Love According to Kids

A month or so ago, I received an email that had kids' definitions of love. I thought it was cute, so I decided to ask my kids. I gave them an index card and said, "Write down what you think love is." I did this several weeks ago, but I just found the cards :). This is what they wrote:

"When people get kissed."

"[Love] is an expression of the soul and heart."

"Love means that you love somebody like dad, mom, brothers, sister, and girlfriend."

"Love is more than an emotion; love is a dedication, a commitment, a goal, to always care for somebody/something, to the point you'd give your life for them/it; no matter how tough times get."

I thought these were interesting responses for 5th and 6th graders.

Thanksmas Christgiving

Tonight we had a Thanksmas Christgiving party. This combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas stemmed from the fact that some of our "family" aka coworkers here are going to be gone for Thanksgiving, yet we wanted to share a Thanksgiving type meal together. We also wanted to have a Christmas party before everyone went home for furlough, so it seemed like the perfect combination. We had all the traditional food that you might have at a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal (except we had chicken instead of turkey b/c it's cheaper), had a "Secret Santa" gift exchange, and played a few Christmas games. Our table was set with regular plates, fall/thanksgiving napkins, and Christmas colored cups. Hanging outside on the door were two welcome signs: one that is decorated with a fall theme, and one that says "feliz navidad" with a snowman on it. It was a fun start to the holidays and a great time of fellowship with the family I have here in Honduras. I hope this becomes an annual tradition :).

Happy Merry Thanksmas Christgiving!

Oops!

So...I kind of forgot that I had a blog. Sorry to those of you who read it and have been looking for another update. Umm....let's see...the semester's almost already over! I can't believe it!

This has been a great semester. It's been challenging in many ways, but in those challenges, I'm reminded to seek God and I end up growing from the challeging situations. I've been blessed with great friends that are pretty much like family, so it makes times when I'm missing my stateside family a little easier.

My students have been doing very well! I'm impressed by their hard work and diligent effort that they show (most of the time :)). We've had several big events this semeseter including an Independence Day program, a Day of the Child celebration, and a Culture Day program. We're also looking forward to a Christmas party with the kids and graduation before the semester is over.

I'm currently in the states right now for my twin brother's wedding! Robbie and Mallorie are getting married on Sunday! One of the ladies at the ranch is subbing for me so I can be here to celebrate with them. (Thanks again Jaylene!) I'm excited to be here for this special occasion and look forward to seeing a lot of family and family friends that I haven't seen in a while!! After all the craziness of the wedding festivities, I'll have a few days to rest at home and get ready to head back to Honduras to finish out the semester. I'm also looking forward to spending the majority of the month of December in the states and being able to spend Christmas here with my family.

Please be praying with us for more teachers! We need several more North American and Honduran teachers for next semester (beginning in January)! If you're interested, please let me know!

As always, thanks for all of your prayers and support!
-Hannah :)

1st week of school...year 3 :)

We just completed our first week of school! I enjoy all my classes and kids that i'm teaching. This year, i'm teaching pretty much the same kids as last year, but now they're in 5th and 6th grade instead of 4th and 5th :). My kids keep making fun of me because i keep saying how much they've grown since I first got here 2 years ago. I'm teaching all the main subjects (Bible, Science, Math, Grammar, Reading, Spelling) to 5th and 6th grade as well as a 3rd and 4th grade math class. I have 2 5th graders, 2 6th graders, 2 3rd graders and 2 4th graders.
Here are some funny quotes from the week:

When we were on our way out to recess:
student-"mmm...it smells like recess!"
me- "what does recess smell like?"
student- "like freedom!"

While videoing another student with the black and white feature on my camera, one of my students said, "Look, it's like i'm videoing in the 90s!"

We were learning about different types of numbers (cardinal, ordinal, nominal) in math. For one of the answers, one of my students said, "you know...the one like the fair....like...carnival or whatever"

It's my goal to update the blog more often this school year! Thanks for all your prayers and support!
-Hannah :)

Summer Newsletter

Here's a copy of the summer newsletter i sent out a few weeks ago:

Hannah’s Honduras Update
Summer 2009

Dear friends and family,

I hope this update finds you and your family doing well. This has been a busy, yet productive summer complete with graduation, a medical brigade, staying in houses, Spanish class, furlough, and getting ready for school to start again.

