Sickness & Health

Sharon here. It feels like we are always behind in getting news out to you and for that we apologize. This update covers November through March (very summarized).

Before returning to the United States, we went on a trip to the Copan Ruins with all the Give Hope 2 Kids missionaries. It was lovely! After that, Chris and I spent two months in the U.S. during the Honduran school break. As always, the time flew by! We did a 3-week road trip in the Southeast which included a Buchholz family reunion and visiting friends we had not seen in many years (the record was 19 years)! One of our main focuses during this visit was to prioritize time with my sister Kim, who is fighting cancer. We spent Christmas with Chris’ family. We are so incredibly thankful to everyone who hosted us so generously and to Mel & Linda who lent us their car! It is always so wonderful to reconnect with family and friends, it’s never quite enough, but we are so very thankful for the love and support we receive during our time in the US!

We returned to Honduras on January 16th for two reasons: in order to give Chris a couple weeks’ prep time before the start of the school year (Feb-Nov) and to have time to pick up our long-anticipated vehicle before the school year began. Unfortunately, both Chris and I got sick, and this played havoc with those plans. God continues to teach us patience.

After Chris and I both recovered from the upper respiratory infections we had, and my body no longer felt “sick”, I continued to be terribly exhausted! All the time. I just felt like I needed to sit down! Which is pretty much the antithesis of my normal nature. I could not figure out what was wrong with me as I had no other symptoms, and this went on for weeks! Finally, it dawned on me that I might have parasites and testing confirmed it. It felt good to actually know what in the world was going on. After treatment it took weeks to get back to an almost normal level of energy again. We would ask you to pray for complete healing for us from parasites. They can be very difficult to get rid of and with our previous history with parasites…

This year the school here at Give Hope 2 Kids has kindergarten, first, second, third, and fifth grades. This is Chris’ first time ever teaching third and fifth grades. Teaching a new subject or grade requires many more hours of lesson planning. So, he is working very long hours this year and we are struggling to maintain a proper work-life balance. He is also adjusting to teaching younger children. This year has presented many challenges, but I am so incredibly proud of how Chris steadily pours his life into the lives of the children day after day. Although Chris’s primary responsibilities this year are being principal and teaching, he wears many other hats as well…from being responsible for distributing school supplies to every kid here (over 50!); coordinating special events like Father’s Day and Mother’s Day; down to the mundane task of keeping the printers working! Needless to say, his plate is full!

Late last year, a pediatrician, Dr. Judy Blumhofer, joined the GH2Ks ministry for a two-year period. Though we had met a couple times, it was not until February that we actually had time to sit down and get to know one another. She is extremely passionate about foster children, of which she has three. Dr. Judy lives at the Roma Campus, so she is quite a distance from where Chris and I live in Urraco. She and I are doing “well-child check-ups” twice a month with one mom and one child at a time. This is something completely new to both our moms and our kids. Remember, almost all our kids come from some kind of traumatic background, so it is a HUGE blessing to not only have a pediatrician, but one who is specifically passionate about kids who have had a rough start!

For my side of things, I do most of the leg work and relationship building with the moms. I try to get all the “paperwork” done prior to Judy’s arrival, as we have a narrow window of time to work (about two hours). This paperwork often helps identify areas of concern that I see or that the moms have. So far, it has gone great! We are starting with young children. A few days later, I meet with the mom again to go over what we discussed, answer questions, and encourage the mom to take the recommended steps.  A couple weeks after that, I give the mom and child a colorful handout specific to that Child, complete with photos, as a continual reminder. It takes me a while doing it in Spanish! Remember, all this is new and foreign to our moms, so we are pushing persistently, but gently. We already have one success story! We have already seen some positive behavior changes in one of our little boys, Anthony, after his house mom initiated a few recommended changes! Touching lives is exciting stuff.

Lastly, we wanted to share with you that we picked up our 1990 Toyota Land Cruiser in April! We are so grateful to our friend Gustavo and new friend Osman for working so hard to get it ready for us. Also, many thanks to the generous donations we received that made purchasing this car a reality. We can honestly say that having it has been a game changer for us.

We are thankful for:

• The blessing of being able to return to the US to be with family and friends over the holidays!
• The call that we know God has placed on our lives to serve here even when times are tough
• The Lord bringing Dr. Judy and her passion for needy children to GH2Ks
• Finally having our car and the freedom it allows and Gustavo who made it all possible
• Sharon’s sister Kim and niece Alaina, both fighting cancer, received very positive news this month

Please pray for:

• Work & life balance for Chris
• Continued healing for Sharon’s body, the ability to REST and have joy in each new day
• Good communication and growing relationships during the well child check-ups
• Kim and Alaina in their continuing fight against cancer