Celebrations & U.S. Visit

Dear Family & Friends,

Sharon and I hope this update finds you well. If you watched our video from January, I’ll be covering some of the same events in greater detail, as well as, a few new ones.

The first celebration we had was for Day of the Child in September. This is a national holiday celebrating young children with games, piñatas, and lots of candy! If you were one of those kids who always asked your parents, “Why is there Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, but no Kid’s Day?” There is! But you must go to Latin America to experience it. The celebratory activities for the 1^st – 6^th graders are all planned and supervised by 7^th – 12^th graders. This is an important part of the tradition.

The next celebration held was for Honduran Independence Day, September 15^th. Normally this would include a small parade marching through the village holding patriotic symbols, however, because of pandemic safety measures we had a gathering of teachers, students, school parents and friends instead. Everybody was appreciative to be able to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of Honduras’ Independence! Students explained each patriotic symbol and what it represents, as well as the history of the people credited with leading Honduras to independence.

One non-school related celebration that we enjoyed was the wedding reception of Victor and Yina. Although they have been together for over five years, they were unable to get married due to the large financial cost. When Yina entered the surprise reception and burst into tears, we knew they were tears of joy. The joy of finally getting something she had wanted so deeply and for so long. We felt privileged to be a part of it.

At the end of the school year, we have a ceremony honoring our 6^th grade graduates. It’s not the end of their education, but an acknowledgement of their accomplishment. It has all the pomp and ceremony of a high school graduation. I was proud to award our four Sixth Grade graduates their diplomas of completion for primary school. They had all worked very hard to earn them.

And thus ended the 2021 Honduran school year! If you’ve been following the adventure since January of 2021, you know it was a great personal challenge on a number of levels. However, none were insurmountable when I relied on God to be my source and center. Hopefully, I’ve learned that lesson, so I won’t have to repeat it this year :).

One of the amazing things about where we live is the number of fruits and vegetables that grow right here on Give Hope 2 Kids property. Due to the foresight of Jason and Sarah hundreds of trees were planted when they began their ministry, and we are now reaping the harvest! Here’s a short list: coconuts, bananas, plantains, avocados, breadfruits, lichees, chayotes, Honduran pears, pineapples, mangosteen, and papayas. And this doesn’t include the milk we get twice a week to make kefir, cheese, yogurt and, of course, ice cream! Everything else the ministry buys at Wal-Mart (yes, they have one in the city) once every two weeks. It takes eight overflowing shopping carts to feed the 70+ people who live here.

In November we were super excited to receive our five-year residency cards! It was truly a miracle how quickly our paperwork was processed. We are so thankful to the Honduran Fellowship of Missions and Missionaries (HFMM) which walked us through each step in the process and were our tireless advocates. We would still be waiting if not for them! As residents we are no longer forced to leave the country every 90 days. It’s a huge deal for us.

Making our way back to the States started off quite bumpy, literally, and figuratively. The literal bumps are from our unmaintained road which only continues to worsen. The figurative bump was due to the section of road that was swept away by the rains which required us to ford across a swollen river. Thanks to Wil for driving us down the mountain. And a big thank you to David and Victor for carrying our luggage across while simultaneously offering their bodies as our anchors against the swift current. We were all soaked and cold, but we made it across! Sometimes life is even more adventurous than we would like.

Our time in the U.S. was wonderful. We were able to visit and speak at both of our churches, Melbourne Community Church (Florida) and Christian Life Center (California). We spent time with both of our immediate families and visited many, many friends. Both old and new. The trip was definitely a whirlwind. We went from Miami, FL to Melbourne, FL to Bend, OR to Santa Cruz, CA to Bend, OR to Melbourne, FL to Minneola, FL to Melbourne, FL and back to Miami to fly to Honduras! Thankfully, we had two months and even then, we felt like we were pushing hard. It was all worthwhile to be able to reconnect with family and friends. Our hearts and our spirits were renewed being surrounded by so many people who know us so well and love us so dearly.

We’d like to publicly thank our many gracious hosts for their generous hospitality: Kim and Kim, Daymen and Cindy, Luke and Tara, Jim & Carol, Doug & Hannah, Scott & Kathryn, Jim & Nancy, and Walter & Anne. Additionally, we’d like to thank Jared & Sarah and Gina Deming for lending us a vehicle to drive. And lastly, thanks to all of you who changed your schedule, drove out of your way, or inconvenienced your busy life in some way to work with our crazy visiting schedule. We hope we were worth it :).

Towards the end of last year, we finally realized we needed a 4×4 vehicle more than we need a second motorcycle. Melbourne Community Church, which had raised the funds to purchase that second motorcycle, understood the change and we put all that money towards purchasing a 4×4. With another generous gift we currently have $7,500. We are looking for a reliable, used 4×4 under $18,000. If you would be interested in contributing towards this need you can click here: Honduras Support  and include the note/memo “Honduras – 4×4”.

The last thing we’d like to share is the sad news that our dear friend and pastor, Curt Deming, passed away on December 13^th. He had fought valiantly against cancer for six years, continuing his teaching and pastoring work as much as he was able (which was a lot). He was an incredibly strong leader, but his strength came across in a quiet and calm example of what it means to follow Jesus Christ. He didn’t live a perfect life, no one does, but he lived a life that was visibly redeemed by his faith that God loves him and always has. We’ll miss his jokes, his stories, and the time he always made for us in his busy life. We love you Curt and you did a great job of showing us how much you loved us. Thank you.

We are extremely thankful for:

• The many reasons to celebrate during the last year
• The abundant cornucopia of fruits and vegetables outside our door
• Receiving our five-year Honduran residency
• The opportunity to travel to the States to visit, connect and have our spirits renewed
• The many people who make our life in Honduras possible through prayer, support, beds, and cars

Please pray for:

• Curt Deming’s beloved wife, Gina, and the rest of the Deming family
• The 2022 Honduran school year – we’re off and running! (More in the next update:)
• A reliable, used 4×4 for a reasonable price
• The Give Hope 2 Kids and Jungle Hospital ministries