Things are getting closer and closer to coming to a close. Today (or possibly tomorrow) the last of the students will leave. A few regular students, plus all of the Bible school students have stayed here for a Christian camp which finishes this morning. It will be sad to see them go. Right now I have plans to see several of them in the last few weeks as I will be travelling near their home areas, but it's still hard to see them go.

I finally feel much better. After over a month of having one type of sickness or another I am finally starting to have energy. I still have a certain amount of pain from the shingles, but it makes sense that my body needs to heal and it's not zapping my ability to get things done.

In the past few weeks I have begun to try to get things ready to go home. Finding a job doesn't look like it will be easy, but I don't feel that there is much that I can do from here...and in fact little that I can do while in Kansas...and maybe not really much I can do til January, haha. But I'm still trying to look-to get ideas of where to apply if nothing else. I already have a place to live and a roommate, and that is a huge blessing and a lot of worry off my mind.

I am so very sad to be leaving Honduras, but I am excited about this next year. While my life here is great, I don't get much of the indepence 24 year olds from the States are used to (you have no idea how excited I will be to have my car back!!!) I am looking forward to seeing my friends, going to my church, and starting life as a "real adult" (though I doubt the last one is half as exciting in reality as it sounds).

A Long Awaited Update...

Sorry it has been SOOOO long since my last post. I've been super busy and trying to figure some things out concerning my future and I didn't want to write til I got more figured out. I'll write about that more below, but first a more general update:

The boys have left. They finished out their school year, we had a graduation and their families picked them up. It all happened so quickly. We still have a couple of students on campus who are staying for a Christian camp that will be held here. The Bible school students are also here until this camp. This makes the place less lonely but campus still feels rather empty. It's sad to see them going, especially because many of them do not have homes (or good homes) to which they are returning. All we can do is pray though. Many of them will have to try to find work, which can be difficult to find just to have food to eat and a roof over their heads. Many of them will be returning to old temptations like drugs and alcohol, so they need our prayers.

It is encouraging though to see the changes that have been made in them over this last year. New confidence. New work ethic. New goals. New faith in God. For many of them this school was sort of a last chance. Not all of the boys made it through the school year. We had a few leave of their own free will-including for family reasons. Several had to leave because of discipline issues. But I believe that these boys had the seed of God's love planted in their hearts. The name of the school, El Sembrador, means "the Sower" and it is such a fitting name. Many important men in Honduras went to Escuela El Sembrador. Some became Christians at the school. Others didn't during their time at the school but later did because of the seed planted in their hearts during their time at the school.

The last few days I have been having to take it easy because I have shingles. It's very painful, but fortunately we have good medical care here on campus thanks to the nurse, Lillian. She took care of making sure I got on the right antiviral medicines right away and when I went to her yesterday about the pain she sent me into a very good doctor in Catacamas. (By the way, doctor's visits and meds here are very cheap here-$13 for a doctors visit, a shot, and pills!). I am still in pain and still have a nasty rash, but I am feeling much better.

So...I have had to make some choices concerning my future. I had applied to volunteer here next year and been accepted earlier this year, but in the last month I have done some thinking and believe that the best thing for me at this point is to return to the States to live and maybe study some more. I feel an attachment and calling to Honduras and the ministry here, but I feel that now is the time for me to think about a long term commitment to it and I believe that being back in the States is the only way for me to get perspective on this important decision. It's very hard for me to leave and know that I will not see many of these people again, but I feel that God is calling to live in the States next year just as He called me to live in Honduras for this one.

I plan to live in Tahlequah since I have a wonderful church and friends there and there are more job opportunities there than there are closer to my parents in Kansas. I have found a place to live and I am excited to see what God has for me in this upcoming year. Please pray that I will be able to find a job and if you hear of a job possibility, let me know!

Update

Ok...so...the students have had their second rounds of big tests for the year. The grades this time were over all lower, but much closer together. Then it came time for retreat. All WGM missionaries and volunteers headed for Tela for a week of much needed rest and fellowship. It was a great time of encouragement and I returned feeling refreshed and more ready for the final stretch of the school year.

