Felicidades A Karol Y Kelin

When we opened the mission house in 2013, we thought the comedor would be used as a dining hall.  It is.  But, it is also used for an event center.  We have hosted some wonderful events there: a wedding, a baby shower, and a youth rally, to name a few.  Saturday afternoon we hosted a graduation party for Karol and Kelin.

Karol and Kelin are sisters.  They started working for Honduras Hope many years ago.  They have beautiful hearts.  They loved everyone in every group.  And, the feeling was mutual.  A group from Mitchell Church of Christ in Mitchell, Indiana decided to scholarship them to the university.

In Honduras, very few people have the opportunity to go to college.

Both girls majored in engineering, one in industrial and the other in environmental.  It has been a long, hard road for everyone involved. 

A big shout to Karol and Kelin for staying the course and to the folks at Mitchell for continuing the support.

With this huge accomplishment, it was definitely party worthy.

Nicole decorated beautifully.

Everyone had fun with the picture frame that Nicole made.

This is one proud momma.

The whole family would not fit in the frame.

Some of the little ones made their own fun with a couple of decks of cards.  And Stephanie, too.

There was time to visit.

Nicole was emcee.

Kelin really wanted games.  So we had games.

And food.

And a pinata.

Matt finished the pinata and the scramble for candy began.

Then we had cake.

Emma ate and wore the cake.

Karol and Kelin finished by giving gracious thank you speeches.

Congratulations on a job well done.

Surprise

I woke up in New Hampshire this morning.  I was not surprised.  I have been planning this since November 1. Nathan and Julia were not surprised.  But Camille was.  And Thatcher will be.

Camille has been swimming for six years and I have not seen a meet.  I decided it was way past time.  I talked to Nathan and Julia about coming for a meet when I was here in September.  Once I got home, I began to think seriously about it.  I check prices.  They were outrageous..  Normally, that means point prices are outrageous also.  I did not have a lot of points, but I checked.  I can't explain this one, but point prices were outrageously low.  I purchased this ticket with points.  My favorite way to travel.  I told Julia that I wanted to surprise Camille.

It was easy to talk about when it was so far away.  Delta sent an email that said your travel is 135 days.  Thankfully, they did not send one everyday.  But, the last couple of weeks my excitement was building and it was hard not to talk about going.  I told a few people, but not many.

A major winter storm hit earlier in the week.  I was sure hoping it did not mess up my plans.  Obviously, it did not.  Flying into Manchester late last night, I could see snow pile everywhere.

Any travel day from Honduras is long. 

I arrived at Nathan and Julia's at 1:09 this morning.  I

I had thought of several things to reveal to Camille that I was here.  I chose to do it when she got up this morning.  I got up before she did.  When she came downstairs and turned on the light, I said, "Good morning Camille."  She was startled.  But she rushed into a big hug.  Then she stopped and looked at me and hugged me again.  Look. Hug. Look. Hug. Look. Hug.  This went on for several minutes.  Finally she said when did you get here.  I told her at 1:00.

I am so thankful to be here and so thankful for frequent flyer points.  It is going to be a wonderful week in New Hampshire.

Reflections

As I posted this morning on facebook, Ryan died seventeen years ago.  He was almost twenty.  It was a Sunday.  When March 12 falls on a Sunday, it is a bit harder than when it falls on another day.  I grieved hard on Friday and Saturday. 

Friday I was remembering leaving Lake Tahoe.  Then staying with good friends, Skip and Susan, in Antioch on Friday night.  We had so much fun that night.  Yesterday, I remembered leaving Antioch early and going to San Francisco for our flight home.  And traveling all day.  Arriving home in Columbus and being met by that smiling face.  I remembered eating at Little Dooey's and how much fun we had.  No one knew that would be that last meal we had with Ryan.  He hugged us all as he left to spend the final evening of spring break with friends. 

These happy memories caused a lot of grief.  The nightmare hours that followed I chose not to focus on, at least this year.

This morning I remembered Bob Hickman and Les and Phyllis coming to the hospital.  Martha and Julia showed up.  Some of the kids`friends began showing up.  This was in the middle of the night. 

Several people went home with us around 7:00 a.m.  Edna Cole came and took me somewhere private to pray.  By the time church was finished in Columbus, Mississippi ended, our house was full of friends, acquaintances and strangers.  It was comforting. 

Les and Phyllis and Mike and Martha stayed all day  until family arrived from Texas.  Our friends, our church and the whole community reached out to us.

I was comforted by all of that this morning.  How do people survive these things without God, family and friends.  I was comforted by the responses on my facebook post this morning.

We went to church and I was okay.  Not great, but okay. 

We have a group from Harding here.  A couple of the guys led some songs in English.  I teared up as we sang "When We All Get To Heaven".  What  a day of rejoicing that will be.  And we see Ryan again.

I managed to get it together.  Until it was time for communion.  I make a concentrated effort to focus on the meaning of communion. I did that.  But, I began to wonder, as I miss my son so much, how God could give up His only son for all of lost humanity.  His only son. I could never willingly give up one of my kids or grandkids..  Well, He is God and I am not.  I sat there knowing that God would have done the same thing if I was the only lost person on earth.  What a sacrifice that was. 

To be perfectly honest, I did not follow the sermon too closely.   I was still thinking about my son and God's son. 

Thanks for all your prayers and word of comfort.  They mean more than you will know.

Dump Day 2017 And Exciting New Plans

May 3, 2017.  Remember that date.  That is the date for the ninth annual Dump Day.  Dump Day is our once-a-year fundraiser so that we continue our ministry of feeding in the dump. The dump in Tegucigalpa is where many people live and work and scrounge for food with buzzards and cows. 

Honduras Hope feeds people there every Wednesday, rain or shine.  Beans, rice, tortillas and water are served.  We serve men, women, children, elderly or anyone that needs a bowl of rice and beans. 

A few years ago, we built a feeding center in the community of Buen Samaritano, right outside of the dump.  We feed about 200 children in that community a hot meal for lunch on Monday through Friday.  The cost of running that feeding center also comes from Dump Day.

In 2016, Honduras Hope raised almost $34,000 to keep feeding people in the dump and the feeding center.

This year, 2017, we are hoping to raise $50,000.00.  Yes, that is a huge increase.  Food and labor have gone up, but not that much so why do we need that much more than last year? 

Because the board has voted to build and operate another feeding center.  This new feeding center will be built in the community of Tierra del Padres.  Honduras Hope built a church there last year.  A preacher has been hired and is working in that community.  Like so many communities in Honduras, this one is extremely poor.  We will be feeding children hot meals five days a week. 

During the next two months, please pray for Dump Day.  I believe that God does not want little children to go hungry.