Back from Honduras

We returned from our trip to Honduras last Wednesday. It was an awesome trip full of blessings from the Lord. Here is a quick summary of our trip and an update where we are at now in our preparations for full time missions.

What we did on our trip:

• Jeff was able to work in the hospital for several days. This included working in the inpatient unit, surgical recovery, triage, and observing during surgery.
• Danielle primarily helped home-school one of the missionary kids and was able to help at the bilingual school.
• We had a lot of time to interact with the Honduran people. This included participating in a back-porch Bible study (Danielle), attending a Honduran youth group, attending a Honduran church, going with another missionary couple to a waterfall with a Honduran family from their church, and spending some time in a Honduran town a few miles from the hospital.
• We were able to get to know many of the missionaries better. We had opportunities to ask them many questions, participate in Bible studies and worship with them, and minister along side of them. It was such a blessing to see how well we "mixed" with them.
• We were able to "scope out the area" by taking a tour of the language school in La Ceiba, getting a closer look at some of the shopping areas, and paying attention to what items/food are available down there.

You can find more details about the things listed above in previous blog postings.

Where we are at now:

• The Lord made it very clear to us that Honduras, and specifically Hospital Loma De Luz is where He wants us. It was such a blessing to see how we will fit perfectly into the work that is being done there and working/living along side those that are there.
• We are starting the process of applying with a sending agency. A sending agency manages our financial support, insurance, prayer letters, etc. This may be a somewhat long process since it involves filling out applications, traveling for interviews with the board, attending training through the agency (once approved), and completing whatever additional paperwork they require.
• After we have been approved by a sending agency, we will start raising our financial support. This will include raising start-up costs and a monthly support base.
• Danielle is hoping to continue taking Spanish this fall at Rock Valley College (3rd semester). Jeff will be taking his first semester of Spanish. Even though we will be attending language school for nearly a year when we get to Honduras, any head start that we can get now will only be to our advantage later on.

Please check our website for our current prayer requests.

That is about it for now, please check back often for further updates.

Jeff and Danielle.

Heading Home

It's 3:30 AM on Wednesday and we are getting ready to head for the airport. Our flight out of San Pedro Sula leaves at 8:00 AM and we will be arriving at O'Hare around 4:00. Thank you everybody for your prayers and please keep praying for our travels today. We'll write more later.

Jeff

Wrapping Up

Well, it is Monday afternoon and we leave Hospital Loma De Luz in just over 18 hours. This week has gone so fast. It has been a terrific week here in the missionary community. I just wrapped up my last shift in the hospital about an hour ago. It was a really strange feeling walking out of the hospital after saying my "good-byes". I had the same feeling that I had after I had quit my other jobs in previous years; and this was only after being there for less than a week. I had so many opportunities in the hospital these last few days. I spent time in surgical recovery with patients after they came out of surgery (alot of orthopedic cases and a gall bladder removal this morning), observing surgery, working on the nursing unit, and "down the hill" at triage. Equally important (and exciting) was the opportunity that we had to spend with a missionary couple ministering "outside the fences" of the hospital yesterday afternoon. They/we took a lady and her kids from their Honduran church to a waterfall/swimming hole about 12 miles away from the hospital as a diversion for her. About a year ago she lost a child and has been having a difficult time. This trip provided her a much needed distraction, but also time to talk as the one year anniversary approaches. On our return trip from the waterfall, we walked through one of the small villages along the way to pick up another missionary that we had dropped off on our way through. She was visiting a family there that she has gotten to know. The village was packed because there was a funeral going on for someone who had died the night before. It was a very interesting experience. After we had returned from that trip we were off to a Honduran church for the evening service. It was the same church that we had visited during our last trip. Once again, it was a very interesting experience.
It has been a great trip and the Lord has taught us/shown us many things as we prepare for full time service down here. We have so much that we are looking forward to sharing with you!
We leave for La Ceiba and then San Pedro Sula tomorrow morning and then back to Chicago on Wednesday. Please be in prayer for us that we have a safe travel back and that we would get through the airports and customs without any problems.
We are so thankful for everyone's prayers. Thank you!

Jeff

Just Curious

I started wondering this afternoon whether anybody is even looking at our website or blog that we have been maintaining and updating. So...If you are reading this, please "sign-in" by leaving a comment.

