The House

Alright, so back to the story of our trip.  

One of the big things we have been praying about is our housing situation at Manatial de Vida.  Right now, there isn't a place for us to live.  And for a whole lot of reasons, it's best that we live on camp.  When Noah visited in 2009, he and Wes talked about building a house for us, that if someday we weren't at Manantial de Vida, it could function as a main office. 

Well, on Friday morning, before we left to come back to Costa Rica, we were able to met with some of the pastors of PIER who also happen to be engineers and architects!  And they literally said to us, "What do you want in your house?"  What in the world!!  We never in a million years thought we would be able to help design a house for us to live in!  And what a beautiful thing it is!  At least on paper right now!

After our meeting we went to lunch with everyone and Pastor Daniel started sketching what we had created back at church.  Here it is, on the back of a paper place mat.

Isn't it lovely?  It was crazy to watch these guys take what we said and make it work!  And the details they thought of!  Things like which way does the wind come from, how to make it cooler, how "wow, that's a big space, boy, let's see what we can do to make that more usable."  


I love the wrap around porches, the fact that I have a laundry room right next to my kitchen with a door to the outside just steps away.  Something tells me that is going to come in really, really handy with two boys!  And oh!  There are plans for a bath tub!

And now we pray.  Pray for the $75,000 it will cost to build this, pray for God to bring the right people and teams to help with the construction, pray that He will be gloried through this house.

And hey, if you are interested in helping with this important project in anyway, shoot us an email or give us a call (yes, we can get phone calls here, and it won't cost you anything!  We have a stateside number).  We'd love to talk with you about how you can help fiance this or come be a part of the building.

And so that pretty much wraps up our trip to Honduras.  We are so thankful we got to spend so much time with the Williamsons and to be part of the day to day.  We can't wait to get there for real.  But for right now, it's back to the studying and working out how to communicate with this people that we have come to love.

Daily Challenges

One of the reasons LAM sent us to Costa Rica to study Spanish is because it's such a good in between for missionaries heading to the field.  There is a whole lot of new and different here, but there is a lot that is the same or at least very similar to the states. 

Costa Rica is the exception to Central America.   There is a 95% literacy rate here.  And there is a larger middle class.  That's not to say everything is coming up roses in Costa Rica.  They have problems, poverty and issues.  But they have a stable goverment, money goes to schools, and things are more or less stable here. 

Honduras is a different story.  Remember when I said 90% of kids grow up in a one parent home?  Yeah, and the average yearly income is somewhere around $1,000 USD.  No one drinks the water from the tap, it's assumed that when you ask for water at a restaurant, you are ordering a bottle of water.  There is a wide, wide gap between the wealthy and the poor, there is really no middle class. 

This is even more true in the country.  Two of the biggest differences we encountered were lack of clean water and spotty electricity.

Manantial de Vida is close to a little town, Pinalejo.  For example, Pinalejo's water source is a mountain river up the mountain a ways.  There is an attempt at filtering the water on it's way down the mountain, but really that's to filter out leaves and sticks.  There is no attempt at cleaning up the water to make it safe to drink.  If people can afford it, they buy those 5 gallon water jugs for clean drinking water.  If they can't, well, they can't.



And to add to all this, a water study was done on the town's water supply and it was determined that 60% of the water was being lost through faulty pipes.  And then another 20% gets lost because of poor water management, like not turning off faucets.  While we were out at camp, Pinalejo was going on 5 days of the city water being shut off. 

Camp uses the same source of water as town, but we have a pipe that branches off to camp before the filter systems, so we don't experience the same loss as town does.  But it's still full of bacteria and other not so nice stuff.


We have been prepping the boys on keeping their mouths shut in the shower, to not drink water from the tap (even here in Costa Rica we don't drink straight from the tap).  But there is something so strange about the very thing you need to live, water, is deadly.  What does that do to a mental state of a nation?


