For the past week or so……….

Hola Amigos y Familia!  We wanted to give you an update of what’s been going on with us in Honduras for the past week or so.  We are still attending classes everyday and were able to attend afternoon classes last week as the school needed to change some things around.  That was a good change for us, as we really enjoyed being able to sleep a little later. However, it doesn’t leave much time in the evening to do much else as school doesn’t get out until 5:30 and it was usually raining by then. 

We were invited to have dinner at a Honduran friend’s house on Tuesday night and enjoyed the best Honduran meal that we have had thus far. I (Hope) met Andy Chirrinos when I spent some time in Honduras in 2005.  He is a nice, Christian, young man who loves the Lord, serves in his church, attends the local university and works as an appliance technician.  We were able to meet his entire family (photo above, minus his siblings) that evening.  He has two younger brothers and one younger sister and a precious mother and father.  We spent the evening conversing in SPANISH as Andy is the only one who can speak English and his vocabulary is limited.  Andy has recently started playing the guitar and singing at his church and has been eager to meet Grant so that he could learn more about music from him.  Grant was able to show Andy and his brothers some chords on the guitar and we all sang a few praise songs in English and Spanish………..it was a beautiful time.  I was certainly awestruck when during our visit, the mother, excused herself from the table to go and pray.  Andy told us that everynight she goes into her room at 9:00 p.m. and prays for one hour.  The boldness that this woman had to leave her company at the table and choose to go and sit at the feet of Jesus should be an example for us all.  I know that I was changed from the experience!

This past weekend we celebrated Grant’s birthday on Roatan Island, one of the Bay Islands off the coast of northern Honduras.  It is a very beautiful Caribbean island and has been called “the up and coming Hawaii.”  However, it is still pretty primitive and not as commercialized as most Caribbean islands.  We did have a great time and were able to enjoy a few days of R&R before heading back to school.

Even though Roatan has some beautiful scenery there still lies a very dark side to this island.  Behind the crystal clear waters, the white sand beaches, and the tropical foliage live some very poor, sick and lost families.  As in most of Honduras, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and the same applies in Roatan.  We were able to visit an orphanage and a very poor area called “The Swamp.”  Our driver, Omar, is a Christian and is eager to help us with any transportation needs that we may have for traveling to Roatan for future mission trips.  The owner of the resort that we stayed in is from Idaho and has much experience with housing, feeding and transporting mission teams in Roatan.  We were able to discuss with him plans for mission work in the area and he is more than willing to help us with whatever ground work is needed for our teams.  We are very excited about the relationships made during this weekend trip and look forward to seeing what work the Lord would have us do on Roatan Island.

So, now we are back in La Ceiba and are attending morning classes again.  Above is a photo of where we live.  We live on the top floor and the bottom is the home of the family that owns this complex.  It is a very beautiful place and we are enjoying our stay.  We are progressing fairly well in our Spanish classes, however, the real key to learning is practice, practice and more practice.  The more that we go into the community and communicate and associate with the people the more we actually learn. Practicing within the community is most definitely the best teacher. 

As of today, Grant is not feeling well.  It seems as though we go a few days with a good stomach and then something happens and we are back to square one again.  We have decided to be MORE careful about what and where we eat and drink.  It is very difficult sometimes to know what is safe and what is not safe and usually our stomach lets us know real soon.  Please pray for healing for Grant and for continued protection for us.  We know that Satan is lurking to steal, kill and destroy anything that we might do for the Lord, so intercession on our behalf is very important.  We also covet your prayers for open doors for ministry and for the hearts of the people here.

Thanks again to you all for your continued support and prayers.  We would love to hear from you so please email us at voyageofhope@gmail.com  You may also leave comments on this site if you would like.  It would be great to hear from folks back home.  Lots of love and blessings to you all.  Hasta luego!