Going Home!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Our journey home from Orphanage Emmanuel started early. 3:00 AM (Honduras time) to be exact. Dunia awoke early to see us off. It was hard telling her goodbye. To arrive back home would take several steps. First leg of our journey - a 2 hour bus ride to the Tegucigalpa Airport. We boarded a plane that would take us to San Pedro Sula. The plane trip took about 45 minutes versus a 9 hour bus ride. It was worth the extra few dollars.
We had a couple of hours to wait in San Pedro Sula so we found a Wendy's to enjoy lunch.
Our plane ride from San Pedro Sula to Miami lasted 2 hours. I believe we all took a little nap on that trip. We had about a 2 hour layover in Miami which was just enough time to gather our bags to send them through security and find a place to eat dinner.
Our plane left about 10:00 PM bound for Atlanta. We landed about midnight. We all knew that we were one step closer to our bed. Papa John & Jared greeted us at the Atlanta airport with the church van to bring us home. Brent rented a car due to our group size. Loyce, Shena, Patricia and I rode with him.
We arrived in the church parking lot about 3:00 AM. My oh my what a wonderful but weary day.
What a privilege to serve God this past week on the foreign mission field. The Bible commands us to go - I am glad that my family obeyed that commandment this past week. Typically when we send a letter from our family - we always sign it, "Serving Christ Together". I am glad that we are still doing that - Serving Christ Together. Instead of a family vacation - we chose to serve. God has blessed us this week. We trust that we served Him with honor.

Until next time,
Bettye

Last Day at Orphanage Emmanuel

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Today is our last day at Emmanuel. Our team had many things to accomplish - with the most important - hugging our favorite children one last time.
We had the same approach today as yesterday: Divide & Conquer.
Brandon worked in the Math Lab with Robert, the Elementary Principal, & some of the teachers.
Several of us kept the kids busy with a project: "Ice Cream in a Bag". A little bit of milk, vanilla & sugar placed in a small bag inside of a larger baggie with ice - then shake - shake - shake & you have Ice Cream. The kids seemed to really like it.
This took place in the morning & one session after lunch.
Patrica, Renee & Sheena worked with a few of the girls on making a quilt with the intentions of selling it to bring in a little money into Emmanuel.


Loyce, Sandra & Jake made Ice Cream with some of the Special Needs kids. Jake has a new buddy: Pedro. Pedro has Downs Syndrome. He is always smiling.
Our cook, Xiomara, had to leave after lunch to catch a bus to her home. Since she left early, I along with Loyce, Rhonda, Sandra & our two Jr. cooks: Marisolle & Dunia made dinner for about 60. I really appreciate those who are in the food service industry. I was so tired by the time dinner was done - I really did not want to eat.
Most of us had our kids up to join us for dinner one last time. It was great to see them one last time. It is hard to leave them. You really want to just pack one up & bring them home.




At dinner, Robert, came to us to thank us for working in the school. You see - there has never been a team who has worked in the school like we did this week. We took an empty room & turned it into a Math Lab full of items for the students to learn basic math to hard math skills. We planted a seed to enable Emmanuel to take teaching the kids to the next level.
God is good. We have seen his mighty work this week. We can't wait to do more for Him at Emmanuel.
Until next time,
Bettye

Divide & Conquer

Wednesday, July 9, 2008


Today our team broke up into many different areas as we have done all week to accomplish many tasks. Brandon, Josh, Joe & Rick worked in the Math Lab.
The goal was to show the teacher how to teach a lesson by herself with the students working at the different stations. The guys were there for support. That seemed to have been a success today.




Loyce, Sandra & Jake worked in the craft house with the kids from the special needs yard. They made a collage with various items. The kids made beautiful pictures.

Patricia, Renee & Shena worked with Special Ed kids.
At the end of class - one boy was standing on tables & desks to hang up their project. They were very proud of what they had accomplished.







I, along with Halley, Rhonda & Dunia, who translated for us, worked with 1st & 2nd graders making a number roll using adding machine tape & a toilet paper roll.
The 1st graders wrote their numbers to 20 making a special emphasis on even & odd numbers and counting by 5's. The 2nd graders did the same but wrote their numbers to 50. How simple of a tool can be used to write numbers.







Jeff & Michael are the "handyman" for the week. They drove around with the tool box strapped on the back of the cart fixing whatever is needed.


