Sunday I thought of my friend Kate all day. My guts told me that Kate was having her baby. I don't know when she actually did go into labor, but she had a healthy baby girl at 1 a.m. today! This is extra exciting news for Kate and her husband, Jason. They have waited years for Samantha Crews Linsley. I will have to wait until next summer to meet her.
I learned that one of my pastors from K2 is coming to visit on September 12th! That will be really great. He has taken over missions and outreach for K2, so he wants to see what is going on here in Honduras, and how K2 can best partner with Iglesia en Transformación. It will be so fun to show him around, introduce him to the kids, have him experience his first church service here and see what he thinks of it all. I am excited!
This morning I went to a conference with Belinda, Luis (one of the jovenes) and Walter. Karla was there helping to organize it and Alexis Pacheco was one of the speakers. The title of the conference was "Movement Together with Children and Youth". It was about how we, as adults, can help the children of Honduras. I learned a lot of interesting statistics.
The population of Honduras is 8.55 million. 3.72 million are less than 18 years old. (43.51%)
Only 39% of kids ages 13-15 go to school in Honduras. Only 27% of 16-18 year olds go to school. They are not dropping out because they don't feel like going to school. They drop out to work or help in their households.
In 2012, 24% of girls were pregnant before age 19. Of those who were pregnant, more than 45%have only a 1st-3rd grade education.
45% of kids are born to single mothers. One of every three children born are born to a mother who is not yet legally an adult.
They talked about the fact that kids are not only our future, they are also our present. We should not wait until they are older to let kids get involved. I looked around and noticed that we were the only ones who had one of our jovenes (youth) present with us. I was glad Louis, a boy from Los Pinos, who is part of these statistics, was there.
Afterward I met Marcela and Josselyn for sushi. There is a place that has 2 for one sushi every Tuesday and Thursday. Joss and I have talked about going for a year and 1/2. Today we finally made it. We got four rolls for the price of two! The sushi was good and we had a really nice time. Even though Joss and Marcela are much younger, I enjoy spending time with them. Lately they have been busy with boyfriends, but I am happy for them. They both have chosen really great guys and have healthy relationships.
