The Blue Bag

The first rule I learned after coming to Honduras was "Be flexible!" The second was almost equally important..."Be prepared!" Shortly after our family moved here, I realized that I needed to have a bag ready to go at a moments notice with a whole list of necessities because you never know what might happen. You never know if the road will be closed and you may end up stuck out in the village for an extended period of time. You never know if there will be any toilet paper available, that is if you can find a toilet available! You never know if the situation will change unexpectedly so that bug repellent or sunscreen become very important to have on hand. Thus, we created THE BLUE BAG! I suppose this is not unlike the diaper bag I carried years ago, which always was loaded down with alot more than diapers! Just for fun, I decided to list out the contents for all interested parties. Who knows, perhaps God will call you to a similar situation and this may inspire you to get prepared!

• Sunscreen
• Insect repellent
• Sunglasses
• Toilet paper
• Tiny first aid kid
• Hand Sanitizer
• Granola bars
• Inhaler and Spacer
• Allergy medicine
• Motion Sickness Medicine
• Small amounts of other medicines
• Pocket Spanish/English Dictionary
• Cell phone
• Keys

Nixia and baby, Britteny

Those of you that have come to visit Little Hands in the years past will remember, Nixia. Just recently, she came by to show off her new baby girl, Britteny. As Nixia starts out as a single mom, please pray for her to make decisions in the future that will break the cycle that continues to repeat itself in so many of the young women here in Honduras.

Political Unrest

Yesterday on the way back from SPS to take my parents and nephew to the airport, we found out that Mel Zelaya was back in Honduras, hiding out in the Brazilian embassy. We're currently under lock down with the curfew, that suddenly started yesterday afternoon about an hour before we made it back to Trujillo, still in effect. From the reports that we have heard, there has been some violence in the capital where Mel has asked his supporters to come. Here, things are relatively calm. We're staying close to home, but hope to get out tomorrow and stock up on some food essentials in case things take a turn for the worse. We are thankful to have our water filter up and running again, so drinking water is no problem. We continue to have problems with little or no tap water during the day. (There has been so little rain; this is a problem for most of Trujillo.) Please pray for a peaceful end to the current political unrest. Pray for a quick resolution and protection for the many innocent people already suffering in this country. Pray that we will continue to be a light to those around us.

Day of the Child

Today we celebrated Dia de Nino. All the weekly neighborhood Bible class kids were invited along with all the families Little Hands serves.

There were two pinatas, one for big kids and one for litte ones.

We gave out over 90 gift bags containing candy, small toys, and a Bible tract.

Baby Rosa and her mom, Vanessa were there and they both looked great. Vanessa is still working and beng mentored by a wonderful Christian woman who has worked closely with Little Hands in the past. My mom (and dad) gave Rosa some extra snuggle time.

Mom, Dad, and Blair Visit

Friday afternoon, my parents and nephew got into Trujillo after the long drive from San Pedro Sula. They will be here to visit for a week. We are so excited to have this time with them. They have already pitched right in working along side Brian today and helping me out with the kids. The kids and I are STILL battling sickness so I really appreciated the extra help. We have a full schedule planned of people we want them to meet and things to do so we are praying that we all are well soon and can start enjoying our time together.

Visit from Tomkins

Dwight and Joanne Tomkins of the Mission Point Resource Center in Olancho arrived Sunday afternoon and stayed through this morning. We had a lovely visit, spending time talking, sharing, and encouraging one another. Our kids have all been sick since we got back a week ago so I appreciated Joanne's nursing experience and advice. This morning over breakfast, we marveled how blessed we are! As missionaries, we left behind our families, but because of the bond we have in Christ, we have family all over the world. It really was a blessing to get to know the Tomkins and we hope to visit them later this fall.
One other highlight...Sunday night Brian preached for the first time at church in Spanish! His sermon was about how we are the light the of the world. He ended with an object lesson. Before turning all the lights off, he had handed out candles and then very clearly showed how one person living for Jesus can share that light with others until the room was full of light!

More about Jonathan

Last night they had the wake/funeral and this morning they buried Jonathan. Here in Honduras, when there is a funeral, the family is responsible to feed everyone who comes, which is likely to be crowd. Little Hands contributed some food and drinks to help out. Nancy is very appreciative of everything. We hope to continue our relationship and try to help her make wise choices to prevent a premature birth next time. Thanks again for all your prayer support and kind words for all of us here at Little Hands.

Baby Jonathan

We just received word that early this morning, Baby Jonathan went to be with Jesus in a perfect place with no more pain or sadness. We are sad, but thankful that he won't have to suffer any more on this earth and we look forward to the day when we will meet him in heaven. Thank you all for praying for Jonathan and his mother.

This is the first loss that we have had while here at Little Hands. It is very difficult for us to understand why we should lose this little one. There is a voice that says "what a waste" that the work we did was for nothing. But then we also know that the help that we give to these children has more to do with others than with the child alone. Yes, we help the child, but we also help the parents and the culture to see the great value that God has for all life. In helping the least of these, we demonstrate the love of God to the children, the parents, and the culture. God created man in His image. All men. Whether poor, or rich, or healthy, or disabled, Jesus died for them all. In the process of helping these famlies, we have an opportunity to explain and demonstrate what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is the most important point of all. All of this has been accomplished in this opportunity to help little Jonathan and his mother Nancy.

Please continue to pray for Nancy. She was touched by several people that got involved simply to share the Love of God. I pray that she will enter into a relationship with Jesus and know His peace. Right now, as I write, Nancy is on a bus on her way back to Trujillo holding her Jonathan's body in her arms and sobbing. Please pray for her. And for opportunities for us to minister to her. Our work is not over. We are watching for God's Hand at work.

Pray for Baby Jonathan!

This little baby needs a miracle! When they arrived in SPS, there were no incubators available to put him in. They gave the mother a tank of oxygen and a mask and told her to hold it over his face. That was yesterday...apparently now there is a team of doctors who are trying to help, but they are giving no hope for survival. Jonathan is now in a coma in ICU.
We are feeling helpless because no one from Little Hands is there pushing the medical staff to give their best effort. Our contact person there in the city is out of the country. It is likely that without someone to speak for them, Jonathan and his poor, uneducated mom will be brushed aside. We were able to contact another Christian friend in SPS and he is asking his pastor to go and be with Jonathan's mom.
Please, please pray for Baby Jonathan! Pray for a miracle that will obviously be God's hand at work! Pray that the doctors will be amazed! Please spread the word to your friends and churches and ask people to cover this baby in prayer.

Baby Jonathan

I just wanted to relay a story about a little boy that we met just yesterday. His name is Jonathan Gabriel Centeno and he was born premature at 25 weeks . He is very tiny, 2 1/2 lbs., and has been in an incubator for 21 days now. One of the problems is that there is no special equipment or doctors to help this little boy here in Trujillo. He needs to go to San Pedro Sula, 6 hours from here, and be admitted to a hospital that has the necessary equipment and experience. Jeffrey had gone into the hospital to visit one of the children that we help when he met Jonathan's mother, Nancy. She explained the problems to Jeffrey and that she did not have the money to pay for the ambulance needed to take her to Catarina Rivas Hospital in San Pedro Sula. The cost for the Ambulance... $150. While home in the states to renew our visa, some special little girls in one family handed me some money that they had been saving to help the children here in some way. It came to $150. God is so awesome to provide in advance for the needs of His precious ones. Jeffrey couldn't believe when I told him about the gift. We did not have enough money to help this family and he didn't know what to do. As soon as Jeffrey brought the money to pay for the ambulance, they left for San Pedro Sula. Please pray for this family. More to come as we check up on Jonathan.