Dreams

Lately my dreams have been strangely real, in the manner that when I wake up in the morning they seem to apply to my real life.

Last night I had two simple dreams.  In the first I was seated in a classroom.  A woman was in front, taking a photo of the people in the class.  I was toward the front.  About 6 people were scattered behind me.

Before taking the photo, the woman told me (this is strange, but it will make sense in a minute) to flip all of my hair forward, and then let it fall back again, to kind of fluff up my hair so it would look nice in the photo.  I tipped my head forward and all of my hair fell over my face.  Right at that instant she took the photo.

I was so frustrated!  She had asked me to move my hair, but then waited until my face was covered to take the picture.  She refused to take another.  Everyone else would look normal.  I would be seated in the front, a faceless person, covered in hair.

The next dream was about being with a group of friends I haven't see in a long time.  We were talking and catching up.  But every time I had something to say, someone spoke over me.  Every single time! So frustrating.  Nobody heard a word I said.

Before church this morning I was sharing with one of the dancers about my frustrating dreams.  She said, "It sounds like you are feeling unseen and unheard."  Hmmm...  That  is exactly how I felt in the dreams, and exactly the way I am feeling recently in real life.

Two nights ago I had a really productive dream.  In real life I have felt angry toward someone.  I have been trying to forgive the person, but I am still too angry.  Although I am fully aware that my anger only hurts me, I have not been ready to pardon the person and ask God to bless them.

I dreamed the person came to me and apologized for part, but not all of what happened.  In real life when the person hurt me, I was strong and walked away with my head high.  But in the dream I felt all of the hurt that I had pushed aside.  In the dream I cried and felt all of the hurt I didn't allow myself to feel in real life.  After the person finished apologizing for a part of what they had done, all of that hurt was gone.  When I woke up it was still gone.  I hoped it would last.  It did! Today I am no longer angry and was able to pardon and bless that person.

Never thought that would happen through a dream, but I am grateful it did!

Today I visited a church in Los Pinos to watch the girls we taught all week perform there.  It is a great church with a super nice pastor, but the whole time I was missing MY church.  I love my church.  I love the people.  The leaders are incredible.  And the presence of the Holy Spirit is so strong there.  I fully enjoyed attending the church in Los Pinos. It's a great church! But it is not MY church.  And that is fine.

Pooping Spiders

Can someone please explain to me why my cat always gets horrible asthma a week before I leave the country?  When I lived up in the mountains she had asthma off and on, but it always got worse right before I went to the US.  Now, down in the city, she hasn't had any problems.  Except the week before I went to the US for Christmas and now.  She is wheezing away and has been like this all day.  I hate having to leave when she is in this state.  Fany said maybe she can sense that I am leaving.  Fany takes good care of her as far as feeding her and cleaning up after her, but Hondurans are just not cat people.  Except Samuel.

Today was a big wedding for people from my church.  I was invited, but unable to attend because it was the last night with the dancing ladies. I noticed something funny about Honduran weddings.  When people talk about the wedding, the big thing they talk about is the food.  In the US when we go to a wedding we don't really think about the food ahead of time.  Unless you have to choose fish or steak.  Then you might give it a quick thought.  But you would never say, "Yes.  I was invited to the wedding.  Can't wait to eat!"  As this week went by I heard that several times.  Another Honduran factoid for you.

Last night the water came for the first time all week.  Unfortunately it never made it up to our house.  When I got home from the gym today I asked Fany if she heard the water come last night.  She said there were some drips at 5 a.m.  I said, "So I can wash my clothes now?"  She looked at me in silence.  Then she said, "Not if you want to shower."  I chose a shower over clean clothes.  Especially since I was just returning from the gym.

Molly let me do a load of wash at her house.  (She gets water every 3 days!)  Then we went out to dinner.  I have been saving my money for over a month.  We went out for sushi to celebrate our last night with the dancers.  It ended up only costing $15 per person.  We ordered a sushi boat!  I had never had a boat before.  It was quite exciting.

