Truck Number One - it's here and we're using it!

I have great news - we have purchased the first of the new-to-us trucks which we've needed! We thank God for the faithful supporters He has given us, and we thank YOU for helping us continue to do the work we are called to do here in Honduras!

As you know, we still badly need one more vehicle, and I will be continuing to bring that need before you all, but right now, it's time to CELEBRATE!

Of course, you need to see some pictures of the truck! Now, if I were taking the photos, I would position the truck so that there was a magnificent view of the mountains in the distance, with the truck in the foreground . . . but, I actually asked my son, Ben (who just turned 14, by the way) to take the truck photos for me. Apparently, teenage boys aren't overly interested in the scenery, when the real topic is a TRUCK! LOL

So, here is a boy's-eye-view of our new-to-us pickup!

Planting Coffee for the Sustainable Ministry Project - this is how we do the first step

As missionaries living and working in a foreign country, in a place where the people are very poor and have little education, many times there are things that we can teach them . . . but, frequently they are teaching us, especially about how to get things done in this specific place, using manpower, freely available materials, and very little money!

Last month, we planted the seeds, to start the plants which will be transplanted to our coffee fields late this year. Most of our work crew grew up in a farming community, and this work is very familiar to them . . . and they are people who know how to work hard and how to manage to get things done without purchasing much. Here's a photo-journal of the process:

This is sandy dirt we had hauled in - the very young coffee seedlings prefer to
grow in this medium. The seeds and young seedlings are watered frequently,
 and here in the tropics the drainage properties of sand help prevent mold and
fungus from developing.

The workers bagged up the sand up by the driveway, and then carried the
sacks down to the coffee growing area, to set up the raised bed for the seeds.

The spot chosen for the bed was cleared of weeds and grass.

Logs from trees on our property were hauled in to make the edges of the bed.

The logs will keep the sand from spreading out.

The workers smoothed out the sand to prepare for planting.

Stakes, again created from trees on our property, hold the logs in place. 

Small trenches were created for the seeds . . . 

 . . . and then the seeds (coffee beans) were placed into the trenches - a
surprisingly large quantity of seeds per inch!

With the seeds in place, the workers gently smoothed sand over them.

With a layer of straw on top to hold in moisture, the planted bed is complete.

The next step in the process, once the seeds have germinated and popped through the sand to the surface, is removing the straw, and creating a low "roof" out of sticks covered with straw, to continue to shade the young plants while still giving them room to grow and access to limited sunlight. That should happen about 1 - 2 months after planting, so expect photos of that, when the time comes.

Thanks, Russell, for these photos, as well as for all of your hard work on this project - which we are doing with the goal of adding a sustainability aspect to the ministry here.

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Merry Christmas!

Ten ways you can support your missionaries, besides sending money

Of course your missionary wants -and needs- the funds that are donated. Most can't live on the field without ongoing financial support, and they also need funds for various ministry projects. Sometimes, however, you aren't in a position that allows you to support a missionary in this way. Here are ten other ways you can support your missionary.

1. Pray! 

There's no doubt that this has to be the first, and most important, item on the list. We need prayers during the times when we put out prayer needs, and prayers when you aren't hearing anything from us. Pray as often as you desire, pray when the Lord puts us on your heart, pray everyday as part of your schedule . . . just pray!

2. Let us know you're praying! 

I can't stress enough how much it encourages us, when people tell us that they remember to pray for us and for our ministry. If you want to make your missionary's day, tell them you're praying for them!

3. Take the time to read the information your missionary sends out and/or posts on the internet.

This is huge! Stay informed about what your missionary is doing. It will help you remember to pray for them, and to know better how to pray for them.

4. Post a comment! 

I, personally, spend a gigantic amount of time writing blog posts and Facebook posts and emails and newsletters . . . and sometimes, when no one responds, I feel like I've just thrown all of that out there into the wind. It's discouraging. If it is your desire to make your missionary grin, write a comment on their blog or Facebook post, or write a quick response when they send out an email newsletter. It will mean a lot to them!

5. Ask us what we need . . . 

. . . and then ask us about what we don't need, but would make us feel happy, and help make that happen! Some missionaries live in areas where they can't get certain comfort items, and these missionaries might love a care package, while others live in cities where they can purchase the same items anytime they want. Some missionaries would love to receive Christmas cards. Someone might enjoy having a video of their home church's Christmas pageant . . . but you won't know what your missionary needs or wants, until you ask.

A friend of mine wanted to give me a Christmas gift, and she asked what I'd like . . . and she asked on the same day that I was debating whether or not to spend some money on a service that would allow me to listen to music from the US over the internet. The cost of the service was exactly what she'd hoped to spend on a gift (around $50), and so, when she asked me what I wanted, and I told her about my desire, she was delighted to pay for me to have access to this music for a year. It was a much appreciated gift, but she wouldn't have known to give me that perfect gift, if she hadn't asked.

