This has been a very fun and eventful week!
Sunday was a very long, but fun day. We were gone from the ranch for 14 hours, but in that time we went to sunday school, church, valley of the angels (Valle de Angeles), the mall, and another church. Valley of the angels is a very touristy little area of honduras that is full of souvenir shops. We ate lunch at a really yummy pizza place, got ripped off by a "mariachi" band, and I bought a hammock chair for our porch! When I was trying to buy the hammock chair, I was asking my friend how to ask the guy how much it cost and what other colors they had when he answered my question in English. it was kind of funny.
Monday was our "Day of the Child" celebration. We started off the day with fun songs, games, and a "hunt" for little bags of candy instead of our regular 1st period class. It was a fun day for the kids. We still had a regular school day, but I let them do more fun stuff/games than usual.
Wednesday we had a community outreach. It was probably my favorite day of the week. In my last newsletter I mentioned going to a church in san matias. Well, this outreach was at the same church. There were 2 parts to the outreach. There's an adult literacy program where some adults who had never learned to read before were taught the basics of the written spanish language. The other aspect is what I was involved in. It's a kid's club for the children involved in the literacy program. I'll give you more details about the outreach and the ideas behind it in my newsletter, but basically we sang some songs, acted out the parable of the lost sheep (I was the lost sheep which involved running away from the group of other "sheep," saying "baaa....me duele" repeatedly until I was found by the shepherd and was brought back to the rest of the flock), and memorized Romans 5:8. There was a lot of rain, but we still had about 25 adults and 27 or so kids. We'll have a similar outreach every wednesday. I'm excited about this new idea and am looking forward to what God's going to do through it.
Thursday was our "Honduran Festival" where we celebrated Honduras's independence. There was a program that told about the history of honduras, showed some pictures of different areas, had a honduran folkloric dance, and we tried some typical honduran food.
Friday night we went to this really beautiful and fancy restaurant called "La Cumbre." It's located on a mountain with a beautiful breathtaking view of the lights of the city. It was fun to dress up and have a fun night out with the rest of the teachers and a few other people working with WGO.
Today has been a relaxing and fun day. I got some work done on some new forms/sales sheets for the souvenirs that we sell. I also was able to read a lot, help paint a wall in our dining/living area, relax on hammocks, have dinner and play cranium with some of the other teachers, and experience an earthquake. That's right...there was an earthquake today! It was apparently a 5.5 and was north of Tegucigalpa. We just felt a little bit from it. I didn't realize what it was until my roommate asked if I felt it and others were talking about it too. Someone looked on the internet and we figured out that it was indeed an earthquake. It was pretty exciting!
Ok...now some prayer requests:
1. I need to make a decision by November 15th about whether or not I want to stay for another year. Right now, I'm feeling like I want to stay, but I don't want to officially commit to it yet. Please be praying for guidance in that decision.
2. Continue to pray for healing for one of the Honduran teachers who is pregnant and has a tumor in her uterus.
3. Continue to pray for the health of everyone involved with the ministry and their families.
4. Praise God that my uncle's surgery went well! Please continue to pray for a quick recovery and healing.
That's it for now! As always, thanks for all the prayers and support and please keep in touch!!
Hannah
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Hurricanes and answers to prayer
Thanks so much for all of the prayers and emails I received about Hurricane Felix. The hurricane hit pretty hard on the north coast and in Nicaragua, but there wasn't much damage here. We got out of school at 11am on Tuesday as a precaution for the hurricane and to allow the Honduran teachers to get back to the city before it started raining too much. We also didn't have any school on Wednesday. All we really got from the hurricane was several hours of light rain and some wind. Some areas north of here had a lot of flooding, mudslides, etc. You can continue to be praying for them.
Everything here is still going really well! I love all the people I'm working with and the kids here at the ranch. I'm learning a lot from all of them everyday. Thanks for your continued prayers for patience and health as well. Things that I mentioned before about needing patience with a particular student especially have improved a lot. Some days are still challenging, but I love every day with him. Almost everyone at the ranch is feeling better, so that is also an answer to prayer. There is still at least one person with a lingering cough, but besides that people are feeling better.
