My mom...

My mom, she lives far away… at least three flights to get from here to there.  Well, I live far away too.  Each of us now living thousands of miles away (in different directions) from the three bedroom house at the end of the cul-de-sac where she and dad raised me and my three sisters and our dogs and cat and bird and horse and rabbits and goldfish.  Once mom accidentally killed our little goldfish… he was seven years old.  Who knew goldfish could live to be seven? …or that they didn’t like to have real plants in their tank for that matter?  Well, he would have died eventually, and we got over it.  No mom is perfect, but if killing a goldfish is the biggest mistake I can ever remember my mother making… I’d say she comes pretty darn close to that mark of perfection.

We learned a lot from our mom, my sisters and I.  We learned to cook and bake and vacuum and dust and pull weeds and pick boysenberries.  We learned math and spelling and penmanship and science.  We learned to sew and cross-stitch and make quilts. We learned to go to church each Sunday and to get involved and to take care of each other.  We learned to penny-pinch and to clip coupons and visit the buck-a-bag sale on Wednesdays and half-off Hostess sales when money was tight.  We learned to respect our elders and to close the toilet lid (especially if grandma was coming over), and not to put our elbows on the table.

But three things that we have learned from the woman we are privileged to call “mom” can never be measured or taken for granted.

1. Mom taught us, by example, morning after morning after early morning: Don’t ever let anything get between you and your time alone with the Lord.  Every day without fail she would sit in that brown armchair with her Bible and her Daily Bread on her lap.  She tuned out the world around her so she could tune into Jesus.  Now that I’m grown and living as a missionary and needing Jesus’ presence more than ever, I realize more and more each day how priceless this gift, this habit of seeking Christ in the morning, has been to me.  Thank you, mom, for your example.

2. The second gift that I cannot begin to place a price tag on in this world of rampant divorce rates and broken families: My mom showed us what it means to be a Proverbs 31 wife.  My mom loves my dad.  She trusts him and respects him and honors him with her words, her actions, her love.  When he felt called to be a missionary to a church far away from anyone they knew and loved, she supported him fully, though it meant being taken far from her parents, children and now grandchildren.  She has always helped dad in his business endeavors, from personalized children’s books to filling toner cartridges to now running a lunch café.  My mom is an excellent wife.  I never saw them fight.  I never had to wonder if mom and dad would always be together.  And now as I’m finishing up my sixth month as a wife myself, I have hopes and dreams of being the kind of wife to my husband that my mom is to my dad.  Thanks mom for your faithfulness to my dad.

 

3. My mom trusts God.  Through thick and thin, hard times and good times she has always placed her faith in Him, and He has never let her down.  When dad was laid off and we didn’t know where the next paycheck would come from… she never took her eyes off of her Savior.  When God led me to move to one of the most dangerous cities in the western hemisphere, she could have held onto her baby and refused to let me go, but rather she wrapped me in the arms of my Protector and sent me, trusting, on my way.  Then when He led them both to make the big move to unknown territory, far away from comfortable California and family and friends and into a new land where the lava was ugly and the "vog" was hard to get used to and forging new friendships was even harder.  But she continued to trust that God’s will was best.  And He has continued to show Himself true.  And when grandpa passed away and she mourned from afar and used airline miles to be there for her mom and siblings, she trusted that his Father had carried him home.  And even now as the future is uncertain (it always is), she continues with unrelenting trust in a faithful Guide.  And I look at mom now and I look at my bank account and my budget and it seems the numbers are going in the wrong direction, but I can’t help but trust that my Father who has started a good work in us will be faithful to complete it.  I look at mom’s unwavering trust and I know deep down that everything is going to be okay.  There are still a lot of unanswered questions and still a lot of room for growth, but I am choosing to place my full trust in the One who has always provided and will always provide.  And I thank my mom for showing me by example what it means to truly believe.

A “thanks mom for everything” just doesn’t encompass how indebted I am to you for all you have shown me, taught me, lived out in front of me.  My life is not the same thanks to you.  I have been blessed beyond measure and I hope to one day live out your legacy in the lives of my own children.  I love you dearly and I don’t tell you often enough.  Mom, you are my hero.

God is good… all the time.

I remember growing up, this was the mantra we would repeat frequently in church services. It became so routine I rarely thought about the words I was saying. But as I live my life day by day I seem to come back to this reality over and over and over again. God is good… all the time.

We all hear the questions… “If God is good, then why did He let an earthquake destroy thousands of lives in Haiti?” “If God is good, then why did my dad have to die and leave me and my family alone?” “If God is good, then why do cancer and AIDS and human trafficking exist?” I’m not going to go into a long discussion to try to answer these questions. Indeed, some situations are impossible for our finite minds to find answers to, at least in the context of our time frame. But despite all of the sin and hurt and death in the world, I continue to believe that God is good… all the time.

Sometimes it’s hard to see through the tears and pain. Sometimes it’s hard to believe God’s promise to “work all things together for good…” But I can testify that at least in my life, that promise has proven itself to be true over and over again.

It has been months since I have written to you all, but I want to thank you for your continued faithful support and prayers in the meantime! They have been needed and have not gone unnoticed. God has been good, all the time, and I’m grateful that He has used YOU as conduits of His goodness towards me and towards the Micah Project.

I will briefly update you on the latest things that have been going on with me and the project since I last wrote in February. That month we had the pleasure of seeing God bring yet another young man, David, off of the streets and into our home. David has now been living at the Micah house for 5 months and although he has his conflicts here and there he is quite the joy to be around and can rarely be seen without a smile on his face. At 14 he is the youngest in his 4^th grade class, and is a joy to work with.

