We Move to "La Casa Grande"

My dream home.

You cannot convince me that God does not have a sense of humor. When we moved here to Honduras I was ready and willing to live in a small mountain village in an adobe house. I still am. Anybody who knows me knows that one of my pet peeves is that almost every American when they move to another country will end up with the nicest, the biggest, the best house in town. Why? Because we can.

So where did we end up? Nope, not in the mountain village. Not in the adobe house. Yep, you got it. In the nicest, the biggest, the best house in town. Some people call it "the mansion". We just call it "la casa grande".

La Casa Grande

We are here because this is the new home of the Honduras Spanish Institute.

This past September I was asked by the founder of HSI to take on the position of project manager for the school. Barbe and I love the teachers and the students who come here to study and felt that with our experience and gifting that it would be a good match for both us and the school, especially as the school and the students were already such a large part of our lives. The language school, which has been growing steadily since it was started three years ago, had been experiencing growing pains as it began to be a legitimate and recognized alternative to the language schools in Guatemala and Costa Rica. Several missions organizations had begun sending their people to us and as the number of students grew it became very clear that the school, which had been sharing classroom space with a local seminary, needed it's own space in order to continue growing.

Although growth and success cannot be guaranteed, there are a few things we can do to help insure them. A commitment to excellence in all areas, quality staff, a true focus on customer care and ambiance.

Ambiance is an often overlooked, but very important factor in the success of an institution. People want to come to a place that is conducive to studying. Part of the ambiance may include natural beauty, a landscaped lawn, a well maintained, secure facility and an atmosphere of quiet comfort. This place has all that.

Four months ago, when I first came across "la casa grande", I knew as soon as I saw it that it would make an excellent headquarters for the school. As the house was then currently occupied, we waited until it became available a few weeks ago and... here we are.




My family and I will be living in the house, mainly on the second floor and sharing expenses with the school. During the day, the school will use the house with it's many nooks, alcoves, porches and gazebo for classes. The kitchen will be available for breaks, lunches and the occasional party we throw, which usually includes making baleadas and pupusas. From time to time, we may also have one of the single students staying with us.

It is our hope that one day, should the school continue to grow, we can move on and let the school take over the entire building. Until then, we are enjoying the spacious rooms, the lawn and the view from the second story porch. I love my porch and it is going to be a challenge for me to do anything more than just sit, look at the mountains and drink coffee all day.


The view from the second story porch.

On a personal note, I have finally come to terms with living in this mansion when so many here in Honduras live in poverty. Many of you will find this odd, but for me it really was a moral struggle. After many arguments with God about this move, I can now see this place as a gift from Him and receive it with joy and thanksgiving. As with all things, I am convinced that we should hold on to this place loosely and not become too attached or comfortable here. The time may very well come when we will be asked to live in much humbler circumstances. It is my hope that when that time comes that we will be just as willing to live in a 2 bedroom adobe house in a mountain village as we are to live in an 8 bedroom mansion in Siguatepeque.   

Christmas in Honduras

To be perfectly honest, it's always been hard for me to get into the "Christmas spirit". (My family refers to me as the Grinch.) This year was even more difficult. I suppose because I grew up in Maine, I associate snow with Christmas. Believe me, there is no snow here in Honduras, which is actually something I am really coming to appreciate the older I get.

 

On top of that we have no Christmas tree this year. In past years we would always go out on our own property and cut a tree. Here it is illegal to cut pines without a permit, so all trees are the plastic version. The main reason we had no tree though is because we moved to a new house last weekend.  

 

So here it is, Christmas morning, sun brightly shining, no presents await us under the tree and we have been up half the night. Here in Honduras, and probably all Central America, the tradition is to stay up very late visiting and lighting off fireworks and firecrackers. The whole city erupted in noise at midnight. We were at the home of friends last night and their house sits on a hill over looking Sigautepeque. From this vantage point we were able to look down on and across the city and the fireworks. It was actually very beautiful. The moon, although only half, had just risen over the mountains and was beautiful. A light fog, or maybe a haze from the fireworks, lay over the city and we could see the twinkling of the lights through it.

 

Fireworks are a huge part of the Christmas/New Year season in Central America. I still remember, quite vividly, my first experience of a Central American Christmas. It was 1980 and I was seventeen years old. We had been living in Antigua, Guatemala for several months already and I went down to the beautiful central park to watch the festivities. A man with a pyramidal shaped, bamboo rack over his head and shoulders, laden with lighted fireworks charged into the middle of the crowded park. Fireworks were exploding in every direction. People were screaming and running. I hit the deck, covering my head and ears as I was enveloped in a blaze of sound and light. There are a lot of people who question the truth of this story, but believe me, I was there. It was a one of a kind experience. 

 

Another tradition here at Christmas are tamales. Barbe spent half of the day yesterday in the house of friends, they are actually more like family to us, learning how to make tamales in the traditional style, wrapped in banana leaves. Later, we went back to share a meal with them.  

 

One of the things we are learning as we adjust to living here is that the nostalgia of what used to be, whether it is food, family, traditions or memories, can be a hard sentiment to deal with at times. We love it here in Honduras and we love the new friends and the new life we are building, but this Christmas, the not having snow, not being at our friends Blue and Lisa's traditional Christmas Eve party with so many people we have so many memories with, even the hustle and bustle of last minute shopping at Walmart was missed.

