2015 in Review

Last year we experienced many challenges, struggles, changes and victories. Overall, I would say that 2015 was a successful year. We expanded our businesses substantially, and saw continued growth in the Spanish Institute of Honduras and in our family's personal ministries.

Last goodbye at the airport

One of our greatest successes was to finally see the adoption of Luis completed. Luis came to live with us near the beginning of March 2013. One year and 9 months later his adoption was finalized and he now lives with his forever family in North Carolina. His adoptive parents came and stayed with us two and a half months as they waited for the final papers to be done. They were so patient and on Dec. 23rd, they flew home just in time to spend their first Christmas together as a new family. We saw a recent picture of Luis playing in the snow, a first for him. Our house seems much emptier without him.



Mark, after more than half a year spent in the USA and three months traveling through Europe and Africa, returned to Honduras in November to become the Administrator at the Spanish Institute of Honduras. Not only am I very happy to have him working with me again, but he is a huge help as I have gotten busier and busier with my other businesses. He is doing a great job running the school, and as he is interested in studying international business in college, he is gaining real life experience in this field as we truly are a multi-national business.

Ben and Thomas learning to run the new rig.

Ben, Thomas and I, after much discussion and research, decided to expand Inversiones Wolfe Honduras beyond the distributorship of Sawyer filters and open a separate branch of the business called Pozos para Todos. With the help of some generous friends we were able to obtain a flexible loan through the Camino Foundation in order to purchase a used Bucyrus Erie cable tool rig and the necessary equipment and tools to open a well drilling business. We successfully completed two wells with the "new" rig, one for a church and one at Sparrow Missions' new children's home near Tela. It feels so good to be back working with machinery, getting dirty and making a living with my hands. And it feels really, really good to be working with my boys again. All three of them!


You can visit us at www.pozosparatodos.com or on Facebook. Below is a short video of the rig at work.

One my passions has been to bring jobs to Honduras. As the Institute has grown, we have nearly tripled the size of our teaching staff and now through the school and the other three businesses we, directly and indirectly, provide jobs for over twenty people. We have also added substantially to the local economy by renting numerous houses or contracting with Honduran families to house students, to the neighborhood pulperia (corner store) and other businesses, and through local and national taxes as we are a legally registered Honduran company. Seeing this growth develop has been extremely satisfying.

Some of the challenges and struggles we faced last year were; the importation of the drill rig, a very ugly and discouraging experience for me, and a review of our vision for the Spanish Institute of Honduras (fb link) and what it's Kingdom purpose is which ended in a complete overhaul of how we "do language school". Change is always difficult, especially when it affects many people, but I believe we have come through it stronger and more focused than ever before. Thanks to all of our students and their missions agencies who worked with us to implement the changes. A big thank you to our new chaplain/counselor, Gordon and his wife Anna who came on staff part time in January, for being willing to travel from Tegucigalpa each month to spend time with our students. And a very special thank you to our incredible staff of teachers. This past year, with the help of our three senior teachers, we have grown into a unified team who shares the same vision and commitment to helping missionaries not only learn Spanish, but succeed in life here in Honduras. Each day I watch with pride as our teachers, despite their own life struggles, pour their hearts and souls into each of our students as they struggle through learning how to live in a new country and learn a new language and a new culture. Our staff has been one of our greatest blessings here and I know that feeling is shared by the vast majority of our students past and present.

Our wonder, crazy beautiful bunch of teachers, but where is Jose Luis? (photo by Sarah Larson)

We have seen victories in many areas as well. Our Bible study in Cerro Azul is bearing much fruit. (That's Christianese for seeing a lot of personal growth and spiritual development happen). Barbe and I have now been traveling the two hour round trip every other Sunday for over two years. Our relationships there have deepened tremendously this past year. It has been a privilege to watch God at work in the lives of those who faithfully meet with us and to share with each other the joys and struggles of life. It is humbling to watch the mighty power of God at work changing lives. BAM, our missionary kids youth group that David Guevara and I teach, is maturing. Pastor Steve visits from Florida about every six months and spends time with Barbe and me. While he is here, we do a lot of visitation, often traveling deep into the mountains on nearly impassable roads to visit, preach and pray with the sick. Thanks Steve for all the encouragement you have been to us.