Some new things from the last couple of weeks:
1. I worked in the nursery at my church on Sunday. It was fun to be with the kids (ages 1-1st grade), but i missed being in the service. I think I'm scheduled to work in there again sometime in October.
2. I've volunteered to help with managing the souvenirs that we sell at the ranch. We grow coffee and moras (blackberries) here on our property. We sell the coffee, blackberry jellies and jams, cookbooks, vanilla, and shirts. My job is to inventory all we have (there's been no record really of how much we've produced) and make sure things are stocked and presentable in Casa Grande. Casa Grande (or "The big house") is where construction brigades stay when they are here and medical brigades come and have lunch while they are at the ranch on Wednesday afternoons. There is a little corner set up with all the souvenirs that are for sell.
3. Yesterday was my roommate's birthday! We went over to some of the other teacher's house to have cake and watch a movie.
4. Yesterday we had a ministry wide event for everyone involved with WGO. It was to introduce the new teachers and other missionaries to the rest of the ministry. About half...or maybe more of the ministry is here at Rancho Ebenezer, where the kids, school, etc, are. The rest of the ministry is in El hatillo at the mission house, on a different mountain, where all the construction brigades come through and most of the administrative work is done. It was good to meet a lot of the people I'd heard of, but never met before. We had a time of worship together, the CEO/president spoke, and we played some fun games that were only slightly hindered by the rain.
I've enjoyed getting a little more involved in things here. It has allowed me to get to know some more people that I wouldn't otherwise interact with a lot. Teaching is still my top priority since that is what I'm here to do, but there's lots of other time to do these other things as well.
It's funny how it's rained harder and for longer periods of time the last few days than it did for the hurricane. It shows how God answers prayers! With the threat of the hurricane and everything, I was reminded of Psalm 29 which talks about the glory and splendor of God. You should read it sometime.
One more thing...at the church I've been going to, I've had the privilege of meeting a couple of ladies that used to work with my great aunt, Kathleen Ray, with CAM international many years ago. They worked at a school in Siguatepeque which isn't too far from here. When we found out who each other were, it was almost like meeting old family b/c I'd always heard of Aunt Kat's stories about Honduras. Edith, the lady I met at church, had always heard stories about all my relatives. She said that next time CAM has a little get together, she was going to kidnap me and take me to it so she could introduce me to everyone. She had some very nice things to say about Aunt Kat and the work and relationship she had with all the kids that they used to work with.
Lastly, some prayer requests:
1. My uncle, Walter, is having a bypass surgery on Tuesday morning. He suffered a heart attack this past spring and was recently having some more discomfort in his chest. He went to one doctor who had said that it was just acid reflux. Walter decided to get a second opinion, so they did some tests and found out there is some more blockage in his arteries and needs to have a quadruple...or maybe 5 bypasses. They said it's a good thing that he came in when he did, because it could have been a lot worse if he had waited. It's been cool to see how God has protected their family in the past few years.
2. Pray for unity and great relationships to continue to develop among the missionary staff with WGO.
3. Continue to pray for healing in the kids lives, and that they would find a comfort and peace in Christ.
4. Continue to pray for patience and continuous joy and energy while I'm teaching.
As always, thanks for all the prayers and support! I'd love to hear from you!
Everything here is still going really well! I love all the people I'm working with and the kids here at the ranch. I'm learning a lot from all of them everyday. Thanks for your continued prayers for patience and health as well. Things that I mentioned before about needing patience with a particular student especially have improved a lot. Some days are still challenging, but I love every day with him. Almost everyone at the ranch is feeling better, so that is also an answer to prayer. There is still at least one person with a lingering cough, but besides that people are feeling better.
Some new things from the last couple of weeks:
1. I worked in the nursery at my church on Sunday. It was fun to be with the kids (ages 1-1st grade), but i missed being in the service. I think I'm scheduled to work in there again sometime in October.