After lunch, Rhonda, Sandra, Loyce, Jake & I went to the Tienda to purchase souvenirs. We were met by a group of toddlers. One little boy named Memo fast became my little buddy. I believe he will fit in my suitcase. :-)


Brent preached in the worship service tonight. He spoke from Psalm 86. I always love the music. The children seem to truly sing from their heart.
After dinner - several of us prepared for tomorrow's school lessons.
This week has truly gone fast. It is hard to believe our last day with the kids will be tomorrow.
As they say - All good things must come to an end.

Until next time,
Bettye

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This & That

Tuesday, July 8, 2008
This was the 2nd day our team was in math lab. In the morning, we had 1st graders then 4th, 5th & 6th graders. Today - some of the teachers that were observing took notes which was encouraging. Some of the teachers seemed to be overwhelmed. They had never seen a classroom set up where you have different centers to teach different concepts at the same time.
In the afternoon session - Brandon & Sheena was in the math lab themselves to show the teachers how they can successfully be in the math lab to teach a lesson by themselves.
Rhonda, Sandra, Loyce & I went to make ice cream with the toddlers after they woke up from their nap. It was so much fun! They were so cute. It was messy but yummy.

We played with them a little bit after they ate. When we started to leave several of the kids climbed in the back of our cart with Loyce & Sandra. A few of them climbed in to front where one of them placed their little foot on the gas pedal.


Thankfully I was right there to stop it. Poor Loyce & Sandra didn't even know they had a change in drivers. :-)
Tonight we had about 8 girls sing for us before dinner. They did a fabulous job.
Dinner was good - fellowship was good - today was good.
What a different way of life here. So simple. Puts life into perspective.


Until next time,
Bettye

Math lab in action at Orphanage Emmanuel

School started at 8:00 AM. All of the preparation was put into action today. Many items that our school children use to learn are probably taken for granted. Base ten counters, pattern blocks, number lines and many more manipulatives were placed in the classroom of Honduras children today. These are things that the local teachers have never seen or used as well as the American & Danish teachers. Amazing. So our mission this week is to show the teachers and children how to use these items to learn basic math principles. Our team were broken up into several groups working with special needs kids, math lab, & the "fix-it" crew. We had many different grades in the lab. It was interesting to see how much or how little the kids knew basic math principles. It was great to show the teachers how each item can be used to teach simple math problems to Algebra. So far - it seems like the math lab is a hit.
Loyce, Sandra & Jake worked with the special needs children incorporating math principles into art work. The kids really loved the special attention that was given to them.


After school - we hung out with the kids. Handing out handfuls of candy. The kids really like to hear you try to speak Spanish - it is funny.


At dinner - we had Ana, Azucena & Jose Fernando join us. It is always nice to chat with them away from all of the others kids in their dorm. You are able to give them one - on - one attention. We sent our two girls away with bags of goodies. After a long but prosperous day - we headed to bed early - 8:00 PM.

Until next time,
Bettye

Church day

After breakfast we headed to the church for a worship service. I always love listening to the kids sing praise choruses in Spanish. No matter if I can speak the language or not - we still serve and worship the same glorious God who is worthy of our praise. My husband, Brent, preached this morning. He gave a challenge from James 1: 26 & 27 about living a life full of correct communication and compassion.





After the service - some of us girls headed across the road to spend time with the girls before lunch. It is amazing how a little piece of gum or small hair bow can place a smile on their face.
After lunch, Brent, Rhonda and I took Ana Yansi & Azucena to the Tienda for a cold drink. At one point I realize how different our worlds are ...... I was sitting on a bench with Ana on one side and Azucena on the other looking out at a grassy field with the two of them just chatting away. They were happy and content just sitting there without a TV or video games. I am truly blessed to have enjoyed that time this afternoon. Josh stopped by to join Ana Yansi & Azucena for a chat.


Before dinner- our team headed to the math lab to discuss our specific duties. Some will be working with the special needs kids - others will be working in the lab a specific centers while some of the boys will be playing games with the special needs yard.
I am excited to work with the kids on Monday. Can't wait to see God in action.

Until next time,
Bettye

Day 1 at Orphanage Emmanuel in Honduras. Loving kids & preparing projects.

Saturday, July 5, 2008
We got a slow start but excited to see the kids. After breakfast, Brent & I quickly found our girls, Ana Yansi & Azucena & Dunia. It was great to give them a big hug and tell them how much we love them and miss them when we are apart. Loyce, Sandra, Rhonda, Jake, Josh, Halley & myself, climbed the hill to spend a little time with Azucena and a couple of her friends. She is a beautiful child inside and out. She speaks some English so we are able to communicate with her better than others. We climbed back down the hill and headed to see the middle aged girls. It was neat to see how some of the smaller girls have grown. One of the full-time workers said that if all we did was love on the kids - then we have done great things. We tried our best to accomplish that goal How can you not help but hug on these kids?






