just wanted to let you guys know that I'm home in Pennsylvania. I got home late last night and LOVED sleeping in my own bed and having cold 1% milk on my cereal this morning. thanks for reading my blog and for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers these past 50 days! I will try and post pictures soon. Better yet, hang out with me and see them in person. : )

Well, my plane leaves in less than 3 hours to come back to Pennsylvania. I CAN'T believe that my trip is over. This past week I hardly did any ministry, and it was more like a vacation than a mission trip. Rose and I spent the week hanging out with our new friends who translated for us when we were in Copan. We went dancing, to the mall, to the movies, to a water park, and to Espresso Americano for lattes (I have to admit, i really miss Starbucks). I defintiely feel guilty in some ways, because I wish I could have helped Mauricio and Ana more with Juventud Para Cristo. But, the Sex, Lies, and the Truth program got put off until next week. I did help Rose navigate her way around San Pedro Sula, and we met with teachers at schools where she is going to teach this year.

Yesterday Mauricio and Ana asked me to write a paper describing my time here and what I learned, liked, and didn't like. Since I LOVED every minute of my trip, it's mostly a positive paper. So, here it is, my "final paper/exit interview/whatever you want to call it.

Friday night, August 18, 2006

In the summer of 2005, I began praying about spending a summer in Honduras, working with Juventud Para Cristo. My pastor Joelle and I met every week for coffee at Starbucks, and prayed about my trip. I was nervous about leaving Pennsylvania for such a long amount of time. When I went away to college in Massachusetts in the all of 2002, I was extremely homesick, and did not adapt well to my environment. That bad experience away from home hindered me from ever venturing outside of West Chester to study abroad or travel. My “failure” to leave home in 2002, as I wrongly labelled it, left a very big impression on my young mind and heart.

Satan used that against me for the past four years. He made me believe that I would never be able to live far away from my family. I envied my friends who were able to study abroad in beautiful places such as Spain, Italy, South Africa, and Romania. I envied my friends who went to college far away in Virginia and Florida. And, unfortunately, I believed that I could never do that. Even some of my friends and family were sceptical when I said that I wanted to live in Honduras with the Erazos. “Remember what happened the last time you went away, Sara? Honduras is very far away, and you can’t just come home for the weekend. I don’t know if you will be able to do that.” And, I believed them, too.

But, still, God is more powerful than Satan, and I felt God calling me to Honduras for the summer of 2006. Joelle and I began to pray that God would show me how long to go to Honduras. We prayed that he would give me the confidence to spend time away from my friends and family. Specifically, I prayed that I would meet people who would be my family and friends when I was in Honduras. Towards the end of the summer and the beginning of the fall, I felt comfortable with the idea of spending the summer in Honduras. Joelle and I kept praying, and I asked some other friends to pray for my summer abroad. Mauricio and Ana Erazo kept saying, “We would love to have you. Trust in God. Please come down for the whole summer, or even just a few weeks.”

Finally, I decided to spend seven weeks in Honduras. I felt comfortable with that amount of time, knowing that it would be long enough to experience life in a different culture. I wasn’t idealistic about my trip, thinking that it would be all fun and I would never get homesick. I just prayed that those moments of homesickness and loneliness would be few and far between.

God put people in my life here in Honduras to become my new family and friends. One day, a week and a half into my trip I got extremely sick with a virus at Tela. The whole day I was getting sick in the bathroom and felt miserable. All I wanted was my dad and my own bed. I didn’t know if I would survive the two hour bus ride back to San Pedro Sula. But Rick Beck, a missionary living in Tegucigalpa, sat with me on the bus ride home. He put ice packs on my back and neck to cool my fever. He rubbed my feet and told me to “hang in there” and comforted me as we drove back to San Pedro Sula. Rick selflessly took care of me, and acted exactly how my own dad would have acted in that situation. Through Rick, God reached out to me and told me that He is able to put people in our lives to act as our family when our own family isn’t able to comfort us. Although I felt awful, Rick’s presence was exactly what I needed that night.

Mauricio and Ana also acted like my parents during my time here. They welcomed me into their family with open arms and I felt immediately accepted. I helped them do the mundane things that I do at home, like going grocery shopping, running errands, and helping with dinner. I lived with Ana’s mother, Corina, in Honduras and she treated me like a granddaughter. She always asked if I needed anything, and took care of me when I was sick. Ana’s entire extended family made me a part of their family from the very first day I arrived. Keren’s cousins became my Cait, Kelli, and Erin. Ana’s sisters became my aunts. It was amazing how they invited me into their family the way that they did.

God also gave me amazing friends to spend time with down here. David and Rose, the other interns were wonderful to have around. We all learned more Spanish together and did ministry together as well. I didn’t even know that David and Rose would be in Honduras working with Juventud Para Cristo with me. It was a wonderful surprise to have them in Honduras. I was really sad when David left two weeks ago, and I don’t know how I am going to say goodbye to Rose tomorrow. I can’t possibly write down all the names of my new friends from Honduras, but they encouraged me and hand fun with me and introduced me to wonderful things like baleadas, Calle 13, City Mall and half price movies on Tuesdays.

All in all, I learned about how perfectly God provides for me. He knew exactly what I needed for my time in Honduras. He knew who to place in my life to be my family and friends during my seven weeks here. Most of the time here I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know what each day would hold. At first, I hated not knowing anything. But after a week, I adjusted to the laid back pace. My friend Kristina was shocked to read that I didn’t wear my watch anymore. She knows how time-oriented I can be. I love wearing a watch, and squeezing the most that I can into each day. As the days wore on here in Honduras, I grew to love having all this free time to talk to my friends, and be willing and able to do anything that the Erazos asked me to do. After dinner each night we would just sit around talking for 20 or 30 minutes. It’s a far cry from the quick dinners and rushing to clean up afterwards that I am used to doing. One Sunday afternoon I sat around and talked with Ana’s family for four hours. In that time we ate lunch, and cleaned up from lunch, and then went back to the family room to talk some more. I don’t think that I ever spend that much time just talked to my friends and family with nothing else to do except on holidays. God showed me that I can trust him to work out all of the little details in life and just go along for the ride.

I enjoyed learning Spanish more, sharing my testimony, and loved seeing God encourage and affirm me and tell me that I can live away from home. Tonight, as I go to bed for the last time in Honduras, I am filled with emotions of happiness and sadness. I am excited to hug my mom and dad and friends again, but I am not anxious to go back to work and the faster paced life in West Chester. This morning Ana and Mauricio both encouraged me to change my lifestyle in the United States to reflect a slower pace. To spend more time with the Lord each day, and more quality time with my friends and family. I pray that I can do so. And, I would appreciate your prayers for that as well. I do not want to leave my new family in Honduras, nor do I want to leave all of my friends. It will be hard to say goodbye to everyone tonight and tomorrow. This summer not only gave me new life experiences, but it also gave me the confidence I needed in myself to branch out and experience new things in life. I am so thankful that God put me here in Honduras these past seven weeks to use me and help me grow as a young woman and also as a Christian.