We talked about the difference between the Honduran kids in dance classes and kids in the US.  The teachers said kids in the US aren't as eager to work.  Here the kids ask for extra one-on-one help and never want to stop.  They even seem to enjoy learning the basic fundamentals, which are not always so fun.  We were happy to see how much the kids of Los Pinos appreciated the classes and took advantage of the opportunity to learn.

Tomorrow we will go to the church early and help the girls prepare to dance.  Then off to the airport to drop of the teachers.  We are excited to do this again next year.  Dancing is great for the kids of Los Pinos.

This morning I made a post on FB to set up times to meet with people while I'm in Salt Lake.  Right now I have ONE open slot.  Everything else is booked, morning, afternoon, and evening for eight days.  Crazy!  I am going to leave SLC exhausted but full of love from all my buddies there.  As I always say, if I were ever live in the US again, Salt Lake is my home.

Two general observations:
1)You know your tooth is messed up when it hurts to eat a room temperature cucumber.  (I have a feeling my dentist appointment in SLC is going to be an expensive one.)
2) Yesterday morning the second I walked out the door, a bird pooped on my arm.  Splat.  This morning I was brushing my teeth when I noticed that spiders are living under my medicine cabinet and their poop is falling down onto my toothbrush!  Let me tell you, these spiders poop a LOT.  I am hoping the poop theme will not continue tomorrow.

The Power of Dance

Thanks to those who prayed about my passport!

This morning I had to go pick up my renewed passport.  The news said that anyone outside of the US who applied for a passport on June 9th or after would not get their passport.  The computer system was hacked and they reportedly stopped processing passports in any country outside of the US on June 9th.  Guess what day I applied for my passport?  June 9th.

I thought about alternative plans.  I could get into the US with my passport, so I could leave for my vacation next week.  But afterward I wouldn't be able to get back into Honduras.  To enter Honduras with a US passport, the passport must be more than 6 months from the expiration date.  My passport was good until September.

Thankfully, everything went well.  When it was my turn the lady went to the back and returned with an envelope. My passport was inside. Yay!

After leaving the US Embassy I went to Los Pinos for the last day of dance VBS.  It was strange because even with my passport in hand, I still felt really anxious.  It was like I drank 5 cups of coffee.

I missed the morning class.  They said it went well.  Goodbyes were tearful.  The girls in the afternoon all came, along with some of the younger kids who came earlier in the week.  One student was totally new.  It was a boy.  My favorite thing about this week was watching the kids who really LOVE to dance.  He was one.  He just let loose.  He didn't seem self conscious or uncomfortable being the only boy.  He just danced!

Dancing brings a kind of joy that I don't see in the kids at any other time.  Some of them just love to dance. They seem to forget about the world around them and think only of the freedom they feel when they dance.  It is absolutely beautiful to watch.

I am grateful that we were able to host this dance VBS and especially grateful for the dancers who paid their own money to come and teach the kids.  We hope this will be an annual event.

On Sunday the kids will dance at the church in Los Pinos.  The Pastor is a really special man. Churches in Honduras can be very territorial.  Pastor Nikolas is a one of a kind.  He is grateful that we want to serve in his neighborhood.  He allows Molly and me use the church whenever we need a safe place to meet.

I am excited to present the dance to his congregation on Sunday.  I hope it will be a blessing to them.  We also made a beautiful banner to leave with the church as a thank you gift.

Rooted in Love ♥

Today I was hoping to make it to the gym.  I talked to Molly about leaving early, but for some reason I didn't feel comfortable leaving.  Now I know why.  As I said I was feeling anxious.  I kept trying to pinpoint what was bothering me, but I couldn't figure it out.  My passport was in hand, the week of dancing and VBS was over.  It was a great success.  And yet, I couldn't relax and enjoy.

Finally I decided to head for home.  First I noticed a ton of people were walking toward me on both sides of the road, but there was no car traffic.  That seemed strange.  Then traffic backed up.  It was sudden, but not unusual.  I noticed one car turn around instead of waiting in the line in front of me.  Then everyone started turning around.  I could see police lights but couldn't tell what was going on until some buses and tractor trailers did three point turns and headed back.  There was a crowd in the street and only 2 cars in front of me.  Some of the police were wearing masks.