After lunch we headed to the school to start working on our project - building a math lab. We had to clean out a room that was used for storage to set up our supplies.
The school here is staff by town volunteers and a few full-time workers.
Pretty much - no teacher has taken any kind formal training in teaching.


Our kids had tons of visuals and manipulatives to learn basic concepts. Here at Emmanuel - the use rocks instead of colorful blocks. So by the kind giving of God's people - we set up a math lab full of learning tools.
At dinner we had most of the staff join us for a hearty meal full of comfort food. I want to be a blessing to staff as well as the kids while we are here. It was great to visit with them - see how their families have grown.
After dinner - seemed like we all headed to bed pretty quick since we were still recovering from jet lag.
Until next time,
Bettye

Travel Day - What a day!

Friday, July 4, 2008
My alarm went off at 1:00 AM. With only a few hours sleep - my family, Brent, Josh and myself, along with 14 others started our first day of our mission trip traveling to Honduras. Our team met in our church parking lot at 3:00 AM to travel to Atlanta to catch a plane bound for San Pedro Sula, Honduras with a layover in Miami.
We landed in Honduras about 3:30 PM (US time).
The only hitch in customs was a brief panic attack by Sandra when she could not find her passport. It was quickly located and all made it through customs with no problems. We were greeted by David (the founder of Orphanage Emmanuel). It was nice to see a familiar face in a foreign country. David directed us to the bus to load our luggage for a very long trip to Emmanuel.

David and his wife Lydia drove their truck to San Pedro Sula so my aunt, Loyce and Sandra had the privilege of riding with them to our final destination. From what they tell us - David drove more on the left side of the road instead of the right side - the correct side. They made it to Emmanuel about 2 hours before the rest of our team.


Our bus driver, Miestro, was a very good and diligent driver. He is the mechanic which came in handy when the throttle stuck on the way up a steep mountain.

So as cars & 18 wheelers were passing by Miestro had the hood up knee deep in the engine. Jeff, one of our team members, was fondly named Macgyver when he opened up his suitcase to pull out a power screw diver and joined Miestro in the engine to fix the throttle. We were up and running in no time to complete our 9 hour trip from the airport to Emmanuel in Guaimaca. It was rainy on & off. Cold then hot. Noisy with all the horn honking. You see the drivers here do not believe in yellow lines down the center of the road. Nor do they believe in turn signals. They only believe in honking to get where they need to go.
Quite a fun experience especially a 9 hour roller coaster ride. We did briefly stop at Burger King for a pit stop. I was so relieved and praising God when we arrived safely at Emmanuel. I realized that I had been awake for 24 hours thus I found my bed quickly!

Until next time,
Bettye

Orphanage Emmanuel

Last week, I had the awesome privilege to return to Orphanage Emmanuel in Guaimaca, Honduras. This was my 6th trip to Emmanuel and it was truly a blessing to be able to go and minister to the staff and children of that wonderful place. God is doing a wonderful thing in the lives of the over 400 children of OE. Of course, every time I go to Emmanuel my heart is touched by what I see and hear.

I once again was blessed to be able to preach to the young people and volunteers on Sunday and Wednesday. God spoke to many hearts on Wednesday night and it was evident by the many who responded to the message at the end of the service. Please pray for those who made decisions for Christ.

Praise the Lord! The main project of building a new dormitory for the toddlers is completed. All the plumbing, tile work, electricity and such is finished and the children have a new place to live.

I spent my week working on the line crew. Carter Adams, Mark Sivley, Steve Woodward and myself spent the week running new power lines to the new dormitory and dairy. We ran lots of new lines along with new street lights and two transformers. It was a very busy week, but it was very profitable as well.

It once again did my heart some good to spend some time with the children. I always enjoy giving a child a hug, giving a piece of candy or a toy, and to see the smile that it brings to their faces. All of the children of OE have a special place in my heart, but there are those that my family and I have made a very special connection with -- such as: Ana Yansi, Azucena and Dunia Lopez. These girls are like a part of our family. We love them so much and thank God for allowing us to be a small part of their lives. They truly have been a blessing to us.

I have heard it said, "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do. What I ought to do, by the grace of God, I will do." This is something I keep before me as I strive to serve Jesus every day. God is looking for that one person who can make a difference in the lives of others. I only hope that I have been able to make a difference in the lives of those at OE and that I have encouraged them in some way to make a difference in the lives of others.

Never underestimate the power of one!