I also discovered how much slower I moved in the kitchen because of it.  There was one time in particular, I found grapes for the boys, such a treat here in Central America.  I brought them home, bleached them, and then, I turned the faucet on and started rinsing them.  I looked at Cindy and just groaned!  I had to start the process all over again!  Someone said to me "it just takes longer to sustain life here."  Yep.

We were also warned about frequent power outages.  And by frequent I mean like once a day.  This is part of the reason we bought a gas stove!  We'll be able to cook at least. 

But I do think the power outages will take some getting used to.  We are going to need to reordering our life to be less reliant on electricity.  Things like using a French press instead of an electric coffee maker.  We have heard of several ideas on how to provide alternative power sources that we need to investigate to power things like the refrigerator and fans.  You know, just the basics.  I wish I could explain it all out to you.  I can't.  I know it has something to do with some car batteries and some wires.  Yeah.  Sorry about that one.

Anyway, all of this to say, there are some very real daily challenges that we will be dealing with.  We are blessed enough to be able to have ways around these things, unlike so many Hondurans.  And we are praying that we can be a blessing to those we come in contact with because we have been blessed.

"Glad to Turn Again" a World Away

It was so great to be part of the daily running of a camp again.  We both got so excited when we heard buses pulling into camp on Friday night, just like Teen Winter Retreats at Barakel!   And  to wake up to the sounds of campers through out camp, doing what campers do, laughing, running, exploring.  Oh, so good!

Noah, being Noah the programer, couldn't stay away and even managed to get a baliada (flour tortilla with beans, sour cream and sometimes eggs) out of visiting the group that was in camp.  He came back with some great photos too.

And it was so familiar what the group was doing, breaking up in to cabin groups, making mascots for their groups, and spending time away from the ordinary in order to hear from God.  Camp is powerful, no matter if you are in the pine forests of Northern Michigan or the pine forests of Northern Honduras.

We learned that right now, 10% of Honduran kids grow up with a two parent home.  Yeah, let that sink in for just a second.

That means 90% of kids grow up with a single parent.  Most kids will drop out of school by the time they are in 6th grade.  The unemployment rate of 30 year olds and under is 60%.  As if all of this is bad enough, there are gangs just waiting to give these kids a "family". A war is on for the hearts and minds of Honduran youth.

 As we talked with Pastor Daniel, he said that the way Honduras is going to change is through reaching the youth of the country.  Changing the mindset of the people, one kid at a time.  Wow!  What a challenge, and how exciting to be a part of what God is doing through the Honduran churches to reach these kids with Christ!

We also got to help with some of the projects around camp.  Noah worked on finishing out making bunk beds for one of the dorms.  When Wes was showing us the dorm for the first time I was confused on where in the world I was.  For crying out loud, the floor was even painted the same color as Boys Dorm before carpet!

And I know if I looked hard enough, I could find a photo or two of Mike Baker or Dan Haines putting together bunk beds for one of the new lodges!
 

And check this out!  Yep, those would be Do It Best screws. And no they weren't brought from the States, there is a Do It Best in San Pedro Sula! The Fairview Hardware store (you know, the famed VIP Hardware Sale store) is a Do It Best!

It was mind blowing how God placed us in Northern Michigan, where there wasn't a single native Spanish speaker for at least a hundred miles, and how well that prepared us for where will be in Honduras!  I am so thankful for the time we had on the banks of Shear Lake, and for what God is doing there and what He is doing to reach the hearts and minds of the people of Honduras through Manantial de Vida!

La Playa

And what a fun day it was!

Instead of boring you with details about the heat, the sun, the lovely landscape, I'll just show you.

 

A Trip to the City

One of our goals for our time in Honduras was to check out household goods.  You know, things like beds, appliances, everything you need in a house.  While there are some things that we love and work well for our family and we can bring them with us, there is a whole lot that we need to buy there.

We were able to buy bits and pieces from another missionary that has left the country, which was huge!  We now have a gas stove, two twin mattresses, some miscellaneous kitchen stuff and some wire cubes.  We bought a big Rubbermaid tub and put everything in there.  We now officially have possessions in three countries scattered all over the hemisphere.  Weird I tell you.

