WOW WOW WOW What an incredible week in Honduras! This has by far been the most eventful, exciting and rewarding week so far! I know this is a LONG update, but you will not want to miss anything, especially the outreach, so read on! Also, each picture link here is a different set of pictures, so please visit all of them!
Pic links…
OUTREACH- http://jsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026263&l=310f5&id=156800196
The VALLEY- http://jsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026163&l=a88c4&id=156800196.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026163&l=a88c4&id=156800196
LaCumbre- http://jsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026315&l=6e934&id=156800196
Honduran Festival- http://jsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026163&l=a88c4&id=156800196.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026163&l=a88c4&id=156800196
My new house- http://jsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026321&l=21ac4&id=156800196
Valley of the Angels and CCI
I’ll start with this past Sunday. At Union Church, this was our first week of Sunday school. Pastor Darren is leading us through an in depth study of the signs of the end of the age and how that although there are many signs and happenings that are and will take place, the most prominent event we should all be looking for and longing for is the return of Christ himself. This week was just kind of an introduction and next week we will begin the study itself. The church service itself was also very good. I am really enjoying the fellowship there and the preaching and praise and worship.
After Union, a group of about 10 or so of us went to a place called Valley of the Angels. It is about a 20 minute drive from the city, and a little over an hour from the ranch. Since we were already in the city, the drive was pretty short. Valley of the Angels is a small town with tons of local vendors set up on the streets and inside buildings. The main attractions in the town itself is to see all of the Honduran made items such as wood carvings and hammocks. They make some of the most beautiful hammocks and other neat items. Most of us decided to eat at a little pizza place near the town center. We got a nice quite little room by ourselves and ordered our food-- pizza, of course. We shared 3 pizzas so we all got to try different kinds. Honduran pizza is definitely a little different, but very good. While we were ordering we had two different groups of musicians come and play for us. TIP: If you ever come to Honduras, never take a taxi or let a group of musicians play for you UNTIL you negotiate the price. We ended up paying several dollars because the group wanted more money that what we initially gave them and would not leave the room until we paid up. But, it was a really neat experience and we enjoyed it a lot.
After leaving the Valley, we made it back to Teguc. and spent some time at the mall grocery shopping and relaxing before heading to CCI, another church that has an English speaking service in the evening. It was a very nice church and the praise and worship was awesome. The musicians were very good and the song leader has a great voice. The message was good too-- it was about not letting the feeling of inadequacy stop you from doing what you know God wants you to do. I enjoyed the night a lot, but I really feel like Union is home already. I will probably visit CCI again sometime to get a better idea of what the church is like, so who knows what can happen! After the service, we were almost leaving when we found out that the Hosiers, another family from the ranch who were at CCI, had a flat tire on their Land Rover. So, we spent over an hour watching them and Ron try to get the spare tire out from under the vehicle. It took a while, but it finally came loose and they were able to change the tire. We were late getting home, but the day was absolutely great!
Day of the Child/Teacher Day/Honduran Independence
This week was also filled with THREE different celebrations.
For Teacher Day, many of the kids brought different “goodies” and shared with the teachers. I received a delicious muffin sized cake filled with cream. Also, Mrs. Val made us some amazing chocolate mint brownies.
This week we also celebrated Day of the Child. Just like we have Father’s Day and Mother’s Day in the states, here we also have Children’s day. The day started on Monday with formation outside of the school, which includes a short speech of some kind, the Pledge to the flag of Honduras, and the singing of the Honduran national anthem. (FYI: In order to graduate, Honduran children must sing and conduct their national anthem-- hint, hint…) After formation, the younger kids stayed at the school for activities and the older grades, including my class, went up to the Bodega and played some games inside, then went outside for treat bags, and then the teachers watched the older kids play a game of softball.
