In the Right Place at the Right Time

It was Sunday after church, and eating out at Friday's sounded really good. It had now been 3 months since I ate at a sit down restaurant and I was ready!

We're on our way there in the car when I hear my friend Pamela yell, "Sana en el nombre de Jesus!" "Health in the name of Jesus!" I look over to where she is pointing, and I see a man convulsing on the side of the road. The four of us immediately decide to pull over and help.

The first thing in an American mind when something goes wrong is to call the police. However, here in Honduras, the police take so long, the first thing that comes to a Honduran is to just act right then and do what you know to do. So, that's exactly what we did. We just ran to the man and started evaluating the situation. He appeared to be unconscious and he was shaking heavily. 

We were able to calm him down, give him water, and pray over him. After praying for a couple minutes, we were able to see him return to consciousness and eventually to full health.

It turns out he was walking back from the hospital after receiving some medicine and passed out on the side of the road. We thanked God were were in the right place at the right time and that the man was going to be okay.

Friday's was as wonderful as I thought. A sit down restaurant and a good old American cheeseburger does the body good. :)

During our meal, Pamela received a text asking her to tutor  a mutual friend's son. She had never met them before, but agreed to meet them at Dunk and Donuts for coffee. She invited me along.

We  met with the man and his son to explain his bilingual homework and ended up talking to him for quite a while. 

Earlier that day, Pamela had prayed that God would lead her to the people that needed Him. As we're talking to this man, we were able to invite him to church. He goes on to tell us that he is Catholic, but has always wanted to really know God. He gave us many excuses for why he has not attended church yet, but we just encouraged him to come this Thursday and bring his family. We told him of Pamela's prayer just a few hours earlier and that our meeting was not an accident. Pamela and I are believing for his salvation and excited to look for him and his family at church this Thursday.

What was supposed to be just a lunch out with the girls, turned into a day of ministry. That is the fun thing about the Holy Spirit leading our lives as Christians - we are able to be a part of things we never could have predicted.

Encuentro Con Dios - Encounter with God

At Encounter House

Looking Out over the Pool during one of our Quiet Times with God

We went to a beautiful get away in Honduras called an Encuentro. This is a time to meet face to face with God. Although I have been walking with the Lord for most of my life, this experience was an invaluable time of refreshing, cleansing, and God pouring out new wine in my life. This was truly a time that has marked me - A New Start! 

Hadassah, Blanca, and Angeleen after arriving back from Encuentro

Immediately upon returning from Encuentro, we had a joyful celebration of what God did with the entire church.  Many  young women gave testimonies of how God healed and changed their lives. One young woman, named Blanca (pictured above), gave her testimony of being delivered from legions of demons. Each teaching and ministry time she was set free from another bondage or spirit, until at the very last service, the power of God fell and she was set free from every demonic bondage that plagued her. This process in her life was amazing to watch. What a powerful God we serve!!

Also, after all testimonies were shared, those attending were given the opportunity to give their lives to Christ. It was so powerful to see dozens of people pour down to the altar!

Over 50 people gave their lives to the Lord through seeing God move in their family member's or friend's lives. How beautiful are the works of God!

Dozens of people gave their lives to the Lord after hearing testimonies of the weekend

Animals Gone Wild Series I : A Gringa, Two Hondurans, A Stick, and A Pit Bull

I will never forget my first experience here in Honduras with stray animals.......wild dogs. There are many of them here - almost everywhere you go.

One of my first days here, we wanted to go outdoors and get some exercise. Honduras is not very safe, and as a result, the only place we can go walking is in restricted neighborhoods with guards who know everyone entering and leaving the neighborhood. Walquiria is the lady I live with and she invited me to go walking with her and her friend Mrs. Tome.

As we walked, a few stray dogs would slightly appear and then run away further into the neighborhood. Upon seeing this, Walquiria expressed her strong hate, and even fear towards dogs. Many times she would try to look as far down the street as she could, just to make sure there were no dogs walking by.
As a joke, Mrs. Tome found a large stick that was almost as tall as I am (I am 5'3). It looked very similar to a shepard's staff and Mrs. Tome started carrying it with her, just in case she needed to "protect" Walquiria from the wild dogs. Little did she know, her "staff" would actually come in handy.

We were deep in conversation when I heard Walquiria scream as loud as she could. She threw her latino arms in the air and ran behind me yelling words I did not yet know in Spanish. She squeezed  me tight and threw my body in front of hers.
At this time, I still did not know what was happening, but when I looked up, I realized two large pit bulls were charging after us from the trees nearby. They were growling furiously and were at top speed.

