Memories

It has taken me a while to sit down and think about what I want to write in this blog. I want to write about a man that I love, a man that has been in my life since I was born. He was very special to me and the memories that I have, I will cherish. This man is Gene Graves.

Mr Gene and Mrs Debbie have been a big part of my life. My best friend growing up was one of their daughters, Kylie. Our parents have been great friends for many many years. Kylie and I spent so much time together, our families were like second families.

Mr Gene and I had a great relationship. The older I got the more respect I had for him. His passion for missions had a huge impact on my life. He wanted people to hear the Gospel and he wanted them to have a place to worship God. The first mission trip that I went on to Honduras was the first time that I knew that God was calling me into to missions. Because of Mr Gene and Mrs Debbie and the IMB, George and our family have a foundation to work on in Honduras. We are thankful for his faithfulness to the call on his life. We are thankful that Mrs Debbie was his faithful helpmate.

Even now as I sit and think about Mr Gene, it is hard for me to believe that he is gone that I wont be able to hear his laugh or get a great bear hug. We didnt make it back in time from Honduras to be able to talk to him one last time but I know that he knew that I loved him and that I always will. God's ways are perfect and sometimes hard to understand but I am thankful that I have a God that is bigger than me. Mr Gene loved his family, his friends, his church family, his mission work-he loved all of this because he first loved God. Thank you for the example Mr Gene, thank you for your obedience.

Mayan Ruins

These are a few pictures from a museum close to the Mayan Ruins in Copan (and one of Elias helping George around the house!) It was very interesting and Elias had a great time!

Yessenia and Alice

This is my teacher, Yessenia, and her daughter, Alice Arianna. She is beautiful and such a sweet baby!

11.7.09

George and I have been busy with school. We have finished all of the grammar study and now we are talking in class with out teachers so they can correct us when we make a mistake. Elias is great just playing and being a two year old! My teacher Yessenia had her baby October 27th. Her name is Alice and she is beautiful! She had her in Guatemala (that is the closest hospital from here) She spent nine hours in the hospital and then was sent home. But, praise God, everything went great and Alice is healthy.

Now for some more exciting news! We get to come home for the Holidays! We are very excited to get to see everyone and to spend time with family. We will be flying into Miami on the 2nd of December and we will spend time in Florida and in North Carolina with our family there. We are very thankful that we have this opportunity to visit. Please pray for us as we travel. We love you and look forward to seeing everyone!!

Mercy Me song

One of my favorite songs be Mercy Me:

in you

I put my hope in You
I lay me life in the palm of Your hand
For I’m constantly drawn to You O Lord
In ways I cannot comprehend
It’s the Creator calling the created
The Maker beckoning the made
The bride finding what she’s always waited for
When we find ourselves that day

In You where the hungry feast at the table
The blind frozen by colors in view
The lame will dance, they’ll dance for they are able
And the weary find rest
O the weary find rest in You

It’s no secret that we don’t belong here
Though set apart by the grace of You
We look for the day when we go to a place
Where the old become brand new

Chorus (repeat)

Words & Music by Bart Millard
© 2000 Simpleville Music (ASCAP)

Love Jesus

Last night I listened to a sermon by Brother Johnny from rrcsermons.blogspot.com. It is titled "Love Me" from April 2008. He preached from the passage found in John 21:15-19. I love this passage and what it means and this morning I just wanted to share some of the things that I learned as Brother Johnny was preaching. Jesus asks Peter multiple times "Do you love me?" In the sermon Bro Johnny tells us to put our name there- "Kara, do you love me" This will make you think. Jesus answers "Feed my sheep." The following are points that Bro Johnny made in his sermon-and I would encourage everyone who reads this to listen to this sermon. And of course I thank Bro Johnny for preaching the Word of God in truth so that we may learn.

-Our religion does not impress God

-Any sin problem in my life is first and foremost a love problem toward Jesus. If I love Jesus like I should then sin would be less of an issue.

-My love for Jesus should exceed my love for anything else. Anything that we love more than

Him is an idol. Anything.

-The degree of my love for Christ is directly related to the degree of my understanding of what He has done for me (really think about this one for a few minutes)

-My love for Jesus will never match His love for me

-we give love to Him by obedience, gratitude, and spending time with Him

God is more than worthy of our love and adoration. If we truly love Him we will love His people, we will continually proclaim His worth to Him, we will be obedient.

no internet

Sorry that we have not written on the blog lately-we have been without internet for two weeks now. We are all doing great. Elias was sick a couple of weeks ago but praise God he is much better and has his appetite back! George and I are keeping on with school. My last day with my teacher was Friday-she is getting ready for the birth of her baby. I have a new teacher this week and she is great too.

