Water Tanks for El Guanabano

Many people have been asking us if there is a way to keep supporting the work that we were doing in Honduras. At this point we are asking our supporters to stop donating to the "Matt and Katie DeKam" account. We encourage you to continue supporting the ongoing work of CRWRC by giving to their general fund. Or if you want to make a difference in the lives of our dear friends in el Guanabano you can send your donations to CRWRC and write "Water Storage Honduras-505848" on the check or donation card.

Just before we left this water tank project was approved.
Here is a powerpoint that will explain the project a little more:















Every little bit counts, so please consider helping bring clean water to these families.

Insured!

By Katie

About 10 minutes ago we got a call from our insurance agent with the good news: Matt got accepted for insurance! Thank you for everyone who was praying for that specific need. Once again God opened the door just in time, his time.

Matt is hoping to start chemotherapy this week sometime. He'll have two strong doses with three weeks of recovery after each dose. We had spent a lot of the last week looking around and settled on an oncology clinic about a half hour from where we're living. The social worker, financial counselor and doctor there have really gone to bat for our case, so it was a great choice.

In the mean time I am hoping to substitute teach, although I still haven't gotten a call to work. Today I'm applying to another school district. Matt's still putting in a lot of time on reports and things that still need to be wrapped up from Honduras and I've been translating some of those things when he's done.

We're looking forward to getting rolling on the treatments and now that we are both insured, that will be a little easier on the mind. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and encouragement.

Back in Minnesota

By Katie

After a whirlwind series of goodbyes in Honduras, we boarded the plane last Thursday and arrived in Minnesota. We spent the weekend with our families who all drove up to see us and bring us our fall and winter clothes. We're getting things all set up now and still working on wrapping up unfinished business in Honduras too.

Matt will have his first doctor appointment with an oncologist on Friday, so we're really looking forward to that. We had the clinic translate all his medical documents from Honduras and do another pathology report, so those will be ready by the first appointment. We still haven't gotten a confirmation that Matt has insurance, so if you're looking for something specific to pray for, that would be what we need most.

Matt's been feeling ok, but still gets pretty tired sometimes. There's a lot to adjust to right now, and on top of recovering from the surgery, that seems pretty normal. Another prayer request is our transition and patience in the face of a lot of uncertainty. But, we have seen how God has brought us this far, and we know that as long as we continue to trust in Him and pray for His help and guidance, He will be faithful to complete what he started.

Thank you to everyone for all of your support. Thanks to those of you who have emailed us to show us that you are there with us (and sorry I haven't been great about responding). We have never been lonely on this difficult road thanks to all of you.


Here's proof that we're in Minnesota, in case you didn't believe us. Fall really is beautiful here!

Adios, Honduras. Hello, Minneapolis.

By Katie

Prior to our appointment with the doctors yesterday, we had prayed that God would clearly show us what to do. He did just that. There were a few cancer cells that had spread outside of the original tumor and into the lymph system, rendering observation here in Honduras a non-option, and a diagnosis that was just a little more serious. We had made a little series of "if this happens, then we'll do this" statements, all which ended up pointing us home. We had been working on "if we come home" plans, and today so many of them fell into place, that it was obvious that God opened the doors wide open for us to return. (This includes insurance! Our policy we have here doesn't cover us in the US, but it looks like an insurance agent we have been working with has found us a plan that will likely accept Matt). In the US Matt can get the care that he really needs and we'll be supported by a bigger network of friends and family.

So, in the next seven days, we'll go back to say goodbye to our friends in Olancho. We'll try to do our best to share with them what they have meant to us. We'll pack up our entire house into two suitcases each and figure out what to do with what remains. Now we can focus on closure here, or closure as best we can with such short notice and such a long to-do list left of unfinished projects here in Honduras. But God will be with us, and we'll need him this week and as we return to life in Minnesota. I'm not really sure what to think about it all.

We'll arrive in Minneapolis/St. Paul on Thursday, September 9 and go to live with Matt's sister Megan and her husband Shaun. We don't have jobs, but those will come soon, we hope. Pray for us and the big transition ahead! Thank you. A big thanks too to EVERYONE who helped us make the preparations to come home. This has not been a lonely experience with so many people helping out. More of that to come, I'm sure :)

Stage 1!