In March, God was at work once again and we welcomed 12-year-olds Axelito and Miguel Angel into an already overflowing Micah house. These boys had been living on the streets since their infancy and were already addicted to yellow glue, the drug of choice for poor street kids here in Honduras. These two little guys are balls of fire, ready to explode at any minute. In their first few months with us we had to break up so many fistfights that I lost count and even a few rock-throwing instances as their bodies have gone through the confusing and sometimes overwhelming process of detoxing from the glue. Thankfully they are now learning to resolve conflicts in a healthy manner and have really become such sweethearts and love to give and get hugs as frequently as possible.

“April showers” could not have been more true or more welcome this year! After many months of drought and rumors that we would not see rain until mid-July, April was looking to be a painfully hot (and smoky) month. However, on the evening of Good Friday, we had just finished sharing a meal with a group from Biola University (my alma mater), when God opened up the heavens and poured down water from above. The Micah boys were so excited that they played soccer on the patio in the rain for hours, slipping and sliding all over the place and enjoying every minute of it. And with that, the much-needed rainy season had begun! Within a couple of weeks the hillsides had turned from a deathly brown to a beautiful luscious green, the smoke from all the brush-fires had been washed away and we could once again breathe free and clear. God is good, all the time!

The month of May was a pretty typical month at the Micah project: boys being boys. Classes continued as normal, we visited a few parks on the weekends and rested a bit before all of the mission teams started coming down for summer break. Something exciting that happened in my personal life in May is that I started dating Israel! Israel (Izzy) is from El Salvador and has been working as an intern at the Micah Project since January. He is a really great guy, very responsible and respectful. He loves Jesus and enjoys helping to lead worship at our Sunday night worship meetings at Micah. He speaks very little English, so it has been a fun challenge having my first relationship be in Spanish… forcing my ability to communicate in Spanish to increase by leaps and bounds.

June was a difficult month at the Micah Project. We had the joy of seeing Marvin (who I’ve written to you about before) enter a 6-month Christian rehab program, only to see him give up and walk away after just 4 weeks. We also walked the hard road with little Miguel Angel as he saw cervical cancer take his mother’s life. But again, God was being good through it all. We were reminded of His sovereignty as we realized that He had brought Miguel Angel into our family merely 3 months earlier, so that he would have so many people to love on him and encourage him through this tragedy.

And now, July! But this month has been full of its ups and downs as well. We are hosting group after group after group, which is a blessing because they are providing manual labor to take on projects like repainting the Micah house and replacing the leaky roof. But at the same time, having a group here means a lot more work for us, and a lot less rest! We have been doing our best as a staff to make sure everyone gets the rest they need. Two weeks ago a 21-year-old man from our neighborhood was shot and killed on the steps in front of our apartment building. It was a huge wake-up call to us, and we are now working even harder to take the steps necessary to move the project out of our dangerous neighborhood and into a safe place about 20 minutes from where we are now. Also this month we have seen Hector hospitalized for four days with dengue fever, but praise God he is finally getting his energy back and is recovering well! And now we are praying for Axel, a tall gangly 13-year old who left the Micah house on Saturday for a one-night home visit and never returned. We think he may fear that someone is after him due to past gang activity. It is a strange situation, but as we look back at God’s faithfulness over the past few months, we continue to trust Him to protect and care for Axel wherever he may be.

Praise be to God that even in the hard stuff, He continues to make His goodness evident in our lives. He truly is good… all the time! It’s hard to believe it has already been nearly a year since I started working at the Micah Project. And daily I continue to learn and experience God’s goodness and faithfulness in my life and in the lives of everyone at Micah. I hope this update can be an encouragement to you and a reminder that God truly is good all the time. And these triumphs I share are YOUR triumphs as well because it is your financial support and your continuous prayers that make all of this possible. I continue to firmly believe that this is the place God has me for now. He is using me daily, stretching me, testing me, loving me and calling me to be a faithful steward of the gifts and talents he has given me. And I want you to know I consider each one of you as a gift given to me by my good God. So be blessed and encouraged, because God is good… all the time!

If you are interested in supporting me financially in my work with the Micah Project, checks can be made to World Outreach Ministries (Attn: Jenna Miller #41) and sent to World Outreach Ministries - P.O. Box B - Marietta, GA 30061, OR you can donate online at www.worldoutreach.org

Prisoners

Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord: "The LORD looked down from His sanctuary on high, from heaven He viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death." - Psalm 102:18-20

I can't think of anything much sadder than seeing someone imprisoned who thinks they are free. Addiction is an awful form of imprisonment. I have witnessed firsthand too many people chained to their addictions. By leaving the structure and rules of the Micah house, they consider themselves "free" to do what they want (which usually involves some form of drug abuse), but they don't see that it's the drugs themselves that are hindering their freedom... their freedom to change, to do something with their life, to study, to enjoy true friendships and experience genuine love. They choose to trade all of this in for the high and excitement of no rules, no chores, no homework, and all the while they are handcuffed to their captor (a 50 cent bottle of glue).

The day I wrote the last post about Marvin and about thriving, another one of our young men, Hector, age 13 couldn't bear the anxiety any longer, and chose to hit the streets as well, falling back into the false satisfaction of the glue bottle. A couple days later we were able to convince him to return, but it has been a rocky couple of weeks for him. Yesterday, he again returned to the streets and the glue. The devil would love nothing more that to reclaim this young life from the path to freedom he has been walking for the past year and a half. But, I remember that we have someone so much stronger than the devil on our side. Christ's power is infinitely greater than the power of addiction.

AND we have it right there in scripture: He looks down... to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death. Satan has condemned Hector and Marvin to death. But Christ has come that they may have life and have it abundantly! Please join with us in claiming these promises over these boys' lives. PRAY for true freedom.

You only get one life...

