Update from a youth

Several of the youth wanted to still make posts ... and here are some beautiful words from one of our teens:

Honduras, never did I think that place could bring so much joy to me. Why does this place make me so happy? Because of Orphanage Emmanuel, a place where God's presence is undeniably there. This trip was my second time going there, and I would be lying if I said I hated it there. What's there to dislike? The foods great, the people are nice, and you get to help the children who often feel neglected.

I'm sad to say all my photos from Honduras have been erased, leaving me with the few pictures I printed out before they disappeared. But just because the photos are gone doesn't mean the memories are. I'll always remember the kids and how much they smiled as they saw us.

We were often asked if we saw God in something. I never said anything aloud but I saw him in many things. I saw him in Jebron as he helped a special needs kid everyday, almost always being by his side. I saw him in the church as we lifted our hands in praise to the Spanish praise music. I saw him in the sunset and sunrise that often made the sky appear as if it was on fire. I saw him in Memo and Isaiah as they chased me around, laughing when I picked them up and spun them around. I saw him in Eva as he shared his precious candy with me. I saw him in Skarleth whenever she smiled and  hugged me. I saw him in la niñas as they would run towards us, asking for more questions about our lessons. I saw him in the big circle time as all the kids united to praise God. I saw him in so many ways, it made me so happy that he was so apparent there.

Now for funny story time! When we went to the small boy house, our group was quickly separated by the kids. Everyone got surrounded by different kids. I had to wear a boot to Honduras because I got a stress fracture on my foot. I guess the kids had never seen something like that before so they kept pointing to my foot and then telling me to sit down and rest. I sat down and would try to stand up, but they would push me back down and point to my boot again. One of them told me that I shouldn't get up because someone had cut off my foot and replaced it with a robot foot! Soon all the kids thought that and I was stuck there for about an hour until they finally let me up.

I already miss Honduras and it's only been a day, I can't wait to go back next year and get to experience such a wonderful place again!

El Senor est mi bueno pastor

There’s not really a way to wrap up a week like this in a few simple words. I know. We just spent at least an hour trying to go through just to say thank you to one another, to lift up each other, to understand what all was accomplished this week.

 We come for the kids, and we all hear ahead of time that we will get as much from them as we give to them … but this year it really seems that we also got a great deal from one another. Rick hit on something tonight about how there are only a few windows in time when he sees his wife’s face light up unceasing with overwhelming joy … and Emmanuel is one of those places. But I think we are all a little bit that way. I know today that there were very few children I said goodbye to, you just can’t. “Hasta luego” is not only easier, but it is also true. Very few people come on this trip only once.

Morgan said that although we live in a broken world, coming here really shows just how much our God loves us, cares for us, and is willing to provide for us. This is a community that truly lives on faith alone, from the onset. And the mystery of grace that has unfolded on these 1,200 acres in the last 30 years can only be attributed to a result of that faith. We will carry a piece of that back with us, but to be honest, in the hustle and bustle of daily living, it’s easy to lose a little bit at a time. How do we go back to a mortgage or medical bills or bullies at school or the desire for the material that is part of our daily living? How do we go back and not let go?

Because while at Emmanuel, you live in the true grace of God. There is not a want or a need or a complaint. There is a yard right outside of the team house that sees you sitting on the porch from the moment you wake up (and that can be 4:30 a.m.!!) And you are going to hear someone call your name – not because they need something from you; just because they need to say, “I love you.” There is, I don’t know, two miles of pavement that no matter where you walk you hear someone calling your name as soon as you are in sight of the next yard.

Today, I walked up to the Power Toddler’s yard, and my littlest one that I now sponsor literally came flying through the air in full faith and confidence that if he took off in a full run and leapt from the top stair I would obviously catch him. And I did.

 Being at Emmanuel sort of feels like that. We are all in a full run, leaping from the highest step – and there are angels to catch us from our fall. That is beauty of living in constant grace.

One day more!

