A Great Thanksgiving Surprise

Great News! Money was given for Tania’s wedding.  I won’t mention who gave but THANK YOU so much for giving to make this a special day for Tania and Jorge.  I will have pictures of the wedding up soon.  Today they all went to sign the marriage license and tomorrow is the wedding ceremony.  It’s going to be a big day for Nancy and Walter, Tania and Jorge!

Here comes the bri....TOUCHDOWN!!!

So guess what?  The daycare repairs have been finished!!! They said it would take six weeks without rain and they sure lived up to their word.  The rains held off until night time and the guys worked to get it done.  It looks great and the new drainage worked great when it came a monsoon two nights ago.  I asked Evelyn how bad it had rained in Mololoa because at my apartment it rained A LOT.  She said she didn’t think it had ever rained that much at one time in November.  The best part was, there was no water on the daycare property, it all drained away really well. 

Yesterday we started going through all the material inside to see what is salvageable and what isn’t.  Right now a good portion of it looks good, we just have to clean the mud off of it.  We literally had to scrape the mud off of each tile yesterday because it seemed like it was glued down.  We are getting closer and closer to getting that baby up and running again.  Evelyn and Wendy are soo excited.  Other than that awesome news, everything else is going great in Mololoa.  If you would like to see pictures of the repairs to the daycare, go to the Mololoa Ministries page on Facebook.  You’ll get a good idea of the work that was done.

Also, one of the ladies who works in the Daycare is getting married this Saturday.  Nancy and Walter will be getting married at 5pm at the Church in Mololoa.  Nancy is worried that she is going to pass out because she said she gets really nervous.  I told her I’d definitely be there to take a picture if she did.  She is actually having a double wedding.  Some of you may know Tania who lives right beside the classroom at the Church.  She is getting married at the same time Nancy is at the Church.  It should be pretty cool.  Noel is going to perform the ceremony.  The only problem that we have had is this.  Nancy has had someone fully fund her portion of the wedding.  Rings, cake, food etc.  Everything she needs has been taken care of.  Tania has no money at all for the wedding.  It will cost $300 for rings, food, cake, etc.  $150 of that is just for the rings and she doesn’t have money for wedding bands right now.

You may have noticed this nice little donate button that I’ve added to the blog.  It’s a paypal button and donations go to paypal and then to the Palmetto missions account.  If you would like to help Tania have a memorable wedding then just click the button and give a little.  The biggest thing is the rings.  If we don’t have cake or food then that’s fine, but they need wedding rings/bands.  So if you would like to help then great and if not, well that’s fine too.  They are members at the Church if that helps at all J.

Sunday was Presidential election day here in Honduras.  Last week the rallies were crazy and traffic was HORRIBLE.   I know people who stocked up with a months worth of food and supplies just because you never know what is going to happen.  I was told to have no less than 2 weeks worth of supplies just in case.  But there was no need.  The election went off pretty smoothly in my opinion.  Sunday all the votes were cast.  Sunday night and into the early morning they were counted in which Juan Orlando declared he had won, which I’m pretty sure he did.  Monday the current president announced that Juan Orlando won which sort of confirmed it.  Then Tuesday morning, yesterday, the lady who finished a fairly close second declared she had won…. Then some protests started.  Since I was at the Daycare yesterday I didn’t know anything about it.  That was until Evelyn, Wendy, Edgar and I had to run out for an errand and on our way back we driving down the road and start noticing all the police.  We were like huh, there sure are a lot of police in this area, wonder what’s going on.  Then dang, there’s A LOT of police here.   Well look at that, what are the riot police doin…..uh oh.  That’s when we realized we had driven right into ground zero of the protest.  Store fronts smashed, stuff all over the road.  Riot police everywhere and people running away.  Lucky for us we came in on the very tail end when it was calming down.  That still didn’t stop Evelyn from freaking out.  Edgar and I were up front and were loving it, “chase him down, tackle him, there ya go”, while Evelyn and Wendy were in the back having a panic attack.  So we drove right on through with no problem, just avoiding stuff in the road.  We didn’t get back to Mololoa until dark and Evelyn said she wanted to be my big sis and she lived up to it.  After I left Mololoa she kept calling to make sure I was ok until I got home.  Which I did with no problems, just terrible traffic.  So we’ll see what today holds in store.  Hopefully yesterday the riots started and died so hopefully there won’t be any problems today.  This election stuff has gotten exciting all of a sudden.  Juan Orlando did win though, so he will be the new president in January.  Let’s hope he’ll be a good one.