The week after retreat my mom came to visit me! She got to spend a week with me, during which she attended one of my English classes in the highschool, my weekly English class for the school employees, and got to spend some time getting to know the student that my parents sponser. We also spent some time in Catacamas, which is the city the school is near to, walking around so that she could get a taste of life here.

This week hasn't been a normal school week either. The students had class Monday and Friday, but the upper two grades (I & II Bach) went to Tegucigalpa to go visit universities. Enough of the teachers went with them that there wasn't enough teachers on campus to teach so the boys who were left didn't have school. In the eveniings we put together a couple of fun things for them to do. One night we watched a movie and another night we had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows and played games.

This last week things have been back to normal, though I am getting used to a new class schedule. I have started a computer class for two of the school employees who really wanted to learn. We have 3-4 classes a week (as schedules provide) which include computer basics, Word, Internet (email, Facebook, etc), and typing. My students are Ana, who runs the snack shop, and Yuni, who cleans the Conference Center. They are both single and around my age and it's a great way to get to know them.




I also am working seriously on trying to get some art classes together. I bought supplies so that I could have classes of 15 at a time. My thought it is to have two classes (about an hour long) a week, one for one set of 15 and one for a different set of 15. I would love to be able to give the two sections different focuses. The problem is schedualing. The times when boys have free time are times like weekdays at 7pm when they really just want to watch TV or play soccer or on the weekends when they really just want to sleep or watch TV...so, we'll see. I may end up trying on the weekends and seeing how it works, though I tried it before with little success. I am hoping that a better option will present itself.

Praises:

*For the new computer class.

*That a 2 month long problem with the hydroelectric plant that provides the school's power has finally been fixed. It has been an expensive problem and frustrating problem for those involved...

*For the friends God has given me here-both my "missionary family" and the Hondurans I work with.

*For my students. They don't know how much the bless my life.


Prayer requests:

*For the school as they recover from the expense of the electrical problem.

*For the missionaries and school staff as we week to minister to the boys. For wisdom, patience, and understanding as week work with them and try to show them Jesus through our words and actions.

*For the boys-that their hearts would be open to hearing God's word and that they would understand how much He loves them and how much they need Him.

So...it's time for us missionaries to get a rest. That is, we are leaving for retreat on Monday. We will be spending a few days at the beach. It's all the WGM people in Honduras and we will be getting lots of time rest as well as time to get together and special devotions every night. Right now I am in Tegucigalpa at the mission guesthouse. It's so good to have a chance to rest. This last week was exam week and it is exhausting for teachers as well as students. We have to make sure we have the homework graded, write tests, watch the students take the tests, grade the tests and figure out GPAs. I haven't been able to sleep much this last week as well as it being a stressful time in general (it's hard to write tests that aren't too easy or too hard and to prepare the students for them). They have these tests 3 times a year and they are like midterms or finals, so it's a big deal.

It's funny, it feels good to be away from the school because I haven't been off campus (other than day trips to Catacamas) for several months. And it's great to see people I haven't seen yet. But it feels weird to know I won't be back to the school for a week.

A while ago I wrote a blog entry about my life here, but never posted it because I was waiting on some more pictures. By now it has become outdated enough that I decided to start over.

A week in my life:

Sunday- Morning-church, afternoon-hang out with the boys (sometimes there is a softball game-I just watch), evening- more hanging out.

Monday- Morning and afternoon-work with Kelly on various graphic design and photography projects, as well as working on things for my English classes (like planning and grading), evening- hanging out with the boys.

Tuesday-Friday- Mornings are mostly spent teaching English classes, afternoons are same as Mondays,

Tuesday evening-missionary prayer meeting

Wednesday-Church night-either a service or discipleship group depending on the week

Thursday-teach English class to school Employees

Friday-hang out

Saturday- Morning and Afternoon- I got to Catacamas with Kelly to hang out, go shopping, and just kind of get off the farm for a few hours. Evenings I cook supper for Steve, Kelly, and Nick and sometimes a few others.

This schedule is of course subject to change-and it does regularly.

