Thanksgiving 2011 - Island Style

 

 We were blessed to spend a week in the beautiful island of Roatan with my parents during the week of Thanksgiving.  It was a week filled with great food (thanks Mom! and the Bananarama and Blue Parrot Bar and Grill) and great fun! 

Ryan and my dad golfed, yep you guessed it, every single morning!  While they were out golfing, Mom and I had a great time catching up on the latest happenings in Honduras and back home.  I think if I didn’t already know it, there’s nothing better than having your mom with you.  She is my best friend and I didn’t realize how much I missed spending time with her. 

 When Ryan and Dad came back from golfing each day, we did a work out – Mom and Dad ran the hill, and Ryan and I did Insanity out on the patio…I tell you what, the hot humid air made it extremely insane. 

We kayaked out to the reef, went diving one day, worked on my tan, and I read almost 3 books during that one week.

The evenings were so much fun catching up with my dad and just hanging out.  I forgot how much my dad can make the simplest dinner fun.  

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!

Subbing, New Friends, & A Car

AFE

A little update on the happenings of the Lewis adventure since our last posting.  Today marks the end of 3 months of living in Honduras, and it feels like home.  The most recent news is that we have been searching for a car since we arrived here in Tegus, and we finally found one on Wednesday, took it to our mechanic who said that everything checked out and bought it on Thursday!  Praise God!  We are the new owners of a 2001 Mitsubishi Montera!   

This last week, Ryan subbed for computer and sociology classes at AFE for another volunteer who was in the states.  He did an awesome job learning the ropes of the classroom all while speaking Spanish. 

Computer Lab

I spent the week recovering from a lower back muscle spasm, and I am so grateful for all the prayers these last 2 weeks.  I am getting better every day and hoping to be 100% by next week.  There are these 2 little girls who have been coming to me every day during recess to see if I can play with them, and I keep having to disappoint them by saying that todavia me duele la espalda, my back still hurts.  I can’t wait to be able to go on the playground with them.  They both gave me coloring pages that they colored, I think to help me get better – they are the sweetest.    

Lindsay and me

We have made two new friends, JJ and Lindsay, who are both professional videographers making a documentary of the students at AFE, focusing on the graduating seniors.  They are hoping this film will bring in scholarship money to send more students to the university.  JJ and Lindsay will be here until December after graduation to capture the story of 3 graduating seniors: Rene, Gabi, and Marilyn.   

The students are getting close to start the final push before their final exams which begin the week of October 31.  Keep all the students of AFE in your prayers during this time, especially for our 9 graduates who will be the very first graduating class from this school. 

Apartment Photos

2nd week at AFE

          We are finishing our 2nd week here in Tegucigalpa getting plugged in to AFE and settling into our new apartment.  We spent the first week observing classes at AFE as much as we could.  This last week, there was a North American team from Oregon *Hope Teams International* building two homes for two families who live and work in the trash dump.  Ryan and I helped out on a few different days with these projects, and had a great time working hard and being translators for the North American team.  Yesterday, I got to be a part of the house dedications.  It was emotional for the team and for the families who have been blessed with the gift of a home.  It was so amazing to hear the responses from the families...their new home was an answer from God saying that He has not forgotten them.  It was a moment that I don't want to ever forget. To read more about this family's transition from the garbage dump into their new home, visit AFE's blog: www.afehonduras.blogspot.com

           As far as us getting settled in, there is never a short supply of things needing to be fixed and we are getting to know some of the handymen around town.  It has been a great way for us to practice our Spanish and get to know our neighbors.  Ryan has befriended a great handyman named Carlos and as I write this, they are both working on a few parts of the house together. 

          We are learning the ropes at AFE and living in Linda Miller very quickly and we are so thankful for all the other volunteers who have been so gracious to us during this time of settling in.  The Makenzacks (Hollie and Adam) and The Gibsons (Greg, Nancy, Kaitlyn, and Trevor) have taken us on multiple errands on multiple days…without which, we would feel stranded.  The Diaz’ (Rey, Elise, and Elijah) let us borrow their house for the first week of us being in Tegucigalpa while we waited for our house to be completed.  Of course, a huge thanks to Jeony and Jessy who have been so patient with us as we settle in.  

Hollie and Elise wrote a really thoughtful blog about Ryan and me on AFE's blog: www.afehonduras.blogspot.com