Christmas Shoes

As I mentioned in the last post we received two recent donations to be used to bless the kids at CADIN and the second amount was used for shoes.

This is a pair of shoes that one of our CADIN kids wore all year!  There are stores here that sell good used shoes and even though they are relatively cheap it doesn't help if a person just doesn't have the money for shoes.

We told the volunteers at CADIN that we had some funds for shoes and they went to work.  They measured all the kids feet and then went shopping in the market and these women can get a deal!  In fact, they were able to buy brand new shoes for all the kids who have participated in CADIN over the past four years and that is over 60 kids!

On the day that we handed out the food bags we told the kids to come to the CADIN house the next week for shoes.  The day we passed the shoes out took an amazing amount of organization!

Here Esmerelda and Ellen are checking the CADIN roster for each child's name and then that child was given a number placing them in their group to receive shoes.  Because it was a much larger group of kids then normal we actually took over the front porch of the house across the street to organize the kids.

Here are two brothers who were in CADIN this year and we invited them to bring their two younger siblings to receive shoes also.  This is a family of seven children, living in simple one room 'house', and being raised by their single working mother.

We brought all the kids in the CADIN house and sat them down to start the day off with a lollypop!

Then we all prayed and thanked God for the many blessings He has bestowed on our lives.

Auora told the story of the birth of Jesus and included many little dramatizations with the children.  This made it extra fun for the kids, caused some giggles, and also kept them more attentive!

Here she explained what each of the gifts were that the magi brought to Jesus and that Jesus is the gift of God to us for the forgiveness of sins so that we can have a relationship with God.

We also did a memory verse:

"Give thanks in all circumstances; 

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Then came the new shoes and BIG smiles!!

The shoes had been separated, bagged, and labeled for each child.

The difference for so many of the kids is rather huge and their new shoes had them walking on air!!

What a great blessing and time to talk into their lives about the greatest gift of all, Jesus!  I pray that some of these kids may grow up to tell others about the love and forgiveness they have received in the name of Jesus!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, 

so that everyone who believes in Him 

may not perish but may have eternal life." 

John 3:16

God's perfect Christmas gift was given in Christ Jesus!

Christmas Meals

We received two end of year cash donations specified for the CADIN program.  The first was to buy food for the families of this year's kids.

I asked our neighbor where the best place to buy the food would be and she said it was a "bodega" just off market street in La Paz.

Only the front part of the bodega is open to the counter so there's no walking aisles and touching merchandise.  The variety might be low but they have one of just about everything you would need for cooking and cleaning.

The owner, Manuel, came out to help us.  He asked us if we were missionaries and buying the food for distribution.  He said he has helped other missionaries do the same and so if we just give him the list of what we want, for how many people, then he will figure out how much of each item to get for each bag based on how much we wanted to spend.  This was AMAZING!  He helped us with the list, gave us a GREAT deal, and then had his guys make up the 30 bags of food!!

Manuel told us to come back in an hour and when we did everything was ready!!

Each bag had 2 bags of corn flour, 5 lbs of beans, rice, sugar, coffee, oil, oatmeal, seasoning and salt.  Each bag was over 25 lbs of food!!

We met with all the CADIN volunteers to put a name tag on each bag and started the delivery process!

If it wasn't for the help of the other volunteers there is no way we could have found all the kid's homes!

Some of the streets within the city were less streets for cars and more like walking paths but we managed to drive in and out, up and down, through the neighborhood to each home!

David, in the brown shirt, is the son of one of the volunteers, he is a great Christian young man, and was super excited to help out with the food distribution to bless the families!

I include this picture of the donkeys just to emphasize that while we were in the town of La Paz it is quite different from what may be your US paradigm for what makes up a town.  While most folks don't have cars they may have the work vehicle of choice... the all terrain sport burro!!

As we gave out each bag of food we told each child how much we enjoyed having them in CADIN that year, we told their family what a blessing the child was and that the food is a blessing freely given in the name of Jesus Christ!

Here is the latest Equip missionary, Kelly Zell, helping out!

Ena, in the green shirt, is the founder of CADIN, and is here blessing this mother as she gives out the food.