It seems to happen this way every year. The first half of the week seems like forever as we each find our niche and are getting acclimated to life in Honduras. But then, it seems like it’s Wednesday morning, and then it is suddenly time to go. We don’t leave until tomorrow, but we head out pretty early; so, this is the day we wrap everything up and start saying our goodbyes. Yesterday was crazy busy. So crazy, that I didn’t post at the end of the day, but crawled into bed around 8:30 while we still had guests up at the time house. I feel like it was an accomplishment, though, Blake looked at his watch at 6:30 and asked if it was bedtime yet. Somehow, yesterday we were able to bake 90 cupcakes for the Big Girls house, host two cookie decorating parties, host two ice cream parties and still find time to play with the kids. We call it the “men’s work”, because it’s the more physical labor. They were avle to accomplish a ton towards their goal yesterday building one water tower, completing about 70 percent of a second tower, covered up all the irrigation lines…. Denise, Cindy and Cheryl have completed nearly 120 haircuts. One of the amazing wonders of this place is that with 542 children, primarily playing in dirt yards, you never see a child in need of a haircut, with dirty fingernails, or in unclean clothing. An unexpected joy of the team is finding out the hidden artist in so many! We were asked last minute to paint 3 murals in the gym for visiting dignitaries this weekend. Morgan and Heather jumped on the concept in planning and designing the mural. But then, there have been so many contributors! Virginia wins the steady hand award, painting meticulously a chain link swing set that has us all in awe. Hope wins the “thank you for being able to paint people” award as we were all very demonstrative on which ones of us would NOT be painting people. I won the landscape artist award. Salem has won the thank you for doing everything we ask award. I am sure that I have forgotten to name some awards as there have been so many hands to come in and help! We try to spend the day every day recounting the ways we have seen the face of Jesus, but it seems that the sightings are getting far too many to recount in one day. The blessings have poured forth in amazing ways this week. We are readying to head down to big circle, where all 542 children and all the staff gather for one amazing devotion at 6 a.m. every Friday. It’s a pretty powerful experience to top off a pretty powerful week.

Posts from the Team

Today we were blessed with Kelly's directorial premiere as we put on a play for the Wednesday night service. Greg Elder made a great Peter, and we enjoyed watching him hop out of the boat to swim across the stage to Jesus. Between that and Kelly making it rain fish, it was a pretty entertaining play. In other news, we thought it was going to be a light work week and we would get to focus more on the kids as they were all out of school this week. However, the work wish list has piled up and we are feeling a little behind in being able to get all we would like accomplished in the short time we have ahead... So, please pray for the strength to get all of the projects tackled that we can... In other news, this was the day we opened up for others to post their words. So... notes from the team: ~*~ To start off day four we went to the small boy’s circle where some of our team members performed a play about sheep and shepherd. After breakfast, we went to the chicken house and collected eggs and chilled with the chickens. The next thing on the list for today is having groups of team members decorate 160 cookies that were baked for the big and medium girls’ yards. We helped feed the fish at the tilapia farm and got to catch them which resulted in kissing a fish. ~*~ Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace. Grace is abundant at Emmanuel: • Andy leading singing each morning with the big boys singing in both English and Spanish. Grace. • Wheel chair bound Sandra being carried by another child so she can participate in the Sheep game too. Grace. • Migel carrying Fredic over the hill to watch the soccer match. Grace. • Olga giving me a hug in the dinner line even though I did not come visit because I needed a nap. Grace. • Team members taking brothers and sisters, who do not get to visit with each other, to the cantina for a snack. Grace. • 5 year old Alex sharing his small bag of cookies with special needs Padre. Grace. • John Carlos, Rudy, Tristen welcoming us each morning to circle time as I fumble with the words of welcome mixing up the word for sheep with the word for old lady. Grace. • Robert, super stoic house parent for the Power Toddlers, smiling ~really smiling~ as Kelly shared the message of the Good Shepherd with 25 preschoolers. There are lots of tasks to complete: Leading crafts, Bible study and activities, repotting plants, baking cookies, connecting pipes, building cabinets, cleaning offices, painting murals, tending to the animals and fish. We, His ovejas - sheep- serve with grace because the Beuno Pastor – Good Shepherd - has given us grace in which to live and serve. Jesus asks us, “Do you love me? . . . Feed my sheep.” Grace extended by the Good Shepherd to His sheep. Grace. ~*~ Just help lead a craft lesson with medium/large boys! We made sheep and shepherds to go on the back of frames that will hold their beautiful pictures. I also heard my daughter sing with the big girls today and she taught them the song Bless the Lord oh My Soul! Rock on Mary Elizabeth! Post by Heather Gerick. ~*~ "

