Large Goats and Old Guitars

Yency, a victim of surprise photography

Ok.  So, long time and no talk.  I’m going to give you the same ole excuse of “extremely busy” with a chaser of “little internet connection”.  So let me start off with telling you that we didn’t get the little girl I talked about a few blogs ago.  One day turned into a week, which turned into two weeks, which turned into the response that she had gone to live with other relatives.  Hopefully that will be a great situation for this little girl.  As excited as the girls (and myself) were about the little girl coming to the farm, we all hope that this new living situation really works out for her and that she is shown the love that a little girl deserves with her other relatives.

Sometimes, you have to stare down demon-goats

 Now let me tell you a goat story.  So Haley told me that before I got here, our young, male goat got kidnapped.  She thinks that’s hilarious…. “Kid”napped.  But either way, we needed a male goat to help populate the farm with baby goats.  So Mrs. Pam told us that she found a large goat in a city about 3 hours away.  They decided that I should go help with the goat expedition (I guess since I’m so obviously the adventurous and outdoor-sy type).  So we got to the place and saw about a dozen free-roaming goats; some small, some a bit bigger.  I was trying to find which one was ours.  A few minutes later, two men come around the building pulling the largest goat I’ve ever seen in my life.  This joker is twice as big as the other goats, has horns that I think came off a demon, long ragged hair, and was putting up a fight with the men pulling him.  We had a lot of help getting him into the truck, then tied his gigantor horns to the window guard.  The story ends with me in the back of a truck with a giant-demon goat tied up by his horns, a kind man named Rafael who doesn’t speak any English, 3 hours along incredibly steep and curvy mountain roads, and a considerable amount of goat urine. 

One day this last week, my assistance was requested by our new pastor, Flavio, at the church.  Flavio wanted my help getting musical equipment checked out.  I’ve done some work on amplifiers, rebuilding guitars, and building pedals, so I told them that I might be able to check some things out that aren’t working.  Anyhow, during my time of swimming through equipment and spider webs, I came across something real interesting in the closet at the church.  I pulled out what appeared to be a fairly old fender guitar.  Knowing a bit about guitars and how expensive old fenders can be, I called my dad and had him run some of the numbers from the headstock and the neck plate.  Turns out, they had a 1963 Fender Musicmaster.  1963!  For some reason, I don’t think musicmasters are quite as expensive to collectors as other fenders from that time period, but its still a neat find.  We’re doing some looking around to find this bad boy a nice home.  Then, we might take the money and buy a lot of new equipment for the church.  Kind of interesting what you might find in the music closet of a church in a third-world country.

 Jacki-O loves Mary more than life

Ok, I’m going to make this a short blog because its part 2 of a two-fer week.  TWO-FER!  But please check out the blog right under this one.  It might look boring because there are no pictures or semi interesting stories, but its real important.  We’ve got prayer lists and then information about letters.  If you only have time to look at one thing, please, please check out the “letter information” section of my last blog.  Give it some thought.  Hope to get this next blog up a little quicker than the last, but no promises.  I think I’m going to be a lot busier at the farm for my last 5 weeks of my first trip.  Thanks for taking the time to check up on me. 

-Ben Heath

Prayers and Letter Information

Prayer list:

School.  Talks are still going on about turning the school at the farm into an accredited private school.  I haven’t heard any new news as of yet, but I’m still really hopeful about this situation.  This would be a great opportunity for PTC to directly minister to the surrounding area.  Yet, before we form a real school at the farm, lots of planning, structure, personnel, and who knows what all else will be needed.  Please keep this situation in your prayers as it will be a great opportunity to minister to the community and also provide a somewhat more stable future for some who are volunteer workers at the moment.

Church.  The church has been set into motion since the last update I’ve given here.  Currently, the church is mostly comprised of youth-aged individuals from the community.  As of now, the church is meeting at the farm on Thursday and Saturday nights.  We have around 40 or 50 people attending the services.  On Thursday nights, Pastor Flavio has a very short lesson and then we have an extended, group prayer session.  Its amazing to see and hear how Hondurans pray.  Everybody just goes at it.  Its hard to explain, but really encouraging and exciting to be a part of.  On Saturdays, Flavio has more of a traditional service, although it is directed at youth.  There is around a 20 to 30 minute lesson followed by music.  Yet, the music is a bit different than what you might expect in America.  Obviously its in Spanish for starters.  But secondly, folks dance.  Maybe a quarter to half of the youth and leaders go and dance and sing to the music that goes on for maybe 20 more minutes.  The girls absolutely love it.  It really is a great thing to witness.  I think God is ok with us being excited about Him.  But please keep the church in your prayers.  Its off to a fantastic start.  I hope it becomes another way that God uses the farm to spread his love to the community.  Please pray that God will continue to bless the progression of the church.  I’ve never seen a church started, but I hear there are often times bumps in the road.  My prayer is that this church continues to be so focused on God that the bumps go completely unnoticed.

