Happy New Year!!!

As the previous year has come to an end and the New Year is in full swing, I wanted to send out a little update on life in Honduras....yes it has been FOREVER!!!  My commitment to the new year is to communicate more while I'm in Honduras.

Living in a foreign country always brings its little adventures.    I’ve had a few iguanas break in my house…head to tail I’d say about 2 feet long each.  I’m thankful for the caretaker where I live; he graciously escorted my unwelcomed guests out of my house.  There have also been a handful of other creatures that have tried to wiggle or crawl their way into the house…the least favorite was the tarantula that wanted to catch a ride on my pant leg!  I hope this doesn’t deter any of you from coming for a visit…these unwelcomed houseguests really aren’t all that frequent!  J

Aside from the creatures that always provide a sense of adventure, there are the daily operations of life. 

I continue to work as the kindergarten teacher at the bilingual school in town, and also currently the director of the preschool and kindergarten.  It has been such a blessing working with the preschool teacher and my kindergarten assistant and couldn’t ask for a better team.  We have the opportunity on a daily basis to show the love of Jesus to these precious little children, some of the kids do come from strong Christian homes, however some do not.  My prayer is that through these children and the relationships that we build with their parents that we have a Kingdom impact.

We are also in the brainstorming phase for a new ministry opportunity at the church.  There are many poor people in our community and the ministry we are looking at will be to minister to the poorest of the poor.  Our church currently isn’t in a position to take on financial responsibility of another ministry, but we feel like it is something very important especially with the financial difficulties currently.  The aspects of this ministry will be distribution of food, medicine, clothes and other basic needs.  And more importantly it will have an element of discipleship as well, either through group bible study or one-on-one discipleship.  Please be praying as we develop this ministry and for those that will be served.

In September my boyfriend, Carlos Daniel, asked me to marry him…I of course said YES!  We will be getting married April 20^th in Honduras.  Many of my family and friends will not be able to make it to Honduras for the wedding, so we hope to have a reception in the States.  This is a matter of prayer since obtaining a travel visa for Carlos Daniel may take some time and as with all paperwork in Honduras a lot of frustration.  Please be praying even now that when the time comes for all of this paperwork all things go smoothly.

Many of you know, last year I was the foster mother to a little boy, Gerson.  I just want you to know that he is doing amazing!  He is currently living with one of his aunts about 45 minutes from my town.  I am in frequent communication with the family as well as his doctors and all reports are great!  Thank you for your prayers this past year.  It is an awesome reassurance knowing there are people back home that I can count on when I have prayer requests.

There are a number of prayer requests for this coming year:

·         -Pray for us as we plan our wedding
·         -For our marriage that it always remains Christ centered
·         -For our involvement in the church (youth group, visitation outreach, evangelism outreach, community bible study)
·         -Carlos Daniel will begin learning English, pray the program and teacher communicate clearly
·         -Carlos Daniel will need hernia surgery in the near future, pray for the finances of that as well of peace of mind for Carlos Daniel
·         -Our ministry to the poor and financial support we will need to sustain it
·         -I have some issues with my visa and need to leave the country every 90 days, it causes a financial burden as well as a little stress finding coverage for my classroom 
·         -Please pray for our finances

Thank you as always from the bottom of my heart for your continued prayers and support.