Yesterday we held a fundraiser at the school. The fundraiser was to raise money to put an air conditioner in the learning center. We did very well, and the day was a lot of fun! The teachers made wonderful foods that we sold. Patty made Flan which actually takes like our cheesecake. Oh YUM!!! It was delicious! She also made pupusas, which are delicious! I am hoping that when I am home in December I will be able to make some truly authentic Honduran food, and pupusas will be on my menu! We also sold super baleadas (I don't know how to spell this one!) Typically a baleada is beans, egg and montequea (which is similar to our sour cream, but with much more bite to it), on a tortilla. They are yummy! Our teachers also had beef, and chicken, and parmesan cheese (tastes a little different than what we have in the states but it is good), and avacado that you could add to it... hence the name SUPER. It was a lot of fun and we had a lot of good food to eat during the day. We also rode around in the truck, with the megaphone announcing super baleadas, pupusas, comeda en escuala ruach... it was fun, especially drawing attention with the gringos riding in the back of the truck. :)

We had fun, and we did raise money for the school. Many of the students and their families came out on Saturday to eat and support the school.

We have books coming from the states on preparing for the SAT and preparing for the TOEFL (testing of English as a foreign language)... some of our graduating seniors want to continue their education at a college in the U.S., but they must first pass the TOEFL before being able to apply to a college. So we will be working with our seniors to prepare them for these tests in the coming months.

Please pray for our wisdom and abilities to help the kids in these areas. We have the study books and teacher manuals coming with the team members who are doing the Missionary Retreat next week. So we will begin classes the following week. Pray for our students who are preparing for these tests.

Next week, on Thursday many of the missionaries from Comayagua will be traveling to Tela for a missionary retreat. We are all looking forward to the teaching, and ministry and worship times, as well as the BEACH! :) Watch for the report on my first trip to a Honduran beach. I am excited to go. And excited to see people from home! Tommy and Jana Briggs, (and the boys!!!), Brother Tommy Briggs, Sr., and Barry are coming for the retreat. We are all looking forward to this time!

I love hearing from you all! You can write me on the blog response, or you can email me. My email is the same!

Love you all!

Let me tell you a little bit about the days at school, and about the children. The hearts of these kids are so special. In their English paces they have to write sentences and many time the kids will write things about God, about Jesus taking care of them, about praying, about going to church. They are just so open to the things of God.

Before the kids take their tests we pray for them. And the children know this and expect it. Today I heard one of the children ask a teacher to pray for him before his test as no one had prayed for him. WOW!!!

One of the boys, who I have known for years. His first sentence to me each year is always, "Miss, where is Joshua?!" he loves Josh! His name is Kemel. He is so bright and has such a sincere and sweet heart! He was asking me this week if I have a church here in Honduras. And I told him that I do not yet. He was very concerned about me not having a church and he wrote down the directions to get to his church... go to the corner and turn and then go to the next corner and keep going and then go to the other corner and then the church is above the Farmacia. He is so sweet! And he is such a bright boy! He talked to me this week about being a doctor. I have been encouraging him that he can do anything if he continues to study and work hard in school. He says ,"yes Miss, all things are possible with God."

I will try to start writing more stories about the students here... and less about the buggy creatures. The students are wonderful and so are the teachers! The teachers have all made me feel so welcome here! I just love each one of them! Suyapa who speaks a little more English than I can Spanish (so we are quite a pair) but we talk mainly about the comfort of our shoes! My first full day of school I wore heels... NOTE TO SELF - wear flip flops!!!! She is so sweet and we both work hard to communicate with one another. She encourages me to learn Spanish.

Many of the teachers have been sick this week. Several have been out and some worked through the day today not feeling well. Please pray for the health of the teachers and the students here. We do have one student who had an appendicitis and is in the hospital.

Creature update....

The large spider in the house was NOT a tarantula... that makes me feel better! Much better! But he was still the biggest of whatever it was that I have ever seen.

Now last night I was home alone, sitting in the living room eating my bowl of spaghetti and I look up and see this large shape on the wall. I thought to myself, wow is that a big butterfly, or is it a moth... yes it looks like a moth. I got closer and it was HUGE! Now I have never seen a moth this size, I have never seen anything this size... it was big, I have seen birds this size, but not a moth! So I stayed away from it and prayed that it really was just a moth on steroids!

Well it was... a moth.... a giant moth. I have been told that it is not the biggest one that has been seen around here, but I have never seen anything this big before!

I think I have become more aware of things and creepy crawlies after seeing the spider. Still adjusting to all the wonderful sigts of Honduras!

But just look outside at the beautiful mountains and you can deal with giant moths and saucer-size spiders!

Love and Miss you all!!!!!

RAID IS OUR FRIEND!!!!!

Last night I was in my room, and I looked up and saw on the wall over the doorway a huge spider. Not just a big spider, not just a spider, but a huge thick spider. I would say that he was about the size of a saucer, the span of his legs. I calmly, (yes I was calm) walked out of my room and outside to where Annette and Lance were trying to take a picture of the VIN number on their truck. (Another story about trying to get their truck registered)... so I walked out and said Lance I am sorry but there is a huge spider in my room. He walked in got the raid and went to spraying. When he saw it he said¨"oh it is one of those. I haven´t seen one that big before". Annette said "It must be a T" (t for tarantula). Even Lance thought it was a big spider, so those of you who think I am just exaggerating, I´m not! It was HUGE!