Vehicles.  I’m not entirely sure what is going on with the vehicles.  Vehicles seems like a rather silly topic coming right after “school” and “church”.  But with around 30 girls, it’s a rather important issue.  We have been looking for a nice, full sized truck.  Recently we’ve been offered a trade of a new van for our large, broken down van.  This might be a great deal since its dry season.  The roads are incredibly dusty and you don’t really want girls exposed in the back of a truck.  I’m going to relist the specs of the truck we’re looking for anyhow.  Foreign (Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu, ect.),  extended cab, extended bed, 4x4, diesel, less than 10 years old.  If you have any idea where we might find something like that, please contact me or somebody at the farm.  Yet, please pray that God would lead us into good vehicle deals.  Again, with so many people, changing seasons, and changing money situations, its over my head to think about it all.  But I know that God’s got it.  Please join us in praying for this area.

Haley Harris.  Well, this situation is more of a person than a situation at all.  My good friend Haley Harris is a missionary that works down here at the farm.  Most of you reading this blog know Haley.  Haley kind of does everything at the farm.  She teaches, loves, leads bible studies and devotions, potty trains, drives girls around, cooks, translates, keeps books, disciplines, makes news letters…… the list could go on for several pages.  She is a volunteer missionary here that simply does a TON of things to help out.  Well, her 1 year commitment ends in December.  Yet, Haley decided last week that God is leading her back to the Farm for a while (another year I think?).  We praise God that Haley is coming back.  Yet, also, Haley has a lot of things to get together in preparation for her next year of service to the Lord.  Please pray that God will be with Haley and will make the paths clear for her to come back next year.  She wouldn’t want me to say this, but some people reading this might have the opportunity to help Haley get back to serving all these girls at the farm next year (wink wink).

Mrs. Pam Demott.  Mrs. Pam, Aka "Mama", is the director of the girls' home down here at PTC.  I'm not sure director is the official title, but Mrs. Pam is running the show down here (right behind God of course).  Yet, Wednesday the 27, Mrs. Pam is leaving Honduras to visit the states for a month or so.  I think we're really going to need alot of prayer in her absence.  There's going to be a few of us attempting to fill her shoes while she's gone, but I feel certain we won't get close to accomplishing what she does for these girls.  Please be in prayer that Mrs. Pam will have safe travels and a nice visit with her family in the states.  Also, please pray for the farm in her absence.  We're going to need it.

Letters:

So here’s the deal.  Before I left, I got Sunday School classes and a few families from my church to commit to pray for and write letters to specific girls down here at the farm in Honduras.  This has been really neat so far.  I can’t explain how much it means to the girls to get letters.  They like getting letters from folks they know and from folks they don’t.  Long letters and short messages.  In a box or with a fox.  Ok, maybe I got out of hand there.  But it really does mean a lot to many of the girls here to know that somebody cares enough about them to write them a letter.

So, I wanted to open the floor to anybody who wants to write letters.  The link for the farm’s website can be found at http://www.sikm.org/  .  Look for the girls profiles to find pictures and information on all the girls.  If you feel like you want to write to somebody, let me know and I will get you connected with a girl in a heart beat.  If you have somebody in particular, that’s fine too.  But I can’t stress enough how little work these letters are and how much it means to some of the girls.  The way the system works is you send me an e-mail to your girl, I print it out and hand it to them, they send you an e-mail back.  Whenever it is possible, they will send real live letters back to the states that I will get into your hands.  This just seems to me to be a great way to minister with very little sacrifice.  Now, I think God wants us to be sacrificial givers, but who wouldn’t jump on an easy opportunity to show love?  Think it over, and if sending letters is something you want to do, send me an e-mail at Bheath09@gmail.com .

Well, that’s about it for this week.  That turned out a bit longer than I hoped.  I’m becoming a bit long winded.  I’ll have a regular blog up sometime soon that contains personal stories and other things in the next week.  Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully get connected to this ministry down here through your prayers and letters.  They have a value that is greater than you could imagine.