By Katie

Yesterday we talked to the pathologist who studied Matt's tumor. She told us that the cancer was only in stage 1 and very likely did not spread to any other part of his body. She said he has an excellent prognosis. Praise the Lord!

Today we'll meet with the doctors who operated on Matt. They'll give us their advice for a treatment plan. Also, yesterday I got three emails from people saying that there are three oncologists from the States who are all willing to look at Matt's pathology report and CT scan and give their opinions too. We're going to take them all up on it.

Matt's been doing better and better after the surgery, but certainly not 100% yet. That will take a while.

Please continue to pray for us. We will have a big decision to make in the next few days about when, where, how and whether to do treatments. Also, we've been holding up pretty well, but the stress of all this is certainly something we are contending with. Pray that God's hand is strong to hold us up and guide us. We can certainly feel God's presence and thank you for your prayers so far.

Update

By Katie

Matt had his surgery today as planned and it turned out well and almost exactly as the doctors had predicted it would. They removed the tumor, which had grown a little bit since Thursday, but had not spread to any other part of his body, so it was a relatively simple surgery. The pathologist determined that the tumor was malignant, and the type of cancer was seminoma. On Monday we'll have another appointment with the oncologist to find out the extended results of the biopsy. From there we'll know whether chemo or radiation will be best. Chemo or radiation won't start for another two to three weeks, so that buys us some time to figure out where to do the treatments and if they happen in the States, how to find a solution for our insurance because our insurance doesn't work in the US.

We've been holding up quite well, thanks to your prayers. God is certainly using the people who are here in Honduras to care for us. I had a little crowd of folks to sit with during the surgery and we've had some nice distractions over the last few days too with going out to the movies with friends and eating good meals together. The phone has been ringing off the hook with folks we work with here, church people and folks from the communities.

Thank you so much for your prayers for the surgery. Now we begin the road to recovery and treatments, and we'll still need your prayers. God is good!

Answers to Prayer

By Matt

We know a lot of people in the U.S., Canada, and Honduras are praying for us right now. We have already seen answers to those prayers. On saturday God provided us with some very experienced and trustworthy doctors.
Last night Katie and I read from the Bible and a daily devotional that we follow. The verse was Isaiah 43:1-7,

"But now, this is what the LORD says-
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your stead.
Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you,
and people in exchange for your life.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.
I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth-
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."

As I read these words I felt that God was in the room saying these things directly to me, to us. Tears streamed down our faces as we were comforted by God's presence in a very tangible way. Thank you for praying for us. We trust that God will take care of us and bring us through this.

Medical Update

By Katie

It's been quite a different few days for us. Last Wednesday we traveled to Tegucigalpa to start a series of doctors appointments and tests for Matt. After a battery of tests and shopping for just the right doctor, Matt is scheduled to have a testicular tumor removed tomorrow (Monday) at 2pm. During the surgery we'll find out whether or not it is cancer, and what kind of cancer it is if the tumor is malignant. Matt's CT scan and blood tests point to a positive prognosis, so we are hoping that with just the removal of the tumor the problem will be solved. Chemotherapy or radiation are likely, however.

We've been staying with friends in Tegucigalpa, Leanne and Caspar Geisterfer of CRWRC and CR World Missions. Caspar recently went to the same hospital for back surgery, so it's been very valuable to have them to help guide us through this foreign medical system. In the end we settled on a pair of experienced doctors that we trust and are very willing to teach us what we need to know. Doctors from the Luke Society Clinic near Catacamas set us up with these doctors and we have a lot of trust in them. We've been getting a ton of help from the doctors at the Luke Society Clinic too. It's been quite a web of folks here to help us! Praise the Lord for all of these wonderful people!

Thanks so much for your prayers in this. Already we've seen how he's been working through the situations we've been presented with. God provides all that we need, and he's doing that. Keep up your prayers that all goes well and that Matt is healed.

