Recap of our Week

I have not been feeling that great this week .... so that's why I haven't been updating as frequently as before.  I am hoping that I will start to feel better and that this week, I will be on top of things!

After our day on Tuesday, the rest of our week flew by!  We had a lot of fun with teaching the kids and feeding them their daily meals from the kitchen.  Here are some of our favorite shots from our week at La Roca.

Wednseday - Daniel helped make Spaghetti while I was teaching.
Dicing up the tomatoes :)

Aben & Daniel making the sauce

Fruit punch - bucket style :)

Serving the bowls

Can NOT get enough pictures like this one

With my leveled kiddos - washing their hands in a bucket on the ground before eating

Sarai :)

Do you think she liked it?

Aroni :)

 

Teaching them how to clean their face with a napkin

Girls playing after Spaghetti

Kindergarten teacher - that switches with me for PreK

Leveled teacher

On Thursday, we decided to weigh and measure the kids so that in a few months - we can look back and see how much they have grown from eating the meals at La Roca every day!

Daniel lifting up Gabriella - so light and little! :)

I was teaching level one their colors - and I was so proud of this notebook! :)

Afterwards, we played BINGO with colors and numbers ... yes ... with ROCKS :)

That day - we had parents show up to make breakfast for the kids.

Daniel passing out Breakfast to PreK

Passing out Breakfast to levels

This was so funny - they just put a door on the bathroom for the kids ...
 it used to just be a piece of cloth hung up.
One of the girls went in to the bathroom and got stuck - could not get the door open.
The boys came to her rescue - or at least tried :)

Leveled Teacher praying with her kids
I wish that I could do this with my students!

PreK teacher singing a song about how to brush your teeth

Sweet Dennis taking his number test - he studied SO hard for me!

After our time at La Roca on Thursday, Jose (the one that we call son) wanted us to come see his place for lunch.  We stopped by and got some chicken and made our way to his place.

When we arrived, it was unlike anything we imagined.  We walked down a dirt/rocky path to a doorway.  He got to his door and smiled ... said, "This is my house! Welcome!" and walked us in. 

Jose's door is on the left

Jose's room

We walked in to see his room SPOTLESS.  You could tell that he had gotten everything ready for us to come.  He opened his fridge and the only thing that was in there was a bag of water for Aben, Sprite for me, and a bag of milk for Daniel.  He went earlier to the street store and got us our favorite drinks for lunch.  This just melted my heart - that he noticed our favorite drinks - and would take the time to get us what we like to drink while hosting us at his place :)

Daniel with his milk - standing in the doorway

We sat on buckets and enjoyed our lunch and fellowship together.  Jose showed us pictures of his friends - the only family that he has.  He shared with us how he saved up to have a small refridgerator, then his bed, then some clothes, etc.  He said that he had a TV but his friend asked him for it - so he gave it to him.  After a few seconds of silence as we all reflected on what he was sharing, he interrupted and said, "This is my home" with his usual gigantic smile.

Jose has been on his own for over 6 years now - he is only 20 years old.  His father was never in his life.  His mother died when he was 6 from AIDS.  A year later, his brother died from a heart condition at age 6.  He was placed with an adoptive family but they treated him terribly.  He left as soon as he could for a life in the streets. 

He now rents this room for $50/month.   He does not have running water and has to walk back up the path to an outhouse - which is just a hole in the ground - to use the restroom.  He washes his clothes by hand in a bucket.  He is out of work right now and is searching diligently for something to provide just a little money. 

Despite all of this, when we run into someone that Jose knows, and they ask him how he's doing, he always answers by saying "Blessed" with the most genuine smile on his face that you have ever seen.

I can not put into words how Jose Luis has changed my life.  He has made me laugh more than anyone else here - especially when trying to learn English with me :)  He has made me see things so differently - and realize just how ridiculously blessed that we are.  He has shown us love like never before - and has begged us not to leave him.  I know that Jose will forever be in our hearts - and we will never forget our moments with him!

Us with Hijo - our son :)

On Friday, we were able to go to a local orphanage in the city.  We had been looking forward to this for a while!  We took water balloons, balloon animals, pinatas, face paint, and games to share with the kids while we were there.   Here are some pictures of our time with the older kids!