Hopefully I will be able to talk to each of you who read this when I get back to Pennsylvania before I go to school in September. I can't wait to see you guys!!

The week with my church in La Entrada has been great... tough but great. We are working in barrio copante, which is about a half mile up a hill outside of La Entrada. Most days we get a ride up and down, but a few times we´ve had to walk, and I don´t know how these Hondurans do it day after day, multiple times a day. The heat is intense... not to mention the 50 degree rocky slope.

A girl from my church singlehandedly decided to start the first library in La Entrada, and the dedication service was today. It´s amazing to hear her story of the 17 months of work, and then see the building and the hudnreds of books in the library.

I have been incharge of the kids, which is more crowd control than teaching. But, we found a happy medium of playing duck duck goose and singing a lot, and then they coorporate and listen to out Bible stories and work well in groups of 4 kids to every translator or gringo. The group from my church is smaller this year, but we have gotten along really well.

It is still hard to see all the poverty in La Entrada... the dirt houses, the kids playing with dirt and other things because they don´t have toys... armless men begging on the street for money... it´s hard to process and see where God is in everything, and how he works everything together for his purposes.

I´m worried about all of this TSA stuff and my flight next week... they seem really strict, and I´ve already heard horror stories about 2 hour long lines for checkpoints in the airports. It really be a rude welcoming back into the United States for me next Saturday evening.

time for dinner... i hope everything is well in the states... thanks for reading all of this!

My church arrived all safe and sound yesterday. It took us a while to find them in the airport, because it took them an hour to go through customs, but we arrived in La Entrada, Copan yesterday around 4. After dropping our luggage off in the hotel, we went to a school where they were all waiting for us with balloons and cards that they had made for us. It has been 2 years since I have seen some of the kids, and it´s amazing how big they get! For those of you who went before, I saw Kevin, his brother Roberto... Esther´s son Josue, and then Freddy´s kids Karina and Arnold. After that, we headed to Copante, which is the name of the barrio (neighborhood) where we are going to work this week. They had a welcome sign for us that said "Welcome to our Westmister Brothers". Yet another way to misspell our church`s name : ) But, the decorated and layed down pine needles (a welcoming for royalty) and had balloons and streamers. I am excited to get to know the people down there.

I´m roomming with Kelsey and Anne, and it is so good to see Kels again... since we spent all summer together last year with church stuff, and I haven´t seen her in 6 weeks. I´m getting to know Anne, and she is an amazing girl... I wish I had gotten to know her before I´m going off to school. For her Girl Scout Gold project, she decided to start the first library in La Entrada, and promised to financially support it for 3 years, and donate 1000 Spanish books, and then the mayor promised to integrate the operating costs of the library into the town budget in 3 years. The dedication service is Friday afternoon at 3.

Everyone is filling me in on things that I have missed at church and in West Chester. The weather here in La Entrada is a welcoming change from West Chester weather. Mom, those brownies that you made were delivered to me, and they are amazing! My roommates and I have been eating them nonstop.... I think I had 5 yesterday and just as many today... whoops! I didn´t realize how much I missed chocolate and walnuts these past 37 days.

Our group is pretty ecclectic, but all together, we work well. Rose (the missionary who is staying with the Erazos for a year starting yesterday) and her sister Desirae are here, then there are 19 people from my church, the Erazos, and 13 translators from 2 different towns. (Jeremiah, Ana Luisa, and Abraham, Lauren are translating again for our group)

The food is amazing as usual, and it was fun to go swimming this evening after going to church this morning, and going to Rancho Vida this afternoon for lunch and to unpack supplies and play soccer against the indios (Hondurans). Michel and I are killing an hour before dinner at 7.

I cannot believe that my trip is almost over. I´m excited to spend this next week with my church and help the people living in Copante.

Richard, I hope you´re having a great birthday... I´m going to try and call you later, but apparently someone is using the line right now, and I might have to go to dinner before I can call you. But, I´ve been thinking about you all day! Love you!

Megan and I made it back to SPS safely, in only 4 hours... and I successfully negociated my way around SPS in a taxi to get back to Mauricio and Ana. Since then we've been super busy. She leaves tomorrow morning already!

On Sunday night we visited a small village where Mauricio and others had planted a church and built houses after hurricane Mitch. David and Santiago skate boarded with the boys, and then we went to their church service in the evening.

Yesterday was did some odds and ends around the office, and then went to see Rojo in concert (rojoweb.com). Apparently they´re really big... who knows... I didn´t really understand any of their songs, but we were right up front, so I got some good pictures. It was a big free concert in a huge church that seats 15,000.... and there were tons of youth there. It was excited to see them all get passionate and sing along with Rojo.

This morning we went to a pool and just layed out and swam and ate lunch. It was amazing! I loved it. We went swimming at a hotel, and apparently the Honduran president was there giving a speech or something. There were media and police and the presidential helicoptor outside of the hotel... but, I didn´t get to see the president. I guess he didn´t want to talk with gringos. : (

Tonight we´re seeing Pirates of the Caribbean... for $1.25, because it´s half price night at the movies. We´re going on a hike at 6am tomorrow morning... to see all of San Pedro before Megan leaves. It will be beautiful, but I don´t think that the 5:30 wake up call will be so fun.

Today marks the day I´ve been here for a month... it honestly feels like 2 days. My church comes down on Saturday, and then it´s off to La Entrada, Copan with them for a week.

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth Mead!

after a relaxing night on Wednesday with Megan watching chick flicks and eating popcorn, I woke up yesterday sick... awful sick... like before. I thought taking cipro and eating raisin bran (something normal and USAmerican) that I would feel better, but on our way to hail down a taxi, I got sick again, so we trudged back to Megan's house and I slept and watched tv all afternoon. Yesterday was supposed to be our fun girl day, going to Valle Los Angeles, and shopping and stuff, but I was too weak to do anything. I got sick once again this morning, but am now back to almost 100%. I was miserable yesterday, and just wanted to be in my own bed with cambells chicken noodle soup and ginger ale.... but, alas... I was in Honduras watching bad tv. At least Megan was there to help me and laugh with me and get me something if I needed it.

