Just Plain Corny!

Having grown up in Maryland we normally don't think of October as a time to plant. Now living in Honduras we have discovered that many people try to plant a crop by mid-October and that's exactly what we did this year.

As we are in a rural area of Honduras many of our neighbors have their own corn plots.  This doesn't mean that they own a field somewhere, they might, but more often it means that they plant every square inch of their yard that they're not using.  This is because corn is such a basic food staple used to make tortillas and many other common foods such as tamales.

This provides us a great opportunity as our mission agency, Equip International, promotes using the Farming God's Way method which has years of successful experience for growing crops both commercially and on a family scale.  Their yields are often several times, even up to ten times, that of the area average.

This method has been used for years in Africa and other countries to help the poor, show the goodness and love of God, and turn make new disciples.

The methodology is no plough which reduces the compaction of the dirt and helps maintain the protective organic layer on top.  So, individual holes are dug out and planted with three seeds each.

We used an area that is 30' by 48' divided into 25 lines with 14 holes for planting in each line.  That's a total of 350 holes and 1,050 grains of corn, which is about 2 cups worth.  At the base of each hole we put in 1 1/2 cups of aged manure, covered with soil, planted three grains in a row, and covered with top soil.  The plot we have planted is larger than many of the backyard plots but not as big as some of the other neighborhood lots.  So, it is a good size for demonstration and learning.

Corn is highly susceptible to many insect pest and one of the worst is the corn borer.  We are using Neem leaves to make a tea and spray on the plants.  This is natural type of insecticide and cost us just the time and fuel to make it as the tree is easily found here.  Weeds are also a constant problem and we are employing the hoe which is a very effective, non-toxic, method of taking care of weeds.

Our neighbors will plant 2, 3, 4 or more corn grains per hole.  This results in plants competing for the same nutrients and ending up more weak.  Often they're using chemical fertilizer and chemical herbicides and pesticides.  Those are all effective but not good for the small family finances or for the soil or for their personal health.

This is from one of our neighbors plots.  Notice the multiple plants growing out of same hole causing weak growth.

We do not need to grow corn for ourselves but this is a great opportunity to engage the community.  We hope that this is a growing method that will enable them to obtain greater yields while reducing or eliminating the costly inputs.  We desire to bless the people, to learn from them and what their needs are, to gain the opportunities to share our faith and the hope that lies within us - Jesus Christ.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; 

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." 

 John 10:10

Women's Bible Study

One of the joys and challenges the Lord has given me is participating and occasionally leading a bi-monthly women's Bible study that can have anywhere from about four up to ten women.  This day we just had five - PTL!  Most of the women are from the very poor community of El Grupo that we are working to reach.  They have no electricity and only receive unfiltered, untreated water from a spigot outside their house.  But they are grateful for what they do have and are some of the most joyful people I know.

I led a study on the importance of reading God's Word daily.

Our memory verse was Ephesians 5:10, "and find out what pleases the Lord."  If we are to find out what pleases the Lord, where should we look?  God's Word, the Bible!

At one point, it began to rain and rain hard.  Then I had to shout so the ladies could here me.  Do you know why?  The church roof is made of metal so the noise of the rain becomes unbelievably loud.  They are used to that, so they didn't even seem to notice the change in my voice!

More rain...

Griselda (the pastor's wife) is helping to explain a game that we were getting ready to play.  I had various items each in their own black bag.  We took a turns to guess what was in the bag by feeling it.  Then we talked about the purpose of each item.

When we got to the Bible, we talked about the purpose of the Bible. It was a great opportunity to read about what the Bible says about the Bible.  There are many Scriptures on that topic, but these are the three that we looked up:

    Psalm 119:105 says that the Bible is a lamp to our feet, a light to our path;
    
    2Timothy 3:16 says that the Bible is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
       and training in righteousness so that we can equipped for every good work;  
    
    Romans 15:4 says that everything was written to teach us, so that through endurance
      and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.  What an encouragement!!

I look forward to the next time - I am a student as I observe their joy in Jesus, not in the "things" they have.  After all, they don't have much in the way of material possessions.  That is one lesson that I need reminding of often.  They are following Hebrew 10:24-25 which says, "Let us not give up meeting together..., but let us encourage one another and all the more as we see the Day approaching."