Days here start early- I have classes starting at 7:40 or 7:00. Lunch is at about 11:30, which isn't too early, but supper is at around 4:30, which is kind of odd. I dont have a set bed time at all, but it tends to be earlier than when I would go to sleep in the US. The boys have to be in their dorm by about 8:30 every night. It seems strange, but really the whole day is just shifted forward and hour or two.

I eat breakfast and lunch in my apartment and during weekdays I eat dinner at Steve and Kelly's. This is a great arrangement since I live alone and cooking for one person gets tiring really quickly.

Several people I used to hang out with have come and gone. For the first 4 months I lived with Charith Dunbar, who taught school to the Mks (Missionary kids) out here. We had a lot fun and together and I miss her company a lot. The Gouge family was here for the first few months I was here too. I got to meet them when I was here last year and I miss them a lot too. More recently we said goodbye to Scott, another VIA, and Luke. They were both a lot fun.

Right now at the farm there is another VIA, Simon, who is helping me with English classes (whoo-hoo! Help!). He studied linguistics and does a good job with the teaching and he speaks Spanish, which is nice.



I've mentioned the Solheims too. Steve and Kelly and their 13 year old son, Nick are here for a year as volunteers. Steve works on computers and helps with electricity stuff and work projects and Kelly does graphic design, the school's webpage and the communications stuff in general. I spend a lot of time with them as Kelly and I work together and I eat my suppers with them.
Also on the farm are Jerry and Sherri Murphy and Jeremy Umbaugh. Jerry and Sherri are full time missionaries with WGM. I wrote about them in a previous entry. I don't see quite as much of them as I do of Simon and the Solheims because in general we our jobs don't cross paths as much. However, when I need teaching advice I go to Sherri and I sometimes help her with translation that needs to be done. Jeremy is a volunteer, but he has been volunteering for song long (about 9 years I think) that he is like a full time missionary in many ways.

My Honduran friends:

Gaby:


Is the events coordinator out here. She's very energetic and is rather ornery. She's learning English, but she's very shy about it, so we speak Spanish, which goes fine until she gets excited about something and starts talking really fast. She lives in Catacamas, but she is out here a lot.

Eddy:


Is the electrician out here. He speaks some English, but refuses to use it around me, except in the Thursday night English class which he attends. He's always joking and sometimes his jokes get him in trouble. We also talk about things seriously and he is helping me with my Spanish a lot as I can understand about 98% of what he says to me Spanish.

Omar:



Is the grounds keeper out here. He's always running off somewhere and has an amazing amount of energy. He rooms with Eddy and they have a running joke about which of them is the “woman of the house”. He's always coming up to me and saying something (unimportant) that I half understand and then leaving, thinking that I understood. He has two bunnies, whom he talks about a lot.

Then of course there are my students:

They are all so great. Some of them I get along with better than others in the classroom, but when we leave the classroom, they still seem to have a certain amount of respect for me, but we can talk and have fun and talk when we hang out in the evenings. Mostly hanging out involves watching while some of the boys play soccer. Occasionally it involves helping with homework, but there isn't a lot I can help them with as only their English homework is in English. There is a small soccer court where the boys get together to play pick-up games and there is the big soccer field where they play actual games against other teams that come and I like to go watch both types-but more for getting to spend time getting to know my students than for the actual game. They don't seem to play much basketball this year, but they have a small court and last year it got used quite a bit. As I said before, they play baseball (well, softball) sometimes on Sundays. They don't know anything about football, but I think it would be hilarious to watch them try to play.

Stuff I have learned how to do here:

1) Make bread.

2) Make tortillas.

3) Burn trash.

4) Teach. I am definitly still learning to do this, but I have come a ways.

5) Speak Spanish. Once again, I am still learning...still learning a lot, but I have come a long ways.

6) Plan. And then learn to re-arrange plans. (Be flexible)

A few random and not so random things about life here

So...My time here is almost halfway done. I can't believe it. It makes me so sad...at this point I have been in Honduras for 8 months of my life. Crazy, huh?

