A Hope and A Future: October 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Honduran experience #4

What is one word to describe your experience?
-Challenging

What was your first impression when you got off the plane?
-I've been on many different kinds of planes all my life and landed on all types of runways but that dirt, pothole filled runway was by far the worst. My first thought after stepping out of the plane was --Lord, Help me survive this experience. And then I saw Morgan and Grace and I felt a huge sigh of relief!

How was your experience diffferent than you imagined?
-I thought it would be more rewarding but instead I was angered and frustrated that I could not help everyone there.

Where did you see the Lord during your time here?
-In Morgan, Lily, and the Waits family. True believers who live for the Lord and want to spread the love of Jesus Christ.

What was your favorite part of your trip?
-I enjoyed the walking through the village and just enjoying each day to the fullest. It was nice not being in the hustle of everyday life with traffic and the radio and cellphones. Reminded me of what is important in life and what isn't.

What was hard for you to see or do?
-The hospital broke my heart. Healthcare is something we as US citizens take for granted. Also, the living conditions are pitiful. 10+ people living in a one room hut is hard to even imagine let alone actually see.

What do you feel like the Lord taught you during you time in PL?
-Patience. And He reminded me to treat others the way I want to be treated. And how you should not have to tell people you are a Christian, people should SEE the Lord in you through your words and your actions.

How did those first impressions change as you got back on that plane headed for the states?
-I survived and it was worth it! And I need to learn Spanish before I go back!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Honduran Experience #3

What is one word to describe your experience?
life-changing

What was your first impression when you got off the plane?
Dusty. Haha!

How was your experience diffferent than you imagined?
It was emotionally harder than I imagined. I wasn't quite prepared for the heartbreak I experienced.

Where did you see the Lord during your time here?
In Morgan and the Waitts. Despite the circumstances there was constant joy for serving and for the people in the community.

What was your favorite part of your trip?
Going to the hospital. Not. My favorite part was the children. Grace, Henry, the kids at Send Hope, the kids in the street.

What was hard for you to see or do?
Waching the papa K slice open a mothers uterus.
It was hard for me to hear the stories of abuse and abandonment of the children.

What do you feel like the Lord taught you during you time in PL?
God showed me his heart in a way. I came home very sad, confused, and pessimistic. I couldn't quite grasp why many of the kids have to live through certain things and lack many of the basic human rights such as love, food, and education. He gently reminded me that He knows. He feels all of the pain. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." God will one day bless the children struggling right now in Puerto Lempira and the surrounding villages if they come to the knowledge of Him. Like Psalm 27:10 says, "Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me." No matter how much I hate it, suffering is going to happen. God reminded me that my job is to spread His good name so that one day they may have no suffering and much rejoicing with Him in heaven.

Honduran Experience #2

One word to describe my experience... well i have M-A-N-Y!!! but if i had to only choose one i would say "EYE OPENING"...

First impression when i got off the plane... "OH MY HEAVENS WHAT HAVE WE SIGNED UP FOR?"

The experience was different than I imagined only in one way… I was VERY surprised to see a lot of the men of the community not helping out… For example: While working on Ebbetie’s house, there were like five guys with watches, cell phones and necklaces wearing nice clothes just hanging out on the porch while our men (Rick, Kevin and Alex) were working nonstop. I would have thought they would have offered to help, especially seeing two women (Amanda and I) in the hot sun working as well. This I found very different!

Where I saw the Lord was EVERYWHERE we went!!! Especially in little Morgan! God only knows how she is capable of doing what she does every day! I think I had, at minimum, ten break downs while I was there, NO REALY, BREAK DOWNS!!! Not from the lack of water, air conditioning, transportation, or from my feet and legs swelling to the size of an elephant or other things we have been spoiled with, but by seeing the amount of NEED that is in Puerto Lempira. I saw the Lord all thru Morgan and what she is doing to assist in Honduras! If I can live to be 1% of the Christian woman she is than I feel I have done well! Morgan is by far one of the most giving, understanding, caring, loving, patient, trustworthy, living for God woman I have ever had the absolute pleasure of meeting! When I asked her how she does it… she always answered, “Thru God, God will provide”! Morgan is one of the most special people I have ever met and I feel honored to have spent time with her and helping her with her mission. I pray that I get to come back VERY soon! I feel as though I’m a better person now just from knowing her!