Giving Out of Their Poverty

After being gone from Honduras for almost 5 weeks, we were thankful to return to our home and find everything in order.  As we walked around town on our second day back, we were greeted by various people and asked "When did you return?"  That's funny.  We hadn't told those people that we were leaving.  But when you live in a small town where most people are related to their neighbor, everybody knows everything.  That worked to our benefit in that they all watched our house for us.

Some of the neighbor kids playing on our road.

Matt and I like to walk in the late afternoons just before the sunsets (6pm) and see if we can catch a color-filled sky.  The other night while we were walking, we were greeted by a variety of people.  Some of the people we knew by name and others we know by sight.  Either way, we stopped and chatted for a minute.  By the time, we finished our walk, our arms were full of "gifts" that people had shared with us.  We had a bag of 15 guayabas (a sweet little fruit that is good for making juice), two ears of hot corn, eight bananas and fresh bread.  Wow!  Such generosity!

Making juice from guayabas

What had we given them?  Nothing.  Well, maybe a smile and some Spanish conversation with our strange accent.  For a lot of these people, we are the first North Americans they have ever met.  One of our dear friends is a lady in her 60's who lives in a simple three-room house with no indoor plumbing or electricity.  The lack of those modern conveniences is no deterrent to her joy in living.  We met her on the road, both walking from opposite directions.  She pleaded with us to come to her house which was just up the dirt road.  She was thrilled that we had accepted her invitation, but I was a little worried at what type of invitation I had accepted.  Did I agree to dinner?  (The last time we had seen her before returning to the US, she had said, "Next time I will kill a chicken for us to eat together!")

It turned out that she just wanted us to come and visit with her in her home.  Her husband was still working in the corn field.  She served us some juicy watermelon which we ate standing out back.  The chickens were eager for our seeds and rind.  We talked about her property, her family and her love for Jesus.  We had a wonderful conversation about how Jesus is the only true God.  There is no other.  He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  We talked about how the Lord watches over us and cares for us.  That's where her joy comes from!

As we parted ways, she handed us a bag of five fresh eggs.  She said, "You can have these for your dinner tonight."  We bashfully took them, although, again, it felt like we had nothing to give her in return.  It reminded me of the story in the Bible in Mark 12:41-44 where Jesus talks about the widow's offering.  It says, "Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.  But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.  Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, 'Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.'”

What a challenge to my Christian faith to see the poor giving out of their poverty - something that I can't fully understand or relate.  We have come to Honduras to help the poor.  But God never wastes an opportunity to teach, so each day we are learning what it is to give of ourselves.  May God be honored as we seek to reflect His love to the people around us.

me :)

We have Pets!

Living in a foreign country brings many new things to live with as well as some familiar ones in new settings.  For instance, we had both seen cows in the states but to have people actually using oxen to pull carts is quite a different experience.  Also, the main mode of transportation on our road, actually after 'feet', is the burro.  This is a new thing to see and live with even though we had both seen burros before.

We are actually not purposing in moving into the animal market.  That is, we don't want to buy an ox or cow or burro or chicken... at least not yet.  But, here some animals seem to find a way into our home, or yard, whether we've asked them to or not.  So, we have a variety of animals that we affectionately call "Pets."  Even though we kind of like them, we're still not overboard with this pet thing and so we have not named any of them!

We have an inside friend that Ellen really likes.  He's a gekko, or maybe she's a gekko.

For a long time it seemed that we only had this one but now we have seen several little gekkos.  This raises two distinct possibilities; 1) it wasn't just one gekko (very likely), and 2) we're on the brink of a real invasion!

We also have a pretty good size lizard which probably measures about a meter to the tip of it's tail.

This guy sun bathes on the cinderblock base of the fence line straight out from our bedroom window!  I don't think he does anything else, which leads me to believe that he must be retired and probably moved here from the north for the warmer temperatures.

This poor guy is probably the only one of our 'pets' that is actually trapped in our yard.  Here he is getting a better view at what freedom looks like.

Here's a better close up.  As you can see he's pretty good size but we'll probably still have to wait a bit before making soup.

This big guy is sort of beautiful in a gross and ugly sort of way!!

He comes and sits outside our front door every night.  This is probably because to him our outside light reads like a buffet restaurant sign.  The light attracts bunches of bugs and the bugs attract him.  The most amazing thing about him is that for being such a fat blobby looking guy he easily jumps a good three feet!!