I was so close to home, I didn't want to turn back.  There is a way to go around, but it is about 6 miles longer and would have tons of traffic.  I decided to be stubborn.  If I had to wait for a while, it could still be better than driving back and around the long way.

Just then the police opened a hole in the crowd and waved through the two cars in front of me so I followed them through.  People were everywhere, but the crowd was calm and parted for us to pass.  First I saw one car that was really smashed up.  I thought that was horrible, but what I saw over the next half mile or so was shocking.

Fany called me to tell me not to go that way just as I made it through.  She said a tractor trailer lost its brakes and came down the hill, taking out all of the cars in front of it until it ran into a cement home.  It was carrying something flammable, she said.  I had seen cars that were almost flattened and the tractor trailer jack-knifed into the house.  A news anchor stood next to my car as I drove through the crowd.  Turned out she was the same one Fany was watching on TV. 

When I got home Fany invited me in.  They were watching the news.  Depending on which channel, the news reported between 2-7 people were killed, more than 15 injured.

I started doing the math.  There were about 20 cars in front of me when I got to that spot.  The rest were taken out by the tractor trailer.  If I had come down that hill five minutes earlier, I could have been one of them.

As crazy as it sounds, afterward my unease went away.  All of the unexplained anxiety I felt all day was gone.  I was not one of those people.  I could have left five minutes earlier.  But I was home, safe, watching the horrible scene on tv.

Fany called her family who would be on that road, some coming home from school and some going to work.  Everyone was accounted for and safe.

Sunday after the kids perform at the church, the team will go to the airport and our week of hosting will be over.  We, the adults, were just  as blessed as the children we served.  I can't wait to see the kids of Los Pinos so free and happy again.  This week their smiles were brighter.  Their whole demeanor felt lighter.  This week I learned that dance can be magical.  This week I saw God use the medium of dance to empower and bring immense joy to kids I love in Los Pinos.  It was beautiful.

Photos from Dancing in Los Pinos, Day 2

Photos from dance classes this week in Los Pinos.  Things are going really well.  Kids of all ages LOVE to dance.  Today we kids from 4-20 years old.  That's if you don't count me joining in at times too.

Yesterday:

Today:

One of the new faces.  She learned quickly

Erika was able to come today.
She is working in the mornings as a line cook

Learning leaps

Leaps!

Learning kicks

Big kids' kicks

Reviewing kids' dance from yesterday

Reviewing the big girls' dance

Arts and crafts - My identity in Christ

Snacks

First day of dancing in Los Pinos

I wish I had an update about Fany's brother.  I do have some works of God to share, but Fany's brother has not been found to our knowledge.

The first phone, the one he used in my last blog, died.  But Juan Carlos found a charged phone and was able to make a call to his brother in the US.  At that point Fany's brother who lives in the US called.  He was crying.  He said that Juan Carlos is close to death from dehydration.  They called immigration to turn him in, but immigration said they couldn't help.  The only thing they could do is tell him to walk to a road and hope that help would drive by.

There was a time we felt hopeless.  Fany's parents were fasting.  Fany and I prayed.  We were told that Juan Carlos and the two Guatemalan men who were with him were all too weak to walk.  They couldn't make it to a road.

That is when the Lord stepped in again.  First they found the phone.  Then they found a WELL.  A well with water.  They drank until they could walk.  Juan Carlos found his brother again and said they were feeling good.  They could see lights and a road.  They were going to walk there, then sit down and rest until someone came along.

That was the last thing we heard at 3 a.m. two nights ago.

On the brighter side, today was a fun day.  It was the first day of dance classes in Los Pinos.  Yesterday the dance teachers arrived.  We headed into Los Pinos this morning and had two classes.  One for the group of kids who go to school in the afternoon, then later a second class for the kids returned from their morning classes.

It brought back memories of the classes I was in as a child.  I haven't danced (in a class) in 30 years.  But I used to love dancing.  The teachers didn't speak English, so I translated and even danced with them.  It was lots of fun for me, as well as the kids.

