My Journey In Helene,Honduras

 I have not posted pictures in awhile so I thought I would put some up for people to look at. I took these two weeks ago when Andrew was leaving.  They showcase the school. The kids we’re working on an art project that day and were doing a great job of staying foucsed.

For more information about the English school checkout this link. Helene English School. The school has almost 100 students enrolled and offers pre-K through 6th grade.  The kids really enjoy coming to school.  Partly because there is not alot for children to do on the island and school offers a positive and interactive place to learn. Enjoy the pictures!

Some boys just chilling.

Enjoying a snack. Kids  around here often do not get enough to eat and they really look forward to this snack.

Girls Being Shy

Working on art

View of the class.

God Bless,

Paul

Rain. Rain. Rain. It started raining last night and has been raining off and on ever since. Our tanks are almost completely full. Thanks to everyone who has been praying. While this is great news, we still have to conserve water as we can go though it all in a matter of days with a team here.

The group here has been good and it has been fun getting to know them.

We now have a new maintenance prayer request. Out boat has been having difficulties lately and on Friday the tilt control broke completely. We are not sure what is wrong. Please pray for wisdom and for a quick fix. I have not been able to do much, besides to offer an hand in pulling things and getting tools.

God Bless,

Paul

Today was the first day of work for the team here. They are a fun group. They are mixed highschool ages. From kids entering there freshman year to going off to college next year.

I lead a group in the morning and afternoon to go into the community and visit, or as the islanders say wist. They pronouce v as “wee”. I love this ascept of the Helene culture. They are so open and friendy when it comes to there home. You just walk up and ask if it is a good time for a visit and most of the time it is so they just invite you in. I got to meet alot of people I did not know, also I would meet parents of alot of the kids and teens I know. That was cool to know where they live.

In the morning we visted the point and part of the bite. In the afternoon we made the hike over to the northside. It felt pretty empty today, so we were back to the clinic by 3. Which was just in time for me to help in school after recess. Sheila can manage the class without extra help, but an extra person in there really helps with keeping the class fouced and working with the people who dont get it.

While our tutoring class only runs monday-wednesday I inivted Issiah to come and be read to today if he wanted. He took me up on the offer. I read him four books and then it was time for dinner.

Still no rain. However we have been really good with conserving water, so we are streching what we have. Please keep praying.

God bless,

Paul

A team came into today. They seem like a nice bunch and I am excited to get to know them and watch them serve. They had a little luggage problem and we are still waiting on 12 pieces so hopefully they will get here around noon tomorrow.

Now that we have 25 people here our water situation has become more serious. We got amount a minute of rain today. We need a couple of hours of good solid rain. Please pray for rain.

Pray for the team as they enter there first full day tomorrow. And pray for Team Helene to have the energy we need.

Kenree and Issiah showed up today. It was interesting working with both of them. But Kenree was acting poorly and did not really want to be there. I have grown sick of babying him and if he does not want to take advantage of this opportunity I am not going to force it on him, or let it hold Issiah back when he is so eager and willing to learn.

God Bless,

Paul

Today was a day spent cleaning up and getting ready for the team that comes in tomorrow. Camas and I cleaned up the tool shed it looks much nicer now.

I was on lunch prep by myself today, that was a little scary, just cause I did not want lunch to be late, or not have enough food. But it all turned out good so that was nice.

Isaiah (I called him Isaac in an earlier post) showed up for tutoring today. He can write all but 3 letters of the alphabet, but misses 6 when we go through flashcards. I like working with him.

We still need rain. With the team coming in, we will go through the water that we have left, quite fast.

Schem, came up on the deck tonight and wanted to talk to me. He said he wants to give up the drink. I prayed with him about a week ago, when he was wasted, he just laughed then. Tonight, although I could smell the alcohol on his breath, he appeared to be somewhat sincere about stopping drinking. The full time staff here has seen it before, but I am optimistic. Pray for him.

I am tired. I am going to bed soon.

Thanks so much for all the comments. Thank you much more for all the prayers, I really appreciate them.

God bless,
Paul

Today was a good day. Especially for a Monday. Although when I woke up, I never would have thought it would work out that way. I felt so tired when I woke up and the neighbors next store, were burning there trash, which is always a great aroma to wake up too.

Shelia led the devotions; it was a good topic, about not letting the small stuff bug you and giving it all up for Christ. As Jesus says “23Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23.” We have to give up our desires and wants to follow Jesus and its not going to be an easy task. But I think Satan wants us to make us think that means we are to have no joy. However, by giving up our selfish wants and impure desires and letting God mold us, he gives us great joy.

I worked on finding a battery to start the old generation and ended up charging it so we could start it later. Then I helped Ewings and Camas work on the boat, by work on, they were leaning over and working on the engine while I would hand them tools. But then came the best part, we had to go get some gas and see if the cleaning of boat helped the performance. I love riding on boats, especially on a hot day. Feeling the breeze on your face is just awesome. While the boat ride was great she is still running a little slow.

I helped clear the deck for some islanders coming over to separate donated clothes to pass out to their respective community. The staff was worried that there could be fighting over items. However, the islanders got along very well and the process went super smooth.

I then went and helped in the school. The kids were pretty good today, with of course a few expectations for the usual troublemakers. I was disappointed as none of the three regular kids showed up for tutoring today. O well, Mondays seem to be a bad tutoring day.

This evening I went with Deirdre and Sheila on a kind of medical emergency home visit. A boy was sick with a bad stomachache in the Pond. Walking around the island at night is definitely a different experience. Not that I don’t feel safe, but you just have to have a heightened sense of awareness as some islanders do chose to be a little drunk at night. Deirdre checked him and just thinks he has a bad stomach ache, and gave him some Tums and Pepto-bismol.