I am often asked by Hondurans and Americans alike how long we plan on living in Honduras. I always say (with the understanding that life is uncertain and the future unpredictable) that we are here to stay. With each passing year, and we are now in our third year, we are more and more deeply connected to Honduras. Of course we miss family immensely and we occasionally have a hankering for Taco Bell or Waffle House, but I can honestly say that I no longer feel as though I am a foreigner living in a foreign country. This is home. It has absolutely been a challenge to do business here, but business has also opened incredible opportunities for me to meet people and to do things I would never have been able to do otherwise. These past three years have been a grand adventure and one I am grateful to have been able to participate in.

I want to thank my wife Barbe for supporting me in all I have attempted here. For being patient with me when I take on too much and for being willing to ride the ups and downs of life with me. Thanks also to our three incredible sons. They are competent and confident young men at ease living in a foreign country. I am glad you are here doing life different with me.

Pozos para Todos

In January of 2013 when we came back to Honduras for the second time, after having been here for two months the previous year studying Spanish at the Spanish Institute of Honduras which we now own, one of the things I planned on doing, actually the only thing I planned on doing, was drilling wells. And we did drill several, but the rig we were using, although well-built was not made for deep drilling or drilling through rock which is what is needed here.

Our first well, Barrio Oriente 2013

This past April, the boys and I had started drilling another well here in town and ran into so many problems with the little rig that we finally gave up and packed up. It was at that point that I told Ben and Thomas that if we were going to drill wells, we were going to have to get a rig that would do the job. Both Ben and Thomas want to stay here in Honduras, but as they told me, they need work. So having reached an agreement with them, that if I were to make the investment in time and money to start a well drilling business that they would stay at least four years and work it with me, Pozos para Todos operating under our umbrella company Inversiones Wolfe Honduras, SA de CV was born.

The first thing I needed to find was the capital with which to fund this new enterprise. Because of my personal view that "free money" and business should not be mixed, therefore prohibiting me from pursuing an outright donation, but being unable to walk into Franklin Savings Bank or Banco Atlantida and borrow the capital needed, I was somewhat stymied on how to move forward. Long story short, thanks to a very generous family, the capital was eventually provided through a loan from the Camino Foundation in Dallas, Texas.

Next came the search for a suitable drill rig that would fit our budget. After a lot of research, I reached the conclusion that rotary rigs, although far faster and far more efficient, were out of our price range. I then began to look at what is now seen as old technology, the cable tool rig. Operating on a principle that was first used in China 4000 years ago, the cable tool rigs, especially the Bucyrus Erie 22W, became the drilling rig of choice from around 1950 until the late '70's when the rotary rig was introduced. Now, in the USA, these rigs are rarely used and many of them have been shipped to third world countries where often there is more time than money, which pretty much describes us. This is not to say that the investment has been minimal. On the contrary, a small fortune has been spent on this project. Purchase of the rig, a truck and trailer to mount it on, new cable, land and ocean shipping, import taxes and demurrage has turned this project into a sizable investment.

After much searching, I finally found a BE 22W that looked interesting. Located in Bent Mountain, VA and mounted on an old Ford truck too old to import to Honduras, I flew up to the States for a look to make sure it was what I hoped it would be. After spending several days with the owner, I decided to purchase the rig and remove it from the truck. I flew back to Honduras, arranged for the ocean shipping through Crowley and then a month later flew back to Virginia to help load the container. All I can say about that day is that it was interesting, but we got the job done. Thanks Glenn and Harvey!