The absolute coolest celebration we had this week was Thursday, Honduran Independence. We left school about 2 oclock and spent the rest of the day in the Bodega celebrating Honduran Independence. The celebration started with prayer and the Pledge to the flag of Honduras. Next, Eric and I led two worship songs, one in Spanish and one in English. I got to play keyboard and Eric played guitar. It was a blast! After that Mr. William, on the Honduran teachers, presented to us a program about different states within Honduras. He used a very neat interactive map that showed different facts and pictures about other places in Honduras. Next followed several small speeches about different national symbols such as the Pine tree, past national leaders and heroes, etc. After the speeches, about 6 of the students showed us a traditional Honduran dance that they had been practicing all week. There were 3 boys and 3 girls, and the girls were wearing traditional Honduran dresses. It was a really cool dance! Finally, we were treated to some VERY traditional Honduran food. I know this will be no where close, but I will do my best to describe some of the food. One thing we ate was a type of tamale made from corn and it was wrapped in a corn husk. It was very “starchy” and a little sweet-- VERY GOOD. We also had Yucca root dressed with shredded cabbage and some type of red sauce, similar to enchilada sauce. One of my favorite things was something called “Chimmarone,” I think that’s what it was anyhow, which is kind of like a pork rind, except that it is not fried as long or with as much heat, so it has a very chewy texture, but it was VERY good. My absolute favorite was a kind of soup that had potatoes, plantains, banana, and some other seasonings. I have no idea what the soup part was made of but it was awesome! It was a yellow tinted liquid and really brought it all together. We also had a traditional Honduran drink that was made from rice if I understood correctly. It was verrrry sweet, almost too sweet for my liking. Overall, the Honduran Independence celebration was very exciting, entertaining, and fun-filled!!!
Preparation for community outreach and the outreach itself
The absolute most amazing thing this week was the community outreach we have started in a community near here, a couple of miles down the mountain. We have been planning this for weeks, and this past Monday we met to have a planning time for this past Wednesday which was our first time doing the outreach. The outreach consists of two different programs. One is an adult Literacy program, where adults and older teens have a chance to come and get free help learning to read and write. This program had about 20 or so adults for our first week, which is incredible. The other program is a children’s Bible club, which I am helping with. Each week we will do a review of the previous week, a time of music, a time of prayer, some kind of presentation of the Gospel through drama, memorizing scripture, etc…, and a closing.
This past Wednesday was probably the most eventful beginning that these programs could have had. The adult literacy program is being held inside one of the local community churches, and the children’s program is being held outside of the building wherever we can find room. There is a little fruit stand type shelter about 10-15 yards away from the church building, so our plan was to tie up a big tarp between the two and have the children sit on the ground underneath. Well, with a loaded vehicle of equipment and a VERY heavy tarp, we head to the church and begin to unload. While the tarp is being put up, we realize that there is a VERY good chance it may rain, and very soon that is exactly what happens. Not just a little rain, but it is pouring while this tarp is getting put up. Water keeps building up on the tarp making it even harder to get tied up. Let me say again, this tarp is VERY heavy. This attempt to put up the tarp goes on for about 30 minutes or so, and before we know it, we have about 5 minutes before we are supposed to start the program. Kids are out in the street watching, most likely thinking what kind of mess are these crazy Americans getting in to. Without much warning at all, the rain stops and the sky is almost completely blue. The tarp, still not completely up, lays partially on the ground covered with mud. Plan B kicks in, and we huddle the kids under the fruit stand, out of the mud, and begin the program. To begin with, we had only about 10 children, but within the first several minutes, we had almost 25 children crammed up in this little shed, and we are in full swing. The music was so much fun to do with them and the kids really enjoyed singing and learning some hand motions. Then we acted out the parable of the lost sheep. The kids were very attentive and it was amazing to watch them be so interested. After the skit, the kids memorized Romans 5:8 and did an awesome job at learning it! We dismissed about the same time the adults were getting out of the Literacy program, and within 5 minutes of dismissing, the rain starts pouring down again. This time, not only is it wet, it was freezing cold rain. Not that big of a problem normally, except now we had to get this huge, HEAVY tarp back into the vehicle. It takes a while, but we finally get the parts that were tied up untied and start trying to fold this massive thing and keeping water from settling. After MUCH effort, we fold it up enough that 4 of us can pick it up and we push and shove this thing into the back of the vehicle. All this time, there is this woman watching us from the window of the church laughing her head off! I think that was probably the most entertaining thing she had probably ever seen in here life. I walk up to her as we are loading other things and tell her thank you and that we would see her next week, and she hugs me and give me a huge kiss on my hand.