I have now been working at the Micah Project in Tegucigalpa, Honduras for six months, and boy have I learned a lot! I can’t even put into words all of the lessons I have learned in my first 6 months here at this ministry. Things like… a hug is the best way to start and end any day… you can never tell someone enough times that you love them… it takes a lot of positive comments to counteract one negative one… God is merciful and generous, and we should be too… There are so many more lessons I have learned, but I want to focus on one in particular.

You only get one life…

A quick google search of this phrase, completes the sentence in a variety of ways: …don’t waste it on video games. …what to do with it? …so paint it in bright colours. …so don’t let anything get you down.

If I had to choose a single word to complete the sentence, it would be: THRIVE.

The dictionary defines the word thrive as “to grow vigorously and healthily, to do well.” I think to thrive includes many aspects… to thrive in life means you figure out what God created you for, and you do it. You don’t do it half-heartedly; you do it to the very best of your ability. God created each one of us uniquely and has given each of us unique talents, skills, and passions. And when we use the talents, skills and passions God has placed within us to bring glory to Him by serving others, it is then that we THRIVE! When we take advantage of the opportunities that God has given us, we thrive.

In my six months at the Micah Project, I have seen boys that have come from unfortunate circumstances, seemingly destined to a life of drug addiction and failure, but given the opportunity they have chosen to thrive! I have also seen boys who have been given opportunity after opportunity to live and succeed and thrive, but for some reason that I cannot understand, they reject it. It makes no sense to me why anyone would choose death and destruction over life and growth, but sadly I see it on a weekly basis and it breaks my heart.

Marvin is one such person. He entered the Micah project in June of 2007 after living many years on the streets addicted to yellow glue. At age 15, he has already lived a life more difficult, and filled with more pain than most people will ever experience. Abandoned by his mother as a child, he has hardened his heart to the possibility of experiencing love again, for fear of getting hurt again. He is a funny kid who loves to laugh and smile, but he cannot seem to thrive. He picks fights and just can’t let himself be loved. Two weeks ago, Marvin made the decision to leave the Micah project after two and a half years of opportunities to do something with his life. After running away at least 5 times in 2009, it was clear that if he wanted to continue with the project, he was going to have to fight for it. All this time we had been fighting to keep him there, but he had been leaning the other way. It seems like an easy decision for most: The Micah Project with 3 square meals a day, an education, structure, staff members who love and care for each of the boys; or the streets with their false idea of freedom coupled with rampant poverty and drug abuse. He chose “freedom.” It breaks our hearts to see these kids with such great opportunities in front of them and then see them throw them away. Sometimes we imagine how their lives would turn out if we could just make their decisions for them for 6 months. But God gave each of us a free will, and we have to make our own decisions, whether they be constructive or destructive… whether we choose to thrive or to wilt.

All that being said, I want to ask two things of you, my friends.

1.) Please pray for Marvin, who is currently choosing destruction over life. Pray that God will break down the walls Marvin has built around his heart, penetrating it with His unconditional love.

2.) THRIVE – Please, please, please use the unique talents, skills, resources and passions that God has given you to bring glory to His name! Take advantage of the opportunities you have in front of you.

Oh, the characters… (part 1)

My plan is to make this a series, so that with each new blog post you can start to get to know some of the amazing people that make up the Micah family. Each and every person has such a unique personality, and they all do things that make me laugh all the time. I wish everyone could have the chance to come down and meet all of these people, but since I know it’s not probable for many, I will give you a little introduction to some of the characters that I have the pleasure of sharing life with! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Junior is one of the newest members of the Micah family. He is 18 years old and will be starting his junior year of high school tomorrow. He can frequently be found in the Micah computer lab watching hours of Smallville (in 8-minute segments) on youtube. Junior loves dogs… so much so, that he will occasionally cuddle on the floor with the Micah dogs and even pretend to be one! He is learning English on Rosetta Stone, and can happily spend up to 6 hours a day sitting in the office conversing with the computer. When he’s not watching Smallville or practicing English, you can usually find him hanging out with the micah moms, watching them sew or helping cook and clean in the kitchen.

Mochacchino Supreme (Mocha for short) is a 115-pound, 3-year-old chocolate lab. He is maybe the biggest Labrador you’ve ever seen. His collar tells all passers-by that he is on a diet, but he doesn’t do a very good job of following it. His favorite thing in life is to have his butt scratched. When he has something in his mouth (a wallet, keys etc.) he will literally sing out of excitement! He is super loyal, loved by all, and does an amazing job of putting up with the two puppies that try to torment him.

Nelson has quite the unique sense of humor… it is very rare that you can spend time with him without you and him both cracking up. He is 13 years old and in Kindergarten, but he is really very bright… he just came from a background that didn’t value education, so he never went to school as a child. He is an excellent Frisbee player and will happily play for hours with a group of people who are all at least ten years older than him. He makes friends very easily, regardless of age or gender. He is missing a front tooth, which makes words difficult to pronounce, but it makes him even that much more precious! He absolutely loves taking photos, and will walk around the house taking pictures with special effects of everyone he sees. Although his older brother lives at Micah, you won’t easily confuse Nelson for anyone else because he wears the same outfit for a week at a time.

I am SO blessed!

I'm not sure what it is, but over the past several months I have been deeply impressed by the fact that God has blessed me in SO many ways. Maybe it's because several times each day people come to the door of the Micah house asking for a bite to eat because they have nothing in their house... meanwhile I have a refrigerator and a pantry full of food. Or maybe it's because I spend friday afternoons with street kids who nearly trample me to get a warm pair of socks to put on their filthy, scab-ridden feet. Or maybe it's because I spend day in and day out trying to demonstrate what love is to boys who were abandoned and/or abused by their fathers and mothers - the very people who should have been protecting them from such evils. Or maybe it's the fact that I don't understand the pain of significant life. But whatever the factors are, i feel my best and only response is to run to my Savior's arms with complete and total gratitude for the life He has given me - my amazing, God-fearing family, wonderful, encouraging friends, plenty of food, clothing, a home, clean water to drink, people who believe in me and the work I am doing and support me in it both financially and with prayers, the love and salvation of my Father in heaven... and the list goes on and on and on!

