It's a Beautiful Thing

You know, I know that I didn't understand all the implications of when Leslie, my sister, spoke out that she wanted to be a missionary. Ten years later, December 2014, I got the chance. I don't think it truly hit until we took them to the airport, zippers bursting on the bags and Lucy slightly sedated for the plane ride. Checking the bags, no big deal. It was starting to become a reality that her and Jeff, her husband, are headed off to language school before they make their final stop in Honduras in a year. They're excited and we're super excited for them. Bags checked, we walk down the short hallway through the small, hometown airport onto security. Now it's time. We're still doing good, smiles on our faces, tears in check. Hugs all around. Then those words come "I love you and I'll miss you". There's no use in holding back the floodgates now. And you know how it goes with crying, it's like a chain reaction. I started it and all the females in the family followed suit (maybe some males joined in and just hid it well). Then they're off to Costa Rica.

Right before Christmas (2015), they come back having completed language school! However, their visit is short, only six weeks. It may seem like a long time, but when they have churches and family and friends to visit with, it seems like no time at all. Before we know it, it's the beginning of February and they are scheduled to fly out to Tegucigalpa, Honduras on a Monday morning. Fortunately (no floodgates this time) and unfortunately, Brandon and I weren't able to be there to see them off, but thankfully we were able to travel in for the weekend before to say bye. Leslie's dream of ten (now eleven) years has finally become a reality. As always it was sad, yet exciting, to see them go.

The last supper (technically lunch)

Our family has been blessed by the Shaw family for many years. They have always welcomed me into their home as I grew up, and now they have taken the opportunity to reach out to Leslie and Jeff (and Lucy;). They have been wonderful by not only paying for Leslie and Jeff's flight to Teguc, but also giving Hannah, my sister-in-law, and I the availability to fly out to visit Leslie and Jeff for free! Hannah and I just flew back to the States this past Saturday. We were able to spend the previous week with Leslie and Jeff. 

The four of us at the farm/school on mine and Hannah's last day

Hannah and I flying down allowed us to bring more luggage of Leslie and Jeff's and Lucy's belongings down to them. The crazy thing was that one of the suitcases we brought down, full of their stuff, was mistakenly (we're not positive about that one) taken out of the airport and we were afraid we had lost the bag forever. We're still not sure how this happened as our suitcase was black and the extendable handle was broken (i.e. if you tried to pull out the hand it just kept coming until it was completely pulled out! Hannah knows this all too well;), and the mysterious suitcase stealer's suitcase was a navy blue. Maybe they were color blind. Fortunately, a few days later the airport called and said that our bag has been returned!! Leslie and Jeff checked and nothing was taken out, including money in an envelope that was in a front pocket that had "somehow" became unzipped while missing.

Hannah and me with a stuffed llama we found!

Living, and visiting, in Honduras is full of adventures! Not only with hoping your luggage arrives when you fly in, but also driving is a whole new experience down there! If you are not the slight bit aggressive when you drive or you're scared to honk a horn or don't have quick enough reflexes to swerve if needed, then I don't recommend that you drive in Honduras. Honking down there can mean a myraid of things. One long, loud blast can mean the person is aggravated while a little short blast is communicating to the other driver that they can come on in, to which they will probably reply with a couple of short honks to thank you. And for some reason, Hondurans believe that if they're hanging their arms out the windows, its like their own signal of cutting in front of you, whether you want them to or not. Having their arm out excuses them somehow for the action, or attempt. Just because someone has a desire to slide into your lane and cut in front, it doesn't always mean it will happen. You always have to be on the alert to break because the largest vehicle wins down there. Also, roads signs? They're just suggestions. And if the traffic is all backed-up, there's good chance the policia is up ahead directing traffic.

Leslie seems to have adapted to the Honduran version of driving quite well, or perhaps the U.S. version was just holding her driving potential back. I'd even venture to say that she enjoys it. Many of the routes that we took gave us beautiful views of the city. The route that we took to go out to the farm and school gave us a good view to understand what the majority of Hondurans live like. When coming to Honduras on mission trips before I saw solely the hungry, the dirty, the weak, the poor. This trip, I got to round out my view of the country. Fortunately, their new presidente seems to be doing a lot of good. So where there use to be basically no middle class, now it is slowly growing.

