Yogurt!

Today my mom came down to help pack. We went through more kitchen cabinets. Before we started, she showed me how she has perfected making yogurt in a Styrofoam ice chest with a hot rice bag to keep the temp warm enough to grow the culture. We made a batch on the kitchen counter. It came out perfect! This is something that I hope to make alot in Honduras. Yogurt is so good for you and what mom makes is so yummy! We won't be able to get "real" milk there. Its either canned or made from powdered milk. And neither of those win any taste awards with us. If we can make plenty of yogurt, we can use it in place of milk on cereal and over fruit. I also want to experiment with using unsweetened/plain yogurt as a substitute for sour cream. That one my take a little more convincing for my family!

Erica's Story

This is Erica. She is 10 years old. She lives in a mud hut with her mother, brother and sister. They do not have running water, electricity, or any modern conveniences. When Erica was about 3 months old she had a terrible ear infection. It is unimaginable to us that a child could suffer severe brain damage as a result of an ear infection… but this is exactly what happened. An otherwise normal child was left unable to do many things basic to survival. Erica lost the ability to suck and swallow making it nearly impossible for her mother to feed her. She is unable to hear, has never learned to communicate, and is mentally on a 1 year old level. It is a miracle that she has survived.

When the director of Little Hands visited Erica’s family, he found them in a desperate situation. As is so common in Honduras, the father had left the family. Maria was left alone to carry the burden of providing for her family. She is able to earn a meager income sewing children’s clothing and selling them to her neighbors.

Her son, 8 years old, collects wood for cooking and finds fruit for them to eat. Many times, while Maria is preoccupied with the new baby or working, Erica runs off. Sometimes they would find her way up in a tree, or lost in a vast sugar cane field, or in the middle of a busy street. With no other options, and for Erica’s protection, Maria was forced to chain her daughter by her ankle to a stake or to the rusty metal bed frame in their hut.
This is the condition that our mission found her in. Little Hands Big Hearts used a team of visiting American volunteers to build an enclosure where Erica can play safely while her mother works. Now, Maria can sew with out worrying about where Erica is. Little Hands often visits this family and gives them children’s vitamins and other supplies to meet their physical needs, as well as trying to encourage Maria in her walk with Christ. We also hope to begin teaching Erica sign language as means of communicating.
Erica’s survival is a testament of God’s providence, and of her mother’s love. In a culture that abandons handicapped children by taking them up into the mountains to die, or by leaving them on someone’s doorstep, Maria has found the strength to care for this needy little one. We were able to visit Maria and her family this past October. A doctor in our group told Maria that she was a wonderful mother to have done all of the things necessary for Erica’s survival. Maria’s response was that it was no burden to her. She said, "God has blessed me and loves me. So I am reflecting His love as I care for Erica."
This is our hope for every family that is served by Little Hands Big Hearts…. That they would be in relationship with the God that loves them so much, and receive from Him everything they need for this life and for eternity.

It's About Time!!!

I'm embarassed that it is now more than a month since I last posted anything. So much for keeping everyone up to date on what's happening to get us to Honduras. I really want to do this up right, but if I let my perfectionism get the best of me, I know this will never get off the ground. So, here goes...

• We bought our plane tickets, so it's for real! We're really going! We leave Feb. 11 stay over in Houston that night and get to San Pedro Sula, Honduras in the 12th.
• Our financial support is still coming in. We're not there yet, but things are looking good. We will spend most of this month at a different church every weekend, speaking and hoping to pick up what we need to make our budget.
• God sent the exactly right couple to rent our house while we're gone at His exactly right timing. We're so thankful that this major detail will be taken care of.
• Brian is officially done working carpentry and we're spending these last few weeks wrapping up loose ends and packing.

Thank you all for your prayer support. We see that God is answering so many prayers. It's hard to keep up with all that He is doing, the details that He is working out every day. Please keep bringing us before the "throne of grace"!