 

Next year we will have new memories and be starting new traditions, but this year we felt the loss of the things we left behind. It was by no means an unbearable or even an overly sad time and I am finding that it is good and healthy to miss all these things. How sad life would be if we did not have these memories to miss.

 

So, from the Grinch here in Honduras...Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

 

 

 

 

Gracias Lempira

Two weeks ago Barbe and I traveled to Gracias, Lempira, partially for business and partially just for the drive. Leaving Sigautepeque, the road winds up and over a pine covered mountain range before dropping into a drier and much warmer valley. After crossing the valley the road again climbs steeply before reaching La Esperanza. I love this part of Honduras. It reminds me a bit of western Montana, except for the banana trees scattered in among the pines. And the sky isn't quite as big.

The road between La Esperanza and San Juan is being reworked and will soon be a very nice highway. The same cannot be said for the road between San Juan and Gracias. Here the road is full of potholes and washouts. Even still we made good time driving the 150 kms  in just under three hours.

Leaving La Esperanza I was not sure which road to take, so I stopped and asked directions from a man standing by the roadside. Oh... he just happened to be headed in that direction and would gladly show us the way. He hopped in the pickup bed and off we went. Driving slowly through Yamaranguila he banged on the roof of the pickup, the signal he wanted us to stop. I did. Oh...there was a family on the corner he knew and would I mind giving them a lift. In they climb and away we go again and that's the way it went all the way to Gracias. Letting people off and picking people up. All of them were very polite and would come to my window to offer payment. "No gracias. Es un regalo de Dios" Everyone left with warm smiles, handshakes and friendly waves. And why not? Gifts from God should be received joyfully. When we arrived in Gracias we had only one man left with us. He too wanted to pay us and when I refused payment he came back and offered us six oranges from his bag which we accepted...joyfully.

One of the reasons we visited Gracias was to spend a few hours with our friends Melissa and Kevin Goodwin. They are missionaries with A.I.M. and are in the beginning stages of starting a children's home. They just received their first child, a boy of four and half years who has some mental disabilities. For most of those four years he has lain in a crib staring at the ceiling. Because of this he cannot even hold his head up because his neck muscles have not had a chance to develop. Kevin and Melissa are good people. Check out their website Goodwin Global. I know that as they start up this new home they are going to have a number of financial needs. If you are looking for someone to give a donation to this Christmas, I feel very comfortable recommending their ministry as a place to do that.

The courtyard at the Posada de Don Juan, Gracias, HN

We spent several hours visiting with them and then decided we needed to head back for Siguatpeque so we could arrive home before dark. We made a quick detour in to town just to look around and ended up deciding to spend the night. We checked into the Posada de Don Juan located two blocks off the central park. It was very nice, although I thought a bit pricey at $50 for a small, but comfortable room including two breakfast. The hotel was built in the old Spanish style seen in Antigua, Guatemala with rooms opening into an enclosed courtyard with a pool surrounded by plants and flowers.



After checking in we wandered the streets until dark, stopping for a "cafecito" and an inexpensive meal at a local restaurant. We stopped to talk with one of the fireworks vendors preparing for the Christmas season. Fireworks are very popular in Central America at this time of year. This gal was a very determined sales person.

The next morning we climbed the hill to the old fort that overlooks the city. Even though it was worth the visit and the $5 we paid to enter, the trees have been allowed to grow up around the star shaped walls of the fort and have pretty much obscured what once must have been a commanding view of the city below and the surrounding area.

Leaving Gracias we headed back towards La Esperanza. There are still many Lenca people living in this area. One of the things they are known for is "atol". This is a sweet corn drink made with milk and sugar. There is also a bitter type which I do not care for.  Barbe and I decide to stop at Atol Lenca just out side of La Esperanza for a bowl of the warm drink served in a gourd bowl.

We had a very enjoyable trip, just the two of us. Although sometimes I really miss our boys being children, having them as responsible teenagers who can stay home alone and watch over the house, Alfredo the Donkey and Terrible Tiger has it's benefits too!



A bowl of atoll



The Lenca family who owns Atol Lenca



Thanksgiving in Honduras

It's 2:30 am and I'm awake. This is becoming my usual writing time. It's quiet, except for Alfredo our burro who, as soon as he sees the light come on, gets up from under our bedroom window and comes around to the back door to see what I'm doing, no doubt hoping for a snack...which I usually give him. After a few minutes he goes back to bed.

I'm spending more time blogging lately than working on my book. Blogging is more fun. I've been putting off a lot of things lately. Paperwork is one of those things, although for the first time in 30 years I actually have a bookkeeper other than myself. And it's required by law here. How cool is that?

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving. Here's the thing which really struck me as odd. All the Gringos I know here in Honduras were celebrating and all around us Honduras went on as usual. That felt really strange. I mean, back home Thanksgiving is the most observed holiday next to Christmas. No one works on Thanksgiving...well almost no one. This holiday is uniquely American.

We went to the Hagler's for dinner. Yuly came with us as well as two friends, one from Tegucigalpa and one from Zambrano and one of our "daughters" from the language school. Several other families were there also. The food was delicious, the company excellent, the view outstanding. We brought our TV and NFL Gamepass the boys coerced me into buying so they could watch NFL down here (actually they paid for most of the subscription) and we watched Dallas beat Oakland. None of us particularly cared who won, but it was fun to hang out together.