These are all the regular critters at our house.  In a way, we've grown kind of fond of them... well, not really but they are fun!

Heat Retention Cooking (or Making Applesauce in Honduras)

For most of us who read blogs like this we don't put a lot of thought into how we cook.  That's because we're using a gas or electric stove, but what if you didn't have one of these modern conveniences?

Well, that's the very real situation for about 3 billion people, or about half the world's population!

This stove has a chimney and yet still produces a lot of smoke in the room.

Burning with wood, or other woody materials, brings up several issues.  The first is obviously the time spent gathering and cutting the wood.  While this can represent upwards of three to five hours of work per day it still doesn't rank in the major problems.

This stove has no chimney has turned the walls and ceiling black.

One of the biggest problems cooking with wood is the smoke produced.  Indoor air pollution from cook fires poses a serious health problem with twice the incidence of Acute Respiratory Infection or ARI.  The World Health Organization reported in "Acute Respiratory Infections" Update September 2009, that "Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) continue to be the leading cause of acute illnesses worldwide and remain the most important cause of infant and young children mortality, accounting for about two million deaths each year..."  ARI is not the only health issue as the smoke also causes eye problems and the open fires are often the source of burns for children and adults alike.

There are many solutions to remediate this crisis in the kitchen and one of them may be "Heat Retention Cooking," or HRC!  HRC is a simple process of boiling foods without meat for about 10 minutes, or with meat for about 15 minutes, and then insulating the pot to let the cooking continue for three to five hours.  When the pot is taken out it's still piping hot and the food is ready to serve!

We have had success making chicken and rice, cooking beats, and in the clip below Ellen demonstrates how to make applesauce!

We have been able to demonstrate this cooking to three families so far and one of them is now experimenting at his own house to devise was to insulate the pot.  He actually filled a metal tub with wood ash and then set the hot pot in the ash so that the ash almost reached the lip.  The top was covered with a cloth.  His wife was cooking rice and they said it came out perfectly!

We're working on trials of making an insulated box out of layers of cardboard glued together.  While this should work there are some logistical considerations such as: how will the folks get all the cardboard needed to build the box?  Even so, we are moving forward and praying for the Lord to provide the needed guidance!

My New Friends

This is my (Ellen's) first time to post on our blog!  I have many things I would like to write about, but I will focus on PEOPLE this time.

Our move to Honduras has been a huge change for us, especially for me as I dearly miss my family and friends.  We are still in transition, but making friends helps us feel more connected.  I want to tell about some of the people the Lord has allowed us to cross paths with.

Our new neighbors have welcomed us by bringing us a variety of food gifts: bananas, papaya, mangoes, homemade cheese (requesón) and a same of a fish torte.

One afternoon while Matt and I were taking a walk, we stopped at the fence of a couple who were out in their yard.  As soon as the lady saw us, she eagerly came over to meet us.  She said that her husband had come home one day and told her that some "gringos" had moved into the town.  She repeated over and over that she was so glad to finally see us and to meet us.  She invited us to return to their house whenever we wanted.

One of our neighbors is taking English in high school, so she came over one afternoon with a classmate to get some clarification on some English words since they were having an exam the next day.  We had a fun time together and they both did well on their exam!

Last week we went to a neighboring town to see the fuel efficient stove project that began two weeks ago.  The man in the blue t-shirt is overseeing this project and was eager to show us the new stoves since he knows of our interest in helping people improve their health.

These new stoves will reduce the amount of smoke that is put out by the burning wood, which in turn fills their lungs. It also uses a fraction of the wood, thereby reducing the need to buy or collect wood which is costly and time consuming to collect.

Our friend Carolina and her daughter Maya were with us as we walked through the town.  Maya was an automatic switch that made people smile!  She was wearing my hat for some of the time.

While we were walking through this town, we saw a soccer match just beginning and recognized one of the players!  It was then that we realized it was our town's team that was the visiting team!  And the last boy in the line was our first friend that we made in Humuya back in February!  Unfortunately we didn't have time to stay and cheer our team on to victory.

One Sunday at Arturo's church, I took a few moments to play with two little girls who are cousins.  They loved having their picture taken!  After our "photo session" they wanted me to come into their Sunday School room and be their teacher!