Yesterday was another example of how blessed I am, and a good reminder to be grateful.
I celebrated my 25th birthday. An idea I had had for a while was that since baseball is my favorite sport, it would be fun to get a bunch of friends together and play it for my birthday party. But for lack of gloves and bats and balls, and quite the varied skill level, we decided that kickball would be a better option. And when I get an idea in my head, it's almost impossible for me to not do it, so that led to me (with some help from some friends) buying and painting 60 shirts, with 4 different team names on them in prep for the party.
We headed down to the field around 11:00 Saturday morning for a fun day with friends. It was so cool to see over 50 people come out to celebrate my birthday with me! We had a kickball tournament, ate hot dogs and watermelon and cupcakes, got sunburned, and had an all-around fabulous time!! Some of the boys had no idea how the game worked, but they learned it fast and really enjoyed it. Wilmer was telling me when we got there that he wasn't going to play, but shortly he was trying to be on every team so he wouldn't have to sit out and watch when his team wasn't playing. My little buddy Kevin (who is sadly back on the streets... keep praying!) even came along... and even though he didn't have tennis shoes, he kept commenting to me how proud he was that he kicked the ball so far with his bare feet.
the Marlins get ready to bat against the Cardinals
Michael pitches it to the opposing team

Watching happily from the sideline before the Dodgers take the field

Head-on collision at first base!
We were so prepared... but you always have to forget something. This time it was matches

It was an all around great day at the baseball field yesterday, and although all of my muscles are sore today, I can be grateful that the soreness is a result of a fun fun day with lots of friends. And for those of you who couldn't make it, we will just have to do it again when you come to visit!

thoughts.

In just a few short hours we are heading out to the northern border of Honduras to a town called Copan Ruinas. It is a well-known Honduran landmark filled with Mayan ruins. In my two-and-a-half years of living in Honduras, I have yet to visit this popular tourist destination. So let’s just say I am a little excited! John, Becca and I, along with our two Micah interns: Hannah and Israel, are taking Maycol, Yeison and Cristofer to help out with a medical brigade that will be coming down from Houston. The bilingual ones of us will do translating for the doctors, while the others will help run a vbs-type program with the kids in the small village we will be working in. It should be an exciting week of ministry and an opportunity for the boys (and us) to do something out of the normal routine!

And while I am very excited to be going on this trip, my heart is heavy. A few months ago I got the chance to get to know a very special street kid, Kevin. Here is a blog post I wrote about him in early December: http://micahcentral.blogspot.com/2009/12/street-kid-spotlight-kevin.html
Kevin is 17, and has been coming to our weekly street kid soccer games for some time now. However, about two months ago, he decided he wanted to do something different with his life, and after a couple of failed attempts he was finally admitted into Casa Alianza, a group home/rehab center for over 150 teenagers in Tegucigalpa. He was doing well, and over Christmas vacation a few of us started going regularly to Casa Alianza to visit with him, encourage him, pray for him and occasionally bring him gifts to show him how proud of him we were. Last Saturday we were on one such visit… (actually Marvin Morazan, one of the older Micah guys who was on Christmas break from his university in Costa Rica, planned a little concert for the kids in Casa Alianza). As we were there hanging out with the kids, I began chatting with my friend Kevin. He complained that he was bored of living in CA and that he planned on leaving the project the next morning. We talked and talked with him, trying to convince him otherwise, trying to help him see what he would be throwing away if he left. Finally, he decided to make a deal with me.

Here’s how the conversation went:
K: If you take me right now to go get some Chinese rice, I will stay in Casa Alianza.
J: You’ll stay?
K: Yeah, I will stay, I promise.
J: For how long?
K: For three years. I will stay in Casa Alianza for three years… I will start studying again… come on, let’s go.
J: So you’re telling me that if I buy you one plate of Chinese rice, it will determine your future for the next three years?
K: Yep. You don’t believe me?
J: Not really.
K: And if you don’t, you can bet that I will leave here tonight, I will go upstairs right now and get my stuff and leave…. and you can tell your friends that I left because you wouldn’t buy me Chinese rice.
J: Well, I guess we better go find some Chinese rice… but you promise you’ll stay?
K: I promise, for three years.

So… we went and got the Chinese rice! Kevin was still in CA two days later when we went to pick up a few of the girls for a couple hours of bracelet making, which Kevin decided to tag along to. He seemed to be doing really well.

Then tonight, we were at soccer with all the street kids, and guess who shows up. I look over and there is Kevin, standing at the edge of the soccer field with a bottle of glue in his pocket. My heart sank. I hurried over to him, “What happened?” “Kevin, what happened? What are you doing here?” He said that the project had given him 3 days leave to go visit his family. Yet here he was, not with his family, but with his glue bottle instead. Several of us chatted with him, trying to encourage him to make good decisions, and in the end, he said he would be back at Casa Alianza on Monday like he’s supposed to be.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY WITH ME THAT KEVIN MAKES THE RIGHT DECISIONS. Please pray that he chooses to spend this weekend with his family, not wandering the streets like he used to. Please pray that he will return to Casa Alianza on Monday, clean and truly ready to give what it takes to turn his life around for the best. Pray that Christ’s love touches him in the deepest parts and gives him purpose in his life. Thank you for hearing my pleas for Kevin. Please know also that there are hundreds more Kevins in the world… and keep them in your prayers as well!

a resolve...