A few of my random and not so random thoughts on living here:

1) I never wear closed-toed shoes...I brought down only one pair it's a pair of tennis shoes-I have worn them for maybe 3 hours. Other than that-sandals!

2) Cleaning takes a long time here. No dishwashers, tons of dirt that blows in, lots of bugs, having to burn our garbage, etc... but it's probably good for me.

3) It's amazing how much language one learns by just living somewhere. I brought down several different books to study, but I haven't used them much...and yet I have learned a lot of Spanish. Everyday life here demands that I learn more and more and while in a lot of ways it's harder than studying a book, it's far superior and it's faster.

4) I've learned also about how another culture works. I certainly don't claim to be an expert on Honduran culture by any means, but I've gotten more or less used to having to learn new things and trying to see things from a different perspective. Sometimes I can anticipate a cultural difference before I see it or am told about it, sometimes I can't. It makes life here more of an adventure. I don't really look at my time here as me learning the culture so much as I look at it as me learning how to live in it and relate to it. I could live here for years and I would still think like a North American in many, if not most ways. We tend to learn cultural values and customs when we are very young and this is what is most natural to us. This is not to say that we don't enjoy the other culture. I love it down here- I am actually a lot less shy here! (I would have to be to teach 25 boys at a time, wouldn't I?)

5) I have learned the importance of good friendships. When you are far from everything you have ever known it's important to be able to have relationships with people. It can be easy to sometimes lock yourself away in your house and only go out to do your specific ministry. But it would be a sad, sad life. Here I have made some really good friends. The missionaries here are great and we can relate to each other. It's good to have people who understand how it feels to have limited contact with the people you love and be away from everything you have ever known. And it's great to be able to speak English! On the other hand, I love my Honduran friends here. We have so much fun together working together on things and having inside jokes that we tease each other about. And it's great to practice my Spanish!

6) Saying goodbye is hard to do. Yesterday we said goodbye to the Gouge family. They were Missionary Volunteer Partners (MVPs) here for almost a year. They got here a bit before I came to Honduras last fall in August, so I have never known what it was like to be here without them and the place already seems a bit emptier. They lived in the house close to Charith and I's apartment and I spent many afternoons sitting and talking with Ruth and working on something...or just sitting and talking. It's hard to see people leave whom you have come to know and love, but it's part of life on the mission field. Being so sad to see someone leave is hard, but it's a sign of how special their friendship has been to me and the rest of the mission family here. So, they will be missed, but not forgotten and can certainly expect emails and facebook messages.

Once again it has been far too long since I have written. I am currently in the process of writing a long, and hopefully very good and informative post about my life here...I have it in a word document and am working on it and the pictures I am wanting to put in it.

Until then, a quick update:

It's been a very busy last 3 weeks. The kids have been going through a process of midterms, but it's a big deal, so it's been more like a "finals" week in college. After that things started to get back to normal, but then there was retests (in Honduras if you fail you get a retest), and now finally this week things should be back to normal, or almost.

The Gouges will be leaving in just a few short weeks and they will be missed greatly. They have been here since August and have a great ministry out here. They live in the house nearest to my apartment, so this part of campus will start to feel rather lonely when they leave.

Please pray for me as things get back to normal around here. These last few weeks have been extra confusing with meetings and test scheduals, and other things that are not a part of my normal schedual. It's been stretching my Spanish abilities, which is good, but exhausting and right now I am feeling a bit under the weather as the seasons change.

Two Months into this...

Sorry it has been so long...trust me, I have not forgotten about you all! I thank God for you and pray for you each night. I am so grateful to be here in Honduras. During these last two months I have faced some of the biggest challenges I have had so far in my (as of yet short) life, and recieved some of the greatest blessings.

During these last few weeks things got really busy and then we had Semana Santa...which means "Holy Week". This is basically a week of vacations before easter. It functions as sort of a spring break, but not just schools shut down...taxi and bus service does. And stores. And...well...for the last few days of Semana Santa the whole country is shut down. Ok...I am exaggerating, but a lot of things do shut down for a few days. My first half of Semana Santa was spent in the capitol city, Tegucigalpa, at a retreat center called Villa Gracia caring for the MKs (Missionary kids) while Annual Conference was held. This is a time when all of the missionaries in Honduras get together to pray, catch up on what has been going on with eachother, go over business, and have some fun together.