This mentions food a lot. There must be a reason for that.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014 8:45 p.m. Who needs coffee when you have Power Toddlers? Seriously. Have you ever had to give a devotion at 6 a.m. to 25 little boys under the age of seven? They may not have a lot of protein in their diet, but I am pretty certain they eat primarily handfuls of raw sugar constantly. Each of the team groups made it through their devotion time and learned they CAN lead a group of youngsters in a foreign country. If God is Love and Love is the Universal Language…. Well, it starts to make a little more sense. Kate was very proud of all of us. After breakfast, David McFarland took a team over to the farm area to dig an irrigation ditch for a mango grove. An unexpected need for an artist emerged as we learned visiting dignitaries this weekend created a wish for updated murals (and a squeaky clean gym). And, as God provides, Morgan rose from the crowd as the unexpected muralist among us. Hope ran off in woodworking frenzy, and the youth scattered across campus for one-on-one time with the youth. At the store today, I took one of the youth over for a “taco” (it seemed a lot more like a burrito to me, but for a dollar American, it was a huge homemade tortilla stuffed with potases (that’s what the kids say it is, not potato but a rood vegetable. We are guessing maybe Yucca?), chicken, grilled on a griddle and topped with cheese. Yes, it was delicious. But the real point of the story was that, it was bought for one youth, and immediately separated into three parts as he shared it with other kids hanging out near the store. Because that is life here. We were even forewarned that in sponsoring children, don’t be surprised when they give away the gifts you give them. That’s just part of the culture here … making sure that each person has his share. The Hillside youth headed up to the farm and all took turns at milking cows. It’s not as easy as it looks, but by the end of the day they had at least gotten some milk in the bucket. It was a little disappointing to see how easily the farmhands made it look. As an added bonus, the barn cat has a litter of five kittens currently, and that fresh milk? It went right into the kittens’ bellies. Dinner was once again delicious. I haven’t mentioned the food that is prepared for the team while we are here, but it is always a delight. Fresh fruit with every meal. EVERY meal. Cheryl even said that this is the only mission trip she knows of where you actually gain weight. And her brother, John, who has joined us this year and been begging to make it onto the blog (first by trying a two-broom Irish jig), finally won his spot by bringing me seconds on deserts. It was some ridiculous apple pie dump cake with fresh pineapple. Don’t judge me. I think we all had seconds. By tonight, we are a quieter bunch. The week is wearing on us a little. The work is hard and hot. Bed is looking better and better, even if it is a four-inch piece of foam on a wire frame bunk bed. So, we have internet! Yay! And now it is time for lights out. Hopefully we can keep our friends and families better updated from here on out. Keep the prayers coming our way, and trust that we are praying for those of you back at home, too.