My Bucyrus Erie 22W mounted on A Ford truck

Dismounted and weighing over 10,000# waiting to be loaded

After an incredible amount of hassle by the Honduran customs (which I will write about), the rig finally arrived in Siguatepeque last week. Unloading it was easier than loading, but still very challenging.

Preparing to unload the rig. (Thomas, Ben and Luis)

After getting it out of the container with a rollback, we then had to set it on the trailer with crane.

We still have a lot of work to do in order to start drilling...like learning how to use the rig, but we have it mounted, a "cajon" purchased to store all the drill bits, extra stem and supplies in, and hopefully by mid November we will be ready to finish the well that got us started with all this in the first place.

As with all our businesses here, we take the "business as missions" approach. That means that as we support ourselves through legitimate, profit producing business, we look for ways to also do charitable or missions work. And that goes doubly for Pozos para Todos (Wells for Everyone). One very great need here is water. Many communities have little or no water. Part of our plan for the future is to partner with NGOs like Hope Coffee or the Rotary Club. I am also working towards an agreement with the Ministry of Education to drill wells for public schools...which is where my heart is and where we already do a lot of missions work.

My business partners

Catching Up

It seems hard to believe, but we have now been here for two years, eight months. With every passing month we are more deeply connected to Honduras and it seems less and less likely that we will ever return to the US to live. I have learned to never say never, but at this point in time neither Barbe nor myself can see that happening. We have a mission, a church family, three businesses to maintain, friends and a busy, rewarding life. The only thing we don't have often enough is an opportunity to visit or be visited by family. But, that is really no different than when we lived on the West Coast and my family lived on the East Coast.

I also realized as I sat down to write that it has been nearly five months since I last blogged. It isn't like there hasn't been anything to write about, but honestly I just haven't felt like writing. I have been really busy, and by the end of the day I am emotionally and physically worn out. I made two quick trips back to the US on business in the past two months as I work on getting our third business up and running and I have been working on several large projects/contracts that have taken a lot of time and energy. Between all of this, the Spanish Institute of Honduras continues to grow and as we grow we have been faced with new challenges that have taken a toll on me emotionally. Everyday we have nearly 50 people pass through our doors and our lives. We have 6 properties we rent and are responsible for and have about the same number of Honduran host families. Barbe and I both threw our hearts and souls into our work here at the Institute right from the beginning and nothing has changed as the school has grown. If anything, our love and commitment to the work is even deeper. In many ways, our roll has become that of parents. We care deeply about each one of our teachers and students, and our deepest desire for each of them is the same as any parent....we want to see them excel and become all that God has called them to be.

Most of our student body celebrating "the day of the child" at Parque Calenterique

Luis' adoptive family is here with us. Although Sloan will need to return to work before the final steps in Luis' adoption is complete, Mandy will stay with us until she can take Luis home with her. Luis has been with us for almost a year and a half and he has become like one of our own boys. We are going to miss him but, we have always known that this day would come and we are very happy for him and his new parents. I laughingly told Luis as we talked through some of these changes that it is time for me to stop being "dad" and to become "abuelo" (grandfather).

Carlitos is getting big and has become the light of our lives. He also keeps all of us more than busy. He is into everything! 

Thomas and Ben with big sister Gaby

Ben and Thomas are tall, lean and handsome and are very content here. Both of them will soon be working with me in the new business as they continue to their high school studies.

Mark is in Morocco right now as he back packs around Europe (I know, Morocco is in Africa). He's having the time of his life with best bud Nate Moore and I am super jealous. I am hoping that he will come back to Honduras for 6 months or so before he heads off to college and take over some of the responsibilities of the Institute so I can concentrate on getting a new project up and running. That's the plan for now anyway.

I still love the work I do in public schools. It may be the thing that lifts me up and encourages me the most. 

And then there's all the other neat things I get to do.

  

And I finally found a good home for Alfredo with someone who loves him as much as I do.