Well, we blinked and six months passed! Six months of amazing experiences, learning a new language, being immersed in the culture of Honduras, and making lifelong friends and memories during language school in a wonderful little place called Siguatepeque, Honduras. We are deeply grateful to the staff of the Spanish Institute of Honduras, to the community of incredible people we have been blessed to meet and get to know here, and to everyone who has supported us and made this time possible. Though we are sad to leave friends and school, we are so excited to officially “get to work,” serving with World Gospel Outreach at Rancho Ebenezer, a community for displaced or abused children and teens. God has called us here and we plan to serve for at least four years.
Our last two months at the language school were very special. We (Steve and Kris) both made it to the end of book 4. It’s so incredible to look back and see the progress we have made. We have learned so much, but we also see that we have so much more to learn. The school began doing weekly “charlas” (group chats) and weekly group worship in addition to the Tuesday night Bible Study and fellowship group. A lot of new students started in-person classes recently so we have enjoyed meeting lots of new people. We all enjoyed a picnic for Día de Amor y Amistad (Day of Love and Friendship) and a number of field trips, including a visit to some nearby caves and lots of 1:1 conversations with people in the community. At the beginning of January a couple that will be serving in a hospital near La Ceiba and their daughter moved in next door to our apartment. The boys have had a great time playing with their new friend Randi, who is 19 months old. We found out quickly that the Genrys love board games as much as we do, and we have enjoyed a couple of game nights and dinners with them. Our neighbors have been a blessing to us and we are thankful to have a God who knows our needs before we do! After we leave, our nanny Mariela is going to start helping the Genry family by taking care of Randi while her parents continue their language classes. We are excited that Mariela will be able to keep working and blessing another family! And finally, thanks to our friend Dana, a fellow missionary who serves at the language school, we celebrated a nice Valentine’s dinner date while she took care of the kids!
We have had some struggles recently as well. We passed around a stomach bug to each other in January and missed about a week of school as a result. It started with Bryeten and Steve got it about 2 weeks later. It was a strange slow-moving bug but we are all back to good health. Also, Kris sprained her ankle trying to show the boys that she could also play fútbol. Thankfully it was just a sprain and healed quickly.
As we prepare to move to the Ranch, we request prayers for the following:
- That we would finish strong with our in-person language school classes and that we would continue learning and improving our ability to communicate in Spanish.
- The transition for the kids, especially Bryeten and Chance as they join their peers in a classroom setting at Ebenezer Academy, and for Steve and Kris as we get into a new routine with our roles and responsibilities at the Ranch.
- For teams to come and serve with us. There are quite a few scheduled this year but definitely room for more! If you are interested in coming as a team (or even just to visit and see what the ministry is all about), please reach out to us!
- The kids at Rancho Ebenezer. There has been a ton of change over the past three years and it definitely seems to be affecting some kids pretty severely with emotional and psychological issues.
We continue to thank God for all of you who are following our mission here. Thank you for praying for our family. We love you all!
Steve, Kris, Bryeten, Chance and Mac