Since I was feeling better today, I managed to get out of the house, and we visited a high school where Megan will give English lessons. After a quick stop at Pizza Hut for lunch (I miss the pizza hut on High Street in WC), we went to feed the people living at the trash dump.

Before the trash dump story, I'll tell you a funny one that David and I continually crack up after repeating to each other. We were eating baleadas at a vendor in a market in the heart of San Pedro Sula last Friday, and no, it probably wasn't the cleanest place imaginable. But, we said grace, and then said "i hope I don't get sick!" Then, a Mercy Ships doctor comes up to us and is asking what we're eating, and if we're going to buy anyhting at the market, and he's drinking something that he got from the same vendor. He was telling us how good it was, but then he said "Well, I'd drink the rest of this, but you never know how it's made. I hope I don't get bacterial endocargitis from drinking this." Bacterial endocargitis? what the heck is that? I don't even know if I remmeber exactly what he said. But, when he left, all David could say is "wow... i'm glad I'm not a doctor, and know about all the germs that I'm probably eating right now..." and took a big sip of his drink and continued to eat his baleada. I'll have to do the impression for you guys, beause it was so funny the way he used those big words around us like it was nothing.

anyway...

If there was ever a time when "I just threw up a little bit in my mouth" (name that movie...), it was at the city dump. each Friday, Rick and Kim and their friends bring 100 plates of food and water upto the city dump to feed and minister to the people living there. I don't think anything could have prepared me for the sights... or especially the smell. We traveled up this road and got to an open field... probably 2 football fields long and 2 wide, and there were hundreds of big black vultures picking on everything, and on the hilltop looking down on us. On the side of the hill you could see little huts made out of PVC piping, tires, and cardboard where people lived. All day every day they just dug through the trash looking for food to eat, clothes to wear, and things to barder or sell to others. Everyone there was filthy and smelled... of course... because they live and walk through trash all day every day. A dump truck came while we were there, and the men and women ran up to it with big bags and started searching through the trash with their bare hands as soon as the truck started dumping stuff out.

I was just shocked. People live like this? Their hands are black and encrusted with dirt and germs, and then they use their hands as forks and spoons and lick them clean? The smell was just awful... trash and poop and rotting food and fruit, and then just magnified by 100. You didn't want to be rude and have a disgusted look on your face, but it took a few minutes for me not to gag every time I took a breath. There were flies everywhere, and no one cared. So, we shared the gospel a little bit, and then gave them their food and water... within the hour, we were on our way home... But I'll never be the same. I wont even touch my brother's dirty tissues on the bathroom floor without being grossed out, and here are these people living among trash.

It really affected and humbled me. I don't even know where my trash is dumped...let alone if people are living in it.

Megan and I are traveling back to SPS tomorrow (unless there is a blockade again)... please pray for our safety.

hello everyone! I'm now in the capital city of Honduras, which is only 3.5 hours (and $14.50) by bus from San Pedro Sula. BUT.... that doesn't take into consideration that sometimes, teachers like to randomly go on strike because they are unhappy with their wages, and make the major highway impassable for a day, which is what they chose to do yesterday. No cars/busses were getting to or from Teguc for a good part of yesterday. So, to make a long story short, I didn't arrive in Teguc at 2pm as planned...... I got there at 7pm... 5 hours late. So, sitting on a bus from 10:30-7 wasn't that exciting, and it was downright boring. But, I watched 3 movies in spanish and listened to my iPod. God was really awesome, because a super nice and bilingual Honduran woman in front of me let me use her cell phone a few times, and another woman from the front of the bus noticed that I didn't ever get up or eat anything, so she gave me some of her crackers to eat, and made me take 3 instead of just one. The woman next to me gave me gum, and I'm hoping it was just to be nice, and not because my breath smelled really badly. haha. Then, this Honduran doctor and her 15 year old bilingual son made me wait in their truck with them until the Becks picked me up, because "you are a gringa, and it is not safe for a pretty girl like you to be all alone. I am a Christian, and my son speaks English, and we will not hurt you. But you are not safe outside here. Please sit in our truck with us." So nice! I've realized in Honduras that you just have to trust people, because they (most of the time) really want to help you. Now, I'm not about to go walking around by myself or anything, but God put those people there to help me yesterday.

Teguc is not as hot as SPS, and breezes feel amazing. I ate dinner last night and breakfast this morning outside on the porch overlooking Teguc. It was beautiful. I love spending time with the Becks and their 3 foster children again. Their intern Megan, who is 22 and from Michigian (yeah, Babbs!), is AWESOME and we've hit it off... I'm just sad that I'm not staying longer to come back and visit her more. But, sh'es coming to SPS for 5 days with me next week. We're in our own house tonight, and we're gonna watch a movie, and eat popcorn, and we went shopping and grabbed dinner at the mall tonight, 3 blocks away.

this afternoon we went to a prison and ministered to the juvenile girls there. The prisons are awful here, and the government hates gangs to much that the president allows the guards to machine gun down inmates, and then set a fire to burn the bodies, so it looks accidental. Just last week 2 of the inmates were found dead... and it's never exactly certain of how they die... people just say it's because of other inmates. The prison is in 4 sections, adult male, adult female, juvenile boys, and juvenile girls.... and only the adult men ever die. But, the gangs are awful in Honduras, and the two main gangs are 18 and 13... which were the two prominent numbers in the mayan culture (18 rabbit was the name of the most powerful king in the mayan culture, and he was king #13, and after he died, the civilization when to pieces.).... so.... maybe it's a conicidence... maybe it's something else... who knows, but those numbers are very prominent and almost synonymous with bad and evil in Teguc.

But, the girls at the prison were sweet, and I can't help but think of that Nelson Mandela quote where he said something like "you don't know a country until you've been inside it's prisons." my friend Bethany had it in her profile one time on AIM, i think.... anyway, it's so true.. Those girls have awful stories, but yet some of them have changed, and need people to spend time with them and/or minister to them, because their families don't visit them a lot. My friend Carrie works with girls like that in PA, and it gives me even more respect for her now, than I did before, beause she works with those types of girls from Chester County. They can be tough, and I've heard stories from Carrie, and also from the Becks about the girls in Honduras, but I was humbled that I got to see their ministry to these girls there today. I'd love to start a prison ministry or something back in West Chester or up at Princeton, or at least visit a prison in USAmerica, because I can't say that I've done that before.

Tomorrow we're probably going to go to Valles de Angeles, which is goregous, and has fun stores and good shopping. Fridays are the City Dump ministry, and I will go with Megan and the Becks to that.... more about that later when I know exactly what it is.