The view of Tegucigalpa 

We were able to go to the boys shelter a couple days of the week and spend time with them. If you've read this post of mine, it'll give you a little more understanding of all that I am writing about. Sadly, the boys were being boys, and unruly ones at that, and got in trouble several times this week so we were unable to play with them as much as we had anticipated. On Monday, before they were in trouble, we went to visit and play with them in the evening. They love love love to play tag! And of course soccer :). But really, what they truly desire, is to be loved and showered with affections. Hugs and smiles are a must when spending time with the boys. But after being around them, there's no way that you would even want to withhold that kind of compassion and care towards them. There were a lot of boys that have been there for years and I've played with them before (however, it had been nearly 3 years since I've been there so I had to work on the names a lot. But on the bright side, if you call them Carlos or Christian or Joel or Roberto there's a pretty good chance you'll get it right;), but they've also had some additions. Jonathan is the newest one, he's only been there for three weeks so far. He's the only nine year old and the only black kid, so this transition has been tough on him. Most of the black people of Honduras live on the coast. They, the ministry (FCM), thinks that he and his sister, Fabiana, is from La Ceiba. Even still, they have no idea how Jonathan and Fabiana even got to Teguc. To give you a better understanding, Teguc is a good five and a half hours from the coast. Despite any curve balls life may have thrown at him, his smile is so sweet, he's super (surprisingly, really) strong for his size and age, he loves to play soccer and tag (he always wants to be "it"!), and he will wear you out with thumb wars and rock, paper, scissors! And, really, Jonathan's not the only one that will wear you out playing rock, paper, scissors! The others love it too! And his reading is quite good too! There are so many stories to tell, of the adventures of the trip and of the boys, but Jonathan stuck out to me just because he is new, and needs friends (he's got either big 11 year olds or a 6 and 4 year old-- who are as precious as could be!), and needs love (and sponsors!).

 
  Me with Jonathan & Nelson
 

 Me with Fabiana

  

Joel, our resident "baby", the four year old. Isn't he just precious??

 This is our six year old, Victor. Precious too!

The soccer goal out at the farm. If you look closely you can see chicken wire as the netting.

While at the shelter, I got to see my sister and her husband in a new light. Whenever I've gone on mission trips with FCM it's always been with Leslie and Jeff as the team coming down. But this time, they are the missionaries. They help take care of the children. They help love on the children. They help teach the ninos. It's a pretty cool thing. It's so awesome to get to see them in their element. Listening to them use their Spanish, watching their smiles as they love on the kids and treat them as if they were their own, and hearing them laugh and tease as they play with them. To see someone get to live out their dreams allows a new light to shine within them, and I have no doubt that it's Jesus lighting that candle. While I may not get to see my sister, brother-in-law, and niece-doggie very much, I can handle it when I can see how much joy they are feeling and are creating. And how they are showing Jesus to the helpless and unloved. It truly is a beautiful thing.

Jeff helping Jeffery!


Victor wanted Jeff to tag him so he could be "it"!

Leslie helping with an exam


Leslie helping Osmin study for his exam

  
Tickles and laughs with Victor

"I'm So Excited...!!!"

You were singing the title right then, weren't you? Well, I was and that's what matters. Then again, maybe it's not part of a real song and Brandon just made it up. Anyways, I'll tell you what I'm so PUMPED about! Exactly a month from today, I'll get to see my sister, Leslie; Jeff, my bro-in-law; and Lucy, their fun, little, silky terrier. You see, they've been gone the past year in Costa Rica going to language school. Why were they in language school you ask? I'm pleased you asked!

Well, it started a long, long time ago-- actually, not that long. Really, just about 10ish years ago when my sister, Leslie, graduated high school and went on a foreign mission trip to Honduras with a local church. She absolutely loved it and fell in love with the people there and the work God is doing. So she kept going back. The second time she went, she stayed for three weeks with a missionary friend of ours in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Leslie came back, but she was missing one thing- her heart. Sounds cheesy I know, but its for real. If you ever get to talk to her about her passion for Honduras and the orphaned and needy kids there, you'll see it. That trip was her moment. Her moment, when God told her: "this is where I want you to come back and serve and love these people and tell them about Me. Don't worry about when, I'll let you know." The last handful of times it has been with a organization in Chattanooga, TN (close to my hometown) called Forgotten Children's Ministries (FCM). This wonderful organization has an orphanage right outside the capital, Tegucigalpa. (Actually, not all the children are out on the farm yet, they are still in the process of some of the construction for the little boys and girls' homes. Currently the little boys and girls are in their homes in the city. But that's another story.).