After the conference I headed back out to the school where campus was pretty much dead. There were only a few boys left on campus. They were boys who lived too far away to travel back for the week or didn't really have anywhere to go. So...with only about 8 boys here it was really quiet.

On Friday I went over to the Solheim's house (they are one year volunteers who just got here a little before I did) to help translate for them because the boy they used to sponser (but who is no longer at the school) came for lunch. That was a lot of fun and stretched my Spanish!

Saturday there was a wedding here. This year the school is going to start having some events here to bring in some money, because the school has a beautiful church and conference center right here on campus. So I spent pretty much the whole day helping with it because it was really fun and I didn't have much else to do. It was really good for my Spanish and helped me to get to some of the people here better.

Sunday after church I went to the Gouges house for Easter dinner and they invited a Honduran family who works at the school, another employee who is about my age, and myself. It was alot of fun...they hid easter baskets for the kids (I still got to be included :-) ) and then later we hid eggs outside (this time I was not a kid and hid the eggs instead of finding them, but the baskets were what mattered to me...they were full of candy!).

Tomorrow:1st day back at school since break!

Hopefully I will update this sooner next time...
In the meantime, thank you so much for your prayers!

Happy St. Patty's Day from Honduras!

Sorry I haven't updated this thing in a while, life has gotten a lot busier! Ok...so...

Classes are going well...I still have so much to learn about teaching, but I am getting better and my students are learning more English! I still wish I could have more time with each class every week, but I am learning how to organize my time in the classroom better to make the most out of the time that we have for class. Today I told my classes about St. Patrick's Day, which was fun.

It has been really hot here lately and while it has been humid there hasn't been any rain (it's dry season). Unfortunatly, no rain not only means that the air doesn't cool off as much, it also isn't all that great for our electricity becuase it is hydroelectric, so we have times (generally at night for a few hours starting at 11) when we are without electricity. (Yes, Camille, I am using the flashlight you gave me!!!)

We have had several small work teams coming and going. Right now there is one from Asbury College. One of the team members is a girl who was a VIA in Honduras this June and I met her this May at VIA orientation. When teams come we have one day when we share with them about ourselves and our ministries here. Tonight is my roommate and my turn.

At the moment I can't think of much else to say (could be the heat is making me lazy!)

(Almost) Two Week Update

Life here is good... I have been teaching English for almost two weeks and I enjoy it. It's hard though. My students are at different levels within their classes and although I generally can teach harder and harder things the higher the grade level there are kids in every class who aren't up to par with the class in general (they haven't all been at El Sembrador last year) and their are some kids who speak better English than the rest of the class (a lot of them are from Roatan where there are lots of tourists or from Tegucigalpa where some churches have programs for kids to learn English), but anyhow...it's hard to know what level I should really be teaching at.
I have curriculum, but it's not the best (there are a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes, so I use it a little and make up the rest. I try to not stay on the same concept or exercise all class...and just go back and review several concepts everyday. My theory is that it's more natural. One thing we go over almost every day is a memory verse. I plan to give them a new one every month. This month I chose a short one: Romans 3:23 :For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Last week I had a night art class. I didn't do much teaching, this was kind of an informal preliminary one. The kids just sat around and drew pictures to be framed and sold. I chose the best 3 (out of about 20) and they are now for sale in the room where the school keeps things to sell to work teams who come.

My life here in general is pretty simple...my roommate and I take turns cooking and cleaning and our food is pretty much made from scratch...all tomato-based sauces are made from tomato paste that we season. We buy our bread usually, but I made some this week. I made homemade pizza (crust and all)the other day...things like that. My roommate is an the daughter of missionaries (she actually lived out here when her father was the director of the school) and she can cook a lot-which is great cause she knows a lot more about making Honduran food than I do. She taught me how to make tortillas the other day :-)

I teach in the mornings (at least 3 classes, today it was 5). In the afternoon I do dishes and plan of the next day and catch up on anything that might need catching up on. At night I either stay in with my roommate and watch a movie or I hang out and watch the boys play soccer and help some of them with their English homework.