It's great to get out of SPS for a few days, and see another part of the country. The views here are beautiful, because it is so much more mountainous. Have a great rest of the week!

the first picture is of me and Richard hanging out at the camp. The second is of Emily, Mary, and me (they are from California) cooking dinner on July 4th. We were in charge of the hot dogs and the chili. Next is David and Jon hanging out at the camp.... his hair isn´t always like that. And, then the last and best picture is me driving the big school bus last Thursday. Enjoy!

I tried to add a few pictures from the past 3 1/2 weeks, but the internet connection is slow, and it´s only letting me upload one at a time. Sorry! But, here is the pictureof nicole, david, jon and me from the Copan Ruins. hopefully there will be more pictures to come.

I´m still alive and well down in San Pedro Sula.... I can´t believe that my trip is going this fast. Last Thursday we went to pick up the Mercy Ships team, and Mauricio pulled the bus over to the side of the road and asked if I wanted to drive. At first I said no, but then I thought "why not?" So I got to drive a big yellow school bus on a dirt road for about 20 minutes. There weren´t many cars around, and I only passed 3 people, but it was still a fun experience. All the Hondurans were honking and laughing and waving when they saw a little gringa at the wheel. Jimmy and David were jealous of my bus driving skills, and Mauricio has a picture to prove that it actually happened. I´m hoping he´ll upload it onto the computer so I can show everyone. Jeremiah laughed at me as I pulled the bus into the field next to the Mercy Ships clinic. Although I never drove on a big open road, and wasn´t ever going over 30 miles an hour, driving the bus was really fun.

Friday was the last day for the Mercy Ships team, and we headed to some waterfalls about an hour away. They were huge, and some of us got to go down and through/behind the falls. I figured we´d get a little wet, and it would be challenging at times, but I had no idea what we were in for. At times as we made our way to the falls we were in water upto our necks, and couldn´t see anything or hear anything. It had rained the night before, so the current was swift, and the water was high. I was holding Brittney´s hand the whole time, (a girl on the Mercy Ships team who goes to Gordon College), and could hear her shout out "grab the rock" or "watch out for a big rick" and things like that occasionally. All the waterfalls I´ve ever seen have been in PA, and are so small in comparison, and I was surprised at the power of the falls when we were hiking/swimming around them. We finally made it under one of the falls and out of the water for a bit, and we were all amazed and a little bit shocked at what we had just done. A very intense experience, and my pictures probably wont do it justice. We explored a cave, and then trudged/swam back the way we came, more confident in our ability to actually succeed in making it back to the path. I lost my hat at somepoint... I thought the guide grabbed it off of my head, but when I asked him about it he started to laugh and said "that was the waterfalls, Sara. Not me." Friday night was spent in the Erazos usual way of Shabbot, and then David, Keren, and Oscar and I went out to talk. I was tired from hiking and exploring waterfalls all day.

On Saturday we went to La Entrada to Mauricio´s camp for a revival with a local church. Mauricio had told me that we weren´t going to sleep, so I took him literally, and didn´t pack anything. When I got there I quickly realized that, although we´d stay up late singing and whatnot, there would be time to sleep and even shower... if only I had brought things to do so. Thankfully Karina is almost my size and I squeezed into some of her pants and borrowed a shirt. We went on a hike on Saturday when we arrived, and about 10 minutes into it it started raining, thundering, and lightening... everyone got soaked, and we hiked the last 20 minutes in the rain. I was really frustrated (and soaked) when I got back to the camp, and that´s when Karina stepped in with her extra clothes. On Saturday night during the "seminars" I was cold for the first time in my trip! I´m not really sure what the pastor was talking about on Saturday night or Sunday morning, but I enjoyed the singing, and the team building exercises that we did. I loved getting out of SPS, too.

Keren turned 19 yesterday, and we celebrated last night with chinese food, 25 of her friends, and kareoke. I didn´t know that kareoke could be so much fun for 2 straight hours. I sang some Britney Spears and Spice Girls with Keren and her cousin Melissa. Oscar did some Spanish rap that sounded cool, although I have no idea what he was saying... and one of Keren´s friends could belly dance.

Tomorrow I go to Tegucigalpa to visit Rick and Kim until Saturday, and I am so excited for something new and different. I will try and post a blog while I´m there.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and today have been very low key days for me, David and Jimmy. The Mercy Ships team doesn´t need us, so we basically spend our days just hanging out and running errands with Mauricio and Ana. We visited two schools yesterday and spoke with the principals about teaching a series on "sex, lies, and the truth". Both of the schools welcomed the idea, and we will run the first series on August 14-18, which is my last week here. It will be an exciting week! Ana and Mauricio love teaching that series, and they say that the kids respond well to it.

Mauricio apologized to David and me about this summer being a "transition" summer with not a whole lot of ministry going on in San Pedro Sula. They are moving into their new house, and trying to make some money and raise support, so they do not have as many ministry opportunities going on as they usually do. But, we assured him that we don´t mind, and that we´re not bored, and that we love helping him in whatever way we can. This, right now, means that we´re attempting to create a website for him, and put together newsletters, and thank you notes.

Yesterday Jimmy, David, and I were true tourists and spend the afternoon at the Museum of History and Anthropology of San Pedro Sula. It was only $2.00 to get in, and they had various artifacts like clay dishes and tools, etc. etc. It was just your typical museum. Except, during our meanderings we realized that there were an awful lot of armed security officers and policemen around, and then we saw these Japaneese Naval men coming around the corner, obviously on a tour of the museum. Apparently they were very high ranking officials in the Japaneese navy, and we probably should have taken pictures. But, I spoke Spanish with one of the officers, and it was strange speaking spanish with a Japaneese man.

When we picked up the Mercy Ships team yesterday we had to wait on the bus for a few minutes while they were packing up. I looked out the window and saw my friend Jeremiah who had translated for us on two pervious trips! It was so wonderful to see him and his little brothers Abraham and Issac. Abraham had translated for one of my trips, too. Jeremiah and I caught up for a little bit, and he´s going to try and come to Copan to spend a few days with our team from Westminster when they come down in August. This afternoon we are putting on a magic show in a town with the Mercy Ships team, and I´m hoping he´s there so we can catch up some more. It is so great to be in a random place and then see an old friend you weren´t expecting to ever see again.

Tomorrow we are going to a waterfall with the Mercy Ships team. I don´t exactly know what that entails, but it will probably be fun. Jimmy leaves on Saturday afternoon, and on Saturday Mauricio, David, and I are taking a youth group (with their leaders) of 50 kids to the camp in La Entrada for a revival. Apparently we´re staying there until Sunday morning, and not sleeping. It could be very interesting. During our English lessons last night we practiced 3 skits/dramas to perform on Saturday night. Our English lessons are going well, and I enjoy spending time with Rosa, Karina, Santiago, and Carlos. They are constantly helping me and David with our English.

