Well, it appears that some people read my blog almost daily. I guess I'm a little behind. Sorry about that. I really do not like to write that much, although I could probably talk forever. So let me see what has been happening in my world.
Since my last writing, we celebrated Mother's Day. It was like our Father's Day celebration. The students and teachers did skits and then we cooked dinner for the mothers.
The day before Mother's Day was used for conferences with parents and handing out grades. My students are doing good. Some are really excited and want to learn the language while others could care less. Kids are kids whether here or in the states. I have been told by the nationals that my Spanish is good. Well, it will pass. I can get the message across, but when you spend several days or a couple of weeks with only English speakers, the Spanish does a nose dive.
I didn't make it to Costa Rica for my visa renewal. Instead, as some of you know, I came to the states. What a trip! It was good to see all of you. And to be in church with you on Wednesday night. It felt good to be home.
I thought I was just coming home in order to renew my visa, and of course to see my family while I was there. Well, God had some other plans, as always!! After church, I decided to drive by my house. Well, the grass was very tall and it looked like no one was living there. The next day, I called the young lady that was buying it, and sure enough she had moved. Well, that left one day to get things done. I told my daughter-in-law, that when I saw the place in the day light that I would surely sit down and cry. I kept that yard mowed and it always looked good. (We are stewards of the things God gives us). Well, I didn't cry. God has released me from the place that was home for 12 years. So now I ask that you pray with me that it will sell quickly and that the Lord will help my son with all the stuff that he will do to help me. Isn't it great to know that God knows everything and that He will take care of us, regardless of what other people do? I'm so glad that nothing takes Him by surprise.
Well, we had an earthquake yesterday morning, the 28th. My bed started rocking about 2:30 a.m. and I remember thinking, earthquake tremor. I've never been in an earthquake before, but I rolled over and went back to sleep. When I got up, I wondered if it really happened. It did. All the LACC schools are fine along with our families. One of our churches has a broken window, and things fell off the walls of one of pastor's home up north. So we are praising God that it wasn't worse. There was damage in the towns of El Progreso and San Pedro Sula where we were earlier. Most people that I know here slept through it, and didn't know anything happened. I thank all of you that heard the news for praying for us here.
Some of our English and Spanish lessons here at the house sometimes takes a back seat because the Lord is opening doors to minister. It's either praying for one of the ladies or sharing scripture and confirming what the Lord has already said through a sermon from their pastor. I am so thankful for God's grace and patience and for confirming His word to us. And speaking of His word, I never keep my Bible out with me when when I fly. I always ask for a window seat so I can look out. I see those clouds and think of the scripture referring to them as the dust of his feet, and how high He will be when He returns, and how we will be going up to meet Him. It takes my breath away. Well, this time, I kept it out and laid it in the middle seat until I could sit down. I thought I would spend some time in Psalms. When I sat down, the lady sitting in the aisle seat tapped it and smiled at me while shaking her head up and down. The only thing she could say in English was thank you. We began talking and She told me that she was going through chemo for cancer and had already had a mastectomy. She also had osteoporosis really bad. I said, nosotros oramos (we pray) and she said yes. So we did. She had tears in her eyes when we finished and the stewardess came by and asked if she was alright. I told her we were praying. She affirmed that and went on down the aisle. God knows, doesn't He? We continued to visit after praying. She was flying to the states to see her grandson graduate.
Tomorrow I am going to learn how to make pupusas and tortillas. Pupusas are tortillas that have cheese and or other things like sausage or chicken inside. They're really good.
Thank you for all your prayers. You don't know how much it means to those of us that are here to know that people at home are praying for us. We, too, remember you.
Blessings,
Beverly
Friday, May 29, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Cloud Covering Ps.121:6
It's hard to believe that another month has gone by. I have just spent the last 12 days in San Pedro Sula which is in the northern part of Honduras and very, very hot. I had the chance to help a team from MA build a couple more rooms onto the school in El Progreso.
I have heard of bucket brigades, but have never actually seen one in progress. These buckets contained cement. They were hoisted to the second floor by a rope with 2 hooks made of re-bar. They were quite heavy, and not even full, but it took 2 men to pull the rope and get them to the top. Then they were passed from person to person and poured into the proper place. What a job. Only half of the floor could be done in one day. The other half was done the exact same way the next day. One room had to filled with dirt in order to get it ready for a floor after the sides were built with cement blocks. It was good to have a backhoe come in and do the filling. It would have taken several days to shovel it all. And speaking of shoveling, I found my niche. I shoveled the rock and sand needed to make the cement, or is it called concrete? Sorry, I haven't taken time to find out the difference. I think you use cement and when it gets hard, it's called concrete, right? I'm expecting one of you fellows to straighten me out on this. Anyway, I had to throw a shovel full of dirt and rocks against a framed screen to separate the sand from the the other stuff. What a job, but I loved it. I used muscles that I didn't remember I had.
It was soooo hot, but we were all praying(thank you, Betty) for cloud cover and a slight breeze. God answered our prayer every day, and boy did we praise Him for it. Everybody's clothes were wet with sweat. What a workout. And the amazing thing was that we didn't HURT. We were sore, but not hurting. Amazing God that we serve. People were getting red but not burning. What an experience.
