Many of you have heard us say over the years how wonderful our small sending church, Melbourne Community Church (MCC) is to us. In December of 2021, Chris and I gave our church a list of needs for the Jungle Hospital and Give Hope 2 Kids and they came through above and beyond all expectations! After collecting for three months, our little church, along with contributions from others (e.g., the Honor Society at Calvary Chapel Christian Academy) collected over 700 pounds of goods to send to Honduras!!! In mid-April Ellen and Tim Grogan made a trip to New Orleans with a U-Haul trailer to drop off all these donations at a Honduran shipping company. That was just the beginning of the journey, but everything eventually arrived at our village in Honduras. I have been sorting through them to distribute between the two ministries. The Jungle Hospital will receive many beautiful new baby gifts that will be given to mothers who deliver at the hospital. The dental supplies we received will literally reach almost every child in this valley! The donation of everyday shoes and clothes are desperately needed here at GH2K, as our kids grow fast, and jungle life is hard. The small gifts and toys will be birthday and Christmas gifts for our kids here at GH2K. Just imagine providing gifts for 55 kids every year! Thank you so much MCC…and to each of you who contributed! Your incredible generosity is truly overwhelming! Chris and I, GH2K and the Jungle Hospital have all been blessed. Thank you for enabling us to bless those we are trying to serve!
As most of you know, I (Sharon) went back to the USA on an emergency trip to care for my dad when he broke his hip back in June. Just three days prior to that, however, I had bought tickets to make a trip back to the USA for migraine treatment in July. So, after only one week back in Honduras with Chris, on July 16th I flew to California for migraine treatment. I stayed with our dear friends, Hannah and Doug, who are the most incredible hosts! All went smoothly with the treatments and I was able to see many of our California friends. I was able to visit our wonderful church, Christian Life Center. I also got to make some individual connections. I loved being back in California and took the time to go on walks in some of my favorite spots. From there I flew to Florida where I had to pick up a migraine medication that is delivered monthly to my sister Kim’s house. I scheduled this trip in time for my supply of Ajovy not to run out in Honduras. Ajovy is a new migraine medication that is seeing great success and through a series of blessings and miracles and I have received it for free for almost 2 years. I am more thankful than I can say in words. My time in Melbourne was very short and I am sorry for the many of you I did not get to see! I would like to thank the Englishes and the Stevensons for airport pickups and drop-offs and to the Honeycutts for a car. Chris and I are blessed, and we know we are blessed. Please continue prayers for my migraines. This is a long haul and everything I am doing is for maintenance and hopefully progress. It is a daily struggle.
Chris is taking over now…In road news, your prayers, and ours were answered in a very timely manner. Literally the day after we sent our update, road workers and machinery showed up and they began repairing the road! The time it takes to travel down the mountain has been almost cut in half (2.5 hours in the bus instead of 4 hours). Keep in mind it is only a distance of approximately 20 miles (so an average of 8 mph now instead of 5 mph :). You can watch the two-minute video we made that shows why we are only considering buying a 4×4 vehicle. No road repair will guarantee freedom from flat tires and Sharon had her first flat tire last month (I got mine last year). Fortunately, it was near a village with a tire repair shop, where they repaired it in less than an hour for about $7.
We were honored with an invitation to attend Instituto El Rey’s Expo Feria this year. This is a special one-day event where four groups of 11th and 12th graders presented an enormous project that they work on for more than a month. This year’s theme was different materials: metal, wood, paper, and plastic. Each group is assigned a different material and must construct everything for their project from exclusively that material! The students from our ministry who participated won double honors and took both first-place awards (one for their verbal presentation and one for their costume). They were elated! The event was lovingly dedicated to Dave & Cindy Sharpless, the well-loved administrators of I.E.R.
Back at our primary school…on the 10th of September, we celebrated Day of the Child. This is a national holiday centered around young children. It is a day full of field games, a special meal, a giant cake, piñatas, and lots and lots of candy! This year Sharon volunteered to make the cake, using fourteen box mixes; it was enormous. And delicious! This year GH2K invited all the children and parents from our village to join us in the celebration. It was a case of ‘the more the merrier’ and everybody had a wonderful time.
