In conclusion, an admission.....

okay an admission.  I ended the previous post with no conclusion because 'Pablo' walked in and said that my friend Angelina had a few pastelitos left from where she sells them at recess at the school, if I wanted to go get one.  And whereas I love knowing that you all care and read the updates and be ensured that all our loved ones are informed.....well truth be told....I LOVE a pastelito!!  And seeing as how it's been a year since I've consumed one,  (my version just doesn't cut it).  Well, that took precedence so I clicked post with no editing and no conclusion and rushed off to devour a bit of deliciousness!!  And it was worth it!

But know we are safe, doing well and getting settled in. The entire country of Honduras is gearing up for their first game in the World Cup in many years tomorrow.  It will be on at 5:30am - that's right AM...because the World Cup is being played in South Africa.  Most schools are cancelled by gov't order, they are bringing in TV's to businesses.  A friend who works at a dock is excited because they are bringing in High Def.  TV's for the employees to all stop work and watch together.  It is an exciting time for Honduras!  I have streamers I'm about to hang up on our porch and our jerseys are ready!  'Pablo' is going over to Yefrin and Maybelline's I think to watch the game.

Emilson joked yesterday that they need to ask all the North Americans to pray for the Honduras soccer team tomorrow.  This is a BIG deal to this little country....a BIG deal!  Tomorrow 'we' play Chile!!!
Vamos.....HONDURAS!!!!  So as you head off to work in the morning know that we will are up and crowded around a TV somewhere cheering on Honduras to victory!! Hey I might even break out some cheers from the good ol days......

naaaahhhhh....

Home again home again....

We arrived last night just at dusk.  PERFECT timing since we have a personal policy to stay off the highway after dark.

After a sleepless night filled with preparations and excitment,  Daddy picked us up at 6 am and our journey began. We arrived in Trujillo around 6pm.....and exhausted would be an understatment.  We had planned to just grab some bananas at a roadside stand and some corn tortillas and eggs and make a dinner of it, but instead some precious friends made some flour tortillas, refried beans, eggs and cheese and had it waiting on us as soon as we arrived!! WHAT A BLESSING!! They said they knew we´d be exhausted.  MaryKyle insisted on washing dishes in return so they then got to rest and we got to visit a bit before heading over to where we are staying and crashing.

We are at the school now just saying hello to everyone and touching base.  Then it will be home for lunch and unpacking!!  The kids say this house is the ¨best ever!!¨  which Sara will appreciate reading since it´s their  house we are staying in.  So a big BIG "thank you" to Brian and Sara, Mark and Brenda and all the staff at Little Hands Big Hearts  for putting a roof over our heads!! 
Truly it´s already been a blessing.  they had a hammock up and waiting for us, a jug of clean water, and brand new dish soap.  4 people had worked HARD to have the house spotless (Yefrin, Maybelline, Orlin and M's brother) for us and even sprayed for bugs for us.  Sheets, towels and blankets were all washed & ready.  So instead of walking in with nothing and having to set up a house completely we came home exhausted and were able to put our feet up!!  What a true blessing!!!

"Tomorrow Tomorrow.....

.......I love you tomorrow!!"

If all goes according to plan, Tomorrow night (June 14) we (our little family of 4) will be laying down our heads in Trujillo!!
We will be going down to make preparations for the Christians joining us later in June. Once again we'll do our best to keep everyone informed of what's going on in our lives from this little space on the web!!
We appreciate your prayers for safe journeys and changed lives!

Preparations underway

Team members in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Kansas and Mississippi are preparing and getting excited about their upcoming trip to Trujillo.

The first members head down to Trujillo on June 14th to do the prep work so things are in place and ready for the team.

The teams arrive in Honduras on June 28th to work alongside their Honduran Brothers and Sisters!!  It's going to be a great summer!!  Please be in prayer as the teams prepare, raise money for their trips and also for their safe travels in June!!   We will once again be using this blog as a way to inform our friends and family of our adventures while in Honduras!

