Patty Comes Home and Kenny Goes Home

So its been an interesting week filled with a ton of good news and good times. On Wednesday we had school with the boys normally as we waited for the call to see when Patty could come home to be with us. During the day dragged some wood in and chopped it up for firewood and helped Ed a little bit with Patty's bed that he was making. After that I recorded the boys grades and got them caught up. We eventually got a phone call and heard that we could pick up Patty the next day. The rest of the night we got things ready for the next day when Patty would arrive. On Thursday Ed and Val went into the city to pick up Patty while the boys and I had school at the house. They weren't going to be home in time for Val's first English class so I helped Carolina teach it. After the afternoon class I went home to celebrate Patty's birthday which was the same day she arrived to us. When I got back to the house she was there and still exploring everything. We got a pinata for her and filled it with candy. She had fun swinging a wooden bat at it and almost hit ed a few times while he was holding the rope for the pinata. We then had some dinner and birthday cake to celebrate. She seemed to be doing a pretty good job adjusting to everything. That night she went with Ed and Val to Val's other English class which they had to cut short becuase Patty started crying a little while she was there. Val told me that the nighttime was the hardest for Patty who didn't want to sleep in her own bed and was afraid to be near Ed in Ed and Val's bed. The next day we got up early and I got ready to go to the airport. Ed, Val, and Patty dropped me off and then went to pick her up some more clothes. My first flight got delayed and then redirected becuase of the winds. We made a stop in San Pedro in Honduras to refuel and then flew off to Miami. The flights went well and I arrived back in the States for a surprise visit that only my Mom and my brothers girlfriend knew about. Friday night I stayed at my Mom's house. The next day my brother showed up early in the morning to pick my mom up to go to an indoor water park in Wisconsin to celebrate his birthday. He was shocked when I opened the door and said I was the best birthday present and best surprise he has ever gotten in his life. We drove up to the water park and I had to be quiet in the car ruing phone call becuase my sisters family and my other sister drove separately and didn't know I was there. When we got to the water park i let my brother, Vanessa, and my mom go in first and i waited a minute then went in. While everyone was greeting one another I jumped out and my oldest sister screamed at the top of her lungs. So all the surprises went well and the water park was fun. My nieces absolutely loved it and me and my brother acted like kids and it was great. We drove back to my brothers house and played video games for a while. The next day Adam, my mom, and I went to Red Robin to have my sister Candice wait on us. It was nice for me to see a bunch of people that I used to work with. After wards we headed into the city to celebrate Adam's and my cousins birthday. We met up with my dads side of the family at the home my grandma is staying it. We had Lou Malnatis pizza and sat and talked for a while. Eventually we came back to my brothers house. Ive tried to post a lot of picture on facebook while I've been home since I have a good internet connection here. I'm heading back to Honduras tomorrow and will be there until June 24th to finish the boys school year. It was nice to have some time back in the States with my family but the weather could have been a little nicer. Thanks for all the support and prayers.

A Team, Soccer, and Good News!!

