April was about Relationships...
Relationships Back Home
Selling everything and moving to another country involves sacrificing time with immediate family. It is so important to us to maintain our relationships from back home through messages, videos, phone calls, etc, but when family comes to visit in person it is something super special. This month we had our 2nd family member from the states come visit us, Nana - Tyler's mom. She brought 3 other very special people with her that stayed somewhere else, but it was so good to seem them. We only had a few days with Nana, so we packed in a lot in just a few days. It was such a blessing to our heart to have her here with us, but the best part was that she was able to see firsthand the change that God has done in the life of her son to use him all for the glory of God!
Here are a few pictures from her visit...
**My grandmother and 2 great aunts are coming June 1st and I can't wait!!!!
Relationships from mainland Honduras
This month we also had friends visit from the mainland of Honduras, where we used to live. It was Semana Santa, "Holy Week" of Easter, and lots of people come to the island for the week. We were blessed to have a few visit us.
Paula, Angie and Valeria came for a few days. Paula is a missionary on the mainland that we met when were were at the language school in Siguatepeque, Honduras. It was great to see them, catch up and here about big changes that God is doing in their lives.
Here are a few pictures from their visit...
Next we had a few days notice of our friend Karla (she is the one who runs the kids Celebrate Recovery program Celebration Place in Tegucigalpa on the mainland). She is from Honduras and this was her fist ever visit to the island of Roatan. It was so much fun having her here with us. She only speaks Spanish, so it helped us practice what were learned. We had an amazing time with her showing her the island and talking about ministry.
Here are a few pictures from her visit...
Late April I had to travel to the mainland to help Baby Heaven finish her medical testing and got to see some old friends while there. One of those friends is Pamela. She is the one that graciously opens up her home to us when we come to San Pedro Sula for medical testing. We met her 2 1/2 years ago through a missionary friend. Our family was looking for a car to buy and her company had a car they were selling. We thought meeting her was about buying the vehicle and making a new friend, but it has been so much more. I am so grateful for Pamela friendship and her love for the Lord. It's always a great time hanging out with her.
Here is a picture from my visit with her...
I got to meet up with another friend on the mainland Honduras while I was there during that same trip taking baby Heaven to San Pedro Sula to finish medical testing. This friends name is Jennifer and I met her through the organization we are both members of, Honduran Fellowship of Missionaries and Ministries HFMM. We were at the last conference sharing what each of us do for ministry and she mentioned her ministry is focused on gang members in the city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I shared with her about our ministry, equipping churches and ministries with Celebrate Recovery to help people find the hope and healing of Jesus Christ through any hurt, hang-up or habit. She recently contacted me for more information about Celebrate Recovery and after a few chats was very interested in using the program with her ministry. We were just trying to figure out how to get it to her as she lives on the mainland and I'm on one of the Honduran islands. God had a plan...I was able to take the material to the mainland when I went for baby Heaven's medical testing. Tegucigalpa is about 3 1/2 or 4 hours from San Pedro Sula, but she drove to meet me there to grab all of the materials. We had a great lunch chatting and I look forward to going to Tegucigalpa soon and seeing their amazing ministry there. Praying this material helps many gang members find hope, healing and freedom through Jesus Christ. We're praying to get some of the Celebrate Recovery Inside materials here to equip her with the materials for her jail ministry.
Here is a picture of the materials we were able to equip her ministry with...
Relationships where we live (Roatan, Honduras)
Moving to a different culture is exciting, but it is also a learning process. Honduran culture is known for its focus on relationships and family. Relationships and family are very important here and we love that! This island culture also has an island flow to living that is beautiful if you learn to flow with the culture. We speak a lot about "island time" here and it is a real thing. Once we were at a birthday party and the mother of our friend who was bringing the food was 2 hours late for the party. You learn to go with the flow and be way more flexible. I say hi to EVERYONE! My motto is everyone is my friend, they just don't know it yet. This list would be so long if I named all of the people God has brought into our lives. I tell them it is hard being away from our family back in the states, but we are grateful for them because it helps us have a family here.
When you come visit we’ll introduce you to some of these amazing people God has given us as family here in Honduras!
Prayer Requests
*for us to get Celebrate Recovery Inside materials here for the jail ministry
*for me to get speech language pathology materials here and serve the community
*direction on how God wants me to help the special education school here on the island
*that we finish Shareen's bathroom and house project this upcoming month.
*that I finish putting the Celebrate Recovery kid's program (Celebration Place) and youth program (The Landing) in Spanish
Praises
*Baby Heaven has finished all of her testing and has a final diagnosis of genetic epilepsy and she doesn't need a feeding port as she is growing and eating well. PRAISE GOD!
*Celebrate Recovery Materials were brought to the mainland to help a ministry that works with gang members in Tegucigalpa
Up and Coming.....
*we have a possible land donation on the east side to start transition housing