Getting the word out

Yesterday I spent the day by myself in the area of Armenia Bonito getting the word out for the English class we start on Thursday. We are excited about this new ministry as it will bring people in to learn English - and at the same time we will be exposing them to God's grace. Our class will include instruction in English through bible studies, reading comprehension through reading of the bible, and many other things. This class is open to all age groups. We have this class from 9-11am. This is both good and bad. Good because many children will be in school, so mothers will be able to attend. Bad because many children will be in school and the children will be unable to attend, and many of the fathers will be working. In the near future we plan on having an afternoon class and a Saturday class. However, because of our constraints with not having a car - being reliant upon the bus - it limits when we can have classes. But we know God has great plans, and even if 1 person shows up - that's an opportunity to share the gospel with that one person. Eventually, once we have a core group of folks, we would like to start a bible study. Please pray for our class that starts this Thursday!

Some of the children in Armenia Bonito


a house near the "town hall" where out classes will be held

It's finally arrived

Before we left for Costa Rica, our dear friends, the Hertzells, offered to store some stuff for us to have shipped at a later date. While in Costa Rica I started the process via the internet, of getting our stuff picked up and shipped to Honduras. That part of it went without a hitch. The company picked up our stuff, packed it into a partial container, and shipped it down to Honduras. Upon it's arrival we received notification that it was here - and that's where it went down hill. Let me just say - what it takes to get items into country, the documentation we need, license we had to get, and $$$ we had to provide took us over 1 month until our stuff finally arrived at our front door yesterday! Almost all of the things are for our ministry with a few exceptions. Mike had all of his books shipped, and we had some camping items sent as well. Other than that it was ministry stuff and it's such a relief to finally be in possession of these things! Woohoo!

Ahhhh!

Yesterday, after a hot day of working, our friends called us up and said, "do you want to go to the river?" Are you kidding? Oh yeah! This is a spot about 10 minutes driving from our house - amazing that you can go from city to this in 10 minutes. We enjoyed about an hour and a half of refreshing mountain water - jumping from rocks into the swimming hole, and sliding down waterfalls (very bumpy). Our friends have a lab who was in heaven and didn't stop swimming the entire time. It was a great time to just get away and relax for a little time and escape the stifling heat of La Ceiba.

Lucy


Jack the lab with his big catch


Getting ready to jump off the high rocks into the swimming hole


One of the two small waterfalls
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Madison and Michael before the jump

The grass is greener on the other side of the road

Many times here you will see horses wondering loose. Owners do this to allow their horses to graze on the grasses near their home. We have an empty field right next to us, and we usually see this horse grazing freely there without fence or harness. Most of the times he stays right where he is supposed to. However, this morning, while Madison and I were waiting for a taxi to go to school, the horse decided to cross the street. Now keep in mind - this is the busiest street in all of La Ceiba. The horse started across the road, stopping in the middle of the street to do his business, and cars and taxis just drove around him because this is such a normal event here. The horse wandered to the other empty field - obviously looking for greener pastures. After returning home from dropping Madison off, the owner had come looking for him deciding that his crossing the street was just a bit too dangerous to wonder back by himself.

The owner retrieving his horse


The empty lot right next to our house (the wall on the right is our wall)

Shopping downtown

Red beans anyone?

Today I had to run downtown to have some keys made. While I was there I wondered through the outdoor market. There you can buy anything from shoes, clothes, beans, vegetables, watch repair, and even the meat market is there. It's fun just to peruse through the different venders to see what is available. I picked up some bananas, chile dulce (green peppers), cebollas (onions), zanahorias (carrots), y vegetables mixla (mixed vegetables) for soup. All in all, just a few dollars for all of it.

More critters and update

WARNING: Some pictures contained in this blog may make your skin crawl...you have been warned...

The update: Mike is currently in the U.S. on a whirlwind of meeting people and going to churches. The purpose of this trip is to re-connect with folks we know and to speak at a missions conference. The girls (Madison and myself) are doing just fine. Our refrigerator did manage to go out again - so it's back to the store to re-stock all the items that went bad. Gustuv is passing us by, but we are reaping the benefits of the weather that is being stirred up in the Caribbean - this is the coolest two days we have had since we've been here! It's 78 degrees as I'm writing this, and a nice cool breeze. It's overcast, and we've seen some amazing electric storms in the last two days. We are praying for those that Gustuv will hit. Madison and I have a "date" tonight - dinner and a movie. We are excited about that.

Critters: Well - if you look just two posts below you will see a blog on critters, but I just couldn't pass up another opportunity as a few more have come into our lives. I was turning the lights off the other day and locking the front door when I encountered this 8 legged friend. Now in my world, bugs are typically something I'm not to stresed about - they serve their purpose, but I prefer them not to be in the house. This guy, however, had the hair on my arms standing up. I did a little research, and best I can tell it's a Wolf Spider. If anyone knows better, let me know. Anyway - he and I had a little discussion about him really needing to be outdoors where he belongs, doing the things he does. He just wouldn't listen to me. I really didn't want to smash this guy, so the next best thing was sweeping him out door. So - for the next 10 minutes commenced the most hysterical chase scene that I would challenge any comedy movie to do better. I just wish I had Madison here to film it. Envision this 6'1" woman chasing a spider all around the living room, moving furniture frantically as it's trying to scurry under neath - attempting to neither smash it (imagine cleaning that up) or injure it (it does serve a purpose afterall). All in all - once again - the superior being won in the end! I finally got ahold of it under my broom and swept it outdoors into the wild! Whew! Luckily I didn't injure myself in the persuit. Ah well..

A shot to show how long his legs are:
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A close up to see those incredible mandibles:

This other guy I've seen outside in our yard a few times, but have never been able to capture it on film. I LOVE that we have such diverse critters around - and it's hard to imagine that they live here with me. Not much to report on this one other than the fact that until we have our dog, this guy will have to suffice. I have numerous fruit trees in my yard and I'm sure that's what keeps him here - he chomps up the fruit on the ground - or goes into the trees to get them.

And finally - this beautiful butterfly that came into my house - yes, that required another chase - imagine chasing a butterfly with a broom - trying to escort it out of the house without injuring it - I was successful however. There are so many butterflys here - they enjoy the year-round blooming plants and seem to thrive.

Hanging out with a friend

Madison has a friend named Michael. He's a great kid, with great parents. And the awesome thing? They live about 5 houses down from us! So - needless to say - Michael and Madison hang out a lot together! And yesterday they literally chose to hang-out together. Here you can see them sitting on the hammock eating pickles. I know - strange thing indeed - but Michael introduced Madison to pickles (never mind the million times I tried to get her to eat them), but she has now decided that they are awesome! So, they are enjoying a pickle moment. :-)