Stretching

Crafts

Crafts

And more dancing

I have more photos of the little ones in the afternoon class, but the internet is too slow.  You can enjoy them tomorrow.

Juevos rancheros and three tortillas

Human life is human life.  Sometimes people make choices we may not agree with.  Sometimes those choices land them in dangerous, even life threatening situations.

At that point the decision is yours.  Do you let someone who is on the verge of death die because you don't agree with the decision the person made which caused them to be in this horrible situation?  Or do you give blood.  Because it is a life.  And because your pint of blood can make the difference between life and death for that person.  (In Honduras a person can only receive as many pints of blood as are donated in that person's name if they are in a public hospital.  There is no free blood.)

I recently had this conversation with someone.  The person told me, "Well, (so-and-so) knew better.  They knew if they chose to do (x,y.z,) they could die."  I was shocked.  Maybe it was a bad decision.  Maybe the person had really done the stupidest thing ever.  But did the person deserve to die because they made a bad  (or possible uninformed, or maybe a desperate) decision??

To me, the answer is no.  They did not harm anyone else.  The decision affected only themselves.  In fact I believe the person thought they were making the best decision they could.  But that is my point of view.

Why am I ranting and raving about decisions and death?  Because for a few months now Fany, who if you couldn't tell already, is my closest friend in Honduras, has been struggling as she watched her brother make a life and death decision.

One morning few months ago, Fany came to me very upset.  Her brother left in the middle of the night to begin a long journey in attempt to cross the border into the United States illegally.  In the end, he was captured by regular police in Mexico who figured out what he was trying to do, and sent back to Honduras.

He arrived thin and weak, hardly able to walk.  The journey to Mexico had gotten the best of him.

Immediately his brother, who paid for the "coyotes" to guide him to the US, started nagging.  The trip was already paid for.  He could attempt it again.  But they could not get a cash refund.  His manhood was challenged.  He was mocked and criticized.

His wife even pressured him to attempt the trip again.  He has not been able to find a job in over two years.  They have four kids.  The youngest is five.  Often they cannot eat.  What other option does he have?  He is not going to find work in Honduras, she said.  Take advantage of this opportunity your brother gave you, she told him.  Try again.

Fany and her parents were very, very against the idea from the beginning.  They know the man gets sick easily and is not very strong.  That trip is hard on the toughest people.  They did not want anything to happen to him.

But eventually, with pressure from the wife and brother, Fany came to me again.  It was the day after Mother's Day, May 11th.  Her brother had gone.  In the beginning of this week he made it to a place in Mexico where they were "storing" people until they thought it was safe to send them across the border.  He was not chosen in the earlier groups.  Then they had a close call with border patrol and had to lay low for a while.

Last night Fany's brother left the storage unit with the group he was assigned.  They had eaten their famous final meal of jeuvos rancheros and three tortillas.  They had only the clothes on their backs.  It was pouring rain as they crossed the river in a blow up raft.  They were drenched and cold.  They started hiking across a desert.  I am not sure how long they had walked when a helicopter came and they all scattered.  Fany's brother hung close to two Guatemalan guys.  He was able to get cell reception for a brief moment last night, just long enough to call his brother and say that he was lost in the desert.

As you can imagine, Fany is beside herself.  She doesn't know what to do.  She can't eat.  Her parents don't know that their son is lost.  They have been fasting since he arrived in the storage unit.  Her mother said today that she feels like something bad happened.  The brother who paid and provoked his brother to try again doesn't want anyone to know that his brother is lost.  He tried calling the coyotes to rescue his brother.  First the contact didn't answer their phone.  Then they said that someone had been sent to get them.  I find that difficult to believe.

Fany said she is praying that immigration finds her brother and picks him up.  That is the only way we can imagine him getting out of the desert safely.  We are thankful that he is not alone.

I was talking to some people at my church about the situation last night, before he got lost.  The man I was talking to knows two women who are currently on the same path.  One is the daughter of a lady from our church.  This has been happening all around me for years.  But I don't talk about it.  Because I know it is controversial.