My favorite part of the trip? Hmmmm? That is def a tuff question… The orphanage, House of Hope was Amazing in so many ways! I honestly could have set up camp and lived there! To know that most of these children would have no chance if it were not for the House of Hope just broke my heart! When I took their pics with my polaroid camera and they got to keep the pics right then… that was AMAZING to see their little faces all lit up! And the Princess Party! Getting all the little girls ready with hair, makeup, glitter and nails, then picking them up so they could see their selves in the mirror… INCREDIBLE!!! Their little faces jus LIT up like Christmas trees and it was like they couldn’t believe they were looking at themselves! Eating with Oscar, his wife and four children who sacrificed two of their chickens for us was such an honor… and to know that their seven year old was the one who actually killed the chickens was amazing! Their children were so well behaved and the family was so kind to us! I could not get over how TALENTED Oscar is!!! To know he built all his furniture his self… incredible… and to know that they made you a table for your fridge to sit on and then carried it approximately 2 ½ miles to deliver it to you! AMAZING!!! I also loved meeting little Crystal! The way she latched on to that little doll that sang Jesus Loves Me in English was such a moving experience! I’m def sending her one on the next shipment. Meeting Alex, Laura, Arlee and their other three boys was amazing as well! Such a selfless family to give up such lucrative careers in the States to move to Honduras in order to try and make a difference! But most of all my favorite part of the trip was seeing your eyes light up when you saw your big brother! There is nothing stronger than family and that is something you def have! That boy would walk to the ends of this earth for you and his little niece Grace! To see the love that two people share is just incredible and again, I feel so honored to have been a part of it! I could go on and on and on with all my favorite parts of the trip, Meeting PaPa K and driving around in his “Mercedes” with Kevin crunched in the back while looking for his land that he had NO IDEA where it all was… the first day walking the entire COUNTRY seeing all the different houses, people, stores. Seeing how different everything is from the States and how TRULY BLESSED we are and how much we take for granted!!! Seeing all the children giggle when we walked by and said Hola to them… oh let me stop… this is going to be 25 pages long! OVERALL I LOVED EVERYTHING about this experience and will treasure it for the rest of my life… I am def forever changed!

Hmm… what was hard for me to see or do… at first the living conditions were very hard for me to get use to but then I realized that that is all they are used to so it’s not that bad for them. I mean if you don’t know any different…. It was very difficult to see the amount of Narks they had there and no way to stop them! Very difficult to see so many young women giving birth to children they cannot provide for, for one reason or another. It was a little difficult for me to meet Mel and have him welcome me with open arms knowing that he is in prison for murder. But the Lord says you seek him and he will forgive you and I feel that Mel is a prime example of that! He was so educated and so kind. He really could have made something out of his life if only he had had the opportunity. The hardest thing for me to see was the young 12 year old little girl who had a three month old baby due to being raped by two men! I guess this is where my non-Christian ways come into play because I just don’t understand how you could forgive something like that! She was a CHILD!!! But she is an AMAZING Mother and a remarkable young lady. I admire her strength so much! It was very hard to visit the House of Hope and NOT want to take every one of those children home! Three in particular! I would have given my right leg for! And Thelma, to know that she is of age and could make it on her own here in the States and be very successful because she is SO smart and talented but she chooses to stay in order to take care of her four sister… one of which is completely disabled… meeting her was when I had one of my major break downs! This poor child was just so full of life and love! You couldn’t help but to fall in love with her! It was hard to see the pain in PaPa K’s eyes about the loss of his beloved son! You could tell that the loss has affected him deeply! I pray that he finds peace by honoring his son and helping other in Honduras!

