The dog noise on my street is incredible. I mean, like the kind of early morning barking that is so unnecessary that you can’t even imagine why their owners are doing nothing about it. But they’re not. And it’s a chain reaction all the way down the street… one starts and they all catch on from house to house to house.
And I’m not trying to do anything but sleep past 6:04am. Impossible.
Still wondering why I want a tranquilizer gun?
I had a realization this week. I’m a sucker for my comforts. I mean, comparatively speaking to my life in the states, maybe I’m learning. It is amazing what you can live without and not even miss it. But then there are other things…
* My car. Its really inconvenient to use public transportation and just saying that makes me sound spoiled.
* My microwave. There is just something about being able to have hot food in under three minutes that just brings joy to my heart.
* Internet. I mean, I am crabby when I can’t check my email.
* Good fans and plenty of them. People, it is hot when I ain’t got no air flow.
At Puerta de Esperanza we don’t have these things. They have some fans, but not like at my house. They ride the bus or walk, they cook on the stove top, they talk to each other instead of sending emails. And I realized this week… I’m really bad at the lifestyle that I am asking them to live. But they do not complain, not even once.
The Lord has a sense of humor. Here Shannon, go teach girls to live and be content in a lifestyle that is so completely out of your comfort zone. Umm… okay, sure. But what happens? I’m learning. I’m learning that I am used to certain conveniences and that’s okay and isn’t going to change. But I’m learning that I can enjoy them without NEEDING to have them and when I’m not home for long stretches of time I’m okay without those things. I’m learning to share and drive lots of people around even if I have to pay for gas. I’m learning to think about things that are of much more eternal value than what I have or don’t have. Its slow… but I’m getting there.
Our friend Selvin drives a taxi… and so much more. He has been our tour guide, car salesman, translator for mechanics, protector in the middle of downtown, and the list goes on…
Today he showed up as I was getting the kids to help me cut down a tree with a dull machete. Sounds like fun, huh? The tree was touching the electric fence and making it make a terrible noise every time the wind blew. So we were cutting it down and apparently doing a terrible job.
So after dropping Heather off at our house he pulls his own personal machete out from under his carpet in his car and chops the tree down in 3 whacks. What?!? Takes down two more, sharpens my machetes for me, and then after being gifted a chocolate bar takes off to be a taxi driver again.
What in the world?!?
On Wednesdays I’m tired.
There were some wise people when I first moved here who told me that I couldn’t do it all and be everything to everyone and that there is no way that I should live full-time in the house with the girls. And those people were right. Because I’m the errand runner, rule enforcer, mom, friend, aunt, money provider, and the one with a car… its just a lot. So Tuesdays I’m at PDE all day doing one-on-one times, guitar lessons, bead buying, grocery store run, school supplies buying, cooking, etc. and so forth. So by Wednesdays I’m tired :)
But I love Tuesdays. I had a fun English lesson with C and she learned to say. “I love jello, we love jello, they love jello, W loves milk.”:) She is so motivated. She loves learning anything and everything… cooking, guitar, English, jewelry making, etc. She eats it up. And she told me this week that she loves devotional time even though for the first three days she didn’t pay attention, but just watched the clock and thought the time would never pass. Awesome that the Lord is teaching her to love His Word.
Y is doing great in beauty classes. She is learning a lot and yet not overwhelmed… she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to keep up. She had read something in Scripture Monday that she had lots of questions about and it led to a really cool conversation about the affects of sin on relationships and families. But it was a joy to give her the hope of the Gospel that when we know the Lord and offer forgiveness and grace to one another the same way that the Lord does for us, our relationships can look different and we don’t have to repeat our family history. For her this is a huge thing and really the first really deep conversation that we’ve had.
And the babies are great. I love getting in my snuggles with them. I think the girls think its funny how much I love to love on their babies, but I do. Its good for my heart :)
1. For Doña Oneyda and how much she loves the girls and fights for them to know Jesus. She is overwhelmingly patient and loving. I am learning so much from her.
