May the God who gives hope fill you with great joy. May you have perfect peace as you trust in him. May the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope. Romans 15:13 NIRV
¡Feliz año nuevo! We hope the close of 2022 and the start of 2023 brought joy, peace and hope to your hearts and homes. It certainly did in ours during our first Christmas season in Honduras.
December is always a busy month for us as it includes two birthdays (Chance and Mac) and our wedding anniversary. We had a superhero themed party for the boys in early December. Several of our friends from language school and church as well as some children who live next door to our apartment attended. As you can see from the pictures below… when you order a piñata or a custom cake in Honduras, you won’t be disappointed! The piñata was as big as Mac and “muy fuerte”(very strong) and the cake was “muy rico” (very rich/delicious)! Also in December, we enjoyed caroling in the Siguatepeque city plaza, attending the language school Christmas party, seeing the Christmas lights in nearby Comayagua and attending a special Christmas service at church (where Mac played a shepherd in the children’s portion!)
The very best part of December (and our time in Honduras to date!) occurred during the last week of the year, which we spent at Rancho Ebenezer. We hung out with many of the kids, went on hikes, played fútbol, watched movies, had a bonfire with S’mores, played board games, attended a New Year’s Eve party with all the kids and staff, and celebrated our 8-year wedding anniversary.
We request your prayers for all the kids and staff at Rancho Ebenezer. We are truly honored that God has chosen us to serve these kids, at this place, and at this time. We hope we can support and work in partnership with the team already here to help these kids see Jesus and develop a relationship with Him. Pray that God will open their eyes to see what He wants to do in their lives this year and in the future. Pray that God will send teams and new full-time missionaries this year … teachers are especially needed. Pray for our family and the other adults and families that serve at the Ranch, that we can be a united team willing to be used by God to achieve His purposes. Finally, thank you to everyone who has prayed for our family this year and through the years. We are overjoyed to share that our daughter Yese is doing well and has recently started a great job at Bay Medical in Panama City. We are looking forward to her first visit to Honduras (hopefully very soon)!
With all our love,
Steve, Kris, Bryeten, Chance and Mac
Photos from top to bottom: ¡Feliz cumpleaños Chance (6) y Mac (4)!; Caroling with other students from the Spanish Institute of Honduras downtown Siguatepeque; Mac (second from left) as a shepherd during the children’s performance at Esperanza Viva church; Board games and Christmas cookies with some of the kids at Rancho Ebenezer!; Hiking around the Ranch; Enjoying S’mores and conversations with a short-term missionary couple from Arizona who come every Christmas to help provide respite for the full-time caregiving staff; Yese with Steve’s parents (Danny and Maureen) on Christmas Eve; Out for lunch in Tegucigalpa to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary (Dec. 28).
Language School update: We have completed four months at the Spanish Institute of Honduras and have two months remaining of in-person classes. We (Steve and Kris) are at an intermediate level of speaking and understanding while the boys are nearly fluent in Spanglish already! Thank you to everyone who has supported our transition to the mission field and allowed us the opportunity to study the language intently prior to starting our full-time service.
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