So, here’s what’s been happening the last few days. On Friday morning, I met with Barry, Kimberly and Marshall to discuss details of our STEP program. Friday was the last day of language training for our team, so we joined the four STEPpers and their language teachers for lunch to celebrate. The team has come a long way in learning the language. I’m really proud of them! After lunch, we went back to Barry & Kimberly’s house. Another pastoral couple joined us in the afternoon to share with the team about evangelizing, especially to Catholics. We had some great discussion on what Catholics here in Honduras believe. It was an interesting session.
On Friday evening, Kim and I joined the team for dinner at Jesse’s host family’s house. Romelia, his “mom in Honduras” was an amazing host! What a lovely family! Most of her children were able to join us as well. We had a great visit with them all. Romelia just lost her husband a few months ago, pretty much a month before Jesse arrived. So, she is still in a time of grieving. Please pray for her. She is so blessed to have Jesse there and to be part of our STEP program in that way. What an amazing Christian woman! Romelia also cares for her 98-year old mother...what a beautiful woman!
On Saturday, we had a fun day together as a team. After breakfast, (and by the way…Barry is an amazing cook—banana pancakes one morning and eggs with onions and peppers another morning—what a treat!) we drove out to a local park for a picnic. Again, Barry did an amazing job with pulling this one off, too! Hamburgers, hot dogs, homemade baked beans and macaroni salad, and other veggies—it was a feast! After quite some difficulty for Barry & Jesse getting the charcoals lit (they just wouldn’t get started!), we all sat down to enjoy the food. We had another young couple from Honduras, Veronica and Andres and their 2-year old daughter, Ellah, join us. We had a great time sharing testimonies together and just laughing and fellowshipping together. We had expected it to be warmer than it was, but it was actually quite chilly!
After a few hours at the park, we drove to the “Valle de Angeles”. This is a local town for tourists. We spent some time shopping for souvenirs. After a bit of time there, Barry asked if we wanted to go La Tigra park which was at the top of a mountain…it would be quite an adventure driving those roads with the van. Were we up for it? You bet! We’re always game for an adventure! I don’t think we knew what we were in for. It was quite a crazy, bumpy ride! Towards the top, we needed more weight in the back of the van, so we all piled in the back…with me almost diving head first into Holly! It’s hard to believe that this road is the main road to the park and into the town of San Juan Cito (the city at the bottom of the hill). When we started up the hill, we actually saw the clouds covering the mountains. Once we got to the top, the clouds had dissipated.
When we reached the top, we had about 45 minutes until dark. Barry asked the Park Ranger if we could walk to the top to the lookout—we didn’t have much time. The guide thought it would take us about an hour to go up and back. Again, Barry asked if anyone was up for it. Several of us jumped at it—Yolanda, me, Jesse and Barry. Off we went. It was quite a hike up the mountain! It was pretty strenuous and you could definitely feel the higher altitude.
The view was amazing at the top! Well worth the hike! It was a great day!
On Sunday morning, we attended the Spanish BIC church at 8 a.m. and then an English-speaking church at 10 a.m. The plan for the rest of the day is to rest just a bit and then I’ll be visiting with each of the STEP girls and their host families for some time this afternoon. For the next two nights, I’ll be staying with a host family (Noe and Suyapa’s—where my birthday party was). Holly, one of our STEP team is going to join me, to help with some translation (which I’m very thankful for!) I’m looking forward to spending the next few days with this family.
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