The food line.



Watching the game


Later, those of us who were either too full, too decrepit or too wise, watched those who were young or foolish, there was no one who wasn't full, play "real" football, American style, from the front porch.



Playing the game

Oddly, the weather which had been beautiful, turned chilly and overcast. If it hadn't been 65 degrees out I would have sworn snow was on the way. Honestly... it felt cold. We were all bundled up in sweaters and scarves. It was actually kind of neat because it felt very fallish and New England Thanksgivingish. (Two words you probably won't find in the dictionary)

Living down here has made me realize how much we have to be thankful for. One of the things I am continually grateful for are the friendships we have made these past eight months. They continue to deepen and to be a blessing and encouragement to us. Although we missed family deeply, it was good to spend Thanksgiving with good friends.



 

Missing Mom and Dad Today

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the USA. It is a uniquely American holiday. I have some really great memories of Thanksgiving. Mom is an awesome cook and we always had a lot of family and friends in the house. It was a big event. We are missing our family today, especially our parents/grandparents.

As I was going back through some of my old post, I came across this one, one of the first I did in this blog. It too is one of my of my personal favorites. As I reread it, it made me miss my parents even more and it made me miss being a kid. I'm reposting it today in honor of the way my parents have influenced my life.

Happy Thanksgiving Mom and Dad! We love you and miss you. Still hoping your traveling days aren't over yet and we'll see you here in Honduras this winter.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Genetics         (from July 7th, 2012)

“You’re just like your father.” My wife tells me this quite often. Sometimes it's a statement, more often an accusation. Those used to be fightin’ words. Even the suggestion of such a possibility was vehemently denied. We tend to use this phrase to describe people. Sometimes it's in a positive way, but more often than not it isn't. As I have matured and undoubtedly become more like my father, I no longer feel the sting, the barb in those words like I used to. My father and I still do not see eye to eye on many things, but our relationship is good. Over the years we have argued heatedly, gone without speaking for two years (my choice) and have eventually agreed to disagree.  Through it all we have always loved each other and as the years have passed each of us has mellowed, fortunately.

In 1939 Winston Churchill said, “I cannot forecast to you the actions of Russia. It is a riddle, inside a mystery, wrapped in an enigma…” For years these words have described perfectly the way I have viewed my father and many of the choices he has made.  However, over the past several years I have gained a new appreciation for many of my father’s character traits. In some of these I have gone so far as to desire to emulate them in my own life. For example; my father has never been materialistic. As with all of life there is the positive and the negative, the pros and cons to everything. Where I am in life now, to be willing and able to easily let go of the things I surround myself with, would be a positive trait. Oddly, I am finding that more often than not, my treasure becomes my master…the thing that traps me rather than sets me free. My father has never struggled with holding any possession too tightly. Positive? I think so.

My father has never allowed other’s opinions or perceptions of him or his choices to influence the choices he has made. He has lived life on his own terms.  Positive? Yes and no, but on a purely intellectual level…positive. Dad has certainly not lead a "normal" life. The career, the two story house, two car garage thing bores him to death. Worrying about retirement or the future...never. Life with my father has always been an adventure. I have never seen him show fear, which on the negative side has lead us into some rather stressful situations. On the positive side, as my globe trotting friend Bob Beckett would say, "When the pain of the event is over, it's all about the stories." And do we have stories.

My father has always been an adventurer and a traveler. At the age of 15 he ran away from home and joined the Army, insisting that he was 18. Despite the fact that clearly he was not, the Army accepted him. After all they had a war to fight and men were men even if they were only boys. Jump school, paratrooper, Korea, wounded in action, marriage, the GI bill, Professor of Physics, children, much moving and traveling, more children, Pastor, entrepreneur, all are words that describe my father’s life.  Even when we did live in one spot, we were always on the move. Dad, at the age of 81, recently returned from a 2 week stay in Kenya. His third in the past several years. 500 miles from nowhere, living in a grass hut with his friend Rabson, his family and several of the orphans my father helps support, eating the same bland food they eat, sleeping on the same dirt floor they sleep on, crapping in the same hole they…well you get the picture. Yes, in so many ways, being “just like my father” is not such a bad thing.

My mother and father, Aug. 1952

And what of my mother? Born in a log cabin in the hills of Kentucky, a coal miner’s daughter, she was raised with a strong work ethic. Life was hard in Kentucky. Her grandmother slept with a .45 pistol under her pillow and “wasn’t a'feered of man nor beast”.  Her mother told stories of her own uncles, moonshiners and hunters, tough, hard men who often lived outside the law. Despite this same heritage, my grandfather, although far from perfect was good to his children. My mother still misses him.

When it came to travel, I never remember my mother ever complaining. She could get all six of us children packed and ready for a trip, which was often a spur of the moment event, faster than anyone I have ever known. And somehow, miraculously, there would always be fried egg sandwiches in the cooler when it was time for breakfast. (For some strange reason our trips always seemed to start at 1 in the morning.)  Mom was exceptional at making a home wherever we were. For her, home was where her husband and children where. Tonight, as we talked about our plans to move to Honduras, I saw the gleam of adventure in her eyes, heard her hinting that perhaps she would come with us. So am I also like my mother? Yes, in many ways and this too is not a bad thing.