It's that time of year again... the beginning.
Well, technically we're almost two weeks in to this new year, this new decade. On January first a few people asked me if i had made any new year's resolutions, and although I had considered some ideas of things I would like to resolve to do... i had not made a formal list and had quickly forgotten the ideas I once had. Well now, 12 days later, I am thinking to myself maybe a resolution or two are not a bad idea.

So here's what I'm thinking...
I resolve to update my blog more frequently (my goal is at least twice a month... more if possible)
I resolve to memorize at least one entire book of the Bible (though again, hopefully more)
I resolve to be more grateful
I resolve to be more prayerful
I resolve to gain back some of the weight I lost when I had dengue fever

I'm going to need your help and encouragement with some of these. So keep reminding me to update this thing if you haven't heard from me in a while. I'm hoping and planning to do better!!


these are some of the girls we have started doing art class with! More about that later :)

testing...testing...1...2...3...

I realize it has been months since I have written anything, but don't start thinking that's because nothing exciting has happened! Quite the opposite actually. I haven't written because TOO many exciting things have happened that I feel I hardly have 20 seconds to process it all, much less spend time writing about it.

However, I realize that there are some of you (though it may be very few) that do actually check this once in a while. I want to know that you are out there (it will encourage me to write more frequently!). So leave a comment if you read this to give me the "ganas" to write more!

Anyways I will leave you with these two photos from our recent spiritual retreat to a National Park in central Honduras. And remember to let me know if you are reading this!

Well, I'm off to street kid soccer! Have a lovely day!!

6 days in...

I wanted to let you all know that I made it safely and soundly here to Honduras. I landed in the capital city of Tegucigalpa around 11:30 Monday morning and as I came out of baggage claim was greeted by my friends and fellow missionaries John and Becca Bell accompanied by approximately 12 teenage boys from the Micah Project. The boys grabbed all of my bags, and I was whisked off in the project’s green “busito” and so began my first day with the Micah Project. After they had given me some time to drop off my bags in my new apartment and eat some lunch we headed back up to the Micah house for my first staff meeting. It was conducted almost entirely in Spanish, because Roger, one of the project’s long-time Honduran staff members does not speak English… nothing like getting right into the swing of things! I got my new class schedule, which has me teaching (in Spanish) on Mondays Thursdays and Fridays, so thankfully I would have 2 days to get used to things before beginning my first lessons.
The view out my front window

Tuesday I got to do a little bit of basic grocery shopping, then we took the Micah boys to a juvenile detention center as an opportunity for them to reach out to kids who are in much the same situation many of these boys used to be in (2 of our boys had actually lived in the same center but escaped before coming to the Micah Project). Wilmer and Cristofer brought the sound system and got to share some of their songs with messages of hope for these young boys, and then one of the older boys in the detention center shared a couple songs with us as well, it was great fun! Also on Tuesday, my friend Marco brought me my dog, Sadie, who he had been taking care of all Summer, and surprisingly she still recognized me! But, oh boy has she grown since I last saw her!

Wednesday was my day off, so I took the opportunity to go visit all of my old friends at International School on the other side of town. It was great to see all of them after nearly two months apart. Wednesday night, my new roommate, Bethany moved into our apartment.

On Thursday began classes! I was so nervous for a couple reasons… first of all, the oldest student I’ve taught before was 7 years old, and at that age, they don’t even know or care if you make a mistake. And secondly, I was super nervous because I would be teaching my classes in SPANISH! Yikes! Now my Spanish has definitely improved over the last 2 years I have been living in Honduras, but to teach in it was beyond me. But I gave my fears over to the Lord, and the first day went surprisingly very well! Praise God! Thursday evening, my other roommate, Christine, moved into the apartment, so now we are 4 (if you count Sadie ;)
Our living room (and Sadie sniffing something)

Friday I taught classes again, and then in the afternoon we went to play soccer with the street kids. We’ve been playing with them every Friday since last October, and it was great to see all the familiar faces, like Jose Daniel, Alejandro, Rosa, Wilson, Jason, Carlos, Sergio and many more, especially now, knowing that many of you are praying for these kids by name. There were more street kids there this week than any time we’ve ever had it! There was even one kid I had never seen before, Axel. He’s 10 years old and he said he lives next to a dumpster with his Grandpa and that he has been sniffing glue since he was 8. It was so sad to see his bloodshot eyes at such a young, vulnerable age.

On Saturday, John, Becca and Roger took the Micah boys on the 3 hour drive to the beach. Because I was still trying to get all settled into my apartment and had lots of errands to run, I opted out of the weekend adventure. And it’s probably a good thing, too because many of the boys came back sunburned, and if Hondurans in their dark skin got burned, I can only imagine what a “gringa” like me would have looked like coming back! And because I stayed home, I got to celebrate my friend Lauren’s birthday with a Murder Mystery dinner party with my friends from International School. It was so much fun!
The gang being very mysterious.

Now today is Sunday, a day of rest. I’m here in my apartment, relaxing, and still hoping to finish unpacking the rest of my boxes before another full week begins tomorrow!

I hope to bring my camera to Micah and to Street Kid Soccer this week so I can put up some new pics of the kiddos!

new beginnings.

one time... a little over two years ago, i received an envelope in the mail. there was no return address, no name, nothing. all that could be found inside was a small strip of paper. in white words typed on a black background it read "some endings are just the beginning." I never found out where or who it came from, and thus I never knew the intent, but it is a phrase that has been very true in my life. It came at a time when i was making the tough decision to give up my dream of pursuing a career as an astronaut and to fulfill another of my dreams of living in Honduras. It was a difficult ending that came with a lot of tears, but i had no idea what this new beginning would be. And man, was I in for an incredible surprise!

