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Time is flying.
Honduras is hot. (Really, really hot...)
And we are tired!
But The Lord continues to show us that He is SO good.
Things have been so busy for us since we arrived here in Honduras, but it has also been so full of excitement and encouragement.
Here is a recap of the last two weeks of our journey!
The Big Move
The move from Costa Rica to Honduras went well & we all ended up together safely in Honduras as expected. Praise The Lord!
We were so thankful that Daniel's friend and former coworker, Jeremiah Sullivan, came to make the drive from Costa Rica to Honduras with Daniel. He speaks Spanish & is familiar with the Latino culture because he has been married for almost 20 years to a lady from Mexico. It was a huge blessing to have his knowledge and language experience for the big move! He also stayed for a week with us to help with VBS & the youth camp ... we were so excited to have him here!
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| A new friend that the guys made as they entered into Honduras! |
When they arrived at the Honduran border leaving Nicaragua, the Honduran police talked with Jeremiah and Daniel for a while about where they were coming from and where they were headed. They shared with the police that Daniel was a missionary to Honduras that had been coming and serving the Honduran people for the last 6 summers but now would be living full time in Honduras. The police asked Daniel for proof that he was a missionary.
Daniel said that he was a little caught off guard & went to the jeep to find "proof" ... only to realize that he had nothing on him at all to prove that he was a missionary. His phone service wasn't working at the time so he couldn't even pull up our Youth For Christ giving page as confirmation. He felt a little nervous and unsure what he was going to do ... he opened the back door and sitting on top of a suitcase was an EvangeCube.
An EvangeCube is tool we have used before with mission work to share the Gospel. We found the cube in our things while packing in Costa Rica and we decided that he should take it with him on the drive to Honduras. We even kind of joked about where it would fit in the jeep with everything else that we had planned to pack in there (the cube is the size of a Rubix Cube but the jeep was SO full).
Somehow, in the hustle of moving things around along the way & packing the jeep, the EvangeCube was sitting on top of a suitcase in plain sight.
So, he grabbed the cube and went back over to the police to share the Gospel with them. Jeremiah translated as Daniel shared the story of Christ & when they finished the police asked to keep the EvangeCube.
What a beautiful reminder of our identity in Christ! When asked for proof of his identity, Daniel was able to use the Gospel as proof. What could be better?! What could have been seen as an interruption and hold up in their border crossing was clearly an invitation from The Lord to share the Gospel with these men! Just so amazing. From that moment on, the guys said the rest of the drive through Honduras to the Camp was peaceful with without any issues. Thankfully, they arrived safely to the camp around 1 am Monday morning!
Our First Week
A team of 6 traveled from our home state of South Carolina to serve with us & welcome us to Honduras! We thank The Lord every single day for the way that He has used Pastor Adam & Restoration Community Church to encourage us in our journey this year. The team of six from Restoration was amazing. Each person was "all-in" and ready to serve & love the people of La Entrada. We will always be thankful for our time with each of the members from Restoration ... Pastor Adam, Rena, Ashley, James, Michael & Rob ... we can't wait to see you all again in November!
Also on the team was Jeremiah Diehl, our life-long friend from Maryland. Laura and Jeremiah met when they were just kids & Daniel quickly became best friends with Jeremiah when they met years later. Jeremiah and his family have recently returned to the States after serving in Kenya with Africa Inland Mission. We have always talked and dreamed about the day that Jeremiah would finally get to come and visit us in Honduras. It was an emotional reunion as we were reunited here at the Camp! We are excited to see what the Lord has in store for the Diehls and trust that He is going to bring them back to Honduras to serve with us again in the future!
We spent months before language school praying for The Lord to connect our hearts with people while living in Costa Rica that would become lifelong friends. He went above & beyond with Jeff & Kim Oeder. They have interceded for our family in prayer & weathered the hard times with us this year. We are so thankful that they offered to fly from Costa Rica with Laura & Josie to make the big move to Honduras & spend the week at the Camp with the team.
This couple is incredible, y'all. Truly. They each have a testimony of God's redeeming love and grace that will leave you speechless and in awe of Our Savior. They are not our friends ... they are our family. We know the best is yet to come and we will see The Lord use our families together to bring people to Him!
It was so clear that The Lord formed this team of people to be here for us in such a specific way. We felt encouraged and loved by each of the team members that week ... we could not have asked for a better kickoff to living at the Camp!
Here are some pictures from our time together!
Team Building
Vacation Bible School
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| Face Painting |
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| Obstacle Course |
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| Shields of Faith |
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| Game Time |
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| Games in the field |
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| Sweet Kids! |
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| Super Hero Lesson |
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| Visiting the school ... the kids were wearing their tie dyed shirts from the team that came in June! |
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| Bus ride! |
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| Pastor Adam surrounded by kiddos! |
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| The guys were such great sports! |
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| Luna teaching |
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| Josie enjoying her girl time :) |
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| Face Painting |
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| Indoor Game |
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| Saying see you soon! |
Teen Weekend Purity Camp
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| Team building obstacles |
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| After a skit in the talent show ... these two are always making a mess! |
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| Kimberly sharing her testimony ... so powerful! |
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| Sunday morning devotion with Pastor Adam |
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| Vowel Renewal Ceremony ... absolutely beautiful! |
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| Such an amazing couple ... we are so thankful that they are now such a huge part of our hearts! |
There are no words for the memories that we have from the week with this group. We are still praising the Lord for the work that He did during that week in our hearts as we prepared for our first few months here in Honduras.
SO ... what now?
Well ... we have finally been able to start settling into our life here in La Entrada.
Last week, we were able to get Josie enrolled at her new school, purchased a bed & a fridge, and found our way around the town for our basic needs. While running errands last week, we had three encounters with people in town that called out our names in the store, came over to greet us, and shared that they had never met us but had heard we were coming to live in La Entrada & had seen our pictures on the JPC FaceBook page. We felt so encouraged to meet new friends & see that The Lord had gone before us to make a way in our new town!
On Saturday, we moved into our YFC director's living space here at the camp until our home is finished. So this week, we are starting to finally feel a sense of "normal" as we are able to cook meals, organize our things, and enjoy our beautiful view at the Camp!
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| Our sweet girl swinging in her new front yard! |
We will be staying here in Honduras through November 14th. We will be working on building relationships in the community, at the local schools, and developing our vision for full time ministry at the Camp. We also will host a few weekend camps & also a team from Virginia the first full week in November. We are excited to see what The Lord has in store for us in the next 9 weeks here!
On November 14th, we will be flying to the States. We will spend 12 weeks in the States visiting churches to share about the ministry, attending some required Youth For Christ training, and finishing up with raising the rest of our monthly need for support. We have a very full schedule for those 12 weeks & we are trusting The Lord to encourage our hearts and exceed our expectations!
Here is a peek at our schedule for sharing about YFC Honduras incase you would like to join us & hear all about what The Lord is doing in & through our family!
Please continue to pray for us as we adjust to the climate and culture here in Honduras, for Josie as she continues to adjust to her new school & new friends, and for the ministry as we continue to make connections and build relationships in the community.
We know that our life is really just getting started ... and we can't wait to see what's next!