My maternal grandparents, circa 1938

Genetics…say what you want. As far as I’m concerned, at least in some measure, we are part of all those who have gone before us. It is said, "It's all in the genes." Okay, maybe not all, but...   

If you believe, as I do, that God made each of us unique, each provided in a special way with God-ordained talents, personalities and yes, even genetics, for specific work in His kingdom…then should I really wonder why it is I long to go to faraway places? When I choose to live life different, should it come as a surprise when people find me...different? Should I care? My father wouldn't.  

10,000 and counting.



When I started blogging I never imagined I would enjoy it so much. Nor did I ever dream that I would have people all over the world reading my blog. Below is a screen shot of my blogger stats page. On the audience stats portion are listed the top 10 countries from which originate the most page views. There are at least another 15 countries not shown.  

 

Over 10,000 page views. WOW! I have absolutely no way of knowing who visits my blog, unless they leave a comment, but I am truly grateful to all of you who read my blog and have joined in our life here in Honduras. Thanks to all of you who put up with my sometimes crazy observations, my naked honesty, my humor, my questioning of the status quo. I hope that as you have read my post that you have enjoyed some of the experiences of travel, found humor in my stories and perhaps stopped to consider if there is any validity to some of my observations on life as we attempt to "do life different".

 

 

From time to time to time, I go back and reread some of my old post. I have several personal favorites, but according to the stats, Robbed was the number one most visited post followed closely by We Arrive...Finally: Days 12 and 13 and Live like a King on $1200 a Month.



I have four personal favorites, posts that mean the most to me. Probably because these post where written from my heart, my emotions. I'm not sure I can put them in first to fourth place order, so they are listed randomly as follows.

Go and See Ministries; how we got our name. In this post I write about how passionate I am to have people "go and see", to really experience a missions trip which is life changing, not just a vacation or a sightseeing trip.

So...it's been a really hard week, I mean month. In this post I was brutally honest about some of the issues we were facing as we adjusted to life here and how it was affecting our marriage relationship.

So, are you like missionaries or something?  Because I hate labels and because we are not here officially as "missionaries" I really struggled, and still do, with what to call ourselves and how to explain why we are here. I think I come to a pretty fair conclusion in the end.

Fear: What's to worry about? In this post I work through some of the fears I have of traveling through Mexico and the unknown. I question whether or not our fears, which we often let control our lives, are really valid. Or is it just a lack of proper perspective?

Blogging is really a type of journaling, at least it has become that for me. I enjoy rereading some of the blogs from our trip through Mexico and Guatemala. It helps me relive this epic journey and brings all the emotions and experiences back, almost as though it were yesterday. These two days, for some reason, stand out in my memories. Acayucan: day 6 or Panajachel and Lago Atitlan: day 9 and 10.

Usually I plan a post, but sometimes a post just forms in my mind, maybe from something I saw or experienced, if only briefly. Like this one. A Selfless Act of Kindness.

Some of my post I try for humor as in The Body on the Living room Floor.

Sometimes I want to challenge myself and my readers to honesty as in the Sacred Supporter.

But usually I just write because I enjoy writing.

I assume that I will continue blogging. Sometimes life gets so busy I don't have time, and it does take time. I usually spend one to two hours on each post, often around two in the morning. I must really love it!

Thanks again for reading!

PS.. Hey, don't forget that you are always welcome to add your thoughts by using the comment button at the bottom of each post. I love hearing from you!



 

Alfredo Meets Himself

If you read my post Alfredo the Donkey or are a member of his facebook group, Alfredo the Donkey Fan Club, then you know how this new addition to our family has won our hearts and not only ours, but scores of people around the world.

Well, the cutest thing happened today. Alfredo met himself. On the seminary campus where he spends a lot of the day there is a radio station. I had brought him up with us to the main campus so he could hang with us while we played Ultimate Frisbee with a bunch of friends as part of the going away party we had for two of our girls, Paige and Caitlyn. As he was wandering around the grounds he happened to walk in front of the two plate glass doors of the radio station.

Alfredo literally did a double take when he saw the "other" donkey in the window. He got so excited. He went up to the other donkey and began nosing it, smearing donkey nose prints all over the window in the process. Every time he went to move away, the other donkey would move too. He was mesmerized.  It was adorable, but also a little sad. I think he really needs to be with one of his own.

Curiosity and excitement

 

Alfredo and his new friend

 

Alfredo with Carol Russell and myself in the background



Ultimate Frisbee

Watching him move back and forth with his reflection reminded me of a story my brother once told me. A story that had both of us rolling on the ground with laughter. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I share it with you.

There used to be an all-you-can eat buffet in Bangor, Maine called Miller's Restaurant. It had been there for years and I guess it has recently been torn down to make way for a new McDonald's. Anyway, it was one of those dimly lit, old, hard to see in places with a buffet bar that stretched a good long ways into the back. When you looked down the bar it looked like it was at least a 100' long, piled high with all kinds of food. Made you wonder if you could even do it justice.Well, my brother starts working down the bar, a plate in each hand, taking a little of this, a lot of that and he sees this fellow wearing a shirt and a hat very similar to the ones he's wearing working his way towards him from the other end of the bar. When the two of them finally meet, Jon steps aside and politely nods at the other man indicating that he should move in front. The other man was just as polite, nodded and also stepped aside to let Jon pass. Jon nods and thanks him and steps back to the bar to move on down the line. The other man steps back too, right in front of Jon. He and Jon do one of those little dance steps back and forth all the time smiling and nodding politely at one another...until Jon finally realizes that he is looking at his own reflection in a mirror designed to make the buffet look enormous. Now that's funny!
 