The Lord def taught me and showed me that even though I am a good person I def need to be living more for the LORD and not for me! I need to be in a church family and hearing the Lords words! I need to rely on the Lord more and pray a LOT more often! I need to surround myself with more Christian people and put my talents to work! I plan to rally like I’ve never rallied before to get school uniforms to the children of Puerto Lempira who require only that in order to attend school… I plan to flood Puerto Lempira with “Brown” Barbie dolls being that all they have are white Barbie’s… this is jus not right! Lol… and I also plan on doing some sort of silent action maybe in the beginning of next year in order to raise money for Morgan’s cause and orphanage!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Honduran Experience #1

Over the next few days I will post what others who have visited Puerto Lempira have to say about their experiences here. I thought it would be good for yall to see things through their eyes.

What is one word to describe your experience?
Unforgettable

What was your first impression when you got off the plane?
I thought it looked JUST like all the pictures you have posted. I was beside myself with excitement and ready to explore!

How was your experience different than you imagined?
It was different because I thought I would be able to share God’s word with more people but once I was there I realized; first, I can’t speak Spanish or Moskito so communicating was not easy and secondly, you have to establish a relationship with them first. I also didn’t realize there are “street kids”…..I just assumed everyone was poor and didn’t go to school. It breaks my heart to know these kids are able to get an education because they can’t afford uniforms. The way the government works blows my mind as well….how they have to conserve water and electricity. I realized I take so many SIMPLE things for granted everyday!

Where did you see the Lord during your time here?
I saw the Lord working in Morgan, The Waits and Oscar and his family. These people seemed so happy with their lives and truly seemed to enjoy serving the Lord.

What was your favorite part of your trip?
Eating lunch at Oscar’s home, time spent with Dr. Kianifar, exploring and learning about the culture, working on Ebette’s home and last but not least, TIME WITH MORGAN & GRACE!!! I TRULY enjoyed that more than anything!!!!

What was hard for you to see or do?
It was hard for me to deal with the filth….being dirty and never having a HOT shower to feel clean. The hardest thing for me to see was the children at the House of Hope. Also, seeing Morgan’s students so eager to learn when most of the children in the US dread going to class. Its truly heartbreaking.

What do you feel like the Lord taught you during you time in Puerto Lempira?
Not to take the simple things in life for granted. Appreciate what you have. Don’t lust for material things and give all you can to others!!!!!!

How did those first impressions change as you got back on that plane headed for the states?
The fear of “catching” something, germs and diseases slowly diminished. When I got on the plane, I wished I had gotten “closer” to the children and wished that I had not asked for such a busy schedule because I would have enjoyed just following Morgan and Grace around and learning about their way of life.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

In the next post you are going to be hearing about ¨Oscar Edel and their family¨ so I thought I would start with exactly who they are.

Rewind to my very first week living here in Puerto Lempira to say the least it was anything short of CRAZY. We were sleeping on a mat on the floor in an apartment not quite ready for rent but we were in desperate need of somewhere to live. About a week after my move a man came to put screens on my windows (mosquitos and malaria are common here) He stayed late that night so that we would not have to sleep another night with mosquitos biting us. I fed him and his worker dinner for staying late.

That was my introduction to Oscar.

Oscar continued doing little odd jobs for Dr. Kianifar(my landlord) so I would see him around and we quickly became friends.

One Sunday Dr. Kianfar invited us to eat lunch. He told us we would be going to a ladies house to eat after church. Little did I know this was Oscar´s house.

The day before we were supposed to go Oscar stopped by the apartement and ask us to come up with a name for his 4 month old daughter who did not have a name yet. That was our job in exchange for lunch cooked by his wife.

We came up with several names that they were not too keen on and then Dr. Kianifar told them the persian name for star is Setare. We all began to say it over and over again to remeber it. Setare stuck so the little girl now has a name Lydia Setare but they call her Setare.

Not only did we get to meet Oscar´s kids but his wife. A woman who might be my favorite Miskito woman I have met so far. Her name is Edelmira but I call her Edel. Anyone who has met her knows she is ALWAYS happy, laughing and full of joy. Her home is the most peaceful place. Anyone who know her loves her and to be in her home.

This family has become some of my best friends here. I am thankful everyday for them!

Let me introduce you all to them

Oscar