All in all I am safe and having a blast. Yes, I´m safe even when we´re driving and passing cars... (mom). I can´t believe that next Tuesday is the halfway point for my trip. I hope everyone reading this is doing well, too.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Donna!!!!

David and I have been keeping very busy since the last group left. I find that if I don´t journal every night, that I forget all the fun and crazy things that happen. TGIFridays is definitely the place to go in San Pedro Sula. We went there one night last week, and the music is all this pop and hip hop music from the states, and it´s so loud. Everyone is dressed up really nice like they´re at a club. David and I were thinking ¨this is not like the Friday´s in the states....¨ and, the wait staff has to wear crazy hats on thier heads, and we were embarrassed for them. My cheeseburger tasted really good.

One day last week we drove back to Copan to take care of some business there, and then david drove us back home to SPS. He´s officially Honduran, and I am proud of him. He used his horn way too much and passed slower drivers... some times 3 and 4 cars at a time. If you can do that on the windy roads of Honduras, then you´re officially one of them. I´m at a disadvantage, ebcause I can´t even drive stick shift, so I don´t think I´ll ever been honduran enough to drive here.

Mauricio and Ana have a Friday night ritual of Shabbot where she cooks a big meal all day, and also makes bread from scratch. He brings her flowers, and then we all sit down to a big meal with wine. After the meal is over, they read scriptures... probably for half an hour, and then we all pray. It was really fun to be a part of that, and they read scriptures in English so David and I could understand what was going on. Ana takes that 4th commandment very seriously, and they have been doing this every Friday night for years and years and years.

I´m back on a 50-50 ratio with hot and cold showers, and I am also feeling much better. Doña Cori continues to be a fun host and makes sure that I´m eating properly. Her maid Miriam is always willing to wash my dishes for me, but I feel strange making her do that when I´m completely capable of doing that myself. I also left my laundry in the dryer one day for a few hours, and when I came back, she had it folded for me.

Keren and her boyfriend Oscar make life fun for David and I in San Pedro Sula. On Sunday night we went to the mall and went shopping for a while, and then saw Superman Returns in English with Spanish sub titles. It was really inexpensive, only 50 limpera, which is a whopping $2.60. On Tuesday nights, movies are half price... so David and I really want to go to the movies tonight for 1.25. But, Priates of the Carribbean isn´t out yet, so I´ll have to wait a little bit. The 4 of us just laugh and laugh when we´re together. I play the part of the ¨confused gringa who doesn´t know what is going on half of the time¨ very very well.

Yesterday we traveled to Tegucigalpita which is in the very northeastern part of Honduras, near Puerto Cortes. We took the team from Mercy Ships there to an orphanage so they could do some VBS and give lessons on CPR. A guy from Kemtucky named Jimmy is down here for the week to meet with Mauricio and set things up so his church can come down here for trips with Youth For Christ. He´s our age, and the 3 of us weren´t really doing much at the orphanage. THey didn´t need translators, and there were just about as many oprphans as gringos, so Mauricio took the 3 of us to a little store for a lunch ($10.00 for all 4 of us) that was fried chicken, rice, beans, and pepsi. I was worried that we would all get sick from the flies, but, thankfully, we didn´t. We didn´t want to go back to the orphanage yet, so Mauricio drove us to the Guatemalan border where we asked the guards to let us cross the border for a picture. (the one day i didn´t have my camera with me, unfortunately). >The guard let us cross, so we walked a quarter mile until we saw a ¨welcome to guatemala¨picture, and, like the tourists we are, took a picture near it.

We taught our first English class last night to a group of 4 high schoolers. 2 of them are taking English in school, so I don´t know how much our class is teaching them, but we had fun laughing with them, and agreed that yes, we need SPanish lessons just as badly as they need English lessons. They know the language, but are embarrassed to speak it, so we are concentrating on conversational English. Our classes are mondays, tuesdays, and wednesdays, from 7 to 8. The kids are the same kids that we see every day, and who were our ¨youth group¨ on Saturday night. Santiago, Karena, Rosa, and Santos.

I am having a great time, and am so thankful to be healthy again. Every day flies by, and I fall into bed exhausted every night... probably because of the heat, too. A day like today where there is nothing planned except for our English classes is rare, and it´s nice to relax. My trip to Tegucigalpa is still on for next week, as far as I know, and David is going to the Bay Islands that week to learn how to Scuba dive. It will give Mauricio and Ana a much needed break.

Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts. I wish I was practicing my Spanish more, but a lot of people down here are bilingual. Even so, the culture is so interesting to watch. I feel like the only time anyone in Honduras is ever in a rush is on the roads. I´d never be able to drive down here. But, when they´re not on the roads, everyone has all the time in the world for you. My watch hasn´t been on my wrist since the airport and is in the bottom of a bag. The only time I ever need to know a time is ¨what time are you picking me up this morning?¨ other than that, David and I just go with the flow.

On Tuesday, the group from California and I went to a beach resort in Tela. The water was incredibly warm, with lots of waves, and you could see your feet through the green waters. We layed out, went swimming, read books, and were having a great time... until we got sick.

Richard (a leader from CA) and I got sick first... we spent 4 hourssitting on a picnic bench close to the bathrooms and took turns running into the bathroom to get sick. By the time we left at 7 we were both so sick that they wanted to take us to the hospital. I was worse off than Richard... or I was just showing it more than he was, because he´s a guy... so they took me into the hospital in Tela, where the doctor said there was nothing he could do for us. Meanwhile, back at the bus, 3 more people got sick... some throwing up, and some from the other way... it was awful. But, we had to get back to SPS, because the group had a flight to catch the next morning. Somehow... with God´s help... we made it back to SPS around 10pm. We had to stop about 5 or 6 times for someone to run off the bus and get sick. I´ve honestly never felt so awful in my life.

I went to Ana´s mother´s house and got sick 3 more times before drifting off into a restless sleep. She said she was scared I was going to die I looked so awful. But, after a day and a half of sleeping and eating toast and drinking gatorade, I am feeling better. As far as I know, the group made it safely back to the states. I slept through their departure. David comes back from Guatemala today or tomorrow, and I´m anxious to hear about his trip as well as tell him about all the ¨fun¨that he missed at the beach.

I am living at Doña Corina´s house, Ana´s mother, in my own room with air conditioning. I share a bathroom with Cesia and Keren. It was great to unpack my stuff yesterday and to have a ¨house.¨ She keeps telling me that her house is my house. They àll speak English, too... so I don´t know if I will come back fluent in August. But, right now Ana wants me to type up a newsletter in spanish... so... I don´t know how I´ll be able to do that.

