Monday, September 3rd
Our plan before Hurricane Felix was to pick up the 233 Garifuna Bibles in La Ceiba and continue on out to Cusuna to distribute the Bibles in several Garifuna communities. (Okay…I think y’all are missing part of the story again. Before Christmas 2006 when people asked us what they could get us for Christmas,
we asked for Garifuna Bibles. The Bible was just translated 3-4 years ago into Garifuna and a ton of people still don’t have a Bible in their own language. When we asked for Bibles to hand out, we had no idea that we might get to have some part in handing them out. Thanks again to all of you who sent money for the Bibles!! Chris and I started thinking later…what if they don’t know how to read in their language? When Ron and Susan went to check on the Bibles a month ago to make sure that they would have all that we wanted to get, they ran into Carlos one of the guys who they know who work with the Garifuna. He was walking out of the Bible society store as they were walking in. Can you guess what he was walking out with?! Material to teach the Garifuna to read in their language!!! It was for his brother, Nahum, who lives and works with 6 Garifuna villages! Does God order events or what?! ) Now Hurricane Felix is knocking at our door…yesterday it was a Category 1 storm, and today it’s a Category 5! As we prayed and checked the internet to see the track of the storm, we decided that we should go today to purchase the Bibles and then take them to 
Carlos’s house. After the storm, his other brother, Ramon, could come in his truck to pick up the Bibles and carry them out to Nahum. As we thought about that, we realized that it was probably better for them to hand the Bibles out anyway…they are the ones who work with the Garifuna day in and day out. We would just be random people coming in from out of no where…up to this point the Garifuna haven’t been very open to the Gospel…so the open door is with the pastors and leaders who are already at work.(We were also able to leave
VBS materials with Carlos for his wife, Rudy, his sister, Carla, and his neighbor, Karla. We met all of them last summer, and they really touched our hearts with their love for the Lord and for working with children. All 3 women go to different churches, so they will be able to share with others at their church. We also left the extra craft supplies for Pastor Nahum to use with the Garifuna children.)But we also have another contact that isn’t as far out on the North coast. Pastor Norma and Pastor Jeronimo (both pastors with Visíon Cristiana) are working in a small Garifuna village called Corozal about 15 miles east of La Ceiba. (Ron and Susan have visited with them, so they knew how to find some of the church leaders.) We called them to let them know that 32 Bibles would be waiting for them at Carlos’s house, and we asked if we could carry a Bible out to Zulma, one of the leaders in the church at Corozal. They were excited about both ideas, so we quickly went out to Corozal. We found Zulma’s house, and
she was so happy to have a Bible in her own language…although she speaks Spanish, Garifuna is the language of her heart. God is a God who speaks to our hearts!! (and our minds). We asked her to read to us from her favorite passage, and she turned to Psalm 28:1-2. Then 
Ron and Susan asked her to read John 3:16. She read to us and then explained the words to us in Spanish. It was beautiful!! Her sister and all of their children were there listening in! Wow!!!Before we left, we asked if she was aware of the storm that was coming. She said yes, but she was working about her house (a simple structure of wooden boards and a roof). We prayed together that God would protect the village and her house. We wished there was something else we could do…it was another time of helplessness…we just had to trust God to protect His children. We went back to El Progreso to wait the storm out.
When we got back to the hotel, we met
Obo, Yokoe, and Carlos. Obo and Yokoe are from Japan…they are in Honduras as delegates from Japan…they are constructing towers so that the firefighters and emergency medical personnel can have better communication in cases of emergency. Carlos is a firefighter from Honduras who is working closely with them. Carlos is a strong Christian, so we were able to have several really good conversations with him. There wasn’t an open door with Obo or Yokoe, but we will continue to pray for them.Tuesday, September 4th
Well, we just waited on the storm and prayed today…every time we checked the internet, it was moving further and further South of where we are and further and further South of Corozal. Our prayer was that this Hurricane would be a non-event or that it would dissipate immediately upon contact and just cause rain.
While we waited to see what was going to happen, Chris journaled. I worked on correcting and improving one of Ron and Susan’s power-points. That evening we tried to visit Wilmer and Lesly again, but we just missed them. So we decided that it might be time for a little card game…The Naishes verses the Emblers. Apparently the longer you are married the better you can read your spouse’s mind. They whipped us at Spades and Shoot the Moon. We’ll have to have a rematch maybe next summer…we played them last summer too and they beat us, but the margin was much smaller this summer. Maybe with 3 years of marriage under our belts we’ll stand a better chance. Ha, ha, ha!!!
Wednesday, September 5th
Hurricane Felix did just what we prayed for…it dispersed almost immediately upon impact, but he did bring a lot of rain. The North coast of Honduras wasn’t affected very badly at all, but the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua took the brunt of the storm…reports aren’t really clear here…y’all may know more than we do…it appears that there have been about 86 reported deaths and 15,000 people who lost their homes. (This is really bad, but the last time that they had a class 5 hurricane hit these 2 countries, 10,000 people died or are still missing and hundred thousands of people were without homes. Felix was much smaller than was predicted, Praise God!, but still painful for a lot of people. Please be praying for the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. We are praying that we will be able to help in some way when we are in Nicaragua.
