Spiritual Emphasis Week and Semana Santa

Last week was spiritual emphasis week. The older kids had some really great chapel sessions every morning led by a guest speaker. The younger kids also had chapel every morning led by two of our teachers. The theme for the week for our elementary kids was salvation. The kids learned about how salvation is a free gift, God transforms our life, what it cost Jesus, and how it is permanent. Each morning we had chapel in a new location and included a fun activity for the kids to help them remember. Although I don’t know if any decisions were made, we could definitely tell some of the kids were affected by the messages and were starting to at least think about. Please continue to pray with us for the seeds were planted during this week.

This week we’ve had off of school for Semana Santa (or Holy Week). It has been a much needed and relaxing week. Eleven of us spent last weekend and the beginning of the week in La Ceiba, a beach on the north coast about 6 hours away. It was a fun and relaxing time of rest and fellowship. We got a really good deal on the hotel, too which is always nice. We got back home to the ranch on Tuesday night. The rest of the week has been spent watching a few movies, having a pedicure night, and just getting a lot of stuff done that I haven’t had time to do with school and everything else going on.



I’m excited about this upcoming week as well! I’ll be teaching Monday and Tuesday and then will be returning to the states Wednesday for my friend Allison’s wedding!! I can’t wait to be there for this special occasion! I’m very excited and happy for her. It will be a really quick trip to the states, so I probably won’t get to see most of you. I just wanted to let you know what’s going on. I’m arriving in Dallas late Wednesday night, doing some errands and seeing family on Thursday, driving with my parents to Arkansas for the wedding on Friday, coming back late Saturday night, and flying back to Honduras early Monday morning. Please pray for safe travel and that my time in the states will be fun and not to rushed.

I'm still alive :)

Here at the ranch we grow our own coffee and then sell it to the teams that come through to work. We have lots of coffee bushes down by the school. We have many workers come and pick the coffee from the plants. It is then shelled, dryed, roasted, and then dried again I think. I'm not sure of all the details, but the process is something like that. We have drying tables lined up in front of the school. After the beans are picked and shelled, they pour bags of them onto the tables to dry. Today I had the chance to measure the moisture content in the beans. It was fun! you just put them in this little contraption, turn the little knob, and it tells you the moisture content. When they have 12% or less moisture content, they are dry enough to move to the next step. The ones I measured were right at 12%. Actually seeing the coffee and the process it goes through before it is ready to sell is really interesting, but as I'm writing about it, I'm realizing that it sounds kind of boring just to read about it. It' more fun to actually see it happening. Anyways, here's a picture of the coffee beans drying outside the school.

We had a spelling bee last week for grades 2-6. It was fun to see them applying what they've learned in class. Elli, my 4th grader got in 2nd place! I was very proud!

In a couple of weeks we have "semana santa" or "Holy Week" the week before easter. It's a week off of school, so a lot of the teachers are going up to the north coast to La Ceiba for a few days. We got a really good deal on a hotel up there. I hear the beaches there are really pretty. It will be nice to have a little break from school.

Some of you may have heard that I was sick a few weeks ago. There were about 5 of us teachers that had the flu. We think one of the people that came on the construction team brought it to us. I'm slowly recovering. I was out of school for a week. This is my 2nd week back at school after being out for a week. It's been fun to be back, but I still don't have all my energy back yet. I've also been coughing a lot still...coughing so much that it has caused between my ribs to swell a little, making it painful to cough. Thankfully, I can tell I'm getting a little better everyday. I'm not coughing as much, and it doesn't hurt as much when I do. I would appreciate prayers for a full recovery and to have all my strength back. There are a couple of teachers who are still feeling bad. Please pray that they will feel better soon too!

Thanks for all the prayers and support!