I can´t believe 2 weeks have flown by already. I´m excited to be here in Honduras. Nothing much is going on until July 24th when I go to Teguc. to visit Rick and Kim Beck. I still don´t know what I´ll be doing day to day, but at least I know where I´m staying. A group of doctors from Mercy Ships comes to stay with us on Sunday, so maybe i´ll be helping them.

thank you for all of your prayers. I´m really feeling them... especially on tuesday and yesterday when I was so sick.

well, when Julie Roberts wrote that rain on a tin roof song, I doubt she meant rain... probably just a drizzle. Because, it rained on our tin roof last night when we were sleeping, and it wasn{t a sweet sound... more like a freight train. I{ve never heard rain so loud. It rains a lot at night, and the san diego kids go out and play and slide across the soccer fields. david, keren, jon, and i just sit on the balcony and laugh at them. they also like to take axe body spray and a lighter and burn the bee hives for us on the balcony. i got it on video. it{s hysterical.

i{m in copan right now with nicole from connnecticut... we don{t feel like shopping. the mayan ruins were fun for the second time. the san diego group is just ready to go home, I think, and it will be relaxing when they leave. But, I definitely will be sad to see their leaders go, and jon from kansas and nicole.

so far 7 out of my 8 showers have been cold.... those cold showers feel great. Except when you look up and see a scorpion looking down at you. Keren and I were screaming. You can also here the other people in the rooms next door when we{re all in our bathrooms, so we have fun conversations as we shampoo and brush our teeth. There are also fun geckos on the walls at night.

Daily, we{ve been eating breakfast at 730, doing VBS from 9a'11am, then lunch around 12ish, and thenanother VBS from 2'4pm. dinner is usually at 6ish. so there is a lot of down time and i{ve been journaling a lot. it{s been great. on Monday we work for the last day, and then go to the beach all day tuesday. i can{t wait. can you tell that the apostrophes and things aren{t in the correct spots_ i still can{t find the question marks. hahaha. i miss you all!!

pray for the kids that i{m minstering to, and for the adjustment for David and me when the project serve kids leave.... we don{t know what we{re doing yet, and we don{t know where we{re staying.

HELLO! i´m so glad that I have about 7 seconds to put a blog down here, because some people (mom) have been checking every day with no updates.

i made it to SPS safely adn saw a woman at the airport who I know from pervious trips. she called Ana just to make sure she was on her way, because she didn´t want me waiting for very long. Ana picked me up and then she dropped me off at her mother´s house where I spent the night. Most of Ana´s extended family lives near or with the grandmother, so I met lots of new people... all so nice, and most spoke broken english. Ana´s neices are all aroudn my age and bilingual, and we had fun together.

On Sunday after church I helped make a big lunch for someone´s 18th birthday. Then, I had to pick up Ana and Mauricio´s 22 year old daughter Cesia up at the airport with a cousin. It was nice to finally meet her, because I´ve met the rest of the family.

I got to the Rancho Vida camp in La Entrada on Sunday night, and have since been swept up with the california group. it´s a very ecclectic group of people living at Rancho Vida. The california group consists of 12 youth, 2 summer interns )one 22 and one 25) and the youth pastor Jim. They are from RBCPC in San Diego California. A high school girl from Connecticut and a college aged guy from Kansas are also a part of the california group (not exactly sure how that got set up)... Also... there is a Youth for christ intern named David who is living with Mauricio and Ana until August 4th. so... surprise! another person living with mauricio and ana (but no one knows exactly where, yet). He´s my age and is cool. THen Mauricio´s youngest daughter Keren, who is 18, is there. Plus, Rick adn Kim Beck who work with YFC in Tegucigalpa, are living at the camp, ebcause they are helping with the CA group. Kim and I are here at the internet cafe, ebcause she told me I need to check in with the US embassy tot ell them i´m in Honduras.

Keren and I have our own room with our own bathroom adn a big kingsized bed to share. and a big fan, which is amazing, ebcause it is SO HOT here. I mean sweat everywhere soaking through shirts hot! i had forgotten how awful the heat is.

the group has been good at inviting me in. they are all wonderful. there is the usual high school drama which Keren and I are sick of... but it´s nice to not be involved with it for once, because i´m not their leader.

i´ve gotta run, but everything is going well. David adn I don´t know what is going on after the CA group leaves on the 12th. Keren is working from 7am'5pm every day.... so we can´t hang out with her. BUt, we don´t know where we´re living or what we´re doing either. please pray for that, because I think that God is teaching me that it´s ok to not have things planned out, as you all know i have a tendency to do. sorry that this is just a tidbit of my life here, but i´ll try and write more later.

But, the best and funniest part of the trip is that at church on Sunday night, this guy in the back of the room pulled out his BULLHORN and started blowing along with the music. it reminded me of the random flags at the church in Mexico... although everyone notices the bull horn. it was so funny.

p.s... sorry ffor the bad spelling and punctuation.

I'm finally starting to get nervous! I'm 2/3 of the way packed, and am just attempting to fit everything into my 2 suitcases now. my camera is all charged, my iPod's ready to go, my bug spray and malaria pills and sun screen are all in ziplock bags and in my suitcase. I'm proud of myself for packing so light.

Mel Rec packed me on Wednesday and did some of my laundry and brought up my suitcases, so I owe her a big thanks, because if she hadn't done all that, I still wouldn't have anything packed.

It was sad saying good bye to everyone this week, but I am definitely ready to get out of West Chester. The ladies at the Spanish Health ministry sent me off with the promise that I'd have to come back and give a presentation, in Spanish, on my time in Honduras. I made my last latte at the Starbucks on Tuesday and I think I'm most excited to have 2 months off from Starbucks. Richard is already getting used to driving my car. Thanks to some of my church friends who cooked amazing seafood and made me lose at Scene It last night.

I'm hoping that my nerves will calm down when I land in SPS tomorrow afternoon and see Ana waiting for me. I'm just ready for an amazing summer. The next time you guys hear from me, I will be in Honduras!!! Now the "good" blogs can start.

Action Items: pray for safe flights and driving to La Entrada

What I'm missing: July 1st: Bethany Jones' 22nd birthday, and the wedding of my cousin Matt to Michelle, who is a great addition to the Lukens' clan. (I saw Mike's video, and it's great. you guys will love it.)