Anyway, he killed it but we couldn´t find it... we moved everything in the room, beds, night table, suitcases, and there he was, curled up on top of one of my suitcases under my bed. He was dieing. We put him out of his misery, with some more spray and a crunch and he was wrapped up and put in the trash. Oh YUK!!!!!

I have recovered and actually slept without fear of him having a friend.

It is difference of being here and being in the states. It is more expected to find things like that, so you have to just go with the flow. Now I don´t like him and I would be happy if I never saw another one again, especially not in my room, but I am thankful that God gave me the courage to just roll with things. Also there is the fact that I didn´t have to kill it, thank God for Lance!!!

Hello! When I published my last post, I typed it on the computer at the internet cafe, and then I realized I didn't know which button to hit to publish it, because it is all in Spanish. I hit a button, and of course it was the wrong one, but it saved it. So I came home, call Joshua in the states and he logged on and was able to find it and publish it for me. Thanks Josh!!!

Tonight I am at the school, checking my mail, and for some reason I thought that since it is Lance's computer it would all be in English, but no still the website is in Spanish, but Josh told me the organge tab was the one that published and I believe that publicar entrada would mean publish entry... so I will hopefully publish what I am typing!!! I don't remember seeing that the night at the internet cafe...I was just so stressed not knowing which button to hit!

I have finished one full week of school. Last week we didn't have a full day of school everyday because of the events that the team was doing with the students and the teachers. So this was my first full week of teaching at the school. It is exhausting but I love it! The kids are great! The teachers are so wonderful to work with. Many are helping me with my spanish. They are really a blessing!

It has been a good week, and I am starting to feel more settled in, getting into a routine. The grocery store is weird, I have to get used to it. All the packaging is different, and they put things in weird places. Like I looked for raisins one day, and then Cindy, one of the missionaries here told me they are on the isle with the spaghetti sauce... so the next time I was there I found them, on the top shelf on the isle with spaghetti sauce. So I need to learn where things are at the store and what kinds of things to buy there to cook. So far I have only bought Diet Coke, yogurts, granola, raisins and breakfast bars. Pretty simple stuff. I need to figure out what things to buy to cook - I will have to watch Annette.

I have ventured out alone a couple of times, meeting up with Helen for dinner before she headed back to the U.S., and a few trips to the internet cafe. The taxi drivers immediately know that I can't speak spanish, but they have each one been very nice and even tried to teach me how to pronounce my words. Thank God for nice taxi drivers! I always pray for the right one to come when I am out walking to catch a taxi.

I love hearing from everyone! You can post here or send to my email address. It is the same - Aft3rglo@aol.com I will try to check my email regularly, either at the school or the internet cafe.

HOLA



I am in Honduras. Arrived safely on July 29.



I have about 15 minutes before I need to leave to meet some friends for dinner, so let me try and give you the summary of the past week and a half...



Less than 30 minutes after arriving in the country I lost my passport... well I misplaced it, and after some panic and fighting back the tears, and Jim going back to customs and them letting him go in and look for my passport, we went back to the van to find it stuck in a pocket of my suitcase. All I could say was this is not a good way to start my new life in Honduras.



The team had constant obstacles and changes to overcome. Especially with the vans, first they were not ready when Jim went to get them, the plane from Dallas got hung up in Miami, that first night at church some guy threw a rock and broke the window in one of the vans which had been borrowed from the Ministry School.... we had a van that broke down at the orphanage, only to start again after everyone had piled into other vehicles and headed home, later that vehicle lost some of its parts on a road... there were things like people getting locked into their rooms, people being locked out of their rooms, drunk drivers coming down the mountain the same time some of our team was heading up... taxi drivers went on strike, school teachers went on strike, causing the plans of the team to change almost daily.



BUT in the end we know that the work the Lord had planned was accomplished. We had kids receive Jesus for the first time at many of the locations where the team ended up.



One day I went with the team, because some of the students from the school were going as well, so I went along on this outing. It was great fun. It actually reminded me of us being in downtown Fort Worth... only this time we were handing out to kids. We went to a little town nearby, La Villa San Antonio, we went into the park, the teachers were on strike so none of the kids were at school, we played the music loud, and had face painting and balloon animals, and did salvation bracelets. Skeighlar gave the salvation message and many kids came forward to accept Jesus. Afterward we handed out sandwiches, chips, cookies and juice to over 200 kids.



It was an emotional roller coaster for me during the week last week. I was excited to be here, yet very emotional about leaving my family. Saying good bye to Joshua was the hardest thing to do. Although I have called him several times already. But then I have had days where being emotional is more because of the incredible place that God has called me to. Just the awesomeness of the whole thing, and the beauty of the country is incredible.... well the beauty of the mountains and scenery, not the town. And the rooster... yea, now I understand the song... WE´LL KILL THE OLD RED ROOSTER WHEN SHE COMES.... yea, I would like to kill him too... every morning at 4:30 a.m.



I will leave you with some scriptures to read....



Isaiah 55:12... you will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burs into song efore you and all th trees of the field will clap their hands.



Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

that has been my prayer while I have been here.



Phillipians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

I know we all know that verse, but it is one of those that you just recite and don´t really think about... well I have thought much about it the last week... that is my lifeline right now.



Love you all. Please write often, and I will try to respond when I can. Please continue to pray for me while I am here. And for my family who is in the States.