6. Start a conversation with us about life on the field . . . and then listen to our response. 

Life on the mission field is a complicated mashup of blessings and challenges, excitement and discouragement, triumphs and embarrassments. When people ask us about it, we often don't know if they want to hear the details or not, so we'll likely feel them out with a short answer like, "Oh, we're keeping busy." If you want to do something which will absolutely warm your missionary's heart, take the time to have a real conversation with them (face-to-face when they're home, or talking by phone or internet when they're far away), about what their life on the field is like, and how they're handling it all. (As a side note - be careful about making suggestions to help resolve your missionary's on-the-field problems. People who haven't lived in a particular culture have been known to make completely inappropriate suggestions. Feel free to suggest ways we might communicate better with folks in the home country, though.)

7. Ask us about the ministry . . . and listen to that information, too. 

As a rule, missionaries are passionate about what they do, but they know that sometimes people avoid the subject because there is the chance that the conversation will turn into a request for money. Ask the questions and listen to the answers anyway. I can't guarantee that the conversation won't come to the point where funding needs are discussed, but you can always tell us you can't help with that, if you need to. You wouldn't be the first to do so, LOL. We can handle it, and we'd still love the chance to talk about the ministry to someone who shows a real interest.

8. Tell us what's going on back home

This may be more pertinent for the newer missionaries. After a while, the new place often becomes home, but even then, it's always nice to hear the news from the old place. What's happening back there, while we're here? It feels good to be kept in the loop . . . as long as you let the missionary have a chance to share about their life, too (see numbers 5 and 6).

9. Become an ambassador for the ministry

You can act as an unofficial ambassador for your missionary, by sharing your excitement about their ministry with others. Share their posts on FB, pass along their newsletters, talk to your friends about what they're doing. Frequently, special projects (like our annual backpack project) are the ideal time to get your school, church, club, etc, involved with a ministry you support. The people who help our ministry in these ways, as official or unofficial ambassadors, are invaluable! See what your missionary is doing, and excitedly share that with others!

10. Pray some more!

Okay, I know that's a repeat, but really, that is the single most important thing you can do for your missionary, so I want to make certain that you hear and remember it!


Not everyone is called to be a full-time missionary, but everyone can help the full-time missionaries survive and thrive. There are lots of additional ways that you could support your missionary, so if you've got a suggestion, please share it in the comments. Not only will we all benefit from your idea, but you'll have completed number 4, as well! 

We're off to a great start!

Just a quick update on our fundraising drive, for the purchase of newer vehicles . . . check out the thermometer to the right -------->

We're up to $4,000 now! 

This is a great start, and we're excited to share this news with you! Our grateful thanks to those who have contributed so far, in helping us move toward the goal of meeting this extremely important need! Traveling to remote locations on the very difficult road conditions of western Honduras is central to our ministry, so safe, reliable, RUGGED transportation is essential.

If you'd like more information about this, or would like to contribute, here is the link you need.

Reclaiming ME!

I was speaking with a friend, recently, about baking bread - and I mentioned that I haven't done much of that for a very long while. Then I glibly explained, "Well, you know, I was kidnapped."

When my friend responded that it has been two years (!) since I was kidnapped, I recognized that I've been taking the easy way out in conversations . . . lumping together a lot of stressful and hard things which have happened over the past couple of years as part of the kidnapping. I know it's not all about the kidnapping, but I haven't necessarily wanted to explain all of the reasons I've been . . . floundering . . . for so long.

I believe, however, that I am starting to come out of that season of my life, and in honor of reclaiming me, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of what's been going on in my life, and where I believe things are headed.

You will likely recall that my daughter, Rachel, got married just three days before the kidnapping. Even though I'd had two children move out previously, her departure had an especially large impact on my day-to-day life because Rachel is a natural home-maker. Over the years, as she developed her skills in this area, I sacrificially (umm hmmm) allowed her to handle most of the housework: the cleaning, cooking, organizing, decorating, planning, household budgeting, shopping, menu planning, scheduling . . . well, you get the idea. Rachel ran the house. Of course it was hard on me, when Rachel left, trying to pick up all of the pieces of running the household - especially while recuperating from the trauma of being kidnapped. Makes sense, right?

Then, though this may be TMI for some, I'm a woman in my 50's and it was inevitable that menopause would be rearing up at some point. Although I'd had no noticeable signs before the kidnapping, I was in full menopause just a few months after. That was fun, dealing with wacky emotional and physical responses to the hormonal fluctuations, while also recuperating from being kidnapped, which apparently can also produce some interesting emotions.