It's a very different life from what I am used to. I can't just hop in my car and drive to Walmart for a frozen pizza. I can't just phone a friend up to go do something. There are no dishwashers and putting off cleaning could mean that my apartment would soon be flooded by cockroaches and ants. Teaching classroom fulls of teenage boys is far outside my comfort zone. I get up before dawn and am in bed by ten.

Some of these things may sound negative. And at times they feel negative. But I believe that they will produce huge positives in my life. I have to rely on God more. I have to learn to do things in ways that art always the fastest or easiest. And my prayer is that what I do this year will change me and make me better prepared for future service. And that God would use me.

I got here safely! I had a good trip Saturday except for a two hour delay on my second flight due to a mechanical problem. Other than the delay however, everything went very smoothly-no trouble in immigration and customs and my luggage all arrived safely, which is a huge answer to prayer.

It has been wonderful to be back so far and see everyone! I spent Sunday spending time with them and getting to know some new ones. There is a new volunteer family on the field and my roommate, Charith, is new as well (well, not really new, she was a missionary kid out here for quite a few years) and another volunteer, Gabe.

Today has been quite a day. I met with Sherri Murphy and Christian, who is the director of the school, and talked about what I would like to do here and what the needs of the school are. At the moment the real need is for an English teacher. So...my plans have shifted some from the original.... I am as of now an English teacher. I will certainly not be dropping the idea of teaching art (especially as many of you have given very generously towards art supplies), but instead I will be incorporating as much art as possible into my English classes and working with the students on various projects throughout the year.

Please pray for me as I begin teaching tomorrow. I need strength and patience and lots of wisdom!

Honduras the Country-and final plans!

Well...I am off to Honduras in just a few short days! I can hardly believe it. I will fly into the capitol city and make the trek out to the school all in one day. I leave this Saturday at 5:30 am from Wichita, KS and I will be in Tegucigalpa, Honduras before 1 pm, where I will be picked up and head on out to Catacamas (where I will be at Escuela El Sembrador).

Right now I am just working on the last minute details. I still haven't packed, but since I have moved home for the last little bit of my time in the US I feel like the work is partially done.I am hoping that I can fit everything I "need." :-)

I have all of the money to I was required to raise and I have received several generous donations towards art supplies, but of course I could still use some. I had originally thought about getting donations from stores like Hobby Lobby and bringing them with, but this didn't work out from several angles (including the $200 cost of bringing another suitcase!). If you would like to donate to my art supply fund you can donate with the same forms as before, just write "Sarah Larson-Art Supplies" on the memo line of the check, this will earmark the funds so that they can be spent on the art supplies. This can be done at any time during the school year.


Let me try to give you a picture of the country of Honduras...

It's a pretty mountainous place...which means that it takes longer to get from point A to point B, of course, it also means that it is really beautiful.

As far as natural disasters go it has frequent, mild earthquakes (there weren't any while I was there that I know of, but there was on in June or July) and it's long coastlines make it very vulnerable to hurricanes. In 1998 Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras leaving 5,600 people dead and many homes and other building destroyed. It's still something that comes up commonly in conversation.

Honduras is the second poorest country in Central America and according to some sources the second poorest in the Western Hemisphere. It's major exports are
coffee, shrimp, bananas, gold, palm oil, fruit, lobster, and lumber.

Update...and more on El Sembrador

I could use:
*Old digital cameras that work but that you do not need anymore
*Temperature-controlled storage for a couple of boxes.
*A place to park a car-preferably in a garage because I would like to store some things in it like clothes that can freeze or get hot and also because my parents would like to not pay insurance on it while it is out of use.

El Sembrador

The Missionaries



I will be working with Jerry and Sherri Murphy, whom I had the privilege to work with last year. Jerry does a number of things around the school, including organizing sporting events for the boys. Sherri works with sponsorship programs (people sponsor boys which helps to pay for their living and educational expenses).