We don’t really know a lot about what is going on politically. There is nothing about it on TV and since we haven’t had the internet, we have been out of the loop. We do know that November 29^th is going to be a big day. This is when the people will vote for their next President but the people are divided and so it has the potential to be a great conflict. Please begin to pray for this day even now. Pray that there will be a solution before this day.

Also please keep praying for Gene. Pray for peace for Gene and Debbie that they will continue to know that God is able to do anything but that more than that God is with them. We love them so much.

Pray for Jarmon too as he starts his long drive back to Honduras. Pray for safety and protection with no problems at the border. Also for Karina as I know she is worried about him.

Again thank you for your prayers! We love you!

update

We had a great trip to El Cerron. We loaded a bus Sunday morning and met Jarmon and Karina in San Pedro Sula. We went to buy supplies for the group and then headed to the airport to pick up the group. We were so excited to see everyone! Elias also loved seeing everyone! We drove to Siguatapegue, catching up with everyone on the way. Once we got there we also got to see Debbie and Gene. The next morning we left for El Cerron. It was also good to see Evis, Norma, and the boys. The Property looked great. Evis and the men have worked very hard. 

The men started working soon after we arrived. They worked very hard all week and got a lot of work done. Elias had so much fun running all around the Property with Grammy. His favorite spot was at the water hole throwing rocks! 

The week went by so fast. The group left (except for a few) and the next group arrived Monday morning. Again it was good to see everyone! This was a big group but everyone worked together and the men again got so much accomplished. 

God has provided International Mission Builders and our family with so much. We are blessed to have Jarmon, Karina and their family and Evis, Norma, and their boys also the workers-Ruben, William, and Theofalo. We were able to use our Spanish alot. We realize that we have more that we need to learn but I was able to talk alot with Norma and Karina and George talked alot with the Evis, Jarmon and the workers. 

We also want to say thank you to everyone who sent us goodies!! George's dad and mom, my mom and dad, Grandmama, Aunt Shelby & Uncle Mike, Paw Paw & Maw Maw, Ragan, Chris, and the boys, Uncle Jimi, Dale, Summer & the boys, Mary & Greg, Jerrod, Haley and the boys, Aunt Pat & Uncle Rusty, Unc and Caca, Louann & Randy Crews, Tammy & Tim Sweat. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! George, Elias and I were so excited when we opened everything. Yall have blessed us so much and everytime we open the cabinet or Elias plays with a new toy-we are so thankful! 

We had a great two weeks spending time with friends and family.  It flew by so quickly.  We were also excited and encouraged to be able to work with groups and do "ministry stuff".  This was the first time since we moved here that we spent time with our family.  Kara and I talked earlier this week about how it hit us that for the rest of our lives we will always be saying "bye" to our families.  We share this not to romanticize our calling, but to share some of our struggles.  God has given us both great families which we love very much.  It was hard to say goodbye Saturday, but we know God has called us to this ministry and He will provide the strength for us to continue to grow.  We appreciate your prayers and ask that you please continue to pray for the ministry and for the political situation here.  We love you all very much.

For His Glory,

George, Kara, and Elias

Please say a prayer

 George, Elias, and I had a great time with friends and family at the Property for the past two weeks. Tonight we are going to try to sit down and get our thoughts together and write a post. But right now we ask that you stop and say a prayer for Honduras. The President that was taken out of the country in June made a surprise entry into the country yesterday. He is in the capital city and many people have gathered there to protest for and against him. There is great chaos in the big cities. Please pray for the people of Honduras. Pray that things will be worked out peacefully and without violence. As always, God is in control. 

9/5/09

Tonight we are having my teacher and her boyfriend over for dinner. We are looking forward to the time that we can spend together. Please pray for our conversation. Adonias' father is a pastor up in the mountains. I'm not sure if he is a Christian.  Please continue to pray for them and the upcoming birth of their baby. 