Becca and I were commissioned tonight at Westminster before we go abroad. Me... just for 7 weeks, but Becca... for 2 years!! oh my. We talked about how God led us to this point in our lives, what we're going to be doing in Honduras/Gambia, and how everyone can be praying for us. I explained how Honduras is miles away from my comfort zone (literally and figuratively), but that I felt God was leading me there to grow deeper in my relationship with him, and also to figure out more about myself. To do some soul searching while I'm not hanging out with kids in Honduras. I'm hoping that I'll get significant time to do just that. Sit in the mountains among all the beautiful green plants and just enjoy God's creation and God's presence. It's something that I definitely don't do enough of in West Chester. I'm too comfortable here in my day-to-day living of latte-making and spending time with friends and reading novels. I need to step outside of all of that and enjoy God more for who he is.

The last time I did that was LaVida back in the summer of 2002, and it was the most amazing experience of my life... where we got to spend 72 hours by ourselves with nothing to read but the Bible and no flashlight at night. Definitely difficult, but my relationship with the Lord grew so much that summer. I'm excited to do that again.

Back to tonight... we were annointed with oil, and then the elders and Tony, Katie, and Jon laid their hands on us and prayed for us... so of course I linked arms with becca. We surprised ourselves by not crying. I thought I'd be emotional tonight, and sad, because I had to say good bye to everyone. But, I'm not feeling nervous or sad. just pure excitement... that will turn to nerves around Friday afternoon.

Ana e-mailed me tonight and told me that she'd pick me up at the airport on Saturday and we'll be headed directly to the Rancho Vida camp in La Entrada. Mary Catherine told me how to work the pay phones at the airport just in case she's not there : )

Action Items: pray for others like Becca and me who feel called by God to step out of our comfort zones and be changed. I am thankful for those who have done this before and can be of encouragement to both of us. Praise God for the body of believers that uphold and strengthen one another. drawing from the lectionary and Tony's sermon tonight, it is so good when brothers and sisters live together in unity. psalm 133.

happy birthday, dad. we'll just say you're turning 45 again.

I am so excited to leave in a week! I'm not nervous yet, but give it time, I am sure that when Friday rolls around I wont be able to eat because I'll be so nervous.

I spoke with Ana on Wednesday, and told her my flight info. She told me that Karen and Cesia (their daughters) will both be in Honduras for the summer, but Jose and Juan (their sons) will be in the states. I'm excited to have Karen and Cesia to hang out with for my whole trip.

Apparently a group of college students will be at the JPC camp in La Entrada from June 28th to July 12th on a Project Serve mission trip (with Youth for Christ). So, I'll probably be at Rancho Vida hanging out with the college kids for the first 2 weeks of my trip, which will be fun. It's not as if I'm all that removed from college myself. Their presence might make my transition even easier. I'm just trying to not get excited about anything, because the plans could change, and I want to be as flexible as possible while I'm down there. I don't want to be stoic, but I don't want to be upset if I have to be in San Pedro Sula while the college kids are in La Entrada.

I had to say good-bye to all my friends at the Spanish Health Ministry yesterday where I volunteer. They sent me off with some great books, one of which is in Spanish, so I have to brush up on my language skills! We set a date at the end of August where I can come back and tell them about my trip. Looking back, I'm really glad that I was able to volunteer there for the entire year. They are such a great group of ladies doing wonderful things for the Latino population of Southern Chester County.

I'm going to start packing this weekend... as soon as I find my suitcases and clean my room. My packing list is really thorough, so I don't think I'll forget anything. I'm going to try and not be the white girl who comes to Honduras for the summer with a million pounds of stuff. If Becca can get away with 80 pounds of stuff for 2 years, certainly I can do the same for 7 weeks.

Becca and I get commissioned on Sunday at 7pm at WPC for Honduras/Peace Corps. Please come if you're able. I'll probably cry, because I'll have to say good bye to all my church friends that night, too. But, maybe I'll surprise myself and hold it together.

And, if I don't get to see you before I leave, please don't take it personally, but I have to do a lot before I go with the APNC committee and get together these ESL lessons in case I have to use them when I'm down there. Plus pack and spend time with Richard, who I wont see until CHRISTMAS. that's a long time to not see my little bro!

Action Items: pray for me and my nerves, because I'm really nervous that something will happen and the Erazos wont be at the airport next Saturday at 2pm. I don't really know what I'd do if that happened. Pray for my overall trip, because I'm getting really excited.

I went to CVS yesterday and got my Malaria pills and my Cipro (the most amazing anti-poopy medicine ever), and a 3 month supply of my regular meds for... yeah, you know.

It's a small step, but for some reason it made it even more real that i'll be leaving in 20 days. As soon as Aunt Kathy and Uncle Lee leave and I bring up my 2 suitcases from the basement and start packing.... then it'll seem even more real than right now. Even as I was talking to Jen at Starbucks tonight, I was like "oh yeah, i don't leave for 3 more weeks." Do I have any idea at how quickly those weeks will probably fly by?

But, at the same time, my good friend Becca is going into the Peace Corps for 2 1/2 years on July 3rd. I know her trip is a lot longer than mine, and therefore she should be getting infinitely more excited and nervous about her trip. But I know that mine is just the right amount of time for me. Enough time for me to get homesick for PA and my friends (and the family, too), but then enough time for me to sort through that. I definitely feel like I want to prove that I can go abroad on my own for 2 months. I don't even know to whom I need to prove myself.... maybe it's just me. I feel like Gordon was a flop, so I have to try again to show everyone that "yes, Randall can get out of West Chester. I can be independent and live on my own and am capable of handling new situations adequately."

I know Honduras will take getting used to... no more random summer BBQs and late night hot tubbing with a bottle of wine like the 5 of us did on Friday night. No more Starbucks or Wednesday night Bible Studies with my beautiful ladies. No more lounging around at my pool. etc. etc. etc. But, I am SO ready to get out of the often superficial life that I lead up here, and to grow in my relationship with the Lord, and to realize that I can be independent and that God is everything that I need.

On a more realistic note, Mark (who spent 6 weeks in Honduras by himself last summer) did "reassure" me that I'll probably get homesick, and that he called home a few times feeling super homesick (mark- don't hate me for talking about you on my blog). But, he gave me good advice abotu my trip and I'm sure I'll definitely be calling him in the days before I leave freaking out.

I realize that weeks 3 and 4 will probably be the hardest for me. Weeks 1 and 2 will probably be all fun and games, especially because my previous trips to Honduras were always 9 days and seemed to fly by. Weeks 3 and 4 will be when I'm into the routine and not really see an end in sight. My church is coming down for week 6, so I'll be anticipating their arrival for the few days before they come. Then, when they leave, I only have 5 more days by myself, and I'll probably wish that my trip wasn't coming to an end so quickly. Oh, how simple life seems in a blog. God is probably laughing at me right now saying, "oh sara... if you only knew how much i'm going to change you this summer!"