Wednesday night a team from Maryland arrived in Zambrano. They were friends of Ed and Val whom they had first met at the ministry they used to work for. The team consisted of two men, four teenage boys, and one woman. That night we got introduced and went over the schedule for the week . Thursday and Friday the boys took off school so we could work alongside the team. On Thursday we laid cement at the property for a storage room and put up one of the walls. In the afternoon I played soccer with the men of the community and I only fell down once, getting a nice little scrape on my leg. I showered and ate quick then headed back to the property with Val to help out with her English class at night. On Friday I headed into the city with Val. One of the team members got hit in the face during soccer so we took him to an eye doctor to make sure everything was ok with his eye. I stayed with him at the office while Val left to visit with Patty for a few hours. He was done with the doctor in an hour so we walked to a mall close by and got some drinks and sat and talked. The man's name is Tom and he is an incredible man of God with a lot of wisdom. We sat and talked for a while about life and he got me thinking about a lot. We eventually went to lunch at Chilis when Val got there then headed back out to Zambrano to join the team. The team finished the rest of the walls for the storage room while we were in the city and when we got back we all went to the waterfall to show the team. We hiked down and swam a bit. I climbed one of the rock walls about 100 ft up which was my favorite part of the day. I felt so small in the midst of God's amazing and beautiful creation. Friday night some of the teenage Honduran boys from Ed and Vals old ministry came out to spend the night and work with the team the next day. The night times at our house were pretty fun. We played a game called mafia which was exciting and fun. I played guitar and sang worship songs for the team and then we had reflections on the day. Saturday began with us heading up the mountain to the house of a poor family to lay a cement floor for them. When we got there we also decided to dig a latrine for them. I worked on the latrine which we intended to be a 3x3 hole 6 feet down. The first few feet were easy enough and then we hit some more solid rocky stuff and we got slowed down. The hole ended up being 4 ft deep so we will have to return to finish it someday. I ended up with some blisters on my hands but it was worth it to help out a family in need. We also blessed them with food, clothing, and toys for the kids. Eventually we had to leave to get in time for the church service at the property. I did my normal routine of helping with the little kids class and playing with the kids. After the service ended we had a Honduras vs. USA game with the young guys and the good ole USA won 7 to 1. We had devotions and debriefing at the house that night and said goodbye to the teenage boys that came from the old ministry. On Sunday the Schuberts took the team into the airport in the city, went to see Patty, and then went to church. I stayed out in Zambrano to play soccer. Our team lost 2-0 against a pretty good team. I stayed and watched the next two games and hung out with people from the community. After that I came home to clean, do laundry, and relax. On Monday we started school back up and the day went well. After school I headed to Christian's house to have dinner with their family. It was a good time of playing with the kids and talking to Yanci. I also got to see Maskol who hasn't been at the property on Saturdays for a while. We had some Chop Suey which they bought from a man in town and then we watched Cars in Spanish on tv. As I was leaving Yanci gave me a teddy bear and Alejandro gave me a pencil holder made out of pop sickle sticks, glue, and a toilet paper roll. It was nice to be able to spend a night with my Honduran family and play with the boys. Today the boys had school while Ed and Val went into the city to run errands. Today was also the day that the committee was meeting to decide if the Schuberts would get Patty and the committee voted and we are going to have a 3 yr old girl in the house soon. It is so exciting to know she will be coming although we are not sure when. Other than that great news not too much exciting happened today. I played soccer in the afternoon with the guys and I scored a goal with my left foot. I know it doesn't sound impressive but I was proud. I just want to thank everyone for their prayers for Patty and hope that you all continue to pray for her as she makes a transition from her foster home to our home. Thank you all as well for all the support throughout this year. I appreciate every prayer and dollar that has been given on my behalf. Adios and God bless.

Patty!!