Tomorrow we are catching a bus to San Pedro. Jarmon will be there to pick us up and then we will meet the group at the airport! We are so excited to see daddy, mama, Dale, Chris, Greg and the rest of the group! We are also looking forward to seeing Gene and Debbie tomorrow! We are excited about the next two weeks. Please pray for the safety as the teams travel and for us as we travel. Also pray that the construction of our home will go well and that God will work out the plans. Pray also for the time that we will be able to share the Gospel with the people around the property. 

God is so good and continues to be faithful!

The Mountains

Yesterday we went on an excursion to the mountains. After lunch we loaded up into the back of a pickup-it was me, George, Elias, and two other students. The ride was very rough! There was never a point where the road was smooth. Elias did very good and enjoyed pointing out all the cows and horses along the way. We went high into the mountains and stopped at a house where we all piled out. This is where we were to make pottery out of clay. A young girl lived there (her mother had died about six months before). She was a very strong girl as she brought a big hunk of clay and started to knead out the rocks. She gave each of us a chance-she made it look a whole lot easier than it was. When the clay was ready we sat down on the porch in front of a bench. She placed the clay in front of us and we got to work. We laughed at each others pots or pitchers but in the end they all actually turned out pretty good. It was a lot of fun and George and I were reminded of the verse in Isaiah 64:8 "But now O Lord you are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter; we are all the work of Your hand." God is such a great God! 

When we left this house our guide took us to a house a little farther up the mountain. Here the men were making cane syrup. This was so cool to see. They had a machine set up with a long wood pole over it. They would hook up cows on the end of the poles and the cows would walk in a circle. The men would stick the cane poles in the machine and as the cows walked around the parts of the machine would turn and squeeze the juice out of the cane. Then the men would take the juice and put it in a great big black pot. This pot was huge and they would build a fire under it. They would boil the juice in this pot for five hours continually stirring it. When we got there it was almost finished and it was boiling-big bubbles would come to the surface and pop. One of the men would stick his hand in water and then test the boiling juices-which now had turned to "goo" I cant imagine the pain of that but he acted as though it wasn't a big deal. The men then took the huge pot off the fire. Then they would take the goo and put it in man made holes in a large piece of wood where it would harden into a big block of sugar cane. It was very cool to see but so much work. The men said that they had worked for two days cutting the cane and then completing this process. They said for all that work they could only get about L600 (which is about $30) for all of the sugar cane!  The woman that was there gave us some to try and it was amazing! We wanted to buy some but they don't sell it. They said it was for the people in the area-we guessed that they use it to trade for other things. 

It was great to be able to spend time with the people. They are very poor and live simple lives but are so friendly.  Its a whole different life up there on the mountain. 

The Everlasting God

"To whom then will you compare Me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. 

Lift up your eyes on high and see:who created these? 

He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, 

by the greatness of His might, 

and because He is strong in power not one is missing. 

Have you not known? Have you not heard? 

THE LORD IS THE EVERLASTING GOD,

 the Creator of the ends of the earth. 

He does not faint or grow weary; 

His understanding is unsearchable."

Isaiah 40:25,26,28

Learning new things

Yesterday instead of having class at school, my teacher came to our apartment. She was coming to teach me how to make tortillas and refried beans. When she got here, we went to the market to buy a few supplies. The market is a small, small place-they are working on a new one so it is now stuffed into a "hole." There are vendors set up everywhere selling veggies, fruit, and other kitchen supplies. There are people out front that traveled from the mountains to sell tortillas or other foods they had made. When you walk in there are people everywhere-there are also scraps on the floor and dogs running around trying to find whatever they can to eat. The smells are overwhelming at times. Although it sounds like a horrible place-its actually a fun place to be! George, Elias and I went last Sunday and it was fun buying fresh meat and veggies. 

Anyway back to making tortillas-we bought a few things at the market and another store and headed back to the apartment. We mixed the ingredients and heated the pan. Yessenia showed us the amount to start with and how to pat the tortilla in a circle. George tried first. We had a great laugh when it turned out to look like a flower or a ninja star! Then it was my turn and I actually did pretty good-a perfect circle! I had to rub it in to George because he is usually a great cook and he hates not being able to do things correctly. But he redeemed himself and made really great refried beans! 

