Marathon bound

Was up at 5am to get to the airport, when Mike checked his e-mail. My morning flight has been cancelled :-( So...I'm off to the airport in about an hour to be on the stand-by for a later flight. If that doesn't work, I'll try the next flight. Ultimately if that doesn't work, I'm booked for the 4:40 flight. Of course, that would make me too late to get to the meeting I had scheduled at 7:30. So - prayers for trying to squeeze into one of my stand-by flights please!!!

Regardless of when I get in, I have Friday to drive to my destination, then the marathon is on Saturday. After 6 months, 600 miles, 1/2 marathon, five 10K races, the day has almost arrived! I'm thrilled, excited, and a little nervous!

Sunday I have the opportunity to meet with Northview Community Church - one of our new Team Honduras partners. They have a mission heart, and I'm blessed to have them come along-side us and impacting the Kingdom in Honduras!

An Urgent Need In Honduras

Since the Fall our mission team in Honduras has been constructing a ministry center in the super poor neighborhood of La Isla in downtown La Ceiba. On this property we are building a high school, a medical clinic, a church, a center for homeless kids, a theological seminary and a dorm for short-term mission teams.

We are on a time crunch and we need your help. Our desire is to complete the first floor of the dorm building before June 4th so that when our first mission team of the Summer arrives they can sleep there. We are scheduled to host 10 mission teams from the U.S. this summer. If we don’t get this dorm ready by June 4th each team will sleep in our personal home with us. We are asking you to prayerfully consider giving a one-time financial gift to help us meet this urgent need.

Hosting short-term mission teams from the U.S. is a great benefit to our ministry. In the past those teams have shared our home with us, including our small kitchen and two bathrooms. We have simultaneously hosted up to 20 people in wooden bunk beds in our home. This new dorm will provide more space for those visiting missionaries and a little bit of breathing room for us.

There are two ways you can make a onetime contribution:

1) On-line:

Use your credit or debit card right now by clicking HERE.

Please make sure you enter 92412 as the designation.

2) Check:

Mail your check to:

Mission to the World
P.O. Box 116284
Atlanta, GA 30368-6284
Attn: #92412

Make sure you write "#92412" in the memo of the check.

If you would like to learn more about the downtown ministry center you can watch our 3 minute 30 second video by clicking HERE.

Or, you can look at recent pictures of our progress by clicking HERE.

Please be in prayer that God will provide the funds we need to complete this dorm by June 4th. Also, please consider forwarding this information to your church or friends and ask them if they would be interested in supporting God's work in Honduras.

Thank you so much your prayers and support.

Vacation

So, after having been in the States for 6 months, and with only a week and a half left to go, we thought it time to take a vacation...I know...no time like the present. So - off we went to Florida (frequent flyer miles - thank you very much) and spent three days at Disney World. First day was at the Magic Kingdom, the second day was at Hollywood Studios, and the third was at Epcot. We had an incredible time. Back to Arizona tomorrow, then I'm heading off to Washington on Thursday for my marathon on Saturday. I return on Sunday, then we start our drive to Honduras on Monday! So...only 10 more days in the States. Time to get back to work!

Magic Kingdom

Honey I Shrunk The Kids Playground - I think it's only supposed to be for kids...but - whatever!

Our hotel

Rockin' Roll Rollercoaster

Space Mountain

Building continues on the dorm

Taken directly from my husband's blog - but it's worth mentioning several times!

We have been building on our downtown ministry center for several months. When it is done it will host a high school, homeless children center, church, medical clinic, seminary and a dorm to sleep short-term missionaries.

Our Honduran workers have been racing to try and make the first floor of the two-story dorm livable. It is our hope that the first floor of the dorm can be completed by June 4th so that our first of 10 summer short-term mission teams can sleep there instead of our crowded house.

On Tuesday the workers poured the entire cement roof. It only took them one day. They started at 9:30am and finished at 5:30p. They used three trucks (or 19 cubic meters) of cement. It was a long day and the men are tired. But, they did a great job.

The entire two-story dorm will not be ready by June 4th, but if we have the first floor livable and safe by then we should be able to sleep up to 30 missionaries in a facility complete with toilets, showers, electricity and super secure doors and windows.

Please keep praying that the next two months are complete with safety, hard work and sufficient funds to reach our deadline.

Update

Hanging out in Florida. This is actually our first vacation since we've been back in The States. Tomorrow, Thursday and Friday we will be going to the parks - Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, and Hollywood Studios. Then back to Arizona on Saturday. We started our count down for our trip to Honduras. Two weeks from yesterday we will start our journey back, so have already been looking ahead to what that will mean. Packing our stuff, gathering food for the road, getting our car in ship-shape condition. I know these two weeks will fly. Our time here has been incredible - reconnecting with friends and family. Sharing our dream and vision for Honduras with our church family and our support family. But - it's time to get back to where God has placed us.