Ben, partly in response to being kidnapped, partly in response to me being all over the place emotionally, and partly because he was in the throes of becoming a teenager at this same point in time . . . well, Ben became a handful to parent. A really BIG handful. And homeschooling him became the worst thing in my life. That was especially hard to deal with, while we were both getting over the effects of the kidnapping. (Are you sensing a theme, here?)

Then, within six months of Rachel getting married and moving out, Gus also left, to begin his life as a working adult and college student, in the US. This was hard on everyone. Gus had been the one who handled big things around the house for me - the lifting, the hauling, the filthy and dangerous stuff, etc. He also was GREAT with Ben, as Ben was struggling; so both Ben and I felt his loss very keenly.

Things shambled on in a messy way for a few months longer, until we came to a place where we had to resolve some serious, ongoing Ben issues. There's a lot of middle-story I'm leaving out, but in January of 2015 Ben started attending school, rather than being homeschooled. This has been a good change for everyone - but it has required a LOT of time and hard work in the adjustment, and we're not done adjusting yet! Because Ben was behind in his studies, he and I basically homeschooled in the evenings after school, from January through the end of the school year in June, to get him caught up with his class in the subjects which are taught in English at the school (math, science, history, Bible, and English).

Through the summer, we continued a (slightly less grueling) study schedule, which also included several hours of tutoring in Spanish, three days each week. At the end of the summer, just as Ben was heading back to school, Boo, the youngest daughter of the family, moved back to the US, to work for a year before starting in on college. Boo is a quiet one, but her sweet spirit and her willingness to jump in and help wherever she was needed is sorely missed here now!

Suddenly, I was alone in the house all day - no kids at all! Since this hasn't been the situation in my life for the past twenty eight years - and as homeschoolers the kids and I spent huge amounts of our time learning, working, and laughing together during those years - I think you can imagine how . . . adrift . . . I've been feeling lately.

However, with Ben's school situation gradually stabilizing - and now that I've had some time to adjust to the new realities in my life - well, I can see that the world is sort of opening up in a new way for me. I'm working on setting up some systems to get our home running more efficiently (including hiring household help) to free up my time for the things that I think God is calling me to do in the future. I'm not entirely sure what those things are, exactly, but I want to be ready for them!

I'm sure that working on writing my book is part of it. I'm suspicious that some public speaking may also be involved (although I haven't a clue how that would fit in with living in Honduras, but that's God's problem to figure out). I'd love to have a more hands-on part in our official ministry, now that my hands aren't as full with the ministry of raising the children. Beyond that, I'm praying and waiting to see exactly what the next season of life will hold for me.


Meanwhile, maybe I'll do a bit more baking . . . .

Phew - October was a tough month!

 

I never mention this online while it's happening, but now that it's over, I can tell you that Allen was gone from home for weeks, recently, doing fundraising in the US. While he was away, Russell, Clay, and I handled things here . . . and it was a particularly rocky time for me.



Here are just a few of the "special moments" I was privileged to experience in October . . .

First, I was driving home at dusk one evening, with Ben in the Land Cruiser, when suddenly my steering went out! It was quite a blessing that we were climbing a very steep hill at the time, and so making an immediate stop was not a problem. We were in a very dangerous spot along the road, where the one-lane-wide road has long, sheer drop offs on both sides! Had we been traveling the other direction, going steeply downhill, when our steering went out, this could have been a much more serious situation.

Another blessing was that, although we were on the road to our house, which hugs the side of a steep hill which completely blocks the cell phone signal the entire way, we were in the one spot where there's a ravine instead of a hill. Because of this, our phone was receiving a good cell signal where we broke down and we were able to contact Russell immediately, to come and rescue us.

Russell and Clay came out quickly, while Ben and I sat in the dark, with the car mostly blocking the road - which wasn't a problem, as no other vehicles came along before Russell got there. The guys were able to make an impromptu repair using wire, so that Russell could carefully limp along in that Land Cruiser to get it up onto our property. Clay drove Ben and I home in Russell's vehicle.

Then, because I wouldn't be able to drive Ben to the bus stop for school the next morning, Ben packed his clothing and school needs and headed back into town with Clay and Russell. For the following few days, Russell worked on repairing the damage to the vehicle, and Ben spent the nights in town. Russell was able to purchase the needed part and repair the vehicle before the following weekend, so I was back on the job, driving Ben back and forth to Gracias everyday . . . until . . .

Saturday morning, I picked up the gal who works for me in the house, out on the main road. She brought along her 13 year old sister (though I'm not sure why). Although my helper is comfortable around my dogs, her sister was not . . . and she screamed and ran, and one of the dogs attacked the girl, thinking she was protecting me. I grabbed the girl and was able to keep the dog from biting her face or neck, but in the process the dog also bit me, in the ankle.