Remembering a Life

Tonight we are remembering the life of Mr Sam Fowler and of his wife Mrs Jackie and their family. Mr Sam was a great man of God. George and I were thinking about the ministry that he loved in church-the mentor program. What a great vision this was: for mature believers to share and teach the Faith with young believers. Mr Sam was a sweet man who loved the Lord. I was told that he passed while the family was singing around him. Can you imagine the song that he is singing now?! He ran the race well and now he gets to see Jesus face to face!  I am so thankful for Mr Sam and Mrs Jackie. Our prayers and thoughts are with the family. We love you

8/11/09

Yesterday we went to the Ruins of Copan! We went with seven other students and three teachers. We had a great time. It was very interesting to see the stone buildings and to think about how it was all built by hand. I will try to load a few pictures soon. 

I want to say thank you for those who have been praying for my teacher-God is answering prayers!  Last week George's teacher gave him homework to write down a story from history. George decided to write a story from the Bible. Then yesterday when George got to school he was told he was changing teachers and Yessinia (my teacher) would be his new teacher! So in class George was able to share the Bible story with her. After he shared that story she wanted to hear more! So George and her talked alot about the Bible and stories about God. Then today her and I also talked about the Bible. She asked me about Abraham and I was able to talk about the covenant that God made with Abraham and also about the story about Abraham and Isaac when Abraham was suppose to sacrifice his son but then God provided another sacrifice. We then started talking about Jesus and the truth of His birth and life. George's homework tonight is to write the story of Creation. Yessinia told me that she needed to read the story tonight so that she can make sure that he did it correctly! So now she is reading the Bible! God is so good! Please continue to pray for her and her baby that will be born in October. 

We love you guys!

Pictures from our nature walk

Great Weekend

We had a great weekend! First we went to a museum about the Mayan people. It was a children's museum so it was very hands on. It was very cool to learn the different language and about the culture. It was sad thought to see how many different gods that they worshipped. They had so many gods to please but they were gods who could never satisfy or provide. 

After the museum we went for a family hike in the forest of the Ruins here in Copan. It was very pretty with some amazing scenes. There were many many different variety of trees, rocks, and animals. We took lots of pictures (which I will try to download soon but it takes a while with the internet here.) Elias loved running through the woods and even got to play soccer on an ancient playing field. It was great to get out and get some exercise. 

Last night we went to a church here in town. A guy that was doing work on the house were we live asked us to go with him (this guy was a drug addict two years ago but now he was inviting us to church!)The service was great and George and I understood a lot more than we have before (Praise God)! Elias is learning how to be still in church-it is difficult for him now but he is learning. The pastor preached out of Revelation 21.  It was a great sermon on the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21:26 and Revelation 7:9-10 are about the completion of our goal in mission... that the nations would stand before the God of Creation and Salvation declaring His glory forever. Can you imagine the sound of a multitude of people too numerous to count from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" We are planning on going to this church again. Even though we cant understand everything it is a good tool to learn and we are able to interact with other believers. 

God is good and he has been teaching George and I some incredible things. I just finish reading Voddie Bauchum's book "Family Driven Faith"- (which is a great book!) and now George and I are reading "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp. We ask that you would pray for us as we study this book together that God will teach us how to raise Elias (and other children if God blesses). Please pray that we will be united and teach and discipline Elias according to what the Bible says. God is so gracious and continues to show His faithfulness! We love you and are thankful for your prayers! 

Sorry that it has been a little while since we have written-we had issues with our internet. Everything should be sorted out now! George's visit to the dentist was good but he's not done yet-he has two more visits. Elias is doing great! He just enjoys playing and being outside. Please continue to pray for the political situation here in Honduras. It is greatly affecting the people. Here in Copan the people are struggling because there are very few tourist so the people aren't making money. At the school that we attend they are cutting back the hours of the teachers. The people already have so little. Please pray that the people will know that God is sufficient for their needs. 

We love you guys and appreciate your prayers!

The Park

This afternoon while George went to the dentist, Elias and I went to the park. While I was sitting there a bird pooped on my shoulder......and thats all Im going to say

July 21

Kara has been keeping the blog posted single handedly, so I thought I would relieve her and talk about some of the things that have been going on.