Copan Ruinas

Copan Ruins is the most famous archaeological dig in Honduras and one of the most famous in all of Mayan history. It is huge, covering a lot of territory. I have visited a number of Mayan ruins including Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico and I have to say, this was pretty incredible. If you are in Honduras and have the time, it is well worth the visit.

Leaving Sigautepeque in "la fiesta bus", we went to the airport in San Pedro Sula to pick up Trey's parents and his fiancée who were flying in to spend Thanksgiving here. From there we headed towards Santa Rosa de Copan, retracing the road we had entered Honduras on in February. The pothole situation had not improved. Turning towards the Guatemalan border and Copan Ruinas at La Entrada, we drove through beautiful, mountainous countryside. The road was curvy with quite a few potholes and because darkness was fast approaching, we scooted along as fast as I felt comfortable going, which was pretty fast. Because of the isolation and blind curves, this is not a road I would recommend driving on after dark as it leads to a known tourist destination as well as a border crossing and would be a very easy place for car jackings to occur. Time from La Entrada to Copan Ruinas is an hour, 15 minutes.

Shortly after we left La Entrada, I pulled to the side of the road to allow a Toyota Land Cruiser ambulance, lights flashing, to pass. We do not see many ambulances in Honduras, especially in rural areas. Several miles later, we came around a curve and found a 6 wheeled truck completely upside down in the ditch with a crowd of men standing around as it has obviously just happened. To our amazement the ambulance drove right by, never slowing down despite the yells from the men.




All of us were ready to get out of the van by the time we arrived in Copan Ruinas. The constant pounding over potholes or lurching from side to side as the driver tries to avoid them meshed with the left, right swaying of the van around the endless curves gets very tiresome. If you are prone to motion sickness...you are in trouble.


The town of Copan Ruinas is ancient, quaint and reminiscent of Antigua, Guatemala with it's narrow cobbled streets, central park and low key touristy air. We stayed at Hotel La Posada de Belssy two blocks off the Central park. Rooms were very reasonably priced at about $16 USD per night, and although the rooms were small, they were very adequate. On the roof there is a place for love birds to snuggle, to relax, do a little cooking if you want and even a small swimming pool. Interestingly, the entire hotel is only 15 feet wide, which intrigued me for some reason.

The town is very well lit at night and has a safe feel to it, at least in the central area. We saw quite a few foreigners, mainly other Americans, but also a large number of Europeans. We wandered around town for a bit and eventually found ourselves in a restaurant eating beef, grilled over a wood fire. It was very pleasant sitting there in the cool evening air getting to know Trey's parents and catching up with Laura.

Back to the hotel for an early night. We all woke the next morning, some more refreshed than others, ready for a day at the ruins. Trey and Laura made an early morning foray into town to find fresh semita bread for breakfast, while Barbe and I went in search of a good cup of coffee.

We had decided beforehand to take moto-taxis to the ruins instead of la fiesta bus, mainly for the experience. I had met and talked with a moto-taxi driver the night before and had found out some interesting facts about these cute little three wheeled taxis found round the world. In Copan there are only 100 moto-taxis. If you are lucky enough to own one of these numbers, you are worth at least $10,000 USD. The rate per person to ride around town is 20 Lempiras or $1 USD. Tires cost $25-30 USD and last about 3 months. They are powered by a 175 cc motor and run all day on 3 gallons of gas. I love interesting tid-bits of information like this, for some reason.

 I'll do another post on our time at the ruins in a few days. 

A Quick Update

I realized that I have not given an update on several of our ongoing projects recently. So here it is.

BAM project, business as missions, interest free micro lending.

We currently have three loans out to: a small chicken and egg farm, a lawn care, weed whacking business and a used clothing sales business. Loans were made to two different men and one woman. Repayments were a little slow in getting started as we allowed for time to develop a customer base, but now payments are beginning to come in. We are always looking for new applicants.

The Church Plant in Barrio Calan.

This little church is precious. It continues to grow, but needs so much more of our time and Pastor Lenin's who already works a full time job.

I recently made a proposal to the leadership. The proposal is to start a co-op between the women of the church community to do farming efficiently, raise chickens, eggs and produce for their own consumption and help them develop a local customer base for their surplus. The success of this proposal depends, in a large part, on the help of a young woman, a Camino Global intern, who is coming in January and has a passion for agriculture and missions.

Living Water Well Drilling. 

We have drilled three wells so far, including one in San Pedro Sula, and have a growing number of people interested in having us drill in other areas of the country. This is a very fulfilling ministry, but is hard work and takes up all of my time when we are in the middle of a drilling. I have learned that I need to have a completely clear schedule when I start one so I can concentrate completely on drilling. This is hard to do because I have so many other irons in the fire. If all goes well we will be drilling another well in a few weeks for Fundacion Melodias de Esperanzas here in Siguatepeque.