Thanks

Jeff

Thursday at the bilingual school

Thursday was another busy day. I helped homeschool Cate in the morning and in the afternoon I went over to help at the bilingual school. They had just recently started this class a few weeks ago, and I was excited to hear how well the children could already speak English. They are going through the alphabet, and the day I was there, the letters they focused on were I, J, & K. It was very interesting to sit in the champa listening to the lesson while dogs and geese and other kids were playing in the yard around us. I have to say, the teachers do a wonderful job of keeping the children's attention in that environment. When we come down here, I am looking forward to working in the bilingual school. Parece que Profe es un buen profesor, porque yo puedo entender casi todas las palabras de los escluincles. It seems that Profe is a good teacher, because i can understand almost all of the words of the little kids :->
I took some pictures of the school, hopefully we can put some more up later...

Hasta luego,
Danielle

Wednesday Night Short Term Study

It's been a full and exciting week here in Honduras. Thank you one and all for your love and prayers. We praise the Lord for the opportunity to come here and see the great work He is doing at Loma de Luz. Every day here has been packed with service and fellowship and we have bee.n so blessed by everyone here.
On Wedensday evening we were invited to join the short term staff in their weekly Bible study. What a tremendous blessing! There were about 10 people there including us, and we felt very much at home and welcomed among them. The study started a little after 7:00 with some praise and worship, followed by time in prayer. They were just starting a new study through the book of Colossians, and so we all took turns and read through the entire book. It was so cool to read through an entire book of the Bible in one setting in a big group like that. We had little handouts to write the outline of the chapters and some discussion questions. By the time we wrapped up with some more prayer and then more praise and worship, itwas almost 10:00! The team staying at staff housing had gone to bed long since, and so we all decided to head off to bed, too. Not until we had all eaten some cookies and cake and enjoyed more time talking and laughing, of course. I think we got to bed around 11:00, but that's just a guess on my part!

Saturday

Well, it is Saturday, and a day to spend some time relaxing. We have stayed busy all week and having some "down time" has been very nice. This morning Danielle and I went to the beach about 1/2 mile from the hospital. It is so beautiful down here. Today is the warmest day so far, about 87 degrees. The breeze off of the ocean that we have enjoyed for the past few days has died off for the most part.
Yesterday I took a drive with Ted and a few others into the mountains. Along the five mile "road" houses were scattered about and we went through a "village" of about two hundred. The people of the village frequently walk for three hours down the mountain (a very steep walk) to seek treatment at the hospital or do shopping at the small village at the base of the mountain. It was an eye-opening experience to see the environment in which many of the people served by Hospital Loma De Luz live in.
Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for us these next few days as we wrap up our trip.

Jeff

Our trip so far

It is hard to believe that it is already Friday. It has been a busy week for us in Honduras. We made it to the hospital without any problems on Tuesday. I (Jeff) started working in the hospital on Wednesday. Primarily, I have been helping out in the nursing unit and Post-op recovery. It has been a great experience. Today I had the opportunity to watch a minor a surgery. Everyone has been so welcoming and encouraging to us during our stay here. I am continually amazed to hear how God is working here.
I ask that you please be in prayer for the hospital over the next week. They are having a licensing survey on Tuesday, which is a first for them. Please pray that the survey goes well.
Please continue to pray for us as we are here for a few more days. Pray that the Lord continues to reveal His direction for us in serving Him long-term here.

Jeff

By the way....it's been in the mid 80's and sunny with a nice breeze off of the ocean for the last few days.

We Made It!!!

God is so good! He has gone with us all throughout this day. A BIG Thank you to Dave and Ilona for driving us to the airport. And aslo much love to all our family and praying friends.

We are in San Pedro Sula and we managed to order dinner almost completely in Spanish! I was particularly proud of being able to understand when the waitress offered us complimentary appetizers b/c the food took so long. We really liked our food,too. Jeff had a hamburger (Hamburguesa) and I had a chicken salad sandwich with avacado and onions (aguacate y cebollas). It was very delicious. If you are ever in San Pedro Sula, I highly recommend Larson´s Restaurant (just behind the Microtel).

Well, I´m kind of tired of typing so much, so I will sign off with a thank you for all your prayers, and a note that I am excited to see how God will work this trip. Jeff & I both are glad to be here, and in a strange but not so strange way, we feel like we are sort of home here in this beautiful country. Of course, we don´t miss shoveling snow too much!

Manana, we will embark on the 2nd part of this journey.

Chau,

Danielle