2. For little J and that she is learning to love books. Today she crawled in my lap after naptime with a book in hand so that I would read to her. Also… we only read in English, so she’s learning!
3. For a team leader who cares about our Spiritual growth.
4. For friendships with car mechanics who care about us and don’t want us to get ripped off. Today we shopped for a car for Heather, this comment is not the result of my car problems, praise the Lord!
5. For people who dream with me and let me process and encourage me to step out in faith and trust Jesus even when it seems like there is overwhelmingly too much to do!
I just couldn’t believe how much Ever’s face lit up when I asked him about school. He was so excited to bring me his list of school supplies and tell me that he can now write his full name. Kevin’s reaction was almost the same. He just smiled and told me that he is learning a lot, likes his teacher, and is so excited about his new pencil sharpener :) Jeffri is doing great and enjoying school as well, he was bummed that he didn’t have his list yet, so he didn’t get his books, but maybe this week.
And of course Kevin and Ever were both excited to show off their new Toms, especially b/c Caitlin has Toms, so it makes them just that much cooler.
It struck me yesterday just how much going to school is going to change their self-esteem and how they see themselves. They have an opportunity now to be someone that they couldn’t be before. They can dream bigger dreams for themselves and their families. I think we’re going to be able to watch them become more confident and driven kids.
And they know it’s a privilege, one they haven’t had before, to go to school. They aren’t taking it for granted. And I’m SO proud of them!
Also… Kevin and Ever have started to go to Sunday school at church. It makes my heart happy to hear them singing “I’m in the Lord’s Army” as we walk to the car. They are going to learn so much more about Jesus being taught on their level and it will be so fun the first they tell us that they read out loud in class :) I can’t wait for that.
Today we’re going out to pizza to celebrate their first week of school and they are excited :)
Please keep praying for these kids to know Jesus and really walk with Him. We stopped yesterday to meet some street kids while we had the boys with us. It just made us sad to see how they treat other kids with prejudice that is engrained for generations. We want to teach them how to love deeply and serve others, but we know that heart change has to come from the Lord. So, pray for God to grab their hearts!
There is no way that I can go back and play catch up for all the days that I haven’t blogged. But this week was busy and great :)
Kevin and Ever got Toms shoes at school! Also ended up going to a different (and much better school) at the last minute. Ever can now write his whole name on his own, after just a week! I haven’t actually seen them yet, or Jeffri, but I hear its going well and we’re going out to pizza tomorrow to celebrate their first week!
Y started beauty school and, more importantly, rode the bus to and from school HERSELF yesterday for the first time! I am so thankful to not be making that trek with her everyday after this week. She is slowly meeting people and gaining some confidence.
We got shots, had a houseful of sick people, and yet everyone is doing much better today. Little baby W started taking a bottle for the first time and slept way better than last week.
I led my first Bible study in Spanish for teenage girls and we went through the Romans road. I also got to talk about the Gospel with my Spanish tutor for a long time. Our first volunteers started coming weekly to PDE and were just talking about Jesus with the girls while making jewelry and holding babies. C admitted to enjoying the devotional time in the mornings and is singing praise songs every time I see her. And we went to youth group with the girls for the first time.
Kate bought a car! And we had friends from church over to hang out last night. Wow… what a week.
Today I was supposed to be teaching Y how to take the bus to and from school. And then I took the wrong bus. Whoops! I tried to play it off that I took her on that bus on purpose so that if she ever did it on accident she would know what to do… but no one bought it :)
Moments like this remind me that the Lord is using a broken vessel to do His work. How ironic that I am the one that is teaching them how to use the public transportation system when I’ve had a car to drive since I was 16. And I’m teaching them about how to cook and eat cheaply when I love expensive things like cheese and low-fat peanut butter. God certainly does have a sense of humor. The good news… we ended up walking home (a rather long way), but talked and laughed the whole time!
In other news we went shoe shopping today. This experience left me wanting to apologize to my mom and ever other mother of a teenage girl on their behalf. Its not very fun. Y has NEVER owned a NEW pair of shoes in her life!?! So of course they are stiff and will hurt your feet at first and I’m sorry about that… but you still have to pick a pair! The babies are probably at home screaming and Dona Oneyda is probably pulling her hair out… so… pick some shoes already! 4 stores and a 2 for 1 sale later we had success. And we came home to this sight… looks like they did fine without us.
