April 5th a baby shower was given for one of the wives of a teacher at school. I was asked to do the cake. I made two styles—one plain square and a set of blocks that spelled out B-A-B-Y.
April 10th through 17th was my Spring Break from school. The Belpre group from Ohio was here, so I was blessed to be able to work with them. They gave away clothing and food in Mololoa as well as building some houses.
May 6th we had our traditional “first Saturday of the month VBS.” Fabiola did a great job teaching the kids. We brought cards for the kids to color and give to their moms for Mother’s Day, and they LOVED it!
May 14th Mother’s Day! Today we (Fabiola, Melissa, and I) began teaching Sunday school class. (You may be wondering…oh, only ONE Sunday school class; that’s not too bad. Well, there is ONLY ONE Sunday school class for all of the 60-90 kids, ages 2-12 who come every Sunday.) We began, of course, by teaching about how wonderful mothers are and how we should appreciate them. The kids had fun making flowers out of tissue papers. Also, we made flower arrangements for all the mothers; they received them when they left that day.
May 20th VBS with Terry’s group—so cool! Melissa had an idea truly given by the Holy Spirit. We split up the kids into boys and girls for basically two different themes. The boys learned about perseverance and “running the race.” Afterwards, they played relay games. The girls, oh the girls—we had a beauty lesson about how important it is to be beautiful inside and how God sees us as such. Then, we cleaned up these dirty but beautiful, precious little girls. They treasured every minute and those who did the cleaning were blessed enormously.
May 26th the container from Terry Reeves came to Tegucigalpa. And, boy, did we have fun unloading it! Actually, we really did because of all the nice surprises for the kitchen. Terry had his stuff as well as supplies for the kitchen. THANK YOU to everyone that had a part in this.
May 27th we added some more paint to the inside of the kitchen. Terry bought a beautiful color for us and then had his group do the initial painting. As of June 23, 2006, the building is completely done, half of the equipment is provided, and we are going door-to-door getting information from the families to prepare the work to be done. Continue to keep us in your prayers as we finish up the prep work.
June 2nd was my last day of library classes! In other words, NO MORE KIDS, and we began closing up shop. Now, don’t get me wrong; I love kids. However, by the end of the school year, most, if not all, teachers are ready to get a break. Yet, I have always had a heart for the “inner-city” schools. And this private (AKA rich) school kids have driven me crazy—especially when you look at their doorsteps. For those of you who know my background, this sounds funny after my twelve years at a private school. Don’t get me wrong; I loved them all. But Ezell also trained me well about how much farther my heart could stretch to follow God. So, God has led me to other paths that have made me much happier than the “rich crowd.”
June 3rd I received a fabulous anniversary gift with the presence of Mark Connell’s group (including their 35 translators—seriously, Mark, where did you get so many?????) for leading our “first Saturday of the month VBS.” It was such a tremendous answer to prayer because we were really beginning to feel overwhelmed by teaching Sunday school—which they taught the next day, as well. Thanks guys, especially Hannah and Raquel, for your hard work and patience.
June 11th and 18th have been two Sundays where we finally broke down and split up the classes for Sunday school. Now, ages 2-6 stay in the kitchen (since we aren’t using it for a kitchen yet, the finished building works great for a classroom) with Fabiola and Melissa while ages 7-12 go outside the front entrance of the church building (kind-of like a small porch) with Bryan and me. For these two Sundays, it has gone well. So, continue to pray for the continuing Sundays. Baxter Institute (Bible college) is sending us a married couple some time in July. The wife is eager to help with Sunday school—we are eager, too. :)
June 16th was the last official day of school. All the kids and most of the teachers have gone. Everyone was ready for the break. I have seen maybe 5 students at the mall or in restaurants since the end of school. But, of course, I have found more work to do. So, I am working approx. one hour every day in the library. I prefer a little every morning as opposed to missing whole days of the groups because of unfinished business.
June 13th Gayle Davidson’s group came, but I have not seen the group much. I was blessed to be able to see Gena, Dalton, and Dylan. I love that family and am so happy they were here.
June 19th Katie, Hector Gustavo (Randy’s translator), and I drove to San Pedro Sula, which is about 4 ½ hours outside of Tegucigalpa. Katie was only able to fly out of this city to be able to take Kariño back to the States.
June 20th I spent my first work day with another group (led by Cary Hadley and Keith Boyer). They have done A LOT in Mololoa this past week. That day, I helped with the medical clinic. I was the “receptionist” who took down the information for the needs of the patients before they entered to see the doctor. Things went calmly as 50 people were seen that day. Wednesday, they saw about 130 more patients. They have built so many houses in three days that I have lost count—maybe 5, maybe more.
[Sidenote: more details and pictures of these things can be found on all or some of the following blogs—Kluge Family, Fabiola, Katie]
Until I come to Nashville on the 4th of July, take care and know that I love you all.
Jen
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