With all of the struggles we went through, I don’t think the day could have been any more perfect. About 40 Hondurans, adults and children, were there for the first week, and next week will only get bigger. I am very much looking forward to being more and more involved in this type of outreach.
Moving
It finally happened this week! Jason and I got to move into our new house, where another guy, Bret, will also live when he gets here sometime hopefully in October. The House on the Hill, which used to be the very first school building here, had been under renovation in order to make another home there for the Hosiers, which arrived here about a month ago. Since the renovation was completed this week, the Hosiers moved up to the House on the Hill, and Jason and I got to move into the place where the Hosiers had been living, which is a much bigger place than where we were in the duplex. We have so much room now it’s ridiculous. However, it’s really nice to be moved in now. Wednesday night the Hosiers had a party in the House on the Hill so that everyone could visit and look at the newly renovated home. It is absolutely beautiful from up there. The House on the Hill is definitely that, and is the highest elevated home here on the ranch. During the day, if it is clear, you can catch a view of the city many miles away!!!
La Cumbre
Last night was an awesome experience. The teachers and a few others all went to a place called La Cumbre, which is on the south side of the city, up on a another mountain in a place called El Hetillo. This place is a really, really nice restaurant with a view of the city like no where else. We dined just inside the window that has a panoramic view of the whole city. Since it was dark, the city was lit up and was breathtaking from that high up in the mountains. The food was really good too, and most of the plates were around 200 lempiras, which is about 10 US dollars. Eating at a place like this in the states would have surely been $40-$70 easily. The ride is about 3 hours round trip so we were late getting home, but it was very well worth it!
THE END
I hope you enjoyed reading about this past week! It was my most enjoyed week so far in Honduras. As of this past Wednesday, I have been here two months. Some days it seems much longer and some days much shorter, but God is doing incredible things and I am loving just being here and experiencing all that is going on. Thank you all for your prayers and support that continue to make this possible.
God Bless!
In Christ,
Jesse Tiner
Pic links…
OUTREACH- http://jsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026263&l=310f5&id=156800196
The VALLEY- http://jsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026163&l=a88c4&id=156800196.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026163&l=a88c4&id=156800196
LaCumbre- http://jsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026315&l=6e934&id=156800196
Honduran Festival- http://jsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026163&l=a88c4&id=156800196.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026163&l=a88c4&id=156800196
My new house- http://jsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026321&l=21ac4&id=156800196
Valley of the Angels and CCI
I’ll start with this past Sunday. At Union Church, this was our first week of Sunday school. Pastor Darren is leading us through an in depth study of the signs of the end of the age and how that although there are many signs and happenings that are and will take place, the most prominent event we should all be looking for and longing for is the return of Christ himself. This week was just kind of an introduction and next week we will begin the study itself. The church service itself was also very good. I am really enjoying the fellowship there and the preaching and praise and worship.
After Union, a group of about 10 or so of us went to a place called Valley of the Angels. It is about a 20 minute drive from the city, and a little over an hour from the ranch. Since we were already in the city, the drive was pretty short. Valley of the Angels is a small town with tons of local vendors set up on the streets and inside buildings. The main attractions in the town itself is to see all of the Honduran made items such as wood carvings and hammocks. They make some of the most beautiful hammocks and other neat items. Most of us decided to eat at a little pizza place near the town center. We got a nice quite little room by ourselves and ordered our food-- pizza, of course. We shared 3 pizzas so we all got to try different kinds. Honduran pizza is definitely a little different, but very good. While we were ordering we had two different groups of musicians come and play for us. TIP: If you ever come to Honduras, never take a taxi or let a group of musicians play for you UNTIL you negotiate the price. We ended up paying several dollars because the group wanted more money that what we initially gave them and would not leave the room until we paid up. But, it was a really neat experience and we enjoyed it a lot.