As you all know, I moved to Honduras to teach Kindergarten for two years. In my time there, I have had the wonderful opportunity to begin spending time with a ministry called the Micah Project. This ministry has many facets, but two main parts of it are the outreach ministry, (where they spend several hours each week building relationships with kids living on the streets of the city), and the group home, (where through the relationships built with these kids, they have given several of them over the years the opportunity to leave behind once-and-for-all the pain, hopelessness, danger, hunger, and addictions of street life in order to start afresh in a safe environment, pursue a Christian education, and learn to be leaders of transformation in their country.

Please take a moment to watch this short video, to help us remember that even when these homeless street children feel like no one notices them, we have a Heavenly Father who sees them for the precious creations He made them to be.


Yes. This is their reality. Sniffing glue to help them forget the pain and the hunger. But the story does not stop there! Through Christ’s transforming power, many kids who were once just like the ones you just saw have now found hope, have now found a family, have now found a future for their lives! Take a few minutes and learn about some of their successes.


These two groups of people are the people that are drawing me back to spend another year in Honduras. I am so excited to get started on yet another new beginning, that I’m sure will have it’s fair share of joys and challenges, triumphs and failures. But since I feel this is where God is calling me now, I am ready for whatever this new beginning will bring. But, I cannot do it alone! I NEED you. This last video talks about the importance of working together to accomplish God’s work in the world, and it gives practical ideas of how you can be involved more in my life and in the Micah Project, even from a distance!


Now, if you are interested in helping the Micah Project in any of those ways, please let me know so I can add your name to our Community Board.


If you want to choose one kid to pray for, or you want to help make thank-you cards, or you can set up a fundraiser, please email me at jennafer.miller@gmail.com and I will get you what you need to get started. We love that God can use us all working together to make a much bigger impact than any of us could make on our own.

dilemma

Name: Jenna Miller
Age: 24.4 years
Citizenship: USA
Residency: Honduras
Soccer Team: TBD

So, i have lived 19 of the last 22 months in Honduras. I kinda like it here, in case you didn't know that already. As we practice every morning for the upcoming Kindergarten graduation ceremony, I have had the opportunity to memorize not only the Honduran National Anthem, but also their Pledge of Allegiance. In order to ensure that my students are participating, I stand up in front of them and sing/pledge right along with them (don't worry, i raise my left hand... I kinda think that makes it count less). I got a little worried the other day when I realized that I have the Honduran pledge down word for word, and I wasn't sure I could even remember my own country's pledge, and same with the National Anthem. It's okay though, I did them both for my roommate and passed with flying colors!

All that to say, I'm having a bit of an identity crisis. I am still American through and through, but I just really do love Honduras! There is a big game this Saturday between the U.S. National Soccer team and La Seleccion Honduras, and I can't decide who to root for. I've already let my country down to some extent by repeatedly saying the Honduran pledge of allegiance. But at the same time, I don't think I would ever watch the U.S. play soccer if it weren't this game against Honduras. Also, I do have a Seleccion jersey, which is far less than I can say about the U.S. team. Am I a traitor if I cheer for Honduras? I think I may have to.

But fear not, I will still stand boldly and proclaim "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free..." (in fact, Anna and I just did that a couple of days ago at school).

kindergarten quotes from today

While the Star Wars soundtrack was playing during graduation practice...
"Miss, this is the music of Skywalker" -Werner

While Hector's watch unexpectedly starts making noise in his pocket....
"AY NO! Este clock!" -Hector

As 5 Kindergarten girls surround my desk watching me paint my fingernails 5 different colors for fun...
"Miss, aren't you going to be embarrassed?" -Valenllelitn
"No! She is already an adult!" -Maya

Set!

Went over to the Micah house today. All the boys were unexpectedly gone playing soccer, and didn't get back for a really long time. Luckily I had thought to throw the game "Set" in my bag before heading over, so I used the extra time to teach Megan, Stephen and Hauner how to play Set. We had great fun!

try it out with today's daily Set Challenge
http://www.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm

thought for today

When i got up this morning and decided i wasn't in the mood for another cold shower (my ducha hasn't been heating my water since last Tuesday), i opened up my Bible and picked up reading where I left off. Thoughts of Jose Daniel were still fresh in my mind after writing last night's blog post, and perhaps that's why this stuck out to me so much. (if you haven't read "perro de agua" yet, read that one first) I have been praying for that kid a whole lot lately, and one Tuesday a few weeks ago Michael, the director of the Micah Project informed me that Jose Daniel had "almost" spent the night at Micah one night, and he had promised that he would come back and spend the night the following Friday. What great news! I was so excited. I started praying more and more that he would hold to his promise, that maybe just maybe after 2 years of the Micah Project trying to get him in, that he would finally accept the offer. Friday came and Megan and I tried to make it to our weekly soccer game with the street kids, but other circumstances prevented us from meeting up with them. I continued praying that Danny would stay the night. On Sunday as soon as church had ended I found Becca to ask her what had happened with him. She regrettably informed me that not only had Jose Daniel not spent the night at Micah, but also one of the boys, Erick, who has been a part of the Micah Project for 6 years now had decided that his addictions were too strong for him to keep fighting and he had left the project. WHAT?? I had been riding this high of excitement thinking that God was about to do something great by finally bringing victory in Jose Daniel's life, but instead Danny and Erick are both now on the streets, Erick's brother Cristofer and best friend Juan Carlos feel abandoned by him, and my heart is breaking once again with all the pain I am seeing. I feel burdened to continue praying for Jose Daniel, now add to the list Erick, Cris and JuanCarlos, plus the rest of the Micah boys and staff who are confused at everything that's going on. I begin to see that working at Micah next year is going to be quite the spiritual battle. There are so many needs to be met... so many big needs that only God can meet. That place is in desperate need of faithful prayer coverage, and I am just one person.