Sheep calls

Monday 9/15/14 I saw a baby cow today. Like, a fresh baby cow. Since I am the one writing the blog, I get to point out that this was the most exciting news of the day. Actually, the most exciting news was the threat of no water in the team house after a pipe busted. Thanks to David and Jeff, however, and a lot of muddy hard work at the end of a muddy, hard day, they restored water safe and sound and none of the teenagers had to bear the burden of a single day without a shower. The day was the celebration of Independence Day, and it included an early round of face painting to get the kids ready for their parade through the entire campus. We were prepared with cheering and clapping and water on demand as it has been a bit warm during the day. However, the nights have been quite cool and in the mornings, although we think it feels pretty nice, the children come out of their houses in long sleeves and jackets as they are too cold. This is the day the group really jumped in and split across the campus on multiple projects. Greenhouse work, transplanting plants, making rounds to all of the children’s houses. We have a team of master bakers – Virginia, LaNeve, Tammy, Amy, Morgan, Cheryl, Cindy, and Heather -- that are preparing somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 cookies for all of the children to decorate. Or, they may just re-enacting Lucille Ball moments to see how much flour they can throw at each other in the kitchen. We try to be mindful of resources here, but we also do manage to sneak in a little fun. In between baking runs, we run the ice cream machine almost nonstop, bringing different age groups up for mini-ice cream parties. The toddlers have to be my favorite so far. Kate had a lapful of children – and drippings of ice cream down both legs – that made it well worth the messy clean up. Cara won for story of the day, however. All of the children are divided both in gender camps and then further divided by age groups. The "Power Toddlers" seem to top the list of the team choice award as most aptly named group. They are an all-boy group between the ages of roughly 4 to 6 -- too old to be in with the babies and a little too young to make it in the next housing assignment. So, Cara was impressed with how sweet the little boys were by playing with her hair and even giving her a shoulder massage. Until a few minutes later when she realized they were not rubbing her shoulders, but secretly dropping ants down the back of her shirt. Yes. Meet the Power Toddlers. Kate had this wonderful idea, since she heads up the children's ministry and we are at an Orphanage, that unbeknownst to us, we are all equally empowered with the gift of children's ministry. So, she planned lessons and activities for each age group both at their morning devotion and for afternoon playtime, all focused on the theme of the Shepherd ... El Pastor. All was well and good, until Blake Roberts discovered only men volunteered to lead the Big Boys devotion and activity and he would be left trying to fashion sheep out of marshmallows and pretzels ... or even worse, by blowing bubbles tinted with food coloring on sheets of paper. Lovingly, Blake has become the sheepiest of us all, and is most often referred to as Bl-eh-eh-eh-ehke, mimicking sheep calls. As night settled in, adults nervously tried to navigate what it would be like to lead a disciple circle the following morning in a foreign language. Mary Elizabeth, one of our teens who have been leading our worship in the evening with amazing music, offered this sage advice however, that we all need to be reminded of from time to time. "Just don't worry about if you are going to mess up or not. Look, as a worship leader, playing guitar and singing, I just know I am going to mess up. A lot. So just accept the fact that you will mess up, do your best and get on with it!" Great advice for us all! We also invited the entire staff to come up and have dinner with us and later had a testimony by Andy, the Team/Volunteer Coordinator. Hearing the stories of those who have chosen to live and work here full time is a humbling experience.

We are all one of God's miracles

Sunday, 9/14 9:30 EST Day two opened with Sunday services where we were blessed by beautiful music lifting up the name of Christ in celebration. Most songs were sung in English, as a treat for the missionaries, but when the music switched to Spanish lyrics, the children’s voices swelled with such passion that a few of us were brought to tears. Five-hundred children with just a handful of adults in their midst makes for quite a blessing in and of itself. Tom (Senor Tomas) delivered his sermon expanding on the concept that each child in our presence was a miracle of God. What really surprised us is his understatement of his Spanish proficiency. While he is too humble to say the word “proficiency,” the rest of us will claim it on his behalf. He not only captured the children’s attention, but made them giggle as he cracked jokes from the pulpit to remind them all that even in our imperfections and imperfect view of ourselves, God created us in the perfect image he needed us to be for him. For the most part, Sunday worship is the first time we are really in the midst of the children, and that first onslaught of tiny hands finding yours and pulling you into seats beside them is a sure “Welcome Home” for those who have been to Emmanuel before. For the first timers, this is the first overflow of love that they are washed in. Either way, it’s a pretty difficult experience to shake. After church, Cheryl took some of the group off for a tour of Emmanuel. The entire campus is more than 1,200 acres split between girls and boys campuses: dormitories, staff and volunteer housing, a medical clinic, a dental clinic, the school, the church, greenhouses, a tilapia farm, henhouses and dairy cows are just some of the sights. Although, we were most impressed by the iguana sunning himself on the bridge and his sibling who jumped in the lake and swam across it to get away from us (did you know iguanas can swim??) While some of us were getting familiar with the layout of the land, Hope, Salem, Morgan, and Mary Elizabeth jumped right in with face painting with the older and middle girls. Erin impressed the group with her balloon making skills. Rick Copley happened to be up at the water tower, which is at one of the highest points on Emmanuel, and expressed what a blessing it was to see groups of children and mission team members spread all across the campus just having fun and being loved on from one end of campus to the other.