Keep praying for Julie Reid. I just read that the surgery went well today, praise God, she still has a lot ahead of her.

God is good,
Paul

Whew. What a day. I knew we consumed a fair about of food here at the clinic. I had no idea that how much food we really go through.

I went shopping down island (Roatan, Honduras) with Larry today. We have a team coming in on Wednesday so we we’re preparing for them to arrive by stocking up on food. We filled two shopping carts packed full of food at two different stores. Shopping with Larry could be considered a sport, I would stand by the carts and he would toss me food, laughing when he would toss almost too much for me to catch. Watching him grab handfulls of stuff off the shelves proved very entertaining. And his nonchalant manner of saying “ya just give me a case of that, and how about a case of that.” After all, as he reminded me, he does this quite often. Then we picked up 8 cartoons of eggs. O I almost forgot the 20 pounds of hamburger we picked up at the “House of Meat.” Shopping in Honduras is much different then the United States. One week something maybe in stock, the next week, well its Honduras. Along with that team coming in, we are running really really really short on water. So prayers for a massive rain storm would be appreciated.

Loading all the stuff into the van took some effort. Loading it into the boat took even more. The boat ride to and from Helene while fun definitely sucks the energy out of you. Sitting in direct sunlight for 40-60 minutes tends to do that.

While it was a tiring day, it was a good day. It was fun to get off Helene for an afternoon and take a nice boat ride. I love being in a boat cutting threw the water, there is just something so cool about it.

The other intern, Andrew left today. I am going to miss that guy. Interns stick together.

On a special note. I would love for people to pray for Julie Reid back in the states. She had a heart attack and now is going to need bypass surgery. Please pray for her and for her family.

God Bless,

Paul

I have been working in the 3-4 grade classroom this week. It is way different then the 5-6 classroom. The kids seem to be crazier but easier to work with. While that does not quite make sense that’s just the way it is.

Kenree has not showed up all week. We run the after school tutoring class Monday-Wednesday. While this has been a disappointment since he has been improving a lot, another boy started showing up on Tuesday. His name is Isaac and he used to come to tutoring but has not been coming while I have been here. I asked him why he had not been coming. He told me that his sister was pregnant and living on Roatan so he and his mom went down to help her out. He is a great kid and fun to work with. Which was a nice break from the very hard to work with Kenree. We are solidifying his ABC’s and learning the sounds that letters make. What I found really cool about him is that he already can listen to a book and comprehend what is occurring, and even answer questions that I ask about what he think will happen next.

I asked him to come today at 4 so I could read to him. I hope he shows up.

Thanks to everyone for there ongoing prayers. Being away from home with all that has been going on lately has been hard for me. I really liked what Janet Fraser shared on her blog the other day.

“It seems that I am surrounded by alot of pain right now. Students are dying, friends are moving, tough decisions made that cause pain, lots of hurting hearts… it’s been a tough couple of weeks…..

Is something broken? Yes, this is a broken world. Students die, people move, decisions hurt. I cannot imagine living today without the hope and faith I have in Christ.
Hope that there is something more, a belief that He knows our suffering and pain and is in the midst of all this.

Psalm 25:5 (New International Version)
5 guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.”:

I read out of the bible the other day that spoke to me about God’s timing and plan. Our sense of time is totally different from God’s. 2 Peter 3:8 “But you must not forget, dear friends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.” I know is using all the recent tradgty to further His Glory.

God Bless,
Paul

I have been here a month. I really have enjoyed my time here. Something that I have been learning is that not everyday here always goes super well. Some-days you feel sick, other days tired or things just don’t work out the way you want them to. Such is life. But I have found running to God and praying alot really helps get me through that. Something that I really want to keep up when I go home is constant prayer. I found that I prayed a lot when i was here last year and have found myself doing that again this year. But I do not see why I should stop doing that when I go home.

This is not to say that I am not having an awesome time here. But Christ never said serving Him would be an easy thing. The word serving has that in its very meaning, serving others and putting them before you. However, when doing this for God’s glory the rewards are tremendous.

God Bless,
Paul

I apologize for taking so long to post updated information about the medical condition of the boys in the terrible tragedy.

God has been working miracles in the health of these boys.

Joey:

Joey is still not back to Helene as not every lingering medical problem has been worked out. He was having headaches every-time he would stand up. They discovered that he had a fractured frontal bone and they did plastic surgery to repair the bone. All indications show that he has normal brain activity. He can remember the crash and reportedly has said that he is glad to hear that the families of the deceased are receiving some compensation.

Gary:

Deirdre has called his recovery so far “a miracle of God”. He has been feeding himself finger food. And has been doing some talking. This is huge. The islanders had basically written him off as dead, and even created a open grave for him. I am praying that God would show his power through Gary’s recovery and that the people of the island would see that they need Jesus in there life. He is feeding himself so he does have control of his arms. We have not heard about his legs, but we have not heard that he cannot move them, so we are hoping and assuming that he can. Deirdre said “his rehab is going much much better then would be expected.”

The Baby:

The baby from my medical emergency post is fine. He had a high fever that was causing the symptoms and has since recovered. Teddy said that they now think he may have ingested some bug repellent, which would explain the respiratory problems he suffered.

The local news papers are reporting that the driver of the boat that rammed the Helene boat has been indited and will face trial. We are praying that justice will be done.

The news about the health of the boys truly amazes me. I pray that Joey will be back soon and that Gary will continue to defy expectations and recover quickly. God is awesome.

Praise God,

Paul