The other day I learned to make pupusas – basically a corn tortilla with cheese in the middle = delicious!
Tomorrow I’m having a lesson on how to make pan de coco – coconut bread :)
An idea is brewing for a possible way to give the girls jobs and a way to support this ministry all at the same time. I’m praying and thinking and processing through it this week… so please pray for that. It would be something I’ve never done before… shocker. That is my life these days :) Its called living miles outside of your comfort zone!
Tomorrow I think we’re making heart-shaped cupcakes and celebrating our house full of girls. The four month old boy doesn’t know yet that he is terribly outnumbered!
Today I love this song…
Caitlin and I were just talking today about how glad we are that this world is not the end. There is so much suffering here. There is so much sin. And yet we have a living hope. Yahweh… show us the kingdom!!!
The Kingdom
Bethany Dillon
It tapped me on the shoulder today when I got home
I saw everything collecting dust
It made me hope there was something more
I pour over pages, desperate to find out why
The cripple at your table has what I'm longing to find
Teach me how to hum it
Because I don't know the words yet
Help me see the light
I'm reaching through the fight
Yahweh, show me the Kingdom
Arms open wide
Death swallowed up by life
Yahweh, show me the Kingdom
Why are some women barren
While the wicked's house is full
The stories never seem to end
Give me evidence I'm not alone
You said the weak would be lifted up
But maybe just not yet
So while I wait in this flesh and blood
I'll learn to lean in
Help me see the light
I'm reaching through the fight
Yahweh, show me the Kingdom
Arms open wide
Death swallowed up by life
Yahweh, show me the Kingdom
Remember the pavement project? Well, I am still doing it with different kids and finally loaded up some pictures to send them in to my trainer. I thought I would share these pictures with you. It is amazing to see the change in child that comes through listening to them and sharing with them the Word of God.
This child has never been in school and is not an artist, so the drawings are a little hard to decipher. But basically he first compared himself to a deer running quickly through the mountains. The deer was fast, but he was all alone.
After sharing the story where Jesus rebukes his disciples and tells them to let the children come to Him and the story of the Shepherd who goes after his one lost sheep, you can see the change in this child’s heart. He compared himself to a sheep who was being carried by the shepherd, safe, but most importantly, found.
Please keep praying for this little boy and so many like him who long to know that they are known and loved, pursued and FOUND by the Creator of the universe. Wow. What a privilege we have to get to share this truth with them.
These kids start school on Monday!!! Two of them for the first time… wow! We were able to help them this year to get some school supplies. School is free, but they haven’t been able to go before because you still have to buy notebooks and pencils, etc. If you read Mike’s blog on the school supplies distribution you saw that with your help we are able to help lots of kids in Armenia Bonito go to school, and now we get to send these three boys too! Since school supplies is too hard to say, we stuck with uniform :)
“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” – John 1:16
I have seen this truth over and over again this week. Doña Oneyda has endless grace for me as I learn this culture and language. She is so patient and explains things to me and yet respectfully defers to me and allows me to make decisions. We had a hard Monday. One of the girls was so disrespectful and full of attitude. Her heart was so hard and I think she was just shutting down so that she wouldn’t get hurt. I talked to her about one of the rules and how she needed to follow it and her response immediately was, “well, what if I don’t, then you’ll just kick me out right?”. No. Of course not. But she is just preparing her heart for what she feels like is the inevitable. It’s a hard way to live, not letting anyone love you. But then yesterday she apologized first thing when I got to the house. And this morning she asked us to pray that the Lord would change her attitude. Wow. The Lord is doing something there for sure.
Also Dr. Greg just happens to be here from the states for our little one’s first sickness. So we were really thankful that he could come by yesterday and check him out. Turns out its just a virus, so his poor mom was up with him all night. We need to pray that he sleeps tonight!