Name of the Orphanage

Playing Soccer before starting with the kiddos

Hanging the pinata

Opening up in Prayer

Sharing the Gospel with an EvangeCube

Candid shot of us listening - :)

Found Hijo - Jose - sharing the gospel with a worker at the orphanage

After a testimony - praying over the girls

Praying - sharing the plan of salvation

Younger kids - playing with a jump rope :)

Daniel - TOO FUNNY :)

 This was one of the saddest parts of our day - three of the 14 year old girls at the orphanage escaped while we were there.  They jumped up on the roof and left.  When we talked to the director, she told us that once they leave, they can not come back without an order from the court.  PLEASE pray for these 3 girls who are now faced with living in the streets.  I pray that the Lord will send someone in their paths to rescue them before it is too late. 

One of the boys climbed up on the roof because he was sad
After he saw the girls leave :(

Soccer game

Handsome goalie :)

Group picture :)

Pinata time

Rushing to get the candy

Water balloon fight - this time aimed at Jose :)

Balloons

Daniel has become quite the clown - making all kinds of creations :) hahah!

Daniel and I were able to go in to see the infants and toddlers with one of our friends from here so that she could translate for us.  Only three people were allowed in from our group because the babies had been sick on and off - so it was for their protection as well as ours.  We were able to pray over them ... and that was it!  We had surgical masks on - and were not allowed to take pictures or touch them at all.  It was the hardest day that I have had since being here ... especially because of little Fernando.

We walked into his room - and he stood up in his crib.  His whole face lit up when he realized that we were coming in to see him.  He started jumping up and down ... and then made eye contact with me.  His arms flew up in the air and he was smiling from ear to ear ... reaching his arms out as far as he could so that I could pick him up.  I just kept blowing him kisses and talking to him - and after a few seconds the look on his face changed.  He was so confused - could not figure out why I would not pick him up!  So then he made eye contact with Daniel ... and did the same thing.  Only this time when Daniel only waved at him, he started climbing out of his crib to get to Daniel.   We turned around to go to the next room, and little Fernando's lip began to quiver and his eyes began to fill up with tears.  I didn't want to walk away -  I will never forget his face for the rest of my life.

The rest of the time in the nursery was very sad.  We heard stories of babies found on the street, babies that were taken from abusive homes (5 month old), babies whose mother is 14 and hooked on drugs, etc.  My heart broke with sorrow time after time as I listened to these stories and watched these children lay in their cribs - knowing that the life ahead of them was not going to be an easy one.  My prayer for these children was that the Lord would place them in a forever home and put someone in their path to lead them to the cross - so that they would feel the love of My Savior - and He could heal their broken hearts.

After the orphanage, we came back to the apartment to rest.  It was an emtotionally draining day and I was feeling awful. Saturday was a rainy day - we had a YFC meeting at Aben's house and ran a few errands.  We came back to the apartment and headed out a little while later to see Ice Age 4.   We both needed some laughs  -  and figured that getting out of the apartment would be better than staying in on a rainy evening.  We had a great time - and we made it there and home safely on our own.  Thank you Jesus!

This week, we have La Roca, feeding at the City Dump, and outreach at a Public Highschool. 


Then next week, we have 4 days here in Tegucigalpa and then we are leaving Friday morning to head to San Pedro Sula, the city that we will be leaving from.  Aben is taking us there for a few days to spend time with Mauricio and our friends there before heading home. 

It's hard to believe that in 17 days we will be home!  We are so sad to leave our friends and the kiddos at La Roca - but we feel ourselves getting more and more ready to be home, too.  We are missing Miles Road SO much - we long for fellowship and worship with our family there.  We are really missing our dogs ... they are our babies!  We can't wait to see how excited they are when we get home.  We are ready for all of our hugs from our family and friends at the airport when we arrive - we can't wait!  And, of course, Daniel is counting down until he can have some "real" Teriyaki! 

And we are really looking forward to sleeping in our bed - Daniel has a hard time sleeping anywhere other than our bed because of his back injury.  It's been rough trying to get him to be comfortable over the last 6 weeks ... The other night - I was up late and came into the room to find this.

He put the mattress on the floor to see if that would
 help the bed from sinking in the middle ... pitiful, huh?

Making the most of the moments that we have left here - can't wait to share more!