Gracias A Dios Por Todo

Hey Everyone,
I just wanted to put up a quick post to let you know that Josue and I are doing well in Guatemala. The team members we are working with are more than welcoming. We have had a lot of fun with our new friends and are being blessed by the work here.

This week, Josue has been working on building a block house while I am working with the VBS group at a local church. Pray for the work and for the people we are meeting.

We really miss the work, family, and friends in Honduras. Pray for both of us who are suffering a slight bit of homesickness. Pray for the political situations in Honduras and that things can be resolved peacefully.

Love to you all!
Jen

Quick update...
Josue and I are in Guatemala with a group of friends from Nashville until the problems in Honduras are resolved. Please pray for us, our friends and family in Honduras, and the leaders of the country.

Pray also for the work that is being done here in Guatemala to honor our Lord. Pray for Josue and I to have clear minds and to focus on this opportunity to serve another group of Christians.

I´ll post another update as soon as possible.

Con amor,
Jennifer

Day one in the daycare (or as we are technically called ¨center¨ according to the Honduran government) has finally come and finished without any major catastraphes as we all had feared.

Friday morning Evelyn and I visited IHNFA (the agency in charge of daycares and orphanages) to find out that we could open the daycare. So, we immediately began to do those last minute things you always wonder why in the world you put off doing. We informed all of the registered parents of the opening who also had waited the last minute to get their paperwork together (some which couldn´t have their kids come today because of the lack of paperwork). And all the workers gathered at the daycare to do dry runs of the schedule and refresh their memories of the do´s and don´ts that Melissa taught them. We were all so nervous but in a good way, because we were also so excited to see this day come.

Evelyn (the Honduran director) was there at 7 am as we opened. The workers are on a staggered schedule that is based on when the most amount of children are in the daycare. So, as the hours continued, all the workers nervously and anxiously showed up as the children came bounding in all excited. Every worker realized that they were well beyond prepared and the day went smoother than anyone could have imagined. (Thanks for all you that knew about the opening that were praying for us.)

We only had 8 children out of our registered 19 because the others did not have their paperwork (birth certificate, health certificate, etc.) ready to give us. We expect a slow trickle through the week to reach our starting 19. Melissa was correct in deciding that we needed to start with a low number so that the teachers gain experience and confidence before meeting the challenges that come in larger numbers.

Nancy´s class of babies had Tatiana and Angi. Lupe had one two-year-old, Ivet while Bryan had only one three-year-old, Soani. Wendy´s class of fours and fives was Adonis, Bella, Walter, and Cristian.

Soani gets the credit for our first funny story of ¨kids being kids¨. During Bryan´s class time, he taught about greetings for different times of the day – good morning, good afternoon, and goodnight. He went through them all many times and finally came to the point to where he could quiz his student. She did great with good morning and stumbled through good afternoon. But the classic was when Bryan asked, ¨what do you say to your daddy before you go to sleep?¨ … ¨Give me money, daddy.¨

Thanks again to all who have been praying for all of the leaders, workers, and children. Thank you to all of our financial supporters who have been so patient through this long process. And thank you especially to the Claypoole family for providing the building as a place to protect, teach, and love these little ones.

Here are some more pictures of the daycare in its four main sections. These pictures are already below in another blog, but these pictures are a little clearer with more light.