My heart is torn though.  Most of you know what this Saturday is.  Rivalry weekend.  Auburn and Bama play at 2:30 here and Carolina and Clemson at 6…. And of course, I have a 6^th grade graduation to go to at 3, and a wedding at 5.  And you can’t watch a replay of a sporting event, it just isn’t right.  As Jase from Duck Dynasty said, you can’t will your team to victory in a re-run. And right he is.  #1 v#4, #6v#10.   Why must we face decisions like this?!?

Oh yea and tomorrow is Thanksgiving….wow tomorrow IS Thanksgiving.  I hope you all eat an extra plate of food for me.  Hopefully tomorrow I’ll write saying Thanks for Giving money for Tania’s wedding J.

I hope you all enjoy the holidays and I’ll talk to you soon.  Evelyn is at the daycare waiting for me so I gots to go.  WAREAGLE!!!

Sink or Swim!

It’s that time.  The time I had been looking forward to so much but at the same time, a little frightened at the idea of being on my own.  This Padawan has graduated to Jedi…I hope.  Jen and Josue left for the States yesterday and while it isn’t the same as Qui-Gon Jin dying and leaving Obi-Wan on his own, it kinda has some parallels.  I mean I have my own Jedi council here that I’ll see occasionally but as far as the work in Mololoa, it’s just me and Evelyn and the ladies.  You know, when I think about it I’m not really frightened at all.  I’m excited! 

Jen was a huge help to me for the first month and a half I have been here.  If it wasn’t for her I might still be sitting at the airport with all of my bags wondering what I should do next.  But instead, she and Josue gave me a place to stay, great food to eat, showed me around the city  and helped me in any and every way they could.  Without them I’d still be lost, even more so than I occasionally am while driving (but I always find my destination J).  I can’t say thank you to them enough and I pray for the best as they move to the States.

This past weekend Ed Brown and Danny Mullins, Elders from Palmetto, came for a weekend visit.  They stayed Thursday-Monday and I think they had a great time, even though my death star… I mean apartment isn’t fully operational yet.  Can you tell I’m having Star Wars withdrawals?  Their main purpose for visiting was to hire a new preacher.  Noel has been the preacher in Mololoa for about 4 years I think and he has decided to go to Mexico to plant Churches.  That meant Mololoa Church of Christ was in need of a preacher.  Danny and Ed did exactly what they came to do and the new preacher, Pablo is set to start in December.  Mololo gets a new Preacher and a new American all within 2 months.  However, the ones that are leaving are leaving us new guys a great ministry that we can expand upon and help grow.  This was Ed’s first trip to Honduras and I think he really enjoyed it.  He got to see a lot of what we do here.  Now we just need to get him back on a summer trip to show him what Torch does. 

We had a party for the ladies last Saturday.  A 7 year kitchen anniversary party up at El Picacho, The Jesus Statue.  The ladies all seemed to enjoy it especially when they were told about their pay increases and received a little token of our appreciation of them in the form of dinero.  It was a very special day that I was glad Ed and Danny could share with us.  Evelyn had a great devo, the pizza was great and the rain held off while we were at the statue.  It was a great day!  The ladies at the kitchen received on gift for each year that they had been working at The Manna Project.  They love getting gifts.  God has provided the ministries in Mololoa with men and women who are dedicated to the work, who love the work and we are extremely grateful to them for the passion they have to serve their community. 

Repairs on the Daycare are coming along nicely.  I am still being told that another week and a half and they’ll be done but that might be asking too much.  I think 2-2 ½ weeks and they’ll be done.  Things will then start being bought to replace the things that we lost during the flood and the Daycare will be up and running before we know it.  We are going to have a Grand Opening party once the Daycare is back open. To let everyone know that it is back open but also to re-introduce the daycare and it’s services to the people in the community.  An open house is probably a more suitable word.  If anyone would like to help with the cost of that then just let me know.  We have thrown around ideas but haven’t nailed anything down yet so as soon as we get more details and costs, I’ll let you know. 