Lots of Gardens

By Matt

In June we distributed seed and fencing material to the groups we have in the seven communities where we work. We also had trained the community facilitators in how to plant the seeds and on some natural pesticide recipes that they could use. The idea is to get people into the habit of growing food in their own yard. Gardens are actually quite uncommon here in these communities. It seems to me that it is because it is hard to buy very small amounts of seed, and becuse everyone's chickens are out roaming around. I experienced this the first time I tried to grow a garden in my back yard. I don't have chickens, but my neighbors do, and they would come and scratch in my garden until almost everything was dead. So, I put up a small fence of chicken wire about 2feet tall. It works well.
At first the people in the communities didn't believe that the chickens would stay out of such a short fence, but now they have the experince too that it actually does work. Here are some women in a village called El Encinal, where the soil is very rocky and infertile. We taught them to bring in rich soil from degraded cow manure and plant in small trenches. We are really impressed with the care they have given to their gardens.


Sheep on the other hand are another story! In the village of El Coyolar there are some naughty sheep that like to leap and eat cabbage, radishes, cucumbers, and peppers. The gardens look really good, in fact we have already been given salad in the community! This is amazing because I have NEVER never been given salad in any of these places. Here is Dulce showing off her veggies.

People rarely eat salad in Honduras, especially in the countryside where there is no refrigeration. It was a great salad with cucumber, tomatoes, and radishes with lime and salt, very refreshing. Here is my co-worker David giving his approval.

Go Dogs, Go AWAY!

By Katie

My classroom management skills have had to extend to a new species recently. A pack of dogs has been coming to the after school classes at our house. Princess, Blossom and Tail follow their owners to class and then attract a few other strays from the neighborhood. They get a little territorial and growl at each other or try to get a piece of the shade by entering the front porch. The running joke with the kids is that the dogs want to come to learn to read and do math too. But, the rule is: NO DOGS ALLOWED! 15+ kids on a 10 x 10 porch is enough, so I have to send the owners of the dogs home so their dogs will follow them and hopefully not return.

On a similar note, this happens at Luz y Verdad too. Stray dogs wander into the classrooms during class looking for food. Sometimes even chickens wander in through the open doors. Chickens are pretty skittish though, so the they only come in during recess when the kids aren't in the room.

I wonder if I can add a line on my resume that says, "Effectively manages any living species that wanders in to the classroom."?

Teacher Conference

By Katie

Right after we got back to Honduras from our trip to the States, I got to go to a teachers' conference with other teachers from my school. The conference was for the five schools in Honduras whom Worldwide Christian Schools supports financially. Teachers from these five schools all over Honduras met at a conference grounds outside of Tegucigalpa. The purpose was to both hold teacher trainings and to have a spiritual retreat.

Here's the teachers who came from Luz y Verdad working together to name our strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities as a school. It was a great opportunity to talk and reflect on our school.

One afternoon we got to take a little get-away trip to a near-by town that sells artisan goods. I appreciated all the time we got to get to know other teachers and share in motivating one another in the work we all do. In the photo below, you can see our two conference coordinators on the left; Gloria (who also works with us at Diaconia Nacional) and Heidi (who came from Canada to help with the conference).

I went to the conference a little defeated because only half of our staff chose to go and the group attitude has been a little low. But the time we had with other teachers and getting to know my own coworkers even better, on top of lots of time spent on spiritual encouragement, was good for me and those of us who went. The positive change has rubbed off at school a little too. Pray with me that God uses what we took away from that conference to strengthen the school even more.

Another positive thing to look forward to is this Friday two teachers from every school are going to meet in Tegucigalpa to make preparations for a possible event like this next year. In the past Canadian teachers have planned this conference and Worldwide has funded it. Those opportunities are unlikely for the future due to budget cuts, so a group is forming to see if they can solicit funds and elbow grease to make the conference happen despite those challenges. I see this as a perfect opportunity for strengthening the unity and collaboration between the schools.

Back at it

By Katie

We made it back from our trip to the States about a week and a half ago now. It was great to see many of you, although we felt the pressure of having only a short time to see you and didn't hardly get to see as many people as we had hoped. Regardless, it was good to take a little time to give a couple of presentations and reflect on our work and life here and to get some time being plain old Americans in our own country. The greeting cards and coffee all got sold, so thanks to the many of you who rushed to buy them!