But THEN, God once again opened my eyes to see something great He is doing. A group of 10 people from Houston, Texas came down last weekend to see the Micah project. I quickly discovered that these servants (among hundreds of others) are fighting the battle for these boys by faithfully praying for and financially supporting the ministry. Most of them have been doing so since before I had ever even heard of the Micah Project, much less tried to carry this burden on my own. Although the staff at Micah might be a small number of people, we are in no way alone.

Now back to my Scripture reading from this morning. I Cor 3:6-10 says "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds."

WE ARE NOT IN THIS ALONE! God has raised up Pauls and Apollos's all over the world. God doesn't tell us, "sit tight, don't worry about it, I've got it all taken care of." Nor does he tell us, "OK, it's all up to you, I'm gonna let you handle this one on your own, let Me know when you're finished" NO! He has given us work to do here on this earth, but He has also given us COMMUNITY. We are not expected to fight our battles alone. That is why he surrounds us with Pauls and Apollos's to carry our burdens with us. If we find ourselves planting seeds, we should also be looking for faithful servants to water them. Or if we have the watering can of prayer in our hand, let's be looking for seeds that need some watering. I'm so encouraged by this verse and by my recent realization of it's significance in my own life. I hope you can be encouraged by it as well!

I challenge you to be someone's Apollos today!

perro de agua

This, my friends, is Jose Daniel.
He is 14 years old.
He lives on the streets of Tegucigalpa.
He enjoys swimming in the dirty river...
...or he fell in by accident one time and thus picked up the street nickname: Perro de Agua (Water Dog).
He tries daily to forget the pain of his difficult life by inhaling yellow shoe glue from an empty coke bottle.
He is one of the most hilarious kids I have ever met.
He is one of God's most precious creations!

He has been offered countless times the opportunity for a new life, a home, a family, safety, love and so much more. He knows the doors to the Micah house are open to him if he will just accept the offer, yet countless times he has come so close and walked away. My heart breaks to see the hold that his addiction to yellow glue has on him. It breaks to know the enemy is laughing because he still has him at his fingertips. But my heart also knows that there is a God who is soooo much bigger than a silly addiction. The God I serve sees the devil laughing to think he has Danny in his grasp, but He reminds me that He still holds him in the palm of His hand.

Please PRAY with me that God will continue the process of setting Jose Daniel free from the bondage he is trapped in. Please PRAY that the glue will stop clouding his vision long enough for him to make choices that lead to hope and a future instead of despair and fear. Please PRAY that it will happen soon. And please REMEMBER that our God is Mighty to Save.

"For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost." Luke 19:10

i keep getting in this rut.

i wish there was more time in a day... or that somehow I was able to manage it more carefully. sometimes i try to. I make lists of the things that i need to do, with hopes of crossing everything off by the end of the day, yet i frequently add so many things to my list that there is no way I could possibly accomplish them all in one day, and probably not even in a whole weekend. one of those things that usually ends up on the list if I even have enough time to sit down and make the list, is writing on my blog. throughout my week, situations arise or i take pictures of something interesting or one of my students just says something absolutely hilarious and i think to myself "oh! that will make a good blog post!" but when it actually comes to sitting down and remembering those situations or uploading those photos or recalling exactly what it was that he or she said, it's just so time consuming. a blog is great, if you are dedicated and update it frequently. however, if you wait... a few days can easily turn into a week, one week into 2, 2 weeks into a month and so on, until the thought of writing a new blog post seems a formidable, daunting task. do i just pretend that the last 2 months didn't happen?? should i try to summarize everything that went on sparing no details?? a balance between the two must be found. highlights?? probably a good starting point. but will people be disappointed if there are no pictures? this is the rut i have found myself in lately. every monday morning without fail i receive a reminder email (i set it up) to post on my blog so it doesn't get like this. and every monday i think to myself "naw, it can wait... i have other more important things to do today" So the email sits in my inbox reminding me every time i open my email that I need to do this, until sometime around thursday or friday i delete the email, only to be reminded again the following monday. it's a vicious cycle, that i wish i had the extra time to tend to. wow, what a rant. ok, i'm hoping by writing this that i will be able to somehow talk myself into keeping the blog more current. my goal for this week is to post once a day, whether that just be one sentence or a photo or anything, but at least I will be getting into the habit of frequent updates and maybe i can train myself off of this pattern i have developed. please help keep me accountable!

mi cachorrita

Honduran Labor Day is May 1st, and this year it fell on a Friday, which meant we had one of those rare occasions known as a three-day weekend. My friend Blanca is from a small village called Manzaragua, about 2 hours outside of Tegus and she offered to take Lauren, Heather and I out there to meet her family and have fun in her village. Sadly at the last minute Lauren got pink eye really bad and couldn’t go, so it was just Heather, Blanca and I. As we were driving out there on Friday, I randomly thought to myself “what if I got a puppy while I’m out there this weekend?” Now, I’ve been thinking for a while that when I start working and living downtown next year that I’m going to want a dog who will help to deter any potential robbers I might encounter. But, I didn’t really think anything would come of this random fleeting thought about getting one now. Friday was a good day, we ate good food, relaxed, hiked, took lots of photos, had a bonfire and more. Saturday morning Blanca had planned for us to visit Doña Tila, one of the ladies who lives in the village and who makes homemade bread in a 40-year-old stone oven. We made the 15-minute walk to her house. She welcomed us warmly and we pulled up chairs to observe her as she whipped the bread dough around with her hand. They have electricity in the village, but she would rather mix the dough by hand than “waste” money on using an electric mixer. Her simple little house was bustling with life: 2 of her daughters were handing her the ingredients she needed for the dough, 3 grandsons were running in and out of the house kicking their little plastic soccer balls, 2 cats, a dog and 2 puppies were scouting out the kitchen for crumbs. And that’s when I fell in love. Those 2 puppies were a couple of the most precious little creatures I’ve seen. I couldn’t keep my hands off of them. I was petting and holding them so much, that by the time we had finished the bread-making process Doña Tila had offered to give me one of them. I had to make some phone calls back to Tegus first to get permission from my roommate and my landlords, but finally the deal was sealed and I had my very own 3-month-old puppy!! Sunday, when we got home she got 2 flea baths. Tomorrow Sadie is going to get her shots and very soon she will start potty training! Oh the joys of little pups.

lions and zebras and bears, oh my!

