Kurt wanted to do a little journalistic photography, see pictures below.
This little guy is only three inches long.
You may remember Gwen wanted to make bread pudding (budin de pan). The second try was a little fancier. She asked one of the watchies, Justo, to harvest some coconuts. Then the cook hulled and shredded the coconut into flakes.
Budin de Pan with mango sauce🥘 (Aka bread pudding) is a hit with all of us. Gwen has done a fabulous job baking a batch for 15 people including the watchie and the cooks. We’ve added a little extra goodness into the batches – freeze dried figs and dates we brought from home – yum!
We have been babysitting a puppy. His name is Boaz and he is quite the cutie, but very willful. He was not sure about us for the first few days, but now he is our buddy.
He is also a bit of a klepto. Gwen has rescued one shoe, two t-shirts, and one beach towel so far. She was not so lucky with one fan. He found it on the floor, apparently when the wind blew it off the table in the back room, and thought it was a new toy. Gwen was able to do a reasonable recreation, with a small addition.
We had our first real test as surrogate parents this week. Mike and Lisa told the boys no one is to leave the property for any reason unless they ask permission, and only for designated events (church, school, run an errands for Kurt and Gwen, etc.). The very next day there was a boy who decided to accompany two who had been designated to run an errand (we were out of laundry soap. Not good with ten boys who have to wash uniforms every day). Gwen was looking for him and “no one” knew where he was. Gwen had a guess and happened to be down stairs when they returned so she caught him “red handed.” She asked him to come up stairs, she ask one of the English speakers to join in, and requested the rest of the boys leave. Kurt and Gwen stepped him through what was wrong and asked what Mike and Lisa would do. After one “I don’t know” they got a real answer… “work.” We gave him two options for his consequences and let him choose. One would have involved only him. The other involved all the boys. He chose option B. (Which was probably the best choice since they all get to feel the “pain” of consequences – no movie night and go to bed at 8:00 like on a school night for a Friday night). At dinner, we asked the offender to explain to the boys why they would not have movie night and then we shared that we were disappointed. We shared a few other things, but the point was made.
Saturday we made a nice breakfast. After breakfast the boys worked on cutting the grass outside the compound fence (to keep the snakes away) and made sure their bathrooms were clean. Once that was done they could do what they wanted. We negotiated with them to have them their devotionals and then let them watch an important soccer game after dinner – Honduras vs. Argentina. It has been a good day. Gwen asked the cook to show her how to make empanadas – different bread for breakfast. That required someone to harvest some coconuts. The boys were on a break and they were all over this. We ended up harvesting plenty.
Next was grating the coconut after it was hulled. Ton of work. Gwen had to recruit some muscle…Kurt! Then the cook, Soyla, taught Kurt and Gwen how to make coconut empanadas. Fun to learn from others who are skilled! And she enjoyed sharing. Relationship building. 🙂 The day is ended with the boys enjoying soccer (Gwen and Kurt watched for a bit, then we opted to do devotions). The adults headed to the showers while the boys watch movies until 10:00 and then the end of a good day!
Sunday was Church day and the plan was to hand out the decorated fans to the ladies at this church. Problem! The truck would not start – dead battery. Could not open the electric locks. Someone did not want the fans to go to church – either the enemy who does not want them blessed or God knows we need a few more. So…walk to church in the heat of the day or do house church. We opted for house church. We gathered the boys around the big dining table, they sang songs, and then we started reading and talking through the first chapter of 1 Peter. When we got to the idea of gird your minds we used the Roman soldier as the example of why they needed to gird up something and then we compared the bible to a sword fit for battle with an enemy. Great topic for teenage boys! We will talk with Pastor Ludy when he comes this week and decide how best to deal with the gift of the fans. You can pray for wisdom. We had a nice lunch and then we headed to the house and started being creative. Some of the younger boys really like to draw, so when Gwen got out all the colored pens they were very interested. Gwen and Kurt opted to paint fans. The boys decorated cards to start with and then felt like adventuring into watercolors on the fans. It is always interesting to see how people create. Drawing, the boys tended to copy from artwork in the house. By the time they started painting, they started venturing out into their own creativity. We all had a good time making artistic creations. God is good!
Fausto and Daniel painting fans.
Honduran Rembrandt.
Eldrin’s creations
Some of Messi’s creativity. Love how they draw what is in their culture. Also learned that some to the boys have an additional formal name. When I asked them to sign the back of their cards some had different names and when I asked, I found out they have a “third name.”
The completed fans from Sunday’s creativity session.
Prayer Requests:
- Praise that Daniel’s eye is much better.
- Praise that Eldrin’s eye is much better.
- Please pray for Boaz the dog. He is not his usual exuberant self. This has the boys who care for him concerned. AI says his symptoms indicate he may be experiencing growing pains (much like a teenage boy).
- Pray that the boys will remember the “not very good day” and help each other be accountable to follow the rules.
- Praise and Prayer for some good bonding time with the boys through games and crafts.
- Pray for all of us, for our health and safety. Kurt and I keep getting bit by the local bugs. Boys play hard at soccer and a few scraped knees were presented the other day for nurse Gwen to tend to.
- Praise for good devotional times for Kurt and Gwen – we are going through a marriage devotional we picked up at the Weekend to Remember marriage conference and it is good material. We want to continue this new habit when we get home. You can hold us accountable. 🙂
- Praise that Mike and Lisa are enjoying their time away and seeing some cool things in Spain and Italy.
- Pray that the ladies of the church we are attending with the boys will be blessed by the decorated fans (and that there will be enough).
P.S. – Our bodies are starting to acclimate. Finally! Legs are slightly less swollen (Gwen almost has ankles in the morning!). AI says it takes 7-14 days to acclimate to a hot climate and we are on day 15 or 16. Very interesting to learn how the body adjusts to different climates. IF AI can be trusted, when we come back again, our bodies are supposed to remember and acclimate faster. Sure hope that is true!
End of our second week! Launching into week three! 🙂 Thank you all for your prayer coverage! We could not be doing this without your support.