Water Purification Projects in Public Schools.

We continue to install water purification systems in public schools so that the children will have bacteria free drinking water. We are moving forward with plans to offer health and hygiene training to the schools. This is a very worthwhile project. I have one more site already chosen where we will be installing a new type of filter that requires far less maintenance and is more cost effective sometime next year.

Unidos para Sigautepeque.

We had two very successful meetings. Out of these I have developed very positive relationships with the current mayor, the water dept. and one of the states congressmen. As a result of these meetings, I believe that Siguatepeque is going to have a new youth center, something that is very much needed here.

Our Home Fellowship Group.

This time of fellowship and communion remains my most favorite time of the week. Those who come each Wednesday changes as we have people come and go from the area and the language school, but....what a blessing.

The Bi-monthly Bible Study in Cerro Azul.

My second favorite time of the month. The Bible study which we lead in a village about an hour from us continues to grow and deepen. God is good and I love the time we spend on Sunday afternoons with these friends.

Managing the Spanish Language Institute.

Probably my third favorite thing we do here. I love this school, the teachers and the students. We are growing and changing and it is an honor to lead this school forward. My goal is to make us the premier language school in Honduras.

Our Two Businesses.

Starting these two businesses has taken a lot of my time lately and many, many trips to Naco, San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa. We currently have a Chinese technician working for us here. He will be here until mid January. Developing a network of sales people, developing a market and getting everything legal including learning all of the Honduran bookkeeping an corporate laws has required a lot of time.

Hosting Short-term Missions Teams and Families.

We are looking forward to a busy 2014 hosting teams and families. We already have two scheduled and we are working on a joint venture between ourselves, Camino Global, DELTA Ministries and Hope Coffee. We will be the on the ground host, taking care of the team, developing and arranging for the projects and logistics while here. I love hosting teams, but they require a lot preparation in advance and all of our time while here. If anyone is interested in coming down next year, we'd love to have you, but we need to start talking and planning now as our schedule is filling up fast.

Writing a Book.

I continue working on a book I started last year based on the lessons and experiences we have learned from our journey these past five years. I usually write at night between the hours of 1 am and 3 am, but because my days are pretty full I find that I have been wanting to sleep instead. I have a tentative publisher lined up, but the finish date at this point is unknown and will probably be dependent on my sleep needs.

Practicing Hospitality.

My parents were amazing examples of what it means to practice the gift of hospitality. Barbe and I do that on a regular basis here and it is such a blessing. Although things have slowed down a bit, there are times when we have throughout the week, 40 or so people pass through our house and stay for lunch or dinner. Anyone passing through Siguatepeque, you are always welcome at the Wolfe house. We'd love to have you stop by.

Future Projects Now in the Works.

A few of the things we are currently working on starting are: a second bi-monthly Bible study, a more active role with an adoption agency, a closer relationship with one of the local communities, finding a new location for the language school, developing a missions program specifically for the school and.... 

As we get busier. I am always aware that I have a family that needs me to. One of the things I do is include them in what I am doing. Ben and Thomas drill wells with me. Mark and Thomas are learning different aspects of the businesses. Barbe keeps the social side of our lives going including meals, etc.The Bible study is a family event as is our hfg. One of the things that has been impressed on me is, rather than saying no to opportunities, is to begin looking for a qualified person or family to help us with what we are doing.

Because at this point we see providing for ourselves and our living expenses here through free enterprise as the path chosen for us, the success of these two businesses is very important to us being able to stay here beyond the two years we had budgeted for. As we become more and more involved here, it is becoming pretty clear to us that this is where we are to be. And so we move forward, always seeking God's will and his blessing.



 

The Lost Art of Listening

I'm a good listener. I really am. Ask anyone who knows me and I think they will tell you the same. In my opinion and experience, this is not the case for the majority of people. Too many of us are distracted by events around us, other conversations or our children or we are busy thinking about what we are going to say. It's easy to tell when people are listening...or not. For years I have referred to  "listening" as a lost art.

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” 

Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

 

 

I'm a good listener, because in most cases I really am interested in learning what the person I am talking with has to say. To listen is polite. It increases my knowledge in many different areas and shows respect to the person speaking.

"The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.”  - Ralph G. Nichols 

 

 

I'm a good listener. I really am. Or at least I am when I'm not on my computer. Or when someone sends me a text. Or I'm in one of the many restaurants where nowadays they are placing TVs at multiple angles for maximum distraction. Of late, I have found myself succumbing to these. I am finding myself losing the art of listening.  I am ashamed.

 

I am amazed at the pull, the attraction, the brutal hold technology has on most of us these days. I try to resist it, but I feel the magnetic pull when in face-to-face conversation to check the text, to answer the call; as though whoever this unknown person may be is more important than the person with whom I am personally involved with at the moment.

 

As though listening wasn't already a difficult enough challenge.

 

I sit across the table from another, watch their eyes, watch the irresistible urge to look at the TV instead of at me battle within them...and watch them lose. I am in a meeting, the phone rings and I am immediately placed on hold, again and again. I watch the crowds of people at a party, intermingle, flowing and mixing and I watch many stand on the sidelines engaged in a fiddling contest with their phones, or texting invisible others instead of enjoying the reality of live companionship.

