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!