Then today we went to San Pedro de Tutule.  They are having a festival in the town all this week.  We met up with our friend Alma who is a school teacher there.  We had a lovely time walking around the town and listening to the traditional music and seeing all the many people who gathered.  We even got to meet Alma's mother and learned that her mother is a Lenca Indian!  That is one of the people groups that we would like to work with.

We also got to meet the mayor of Tutule.  He invited us back to his town to help in whatever way we can.  What an encouragement for us as we keep trying to meet leaders in the community!

We truly believe what the Bible says in Ephesians 2:10 -  "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."  GOD has prepared good works for us - - we need to keep walking as we discover them.  And all of our looking involves meeting all kinds of wonderful people!  Thank you, Lord!

We have a New Bed!

They say that it's important to get a good night sleep!  I'm sure a good bed goes a long way to making that possible.

Our New Bed - we are really excited!!

We have been using an air mattress which has been good, but it keeps us pretty close to the ground which makes for a pretty long "spring out of bed" in the morning (not to mention in the middle of the night).  There’s also all the creepy crawlers who live down at ground level and like visitors - even when the visitors don't like them.  So, we were in the market for a new bed.

This is the air mattress being deflated for removal!

We actually wanted a platform bed so that we could have some storage space underneath for plastic boxes with our clothes.  We only found one platform bed for sale, it was rather high off the floor, had a huge black lacquer headboard, and was almost $500 for just the frame (or platform). 

We opted to buy a mattress, some wood, stain and polyurethane, and make our own!

We had a couple building parameters:

The height of the headboard was limited to 36” by the window.

The plastic boxes are 10.5” and so the space underneath should be about 11.5”.

We wanted a pretty normal height for the bed which should be about 24” to 26”.

We didn’t have a lot of money for this so we planned on no more than $100.

I made the design myself... well, actually there were vestiges of ideas from the waterbed we had early in our marriage.  I was a little concerned about strength but it has turned out to be rock solid!

We are very happy with the final outcome and the total expenditure for the platform frame was actually under $85!

You can view the movie of us setting up the bed!! (It's only 3 min 20 sec)

Semana Santa and Carpets in the Streets

A tradition in Honduras for Semana Santa, or Holy Week, is the alfombras en las calles, or the carpets in the streets.

So, we headed off Friday morning, 4-6-12, with our friends to 'El Centro' (downtown) to see the colored streets!

Here's Ellen with Chad and Nikki standing behind her.

Our first stop was to watch a procession in the streets depicting Christ's journey to the cross.  Amazingly, the streets of Tegucigalpa were all but vacant this morning.  Even so, there were police present at either end of the procession and blocking off the street - very nice.

The people that were gathered were very intent on the procession and very solemn.

They just acted out the part of stripping Jesus of his robes and beating him.

"Cristo es la Resurrección y la Vida" which is: Christ is the Resurrection and the Life!

The people use colored sawdust to created amazing designs.

Some are just incredibly colorful patterns and others are actually pictures depicting scenes from the Easter story.

Some of the pictures were being made freehand as this one was.  They first draw out the picture on the asphalt in chalk and then fill in with sawdust.  Here a woman is working on the beard of a man's face.

This is the same picture from another angle.  You can see how nicely the faces have been made!

Other pictures and patterns use large stencils made by cutting out cardboard.

Here is a huge stencil made by taping several sheets together.  The image that's being made is a picture of Moses standing before the separated waters of the Red Sea.

Occasionally I would talk with the people creating the designs and once I was actually invited to help!

These folks had already been working through the night on multiple designs and everything has to be completely finished by 11:00 am Saturday.

This video shows the design creation in process!

The alfombras bring lots of tourists and so, just like in the States, there are vendors selling snack stuff.  She's is selling a variety of chips... like fried plantain.

He's selling gum and other candies.  We bought some 'chicklets'.  All the gum is 'chicklet' but the gum we purchased was trident.  They were sold in tiny little boxes, with four little pieces, all for 15 limpera for two boxes (about 75 cents).

There are several people stationed around with water tanks to spray the sawdust to keep it in place.  Notice there's also a police officer to his left.  There were plenty of police in the streets to deter would be thieves and trouble makers.

This was a huge picture and very well done, though it doesn't quite show up as well in the photo.

Great last supper scene!

My favorite!  Jesus is The Good Shepherd!  All who trust Jesus for salvation are the sheep of His flock!

"I am the good shepherd. 

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

John 10:11