Things are going great here in Copan.  School is going good and I think we are learning alot.  I had to go to the dentist last Friday.  I have never been a fan of the dentist, so needless to say I wasn't thrilled about going to one in Honduras.  He is a nice man who speaks enough broken English to inform me that I may need a root canal.  I have never had any major dental work done (well there was this one time... porcelin tooth) so the thought of a root canal by a fellow Honduranian is a little scary.  I go tomorrow at 6:00p.m. for the preparation work.  After he looks around he will determine if it needs a root canal or just a filling.  The main reason I wanted to tell you guys about my upcoming adventure is because of what we talked about at the end of my visit... the price!  He gave me three prices.  One for the root canal, one for a filling, and the last for extraction (if I wanted the easy way out).  The root canal costs 2,500 lempiras, the filling costs 400 lempiras, and the extraction costs 300.  In dollars that is roughly $132 for the root canal, $21 for the filling, and $16 for the extraction.  I know what you may be thinking and no he does not practice dentistry out of the trunk of his car.  

On a more serious note, God demonstrated His protection and Goodness to us yesterday. Elias and I were playing outside, as we normally do, waiting for Kara to get home from school.  I was looking over some vocab cards when all of a sudden Elias came running around from the side of the house screaming. He was using both hands to hit at his back desperately trying to get something off.  He was getting stung by wasps.  He had never been stung before yesterday and he got stung 6 times on his back.  We thank God for His protection and that Elias didn't have any allergic reactions.

Kara and I want to thank you for your prayers and support.  We ask that you would continue to pray for our Spanish.  It is coming along well because of God's grace and your prayers.  Also please continue to pray for Kara's teacher.

We love you guys and miss you.

George

"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son or man that You visit him?"  Psalm 8:3-5.

July 17

We just got back from a walk into town. It is a very small and cute town so it is very easy to get around. We have water in the house again! We didn't have it all week. It makes me very thankful for plumbing. But we did learn that taking baths out of buckets isn't as hard as it seems. God has been so good to us. He has shown us that He is more than able to provide and take care of us. He is such a great God! 

Did somebody say Big Mac?!

Last night before bed George and I were looking at the internet together. We looked on facebook and our blog and then I showed him Mrs Debbie Stevens blog (if you havent read this, you really should!-debstevens.blogspot.com) There is an entry, not to long ago, about a big mac from McDonalds-and that got us thinking! Now here where we are in Honduras there are no McDonalds or Burger King or any fast food places. So last night we laid  in bed thinking about the perfect food day. 

Kara's perfect food day

Breakfast: Chick-fil-a chicken biscuit with waffle fries and a lemonade 

Lunch: A whopper from Burger King with a caesar side salad and sweet tea from Wendys 

Dinner: Wasabi (located in the Town Center) with steak, shrimp and lots of the special sauce!!

George's perfect food day

Breakfast: two country ham biscuits from Bojangles with a large good cup of coffee

Lunch: He narrowed it down to three places: Two slaw burgers and a cherry lemon sundrop from Blacks BBQ (only in Gastonia), or a Big Mac hold the fries and substitute with another Big Mac! biggie size with fries and coke or Chicken bacon tacos from Chilis with corn on the cob (the one that is soaked in butter and melts in your mouth!)

Dinner: Yasabi (in Myrtle Beach) with steak and shrimp and lots of the special sauce

Ahh...just thinking about it makes my mouth water!!

July 14

As you can see, we had a very relaxing weekend. This weekend we also had some time to talk with Amanda (the woman whose house we are staying in). She is a teacher at one of the schools near Aqua Caliente. She has to travel an hour to work and an hour home on a bus everyday. There are three hundred students in the school but only six teachers! She teaches kindergarden and has 48 students. Can you imagine trying to teach 48 little ones? It is a big problem here in Honduras-there are alot of students but not enough teachers. While in class they get a thirty minute break to eat lunch. Where Amanda teaches, the people are very poor. Before all of the presidential issues, the president gave schools food for each student during this break. Now they receive none. So most of the students do not get to eat. Amanda says that the students will come to her during the day and tell her that they are hungry-but there is nothing she alone can really do about it. In the past Amanda has bought her whole class shoes and toys but the director of the school gets mad because there are not enough for all of the students. The schools are very much in need here in Honduras. It is a very difficult situation because there are so many students and so much of Honduras is poor. Especially with all the political stuff going on now. For instance, here in Copan the people rely heavily on tourist but there arent near as many here as there usually are so the people are really struggling. It effects everyone here-the hotels, the stores, the restaurants, the taxis, even the school where we go. Please continue to pray for the political situation. Although there arent anymore riots in the cities, the government is not stable and organizations have threatened to stop imports and exports from Honduras-this would devastate the country. Please pray for the people of Honduras that they will find their hope in God alone. Please also continue to pray for my teacher-Yessenia. She is a very sweet person and is a great teacher but she does need salvation. She is also pregnant-the baby is due around the end of October. Also George and I are looking for a church that we can be a part of. It is difficult now because we dont know enough Spanish to follow along but please pray that God will direct us there. We love you guys!

