Building Team Nov. 11

Ryan and I love the anticipation of family and friends coming to visit us.  We had been waiting the arrival of my mom and a building team to come to Tegucigalpa 2 weeks ago.  This was a team of just 4 people, 6 if you include us, but we worked hard even though we were only spackling the walls – and mostly ourselves.  It’s a really difficult technique and I was impressed by the teams’ willingness to learn and keep going all week. 

Ryan Phillips

Mom and Ryan

Me

Uncle Doran and Mom

Jessica Decker

 The day the team arrived, Rey’s American (Honduran) football team had the semi-final game for their league.  Ryan has been a part of the team, so he played, but the biggest surprise was that Ryan Phillips, NFL legend ;) decided that he wanted to suit up for the game.  It was a great night and so much fun watching the guys play – especially since Ryan Phillips got an interception, touch down!  It was actually a close scoring game, but they pulled out the win!

 

Thursday morning, we went to Picachu, which is a big Jesus statue that overlooks the city put in place after hurricane Mitch. 

The most meaningful thing about this trip was the relationships that were built between the North American team and the Honduran workers.  We joked, ate lunch and shared stories all week.  The relationships are such a big deal to Ryan and I since after the team leaves, we are that much closer to being able to reach the workers spiritually because we have made that friendship connection.  About half of the workers wouldn’t consider themselves a Christ Follower and also live in the same community as us.  Please keep praying for these workers and that we can continue to be an example for them this next year in the Linda Miller Community.

A Night Out & Christmas Cards

We were invited by JJ and Lindsay last weekend (who are at AFE making a documentary on AFE’s seniors) to spend the night at the Intercontinental which is one of the nicest hotels in Honduras.  We couldn’t pass up this fun opportunity to hang out with our friends and to celebrate with them over 50 hours of footage and one month of filming at AFE.  We had a wonderful night and ate some super ginormous burgers at the hotel’s restaurant!

Me and Eyvin at AFE

I have been busy this week with a project at AFE with all the students (all 150 of them) to make Christmas Cards for all their sponsors.  It has been a great way for me to get to know the students and teachers better, and also a great time for me to practice my Spanish which I feel is coming along. 

8th Grade working on Christmas Cards

This week the high school is in Final’s Week, and we ask that you join with us in prayer for these kids during the last weeks of the school year.   

Deportes - Sports

We have been keeping busy with different things for the past few weeks, and I thought I should update everyone on what we are up to.  Ryan has been busy being a participant on a few sports teams while I have been a cheerleader to him. 

Rey Diaz who is the US Liason to AFE has an American football team down here in Tegucigalpa, and Ryan has been playing tight end – the other tight ends are huge compared to him, but he has been doing a great job.  Most of the players are gang members or ex-gang members and are covered in tattoos which here in Honduras, tattoos are a huge sign of gang activity.  This causes the football games to sometimes turn into a hockey game where fights break out…and if they don’t happen during the game, they happen after.  Rey does a great job of cooling his team down when things get out of control, and is always looking out for Ryan and JJ when they play.

Warm-Up

Ryan is wearing a black practice jersey, far left

Ryan is kicking the soccer ball, yellow shirt

Ryan has also been playing soccer with the AFE soccer team which is made up of teachers and students.  They played Pinares, which is a rich, American private school last week and got their butts kicked, but Ryan said that it was still really fun to play with Rene who is a graduating senior this year from AFE and has dreams of being a famous soccer player but will probably fall back on becoming a civil engineer – just like Ryan. 

When Ryan feels like he hasn’t had enough sports in the week, he’ll go to an American scrimmage at one of the American high schools where a lot of people who work at the US Embassy will go, as well as other missionaries just to play ball.  I am hoping to get in the game when my back starts to feel better!