A few months ago our church had a "ladies luncheon" after church one sunday. Heather, Lauren and I decided to attend. It was good fun, but let me tell you, the spanish version of "Cranium" is REALLY hard for some non-native speakers. At this luncheon, our pastor's wife, Karen, decided to go around the table and as a little get-to-know-you activity have each person say a few things about themself including one thing they are good at. For some reason I said "painting" although I wished shortly thereafter that I had said "baking." Anyways, Karen remembered from then on that I was a "painter" (lol), and since she is very intentional about seeing to it that every member of the church is using their gifts, I was recruited to direct the painting of a mural in the nursery at church. Oh boy!

Thankfully, we also have in our church a man named Luis who is actually a professional mural painter... he has done the paintings on the inside of all of the Espresso Americano's (read: Honduran Starbuck's) in the city, and he was also recruited for this project. So... professional Luis, draws the outlines of the Noah's Ark with all the animals, leaves a tray full of a plethora of colors of paint and takes off, leaving me in charge. Here I am, supposedly directing a team of about 8 people only 3 of which speak English. Needless to say, I was a bit overwhelmed. But once again, I was blessed to have a number of people on my team who are also skilled and gifted at painting, so my only job was really giving the ok for each of the colors chosen for each of the animals. And even those decisions I think I ran past Lauren about 90% of the time.


We worked on the mural for about 4.5 hours on Saturday. There is still more work to be done, but at least we made some good progress! Here are some pics of the process and the (for now) finished product.

por fin!

SURPRISE! I'm still alive, and I haven't forgotten about my little ol' blog... though it is taking some time to scrape off the dust that has accumulated on it. Since it has been nearly three months since my last post I will give you a quick photo update of some of the exciting happenings of February, March and April to date (p.s. you can click on any of the pictures to see them larger). Then I will try to give you some insight into what's going on in my little world now and what I'm looking to in the future. Ready?? Here we go....

First, I promised an update on the flower-growing process. I have been taking pics along the way, but never had time to post them til now. The cosmos broke through the surface at the end of january, within a few days had grown to be about 2-3 inches tall. By the end of February they had added several more inches to their height and were boasting large feathering leaves. Then finally on April 2, we got our first flower!


In February, we had a week-long break from school, so Megan, Myself, Anna, Lauren, Corrie and Leah took to the road and made the long, arduous (but well worth it!) trip up to Ambergris Caye just off the coast of Belize. We spent the week relaxing, reading, snorkeling and tanning before making the 2-day trip home. Here we are with all of our gear ready to take the 7am ferry back to the mainland.


Every year at IST we take all 4 sections of Kindergarten up to a retreat center in the mountains just outside of Tegus. We had fun playing games and learning stories about God Almighty. Anna and I were finally able to relax a bit on the bus ride back after we got our students to play a "game" of "who can pretend to be asleep for the longest time?"


Ricardo won the game when his pretend sleeping turned into actual sleeping.


Here Kristi and I are showing some Honduras pride on a teacher's retreat we took in March.


I was able to go home for the first week of April. While in California, I got to see the Dodgers beat the Angels!


I also participated as a bridesmaid in my little sister Kimmy's wedding to Eric.


When I returned to Tegucigalpa in the middle of Semana Santa (Holy Week), all of my teacher friends from IST were already all off on various traveling adventures around Central America. So I took the opportunity to spend some time getting to know the people of the Micah Project. Now, for those of you who don't know about this yet, I am planning to work full time with this ministry after my contract with International School ends in June. The Micah Project is a non-profit organization here in Tegucigalpa that ministers to street children. Tegus has hundreds of kids that live in the marketplace or under bridges, many of which are addicted to drugs and to sniffing Resistol, a yellow glue that they can buy for about 50 cents. Throughout the past 10 years, Micah has helped about 25 of these boys come off the streets, overcome their addictions, become followers of Christ, receive an education, and live a life of hope and purpose. About 12 of these boys (ages 12-18) live in "The Micah House," the main group home, and another 4-5 who have graduated from High school are in the "Leadership House" while several more are attending universities in other countries.

I am very excited to work there in the future and have a lasting impact on the lives of these young men. It has been fun hanging out with them the past few days, getting to know them more and more. We went camping on Thursday and Friday, and the boys just had a great time playing in the river, catching crabs and tadpoles, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a big (hot!) bonfire, playing hide-and-seek in the dark, skipping stones and eating raw sugar cane.




It is crazy to me to think that even six months ago some of these boys were homeless, hopeless street kids, wondering where they would get their next meal and their next high. Now I see in them carefree spirits, excited to run and play and be normal kids, not beggars, not thieves, not drug-addicts. I see them and I think to myself "God is SO good!" THIS is why Jesus died. THIS is why He rose again. It's because of Him that we have hope for a future. It's because of Him that lives are changed. It's because of Him we live and move and have our being! Praise be to God Most High!

If you are interested in learning more about the Micah project, check out their website at http://www.micahcentral.org/