Some people may say that Fany's brother deserves to die in the desert.  He made a bad decision.  I am praying that he doesn't.

My special blessings

Last night I finished my report just after 2 a.m.  My finger is still not right. It's all bulgy below the second joint and doesn't want to bend or straighten all of the way.  Typing is not fun

This morning Erika called to see if I still wanted help cleaning the house.  I had mentioned that I was feeling overwhelmed and could use some help if she felt like it.  Really, I wanted to put a little bit of $ into her pocket and have her earn some things for the baby when I go to the US, where everything is cheaper.

I was proud of her for taking the initiative to call.  Not too many 16 year olds would.  She didn't wait around to see if I would call her.  Add that to my list of reasons why Erika is awesome.

As I picked her up there was a big bus parked up by her house, off the main road.  All of her family and neighbors were there.  We drove past to turn around and everyone said hello.  Turned out they are all getting paid by the president to go to one of the Friday marches.  No other party is paying people to march.  But the people in Los Pinos are being told if they don't march they will lose the little bit of government support that they do get.  Erika explained that her family went mostly because they are afraid to lose government aid.

She seemed kind of against the idea of the march.  She said her mother invited her, but she declined.  I asked her if she understood why they were marching.  She doesn't have a tv or access to a newspaper, so I wondered.  She didn't know.  I said that some people have found evidence that the president stole medicine from hospitals and there is other evidence that he stole social security money.  Basically there is evidence of lots of skimming.  (Although I don't know if you could call it skimming when they stole so much medicine that there was none left and people are dying because of it.  That's not really "skimming" to me.)

Erika was interested to hear that.  I told her that everyone is entitled to their own point of view, and I don't know what is really going on.  But that is what the news is reporting.  I also told her that there are a lot of other parties marching against the president.  And none of them are paid to march.

Erika had to bring baby Marjory since her Mom was marching.  To be honest, we didn't get much done.  But we did all of the dirty work that I have been dreading, so I am satisfied.

Part way through Marjory started crying.  She wouldn't stop.  It was a new cry I hadn't heard before.  I asked if she needed a clean diaper.  Erika was clearly uncomfortable when she told me the baby hadn't eaten yet.  It was 3 p.m.

So we all sat down and ate.  I made a bunch of scrambled eggs and toast.  It was North American style with milk in the eggs and butter on the toast.  And the eggs were not deep fried.  Marjorie loves North American butter.  Erika had never had it before either.  When the food was eaten we went back to cleaning.

Throughout the afternoon I learned that Erika is out of prenatal vitamins and daily vitamins.  (She is still nursing.)  None of her brothers have a toothbrush.  (God magically placed 3 toothbrushes in my stash of stuff that I get cheap in the US and bring here!  Now the boys have toothbrushes, although one is pink and one is slightly used.)

As we passed the factory on the way home Erika told me that she might work there.  I know she has been looking for work, but this seems like a hopeful lead.  Her Aunt is getting the paperwork for her parents to fill out because she is still a minor.  I asked about the long lines of people I always see waiting for jobs outside the factory.  Erika said that because her Aunt already works there, she has an in.  Wow!  That would be great!  I am going to pray for this job.

We called INFOP about the English class.  Actually, Erika called.  The guy said he still has no information.  No more classes are starting at all.  But when they do he said he will call her.  I told Erika she can call him again in two weeks.  She is so anxious to study or work.  I admire this young woman.  She has a plan to attend school on weekends, which is common here, if she does get this job.

After I dropped her off I headed straight to prayer group.  Lots of people were walking in the same direction I drove, carrying torches.  We all went outside and checked it out.  Dr. Gustavo was there with his wife and a friend of his daughter's.  Pastor Paysen if I could go over there and talk to Dr. Gustavo.  He said sure.  So for a few minutes I was standing in the parade route.  But they were not moving yet.