I'm ready.

Action Items: Pray for Becca and her family (especially her mom and dad!) as she gets ready to go to Africa, and pray for a productive yet relaxing last 3 weeks at home here in West Chester before the summer of my life.

a month from now I'll be settled down in San Pedro Sula.

oh. my. gosh.

i'm getting excited.

Action Items: there are some things I need to take care of up in PA before I go down to Honduras. Pray that I'll get everything accomplished!

(that above title quote came from the ever hysterical movie 10 Things I Hate About You)

Right now I'm feeling somewhere between whelmed and overwhelmed.

So... less than 40 days. I have so much to do before July 1, and I feel like July 1 is soooo far away. But, I know I'm going to wake up one day and think "Crap... I leave on Saturday!" I have to do a lot of stuff before then, though. Richard has to graduate high school, I need to talk to Mauricio and/or Ana, I need to pack, I need to find the folder that has my prescriptions in it for Honduras and then fill them (everything got misplaced in the move to the parentals), I need to move out 100% from my old apartment, Lee and Kathy will come and visit, I have to find the floor of my room (because right now it's buried under dirty laundry and boxes), I need to say goodbye to everyone, and I need to get things in some semblance of order for the Youth Ministry portion of my church's trip to Honduras in August (I think that in itself is overwhelming). Everytime I try and sit down to think of something, the plans change, and I don't know how to plan yet.

oh yeah... I work... and I help at Spanish Health Ministry... and all the YUC/APNC/Deacon stuff, too..... and my social life.

I guess I'm feeling too overwhelmed at all the stuff that is between me and my trip to even begin to feel nervous or excited. Brandon, one of only 3 people that I know in the junior class at PTS next fall with me, was like "are you pumped for Honduras or what?" And, I honestly said "it hasn't hit me yet.... ask me around June 13 or 14, and i think i'll be freaking out."

sorry I just ranted! i love you guys who actually read this.

Action Item: just pray. i'm not sure for what, though.

picture 1: Ana and Mauricio

picture 2: me and Ana

picture 3: Mauricio and me

from fall 2004 at the Sundermeier's.

To put faces with names...

Action Items: preparedness for my trip. it's only 37 days away. I feel like I have so much to do before that time!

of course my mom e-mailed Ana! But, Ana wrote her back with some more elaborate plans of what exactly I'll be doing in Honduras, so that is always good. here's part of that e-mail "We know Sara is coming and would love to work together in the ministry with Sara. She will be working in whatever she is good at. It could be teaching English, handleling a youth group, Evangelism, or construction as the team from PÄ wil be doing she can be with them that week too if it is her preference. She will only be a month with us which is what she wrote, is that right?. Yes, there are things to do in the ministry the only thing is that she will have to move by bus since we do not have more than a little car that it takes some time to pick our girls in the Unive. and at work so it will be difficult to get around during her moves but everything is close not far though we hope it is OK with her. There is no problem about taking buses in San Pedro Sula. Our house will be finished by then and she will live with us. You must not worry, she will be able to cook in the house in a new kitchen which is that for......" So, I get to do whatever I want to do! within reason, that is. Now I'm getting more excited. Except for the busses. Busses in Honduras are scary. Not at all like SEPTA. And, if they're anything like the busses in La Entrada (i hope not), then they will be a life threatening gamble when I ride them. Well, maybe I'm overreacting a little, but they randomly break down, are way too overcrowded, hot, smelly, and travel WAY. TOO. FAST. Even for me! Action Item: Pray for the Erazos as they prepare for me to come down, and as they realize that I'm staying for 7 weeks... not just 1 month. : )

good question!

Even I'm not 100% sure!

But, I'll be hanging out with adorable kids like this one who like the Oklahoma Sooners (bottom picture) from 2004, and i'll be hanging out with Mauricio (top picture)

I will be meeting with a small group of youth on Saturday nights, and I'll be taking lots of trips to La Entrada where Rancho Vida is (the Honduras Youth for Christ camp). Youth for Christ in Spanish is Juventud Para Cristo (JPC)... so, JPC is a lot easier to type than the other stuff... so... remember what JPC means.

I will also be leading some Bible Studies, and helping out in the office, I'm sure. First and foremost, I will probably be learning more and more Spanish every day, eating yummy food, feeling WAY outside of my comfort zone, and growing closer to God. Everything else is just details, right?

If you want to learn more about JPC, go to their website, http://www.yfci.org/yfci/ and then in the top right, you can choose Honduras and read about their needs. The only time where I know what I'll definitely be doing is from August 5-13 when a team from my church will be down there. I'm incharge of the educational component of that trip, and have already begun to think of fun things to do with the children in the schools and the barrios (aka neighborhoods) down there. In the morning that week, we will be traveling to different schools around the city and putting together Bible Stories with crafts and singing. This year we've decided to "adopt a barrio." So, our team will be centrally based at Barrio Copante. The men will work on small construction projects like roofing, installing chimneys, and cleaning up the barrio. The women will help the Honduran women complete sewing projects such as clothes and quilts. (I'm sorry those last two sentences were so gender based) There are also about 90(!) kids in the barrio, and only one... ONE!! of them goes to school. So, in the afternoon my school team will come back and teach them basics like matching, senses, numbers, letters, shapes, animals, as well as Bible Stories. I'm relying a lot on my teacher friends to help me with that curriculum.

Action Items: pray for calmness and peace as I prepare to go down to Honduras, even though I don't really know what I will be doing.

well, I was actually never denied the following, but I love that scene in one of the earlier seasons of Will & Grace... where Jack and Karen are in Grace's office? you know?

anyway, the Endowment Fund at my church (Westminster) seeks to "enlarge and perpetuate Christian mission" so, I decided to apply for a $1,000 grant for my trip. So, after a long and essay filled application, and some debate from the Endowment Fund Board, I received the grant.

$1,000 to Juventud Para Cristo in Honduras!! This is very good news, because I didn't have much money to give to Ana and Mauricio for my stay down there. Sure, I had the amount for which they asked me... which meant that I can cover my costs down there, but I wanted to go above and beyond that. Like, something more than $10 a day. And, now, thanks to my new best friends on the Endowment Fund board, I am able to give Ana and Mauricio money for their ministry, which is an amazing one. God is good. Although I'm starting to get nervous. 54 days until I'm in Honduras. Action Items: praise for the Endowment Fund at Westminster which makes many many ministries both inside and outside of Chester County more able to minister. Pray for me as I start to get nervous... especially because people keep asking what I'm doing, and I'm not really exactly sure.