No Luz

(okay so this isn't Roatan, but La Ceiba but it still amazes me and power poles all over Honduras look like this 

or worse)

So we've been on Roatan since Monday around lunch time and every day the power has been out.  Monday and Tuesday it was all day.  It went off in the middle of the night Monday night and was out til after dinner time.  Today the cruise ships were in port so we hoped it might have it today and sure enough we did...til late afternoon and it's still out.   Already the beaches are desolate compared to last year.  the resorts and hotels are offering amazing deals to try to get people here and try to just keep their doors open.  So why why WHY would they decide that this is the time to do "maintenance" on the power system???? Having come from the mainland honestly it doesn't bother us too much.  Of course it's inconvenient and a little hotter. But what I say is it's still SOOOOO worth it!!  Roatan is amazing....just amazing.  And I've done none of the paid tour type things yet (maybe later in the week...we can't decide) just snorkeled and enjoyed the beauty of God's creation!!  And let me tell you....the lack of power does not matter!!  If you are looking for an amazing vacation and aren't looking to spend a fortune...I encourage you to check out coming to the bay islands!  You can fly directly here from the states...generally on Saturdays and truly there are some amazing deals on all inclusive lodging and such to be had right now!!  And at least for us, we don't care about the lack of power so much at all (plus it's only supposed to last a few days) we have hammocks and endless fruit and a nice breeze coming off the water.  We have enjoyed every single second.  Plus, our host at Keifitos has a generator.....and that's what I am using to type this right now.

MaryKyle and John Mark hanging out just after coming in from a day of snorkeling on the reef!!  A GREAT day yesterday (even though all of us but John Mark...of course... got a bit toasted)

We are enjoying a lazy day on Roatan Island (The cruise ships are in port.  So might as well enjoy a lazy day and not get into that madness) So I took just a min and went back and added a very few pictures.  Others are waiting to use the modem so I will try to add some more later.  but wanted to let you all know that I will be trying to work on it over the next day or so!  

Adios to Trujillo

(evening from our balcony looking out over Trujillo)

Last night we said all of our final good-byes to our friends in Trujillo. Emilson came with his wife, children, and two of Eda's sisters and their children. They prepared baleadas (tortillas with beans and cheese folded inside), chimol (a type of chunky salsa), and some sort of fried tortilla that was filled with cheese. It was really nice to have someone cook for us, as we were busy washing clothes, packing, and taking care of other last-minute items on the to-do list.

We also had Angelina and four of her children in the house with us. It was really great to have so many people there to say farewell. And to top it all off, they washed all of the dishes after dinner, cleaned out the fridge, and completely packed up all of our kitchen supplies for us. We plan to store all of those things in Trujillo, so we won't have to set up house every time we go for an extended stay. 

After everyone left, we were up late into the night finishing laundry and packing. We had heard that the campesinos would be blocking the road in Guadalupe Carney this morning, so we decided to get up really early to leave, in hopes of beating the protesters. We rolled out of Trujillo at about 4:30 am and were blesssed to have smooth sailing all the way to La Ceiba. We even arrived early enough to eat at Emilson's favorite pastalito restaurant before heading to the ferry. 

Again, we were blessed with a good trip on the ferry. Nobody got seasick and the weather was great. We arrived in Roatan at about 11:30, went to the grocery store, and came to the place where we are staying. The place is called Keifito's Plantation and it's a fabulous place. We are staying in little cabins up on a cliff overlooking the ocean. There is some really good snorkeling just at the bottom of the cliff. We enjoyed that for a couple of hours this afternoon. Tonight, we are going to walk to West End to eat out. I think I'll have a hamburger. Trujillo has great seafood, but Honduras in general isn't known for it's beef, and definitely not for hamburgers. Even though Roatan is Honduras, it's very different here. The islanders speak English (it's a former British territory) and there is much more money here due to the tourism.

We are looking forward to a few days here before heading back to the states on Saturday. As always, it was difficult to say good-bye to Trujillo. We miss our friends there so much when we are away. Of course, we are anxious to get home and see all of our loved ones there as well. Please pray for our continued safety and especially for the school and church in Trujillo that we serve.