Every day in this ministry is a challenge. I have to make decisions that really affect these girls’ lives. And I have to discern between what is culturally just different and what is really wise. And I’m just so thankful that the Lord has grace for me and goes before me.
For those of you from Peace Church, this post is for you!
Have you heard that Peace Church is bringing a short-term team to La Ceiba in August? Have you considered coming? If you haven’t heard, they are :) And if you haven’t considered it, you should!
Really, for those of you who pray for my ministry and support me in so many ways, it would mean so much to get to show you what the Lord is doing here in person! I would love to have you here in my world for a couple of days to meet the people that you’ve prayed for, get to see the faces that I can’t post online, and get hugs from the kids who have received Jesus Storybook Bibles, clothes, vitamins, school supplies, and blankets that you have sent. You may not think you’re “mission trip material”, but I would venture to guess that if the Lord brings you here, He will give you something to do!
Pray about it… see what God does. And if you’re interested email Gary Hodge at grh.tgh@mindspring.com. He needs to know sooner rather than later so he can get a feel for the size of the team.
A friend sent me this in an email last night…
“We are such strange and vulnerable people. No wonder we need Jesus. We pray for something so hard that we believe is His will. He opens the door. And we are gripped with fear...”
It’s the truth. I have had moments this week after opening Puerta de Esperanza where I have been SO fearful. I just realize how much responsibility this is and how much work there is to be done. This is not an overnight process. It takes time and patience and money and fund-raising. More than anything it takes faith. God has been faithful, He has shown that over and over again. And I trust that He will continue to be faithful. But in the middle of the night when I wake up with a thousand questions in my head, it is hard to see the truth for the lies.
He has answered every prayer, provided in ways that I didn’t even even think to ask for. Of course He is carrying us through.
I am a strange and vulnerable person. I can admit that.
Yesterday we celebrated Y’s birthday (she’s the one in the pink). I wish I could show you pictures of her face because I have pictures of her laughing uncontrollably. She was so happy! This was her first birthday party in the last 16 years!!!
It was also kind of a “open house Puerta de Esperanza” party where people who are going to be involved could come and meet the girls and know where the house is, etc.
We had delicious rice and chicken, cake, a piñata, laughter… it couldn’t have been better :)
I should explain for those of you who haven’t visited Honduras. Right now our team is working in few different areas.
Pettengills – Armenia Bonito (a neighborhood)
Troxells- La Fe (a neighborhood)
Shannon- Puerta de Esperanza
Kate – Street kids drop-in center
Clows – helping everybody :)
When we have short-term teams come they stay in a new dorm facility that is still in process of being built in a neighborhood named “La Isla”. That property will also eventually have a medical clinic, a church, a theological seminary and the drop-in street kids center.
Recently we have been blessed by a matching gift offer by a supporter. So, as a team we are asking our supporters to prayerfully consider giving a one-time financial gift for the construction costs of this property. For every dollar you give, we receive one dollar from another source. Pretty cool, huh? All these gifts are tax-deductible.
If you’d like to give, just click HERE.
Thanks!
True confession. I hate driving to Belfate. This is where the children’s home is that C and Y both lived in before coming to Puerta de Esperanza. Its 20 minutes on paved road and the 40 minutes to go 11 miles on the worst gravel road. It’s a long trip and I’ve made it a lot in the last couple weeks.
But today I make it for the last time, at least for awhile. I’m going to pick up C today to bring her HOME to Puerta de Esperanza. She has lived out there for a year, so I know this will be an emotional day for her. Please pray for her as she says her goodbyes… there are 34 kids in that home and they are really going to miss her and her son as well.
Tonight we celebrate Y’s birthday. I think it’s the first time in awhile that she has gotten to celebrate. She is REALLY excited! I have a bright pink piñata, a cake, and a new Bible all ready for tonight. Please pray that she will feel loved and special to us and more importantly to the Lord. Some of the people who will be working with us our coming to celebrate, including the pastor of my church here.
Busy day. But a good one :) And hopefully I’ll remember gas this morning before we get to the middle of nowhere…
