We are excited to welcome two new missionary families to Give Hope 2 Kids! Oscar and Kathryn are our new apartment neighbors in Urraco. They are both working hard at the school and setting up their new home. Kathryn has taken over 1st and 2nd grade, and Oscar is teaching one of our special needs students. They are a Godsend! The other new family is made up of Ben and Kelita and their four young children. They are living and working at the other property in Roma (near the city). We are so grateful for all the additional help these two families are providing.
August and September are extremely busy months at the school as we have two of our biggest events less than two weeks apart: Day of the Child and Independence Day. The planning and coordination for these celebrations took up a lot of time and tears. Luckily, my hair was already grey! 🙂
Day of the Child is the annual celebration for younger children that is hosted at their schools. We kicked off the party with a plethora of competitive games and great prizes. Later, we enjoyed a big meal and convinced two reluctant piñatas to give us their candy! The kids (and adults) had a fantastic time.
The celebration for Independence Day was our biggest since the pandemic. The students began practicing for the parade a month ahead of time. And trust me, they needed it! The parade consists of several different groups: sign carriers, cultural representatives, cadets, baton twirlers, patriotic symbol bearers, and musicians. Speaking of musicians, we were very fortunate to have the band from Instituto El Rey accompany us this year. Sometimes all we have is a wheelbarrow with a generator and a speaker. All in all, the participants performed amazingly well, and the celebration was a great success!
Between these two celebrations, something wonderful happened…we got school uniforms! We have been trying to get them for a long time and a generous donor stepped up to cover the cost. So grateful!
In other great news, a large donation from Melbourne Community Church for Give Hope 2 Kids arrived in Honduras last month! It consists of medical and educational supplies, homemade quilts, and kid’s items. Over 1,100 lbs. worth! We are so thankful for the gigantic generosity of our small church. Special thanks to Tim & Ellen Grogan for coordinating, organizing, packing, transporting, and everything else they did to make this happen. We are still in awe.
Finally, I wanted to share about our getaway trips off the mountain that we take periodically. Since we live where we work, during school breaks we usually make plans to be somewhere else. This gives us a chance to step back from our ever-present work and responsibilities. Recently, we went to the historic city of Trujillo on the north coast of Honduras. While there we did an epic ten-hour hike to the top of a mountain and encountered the world’s largest damselfly species (6 inches long). I said it was a getaway, I didn’t say it was relaxing :). That said, we definitely returned to work refreshed and with renewed spirits!
We are thankful for:
- The Sanchez and Johnson families following the call on their lives to serve here.
- Successful school celebrations and all those who helped make it happen.
- The generosity of individuals and churches to Give Hope 2 Kids and us personally. We are in awe.
- The opportunity and ability to take revitalizing trips.
Please pray for:
- The Sanchez and Johnson families as they set up house and make it their home.
- The final weeks of the Honduran school year.
- Our health. As we continue to struggle with parasites.
- Fredy & Sarahi. These house parents now have 13 children in their home.
Praying for an end to the parasites!
Thank you very much! We need those prayers…come what may. 🙂