Aqua Caliente

school and Aqua Caliente

First week of school complete!

We have finished our first week of school! Our heads are spinning but we have learned alot. We actually remembered more than we thought (praise the Lord)-although we still have lots and lots to learn! George is doing very well-I have alot of studying to do! The language is alot of memorization-so please pray that we will be able to remember and obtain what we have learned. The internet here at the house is somewhat slow and will randomly kick us of line, so it is sometimes difficult to write on the blog and upload pictures. But we have found a very cool cafe where the internet is free and fast. We are able to talk to our families via Skype there! 

As I was saying before-school has been full of new information floating in our heads so we needed a break (yes, even after the first week)! So today after class we went to a place called Agua Caliente. It is about an hour from the city up the mountain (again it was a very bumpy ride). There were two other students from school that went with us. When we first got out of the van we werent sure what to think. There were a couple of big concrete "pools" with a few people swimming in them. We were all thinking that it wasnt worth the ride. But then we were taken across a swinging bridge that hung over a raging river! We then went through a tunnel carved from rock and taken up stone steps. We kept walking down the path and came to different pools of hot water. These pools were made out of stone from the mountain. It was beautiful! It was like in a rain forest tucked away in the trees. The first "pool" that we came to was designated for a mud bath, the next was a natural foot massage- it was a circle of water around a big stone in the middle, one half of the water was cold and the other half was hot, as you walked around the stones in the bottom would massage your feet. There were other pools that were like saunas and there was also a waterfall to be used for a natural back and neck massage. All of these pools were filled with natural water from the mountain. This water was very hot-you could smell the sulfur from the water. There were waterfalls flowing from one pool to the next. Words cannot describe exactly what it was like but it was beautiful and very relaxing! We had great family time. I am going to try to post pictures tonight or tomorrow so you can get an idea of what it looked like. 

I ask that you would continue to pray for us as we learn the language. Also please pray for our relationships with our teachers. George's teacher says she is a Christian but my teacher is not. Pray that we will be encouraging and share the Gospel through learning spanish. God is so good and continues to show us that. We pray that you guys will have a great weekend. We love and miss you!

Copan Ruinas

We are in Copan Ruinas! (and when I write that please hear the "Im so thankful to be alive" in my voice!) :) It took us about four and a half hours to get from Siguatepeque to Copan-some paved roads & some not. But there were ALOT of mountains! There were times we couldnt see the road ahead because of a big mountain in the way-that is how curvy the curves were! We were dodging potholes, cows, other vehicles and people! But I am so thankful for Jarmon, he really knew what he was doing! It was a crazy ride! Elias slept part of the way and the other part he was having fun being thrown left to right while standing in the back floorboard (but dont tell our moms!) He again did really well for the trip. He loved looking at the animals and calling out "big truck" or "motorcycle". God has truly blessed us with Elias-he adapts pretty well to any situation. Although it was a crazy ride, it was a very beautiful ride. The mountains were amazing-literally mountain on mountain. And there are people everywhere! There were houses on the side of mountains and I wasnt sure how they got up there or how they were even built there. Psalm 50:10-11 kept coming to my head because there were cows all over the mountains to. It was very humbling thinking about all the people and how God knows each of them and where each live and what their day is like. Isnt He a great God?
Today we walked around the city and hung out with our host family. Our family is great-it is just a woman and her ten year old son. He and Elias are already playing well together. The lady, Amanda, has fixed us some true Honduranian food-wow do I have alot to get used to!! It has been good but definatley different! The city is great-it is small so we can walk everywhere. There is a square in the middle of town and everything we need is close to it. Mr Gene was right-there is a great ice cream place too! (and yes we have already tried it on our first day!) We went to church with our host family tonight. We shared communion together. The service had to be cut short because of the curfew the government has put into place. Please continue to pray for the political situation-it could get rough for the people. It was very crazy in Tegus today. Please pray that the people will come together peacefully and that there will be no more violence. God is in control
We start school tomorrow. Please pray that we will learn the language quickly and well. We love you and are very thankful for your prayers!