Another couple that I know from my first trip is Thad and Ruth Gouge. They are one year volunteers. They have two children, Reed and Shannon, who are 7&5 respectively (unless one of them has had a birthday, which is entirely possible!). Thad, like Jerry, does so many things around the school that I am not sure what all of his responsibilities are. Ruth teaches English at the school . Reed is all boy and his favorite Spanish word is "Vacero" which means "cowboy!" Shannon is all girl and loves princesses and all things pink and purple.

Those are the two couples that I have had the chance to get to know. There will be other families there whom I will write about later. I also will tell you more about the Murphys and the Gouges as I get more acquainted with them and their duties at the school.

More about the school:

It is mostly a boarding school. The majority of the boys who live there are there to learn a vocation as well as to finish school. They come for a variety of reasons, but in general they are disadvanted boys who need the head-start El Sembrador can provide. There are some students from the community who attend the academic classes. There is also a seminary there. The students who are part of the seminary are generally a little bit older though some of them are in the academic classes as well. The seminary has classes for those who are currently pastors as well to help them continue their theological education.

Life at El Sembrador runs on a schedual which is ruled by "La Campana." La Campana is a bell in a tower connected to the dining hall. The bell rings are different points in the day such as wakeup call (which is very early), times to eat, time for chapel, call to quarters and quite a few other important daily events. The boys like to call the bell "mother" and joke that she is very old and has had many children but has never died.

The boys where uniforms for school (which, by the way so do all students of any type of school in Honduras) and they have special polo shirts for work and vocational classes.

Most of the boys have at least one family who sponsers them. The sponsership pays for the boys food and clothing and educational expenses while at El Sembrador. While I was there I got to witness several very special relationships between the boys and their sponser families. Many of the families visit every year or two to get to know their boys better and the boys write several times a year to their families.

Update on Fundraising and Preperation

Well, I have a ways to go, definitely, but I have seen God beginning to provide as well. I asked the guy back at the mission for some specifics and he was able to answer my questions.

I need to have 50% pledged to me before they are able to buy the plane ticket and 100% before I am able to actually leave. It doesn't need to be all be in my account, it can be monthly pledges. I need about $900 a month in pledges if all of my money comes in monthly. The way it brakes down is $705 a month in monthly expenses (room and board, stipend for food, etc) and $1815 in one time expenses (plane ticket, Visa, etc).

Also, I need money given to provide for art supplies. Without money given to art supplies there will no art supplies-I am even responsible for pencils and paper. There will be around 100 students. I plan to mostly teach drawing and do a segment on painting to teach them a little bit of color theory and how to mix colors and work with brushes.

Basically, without money to fund the art supplies I won't be able to teach the classs. I don't know what the cost of art supplies is like over there...it's hard to guess because it is boughten differently than how I would buy supplies here. If I was here I would buy all of the kids a thick sketchbook that would last them all year if I could afford it or if I couldn't buy giant boxes of typing paper. And buy pencils in bulk. And I could call someone and see what the cost would be. Things are different in Honduras...things are sold differently. What is available in stores changes too often to really plan. Also, it will probably be hard to find paper and pencils in bulk because things are bought more individually there...for instance if your child needs construction paper for a school project you would find out what colors and go buy the individual sheets instead of an entire package.

As for other preparations I have bought my art textbooks. One of them is a very simple one that teaches perspective, shading, and other basics. It's originally made to be a self guided course, but it will work very well for teaching, especially since I need simple explanations. It teaches still light and a bit of landscape drawing, which is good for a beginning course. The other book that I bought is a more advanced book which teaches a lot about drawing portraits and animals along with more advanced information on techniques.

I'm getting really excited about going and praying for God's continued provision!

I'm Going Back!

So, I have spent 3 months in Honduras this past fall. And now I am going back. I haven't raised all of the money...by any means, but I trust that if God has called me to this (and I believe that He has!), then he will provide money for me to go. And I am excited to see how he is going to work things out for me go.