So what’s new with me?  Not much really.  I’ve been doing great.  Are you like me and wondering  how on earth it is already November 14^th?  I mean REALLY?  The time just keeps flying by.  They are playing Christmas music here in the stores and setting out Christmas decoration ALREADY!  It’s crazy how fast the days are coming and going.  Although itt is good that some days go by faster than others.  I’ve had good days and bad days but the good ones outnumber the bad ones by a lot.  After I came back from the States a couple of weeks ago I was praying at dinner and thanked God for the safe trip back home that day, meaning back here.  Jen got a little tickled and later said she thought it was cute that I said “back home”.  But it does feel that way now.  A few people have kind of chuckled when I say I’m going to run home really quick or something like that.  They say, “It’ll take more than a few minutes for you to run home” meaning the States and then laugh.  But right now this is home and I love it.  Monday I had a bad day.  Danny and Ed left, I didn’t feel too good.  Which by the way I think I have finally gotten over that stupid cold I had.  But I had all these thoughts running through my mind about what would happen if living here turns out to be more expensive than I can afford, which is still on my mind, or if something happened and things didn’t work out here and I had to go back to the States.  I started thinking about what I would do if that were to happen and how it would be nice to still have the things we take for granted in the States (mainly a drier seeing as how my clothes were hung out and it rained last night before I got home to get them L ) and my stomach started hurting at the thought of leaving here.  I mean like, I had to go make myself do something else to take my mind off of that because I don’t want to think about that.  Now I hope and pray that won’t happen but like I said I was just having a bad Monday and all these doubts were in my head.  But for me it was God taking doubts in my mind and casting them aside by making me feel the passion He has placed inside of me for this place.  If I feel that awful at the thought of leaving then I know that I have a passion for this work.  I love my family and I love my friends.  I miss them all a lot but it would kill me if I had to leave here right now because I feel like this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.  I think I said this a week or so ago but I have all these plans that sound great and are running around in my mind and I think God is doing great things here and I’m just so thankful to be a part of it all. 

I’m also working on a monthly newsletter to start sending everyone who praying for me and the ministries or giving financially to me or the ministries.  It will hopefully be a little more in depth about what is going on.  I have a lot of people’s email already stored in my email account but just to make sure that I have everyone’s email, could you either comment with your email here or send me an email with your email if you would like me to email you the newsletter.  (I just used the word email 7 TIMES in that sentence).  I bet you just went back and counted. My email is jtgist@hotmail.com.  I also just realized that it was daylight when I started typing  so I didn’t have lights on and now it’s pitch black and raining.  I can’t see a thing from staring at this computer screen….AND I HAVE CLOTHES ON THE ROOF DRYING!!! AHHHHH, NOT AGAIN!!!! Dang, two days in a row!  I hope you have a great night and I’ll write again soon! I gots to go.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters,

He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Just Give Me Water!!!

The wedding was a blast.  It turned out to be a great October day and the thing went off without a hitch….well except for the two that got hitched.  Having to be in a tux most of the evening, I was pretty happy it was a nice cool day.  The reception was great as we watched these crazy people from Charles and Mindy’s family dance.  It was pretty entertaining.  But my best friend is now married, which is a little weird.  I’ve actually known him longer than I’ve known my sister and she’s only like 3 and a half years younger than I am.  I’ve known Charles a long time and I’m glad that he is happy.  He really did marry a great girl and I wish them the best.  He just better get ready to wait to be my best man because this guy isn’t getting married anytime soon!

I spent some time with family and friends while I was home which was great.  It had only been 3 weeks since I had been there but it’s still a long time to be away from the ones you love.  When I left at the beginning of October we all knew I would be back in just over 3 weeks.  This time it was a little different though since I’m not sure when I’ll be back, makes it a little harder to leave.  I guess that just means they’ll have to come visit me next.

I didn’t get to leave though without bringing back a souvenir from the States.  I got a cold or something while I was there and it is sticking to me like glue.  I can’t seem to shake the thing.  Over a week now and this thing has my head wanting to explode.  If the medicine won’t make it go away I bet the Honduran water will make my head the least of my worries haha. 

