Hey we are still alive! Just very busy. We have felt God's strength in recent days and we are very grateful. The Las Uvas church seems to be growing. Last night there were about thirty people that attended the evening service. Here at Tiloarque we have been having good services and I have been spending time with baptism classes and membership classes, the people are learning a lot. So between the two churches we are staying busy.

Joseph keeps growing. In the picture he is enjoying grape flavored ice cream. It was actually pretty good I stole a lick or two. He wants to go to school. He will probably start next February at a nearby pre-school. He says he knows his numbers and his letters. So I asked him what "what number is this?" and I held up the number 5. He said "green". Obviously he doesn't know his numbers and colors too well. haha.

Well I hope you all have a great day! read more

 

Last Friday night was a special time. We had a get-together at the Las Uvas church along with our church people from Tiloarque. We had so much fun. We got there at about 9:30 at night and we left at about 2 a.m. We had a little service together, we sang choruses, had testimonies and even had an impromptu drama of David and Goliath. It was hilarious. We of course had excellent grilled meat, refried beans and rice. I think it was the best grilled meat I ever had here in Honduras, it was soooo good. Then we relaxed around a bonfire the remainder of the evening. I'm so excited to see how God is helping our people. They are good people and many of them are really trying to serve God. These two churches are on two different social levels but even at that, they are learning that in God's family there are no different levels, we are equal and all loved by God.

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A video of the celebration: Honduras goes to the World Cup read more

Last night was glorious!! Honduras beat El Salvador and the United States beat Costa Rica opening the door for Honduras to go to the World Cup. It's the first time in 27 years that Honduras will be playing for the World Cup. There was shouting in the streets. Cars with groups of young people in the back waving flags and rejoicing. The city set off fireworks. The president declared today to be a holiday in celebration of their win. It was amazing. I never saw anything like it. We hopped in our car and join the throngs of people. How exciting!! read more

God has really been helping us. We sense his presence guiding us along. We now are holding services on Tuesday nights at the church at Las Uvas. One of the couples there have really been trying to get their lives straightened out. They have lived together for 15 years and it looks like we may soon have a wedding!! I'm so excited.

We don't have any electricity at the church so we run an extension cord to a nearby house. So it takes a little while to get everything set up. But it is exciting to see what God is doing. We have been having some good services. We are praying that God will raise up some pastors to lead these churches and help establish them. Keep praying for these works. read more

Mel Zelaya is still holed up in the Brazilian embassy, not much has changed. Troops have about a whole block barricaded so it doesn't look like Zelaya will be going anywhere fast. Talks are going on between Zelaya's representatives and the government but they still haven't come to any kind of agreement.
There has been quite a bit of damage done from protesters.  There is lots of graffiti, smashed windows, and a few restaurants that were gutted. Most of the damage was done close to the presidential palace. But for the most part life goes on as normal and we are hoping for peaceful elections in November. read more

Joseph loves to dissemble my office one piece at a time! read more

Hey just wanted to let everyone know we made it back to Honduras just fine and we are doing great. My parents took us to Newark airport for our early 5:40 a.m. flight so we left the house at about 11:30 at night. We had one last hoopta rah at Perkins! It was fun, Joseph could barely stay awake during the meal and then finally crashed on a bench.














The flight went very well. Joseph slept from Newark to Houston, Texas but was wide awake for our flight into Tegucigalpa. He likes to fly. He pushes all the buttons and was taking out all the magazines from the seat pouch to make tents out of. We had a little emergency when he spilled his orange juice all over his shirt. He sat there next to me saying "I'm frozing, I'm frozing". It had ice cubes in it. haha.






It was so good to finally get home. It almost seems like we never left. Our people did so well and Glen and Helen Reiff and Andrew Palacious did a fantastic job filling in for us. Saturday night the church people had a big welcome home party for us. Jose grilled the meat and the ladies prepared refried beans and rice. It was soooooo good.



Thank you for all your prayers. Right now the country is calm. There havn't been any protests, things seem to be back to normal for right now. Mel Zelaya is still in the Brazilian embassy but it seems like the political authorities are closer to some kind of agreement. We will see what happens. read more

We are home!! We had a very nice trip everything was smooth sailing. We thank the Lord for a safe trip. Now it's time to catch up on some needed rest! read more

Goodbye to all of our family and friends once again. It was a wonderful time home. We are preparing to leave for Newark airport for a 5:45 a.m. flight to Houston Texas and then on to Tegucigalpa. We should be home by noon Thursday, October 1st. Please remember us in your prayers. We love you all!!

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A beautiful day in the Susquahanna Valley

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Bye Doug, Sarah and Cayden. We will miss you guys. Thanks for all the fun.

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We have so enjoyed seeing old friends. Last night we were able to spend some time with Lucas and Hannah Shrout. Thanks guys for a wonderful time. We will miss you!

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Half way through this video where it shows the protesters shouting on the street, this is where Hannah and I would get off the bus and walk this street to our language school to study Spanish. We are still planning to return this week if the airport is still open. read more

Mel Zelaya is still holed up in the Brazilian embassy and is calling on his supporters for "the last stand". The interim government has been cracking down on protests and is trying to get the country back to order. Some of the constitutional civil rights have been suspended temporarily until things return to a calm. Police now have authority to arrest anyone or shut down any media outlets that are promoting insurrection. Here is a recent news update from Fox news. read more

My uncle Paul and Aunt Barb took us to a nearby farm where they milk their cows on a special carousel. About 35 cows can fit on the carousel at a time. The milk gets pumped into a large tank and within about 8 minutes the cows are done and back out of the stall. This particular farm milks about 500 cows three times a day. It was fascinating to watch.

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In a daring attempt to retake power in Honduras ex president Mel Zelaya returned to Tegucigalpa and is holed up in the Brazilian embassy. The country is under a curfew until tomorrow and all airports were closed today. This of course put our plans to return on hold. We were able to change our tickets until October 1st as we wait to see if things will calm down enough for us to return next week. Please help us pray for this situation. We would really like to get back to Honduras and be with our people. read more

Sunday afternoon somebody got the brilliant idea of attempting a family photo on the great white wicker chair. Well as I discovered long ago it is almost impossible to try to get a decent picture with Joseph. He is constantly squirming, grinning like an alien, moving at the last minute or pouting.
Here is a prime example of what I'm talking about. Notice the amazing facial expression.






The media coverage was amazing!









Finally after shooting from every possible angle and nearly exhausting our batteries, a decent shot emerges.




My wonderful parents.








The entire family.













My brother Steve, his wife Mandy and their two boys Brady and Holden.














My oldest brother Scott. read more

Saturday the 19th was another farewell get-together. We played Bocce ball, a game I had never heard of but I discovered it's a lot of fun. The gist is you have two teams, the red and the black. Somebody tosses a small little white ball out into the yard. Then you take turns trying to get your ball closest to the white ball for points.



















Giants were roaming about as it began to get dark.















My cousins made some awesome home-made ice cream.

























Then we divulged into a chocolate, peanut butter mousse cake that sent me to heaven and back. ooooooooh was it good. mmmmmm.
















Clara the Clown was a smashing hit. She first appeared at Joseph's birthday party in June. Well, he hasn't stopped talking about her ever since so for one last hoopta rah she came to the farewell party. Boy was he a happy camper, he just loves her!!












Some of the finest sparkler art you will ever see. read more