In June we had a graduation ceremony for our Kindergartners, 6th grader, and 12th grader. It was a great time of celebration of these students as well as the accomplishments of our whole school. The week after graduation, I was able to go on a medical brigade with the other side of our ministry. I really enjoyed getting to spend the week with several other people from the ranch, as well as a few people from the church I was able to work with last year. God stretched me in some new ways, I was able to share the gospel with several people, a couple people accepted Christ, I was able to practice my Spanish, and hang out with a lot of kids. It was a great week. To read a more detailed account, please visit my blog: http://hannahhonduras.blogspot.com.

When our house parents are gone from the ranch for any reason (whether it be for furlough, their monthly days off, medical emergency, etc), one of us stays in their house until they are able to return to the ranch. This summer I stayed in several houses for a couple of nights. I enjoy doing this during the summer because I can see some of the kids that I don’t usually see as often and get to know them better.

We had a lady come in from the city this summer to teach Spanish classes to the missionaries on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I was able to participate in these classes for a couple of weeks before I went back to the states for my 2 weeks of furlough. I feel like I learned a lot and was glad to have this opportunity to learn more.

July 3rd-17th, I was able to go back to the states for a quick furlough. It was encouraging to see some of you and catch up with what’s going on in your lives. I was also able to go visit my brother Robbie and his fiancé, Mallorie and hear about more of their wedding plans.

Since my return on the 17th, I’ve been busy staying in more houses and getting my classroom ready for school to start! I begin my 3rd year of teaching here in a couple of weeks and I can’t wait! I’m excited to teach the same kids that I have taught for the previous two years. This year, they’ll be in 5th and 6th grade.

You may have heard about the political situation going on here in Honduras. If not, I encourage you to look it up on your favorite news website. Almost a month later, there are still demonstrations and protests in the city where we go at least once a week. Thankfully, most of these demonstrations and protests have remained peaceful. As a ministry, everyone is safe. We’re being cautious and aware of days that we go into the city, etc. Please pray for the country of Honduras and this situation, that God’s hand would be in it and that it would end quickly and peacefully.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support!
Hannah Dakel
Hannah.dakel@gmail.com
www.wgoreach.org


“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…” -Philippians 1:4-5

Medical Brigade

This is a long post because I had a busy, yet exciting week...there's also pictures on facebook if you're interested in seeing them :)

Here's the short version if you don't have much time:

This week I went on a medical evangelism brigade in the city with the other side of our ministry. I had fun and had a great week. God is good and taught me some cool things.

But there's so much more, so you should read my long version:

Medical Brigade #2109- June 14-20, 2009

I worked this week with a medical brigade in the city. The team I worked with was a “first” for the ministry…a “hybrid” team of a ranch construction team, the original medical team from woodland park, Colorado, the ranch interns, Emily Schultz, Tammy Lis, Jae, and me. It was a great week and God worked in many ways.

I was glad to get to work alongside the woodland park team again this year. Jae, Brett, and I worked with them last year and were excited to hear that they were returning. It was a fun week of catching up on the year and growing closer to each other as we served together.

When I talked with Kelly (the team leader), she asked where I would like to work during the week. I told her that I didn’t care, and just to put me where they needed people. She put me in the Evangelism station. At first, I was nervous about this and actually kind of dreading it, because even though I’ve had lots of evangelism training in the past, I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. Because I was a little nervous, I was able to sit with Janene, one of the ladies on the team, and listen to her all morning before I had my own station. After lunch, I felt ready to begin on my own, so along with Manuel (my translator), I talked with about 10 different people on Monday afternoon. I was praying the whole time b/c I had no idea what to do or say and God worked in mighty ways. We had 3 people accept Christ for the first time, one man recommit his life to the Lord after a struggle with all kinds of temptations, and a couple of people who said everything made since, but they just weren’t ready yet. WE also had several people who were already Christians come through our station. We were able to pray for them and encourage them in their faith. One of these people was a guy who looked about my age or a little younger. He said his son lived in the area, but that he lived an hour away. He was asking for prayer for safety because he had recently become a Christian and decided to leave a gang. He said he never felt safe and needed prayer. I thank God that I was able to hear all of these people’s stories, and that Manuel and I were able to share the Gospel and our lives with them.

On Tuesday, we worked at the same church, but I was stationed in the children’s area. This is my favorite area to work in. Once again, God used me to share the Gospel with several groups of kids using the colored bead bracelets. Before lunch, I was taking a break and a little girl came up and gave me a hug. We started talking and she hung out with me for the rest of the morning. I found out that her name is Angie, she is 8 years old and lives with her grandmother because her mom is living in Mexico and she doesn’t know where her dad is. We talked for a couple of hours that morning and quickly became friends. She told me that she is a Christian and that she and her grandma come to church every week. She asked if I could come live in a house that’s empty next to her.