I stood there just staring at the dogs due to shock and not really knowing what else to do. Just as one of the dogs was coming close to us, I see this stick fly in the air and hit one of the pit bulls on the head. Here comes Mrs. Tome with her large staff, smacking the dogs and yelling, "In the name of Jesus, Go Away!!!!"
I could not help but laugh in the midst of the gravity of the situation.  Just the strength in which Mrs. Tome said these words would make anyone be taken aback. However, her tenacity worked.
With the help of her large stick, eventually the dogs did run off, leaving me in bewilderment with a petrified Honduran woman hiding behind me, and poor Mrs. Tome, exhausted from her great fight.

New Series: Animals Gone Wild

After relaying some crazy encounters I have experienced here in Honduras with my friend Jon, he inspired me to create a blog series called "Animals Gone Wild."

There are many stray animals living here in Honduras. Although they are not as fierce as  the displayed picture above (haha), these animals quickly become a part of everyday life. This makes for some pretty funny moments. I hope you enjoy them!

The Smallest Pear I've Ever Seen!

All my students know that fruit and chocolate are two of my favorite foods. Thank goodness they give me more fruit than chocolate!
Today I was given the smallest pear I have ever seen! It was a little bigger than the size of a large gum ball.
This was a very fun surprise in my day.

From Failing to an "A"

Rodrigo and Raul...... A Little Sweaty from the Jumpy on Children's Day :)

I could not be more proud to write about one of my most challenging students who received an "A" on his Spelling Quiz this past Friday! Normally, he has barely passing grades, so this is a huge victory for him!

Rodrigo is very special, but because of lack of supervision at home, his life is very chaotic. Normally his desk and belongings are a mess and he comes to school with stains on his clothing from the day before. He has been failing his quizzes and not completing his work in class. It was so hard to see these conditions from a student who is only in elementary school!
However, after a lot of talks with him and patiently working with him everyday - wow - has he improved!!!
It could not make me happier to see this success. :)

God Is Doing Miracles For My Students!!!

Julissa Reyes

Each morning in our Bible class we have a song of praise and worship, put on the armor of God, pray in the Spirit and lift up any prayer requests that my students might have.
This past week, one of my students Julissa asked us to pray for her grandmother who has cancer in her eye.
We were just learning about the power of prayer and we joined together to believe God to heal Julissa's grandmother.
We faithfully prayed for her several days, and although I knew God was more than able to heal her, I was not expecting to hear about this miracle so fast.
At the end of the week, Julissa told the class that her grandmother did not know the class was praying for her, but went to the doctor to get an update on her eye. When she went, they told her she no longer had any cancer!
When Julissa told the class this, tears filled my eyes and the class broke into a cheer to glorify God for this great work.
It was amazing for these children to see their God move on behalf of their prayers.

Do You Know Between Beans, Apples, and Watermelon Seeds, Which Germinates the Fastest?

Andres Orellana was the plant growing champion!!! And he could tell you watermelon seeds grow the fastest.
As a class we learned about how seeds germinate and what factors each seed needs to grow - oxygen, water, and sunlight.
To test this, we put a bean, an apple seed, some an orange seed, and watermelon seeds into cups with water and paper towels to see which seed would germinate first.
Andres chose most of his seeds to be watermelon seeds, and wow did his grow quick!!! He was so proud.

Way to Go Raul!!!!

As a class we have done some very fun Science projects lately.
The first was each student needed to replicate a huge flower on a poster board and name each part. The projects turned out beautifully as each student then decorated their flower with colored textures. I was very proud of them. :)

Sofia Aguilar's 

Katherine Sabillon's

Nissi Cerro's 

One student in particular really impressed me this week and his effort was an answer to prayer.
Raul is a very sweet student, but he becomes very distracted and does not complete his work in class. He loves to play, but seems very unmotivated to learn. Although his father is a doctor, he does  not have a mother involved in his life and his father is at the hospital until very late at night. This results in Raul not turning in his homework and he has been failing most of his classes.
However, we have been praying to see change in him and we have been encouraging him and supporting him with new strategies to learn while in school.

With this project, he put so much time and effort. He created his own flower out of wire, paint, paper towels, and yarn. What a masterpiece! I couldn't have been more proud to see this change in his demeanor and his enthusiasm  to learn, especially because this work was done at home.
Way to Go Raul!!!!!

Happy Birthday Pastora! To a Woman Who's Given Her Life for Others

Expecting to go to a staff meeting, Pastora Sherree Banegas walked into a room full balloons, gifts, and a birthday chair waiting for her. Over 500 students, teachers, and faculty packed into the auditorium to honor this woman - all whose lives she's impacted.
Pastora Sherree and her husband are the owners and founders of Agape Christian Academy. It has been their sacrifice and vision that has made this school possible. We really wanted to honor Pastora collectively. With our surprise, we brought her to tears and kept them rolling, as we had a continual worship service together- each grade standing on their song they chose to lead.
In the picture above is Pastora worshiping and giving thanks to God. She always gives the glory to God - what an inspiration!