So back to the whole going to the city.  San Pedro Sula is the second largest city in Honduras.  While there are many many many cars, there are also many horse drawn carts throughout the city.  It certainly is a third world city.  Not many tall buildings and poverty everywhere.  And at the same time, many north American restaurants. There is such a drastic difference between those that have money and those that don't.  There isn't much of a middle class in Honduras.

We headed to the city on Saturday morning.  And this time, Elliot didn't get sick!  In fact, on the way, he said, "Hey, I not puking!"  Oh, and I did I mention that Noah drove the whole way in our truck?  Yeah, we have a truck now in Honduras too.  Again I say weird!

We went around town checking on prices of big appliances, dishes, towels, pillows, all sorts of things.  And I was relieved to discover that a lot of what we need and want can be bought in Honduras.  Many times it's more than what we would pay in the US, but when you factor in the cost of extra baggage, many times it's still cheaper to get in country. 

After we did some research shopping, we headed to a missionary family's house to stay the night.  We were going to go to PIER on Sunday (the church that owns camp).  What a kind family to let us stay.

Sunday we went to church and were introduced to the congregation.  And Noah did a stellar job of speaking before the whole body in Spanish, explaining how excited we were to come and serve them.  He was in total programer mode, even got the crowd laughing!

After church, Pastor Daniel invited us to brunch which we enjoyed very much.  It was good just to spend some time with him and get to know his family.   At the end of brunch, he invited us and the Williamsons to join his family in Tela on the Caribbean coast the next day to play in the pool and enjoy the beach!  Wow!

We spent that night with another missionary couple who has spend almost 40 years in Mexico and Honduras.  What fun to sit and listen to them share about their years of experience.

Monday we woke up, and hit the road again, this time further north to the playa...

Staff Fellowship

While we were at Manatial de Vida, we got to be a part of the weekly staff  meal and Bible study.  Sound familiar?  Yeah, while we were on staff at Barakel, we would get together every Wednesday at 11 am for Bible Study and then eat lunch together.  At Manantial, they do it on Monday evening.

All the women met together to cook the meal, which was tajadas con carne. It's fried plantains, with shredded cabbage, ground hamburger and a tomato based sauce.  Yum!  

While the food was cooking, the staff kids were running around the dinning hall playing tag of sorts.  There are 2 Honduran staff families.  Each family has one or two young teens and then a toddler, which is such a great dynamic because the Williamsons have young teens and we have preschoolers!  I never did get a photo of our boys with Daniel and Fernando, who are almost 2 and 1.  Forrest and Elliot were very taken with Fernando.  Forrest even called him Fernandito (a term of endearment).  What a blessing to have two Honduran buddies right around my boys' ages!

 
After dinner, we sang and then opened the Bible and read about the life of Joseph.  And just in case you forgot, all of this was in Spanish.  We were able to follow almost all of what was said and add to the discussion in Spanish, which was exciting for us.  Our boys enjoyed the singing and they are starting to recognize some of the worship songs we sing in Spanish.

We are so thankful for Leonel and Marlen and Polo and Marlen (yes, the women have the same name.)  They do so much around camp and it was great getting to know them some this week.  Can't wait until they are our vecinos!

Where to Begin?

We are back in Costa Rica.  Have been since Friday evening.  And as I look through the almost 500 photos I took and the pages of my journal, I have no idea even where to start sharing about our time.

I guess let's start with the basics.  We got in to San Pedro Sula on the 15th around lunch time.  Wes picked us up and after buying groceries (which was a trip, trying to figure out yet another currency!) we trekked the hour and half through the mountains to get to camp.  This is where we discovered that Elliot can get car sick.  Hummmm...note, when he says his mouth hurts, it means get a bucket ready!

We got on to camp property and I was blown away!  Such a peaceful green space!  And so strange...there are pine trees everywhere!!  And just about the time you think you are walking through the woods in Michigan on a hot and muggy day in July, you turn your head ever so slightly and see a banana tree!  Or you step on a mango! Or an iguana runs across the path!  And then you remember, this aint Michigan.  See the pine trees and the banana trees right next to each other?  So strange!

