Recess!

Children all over the world love recess!  Here are a few of my students playing UNO during recess.  Football (soccer to Americans) is the chosen activity during recess by most children.  We also have legos, puzzles, coloring books, bats and balls, and jumprope.  One of our American teachers recently introduced double jumproping so we all take endless turns trying to learn that new skill.  After recess we have a snack and Readaloud time using books donated to our expanding library.  Books are a precious thing here, not found crowding shelves as they do in many American homes. 

This is my 3rd/4th grade class last year - 2007.  Our school year runs from February to November like schools in Honduras.  I really like this schoolyear schedule better because we do not have such an interruption in learning because of holidays.  We emphasize reading and writing English which is the native language of the Bay Islands.  But the favored subjects of the students and myself are Bible and geography.  The "outside" world is mostly unknown to these students, except for what they see on tv or movies.  We seek to give them a worldview that does not focus on themselves alone; it's not all about "we."   

Teacher Buddy

Here's Ms. Dola with me back a couple of years ago.  We taught Kindergarten together for a couple of years in the Helene Christian Bilingual School here.  Now we teach in separate classes.   We are the same age and both of us have three children.  She has worked for years to bring more education to the island of Helene.  she tutors students after her class at the English school.  She is responsible for getting the "college" program established in Helene.  College follows 6th grade in Honduras and is similar to American middle school education.  It is a privilege to work with Ms. Dola and share our lives together.  Pray for her health as age continues to bring new issues to deal with all the time.

City Girl Learns to Hold a Chicken

I never knew anyone could ever pick up a chicken without being pecked to death!  The kids were up to no good with this bird, but they showed me how to hold it for a picture.  Having lived in a city until I was 35, (and city girls don't have much to do with CHICKENS), I found out they really aren't as vicious as I thought.  Here on Helene, chickens are everywhere.   They crow at all times of the night.  They can fly.  And they can't walk without plunging their necks out first.  This city girl is getting an education.

Island with a View

From our highest vantage point looking to the east, the islands of Morat, Barbaret and Guanaja are in the distance.  There are hundreds of islands like this in the Caribbean Sea.  Our call is to our island of Santa Elena and others like it, that God's grace may be shared and prove abundantly wealthy in ways that cannot be seen or touched.

Monkeying Around

This little guy lives in Gumbalimba Park on the island of Roatan in the Bay Islands of Honduras. We visit this park often as we host teams of folks who come to work alongside us on another island named Santa Elena, or Helene.  Gumbalimba Park is filled with flowers, iguanas, macaws, ferns, and a few monkeys as well as a cave museum, cactus garden, snuba, and hiking areas.   It is a really awesome display of God's creation.