Last Wednesday Ed, Val, Tammy and Sarah went into the city to see the girl that the adoption agency had picked out for them. The little girl is beautiful and they call her Patty from her middle name Patricia. Her mother abandoned her at birth at the hospital and she has been living with the same foster family since she was 4 days old. On Thursday Ed,Val, and Tammy went back into the city. They dropped Tammy off at the airport and ran errands. Val needed to get back in the afternoon to teach her Spanish class at 2 but traffic was bad and she was running late. This meant of course that AJ and I had to carry all her stuff up to the property without the truck and we had to teach part of the class until she got there. We expected her to be 15-30 minutes late but she ended up being one hour late. In my broken Spanish I reviewed some things they had already learned and it wasn't too bad becuase I knew many of the people from the church services on Saturday. It proves that you have to be flexible as a missionary and be ready to teach an English class on 15 minutes notice. After the class I stayed at the property to play soccer with the men and scored one goal. I ran home quick after wards showered then inhaled my dinner becuase I had to go back up to the property to help Val with her other English class. There was a much smaller turnout that we expected so I helped a little and played with a little boy who came with his mother. Friday was a normal school day in and a cleaning day becuase Val threw a party for a young missionary that was supposed to leave the country but isn't going to after all. Saturday many of the Schubert's friends from their former ministry came to celebrate even though the person who was going to leave was just changing ministries. It also turned into a celebration for the good news received from INFA earlier in the week. In the middle of the party I left to go to the property for the church service and help out with the kids class. The service went well and I met a couple of new North Americans that are here helping out at the ministry for a while. After the classes I was playing with the kids and eventually got tired so I sat down. Christopher (a 3 yr old) had a fever so I was holding him. His mom tried to give him some medicine while he was on my lap and he vomited brown grossness all over my arm and leg. I rinsed off a little bit and then headed home with my shorts stained brown on one side. When I got home the electricity was out so I couldn't shower. I wiped myself down with wet wipes and rejoined the party. When the power came back on I showered and then had one of the ladies at the party fix the uneven haircut that Val gave me months ago. This lady was a professional so I felt more comfortable when she had the scissors near my head. Sunday instead of watching the soccer games I participated in one. Apparently one of the teams got upset and left the league so Luis needed people to fill in. I played for part of the first half and part of the 2nd half then left becuase we had plans to visit Patty in the city. I got an assist and when I left we were winning 2 to 0. Apparently my team won so that was good/surprising news. We went into the city and had lunch with Patty and one of the daughters from the foster family. At first Patty was terrified because it was the first time she was seeing AJ, Wes, and I. Eventually she warmed up to everyone and she was adorable. Her laugh is great and her smile makes you melt. It was a great experience to see her and play with her for a few hours. After that we all went to church in the city and I was so pooped from a long day and being a little sick that I was falling asleep sitting up during the message. I felt a little bad about it but I really couldn't help it. We made it home and I crashed pretty quickly. On Monday Val and Ed went to the city again to have a meeting with their lawyer and the adoption agency while I stayed at home with the boys to do their schooling. They received the good news that a committee will vote next Tuesday on whether they will get Patty and they could have her as soon as Wednesday(her 3rd birthday is the next day). It looks like the adoption agency is pushing hard for her to be her before she turns 3. The rest of the day Monday I tried to relax to kick the virus that I picked up this last week. Yesterday I got the boys started with school and then Ed, Val, and I went to visit Jimmy Hughes, another North American missionary in town who has been her 13 or 14 years and has a big ministry. It was a good time of fellowship and he gave me and Ed a tour of his property while his wife, Val, and Kjell(another missionary in town) talked about the possibility of building a school. Jimmy asked Ed's advice on farming and showed him some land and there is a possibility in partnering with his ministry for both the school and the farming. After we got back I finished the boys school day and then relaxed again. I think it paid off because I feel much better today than I have the past couple of days. Today Ed and Val are in the city again picking up a small team and doing work at the day care in the city. Tomorrow the boys and I will take a day off of school to work with the team at the property in Zambrano and do some cement work. Please keep praying that the Schuberts get their Honduran daughter soon and that the committee will vote in their favor next Tuesday. Well I gotta go make some lunch. Adios, God Bless, and thank you for your support.

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls, Just Climb Them and Jump Off