We stayed in one of the cabins that campers would use, just a simple block building.  For some reason, I hadn't realized we would be camping for the two weeks, but that's really what we did.  We ate most breakfasts by ourselves up at our cabin (boxed milk comes in very handy!) and then lunches and dinners with the Williamsons.

 And speaking of the Williamsons, what a fun group of people!!

Up until this point, we had only spent about 6 hours with them in Northern Indiana back in '09.  Needless to say, all the kids are a lot bigger than they were then (Elliot is now as big as Forrest was).

 
The boys had a great time with the Williamson kids, and Ellie, Becca, Joel and Abigail did such a fantastic job with our boys!  Elliot followed  Joel all around investigating toads, lizards, bugs and just about anything they could find.  And Joel did a great job at telling him, "don't touch that!"  or "After you touch this toad, you need to wash your hands!" Here are the boys showing you how big the toad they found was.

We were able to help out with some of the stuff that needed to get done around camp.  Noah and Wes had many little projects they were working on, like a chicken coop, building bunk beds, running errands into the local town.  I helped Cindy do loads and loads of sheets from the work team that just left.  It was good to be part of the day to day of Manatial de Vida.

And now, before I turn you cross eyed from reading too much on the computer screen, I am going to stop.  Two weeks spent in Honduras is just too much material for one post, so, you'll just have to wait  to hear about our trip into town, our mini vacation to the beach, Staff Fellowship, daily challenges, camping and a whole lot of other fun stuff.  Stay tuned.

Just a Quick Note

So!  We have internet! And while this can't be really long, just wanted to stop by and say we're doing well, loving being out of the city!  Camp is beautiful, and at times it feels like we are in the woods of Michigan because there are so many pine trees everywhere!

The boys have been able to play in the creek, catch fish for a tank, bang bamboo around, and just generally run around out in the woods.  Noah and I have been able to have a lot of good conversations with Wes and Cindy and it's been great to just be around the place. 

This weekend we are going to see a camp in season, and then we are going to head into San Pedro Sula for a few days, attend church, and investigate what sorts of household goods we can get here in country and what we would need to plan on bringing from the states.

Thanks so much for all your prayers! As you think of us, contiue to pray for health, wisdome, and just a great time of encouragment!

And We're Off

So, today we are going to our third country this year.  I was amazed when I stopped and thought about that last week.  And since January I have flown to Arizona, Florida, Costa Rica, and now today Honduras.  Oh, and we took a bus trip to Nicaragua!  What in the world?  Whose life am I living?

Anyway, so today we are off to Honduras.  This will be the first time I will get to see Manantial de Vida.  When Noah went in October of 2009 to explore the possibility of us joining the work there, the boys and I stayed at home.

But now, we all get to experience it.  For 12 days!  To say we are excited is an understatement.  Forrest has been talking for weeks about going.  We will be staying in one of the cabins at camp.  That means you probably won't here from us until we are back in Costa Rica on the 26th.  The internet hasn't been working all summer out at Manantial.  But in the meantime, as you think of us, would you pray for:

• A great time of getting to know the Williamsons.  While Noah and Wes spent the week together in 2009, Cindy, the kids from both families and I have only spent about 6 hours together in Northern Indiana.  Pray we would accomplish a lot in our relationship in the short time we have.

• Pray we would be able to give the Williamsons a break.  They have had a full full FULL summer of teams and minsitry.  We really want to help ease there load while we are there.

• Pray for rest for our family in the midst of all the newness.  This is our two week break between terms at school.  

• Pray that we would be wise as we look at things we will need for our household, talk about housing plans, and other preparations for when we move there full time.

• That our kids will do well with the transition there and then back to school in two weeks.

Thanks guys!!  We can't do this work without you all around the world praying!

!Vaya Con Dios!