Sometimes it's good to leave things here in Honduras for a while to be able to come back and see how well things went. There were a few successes to share. The youth board planned a retreat to a mountain-side cabin with a variety of area churches. Kids from our church got themselves there, and the success of that is that we didn't drive them! It shows that they had the initiative to do what wasn't easy to get themselves to the event. Also there was a substitute Sunday school teacher who did a great job, and could maybe take over for us when we're done. Also, in our presentations to the churches I talked about giving the front porch kids a bunch of homework to see if they could find others to help them do it. Some, but not all, of them did with reasonalbe success, so that was good to see too. The last thing that we want is to leave Honduras in December with gaping holes in leadership. The two-week test while we were in the States gave us a good indication of how we all are doing on that.

Greeting Card Fundraiser (again!)

By Katie

Last summer when we came home we sold these greeting cards with photos from around Honduras. We sold out (twice!) and even more folks asked for more as the year went on. So, here they are again, with new and improved photos and a new category.

The money that we raise with this project will go to fund school supplies for Katie's afterschool program, things we need for the school, Luz y Verdad and innovative seeds and educational materials for the farmers that Matt works with. None of this is in our budget, so having a fundraiser helps provide us with the materials we need to provide Hondurans with another outlet for learning and growing.



Cards are available in packs of eight different cards (described below) at a cost of $10 per pack.


Pretty Things Pack *New*
Last time we sold cards many of you asked why we only included plants and not other things in the mix. So this year we focused on photos of things unique to Latin America, including churches, a sunset, and some island scenes.





The Dwarf/Cloud Forest Pack
These flowers were all taken in two unique ecosystems high in the mountains of the Sierra de Agalta mountain range in Olancho, not far from where we live in the valley below. The dwarf forest was particularly interesting as it was so high on the mountain and the wind is so strong that plants do not grow tall there. Many fascinating bromeliads are included in this pack.


The Tropical Garden Pack
Included in this pack are the flowers of many gardens we've seen in Honduras. Some are trees acacia blossoms. Others are lilies and hibiscus, and more.








The Coffee Pack
This pack includes coffee at several stages of the growing, harvesting, and roasting. You'll find blossoms, berries, and tranquil shots of shade-grown coffee farms in this pack.


Pre-orders are appreciated, but not at all necessary. Email us if you'd like us to set aside a pack or particular card for you, or just ask when you see us. We'll be in the States starting next week for two weeks. Thanks in advance for taking an interest in this project.

Rio Olancho Coffee

By Matt

For over a year we have been working with a group of coffee farmers in el Carrizal with the goal of exporting coffee to Canada. The Carpinteros have been a big part of this project, and they are the ones recieving the coffee. We had the coffee cupped (quality tested) here with the Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFE) and it turned out to be great coffee. This is not too surprising considering the beautiful, high-elevation, shade covered farms where it is produced. It has been a long road full of surprises and plenty of paperwork to get the coffee on its way, but today the boat finally left the port on its way to Canada. Praise the Lord!
I know that is what many of the group members are thinking too. Many of them are dedicated members of the Christian Reformed Church in El Carrizal. Claudio, the president of the group, made some big sacrifices to produce quality coffee this year including briging his family up to the mountain to help pick the beans. But it was worth it because his coffee turned out to test very high in the quality ratings. This is Claudio on his usual mode of transportation.




Here is a picture of most of the group in front of the church where we usually meet. They call themselves the "Asociation of Coffee Growers, Rio Olancho".




The coffee was screened in the village before heading off to the exporter.




Here are Raul and Fredy showing off the washed "green" coffee.



If you live in Canada this coffee should be available just as soon as it arrives and can get roasted and bagged, so get ready for some great coffee straight from the mountains of Olancho!

Arbor Day

By Katie

Schools around Honduras celebrated Arbor Day last Monday by having school assemblies in which they shared poems, songs and plays about trees and why we should protect our forests. Luz y Verdad took it one step further this year by collaborating with the Agriculture and Environment Program at Diaconia Nacional to plant forty trees in some unused space we have on the playground.

The fourth, fifth and sixth graders planted trees with the help of some of us teachers and the technical help of Matt and David from Diaconia. It was AMAZING how hard some of these kids worked. In the photo below, you can see Ruben shoveling his little heart out! I was proud of the way the kids took the work very seriously.
After we dug forty holes for the trees and hauled compost to fill them with, David gave us a lesson in how to plant the trees. We planted mahogany and cedar trees, with the idea that in 20-30 years the school could harvest a few of them as a fundraiser. The kids liked that idea quite a bit. Matt also led a devotional time about how we all are charged with caring for the environment and how this is an act of worship.

