down in Roatan...

It's the week before our one big short term mission team arrives this Saturday.  Larry and I went down to do the "meat shopping" last Friday and on Sunday Team Helene went to rChurch (you may remember this as IWC).  On Saturday we dropped our passports off at the airport to pay our fees that are required after a certain amount of time here.  Banjo takes care of this for us - he is a great friend and ally for us with teams and individuals coming in or anything to do with airport issues.  He gets us info about early or late flights.  Besides all this, he is a believer who is ordained and occasionally preaches on Northside.  We are very grateful to have Banjo as more than an acquaintance here on Roatan.  Larry and Banjo are shown here with Jeremy and Melissa Dyke - Jeremy and Melissa are church planters for rChurch (formerly IWC).  Jeremy served in Helene in the "early days" and met Melissa when she came on a STM.  They were at the airport on Saturday waiting for their home church to arrive for a week of evangelism and mission work.  As you can see we all have a lot of fun together.

Ice cream, Part 2

Just a few more shots of the team enjoying their ice cream!!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Our boat has been in repair for almost a month, the heat has been unbearable, a major earthquake...we could come up with a list, but we didn't have to because Larry suggested the entire team go downisland on Friday.  We had lunch "out" and a short swim in the pool at a resort, then we went shopping (some "pre-shopping" for the team coming in a couple of weeks) at the new and improved Eldon's, our grocery store on Roatan.  

We were almost beyond ourselves to eat a icy cold - well, it DID melt quickly - Heath Klondike bar!!  Just one of the delightful creations we miss in Helene. 

Who would think...

As the sun brings early morning light to the island, there's a sense of peace and calm to the outside eye.  The night has been anything but peaceful, and many have forfeited hours of sleep to anxiety and alarm.  Around 2:30 a.m. we woke up to our bed shaking rather strong and the sure realization that an earthquake was in progress.  We held each other, waiting for a much delayed end to the rumbling that seemed much longer than actual seconds that went by.  Then it stopped.  For obvious reasons, it took awhile to get back to sleep.

Around 5:15 a.m. (and the sun was up!) Ewings - our island friend who is like one of our staff - calls out to Larry, "Are you awake, Larry? Are you awake?"  Larry's reply was, "Well, I am now!"  Several islanders wanted to know what our computer said about the tsunami that was coming.  We laughed and joked about it as the computer was booting and then to our surprise, we found out there really HAD been a tsunami alert, but it had been lifted.  The earthquake registered 7.1 (now I am reading reports that say 7.3, if it matters!) and the epicenter was within 50 miles north of us.  There was no reported damage on our island, other than TVs and other items that had crashed to the floor in some homes.  No one showed up at our medical clinic.  But it was the talk on the path.  Spanish school was cancelled as we heard all schools in Honduras were cancelled, but our English school was in session.  Before our bell rang, a number of younger students told me very excited versions from their viewpoint of waking up in the earthquake.  It was great to talk to them and tell them about earthquakes and reassure them that God is in control.  He protected us and was gracious, as He is that kind of Father to us.  We are thankful the Lord allowed us to "ride the waves" a little differently this time!

 

How hot is it!?!

How hot is it?  Pretty hot.  It's so hot ... 

that the dishes I am washing are warm, like they have been sitting in the oven!

that clothes are dying on the line within 30 minutes - just like an electric dryer!

that you simply cannot eat chocolate, esp. M & M's - your hands turn into runny rainbows!

that the cold water out of the shower onto my body is warn water by the time it reaches my knees!

that I am sweating furiously ... and I'm just sitting!

that we are drinking a Nalgene every hour!

It's pretty hot.  Pray for breezes!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, David has been taking care of other creatures - here, a gecko.  This little guy was pretty snappy when Deirdre tried to pet it.  

David has also taken under his wing (haha) a chicken that has chosen to sit on her eggs in a box at the tool shed.  He plans to build a small coop for her in the near future.

Saturday, part 2

As Dominic and Deirdre and I left the Northside beach, we discovered that one of the iguana (see previous post) had obviously dropped off the line and was left on the beach.  Finding it was still  alive, our job was to free it without getting bit!  Deirdre held it down while Dominic untangled its claws.  I took pictures.   Deirdre then picked it up by its tail and tossed it onto a tree at the edge of the bush and off it went!  Free at last!  We were so happy to save ONE iguana!