Another week down and it was as busy as ever which means I have a lot to catch everyone up on. Wednesday of last week I did my normal routine with the boys schooling and in the afternoon I went to Christian's house for dinner and fellowship time with their family. Yanci just bought some Chinese food becuase she was sick and didn't want to cook. Before we ate I played power rangers in the front yard with Christian, his brothers, and his cousin. After we ate we went to a field nearby and played soccer and a little bit of baseball. Yanci had me watch the kids as she went to the doctor and then gave me some mangoes before I left. When it was time for me to leave it was dark and Yanci was worried that I was walking in the dark alone but I assured her that I would be ok and I was. On Thursday Val and I went to the city pretty early. We ran our usual errands and stopped by the daycare. I got to sit with the kids while they ate and listening to them pray before their meal may have been the most adorable thing I have ever heard. We left the day care to pick up my mom from the airport and we got there just in time. We were happy that her travels went well and everything arrived on time. We grabbed a quick lunch at burger king and then went back to the day care to show my mom one of the ministries that we work with. We got there as one of the teachers was trying to put the kids to sleep so we didn't stay too long. We headed out of the city in the afternoon becuase Val had to be back in Zambrano to teach her Spanish Bible study at 4. I brought my mom to the property in Zambrano and showed her around. I played soccer with the guys of the community while she watched and took pictures. Friday I did the boys schooling and talked with my mom during the day. In the afternoon Val, my mom, and I headed out into the community to visit some people we knew. We visited one family that could not afford to send their 12 yr old to school becuase of all the costs and another family who is also struggling financially. The mothers of these families are close to Val and appreciated the time to visit and talk. I think the poverty hit my mom pretty hard as she soaked in her surroundings. During our visits we encountered a young boy with a big gash in his hand and Val looked at it and decided that she would come back with appropriate medication to clean and wrap the wound. After our visits we went home, dropped my mom off, got supplies, and headed back out. She cleaned the little boys wound, wrapped it, and left instructions with the mother on how to care for it. We started to draw a crowd of young ones in the community becuase many of them know Val and I and they probably didn't have anything else to do. In typical Val fashion she offered to buy the little boy some sweets at a local pulperia(kinda like a honduran 7-11) and after the crowd followed us she decided to buy them all a little something. We headed back home, ate, played sequence, then went to bed. Saturday morning Val left early to go on a medical brigade and I spent the morning with my mom talking with her about some issues from the past as well as my beliefs. Before we knew it, it was time to head up to the property for the church service. My mom, Ed, Wes, AJ, and I headed up with Estephanie and 7 bags full of medications that my mom had bought and brought for the ministry. The service was a little strange becuase it was led by one of Luis's friends from Tegucigalpa who snag and jumped around and was pretty intense. It was still good to see all the people from the community and play with the kids. Sunday we decided to go to the waterfall that only Val had seen and it was amazing. First we came to a waterfall that is almost 300 feet tall and we took pictures looking over it. Then we hiked down a trail to the bottom of a smaller waterfall which was beneath the giant one. I felt the need to explore and get to the base of the large waterfall so I stripped down to my underwear and began scaling a wall horizontally around a large pool of water to get to the base of the small waterfall. I made it over and then climbed up the water fall to get to the base of the big one. at that point I wanted to swim across the pool at the base of the large one to get as close to the waterfall as possible. I was a little afraid but I decided I wouldn't have many opportunities to do it so I jumped in. After I swam back and forth I headed back to the top of the small waterfall. I decided it would be easier to jump off then to climb back down so I found a good rock, said a quick prayer, and jumped. Eventually Wes climbed the wall and jumped of the waterfall once he saw it was safe. i climbed back up and jumped it two more times which was exhilarating. My favorite part of it all was seeing the giant waterfall from the top becuase it makes you feel so small and truly appreciate how big and how amazing our God is. After we got back we showered and then headed to the city for the English church service. The pastor talked about letting our beliefs determine the way we live rather than letting the way we live determine our beliefs. I was glad to have my mom there too becuase I'm not sure what she believes exactly and I think it was good for her to be there. On Monday Val and I headed back to the city because my mom had to fly out. Val dropped us at the airport and then ran the errands. I helped my mom do some souvenir shopping, get checked in, and pay her departure tax. After this we sat in the airport playing cards until she had to go. Eventually I met back up with Val and went to the day care for a while. The kids were playing with water which resulted in me getting a little wet but I enjoyed being with them. On the way back out to Zambrano we picked up Tammy and Sarah. Tammy is a good friend of the Schuberts visiting from the States who used to work on the ranch with them and Sarah still works at the ranch. They came out and we stayed up late Monday just hanging out and we canceled the boys school the next day for another waterfall trip. On Tuesday morning right before we left the Schuberts received a call from INFA and they found out that they have a little girl picked out for them to adopt. We were all so excited and the day couldn't have started any better. We went back to the waterfall and did the same routine. I got some really cool pictures looking down the waterfall. After we hiked down to the bottom I climbed to the pool of the giant waterfall again and decided to climb some of those rocks. This time Wes. AJ, Ed, Val, and Sarah made it up to the base of the big one. While they were climbing up I climbed a rock wall to a high point and just sat in the sun worshiping my God in the middle of all His beautiful creation. I of course then decided to jump off of the rocks I had been climbing which was exhilarating and frightening but awesome. After we got back home I went to the property and played soccer with the guys. I didn't score any but I got some assists and had a lot of fun. Today Ed and Val are in the city with Tammy meeting the little girl that they will hopefully adopt and I am home with the boys doing school. The adoption agency said if everything goes well that the Schubert's will have their daughter in as little as two weeks. It was great to see God answer the prayers of so many in this situation and we are faithful that He will continue to be faithful. Please continue to pray for the Schubert's that everything will go well over these next couple of weeks, especially the legal stuff that seems to take forever in this country. God bless.