After leaving the Valley, we made it back to Teguc. and spent some time at the mall grocery shopping and relaxing before heading to CCI, another church that has an English speaking service in the evening. It was a very nice church and the praise and worship was awesome. The musicians were very good and the song leader has a great voice. The message was good too-- it was about not letting the feeling of inadequacy stop you from doing what you know God wants you to do. I enjoyed the night a lot, but I really feel like Union is home already. I will probably visit CCI again sometime to get a better idea of what the church is like, so who knows what can happen! After the service, we were almost leaving when we found out that the Hosiers, another family from the ranch who were at CCI, had a flat tire on their Land Rover. So, we spent over an hour watching them and Ron try to get the spare tire out from under the vehicle. It took a while, but it finally came loose and they were able to change the tire. We were late getting home, but the day was absolutely great!
Day of the Child/Teacher Day/Honduran Independence
This week was also filled with THREE different celebrations.
For Teacher Day, many of the kids brought different “goodies” and shared with the teachers. I received a delicious muffin sized cake filled with cream. Also, Mrs. Val made us some amazing chocolate mint brownies.
This week we also celebrated Day of the Child. Just like we have Father’s Day and Mother’s Day in the states, here we also have Children’s day. The day started on Monday with formation outside of the school, which includes a short speech of some kind, the Pledge to the flag of Honduras, and the singing of the Honduran national anthem. (FYI: In order to graduate, Honduran children must sing and conduct their national anthem-- hint, hint…) After formation, the younger kids stayed at the school for activities and the older grades, including my class, went up to the Bodega and played some games inside, then went outside for treat bags, and then the teachers watched the older kids play a game of softball.
The absolute coolest celebration we had this week was Thursday, Honduran Independence. We left school about 2 oclock and spent the rest of the day in the Bodega celebrating Honduran Independence. The celebration started with prayer and the Pledge to the flag of Honduras. Next, Eric and I led two worship songs, one in Spanish and one in English. I got to play keyboard and Eric played guitar. It was a blast! After that Mr. William, on the Honduran teachers, presented to us a program about different states within Honduras. He used a very neat interactive map that showed different facts and pictures about other places in Honduras. Next followed several small speeches about different national symbols such as the Pine tree, past national leaders and heroes, etc. After the speeches, about 6 of the students showed us a traditional Honduran dance that they had been practicing all week. There were 3 boys and 3 girls, and the girls were wearing traditional Honduran dresses. It was a really cool dance! Finally, we were treated to some VERY traditional Honduran food. I know this will be no where close, but I will do my best to describe some of the food. One thing we ate was a type of tamale made from corn and it was wrapped in a corn husk. It was very “starchy” and a little sweet-- VERY GOOD. We also had Yucca root dressed with shredded cabbage and some type of red sauce, similar to enchilada sauce. One of my favorite things was something called “Chimmarone,” I think that’s what it was anyhow, which is kind of like a pork rind, except that it is not fried as long or with as much heat, so it has a very chewy texture, but it was VERY good. My absolute favorite was a kind of soup that had potatoes, plantains, banana, and some other seasonings. I have no idea what the soup part was made of but it was awesome! It was a yellow tinted liquid and really brought it all together. We also had a traditional Honduran drink that was made from rice if I understood correctly. It was verrrry sweet, almost too sweet for my liking. Overall, the Honduran Independence celebration was very exciting, entertaining, and fun-filled!!!
Preparation for community outreach and the outreach itself
The absolute most amazing thing this week was the community outreach we have started in a community near here, a couple of miles down the mountain. We have been planning this for weeks, and this past Monday we met to have a planning time for this past Wednesday which was our first time doing the outreach. The outreach consists of two different programs. One is an adult Literacy program, where adults and older teens have a chance to come and get free help learning to read and write. This program had about 20 or so adults for our first week, which is incredible. The other program is a children’s Bible club, which I am helping with. Each week we will do a review of the previous week, a time of music, a time of prayer, some kind of presentation of the Gospel through drama, memorizing scripture, etc…, and a closing.