As I have mentioned before, the ministry at CADIN is amazing because the volunteers themselves are giving from the very little they have and so some of the volunteers were given bags of food also!

We spent the entire day having fun together passing out the food!!  When we were done we were quite exhausted but also full of the joy of giving!!  What a great way to prepare for Christmas!!

"Give, and it will be given to you. 

A good measure, pressed down, 

shaken together, running over, 

will be put into your lap; 

for the measure you give 

will be the measure you get back.”

Luke 6:38

Changing the After School Program

The day started normal by praying.

Ellen led some songs for the kids.

But it wasn't going to be CADIN as usual because Ena, in front of the door, had attended Community Health Evangelism, or CHE, with us in the states.  We are planning on training all the volunteers in CHE and use this method for next year.

But, it was Ena's turn to lead a lesson and she couldn't wait until next year!  CHE is participatory learning and so everyone sat in a circle and discussed the lesson.  Instead of standing up in front the person who is leading is sitting as part of the group.

We did a lesson on the Five loaves and two fish, from John 6:1-14.  We read the Scripture and then instead of giving a lesson we asked questions.

Questions like:
    • Who followed Jesus to the mountainside?
    • How many people were there?
    • Could the disciples buy bread for that many people?
    • What did the boy give them?
    • What did Jesus tell them to do?
    • What happened next?
    • How many baskets of food did they gather, after all the people had eaten?

As they gave the answers they were giving the lesson!!

We asked some interesting questions that are more life application, such as:
    • The boy gave Jesus all that he had: five loaves and two fish.
      What can you give to Jesus?
    • The boy gave food to people who were hungry.
      What can you give to help other people?
    • A young boy helped to feed a large crowd of people.
      Can Jesus work through children?
    • How can you serve Jesus? What can you do for him?
    • Are children important to Jesus?
    • Are you important to Jesus? Why?

This was amazing to hear incredible responses from the kids, just 6 to 9 years old, reflecting a great vision for life and for living for God!

After all the discussion we made our own fishes and loaves.

Even during this time we continued to ask questions to stimulate their thinking.

At the end, two of the boys collected all the fishes and the loaves.

Then we talked about how our fishes and loaves are different from the those in the story and here are some of the things the kids told us:
    • We made our fishes and loaves from play dough.
    • Our fishes and loaves are not real and so you can not eat them.
    • Our fishes and loaves are not the left over but what we made.
    • People really ate the fishes and loaves in the story.
    • Jesus did a miracle and it was real! 

Can it be more exciting than that!!  Out of the mouths of babes, 'Jesus did a miracle and it was real.'  Amen!!

John 6:1-14

1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias). 2 A large crowd was following him because they were observing the miraculous signs he was performing on the sick. 3 So Jesus went on up the mountainside and sat down there with his disciples. 4 (Now the Jewish feast of the Passover was near.) 5 Then Jesus, when he looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?” 6 (Now Jesus said this to test him, for he knew what he was going to do.) 7 Philip replied, “Two hundred silver coins worth of bread would not be enough for them, for each one to get a little.” 8 One of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good are these for so many people?”

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” (Now there was a lot of grass in that place.) So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed the bread to those who were seated. He then did the same with the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were all satisfied, Jesus said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves left over by the people who had eaten.

14 Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Black Soldier Fly Larva Going to School!

Black Soldier Fly Larva have made it to school!  I recently had an opportunity to teach our newest practical helps lesson at INFOP, the government agricultural school.  It was very fun and very well received!

I had 35 students as well as some instructors!!  The interest level was very high and our time together flew by!

We actually started by reading two Scriptures: Psalm 139:7-16 and Jeremiah 29:11-13!
God knows us, God formed us, and God has good plans for us!

Before the class started I had drafted three volunteers to take part in a skit.

The skit was of three graduates from INFOP meeting in the street and one of them shared his plan to start a pig project.  He was asked if he had enough money to feed the pigs because they eat a lot, and what he planned to do with all the poop the pigs would produce.  Faced with these concerns he decided he needed to rethink his project.  We discussed the skit as a group and they concluded that those were good concerns and that the same concerns also apply to other animal project such as raising chickens or cows.