Oh and I have a truck now!  I knew the truck that I wanted/needed but was quite a bit short on being able to buy it.  Money was given last week so that I could buy it!  I was pretty stoked and at the time I was told my head hurt so bad that I couldn’t think of anything to say except Thank You.  Sometimes when a blessing like that comes your way, you know that words can’t really express how thankful you are and this was one of those times.  It didn’t matter what I said, it wouldn’t have expressed how thankful I really was and am.  Before funds were given for this truck I had debated on whether I should just get a 2 wheel drive truck instead of a 4x4 to try to cut the cost down a little and boy am I glad I didn’t do that.  Sunday night I was backing out of a driveway right after it had rained and slid into the small ditch on the other side of the road.  It wasn’t anything bad but it was just muddy enough to make the tires spin.  I actually said out loud, “4 wheel drive, ENGAGE” and with the turn of a button she pulled herself right out of that ditch.  Then just to test her, I got her stuck in ruts in the road trying to turn around in Mololoa Monday and once again she proved that she’s up for the challenge.  A 2 wheel drive truck and I’d have been enlisting some people to help push.  I’ve just about learned my way around the city too.  Well, except for the occasional wrong turn or the “wait where am I again”.  Those are getting fewer and fewer. 

The daycare repairs are looking great.  The exterior walls are nearly done that are going to allow for better drainage and extra support for the existing wall.  I’m still interested to see exactly how they are going to make it work but the walls definitely look good.  I’m sure it’ll all come together and work like they are planning.  The big hole that we dug inside this summer looks like a kiddie pool compared the one they’ve dug in the last week.  Like half of the building is now on big hole.  Everything is still on schedule since the rains have held off so hopefully by the beginning of December it will be finished.  I know the ladies are getting a little excited that they’ll be able to work up at the actual daycare again.  Things at the kitchen are still going great.  We were planning to have a 7 year anniversary party, to celebrate the kitchen being open for 7 years, a few weeks ago but since everyone was sick we decided to wait until everyone could go.  So this Saturday we are going up to the Jesus Statue for a picnic style lunch, which will be a lot of fun.  I think the ladies will all enjoy it. 

My Spanish still sucks but it is getting a little better.  I’ve been staying at my apartment since I got back last Thursday.  Those of you who have been here know that you have to buy water to drink, like in the big 5 gallon jugs.  Well everything you buy at the store you just go, pick it up, put it in the buggy, go to the cashier, she rings it up and you pay.  It’s that simple, you don’t really even have to talk to anyone.  Well to get jugs of water you have to know what you are doing because they are separate from everything else.  You ask for them, pay for them, then they get them for you.  They ask if you are buying bottles or refilling bottles.   If you are buying then they tell you that you can bring your old bottles back and they’ll refill them to keep you from buying new bottles.  It’s not just as simple as picking it up and taking it to the counter.  So I’ve been watching how other people go about this for 5 days, I’ve learned this formula of questions they ask and in what order so that I know how to respond.   But I’ve been buying small bottles of water to keep from having to endure the confusion that I was going to create by asking to buy water.  Earlier today at Walmart I gave it a try.  The guy said something back to me about his manager and then pointed to the other side of the store and I was like no just forget it, you aren’t sticking to my formula of success for this!  Then he said something and I said no again and then there was an awkward pause and he said ok and gave me my receipt for the things I had bought and I left.  BUT tonight I was going to eat pasta and when I got home I realized I was completely out of little bottles of water and thought, “It’s go time”.  Operation ‘get water’, take 2.  So I went to another store to avoid the guy at Walmart.  I went to La Colonia and I don’t know how it happened, I really have no idea what this lady was saying but I ended up leaving with two 5 gallon jugs of water!  I just kept saying Si, 2 bottles and it somehow worked. HAHA, well I understood a little of what she was saying because she stuck to the formula that I had seen other people do.  It was great.  For like ten minutes my head didn’t seem to hurt anymore and I had this smile on my face.  Guess who’s looking at their two new 5 gallon jugs of water right now, this guy!  This really is sad though…..but it’s a win for me nonetheless.

We’ll see if shopping for a shower head tomorrow to replace the one that fell off the pipe a few minutes ago is as exciting as getting water.  That thing was pretty rusty. 

Thursday, two elders from Palmetto will be here.  They are staying until Monday to see how things here are going.  It should be a fun time especially since one of them is coming here for the first time.  Forget bus rides, he gets to ride with me!!  I’ll give him all the Honduras road experience he wants….Actually he might be reading this so what I meant was that it’s all going to be just like it would be if we were in the States haha.  No worries.  But it will be good, I know they are looking forward to coming and I am too.