-Ben Heath

No News is Good News?

Me and my friends, Francis and Milay

Meat is a great thing.  I don’t think I had fully appreciated meat until I came to Honduras.  Hondurans eat meat, but not a lot of meat.  Not enough meat.  They replace meat with rice and beans.  Rice and beans are both good, but neither are meat.  So I found a can of tuna at the store the other day and bought it.  After having my heart set on a tuna sandwich (and thinking about The Office), I realized that there was no can opener in the house that I am living in.  I used a jabbing motion with a fork, cutting with a fairly sharp butter knife, and prying with both the fork and the knife to get to the meat.  That was the first time it took me more than 20 minutes to make a tuna sandwich.  But I tell you the truth; that was the best tasting tuna sandwich I’ve ever had in my entire life. 

Ok, enough with tuna, I actually have reasonable news.  We’re getting a new girl at the farm this week.  I’m writing this blog entry at different times throughout the week, so the order will seem strange for this event.  She is coming tomorrow, but by the time I post this blog I will probably have pictures already.  Anyhow, all I know is right now is that the girl is two years old.  Now, you might ask, “Ben, why are you excited?  Isn’t an orphanage a poor option compared to growing up in a “normal” family?”  Well, yes and no.  For a lot of instances, yes, a loving family with a mom and dad is the best place for a two year old little girl.  That is, unless you have abusive, negligent, or non-existent parent(s).  The fact is that this little girl is going to have an opportunity to grow up in a loving home, be given the chance for a good education, and most importantly will be taught about Jesus’ love every single day.  I see that as a pretty awesome thing compared to the alternatives.  Some of the stories of the girls here are heartbreaking.  Their family lives have been filled with hate, apathy and abuse.  In a strange way, its nice to know that this little girl will grow up away from all that.   Please join me in praying that this little girl will have a smooth transition into her new life.  

Mariela taking a quick ciesta

So I finally did have to break down and admit that I’m a bit sick.  I went to work feeling sick on Monday, but I just knew that I was going to be feeling better after a while of being up.  Well, I was wrong.  Mondays can be pretty long if you’re sick to your stomach and an hour walk from your house.  So I took Tuesday off, sat around and drank lemonade that my doctor (Mrs. Pam) prescribed.  It has seemed to do the trick so far.  But luckily my stomach illness is getting me out of the 2 hour walk through the wilderness to Yasshe (I think that’s how you spell it).  I almost didn’t make it back up the mountain on my first trip.  But please keep me in your prayers.  God has been really good to me in keeping me healthy during my first month down here.  That has been one of the first things I’ve been thankful for every single day when I wake up.  Please pray that he will continue to do so.

Ok, so I’ve decided to make this a short-blog-week.  Short blogs seem easier to read.  And it will leave me a few more stories to tell you all when I get home.  I’ll upload some photos tomorrow probably, so if they aren’t here already, check back soon.  Please pray about the normal things; the church, your girls, schooling, vehicles for the farm.  I’ll make a longer, updated prayer list for next week.  Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Me and Mariela

Ok, one change and one thank you.  The new little girl won’t be here until Monday.  Something happened with the paperwork and she wound up stuck somewhere else until then.  So, we’re all excited, but you’ll have to wait for pictures.  This probably means I’ll have another blog of Monday with her picture and then a longer and more elaborate prayer list.  So stay on your toes, we’re doing stuff down here.  Also, thank you to the people who wrote letters to the girls and sent them back with Haley.  The girls love getting letters.  I really can’t tell you how much it means to some of them to know that somebody cares enough to write to them.  If you have a class that has a girl and you didn’t get a chance to send a letter, e-mail one to me and I will print it off for your girl.  My e-mail is BHeath09@gmail.com . If you want to start writing to any of the girls, I will get that information on my next blog.  I have to check with Mrs. Pam and make sure everything is ok with that first thought.  We can’t possibly have too many people, I promise.