The skit was followed with three more volunteers who were asked to close their eyes and identify what I put in their hands.  To one I gave a bag of 100 black soldier fly larva, to the next a bag of 500 larva and the last received a plastic coffee can with several thousand larva and he had to stick his hand in it!

The larva were passed around so everyone could see them up close and  asked them to guess how many larva were in each bag.  Pictured above is the bag of 100.

They were all very interested in the larva and both the bags and coffee container moved pretty slowly around the room as they were so into checking them out.

I had a presentation that went over all the physical aspects of the larva and included two videos I had taken of the larvas at our house.  Throughout the lesson I emphasized that God made the larva, and it is the design He gave them that we are utilizing for agriculture.  They were amazed that the larva would "self harvest" into a container making them incredibly easy to feed to animals.

We went through the steps to make a barrel 'composter' in the classroom.

Then went outside to set up the completed composter!  We went over the physical characteristics again and I was very impressed how they had retained everything!  They were very interested!

I shared with them that just as God made the black soldier fly, He made each of us also.
Just as the black soldier fly was unique and had special characteristics we can use for our good,
He has made each of us unique and has good for each of us if we will follow His way!  
I shared that just as the black soldier fly is like a treasure for us in nature that was put there by God, the Bible has treasures for our life put there by God!  
They were so attentive and it was a GREAT class!!  Praise the LORD!!

Here the director of INFOP was closing the session together by going over the value utilizing black soldier fly larva in an agricultural.  A very common problem people here can have is not having money for animal feed.  Another common problem is just not taking care of all the poop their animals produce.  With the black soldier fly larva they can reduce the animal poop on their property, which reduces harmful nitrogen contamination of ground water and removes an attractant for other flies that carry diseases, produces a useful compost and a self harvesting larva that can be fed to chickens, pigs and fish!  Amazing!!

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,”

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:7-16

CHE, Community Health Evangelism

We had a very exciting week of co-leading a class in CHE or Community Health Evangelism at Equip headquarters and training center in Marion, NC.  (www.equipinternational.com)

CHE is an integrated approach that works with a community through practical helps and Biblical discipleship.  The goal is always to share the Word that some may come to a saving knowledge of Jesus.

This was a very special class for us as one of the couples has recently joined Equip and will be serving with us in Honduras, and our daughter, Kelly, was taking the class as well.

Each morning started bright and early with a breakfast at 7:00 followed by a devotion/sermonette by the Equip founder and former director, Barrie Flitcroft.

Sitting to the left of Ellen (your left) is Harold and Brenda Bracken who were the class leaders and who originally lead our first CHE class in 2008.

Kelly is the third person in from the right and seated to her right (your left) is our friend from Honduras, Ena.

The CHE method is participatory learning.  Ellen is leading this session but she is seated like everyone else and the woman writing on the newsprint board is the "scribe" for the session.

CHE is community based and owned.  Pictured above is a method a community could use to vote on a project.  People had placed items to symbolize things they would like worked on and then each community member had four leaves to vote on the projects.

Training is through a path of discovery.  Here the class had been broken up into four groups and each group prioritized the cards they were given.

Then all the cards were laid out together and the order was discussed.

Sometimes lessons are started with a short skit to help identify the theme.  Afterwards the attendees were asked what did they see, what was happenings, etc, and finally, does this happen in your community.

Our class was diverse with people not only working in many different countries but even coming from as far away as Nigeria.  Above is Daniel, he and his wife are Equip missionaries, and they serve in the largest home for disabled children in Nigeria.

Here is our new "Team Honduras" with Harold and Brenda!  We had a fantastic week of training and look forward to what the Lord has planned for us to do!!  The new couple, Greg and Janet Brewster, are looking to be based about 25 minutes from us and will be exploring exactly where the Lord wants them when they return to Honduras.  Kelly is coming to Honduras for about three months to explore possibilities to serve as a midwife while helping us in our CHE ministry.  Ena lives in Honduras and will be assisting us, and we her, in many areas of ministry!  All in all, we are so incredibly excited for the team of folks the Lord has brought together to encourage one another, to seek His face, and to work to expand the Kingdom to God's glory!!

For we are God’s handiwork, 

created in Christ Jesus to do good works, 

which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

Eph 2:10