So much news.

The ups and down of being back in Porvenir.

For those who don’t know, I was back in the States for 2 months. Allison and Dan got married and the wedding was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! I could barely stop crying. Video http://vimeo.com/75975381 We also had a fundraiser garage sale for Finding Hope (www.findinghopehonduras.org) which was a huge success! I watched a bunch of TV and ate a bunch of food (in order to catch up what I missed out on)…but now I am happy to be back to work!

Coming back after two months being gone has its challenges. For one, everyone wants to tell me about everything. Ok great, you say. Well yes, but not all is good news. Here are the updates Ive been included in, and now you will be:

-        - The 13 year old who was pregnant last year, and her baby passed away after 3 days old, is pregnant again. Also, a 16 year old I just met is pregnant and also has Anemia.

-        -  Fanny, the mother of 4 kids in my sponsorship program was pregnant and had an abortion

-        -  Jostin, another child in my sponsorship program, at 7 months old, passed away Friday November 8^th from a heart/lung defect. Oh how my heart aches for his sweet life.

-        -  Rebecca, the mother of 4, is pregnant again and going through a rough time. She is back to leaving her children home alone, unfed and unclothed throughout the day. Rumors are she is going to give the baby away. Please prayers for this new little one.

-        -  Rosa is very sick with possibly a tumor and her husband just had surgery a few weeks ago and is now recovering

-        -  Alexa’s father left her, her siblings, and her mother. The mother is now struggling to provide and Alexa is falling behind in school.

-        -  Everyone and their mother needs something from me…

On a lighter note:

-        -  The women in my beading program are thrilled to receive payment from two months. They were interviewed on TV about the work they are doing!

-        -  Juana is pregnant (shhh it’s a secret) J

-       -   I got to meet baby Josue at 15 days old…the new brother of two local children whom I love!

-         - Alejandra and Andrea are excelling in bilingual school! They were the best students after returning from vacations and are doing fabulous this school year. We are now working on their Visas!

After receiving all this news within 4 days my heart is overwhelmed. I want to help them all but I just cant. I can only love these families and encourage their struggles they are trying to overcome. I can only show them I care and pray for them. There is only so much I can help with. I hate that.

My biggest ache is little Jostin. I ran into his mother Thursday night when I got in, to hear the awful news. Just a week earlier he passed away. His mother is going through a hard time now dealing with his loss. She looks fine on the outside but I can see in her eyes her pain.

Attention is being drawn towards the youngest child now, Melbin (pictured little boy on the left). She is dressing him in younger clothes, carrying him in the stroller and babying him now that Jostin is gone. Thankfully she is attending church and seeking prayer. My hope is that the other children can overcome this great loss of their little brother.  

One of the biggest ups is the joy the women received from being paid for their bracelets sold. From over two months of not receiving payment, they were very excited for my return. In one of the locations where we meet Mondays and Fridays, is my biggest group of women, 13. We had a meeting on Monday to go over some things and inform them of happenings in the near future. It was a short meeting, they got paid and went home. Friday was our second meeting and they threw a pizza party for me! Silvia says “We wanted to show you our thanks and appreciation for how much you have helped us and the blessing you have been in our lives”. My heart melted! Everyone chipped in money and Gaby and Amparo cooked the pizzas just before the meeting. So sweet! … Then as we were eating Pizza I began to talk about how construction will be starting on Monday for the center ( I will get to this in a second) and that I would need their help in this. As this is a center for them, they need to put in volunteer work as the building is being done. After making a list of who would be helping each day, they started to talk about how they could help raise money. I mentioned that the building will be done in steps because I don’t have all the money right now. They started talking about fundraising themselves to buy cement/blocks/materials to help. All these ideas were being thrown around on how to fundraise. I was literally overjoyed. It’s so cool to see them taking the initiative!!!

So yes! Construction starts Monday! Scott and Susan (other missionaries in town) have a small group coming in next week, so along with their money and money that I raised from the garage sale, we will be able to start a bit on the foundation! YES!! Of course pictures are to come next week so be sure to check Finding Hope on facebook!

Its so good to be back J Please pray for the many many bits of news from this blog!