go back to the ministry!  It was amazing to see what these women had made!

After leaving that ministry, we went to a local park in a local neighborhood to host VBS. When we got there, they had already started ... so we spent time making bracelets and face painting - while most of the kids were playing soccer!

This is by FAR my favorite picture so far from the trip.  I was painted a cross on the face of one little girl while 2 other little girls were playing in my hair.  These moments are what I live and breathe for ... and I know that this is what Jesus created me for.  I want to spend the rest of my life sharing the love of Christ with children!  I'm so happy when I'm serving them!

Thank you SO much for keeping our spirits up. Words could never tell you how much it means to us to get comments and e-mails from each of you. Even thought we might not be responding right away, we are getting them and they are filling our hearts with joy! We will have internet more regularly now – so we will be able to respond more frequently! 
Here is a picture of a visitor that we had last night at Kim & Rick's ... we have to keep an eye out for these critters while we are here!  Say a prayer for us!

Our unwelcomed guest :(

We will be hosting a STEM team in Tegucigalpa for the next week or so. That team will be staying in the intern house in the city while we stay with Rick and Kim, the missionaries that are hosting us. After the team leaves, we will make our final move to the intern house where we will finish out our stay there.  The intern house is right in the middle of the city - and not far from the church that we will be attending here! 

I will be posting more pictures soon ... here is the last picture for tonight.  This is Rick and Kim's precious granddaughter - Tati.  She has stolen our hearts ... and is 100% bilingual.  It is the most amazing thing you have ever seen!  She will talk in English to us and turn around to the locals and talk in Spanish without missing a beat.  I'm sure you will be seeing a lot of this precious face over the next few weeks :)

This I know: God is on my side! I praise God for what He has promised; yes, I praise the LORD for what He has promised." -Psalm 56:9b-10