Today officially marks the end of our first Trimester here at ILE.  Wow, it really did go by fast!  Today was graduation day for everyone who is finishing their time here.  What a lot of conflicting emotions!

On the one hand, it's great to see people finishing out their training and be better equipped to go where God is sending them.  On the other hand, we have grown close with some of these people over our time here.  And it's just hard.  Goodbyes aren't easy, and there is something very strange about saying a permeate goodbye to people that you know you really will probably never see this side of heaven again.

It really hit home as we were talking with a mom of one of Forrest's classmates.  They are getting on a plane tomorrow headed for Caracas, Venezuela.  They are from British Columbia.  I don't know them well at all, more like we've talked a few times here and there, but I cried on the way home, because, well, I guess I cried over what could have been.  Our paths probably won't cross again on this planet.

And then there was our friends the Hings.  We've done a lot with them, they were in class with me, and they are now on their way to Ecuador.  They are from the Lapeer area, so there is a chance we could see them again, if furloughs and whatnot line up, but they too are getting on a plane tomorrow and heading to South America.

There is also the Vosses.  !Dios les bendiga!  They helped us get settled here in Costa Rica, they live just 5 blocks from us, and have been good friends over these last few months.  They are heading to Honduras next week to join a church in Tegucigalpa.  We are hopeful that at some point we will be able to see them again, as we will be in the same country.  But it's hard.  It's hard saying goodbye.

And yet...and yet!  As we sat there and watched missionaries coming in carrying flags representing thirteen countries, I was in awe.  God has taken people from all over the world, birthed in them a love and compassion for a people that isn't their own.  They have devoted time, money, energy to learn a language that is not their own, in order to share the saving news of Jesus with people they don't yet know.  Wow!! That sort of love can only come from Christ.  And to hear them talk yesterday about what's next for them all, well, the words servant, learner, observer came up a lot.  These are humble people that want to serve the Latin Church, not dictate what it should do.  How very exciting!

About a month and half ago, we had Spiritual Emphasis week.   At one point during the week, the worship leader said "now sing in your language."  And almost every one of the students choose to sing in Spanish.  Our language.  What a group of people to be surrounded by.

In a lot of ways, this was a hard morning.  But it was a morning of perspective, focused on The Eternal.

Y vaya con Dios, nuestros amgios!

The Last Couple of Days

Well.  I am finally to a point where I can sit down at the computer again and write to you all.  What a crazy week and a half!  You saw the insane amount of tubs and packing that we did all last week.  I think Noah and I put in 12 or 14 hour days packing every day last week.  And I was a bit fearful that we wouldn't get it all done in time.  But we did.  With the help of a lot of people!  Friends watched out kids, brought us dinner, and on Friday, they came in like a huge pack, errr, herd, err swarm of Parana and picked the bones of the house clean of our stuff in an hour and a half!  The truck was loaded and we were on our way by about 11!  Amazing!

The boys took turns riding with Noah in the moving van and the whole trip was quite peaceful.  The further south we got the less snow there was.  Friday night we stayed at my parents'.  Saturday morning a work team from our sending church came and unloaded the truck and then loaded our storage trailer.  Again in an hour and a half! And everything fit in the trailer!  That is now small feat, a 4 bedroom house with garage was condensed down to a 20 foot trailer!

Then we hauled the stuff we are using now and what is coming to Costa Rica with us to our new apartment in Grand Rapids.  We are living in the upstairs apartment of a two family house that my sister and brother in law rent.  It's a sweet little place.  In some ways reminds me of our house in Holland. 

It's got character.  Glass door knobs, funky old windows, cupboard doors that don't completely shut.  I love it!  My sister had it all decorated which was such a blessing for me.  We have a lot of the same aesthetic and it's just nice to be in a homey place for this next month.

It's tiny, just one bedroom, but we are making it work.  And it's just for a month.  We at at 77% now!  Which means that we just need $774 more monthly dollars to get to language school!  And by faith we bought our plane tickets last week.  Crazy!

So there you have it.  Our move and our new apartment.  Home for the next month.