We both had to go to the hospital for stitches (and our family had to put down our most protective watch dog), and then I spent another week staying home, while Ben spent school nights at Russell's house. I had to sit quietly, with my ankle elevated, most of that time, as it was difficult to walk on that leg, and it would swell up if I didn't stay off of it.

After just over a week, my wounds were healed enough that I could start driving again. The first day I drove Ben to town in the morning, but when I went back to pick him up following his after-school sports my engine started making a strange noise. Since I was in Gracias at the time the noise started, I drove the few blocks to Russell's house and had him check it out. Sadly, the problem was that my 16 year old engine was in need of being rebuilt - a huge and expensive undertaking!

Once again, Ben packed up and moved in at Russell's house for the week of school. This time I wasn't injured, I was just stuck at home without a vehicle. Russell was, as always, amazing about picking up my responsibilities in addition to his own. This repair took two weeks to be completed, but finally the vehicle was back together and Russell and the mechanic took it for a short, gentle test drive. They drove to the nearby gas station to put in some fuel.

At the gas station they told the attendant to put in 1000 lempiras worth of fuel (in Honduras, there are no self service pumps in gas stations), and while the attendant was pumping the fuel into the vehicle, Russell and the mechanic both had their heads under the hood, adjusting things in the engine. After paying for the fuel, they headed back up the road, but the didn't get very far before things went VERY wrong. The engine began racing uncontrollably, and the Land Cruiser began to spew huge clouds of black smoke! They tried to turn off the vehicle, but the engine wouldn't stop running! Eventually they were able to stop it by disconnecting a fuel line, but not until significant NEW damage was done to the engine.

It turns out that the cause of this event was that the attendant at the gas station had put gasoline into the vehicle, instead of diesel . . . in spite of the fact that it is clearly labeled for diesel! Here in Honduras there is no expectation that companies will be responsible for damages caused by their employees, so we knew we had to pay for yet another major engine repair. Sigh.

The vehicle went into the repair shop again, and after another week the fuel injector was repaired (or possibly replaced, I'm not sure). Everything was put back together again, and we started to drive the Land Cruiser again . . . but . . .

A few days later, the engine started making a continuous high pitched whine. We haven't yet found out the cause, or what it will cost to repair.

Sigh. Currently, Allen and I only own this one, 16-year-old vehicle. We sold our other Land Cruiser a few months ago (it was older and higher mileage than this one - and we sold it because of the cost of continued repairs and maintenance), and we are anticipating purchasing a newer used pick up truck, fairly soon. Meanwhile, Russell and Clay keep loaning us their vehicles, or chauffeuring us to town and such.

So, that's the recap of some of the difficulties we've been dealing with in October. It has been a long, annoying and expensive month! Because some of you reading this are our supporters, and will want to know this information, the costs to repair this vehicle, so far, have been around $6000. We're always trying to find the most economical line between purchasing a newer vehicle and repairing the old ones. Up until recently, repairing the Land Cruisers - the ultimate vehicles for our location and terrain - has been the obvious choice. Now, we're praying again about how best to use the funds we have, to make sure that we have the transportation we need for both personal and ministry uses.

The big coffee planting season is now behind us

August and September bring regular, torrential rains to our area. It is during these months that the tender young coffee plants are moved from their sheltered nurseries out into the fields. 

Landowners in our part of Honduras are putting in acres and acres of coffee; more every year. It's a fabulous crop for the conditions here - since it can be grown on rocky hillsides, which we have in abundance, and the plants thrive in this climate. Another benefit is that the coffee can be planted in the ground below existing trees, which decreases the likelihood of erosion problems.

The mountainous terrain excludes the possibility of mechanized farming in much of Honduras, and the country people in our area are quite knowledgeable about and experienced with agricultural work. We have no difficulty finding extra laborers when we need them for our busy planting season.

This is the back of Russell's Land Cruiser, with the seats folded up,
moving a load of new coffee plants down to the fields for planting

This hillside has already been planted with coffee plants in straight rows among the existing trees. 

Workers fertilizing the young plants. The fertilizer is in the baskets strapped to their waists,
 and they use the tool, with a single straight blade on the end of a long handle,
to create a small pocket in the dirt near each plant.

In areas where there are fewer shade trees available, the men plant plantain or banana
 plants.These fast growing, leafy plants quickly add shade to the fields, 
as well as providing us with additional crops of bananas and plantains!

Workers spraying to prevent bug and fungus damage. Here in the tropics, either of these can 
wipe out a field of plants pretty quickly, so it's a constant battle to keep them under control.

Russell giving you an idea of the size of the stem
of a coffee plant which went into the ground last year

We're definitely pleased with how our sustainable ministry project is coming along. So far, there has been a large investment of time and money, and we've made great progress! A harvest is not expected in the first or second year, but in spite of that, it looks like we will be able to collect enough beans this year to fill a couple of large sacks, from the plants which went into the ground last year.