2. I've volunteered to help with managing the souvenirs that we sell at the ranch. We grow coffee and moras (blackberries) here on our property. We sell the coffee, blackberry jellies and jams, cookbooks, vanilla, and shirts. My job is to inventory all we have (there's been no record really of how much we've produced) and make sure things are stocked and presentable in Casa Grande. Casa Grande (or "The big house") is where construction brigades stay when they are here and medical brigades come and have lunch while they are at the ranch on Wednesday afternoons. There is a little corner set up with all the souvenirs that are for sell.
3. Yesterday was my roommate's birthday! We went over to some of the other teacher's house to have cake and watch a movie.
4. Yesterday we had a ministry wide event for everyone involved with WGO. It was to introduce the new teachers and other missionaries to the rest of the ministry. About half...or maybe more of the ministry is here at Rancho Ebenezer, where the kids, school, etc, are. The rest of the ministry is in El hatillo at the mission house, on a different mountain, where all the construction brigades come through and most of the administrative work is done. It was good to meet a lot of the people I'd heard of, but never met before. We had a time of worship together, the CEO/president spoke, and we played some fun games that were only slightly hindered by the rain.
I've enjoyed getting a little more involved in things here. It has allowed me to get to know some more people that I wouldn't otherwise interact with a lot. Teaching is still my top priority since that is what I'm here to do, but there's lots of other time to do these other things as well.
It's funny how it's rained harder and for longer periods of time the last few days than it did for the hurricane. It shows how God answers prayers! With the threat of the hurricane and everything, I was reminded of Psalm 29 which talks about the glory and splendor of God. You should read it sometime.
One more thing...at the church I've been going to, I've had the privilege of meeting a couple of ladies that used to work with my great aunt, Kathleen Ray, with CAM international many years ago. They worked at a school in Siguatepeque which isn't too far from here. When we found out who each other were, it was almost like meeting old family b/c I'd always heard of Aunt Kat's stories about Honduras. Edith, the lady I met at church, had always heard stories about all my relatives. She said that next time CAM has a little get together, she was going to kidnap me and take me to it so she could introduce me to everyone. She had some very nice things to say about Aunt Kat and the work and relationship she had with all the kids that they used to work with.
Lastly, some prayer requests:
1. My uncle, Walter, is having a bypass surgery on Tuesday morning. He suffered a heart attack this past spring and was recently having some more discomfort in his chest. He went to one doctor who had said that it was just acid reflux. Walter decided to get a second opinion, so they did some tests and found out there is some more blockage in his arteries and needs to have a quadruple...or maybe 5 bypasses. They said it's a good thing that he came in when he did, because it could have been a lot worse if he had waited. It's been cool to see how God has protected their family in the past few years.
2. Pray for unity and great relationships to continue to develop among the missionary staff with WGO.
3. Continue to pray for healing in the kids lives, and that they would find a comfort and peace in Christ.
4. Continue to pray for patience and continuous joy and energy while I'm teaching.
As always, thanks for all the prayers and support! I'd love to hear from you!
Monday, September 3, 2007
Hurricane Felix
Hurricane Felix is coming! Some say it will miss us...or at least just give us "tropical storm" conditions, others say it's coming right for us. Either way, please pray with us as the storm approaches. It's supposed to hit Central America Tuesday or Wednesday.
I haven't really paid that much attention to hurricanes before now, but it's amazing to see how God has designed them so huge and powerful. Even though hurricanes can bring lots of destruction and damage, it's kind of exciting to see this little piece of God's creation.
I'll let you know when I find out more about the hurricane or after it passes, i'll let you know if it actually hit us or not...the kind of storm it brought, etc.
Thanks for the prayers!
I haven't really paid that much attention to hurricanes before now, but it's amazing to see how God has designed them so huge and powerful. Even though hurricanes can bring lots of destruction and damage, it's kind of exciting to see this little piece of God's creation.
I'll let you know when I find out more about the hurricane or after it passes, i'll let you know if it actually hit us or not...the kind of storm it brought, etc.
Thanks for the prayers!
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