Each student "adopted" their own tree, marking it with their name and promising to care for it. When the dry season comes Matt and David are going to return to teach us about a simple irrigation system using a 3-liter pop bottle so the little trees can make it through the dry times and on to maturity. In the picture below you can see Scarlet helping Dariana to plant her tree.
A lot of good came out of this day! We're really hoping that all the little trees survive to help encourage the kids that planting trees and working together produces positive results. May God bless these little acts of worship!

Tasty Baked Chicken

By Katie

It's time to share a good and easy recipe that my lady friends in the community of Guacoca shared with me. It's baked chicken, but instead of pouring water over the chicken and covering it, pour orange juice and vinegar (maybe totalling a little more than you would have poured on if it were just water). 2 parts OJ to 1 part vinegar, but that's flexible. Salt and pepper to taste. The Guacoca ladies add in achote and other spices, but I don't. The vinegar and orange juice make the chicken just a little sweet and sour. I don't marinate it at all, and often don't even thaw the chicken first.

Here's a picture, in case you've never seen baked chicken before. ;)

Try it and let me know how you like it! The Guacoca ladies will love it if you do. Ever since they made this a few months ago and I asked for the recipe, they have loved to sit and chat with me about recipes and ask how my Honduran cooking is coming along.

Meet the students at Luz y Verdad

By Katie

The fourth graders at Luz y Verdad made a series of videos to share a little bit about our school and who they are with you. They're practicing their English pronunciation and some were pretty nervous to be in front of the camera, so the words are below the videos in case you can't understand. Enjoy!

Hello!

1. Hello! We are students at Escuela Cristiana Luz y Verdad.
2. In English that means Light and Truth Christian School.
3. We are in fourth grade. These videos are a little bit about us and our school.

The Map

1. Here is Honduras on the map of Central America.
2. We live in Catacamas, Olancho.
3. Catacamas is a small town.
4. Here is Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.

The Schedule

1. We start classes at 7am each day.
2. We finish our classes at 12 o'clock each day.
3. At 9am we have recess for 30 minutes.
4. During recess we eat at the cafeteria.
5. We eat baleadas, pancakes, chips, pop or candy for a snack.

Our Classes

1. In our classes we learn science, math, Spanish, Bible and social studies.
2. We also have English class and computer class.
3. My favorite class is English.
4. We hope you enjoyed our videos! Goodbye!

In Mangulile with Jorge and Douglas

By Katie

A few weekends ago we traveled to a town in northern Olancho called Mangulile. Jorge and Douglas had invited us to be guest speakers at a training for the youth of the church there and to stay for a joint church service for young people that night.

Jorge and Douglas (in the picture below) are two members of the youth board from our classis, or regional grouping of churches. They are super motivated to share the gospel in a deep and thorough way to the young people in Honduras. They’re also inseparable. They both are in seminary, preach on a local Christian television show, and spend much of their time visiting other churches in order to preach or to motivate the youth to get organized to bring about actions that deepen their faith and reach out to non-believers.
They invited us to come along on this trip to visit some folks we’ve already met at last year’s youth retreat. Their youth board was falling apart so Jorge, as president of our youth board, wanted to address the situation openly to get things rolling again. Matt lead a time of reflection about the potential they have as planted seeds, watered by each other and their mentors, and pruned and cared for ultimately by God. My part was to present some different models of youth ministry to help them define how their programs might lead toward the desirable goals of growing deeper and reaching out. No visit to a community would be complete without a church service. A few hours before the service began, we heard a pickup truck with a loud speaker and a microphone announcing the event, saying, “Come to the united church service today at four o’clock. Our brother Mateo and our sister Kati are here visiting from Catacamas and want to see you there.” At the service, we sang a bunch of “happy songs”, Jorge’s specialty. To get the full effect, hook your computer up to huge speakers that you might use for blasting an action movie in a home theater and turn them up all the way. It was loud; incredibly loud. But everyone was having a great time praising the Lord!

