Crisna

This past week we received some donation boxes sent from Alabama. They included a donation of 60 pounds of pediasure. The pediasure I originally thought was formula and I had been thinking of some babies who could use formula. When I opened the boxes and saw it was pediasure age 1 and up. I started to think of any other kids I knew who were malnourished but over a year old.

 

I thought of another little girl who had been sent home from the House of Hope because she would not eat for the nanny. She was enrolled in a rice and milk program to monitor her weight but would be cared for by her mom.

 

I ask a nurse volunteer to go visit her house with me and take her some pediasure. On the walk over to her house only a few blocks from mine I was very nervous about what we are going to find.

A few weeks little 18 month old girl who was sent home weighing 13 pounds.

 

What would she look like today?

 

We walked up to this little wooden shack with dirty children happily playing outside. We saw her mom sitting outside with her 7 children but no Crisna in sight. My heart dropped a little as I thought here it is -my biggest fear she died. We ask through a Miskito translator where the baby is. Since I don't know what they are saying and no one moves I start to panic inside. The translator then tells us she is just sleeping inside. We ask for her to please go get her and bring her outside. The mom returns with a lethargic baby in her arms way smaller than the girl I had seen a few weeks ago. My nurse friend lifts up her shirt to reveal her tiny skeleton like body. I look into her unresponsive sunken in eyes and see a baby who is not done fighting. I put a few drops of pediasure in her mouth and she gags because she is has not eaten in so long.

 

My friend and I both say we are taking her back to House of Hope.

 

She now weighs a mere 10 pounds at 18 months old.

 

Please pray for sweet Crisna and those fighting with her.

Thank you

This week I have been getting a big lesson in being thankful… from my 2 year old.

Grace has been learning to say thank you.

She has taken saying thank you to a new level. Believe me when I say she says "thank you" for and to EVERYTHING.

So I have started to think. What would it look like if I were to be that thankful?

Thank you Lord that I get to change dirty diapers all day long because it means I have a healthy baby who gets more than enough food and bottles each day.

Thank you Lord for the dirty dishes piled in my sink because that means we had food today.  Thank you Lord that we have dishes to eat off of and utensils to eat with.

Thank you Lord for this hot sunny day that allows my clothes to dry in a few hours.

Thank you Lord for the rainy days that cool things down and fills our well with water.

Thank you Lord that we have so many clothes that I had to think about what I was going to wear today.

Thank you Lord that we have electricity that allows us a little family time after dark each night.

and the list goes on.

 

What would it look like if you were thankful for everything?

"Be Joyful always; pray continually,

give thanks in all circumstances"
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Since I am bragging on ministries let me brag on two we get to serve along side right here in Puerto Lempira.

A few years ago I searched the UMVIM  website for a place to go on a mission trip I came across a place called House of Hope  in Puerto Lempira, Honduras. That summer I came for a two week visit that changed my life in every way possible. 

House of Hope is a short term home (although they do have some long term kids) for partially handicapped and malnourished children. Thousands of children have received nourishment from House of Hope and hundreds have been sent out to the city for surgery.  House of Hope was founded by Dr. Tom Brian and run by missionaries Katrina and Roger Engle who have lived in La Moskitia for 20 years now. Katrina is known by the whole region as “Mama Miriki” or American mother. She is our go to person for any missionary and cultural advice.   Katrina and House of Hope have paved the way for all the Americans and ministries in this jungle town.

Novelina weighed 13 pounds at 3 years old. This is her a month after being at HOH.

Another great ministry is Reach Out Honduras founded by Laura and Alex Waits. The Waits family and their 5 kids are our neighbors, family, and friends here in Puerto Lempira. I have said a million times I don't know if I could make it here without the Waits family.  They work in the areas of discipleship, education, and sustainable solutions. They are starting a bilingual christian school that will provide "private" education for those who can not afford it.  They have almost completed construction on the first room classroom!

Forgotten Children's Ministries trip

from the Forgotten Children's Ministries website: 

Our mission is to rescue the forgotten and abandoned street children of Honduras. Psalm 9:18 states, "The needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever."

FCM changes the lives of "high risk" children.

Many of these children come in at a very young age addicted to huffing glue, used to lives lived on the street, and doing anything they can to provide for themselves.

They are transformed into children who know the Lord loves them, they know they have a family who cares for them, they have a passion for serving the Lord, and they have a passion to help children who are still on the street.