We Did It!!! (For a month at least)



Scary Francis



 I started off this week by skipping out on the farm for a day.  After having a rough night, I was a bit afraid that I had a stomach bug.  And from the stories that I’ve heard, Honduran stomach bugs are no joke.  So I called in sick to the farm and hoped that I was wrong about being ill.  I found a bottle of Pepto Bismal that my mom had packed me (thanks mom) and was feeling much better by around noon.  So much so that I decided to go catch a bus to La Esperanza and do some MUCH needed grocery shopping.  Met a guy (Carlos maybe) while waiting at the bus stop who spoke English and was going to be a missionary in Egypt pretty soon.  Kind of neat who you meet down here.  Anyhow, after about 10 minutes of waiting on a bus, Mrs. Pam (the director of the girls’ home) came driving by in her truck just by chance.  I got a free ride and a guide through the streets of La Esperanza.  It turned out to be a really nice way to start my week; slow and focused on God.  It seems that every day here in Honduras has a surprise of its own.  Although please keep me in your prayers that I don’t have a stomach bug.  I would really rather be teaching and hanging out with the girls than lying at home in the fetal position sobbing.



Roxana and Jackie-O



On a happier note, the girls make me laugh pretty often.  Since I’ve been down here, I haven’t had many opportunities or much time to gander at myself in a mirror.  I hadn’t noticed, but almost a month of not shaving led me to have a fairly decent amount of facial hair consuming my facial region.  So one night I just decided to shave.  Burn it all down and start growing anew.  I didn’t think this was a very big deal...until I walked to the farm the following morning.  The girls were shocked and amazed.  I heard a lot of “Oh Mr. Ben!!!” and “Que blanco!!!” and “You look so different!”  I hadn’t considered it, but I guess if you live in a girls’ home, surrounded by females, you’re not used to a clean shaven face where yesterday there was a beard.  I think the girls were in utter amazement for the next hour or so.  One girl, after staring at me in silence for a few minutes straight, asked me, “who cut it?”   Some days its impossible not to have a smile on your face down here.

Discipline is continuing to be my least favorite part of this job.  Its rough when I need to be stern/ angry with the very same girls that I moved down here for.  I would much rather be their friend all of the time.  Yet, I really think that “teacher” Ben is more effective in preparing these girls for the future.  I think the girls get a little hurt when I get frustrated with them for being late, having no homework, or acting crazy.  They don’t understand yet that I’m trying to look out for their upcoming adult lives.  Colleges and businesses won’t care what sweet girls they are if they are late, missing work, and not meeting standards.  But I guess we’re getting there one day at a time.  A few less friends and a few more students.  Hopefully it’ll pay off for somebody down the road.

Mariela

So one month in.  That’s right, today marks my 4^th complete week here (although, if we’re being really honest, the 8^th will be a full month I guess).  I have a lot more familiarity with Honduras that I ever would have imagined.  Sometimes when I am writing down or telling stories on the phone, it sounds so strange some of the things that I’m doing without a second thought.  At least once a day, I catch a ride with a stranger in the back of a truck and pay him 5 limpira (less than a quarter) for the ride.  When I don’t catch a ride, I walk three miles along dirt roads to my job (before 7:30 every morning!).  I regularly have conversations about the weather with people who don’t know any English.  I practice squishing people and making cow sounds with a little girl who can’t walk but thinks I’m cooler than the Fonz.  I have persuaded 27 girls in a girls’ home in Honduras to name their new puppy “Jackie-O”.  I have scaled 2 barbed wire fences in my church clothes to attend a service in a language that I don’t understand.  I occasionally wake up near insects too large for me to squish for fear of waking other people (or losing the fight).  I have travelled so far with a backpack and rain boots on, that without them I feel like I have just got off a trampoline.  But the odd thing to me is that it all just feels alright.  It somehow seems to fit together so nicely that the only direction I can point is towards God. 

Got a free TV with the fridge. I got them a bench.

So thanks for reading this, praying for me, sending me messages, and letting me know that I have been missed for this first month.  It went by so much smoother than anything I could have anticipated.  God sure has a funny way of taking care of people who clearly don’t deserve it.  A big part of me can’t wait until December to see you guys back home again.  Please continue to keep me in your prayers, I know I’ll need it in the months to come. 

Oh, and did anybody catch my Stephen T. Colbert phrase up there in the title?  Imagine balloons dropping down right now.  Speaking of Colbert.... my mom and some folks from her Sunday School class are going to Washington DC for the Daily Show's "Rally to Restore Sanity".  I'm so jealous I can't hardly stand it.  Somebody better get me a T-shirt so I can wear it to church.  But for real fellows, get it together.  If there are many more Tea Parties, I'm not sure I'm ever coming home.  Ok, thats the end of my political rants for a month.  Done.