 

 

Last summer my son Thomas and I were in Breckenridge, Colorado. We decided to take the ski lift to the lodge and then bought pricey tickets for the Alpine slide. The ride was exhilarating, the view breathtaking. I was torn between letting go the brake and ripping through the turns, or riding slow and enjoying the amazing beauty around me. We got to the bottom and overheard a twenty something girl telling the attendant that she needed to hike back up the slide route to find her drivers license. He was somewhat taken aback and asked how she had lost it. To which she replied, "My cell phone rang halfway down the slide, and when I pulled it out of my pocket my license fell out." An irresistible urge? Yes, I think maybe.

 

People ask me why we have a "no electronics" policy for our Go and See Short-term Missions Trips. It's because to me this should be a time set aside for those you serve, those you serve with and especially a time set aside for God. It's not a very popular policy...at first. It isn't popular until the team begins to actually enjoy each other's company, to feel the freedom of not having to answer the phone. Of experiencing time spent with God...without putting Him on hold.

 

I'm making a resolution. Today. I am resolving to once again pursue the art of listening. To ignore the ring of the phone or check the text while in conversation, or at a minimum ask permission to take the call and keep it short.

 

I want to engage those with who I am talking. To ask questions and listen to their responses. I want people to know I love them by the way I listen. I want to start here at home.

"Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.”                           ― David Augsburger

 

Confessions of a Travel Junkie

Lago Atitlan, Guatemala, Feb 2013 during our trip to HN

Hi, my name is Michael Wolfe and I am a travelholic. I made my first trip to Guatemala in 1964 when I was 6 months old in the back of a VW bus. As a child I traveled often with my family around the US, Canada, Cuba, Mexico and Guatemala. In order to support my addiction I became a truck driver, roaming the United States for months at a time. Even after getting married I continued to travel, taking my family with me in the truck. Now I live in Honduras having driven here from Maine, but after being here for 8 months and although I still love it here, I am feeling the old addiction to travel starting to work in me. I think that this "illness" is inherited from my father who is also a travelholic, so I'm not sure I am fully responsible for my actions.

Costa Esmeralda, Mexico, Jan 2013

I am glad that I began blogging, if for no other reason than that I go back from time to time and relive some of the high points of our travels to Honduras. But living on past accomplishments is a scary place to be. It may be a comfortable, complacent place to be, but who wants that.

Recently a  friend of ours, fellow traveler and adventurer Rachel Demming and her family, who we stopped and visited in Panajachel, Guatemala, shared in her blog, Discover, Share, Inspire, these same feelings. They started from Alaska, traveling as a family, with a final destination of the southern tip of South America. Somehow they got delayed in Panajachel....a place whose beauty would easily beguile any traveler in to staying for a day or two or a year or two. Anyway, reading her post made me realize that I too am beginning to feel the need to travel again.

It's not that I haven't been traveling. I have put almost 10,000 kilometers on the little pick up we bought in June, but after many trips to Naco, San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa it no longer counts as travel, just work. It's still good to be out and moving and of course driving here is always an adventure, but it lacks the aliveness I always feel when I am traveling in places I have never been.

So I can definitely feel a trip coming on. We do have a trip to visit the Mayan ruins in Copan planned soon and that may tide me over for a while, but......  Where would I go if I have the chance? Well, I may be traveling to China soon on business and that would be really cool, but I'm a "driver". I like travel most when I'm behind the wheel. Returning to Guatemala is a real possibility as I would like my family to experience more of this beautiful country. But, having been there already, I think that our way leads us south. Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

Just a short trip, a fix for the travel junkie, a week or two. There's only two reasons we aren't in "la fiesta bus" today. Commitments to "normal" life and pets. It's hard enough to find someone to keep Tiger for us, but who's going to keep a donkey?

You may find this hard to believe, but even life in a foreign country can become mundane and normal...very quickly. Do you want to keep your edge? My advice is to stay moving, always stretching, never satisfied with "good enough". 

I turn 50

Me, looking through the piñata.

Yup, the big 50. In the States we throw over-the-hill parties. Here they celebrate 50 as an accomplishment...it's a big deal. Really. Of course I knew something was up, all the whispering and running off on secret missions, it wasn't to difficult to guess there was a party being planned.

Gaby, who is like a daughter to us, was in charge of the party planning along with Ahnalies and Reyna. Barbe, having just returned from Seattle two days before had got the ball rolling from there and let them have at it...and it was done beautifully. The party took place on a magnificent piece of property outside of Sigautepeque. The patio was decorated with balloons and streamers. When we arrived, Doña Reyna was busy cooking strips of meat over a charcoal grill and making tortillas. The smell of food filled the pine fresh air. My knew friend, Julio, brought fireworks he had made in his shop behind his house just to help me celebrate.

Friends from around Sigaut trickled in and the place began to fill up. One special visitor, who I was very surprised and moved to see arrive, was Mercedes' mother who had traveled all the way from Cerro Azul by bus just to be celebrate with me. We have a bi-monthly Bible study in her home in Cerro Azul, which by car is an hour away, and it meant more than I can express to see her there.