They were busy holding up a large space because another group came and marched in front of his group.  The group in front only had a few people - like maybe 200 or 300.  They were trying to appear bigger than they really were by leading the Anti-Corruption march.  I don't know how many were in the Anti-corruption march.  We were guessing around 3000.  They waited until dark, then lit their torches and marched.  There was some jumping up and down, which was cool.  It was all peaceful, organized and respectful of people's property.

The marches of 2009 used to leave mass destruction in their path.  But this is not at all like that.  My Mom is worried that things are going to end up like they did in 2009.  I am too busy being proud of the people and they way they are making their voices heard in an honorable way.  People are being jailed, so they are seeing results.  Time will tell what happens with the president.

Prayer time was nice.  It always is.  We had a new member in our group today.  He is a church member whom I have always liked but don't know very well.  He is a little bit older and appears to be well educated.  Apparently he is going through something really tough.  I was happy to talk to him outside of church, where normally we just say hello.  He and his wife would both consistently win the "Best Dressed" award if there were one.  They both have beautiful, well tailored clothes.

While we were praying my phone rang.  I never get phone calls, so it struck me as odd.  Then I realized that as I left I yelled, "Good bye Fany!"  But she didn't answer as she usually does.  I told Erika that Fany and Laura were probably sleeping.  When I leave I always shout good bye. Fany answers and I tell her where I am going and what time I will be back.  When Fany didn't answer today, I didn't get the chance to tell her that I had prayer group right after I dropped Erika off.  So as it got to be 6 p.m. and I was an hour late getting home, Fany was worried that I never came back from dropping off Erika in Los Pinos.

As that whole scenario ran through my mind I realized I had to text Fany so she would know I was at prayer group and stop worrying.  I called as soon as prayer was over.  Just as I thought, Fany didn't realize it was Friday prayer group night.  She had catrachas waiting for me when I got home.  Yummy!!!  It's good to have good friends who worry if they think you are in Los Pinos too long and who make you catrachas at the end of the day.  Today I feel very blessed overall, but God especially blessed me by placing a friend like Fany and a girl like Erika in my life.

A clean house

My computer has been running really slowly so I tried to clean it yesterday by running a program that came built in.  Unfortunately it cleaned my internet access right off the computer.  Don't ask me how - I don't know about these things.

I managed to produce my first power point presentation, completely by accident.  I thought I was making a word presentation.  Once again - I don't know about these things.

I took the presentation to Pastor Paysen. proud of my work and feeling accomplished.  It was all wrong.  So, I came home and... you guessed it!  Cleaned my house.  Washed every washable material including curtains and bedding.  Scrubbed the patio.  Washed the outside walls, windows and frames.

I should be a professional procrastinator.  I am really good at it.  I just can't stand to look at that darn paper again.  Hours and hours of work for nothing.  UGH!

Somehow in all of that cleaning I did something to my ring finger.  It is no longer bending or straightening all of the way and it hurts.  Apparently I was so focused on cleaning I didn't even notice whatever I did to the finger.

I feel like every single second is packed full between now and the time I leave for the US.  Next week we have a team visiting.  They are teaching dance classes in Los Pinos.  The older kids will have class every day in the morning, and the younger kids in the afternoon.  So, I will be in Los Pinos all day, every day, next week.  Plus I will be giving rides to everyone involved, which means I can't just zip over.

I am worried because it is still the rainy season.  I pray it does not rain next week.  It will be a sticky situation because we can't throw the kids out in the rain, but at the same time, if we have a hard storm we really can't stay either.  We have 20 minutes to get out of Los Pinos or we will be stuck there.  We need to have a plan about what to do if it rains.  I have a feeling that the other adults riding with me are not going to share my concern.

Yesterday through Honduran Fellowship, an organization for missionaries in Honduras, I met with a woman who is the head of "missionary care".  She helped with my ministry plan and discussed some of the common difficulties of being a missionary in Honduras.  Turns out, almost everyone has experienced the same things I do.

She helped me identify my feelings more specifically because she has seen them in the others she serves.  It was like a purging experience.  I got to figure out what I want to work on, what things I am able to change, and what things I have no control over.  Then we went through a process of letting go of those things.  I left feeling good.  It was time well spent.  I'm grateful for Honduran Fellowship and for all of the ways they take care of us missionaries!  Now if they could only do something about the rain in Los Pinos.