Phoenix Seven Summit Challenge - Hiking

The Seven Summit Challenge in Phoenix, Arizona is where you hike seven mountains in one day. Mike and I attempted it on 3/16/11. Mike had to stop after finishing the first four mountains. I completed the whole thing - 7 mountains, 20.8 miles, 12 hours 15 minutes.

Watch this 2 minute 50 second video to see the hike:

Armenia Bonito Ministry Center Update - Spring 2011

Here is an update of the two acre ministry center we are constructing in Armenia Bonito, located in La Ceiba, Honduras. This facility will contain a high school, church, medical clinic and a multi-use building.

Watch this 3 minute 20 second video to see the amazing progress:

Under The Mango Tree - Spring 2011 Update

In Downtown La Ceiba we are building a ministry center. The ministry center will have a church, medical clinic, homeless children center, theological seminary, high school and a dorm for short-term missionaries.

Watch this 3 minute 30 second video to see the ministry center:

School in Honduras

My husbands blog is a CAN NOT MISS! Please take a few minutes to check it out here.

Education in Honduras is deplorable. There's just not a good way to say it. Last school year the public school kids lost 90 days of school due to teacher strikes - that's HALF their school year! The government considered not advancing the kids a grade level - and honestly - that would have been a better option. But, instead, all the children were advanced. Now, the private schools which are funded by private monies, never go on strike. Madison attends a private school (schools past 6th grade are private), with the exception of a few tech schools that receive government funds. Those tech schools are "public", and therefore also are absent when the teachers strike. Because of this obvious problem, along with the fact that kids can't afford school beyond 6th grade, we started a scholarship program that is funded by folks in the States. A child is scholarshipped, and are able to attend High School - a HUGE rarity (only 23% of kids go to school beyond 6th grade in the entire country). Unfortunately, because the kids are so behind by the time they get to 7th grade, it takes a lot of willpower on their behalf, a lot of studying, and a lot of commitment! But they have done great. Here is an article from Honduras News - an on-line newspaper I read about the school year this year and how's it's already being affected by teacher strikes:

Teachers union leaders have called for a national work stoppage on Wednesday for teachers, leaving once again, 2.3 million children in Honduras without an education for the day.

This is the fourth nationwide strike called so far this year. The first general strike was the first Friday of the school calendar. The second nationwide strike was declared during the third week of classes. In early March, i.e. in the fourth week of classes, the leadership of the Association of Secondary Teachers of Honduras (COPEMH) convened for the third time, asking educators to be absent from the classroom.

To the constant calls for work stoppages by teachers, the Minister of Education, Alejandro Ventura, reminded that each day the teachers do not work, they will not be paid. Already in March, teachers will have four days deducted from their pay for not holding classes.

Several parents associations have asked the National Congress to review the Teachers Statute, and have it repealed.

Walk 500 miles...

Next time you make it to a gym, and head over to the treadmill, set the speed to 5.0 mph. Now WALK that speed...don't ever break into a run/jog. That's what I've been training at. Training for what?! A marathon. WALK A MARATHON you ask? Who in their right mind would even THINK about doing something like that?! Well - me for one. My knees just can't take running, and I really wanted to keep in shape while in The States. So - I started with a half marathon training, and graduated to the marathon training. I use Hal Higdon's training methodology for marathons - I just walk everything he says run.

So - what would that look like on a map? Well - I've walked over 550 miles so far in my training and I have about 70 more miles until the marathon. Currently, that's the equivalent of walking from Boston to Richmond, Virginia. And what would I have seen along the way?

Boston
Hartford
Philadelphia
Baltimore
Washington DC
Richmond

Lots of blisters, a few injuries, burned tons of calories. During the training I've trained in California, Arizona, Utah, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama and Honduras. I've only missed 2 cardio training days in that entire time - and even threw in some hiking in the mountains of Arizona on my cross training days. I will have done five 10K races and 1 half marathon race. That means walking 13, 15, 17, 18, and even 20 miles during my training. And yes, what you are thinking, it takes a LONG time! My 20 miler took me 4 hours and 11 minutes. I ate along the way, drank over 2 1/2 liters of water, and burned over 2,400 calories.

I think I'll take a break when I get back to Honduras - I'll be ready for the week drive home!

In honor of my Walking 500 Miles:

Field Trip

The beauty of homeschooling is - you can take field trips whenever you want! And - the advantage of being in The States is there are a lot of opportunities! We've been to the Science Museum, and yesterday, Madison and I took the hour and a half drive to Camp Verde, AZ and went to Out of Africa Wildlife Park. It was amazing! It's a privately owned establishment, and they have done an amazing job! Needless to say - Madison was in her element! Answering all the questions like a little Hermione - she loves this stuff! Enjoy the pics.

Madison holding a Burmese python

Madison feeding a camel

feeding a giraffe

holding a bearded dragon