This past Wednesday was probably the most eventful beginning that these programs could have had. The adult literacy program is being held inside one of the local community churches, and the children’s program is being held outside of the building wherever we can find room. There is a little fruit stand type shelter about 10-15 yards away from the church building, so our plan was to tie up a big tarp between the two and have the children sit on the ground underneath. Well, with a loaded vehicle of equipment and a VERY heavy tarp, we head to the church and begin to unload. While the tarp is being put up, we realize that there is a VERY good chance it may rain, and very soon that is exactly what happens. Not just a little rain, but it is pouring while this tarp is getting put up. Water keeps building up on the tarp making it even harder to get tied up. Let me say again, this tarp is VERY heavy. This attempt to put up the tarp goes on for about 30 minutes or so, and before we know it, we have about 5 minutes before we are supposed to start the program. Kids are out in the street watching, most likely thinking what kind of mess are these crazy Americans getting in to. Without much warning at all, the rain stops and the sky is almost completely blue. The tarp, still not completely up, lays partially on the ground covered with mud. Plan B kicks in, and we huddle the kids under the fruit stand, out of the mud, and begin the program. To begin with, we had only about 10 children, but within the first several minutes, we had almost 25 children crammed up in this little shed, and we are in full swing. The music was so much fun to do with them and the kids really enjoyed singing and learning some hand motions. Then we acted out the parable of the lost sheep. The kids were very attentive and it was amazing to watch them be so interested. After the skit, the kids memorized Romans 5:8 and did an awesome job at learning it! We dismissed about the same time the adults were getting out of the Literacy program, and within 5 minutes of dismissing, the rain starts pouring down again. This time, not only is it wet, it was freezing cold rain. Not that big of a problem normally, except now we had to get this huge, HEAVY tarp back into the vehicle. It takes a while, but we finally get the parts that were tied up untied and start trying to fold this massive thing and keeping water from settling. After MUCH effort, we fold it up enough that 4 of us can pick it up and we push and shove this thing into the back of the vehicle. All this time, there is this woman watching us from the window of the church laughing her head off! I think that was probably the most entertaining thing she had probably ever seen in here life. I walk up to her as we are loading other things and tell her thank you and that we would see her next week, and she hugs me and give me a huge kiss on my hand.
With all of the struggles we went through, I don’t think the day could have been any more perfect. About 40 Hondurans, adults and children, were there for the first week, and next week will only get bigger. I am very much looking forward to being more and more involved in this type of outreach.
Moving
It finally happened this week! Jason and I got to move into our new house, where another guy, Bret, will also live when he gets here sometime hopefully in October. The House on the Hill, which used to be the very first school building here, had been under renovation in order to make another home there for the Hosiers, which arrived here about a month ago. Since the renovation was completed this week, the Hosiers moved up to the House on the Hill, and Jason and I got to move into the place where the Hosiers had been living, which is a much bigger place than where we were in the duplex. We have so much room now it’s ridiculous. However, it’s really nice to be moved in now. Wednesday night the Hosiers had a party in the House on the Hill so that everyone could visit and look at the newly renovated home. It is absolutely beautiful from up there. The House on the Hill is definitely that, and is the highest elevated home here on the ranch. During the day, if it is clear, you can catch a view of the city many miles away!!!
La Cumbre
Last night was an awesome experience. The teachers and a few others all went to a place called La Cumbre, which is on the south side of the city, up on a another mountain in a place called El Hetillo. This place is a really, really nice restaurant with a view of the city like no where else. We dined just inside the window that has a panoramic view of the whole city. Since it was dark, the city was lit up and was breathtaking from that high up in the mountains. The food was really good too, and most of the plates were around 200 lempiras, which is about 10 US dollars. Eating at a place like this in the states would have surely been $40-$70 easily. The ride is about 3 hours round trip so we were late getting home, but it was very well worth it!
THE END
I hope you enjoyed reading about this past week! It was my most enjoyed week so far in Honduras. As of this past Wednesday, I have been here two months. Some days it seems much longer and some days much shorter, but God is doing incredible things and I am loving just being here and experiencing all that is going on. Thank you all for your prayers and support that continue to make this possible.
God Bless!
In Christ,
Jesse Tiner
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