Update

Again we are in Siguatepeque for the weekend. Our internet connection is great here! The group from Raiford Road flew out this morning. We had another great week of ministry! There was only one day that we were not able to do a school ministry because the government has shut down the schools until the ninth of July (as of the last we have heard). But we still had a great time. It was a small group but we got alot accomplished! When we weren't out in the community we were painting and working on the Property. The workers there have done a great job and we were glad to be able to help. 

As many of you already know-there is unrest in Honduras right now. Alot of political issues. It is mainly seen in the big cities. Here where we are there are more check points and a curfew that is in effect but not a major protest like they show on the news. I do ask that you would pray for Jarmon, Karina, and George. They had to go into Tegucigalpa today to take care of some business. From what we can see on tv, there is alot going on there. Please pray for their safety and that everything will get worked out.   

Elias is still doing great. Him and Evis' boys and Jarmon's kids have played alot together. Elias loves the Property. There is so much to do, like taking walks and throwing rocks! He has done so good, we are so thankful for the prayers. We are planning on driving to school tomorrow-Jarmon will take us there. We will start classes Monday. Please continue to pray that we will learn the language quickly and well. 

God has been so good to us. We are so thankful for all of the prayers and encouragement! We should have great internet connection in Copan-so I will be able to write more often. We love you guys!

update

We had a great week of ministry with the youth from Raiford Road Church. We were able to go to a school close to the property, as well as Delores (which is about 2 hours from the property and a few other places. The youth did puppets, music, story time, games, and crafts. They also showed the Jesus film and went door to door sharing the Gospel. God has been faithful this week. We ask that you pray for those that we came in contact with. That those who accepted Christ will have a sincere faith and that they desire to learn more about God. Also pray that the Gospel will continue to spread in those areas. Right now we are in Siguatepeque. Half of the group will be flying back to the States tomorrow and the others are at the Property waiting for the next group coming Saturday. George and I are in town getting a few things settled and then we will also join the team. Elias is doing great! He has enjoyed his time and seems to fit right in. Evis and his family are doing well. They are wonderful people and God has blessed us greatly with them joining IMB. 

We ask that you will pray for the safety of the teams that are traveling over the next few days. Pray for the people that we will come in contact with this next week, that God will prepare their hearts and that many will come to know Him. We love you and miss you guys so much! 

Moving Tomorrow!!

Tomorrow is the big move!  We are leaving Macclenny @ 5am and driving to Miami then flying to Honduras. We will be going with a team (the RRC youth) and staying with them on the property. Then next week a new team will come and we will minister with them too. The following weekend we will go to Copan for language school!. Please pray for the two weeks as the teams minister to the people around the property. Pray that many will come to know Jesus as Savior. Pray for the youth, many have never been, pray that it will be a life changing week. 

Please pray for George and I at language school, please pray that we will learn the language quickly by Gods grace. Pray for Elias too that he will pick up the language and also that he will have a playmate there at school.

We love our family and friends. God has blessed us greatly. Please pray for us daily that we will continually follow Gods will and that we grow in Him each day. We love you guys and are so thankful for you. 

Commissioning Service

We had a GREAT day yesterday! It was Homecoming at church (59 years!) and the church had a commissioning service for us. The service was very special, very encouraging and humbling. We appreciate all the people that committed to pray for us and support us. We had a great time of fellowship and a very sweet time of prayer. 

We only have five days until we leave! We have been moving things out of the house and packing. We are just enjoying time with our family and friends. God is good and so faithful!

20 Days and Counting!!

We have set a date to move for June 20th! We are so excited! We have a lot to do before we go, so we ask that you would be praying for us. We need to sell our car (that is one of the main things), we have to pack up, and get things straight in Honduras too. But we know that God will provide and that He will give us wisdom. Please keep us in your prayers that we will follow Him and trust Him. We are hanging out this week at the lake with the Johnson family and it has been very nice just relaxing! 

Nehemiah 9:6-8

How great is our God! I am thankful that God is faithful and that He always keeps His promises.
You are the LORD, you alone.You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. You are the LORD....and you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

Today is George's Birthday!! He is working all day today but tonight we will have a nice Chicken Cesear Salad dinner at the house! I thank God for giving him another year and letting me enjoy that time with him!

5/12/09

We had a great weekend! Mothers Day was very special. We cooked for the Johnson side of the family at our house and had a great time (although we missed not getting to see Mrs Kaye!) George and I are both blessed with wonderful godly mothers and we are so thankful for them! 