There were some beautiful sights to see on the trip to and from Mangulile, about five hours from our home on a nasty dirt road. These photos make up for the bumps and uncomfortable drive! Opportunities like these are an exciting part of our job here in Honduras. What made this one even greater was the youth put everything together themselves and only invited us as guest speakers. They continually remind themselves that they are not the church of the future, they are the church now. Their faith and capabilities of organizing themselves for the sake of the gospel message are very impressive.

Cleaning Day

By Katie

Today the front porch gang collectively declared they were going to clean my front porch. A few of the girls had been cooking this up over the past few days and were determined to put it into action today. So, after I dismissed most of the kids, the five most regulars asked for a broom, soapy water, sponges and rags so they could clean the walls and window. Of course I complied. It's not every day that someone wants to clean for you! They wouldn't even stop to look at the camera when I got it out. When it was all done, I thanked them very sincerely. Zeydi (the girl with the broom) said, "Well, you teach us everyday, so..." Their actions mean a lot to me.

A week in La Avispa

By Matt

This past month I was able to re-live an experience that was very important to me. It was "Campo week" for the International Development Studies semester students of Calvin College, and they came out to Olancho to spend a week in the community of La Avispa. Kurt and Joanne V.B. (the Calvin Profs who live here in Honduras) along with David and I set up the experience through the Ag and Environment program of Diaconia and invited the 19 Calvin students to spend a week experiencing the rural Honduran lifestyle. This was meaningful to me because I had done the same trip five years ago when I was studying here in Honduras with Calvin's development studies semester abroad program (although I had gone to a different part of the country).

On the first day the church did a big welcome service for the students. There is no electricity in La Avispa, but the church has a little solar panel, and the music was very loud (as usual here in Honduras). In the morning David and I held an assembly in the school where we taught the kids about the water cycle and why the forest is important. Here we are doing a group game that helps them understand how the water cycle works. Some of the kids represent trees, others clouds, others rivers, etc. I am about to cut down the forest with my chainsaw here, which cuts the signal of the water cycle (squeezing hands).



The people of La Avispa had set as a priority an environmental campaign to help get people thinking about not polluting the community and not burning down the forest (deforestation has led to a lot of problems in the community). During this week the whole community worked with us to put up signs around the community as reminders of how we all need to care for the creation so that we all have a healthy and productive place to live. Here a local youth is putting up one of the signs which says "Don't contaminate the environment" (the community chose which messages to display). Another sign says "Welcome to La Avispa, Land Blessed by God, Caring for our natural resources is the responsibility of everyone". Many of the local youth helped out with this little project and it was fun to get to know them. At the end of the week we ended up going with about 10 of them to a nearby church for a youth training of Diaconia with Roldan.



After a community meeting David went with a bunch of people to collect seeds from the cedar trees in the area. Another community priority is reforestation on the steep mountainsides to prevent landslides and erosion and to provide resources such as wood for the community. We also worked with a group in the community to establish a tree nursury which will produce timber trees as well as fruit trees for the community. Below you see how the seed collecting works: David threw a stick way up in the tree to knock open the little helicopter seeds and the youth with the tarps ran to where the cloud was falling. We collected a lot of this very valuable and expensive seed with very little effort. These seeds will help us do reforestation in other communities as well.



On Thursday morning David went and made a wood saving stove (a better design of the usual woodstove that burns 50% or less of the normal wood). This stove is to serve as an example to see if other people in the community would like to change to this design. The woman was very happy with the stove and could appreciate the results immedeatly because very little heat escapes into the kitchen. The strong cement tube chimney insures that there is zero smoke in the kitchen which is often a big problem in these communities. The idea is that if much of the community changes there design, they will cut down less trees in the area and have more time to spend working on other projects.



On one of the mornings we went up to the land of Oqueli, one of our community facilitators. You can see that on this plot he has not burned for several years. The land is steep around La Avispa and we are promoting the use of erosion barriers so that the people don't lose the fertility of their soil when it rains. We also work to change the common practice of burning to prepare the land because burning leaves the soil unprotected from many types of degradation especially on these steep slopes.



I wanted to get a better taste for what it is really like to work the land in La Avispa so I helped chop the weeds to prepare for planting. I also wanted to put my machete to the test. Do this for 6 or 7 hours and you get paid around $5 total here in Honduras.