On Thursday I was in Evangelism in the morning and dental in the afternoon. Once again, I worked with Manuel and we were able to talk to several people. The first lady that came to us was an 85 year old woman. She loved God and loved to tell everyone what He had done in her life. All we really had time for was to say hello and then she started telling us her life story. It was encouraging to see such a strong believer and a good way to start the morning. Thursday morning was also encouraging because many of the people that we talked to were already Christians, and one lady accepted Christ for the first time. In the afternoon, I helped in the dental area. I helped with a couple of patients when I noticed that a north American from a different church was very interested in what was going on and I was kind of grossed out by it all, so I asked if he wanted to help. He said he’d love to, so he stayed there all afternoon and I was able to go hang out with the kids. After the crowds kind of died down, a few of the kids were hanging out with me and one of them asked me to teach her English. Before I knew it, five or six kids were around me wanting to learn. I was able to teach them a couple basic conversational phrases, colors, numbers, and the alphabet. It was fun. The little girl who originally asked to learn stuck around me for the rest of the afternoon until I told her it was time for us to go. I learned that her name was Stefany; she’s nine years old, and lived right down the street from the church. She said that she started learning English at her school; but that her teacher had left and she wanted to learn more so that she could teach her cousins. She asked what time I’d be back the next day and if I could teach her more. I told her when I’d be there, but that I may have to work in another area and may not be able to teach her anything.

Friday was a crazy day. We had about 55 kids come through the children’s station in the morning, but the crowd dwindled about an hour before lunch time. Luis, the brigade manager, asked several of us if we wanted to go for “a little walk” to go see the house where part of the team was putting in a concrete floor. This “little walk” turned out to be about a 45 minute hike up and down lots of streets, across a suspension bridge, and all through a neighborhood. It was a long and tiring walk, but I was glad to get to meet the family that was receiving this floor, and the floor being laid. Friday afternoon, my new friend stefany came back, but I was very busy. The first group that came through, started with 35 kids (they’re usually around 20 in each group), but by the time the songs were finished, 50 kids were in the group. After they hear the story, they receive a gospel bead bracelet, and get their hair checked and treated for lice if needed, washed, combed, and styled. At one point during this time, our tent started falling down, so I was holding it up as well as I could with my head while putting lice shampoo on a girl’s head. It was pretty crazy. Because there were so many kids, we got a little backed up, but God allowed things to go smoothly despite the large number of kids. Stefany followed me around all afternoon and helped with whatever I was doing. We were able to talk occasionally, but not very much. After the afternoon construction group came back, they were very helpful in the children’s area, and eager to help wherever needed. It was a huge blessing. When everything slowed down, and we were cleaning up, Stefany still stuck around and helped. We talked some more and she asked me to pray for her house b/c she was worried. She and her family lived in her house, and a family lived in the house above hers. She said with all the rain we’ve been having, that pieces of the house have been falling into her house. When it was finally time to go, she wrote down her name on a piece of paper for me and I wrote down mine on one for her. She gave me a big hug and walked home with her sister. It was sad to say goodbye, but I know I’ll see her again someday in heaven.

This was a great week of fun, fellowship, and serving, prayer, learning, and once again experiencing the way that God works. I’m thankful that I got to spend this week at the mission house, especially with this team, and I hope to serve alongside them again next year.

Spanish Church

This morning I went to a spanish speaking church. I usually go to an English speaking church, and i like most things about that church, but I've been considering for a long time switching to a spanish church. I went today with a couple of other teachers and a new missionary here that is looking for a spanish church. All that to say, i really enjoyed it! I don't know if it's because it's something new or what, but i found it very refreshing and i was encouraged that i understood the majority of what was being said. that's what's held me back before. i wasn't sure if i could understand enough for it to be worth it, for me to grow at all from church. I can say today though, i understood most of it, and only got lost when he started talking really really fast. This summer and next semester, I think I'll try going to different Spanish churches and try to find one that I like.

I've also decided recently that i need to be working on my spanish more, specifically my speaking. I can understand a lot of what's being said, but my spanish conversational skills are a little rusty. i feel like i'm forgetting a lot of the basic stuff i've learned a long time ago....like basic greetings and present tense verbs. it's kinda sad. So, that's a new goal of mine...to speak more spanish to practice, and not care if i mess up a lot to start out with, because i know i will, but that's the only way to learn and be confident in my Spanish speaking abilities. Going to a spanish speaking church will help with this goal, too :).

Solamente tenemos 3 mas semanas de la escuela! (translated: we only have 3 more weeks of school)