Life in La Moskitia

Mrs. Melissa if your reading this post is for you!  (she ask to see pictures)

Okay so here is the outside of our new apartment

yes this is the whole thing! and it will be cleaned up and 100% girly  complete with hot pink walls when we move in

the kitchen

 and the bathroom- we have a toilet

and a shower but no hot water

 This is the best place to swim it is also where our purified water comes from... its about a 30 minute drive from where we live

 This is the boat you take to go to other villages

 This is where we normally swim. The lagoon is one block from our apartment.

This is my church and my pastor

 And the airport and the little plane I take

These next few are just pictures around town

  And a few pictures of houses where Root Ministries will be working

This is inside one house. something like 12 people live here

one neighborhoods water source.

 This is the pier. Not only do you have your adrenaline going after you walk it but you realize how much you would never want the job of unloading the supply boats.

The hospital  

And last but not least THE SOCCER FIELD.

I will take some more pictures of different things to let everyone see more of the town once I get back.

My friends from Latin America told me their stories this past week. Their stories of how the grew up, how they came to America, and where they wanna go next.

I sat there my heart breaking as I listened to two of them ( brothers) talked about how their mother died one when he was just and infant the other was two. They talked about how they lived with their father. Their father had to work on a farm for a few months out of every year so they were left alone. They said their were days when they ate and days when they didn't. They would go outside at night and cry and scream at their mom to come back asking her why she left them. They would go to her grave daily and cry and beg her to come back. At 8 the oldest one began trying to commit suicide. Their father remarried and the new wife did not accept the children. She would ask them to do things that she knew would be impossible for them to do and when they couldn't do it she would beat them. At 14 the oldest left home hoping to find "The American Dream." On his journey to The States he came to know Christ. The younger son left not long after he lived with an aunt in another country for a few years and then decided to follow his brother to The States.

The other guy grew up in a home where his parents participated in witch craft. At 4 he was given the job to take care of the sheep alone. He said even though he did have two parents they were poor and their were days he did not get to eat as well. He was beaten and ended up leaving home in search of anything else. Along the way he met the first brother traveling to The States. The first brother had just become a Christian and ended up sharing the Gospel with him. This is something he had NEVER heard since his family were not Christians and he to soon became a Christian.

The sad part about this is that this is not the life of 3 random guys, this is the life of MILLIONS OF CHILDREN IN EVERY COUNTRY ACROSS THE WORLD.

Here is the awesome part of the story...

They each when they became Christians each individually promised the LORD that if He would provide for them and teach them then they wanted their musical abilities to be used for HIM. These three guys now live together they are attending a music college and the Lord is teaching and providing for them in miraculous ways. Very soon they are going back to their country to bring Jesus Christ to their families and friends and nation. They also are going to start a band(not for fame) but to share Jesus with the nations. The Lord is already opening up doors for them in so many Latin American countries!

one of them said:

"Jesus uses people like me who have NOTHING to prove that He exists."

I looked at these past few months and how the Lord took a baby that I was told" do not get too attached she won't make it."  A baby that nurses told me they did not need to do an HIV test because they "could tell by looking at her that she was going to be positive."

I remember back to the very first day when I met Grace when I saw her in her grandmothers room wrapped in a towel as a diaper sweating like crazy. I took her and immediately put a diaper on her realizing that inside the towel were leaves and this was part of a witch craft ritual. Those first few days after I became her mom as I woke up almost every hour of the night and spent hours each day at the hospital.I remember the night I told all the kids and the nannies to be careful with her because of the possible HIV and the looks of fear and disgust that came over every face as the moved away from where I was standing holding her. I remember the nanny refusing to care for her.  I remember the developmental delays that I thought she would face.  I remember praying for the Lord to heal her and use her for His Glory.

Then I remember the day I was told that she was walking right on track at 12 months old. The day 6 months after the initial HIV test that I heard the word NEGITIVO come out of the doctors mouth. I think back to the updates on Grace that all of the children LOVE her and are always asking to play with her. And I think back to the latest update at 15 months old  she was so determined to hang out with the older kids that she walked almost a mile by herself.

All this to say that

the witch craft did not heal Grace.

the doctors did not heal Grace.

I did not heal Grace.

The power of the Lord the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. The same power of the Spirit that lives inside of each of us.

The Lord's POWER is what healed Grace.

Romans 8: 11 says:
"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you."

So this Easter season I am rejoicing in the power of our God!

HAIR

Introducing the BABY FRO

I am going to give Grace a little baby fro and I am so excited about it but I need tips and as much info and I can get because I have no clue how to do A.A. hair especially when we have limited access to products and hair salons.

here is the look we are going for

Just kidding I just thought this was a funny picture

for real more like this in 2 year old version

Any suggestions?

Today I am a very blessed momma of a beautiful 15 month old! I am so proud of how far she has come in the past 9 months she has gained 16 POUNDS!

She now weighs 24 pounds.

When I met Grace 9 months ago she couldn't move, she made no noise, she could not even drink a 3 ounce bottle.

Now she is obviously eating plenty, walking, and talking (one of the hardest languages to learn). She is developmentally right on track!

Since all I have is internet to do the percentile calculations she went from not even on the charts to somewhere between the 50 and 75 percentile for her weight and age! Is that not amazing! 

PRAISE THE LORD!!

First Language

I was talking to my sweet friend in Honduras last night and she was giving me an update on Grace.

I ask so is she talking yet?

she said yeah a few words

I said okay since this is the question everyone wants to know ENGLISH OR SPANISH.

ENGLISH-NOPE

SPANISH- NOPE

MISKITO-YES.... Looks like my little Miskito princess is claiming Miskito as her first language. The hardest one. So now maybe she will teach me!

She also told me that Grace loves to come to the guest house and gets really excited and happy when she gets to go. I am convinced this is because remembers that is where mommy lives.


Wish I had a new picture to show you all but maybe I will get one soon!!

Root Ministries 2011

Just to update everyone on where Root Ministries is today and what we (I, volunteers, teams, and local people) will be doing  starting NEXT MONTH! There are currently three main aspects of Root Ministries: Forgotten Children, Community Outreach, and Prison Ministry.

Root Ministries Forgotten Children -You all know about my first daughter Grace.   In May I will be opening up my home to other orphans, abandoned and street children that will be raised as my family.

 Root Ministries Community Outreach works in the slums of Puerto Lempira five days a week and focuses on:
-Spiritual Development
-Mentoring Young Mothers through one on one discipleship with older Honduran women
-Malnourishment prevention- through feeding programs and young mother education
-Education- tutoring to get every child in school
-Basic Health and Hygiene classes
-Community involvement and self sufficiency through gardens

Root Ministries Prison Ministry works one day a week in the local prison forming relationships with the people there and setting up accountability groups within the prison.