Below is a photo that has become quite famous in certain circles. Somehow I was tricked into believing that it was customary for the birthday person to lean in and take a bite out of the cake. I am so used to just participating unquestioningly in some very strange (to us) cultural practices...and being the good sport that I am...I leaned in to take a bite. Big mistake....you'd think after 50 years I would have been a bit wiser!

Tim and Kathee...caught red handed. They called it teamwork.

I have assured Tim and Kathee that I don't get mad...I get even... and that revenge is sweet, even sweeter than a Honduran birthday cake. Which is saying a lot.

Left with cake on my face.

Of course I was asked to give a speech. What I shared came from the bottom of my heart and with tears in my eyes. It was a passage from Mark 10:29 and 30 which has been in my thoughts a lot lately as I look at our life here. Peter has asked Jesus what he and the other disciples' reward will be for having left all to follow Him. Jesus replies with this promise, "Truly I tell you, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields..." (emphasis mine)

When we left Maine for Honduras we left all of those things Jesus listed. We left our parents and brothers and sisters,who we love and miss very much. We left a beautiful home on 55 acres...and we left all of these things to follow what we believed Jesus taught us to do in Scripture. We left not knowing what we were headed into. It seemed like we were for sure losing our life as we knew it. 

As I looked around the patio at all the people gathered there to help me celebrate a milestone in my life, I realized that God had, in less than eight months, fulfilled this promise in our lives. We have been given family and that in abundance. We have more children, especially the daughters we never had. We have a beautiful house to live in. I was celebrating my birthday on a most beautiful piece of land owned by some of our family. 

Here is something I am learning; there are some things that can only be learned by stepping out in faith and experiencing it first hand. You can read about something all your life, but until you do it you will never really know if' it's real or not. 

For some reason I believe, and have the hope that, this decade is going to be the most productive, the most joyful, the most fulfilling decade I have yet experienced. I'll let you know in another ten years if it is.

Some of my family.

PS. I know many of you have seen these pictures already on facebook, but they were such great photos I wanted to include them here. I also want to especially thank the Garcia Mendoza family for all the work they put into making the party a success.

Six Days in the Life of a Well Driller

Towards the end of August I wrote this post, Drilling for Water. In it I explain that NGF, our home church in Florida had donated enough money to drill one well. I chose Barrio Oriente for two reasons. The first reason is because families in Oriente only get water to their houses once every eight days or less and then only a pila full. The other reason is that our friends Allan and Nicole live there and are starting a new church and we felt this would be a good way to help them and the community.

There was a huge challenge to this project though. The well site was inaccessible by truck. No problem I am told, we'll use oxen.

Day 1,
We spend all day getting the rig and our Go and See Ministries trailer up to the well site.

The drill rig being towed in with oxen.

Day 2,
By noon, with the help of Tim Nelson, we have the rig set up, mud pits dug, Bentonite mixed and circulating and we begin drilling making, good progress for the first 40 ft .

Job site.

Day 3,
On day 2 we had found that standing all day in the hot sun was uncomfortable and so we bring our own portable shade.

Ben, operating the rig...in the shade

Day 4,
On day 3 we found plastic buckets turned up side down as chairs practical, but less than relaxing and so on day 4 we make a vast improvement to our union breaks, camp chairs.

Alexis mixing Bentonite, Trey supervising perched on bucket.

Thomas on break.

Day 5,
On day 4 we had  roasted "chorizos" on sticks over a fire our boy scout had helped build, but by day 5 we had moved up to gourmet hamburgers cooked over an open fire using the rusty lid of a 55 gallon drum as a frying pan ingeniously placed on a stand of green wooden stakes which wouldn't burn, a contribution from our Honduran watchman who had obviously done this a few times before.

The Men of Oriente and my crew.

Day 6,
The next logical step in getting really comfortable on our work site was to bring in a Coleman stove. That way we could cook fried egg sandwiches and beans for lunch.

Another great meal.

In the end our job site became very comfortable. The men from Oriente who would spend the night guarding the equipment found our trailer to be a great place to hang out during the evening rains and I suspect that they even slept in it instead of under their blue tarp tent. All in all it was a most enjoyable week; and for me, it was one of those unforgettable experiences that men live for. Machinery, the great outdoors, good food, good natured joking, good weather and good company. Having my sons, Ben and Thomas, working with me and being part of this was awesome. Having Trey, who we have come to love like a son, there too was especially cool. Alexis, my "ayudante" quickly fit in with us and put up with our constant teasing. We kept telling him that he was going to turn into a Gringo, "bien gordito" if he wasn't careful, mostly because he would eat so much for lunch that we were pretty sure he was gaining weight rapidly. Our mantra quickly became, "When you're __________ (fill in the blank i.e. tired, broke down, bored, stuck, etc.) eat!" This approach to everything never failed us.

The boys with new crew member Ahnalise lowering the test pump.

In the end, we drilled to 180 ft and put casing to about 75 ft. We were really unsure if the well was producing water or not, but as we began to bail the water from the well, we found that it was almost impossible to make any progress...a very good sign. We finally were able to get electricity run to the well and ran a submersible pump for several hours without pumping the well dry.

Thomas and Trey measuring GPM.

As of right now I am waiting on a trailer mounted air compressor to finish developing the well with. We will use it to blow all the water, or as much as we can, from the well in order to get out all the silt and mud that would otherwise plug up the pump. I am pretty confident that Oriente is going to have water!