Seeing God at Work Through the Women's Conference

People are still talking about the storm.  They say it was the hardest rain and strongest winds they have seen since Hurricane Mitch.  In fact many thought it was a hurricane.

Fany was walking down the street yesterday and the "poncha llantas" (the lady who pops tires) slowed down her car as she passed by to talk to Fany.  She asked if Fany had seen the storm (duh!) and talked about how terrible it was.  Then she said that she was in the US until a week ago.  Now we understand why there were no flat tires for some period of time until a week ago.  The lady asked about me.  She told Fany that I have bad luck because someone flattened my tires in front of her house.  I told Fany she should have said, "She doesn't have bad luck.  She just thought the people here were trustworthy and would not pop her tires."

Today Fany and I took a woman and her child to file charges against the woman's husband.  This was a result of the Women's Conference at my church.  See how God works!  We were told because the husband is a policeman and a black belt in karate, that we should go to the supreme court.  Unfortunately we were not able to complete everything there because she lives in another city.  But, now they have a record that she came to press charges.  She knows what to do when she gets home to her own city.  I pray she will follow up tomorrow.

It is really scary here to press charges against someone because it can take months for a court appearance.  Fany, another friend of theirs, and I have told her we will support her in any way we can.

Another factor that makes it difficult is that you can't vacate the house or you lose everything.  So she has to stay in the house, in this place that is not close to us, where she doesn't have much support or anyone at all nearby.

A few years ago she pressed charges against him after he tried to electrocute her, but the people who handled the case were all his buddies and it never came to trial.  Now, with the information and contacts she gained at the conference, plus the peace and strength God is giving her, she is determined to make a safe life for herself and her daughter.

She told me that she arrived Friday feelings that she wanted to cry all of the time.  After the conference she felt a sense of peace she has not felt in years.  I am amazed by her strength.  This type of strength and peace can only come from God.

Another woman who is being abused went to press charges against her husband today too.  What a difference that conference made!  Thank you for those of you who offered financial support!  You may be literally saving lives.  At the very least, you have helped to change the lives of these women, and their children, for the better.  Again, thank you.

Making baleadas

This is a photo of a house that fell off the mountain
as a result of the rains on Saturday.
You can see the wall in the middle of the photo
and the other half of the house above.

Today I learned to make my own tortillas for baleadas
There are many Hondurans that can't do it
so I was pretty proud of myself

The hardest part was flopping it onto the frying pan

Second try - much more round

Finished masterpiece - Burning HOT!
Hurry and take the picture!

Something was strange with me today.  I was exhausted all day although I slept well last night.

Fany and I had to go to the bank.  She said, "Are you sure you don't want to make any stops?"  I told her no, the only other thing I have to do is drop off the flyers in Los Pinos, but I won't do that with the girls in the car.  Fany said it's best if we all go together.

Thankfully, the trip was uneventful.  We dropped the flyers off at the pastor's house.  Fany took the photos above.  The roads were still full of mud.  But that house was the saddest sight.  There were a few spots where there were big mudslides.  Many people were working, cleaning up the streets.

The people I saw standing around the bus area blocking my shortcut on Saturday were there for a good reason.  A house slid down the mountain and crashed into the market below.  Everything was just gone - broken into pieces.  There was still a big crowd around there today.  I know the family who owned that little market/billiards place.  They are nice people.  I imagine everyone is okay or I would have already heard.

Just driving in that area again made me anxious.  It will be a while before I will feel comfortable in Los Pinos again.

When we got home Fany taught me how to make baleadas.  Very few people can make the tortillas for baleadas.  It is kind of like a chewy pizza doughish texture, not at all like a regular tortilla.  My first one wasn't round but my second and third turned out great!  The hardest part for me was flipping it out of my hands and getting it to lie flat in the pan.   Of course I have a professional teaching me.  Fany has been making baleadas since she was 7 years old.  I should be a pro soon.