I was asked by the Nationals to translate their Spanish to English and the English asked me to translate to Spanish. Oh, boy! But I got the messages across and everybody was happy. I told Raul, the jefe, (boss)Yo estoy sudano como un caballo-I am sweating like a horse. He had never heard that and thought it was hilarious. Guess what he was saying in English the next day? You got it. Jose told me I had good Spanish. It was so funny because everybody knew my job was the shoveling. No one said it, but we all kind of knew what each person's job was. Jose wasn't there the first day, so when he came, he started shoveling. I finally just stood back and watched because I wasn't for sure what to do. I thought maybe I had taken his job. Well, when Raul and one of the other guys saw what was happening, they immediately told him that I was doing it. So bless his heart, he quit and let me continue. But he did step in and help me when they started going faster and he threw the rocks into the other pile for me. I really appreciated that. Plus it gave us time to get acquainted and for him to learn some English and me to practice my Spanish. And I have to give credit to 2 of the women on the team. They came over the couple of days and shoveled too.
When we drove in the first day, all the kids had lined the drive way to welcome us. What a sight. They sang worship songs in Spanish and had learned some in English, which they also sang on the last day when they did a human video. What a powerful lesson they gave.
We were able to play soccer and volley ball with them. No, I didn't play soccer, but I did volley ball. The guys thought the kids had decided that if the Americanos were losing, they would let them win, so the goalie just let that little ball go right on through at the end of the game. It was funny and everybody had a good time.
I was able to check out some English workbooks at one of the school book stores in San Pedro. I bought enough for my 7th graders, thank you Covenant Assembly, and will check out the book stores in Tegucigalpa for the other students. Will start in them tomorrow and see what happens. They are not used to having books of their own to study, so I'm curious to see what transpires.
I guess I should tell you that I didn't go to Costa Rica. I just renewed for one month and will go this month. I hope this finds you all well and blessed. Again thank you for all your prayers and giving. God always blesses with much more.
I have heard of bucket brigades, but have never actually seen one in progress. These buckets contained cement. They were hoisted to the second floor by a rope with 2 hooks made of re-bar. They were quite heavy, and not even full, but it took 2 men to pull the rope and get them to the top. Then they were passed from person to person and poured into the proper place. What a job. Only half of the floor could be done in one day. The other half was done the exact same way the next day. One room had to filled with dirt in order to get it ready for a floor after the sides were built with cement blocks. It was good to have a backhoe come in and do the filling. It would have taken several days to shovel it all. And speaking of shoveling, I found my niche. I shoveled the rock and sand needed to make the cement, or is it called concrete? Sorry, I haven't taken time to find out the difference. I think you use cement and when it gets hard, it's called concrete, right? I'm expecting one of you fellows to straighten me out on this. Anyway, I had to throw a shovel full of dirt and rocks against a framed screen to separate the sand from the the other stuff. What a job, but I loved it. I used muscles that I didn't remember I had.
It was soooo hot, but we were all praying(thank you, Betty) for cloud cover and a slight breeze. God answered our prayer every day, and boy did we praise Him for it. Everybody's clothes were wet with sweat. What a workout. And the amazing thing was that we didn't HURT. We were sore, but not hurting. Amazing God that we serve. People were getting red but not burning. What an experience.
I was asked by the Nationals to translate their Spanish to English and the English asked me to translate to Spanish. Oh, boy! But I got the messages across and everybody was happy. I told Raul, the jefe, (boss)Yo estoy sudano como un caballo-I am sweating like a horse. He had never heard that and thought it was hilarious. Guess what he was saying in English the next day? You got it. Jose told me I had good Spanish. It was so funny because everybody knew my job was the shoveling. No one said it, but we all kind of knew what each person's job was. Jose wasn't there the first day, so when he came, he started shoveling. I finally just stood back and watched because I wasn't for sure what to do. I thought maybe I had taken his job. Well, when Raul and one of the other guys saw what was happening, they immediately told him that I was doing it. So bless his heart, he quit and let me continue. But he did step in and help me when they started going faster and he threw the rocks into the other pile for me. I really appreciated that. Plus it gave us time to get acquainted and for him to learn some English and me to practice my Spanish. And I have to give credit to 2 of the women on the team. They came over the couple of days and shoveled too.
When we drove in the first day, all the kids had lined the drive way to welcome us. What a sight. They sang worship songs in Spanish and had learned some in English, which they also sang on the last day when they did a human video. What a powerful lesson they gave.
We were able to play soccer and volley ball with them. No, I didn't play soccer, but I did volley ball. The guys thought the kids had decided that if the Americanos were losing, they would let them win, so the goalie just let that little ball go right on through at the end of the game. It was funny and everybody had a good time.
I was able to check out some English workbooks at one of the school book stores in San Pedro. I bought enough for my 7th graders, thank you Covenant Assembly, and will check out the book stores in Tegucigalpa for the other students. Will start in them tomorrow and see what happens. They are not used to having books of their own to study, so I'm curious to see what transpires.
I guess I should tell you that I didn't go to Costa Rica. I just renewed for one month and will go this month. I hope this finds you all well and blessed. Again thank you for all your prayers and giving. God always blesses with much more.
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