The last big event this past month was Independence Day. This holiday requires a lot of practice and planning beforehand, as all school children are expected to participate in a parade marking the occasion. The one thing I didn’t plan for was passing a kidney stone on the day of the parade! Unfortunately, I missed the parade, but everybody told me that all the kids did great. They were literally excited for weeks leading up to the big day. This was the first time in three years they have been able to celebrate this important occasion! It also happens to be one of our favorite cultural experiences.
We are thankful for:
- Kidney stones…not so much for having one, but for having passed it
- A successful school year nearing the end
- Sharon being able to go to the US for migraine treatments
- Sharon’s heart and confidence continuing to heal
Please pray for:
- God’s direction and guidance for Sharon’s next steps
- Healing for Chris’s facial nerve damage
- A reliable, used 4×4 in our price range
- Two teachers for next school year
Such amazing photos…what smiles and talents and dedication with soooo little. Our American citizens should rise up and show that same love and thankfulness and usefulness and creativity. God Bless you dear friends !!
Thanks Nancy! The Honduran people are very proud of their country and love celebrating its inception (even 201 years later:). We are blessed to have friends like you.
This letter and photos filled my heart with joy. Sharon, I love your braids! Enjoyed the photos of your garden and the various harvest photos. It looks like the road is worse than 2019…….oh my! Always love seeing your smile.
Hearing from you, Carol, brings us joy! We’re glad you enjoyed the photos and obviously watched the road video. Unfortunately, you are correct it is (was) even worse than 2019 when you drove on it. They had done zero maintenance in all that time.
Your words, your pictures, your video of the ride that makes even the viewer car sick, are wonderful explanations and and visual declarations of your life in Honduras. From kidney stone to gorgeous cake, your life is full of unexpected and well planned activities! We love you Chris and Sharon! Thank you for loving us in the way you do, by all of your details to us and by all the love you show for the children and the families in your Honduran community.♥️
Hi Hannah (and Doug:)! We love hearing from you. Your comments and your friendship are such an encouragement to us. I think of you every time my 10:25am alarm goes off each day! We are glad our updates fill out the picture of our day to day life here in Honduras. We miss you both!
Praying for you both! So encouraging to see God working. Love you!
Thank you for those prayers Lauren! As our updates indicate…we go through those prayers at an alarming rate, hahaha. Glad you were encouraged. Love you too!
September 15, 1821 is Independence Day? What was that huge fruit Jason? was holding?? Do your cows have horns? Perfect cake and excellent gardener, Sharon! Great pics and video. It really showed how bad the road is.
Hey mom! Yes, September 15th is Independence Day here in Honduras (and most of central America). That huge fruit Jason is holding is called Jack Fruit. It is the largest type of fruit in the world! Yes, our cows have horns, unless they burn them off for safety. We are definitely blessed by Sharon’s prolific garden, we eat something from it nearly every day. About the road…we had tried taking photos of how bad it is, but the photos never look that bad, we figured a video would give a better idea of how bad it really is :). Love you!
Love the happy smiling children! Great pictures. I think that says it all in regards to the impact you are making. So impressed with the wonderful work you are doing Chris and Sharon!
Best wishes,
Robert
We are so thankful we get to share in the joy that the kids are experiencing! It is certainly not all smiles and happiness, but it has its moments. Thank you for being with us during all the ups and downs. They are both better when shared. Chris & Sharon
Hi You two favorite Peeps, would you believe I just saw this email tonight. 🤦♀️
So encouraged to hear all your updates. Wondering how successful your migraine treatments have been, Sharon. Having had that issue for many years, I pray often for you. What are you doing at this point utilizing your nursing skills? I miss and love you dearly 😘😊
News on this end: Joey had a baby boy on June 8th, Noah Liam Martin. He has several serious health issues, however, our God is so faithful and good that at this point, Noah does not need heart surgery until he is about 18 months old.
Jill is going for her masters degree in mental health counseling specializing in art therapy. Very exciting yet draining considering she also has 3 children.
I am only working 1 1/2 days now for the sole purpose to be able to travel for now.
Know you are loved and missed. I have you taped to my refrigerator so I remember to pray. Sending you BIG L ❤VE 😘💋
Awww, we love you too Lita!!! It is SO good to hear from you! Congratulations on the new grandbaby! Sharon’s migraines are about the same. Some good days/weeks and some bad days/weeks. As far working, Sharon has been doing well check-ups for the children at GiveHope2Kids and giving them vision tests. She is also working with the moms to help those children who are developmentally delayed. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers lovely lady!