Ron and Susan had to get a bus ticket to Guatemala City this morning, and they decided that they were going to get us a ticket to Nicaragua…that’s where we would have made it to if we hadn’t come north. Plus we had about 10 days left on our visa…to get all the way out of Nicaragua, and from where we were, we couldn’t even make it to the border of Honduras and Nicaragua in 10 days let alone make it to the border of Nicaragua with Costa Rica. We got their ticket and then ours for Estelí, Nicaragua…just over the border. We planned to extend our visa at the border of Honduras/Nicaragua and continue walking. The Tica Bus station where they got our ticket also had an advertisement for rooms nearby to stay the night. As we investigated, Ron and Susan felt that it was best for all 4 of us to stay there on Thursday night.
From there we met with Ron and Susan’s computer guy to fix some items on their web page, and then we went to Choloma…where
Pastor Francisco and Blanca and their boys—Josue and Emanuel—live!! We haven’t seen Blanca or the boys since last summer!! We were so excited! They are also expecting a new addition to the family in January!!Pastor Francisco was outside the children’s building when we got there, he invited us and and look what greeted us…
Bienvenidos means Welcome!! We couldn’t believe it! It was really good to be in Choloma again and even more wonderful to talk with Blanca and find out how she was doing. Chris played for a couple of hours with Josue…Manuel slept most of the time because he’s teething and not feeling very well. We at lunch with them and then Pastor Francisco took us to see their new house…they were finally going to have their very own house…it’s a small 1 bedroom apartment with a kitchen, but they plan to add on a room for the kids and another bathroom for them. We also were able to see 
Blanca’s excitement when she saw the flannel graph the Deanie brought down! (Pastor Francisco traveled back home by bus, so he couldn’t carry it with him when he left.) 
We left the last of the VBS stuff with them too…they work with so many churches that they need all the help that they can get!! (I did keep the English teacher book and 2 workbooks…I’m still praying for more opportunities to minister to the kids if God opens the door!!)Before we left Choloma, several of the
teenage boys came up...they were going to help work at Pastor Francisco’s house that afternoon. They are all servants in the church and will to do what ever God calls them to do! We’ll be praying that one day soon we can work side by side with them!! Please pray for them as well! Although Chris and I wanted to stay longer, our visa situation prevented that from being able to happen…So off we went with Ron and Susan…back to El Progreso and dinner with Wilmer and Lesly. While we were chatting with them,
several of the kids came up…they went over to the church and I followed them! We talked and sang and looked at the map together! Those kids have the sweetest spirits!! I really think I may always feel as if I just got home every time I visit El Progreso!! Supper was wonderful…
it was actually a candlelight dinner! The power went out just as we were about to eat and came on just as we finished up! I think God has a wonderful sense of humor! What a great time with Wilmer, Lesly and family!!Thursday, September 6th
Time to pack up…I finally checked my e-mail again…not doing so well at checking that lately!! Yikes! Francisco and Lesly’s brother came to pick the four of us up and to drop us off in San Pedro Sula. When we drove over the river that divides the two cities, we saw that the rain from Hurricane Felix had caused it to overflow its banks!
The people who lived in little shacks along the river lost everything! Please pray for them!!We dropped our stuff in our rooms and got ready to head out for supper…I’m not sure how or Who (ha, ha, ha) brought
Amber downstairs at that exact time, but Amber (a teacher from the US who just arrived today to teach here in Honduras for a year) walked in just as we were sitting down on the couch to decide where to go eat! We invited her to go eat with us and off we went. This will be her first official year teaching, but she worked in a literacy program through AmeriCorp last year. We had a good time learned about her and sharing with her! She will start teaching on Monday!!! Wow! We will be praying…and we are hoping to stay in touch with her over the course of this year!! Made us long for our students again!! What an exciting opportunity for her!! When we got back from eating, Chris and I couldn’t stay up very long…we had to be up at 3 am to get ready to catch the bus…should be an interesting day! We’ll be praying for Ron too that he doesn’t get motion sickness on the way…last time he rode the bus, he threw up for 5 hours straight! Yikes!!I guess we’ll talk to you next time from Nicaragua! We miss you! God bless you and keep you! We hear that Costa Rica is really nice and really safe if anyone is interested in walking with us a bit in the next month or so! We love you tons! Keep walking for Jesus!!
Lots and lots of GARIFUNA BIBLES!!
a) What? I thought this was a WALK of faith...what is Chris doing on that scooter?! b) Josue and Chris had a great time playing cars and spying while I was translating for Ron and Susan!
all of the water that Hurricane Felix brought to El Progreso...Praise God, there were very few lives lost or damage done to property...it was all so minimal compared to the predictions!
a) This is Zulma's precious little girl! She will get to grow up hearing God's Word in her own language!!! b) One of the teens in El Progreso caught an iguana, and we agreed to release him in the wild. Chris had a hard time holding on to him once he recognized his natural habitat!!
This is a Cacao plant...what they make chocolate from...oh how I am praying that this isn't the last we see of this plant...I'll be so excited to tell you what chocolate in it's raw form tasts like!!
As always when possible...the new flowers from the walk...
No comments:
Post a Comment