On the last day in La Avispa we took some time in the afternoon to go look at a nearby cave with the Calvin students and members of the community. It was enjoyable, but full of bats which are not my favorite animals.



From what I can tell the community and the students really bonded well during their time. I know many of the students learned how to make tortillas and wash clothes by hand. I saw some out riding horse too. Some of the students helped out with the community activities such as the signs. On the last night the local Christian Reformed church put on a big farewell service which was very meaningful. Below is a video of the students singing a song to the church in spanish.


In this video the church is singing a song that says: "Goodbye brothers, goodbye. I carry you in my heart"



We did a ton of other things as well, and it was a great week. I wonder if any of those students will come back to visit La Avispa.

Sticker Collection

By Katie

We are in the capital city of Tegucigalpa this week for meetings, so we've got a little break from country life and the opportunity to see what's going on in the city. It seems that World Cup mania is gripping Honduras tighter than ever. Now available in the cities are these World Cup sticker albums and packs of trading card styled stickers. There are 32 teams playing in the World Cup in South Africa starting June 11. Each team has a page for all their players and info. Lisa and I passed it off as a geography lesson and are building our collections, a pack or two at a time with every errand we run. It's fun, and informative of course.

I only have one player from Honduras. I had better work on that...

Isaiah 58

By Katie

A member of our church recently delivered a sermon in which he quoted from this text. The chapter begins with the Isrealites complaining that God isn't listening to their dutiful fasts and sacrfices; God responds with examples of what is much more important to him in the following verses. I hope it inspires you as it has inspired me as I've re-read it over and again in the past few weeks.

Isaiah 58:6-12
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the prisoner free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say:
Here am I.

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."

May we all find ways to be Repairers of Broken Walls and Restorers of Streets with Dwellings in this world.

Holy Week in a mix of styles

By Katie

I already mentioned in the last blog that we got to do some traveling during Holy Week. It was quite a week of mixed styles of worship for us. We started the week with Palm Sunday in Nicaragua with the other folks living in Central America and working for CRC ministries. So our Palm Sunday service was probably a lot like whatever yours was in North America... and in English :)

Skip ahead to Good Friday where we spent the day in Copán and got to see some of the Catholic traditions that give honor to this important day in the Christian calandar. All through the night on Thursday teams of people were hard at work creating this carpet of colored sawdust near the Catholic church and central park. Each square had a picture of something Christian made by patting the colored sawdust over stencils. On Friday night a parade passed over the carpet, ruining it.



Also on Good Friday in Copán we saw a live reenactment of the Stations of the Cross. It was really fun to have Tanya along with us during the stations since she is Catholic and we could together decipher what was universally Christian, what was specifically Catholic, and where Central American culture had influenced the event. In the first picture, you can see some people doing a reading with a very social justice theme at one station.



This video was taken at the next station after the reading and as the actors were playing the part of giving Jesus the cross to carry to the next station. It was a very touching scene that left many dumbfounded at what happened to Jesus.

By Sunday we had picked up another friend of ours, Jenny, and were at the Resurrection Day (Easter) service at the river. It was the annual joint service of the Christian Reformed Churches in Olancho.

The Catholic/Protestant mix of my week continued strongly into this day. Both Jenny and Tanya are Catholic. Unfortunately many "Evangelicals" (as Protestants call themselves here) are very openly opposed to Catholics. We heard a mention in the sermon scoffing at the way Catholics do things. Another person came up to ask me if my friends were Evangelicals. I said they were Christians who are Catholics, to which the response was "Oh, but how are their hearts?". I am continually disgusted at the Evangelicals for thinking they are so justified in openly belittling the Catholics. While I don't know the history that brought these feelings about, I can't help but think that if we continue into the future with such an us-vs-them attitude that we will never bring about healing.

On the other hand, there was some really exciting things about the service. Every year this is one opportunity that new Christians can be baptized in a truly beautiful setting.


Two of the youth in the Sunday school class that we teach were baptized. Here is Lucía being baptized by our pastor Isidro.



In the end, no matter how you celebrate, it´s a beautiful thing to know that Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins on the cross and has risen from the dead. Happy Easter, everyone.