One boy shared his testimony with us one night. He came into the program at 10 years old addicted to drugs after living on the street for 4 years. At his initial psychological assessment the doctor said his brain was fried from all the drugs and he would never learn anything new. He admitted the first few years were tough, he ran away at one point. They allowed him to come back and now he is in university studying to be a computer programmer. All he wants to do now is find the doctor and let him know that he( the doctor) and the world might have said one thing about him but the Lord had plans for him. He hopes to work as a computer program and mentor the new boys who come into FCM.

Another boy names Carlos - I am not sure his story but if I had to guess probably very similar to the boy's testimony.  Carlos is in high school. Every day when he gets out of school he hurries to his room grabs his bible and his guitar.  Sometimes he even  forgets to even change out of his uniform. And he heads to the streets of Tegucigalpa to preach. We actually met him out walking the streets while delivering food one day. He joined our small group. I thought he would probably just walk around with us but at the first house Carlos totally took me by surprise. He pulls up a chair next to this lady gets out a bible and begins to share what the Lord has done in his life. No holding back for this teenager. I know the Lord has HUGE plans for him.

Grace was loved on in one week more than she has been in her entire life… and that says a TON. She was spoiled by all of our friends from Alabama and she has 16 new big brothers.  The girl has it made.

Before each meal we all gathered in the courtyard in a circle held hands and prayed. One afternoon I am not totally sure what happened because my eyes were closed but Grace fell during the prayer hitting her head on a step. The sound itself told me it HURT. She began to scream at the top of her lungs. I fell to the ground holding her as tight as I could while praying her skull was not cracked open and afraid to look. After everyone finished praying 16 little boys circled around Grace, very concerned, rubbing her back, and giving her their brand new toy cars. Everyone went upstairs to eat and I stayed in the courtyard with a few others to calm Grace down and access the damage. Turns out she got her first goose egg and that was all. But she was still pretty upset for a while. The boys teacher came out and said "okay, y'all can go upstairs and eat now" and the boys refused to go until Grace was better and able to go with them.  That might have been my favorite moment of the trip, seeing so much care, love, concern in the eyes of these little boys who not too long ago were rough, tough street kids.

We are HOME!  We had a wonderful time of serving with friends at Forgotten Children's Ministries. I will tell some stories in another post. I was very encouraged and blessed and Grace had a BLAST!

mission trip

Dominican Republic 2004

We are headed on a mission trip.

Yes, we are missionaries going on a mission trip.

We are blessed to have the opportunity to serve a team from my home church and going to Forgotten Children's Ministries-  http://forgottenchildrenministries.org/

I am thrilled to spend a week with some of my oldest friends. Many of the very same people were on the very first mission trip I made to Dominican Republic.

I am excited to serve along side them in a ministry so dear to many of their hearts.

I am excited to serve with another ministry right here in Honduras

 (even though it seems countries away.)

I am excited to see ministry from a different view(as an outsider)

I am excited to love on kids.

I am excited to see Grace love on kids.

I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for our week.

Sometimes, I feel like being a missionary you get into survival mode. You do what you have to do every day while growing very accustomed to the fact that there are: malnourished children living on the next block, child prostitutes walking the street in front of your house at night, prisoners whose families have no food, children who are not in school for lack of a uniform, and women and children who are abused because that is "love".

It all becomes "normal every day life."

I am pray that I NEVER grow accustomed to these things.

I hope to glean some wisdom of those who have been doing ministry for years. While taking a step back and looking at ministry as an outsider and remembering the real reason we do it. I pray the Lord would use us to accomplish whatever His will for the week is.
With an added bonus of hanging out with friends!

Our week in pictures

This past week and a half has been a busy but great time for us.

 So many exciting new experiences.

 I have too many great pictures to not share

 I apologize for this picture overload!

We had a group from Mississippi visit the Kasaubila Feeding Program.

We went on an outreach day to the village of Palkaka with Reach Out Honduras.

We prayed with families, delivered hygiene bags, and gave out worm treatments.

We joined Reach Out Honduras for a food distribution and prayed with families.

We had a group from Texas visit the Kasaubilia Feeding Program.

We had an impromptu baptism night.

Daniel Paul was dedicated at church.

Our boxes of donations I packed while in Alabama finally arrived.

We went with a family to a nearby village called Laka and distributed school supplies and saw the medical clinic.

This 170 students go to school in this classroom. 1st-9th grade

This clinic serves 14 villages and does not have any medicine.

 The people came waiting thinking we would have medicine.