Getting Out in the Community

This last week was another amazing week here in Honduras. Last week I got out in the community a lot and I really enjoyed it. The boys had school during the day so I used my free afternoons to spend time with people. On Tuesday AJ and I went to the property and I played soccer with the men of the community. On Wednesday the whole family went out to climb a mountain that Val had climbed before. On the way there we stopped and visited Christian's family and Maskol( the 15 yr old girl living on her own). Yanci (Christian's mom) and all of her sons except Christian came with us on our little hike. It was a refreshing hike and the view at the top of the mountain was awesome. I was reminded of how amazing our God is as the Creator and appreciated this characteristic of God that I often forget about. On Thursday Val, AJ, and I went to the property. Val taught her bible study in Spanish, AJ played with some of the kids of the women in the bible study, and I played soccer again with the guys. I was on fire. I ended up with three goals and a bunch of assists. I have gotten really good at shooting at the goal with my head. One of my goals was off my head and I had probably about 15 shots on goal with just my head. And my family said my big head would never come in handy. Friday was more of a lazy day in the afternoon for me. Saturday we had the service at the property so I did my normal routine, I helped with the class of young kids and then played with kids until everyone went home. Yanci invited me over to dinner to their house and I will be going tomorrow to eat and fellowship with them. Saturday night we hosted a surprise anniversary party for another missionary couple in a nearby town. They celebrated their 45th anniversary and I was reminded that God intends marriage to be forever and it was encouraging to see a couple that followed God's will in their marriage and how they honored the vows they made before Him many years ago. Sunday AJ and I went up to the property to watch some soccer games and hung out there all day. AJ and I have been spending a lot of time together and we are really bonding. Val doesn't like all the ways I am rubbing off on him but she says it's good for the most part. Val eventually picked us up and we went to church in the city. The service was good and the message was pretty powerful. The pastor spoke about how we become dull in our Christianity and things to prevent becoming that way. On Sunday night I stayed up late catching up with friends online which made for a good napping time on Monday afternoon after I finished the boys schooling. Today I accompanied Val to the city to pretend to be a body guard. We ran a bunch of errands and stopped at the day care and a preschool near the day care. I got to play with the kids for a little bit at both places which made my day. There is a young boy at the day care who is new and he told the teachers recently that he was abused by his aunt and his mom. His face has marks all over it because his aunt threw a rock at his head and his mom clawed his cheeks. His name is Moises and he can use all the prayer he can get. val is going to report it to the authorities but no one knows if anything will actually be done about it. It is a very sad and heartbreaking situation. On Thursday my mom is coming down and I am excited for her to see what I do and the ministries I am involved with. Thank you all for your support, especially all the prayers. God has been working powerfully in me and through me here in Honduras and I am faithful that He will continue to do so for the next 4 months. Adios and God bless.