We are trying to prepare to leave at the end of June-we have a lot of things to get done before then. We ask that you will be praying that we sell our vehicles soon! We are trying to focus on getting them sold to get us a huge step closer to moving! Also please be praying that George and I will daily grow closer to God and that He will be preparing us along and along for the move. We know that everything is in His time and all for His glory. 

Please also pray for a lady that I work with. Her stepson passed away last Friday. He has two small children. Please pray for this family that they will seek God in this difficult time. 

Fun Fun!!!

Sorry that I am just now getting to write about last weekend but we do not have internet at our house so it is a little difficult to blog sometimes. We had a great time in Gastonia this past weekend! It was very busy but full of fun things! We got there late Thursday night then Friday we hung out with the family. Uncle Phil, Aunt Ginger, Emily, Elizabeth and Katie came from Virginia for the weekend too! We spent most of the day at Paw Paw and Maw Maw's house then Friday night we went to the Relay for Life at a local school. That was a very special time. Saturday our family held a party for us at Paw Paw's. It was great to see friends and family that we haven't seen in a while and to see some people that I hadn't ever met. There was lots of food and great company. We were very blessed by the gifts of cards, letters, and money. We want to thank all of you who got a chance to come and those who gave. It is a great blessing to be encouraged and to know that there are people praying for us. Sunday morning we went to our brother-in-law's church Foundation of Freedom Ministries. Then spent more time with family that afternoon. Sunday night we got an opportunity to speak to the youth at South Point Baptist Church in Belmont. AJ Main is the youth pastor there. AJ was George's youth pastor for some years. We were able to share about our future ministry in Honduras. We pray that we will eventually have a chance to minister with the people of South Point in Honduras. We met some really solid people and appreciate their encouragement. God really blessed us during our time in Gastonia. We are thankful for our family there and the new people that we got to meet.
I am still learning things about how to work this blog but we would like to hear from you either by comments on the blog or by email. Well we hope you have a great night!

Going to Gastonia

Pictures (finally!!) Below are pictures from the VIP trip. You can click on each picture to make it bigger. The first picture is Evis, his wife Norma and one of their sons (two of thier sons are not in the picture.) This is the precious family that will be living with us on the property!
This weekend we are headed to Gastonia, NC (George's hometown) We are looking forward to spending time with our family and they are throwing us a party! George is excited to see people that he hasnt seen in a while and I am excited about meeting new people. We cant wait to hang out with our North Carolina family and our visiting family from Virgina!!

Please pray

I apologize for not getting pictures downloaded. This week has been busier than I expected. I will try to post some as soon as I can. 

Please be praying for the Poteat family. This is George's mother's side. His Grandaddy is in the hospital now and not doing well. Also pray for George-he made a trip to North Carolina today to be with the family. Please pray that God will be with Grandmama and that He will give the doctors wisdom on how to treat Grandaddy. Thank you. 

Also be praying for Gene and Debbie this week as they have traveled to Honduras. I know they have been wanting to go for a while now-so we are excited for them to be there. Pray for their safety and protection. We love you guys! 

George came home safely, thankfully. He did not, however, take lots of pictures! He did take a few but they were on his cell phone and I am not sure of how to download them. So I will have to wait for the VIPs to get back from Honduras this weekend. I know they will take lots of pictures and will share them!

George is in Honduras this week. Please be praying for him as he is at the property getting things ready for the VIP trip next week. The property is looking great, the dorms are nearly finished! God is good! Please pray for George's safety and also that he will begin to develop strong relationships with Evis and Jarmon. As well as other men that live around the property. Hopefully George will take lots of pictures and we will post them next week! Thank you for your prayers!

Fully Convinced

No distrust made Abraham waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised. 

Romans 4:20-21

This verse means a lot to me and George. It is one that we hold onto as we prepare to move. It is talking about when God told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations even though Abraham and Sarah were both beyond child baring years. Abraham believed in God's promise that God would use him and his family. Abraham was fully convinced that God was able to keep His promise and that He would keep His promise. Abraham grew strong in his faith and continually gave glory to God.

This is our desire-that we would be FULLY convinced that God is able to do what He has promised.  We, in ourself, will not be able to fulfill His will in Honduras. But we know that He has called us to go to Honduras to share His Gospel. And because He has called us He will equip us. Please pray for us that we will continually grow strong on our faith and always, always give God the glory that He alone deserves.