Happy New Year!!!

No, I haven’t died.  I have just refused to sit myself down and type, for like the last 4 weeks now.  But it is now time.  Time to empty my brain of everything I’ve been up to in December, an entire month.  I really have gone too long this time.  I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.  I sure did because I got to go home for just under two weeks.  It was nice to see family and friends and enjoy some cool weather for a little while, even though I don’t like the cold stuff very much, I kind of enjoyed it this time.

Ok lets see what I can remember and where I should start?  Let’s see, how about with the Church.  You may have heard that we have a new preacher now.  Noel and his family have decided to move on to a new challenge, planting a Church in Mexico.  He left December 9^th or 10^th and that’s when Pablo’s journey through life made a stop in Mololoa.  He and his family moved into the preacher’s house next to the Church on December 13^th.  It’s awesome to have Pablo here now and sad to see Noel go but everyone is able to take advantage of a new opportunity that they are excited about.

The tile was finished in the Daycare on December 16^th.  It looks great and for those of you that will be here next summer, I can’t wait for you to see it.  The whole place looks soooo much better than it did this past summer.  We have just a few small things left to do and within two weeks it better be open or I’m going to fire myself from repair work.  The ladies have already started setting things back up the way they want it so we can open soon.  I hope to have some pictures for you soon.

The kitchen is still running like a well-oiled machine.  The new color inside the kitchen has been a wonderful change.  Sonia will start working in the kitchen this week, which is awesome.  Evelyn created gift bags for all of the kids for Christmas and gave them out on Christmas day.  All of the ladies had Christmas day off but a few of them came to work in the kitchen anyway.  They said that the kids still needed to eat even if it is Christmas.  Can’t argue with that and you cannot question their dedication to this ministry.  We also had a Christmas party for everyone involved with Mololoa Ministries on December 12^th.  We all went out to Pizza Hut where we had a great time exchanging our Secret Santa gifts.  The ministry also gave them each a gift as well and they all seemed to love their presents.  I’ve also never seen pizza disappear as quickly as I did that night.  They LOVE pizza.  Everyone had a blast.

There were a couple of doctors that came to work in Honduras during the middle part of the month.  On December 16^th they came out to Mololoa to have nutrition classes with any of the mothers that wanted to attend.  A report that Dr. Aguilera composed of his medical clinic that he conducted in late October revealed that a majority of the kids that come to the feeding center are malnourished.  They fall into one of the three categories of malnutrition.  The feeding center provides 5 meals a week out of the 21 meals they need per week and it’s hard to think about what the condition of the kids might be if we did not provide these meals for them.  The meals that are provided are a blessing that most of us will never comprehend.  I wish there was a way we could provide more nutrition for them and possibly expand the program to offer more meals to move them out of a state of malnourishment and on the road to being  healthy young boys and girls.  That would take a lot more funding though, funding from new places.

When I flew back to Teguc on the 27^th I also had a friend flying down to spend a couple of weeks here.  Haylie Kirkendall spent a lot of time in Mololoa this past summer having Bible classes and working with the Church.  This week she will be having a class for teenage girls, a Daughters Of The King class.  She has a few topics but one of her main goals is to help them understand that they do not have to seek their self-worth through men but rather through God.  She has lessons, crafts and games planned.  She plans to work in Mololoa this week and Nuevo Oriental next week which is great.  Just like a lot of us, she has a passion for Mololoa.

So like I said, I went home for Christmas.  I left December 15^th and just got back to Teguc last Friday, the 27^th.  It was great to be home for a little while, to see my family and get to spend some time with friends.  12 days seemed like a long time to be away from Honduras but it was definitely not enough time to be home.  I now live in two different worlds and I want to be in them both all the time but I just can’t.  If I was Superman I could just fly here and work during the day and then fly home to watch Paw Patrol with my niece at night.  But I haven’t learned to fly yet….YET!  Christmas was a lot of fun but also different for us.  We usually spend it in Alabama but with a few scheduling conflicts like me having to come back here soon afterwards and my sister-in-law having to work, we just decided to spend a rare Christmas at home which was just as wonderful and perfectly ok with me.  I had a great trip and maybe they can make a trip down here soon to see what I’ve got going on….  :P

So it's New Years Eve isn't it.  The fireworks are starting to echo across the city and in about 4 and a half hours it's going to be crazy here.  They make these manikin like figures and burn them at midnight.  I've seen them all over the city and there are lots of them in Mololoa.  The kids have had fun propping them up in odd locations and poses for nearly a month now.  They also have been standing on the side of the road asking people to donate to their firework fund.  Yesterday one group of kids laid down in the middle of the road and wouldn't let me out of Mololoa until I gave them some lemps for fireworks.  I think I've given 5 lempiras out quite a few times.  It should be a fun and crazy night.

This has been an incredible year for me.  I was able to visit Panama, Costa Rica, do a drive through of Nicaragua (thankfully avoiding scorpions and fire happy shower heads), spend over a month of my summer in Honduras only to move here a couple of months later.  I’ve met so many amazing people this year and I’m blessed to be here doing what I’m doing.  God is great and He just keeps on doing amazing things.  I hope you all have a wonderful New Years Eve and that you get your new year started off on the right foot.  If I could just ask one favor as we start a new year, please start praying or continue praying for the ministries here in Mololoa.  I think God can do some great things here, on top of the awesome things He has already done,  in the coming year but there are always challenges and we have to be willing to meet them and lead the charge against poverty, hunger, injustice and a world telling us that going against the word of God is ok.  But when God reads our hearts, when He hears the conviction and the passion in our voices, He listens.  When He sees people willing to work and give, when He sees our dreams and visions are all for His Kingdom, He puts things in motion that when we understand and see, will blow us away.  We just have to have a little faith, like the size of a mustard seed and he will do amazing things through us for His Kingdom. 

Jesus replied, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.  If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."    Matthew 21:21-22

Jesus said it not me!  So let’s pray for the AMAZING things that are happening right now but lets also dream up some INCREDIBLE things, things that seem impossible but for God, are soooo easy.  Let’s believe in them, in HIM, pray about them and watch HIM move mountains for HIS Kingdom!

Happy New Year!!!