Fast forward several years to 2012, Leslie married Jeff (in 2009) and got sweet, little Lucy (2009 also), and they decided, as a family, that God was telling them it was time for them to start getting things together to officially become members of FCM's family of missionaries! Leslie had been waiting for so so long to finally hear God say, "it's time", and she couldn't wait. But first, they had to raise their funds. Since FCM is a non-profit organization all missionaries have to find people, churches, groups to be their sponsors, to support them while on the mission field. The next thing to do, before going to Honduras full-time, is to go to language school in Costa Rica where they would learn Spanish and be fluent (or enough) to speak with Hondurans without needing a translator. Now we're caught up with the current. They still have a few weeks left of school and they have a huge exit exam (oral and written) that they have to take before heading back States-side. *give them huge prayers for the exams for sure* Once they're back in the States, they'll get to see family, friends, and visit with those that are sponsoring them, and hopefully gain some more people that God has spoken to them to support them financially. And let me tell you, it ain't cheap living over in Honduras. For one, they have to live in a secure neighborhood (with gates and guards, all that), buy cars there (*ouch*), not to mention the usual groceries and bills to pay.

The security is crucial because Honduras is a rather unstable, third-world country and is over-run with drug gangs and their violence. Before you start thinking of gangs, drugs, and violence here-- let me stop you, its nothing like that and ten times worse. No exaggeration. I'll even give you a story: During one of my trips down there, with Leslie and Jeff and a mission team, we were riding our bus through the capital, "Tegus", so we could get to the mountains where there were some people we were going to give out beans and rice, love on them, and pray for them. Well, we ended up getting stuck in traffic. To paint a picture for you, imagine what, in the States, would be 3 lanes of traffic was actually 5 lanes in Honduras, and I'm not even counting the numerous motorcycles. They have their own lanes: between all the large vehicles driving. While being stopped, children and adults go from vehicle to vehicle trying to sell various things, like food or whatever kind of goods they might be able to make money from. On the sidewalks at various stations, there are soldiers with their AK-47s, watching. Not to mention all the drivers constantly talking to each other with their car horns. There's never a quiet drive in Honduras ;) If you look up ahead, but soon-to-be beside since we were slowly moving, there's a few cop cars (no different from the ones in America) around a roped off section with crime scene tape with a taxi cab inside the perimeter. As you get close, you see people being put in body bags by police officers. And there's something strange about those working the crime scene, and you realize fairly quickly that they're all wearing masks so it's impossible to identify who they are-- that, my friend, is for their protection. We come to find out a little later on in the day that it had been a gang related crime. The story is that a leader of a gang had just been released from prison, and got in a taxi with another random person. The one(s) that had been leading the gang while he was in jail found out he had been released. So they found the taxi he was in, shot him, the driver, and the other random passenger. Sad play of events, but with that said, not everything in Honduras is terrible. They have some of the most beautiful mountains you've ever seen, and sweet people that just need to hear the hope and love of Jesus.

Back to what I was saying, I'm so pumped to get to see them and spend some time with them (and let them see my chickies of course!). Fortunately, people that created Skype and Viber are geniuses; plus, Brandon and I were able to fly down and visit for a little while in July! So we haven't had to be completely without them. By February, they are hoping to have the rest of their support raised, and they'll be flying out to Honduras, yet again; except this time it's to stay for as long as God needs them there :) They will be working with the kids in the orphanage, as well as the mission teams from the States that come down, the people in the country that are in such desperate need of hearing the Word of God, and whatever else is needed to be done for the ministry and for Jesus.

 

If you're curious to know more about Jeff and Leslie and their adventures in Costa Rica (and soon-to-be those in Honduras), here's their blog! 

And, if you feel God whispering to you to maybe help them out, whether praying (tell them on their blog!) or financially, don't hesitate!

Now you can't forget about Lucy, sweet, loving, puppy (even thought she's not really a puppy anymore). She has a cute blog herself! If you have little ones, they'll love the stories she tells-- plus! they're educational, fun, and with a touch of Jesus. But hey, us adults love Lucy's adventures as much as the kids do. You gotta check it out!