-Ben Heath

Drip, Drip, Drop

I recently decided to start checking out the “pulperias” around Yamaranguila.  Pulperias are extremely small stores that sell some food and drinks.  There are around 8 or 10 of these small stores in the city of Yamaranguila, and a handful more between here and the farm.   I thought maybe I could find enough food to make a supper at these stores, but I was sadly mistaken.  For the most part, there pulperias sell drinks, candy, chips, and cell phone minutes.  I made a mental note to do my grocery shopping in La Esperanza on the weekends so that I don’t starve during the weeks.  On a happy note though, at one of these pulperias in town, I can buy 2 liter cokes and fantas for about $1.25.  And really, who need nourishment when you can have orange soda?

So for the last week or two, I don’t think I’ve taken more than 10 pictures.  First off, I’m feeling like less and less of a tourist, so the camera has been staying up just out of apathy I guess.  And secondly, there has been so much rain that I have been afraid of my camera getting wet in my bag.  It will be really nice to get a camera case and hopefully a water proof/resistant book bag sometime in the future.  I really need to get back on my picture taking duties so I can populate my blog and e-mails with pictures.  Who likes reading words with illustrations?  But alas, my internet connection won't stay strong long enough to upload pictures this week.  Maybe I can add some in later.

School is getting better and more exciting.  Each day I feel like I’m getting more and more acquainted with this system.  I think I’m learning more about the program and also more about the girls and what motivates them to learn.  Again, it is so incredibly different than anything I was expecting about a teaching job.  Not only is the program vastly different, but the entire culture that my girls are living in is different.  Its interesting to see what motivates these girls to learn and work hard.  Yet, its an adventure every day and It feels nice hoping that my work might be going to good use in these girls’ lives. 

Traveling this week has been interesting.  It has rained harder and with more consistency this week than it has since I’ve been in Honduras.  This means that the roads have been so bad that people are opting to stay in instead of drive to and from town.  For me, this means that there are nearly no trucks for me to bum a ride off of going to or from the farm.  That means a three mile, hour long walk in the rain on extremely muddy roads.  So one day I decided to use my boots as skis and slide down a short section of a particularly steep hill.  I slid and little bit, then a little bit more.  It was pretty fun until I started slipping out of control.  I caught myself just in time to realize that I didn’t want to fall and be covered in mud for the rest of my walk home.  About 15 seconds later a dump truck came zooming around the corner and covered me in mud.  I even got some in my ear hole.  Yes, directly in the ear hole.  I don’t know what the lesson is in this story.

There are a few really interesting plans for the future that have began to for this week at the farm.  First is the idea that a church might form at the farm.  In the past several weeks, I’ve had the privilege to visit a house church just up the road from the farm at Don Chilo’s house.  Don Chilo (Or Mr. Chilo, which took me a long time to figure out), is one of the leaders of the actual FARM farm.  Anyhow, the preacher at the house church was very charismatic and passionate about the Lord and in his teaching.  I’m not entirely sure of most of what he preached about, but I sure enjoyed it.  Well this preacher, Flavio (I think), has met with Mrs. Pam about the idea of starting a church at the farm.  We had a meeting this week and everything went pretty well for the initial plans.  The main idea is to start slow, so we’ll begin having a youth group meeting at the farm for a few months and then see where God takes it.  There are several churches in Yamaranguila where I am living, but nearly nothing out near the farm in El Obispo.  I hope this will turn into a way to minister directly to the community around the farm.

And secondly, there are some plans for starting an accredited, private school at the farm.  School in Honduras is (beating a dead horse) vastly different from school in the states.  For starters, free and public education only goes through the 6^th grade.  Middle and High school are seen as much more of an elective type of path.  Our girls are getting home-school, tutoring, and high school accreditation, which is much, much more than some of the children in the surrounding area.  We have began simple talks this week of expanding the school at the farm into a private school as yet another way to minister to the surrounding area while providing more financial stability to the farm.  This would be good for people who are volunteer teachers now, because it might mean a paycheck to cover some basic living expenses in the future.  Anyhow, I’m really excited to see how God is using the farm to minister to the area.  Please keep these two basic plans in your prayers in the weeks to come.

And finally, I want to repeat myself with the need of a new vehicle on the farm.  Again, we have a great need for a 4x4, diesel, extended cab, extended bed truck.  We are looking for a Toyota Tacoma, but if you know of anything foreign (Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, ???) let us know.  The roads here get pretty bad in the wet season.  This week, we haven’t been able to use the 2 wheel drive Nissan because of all the rain.  Also, with as many people as we have and as much ministry as we’re doing in the area, it would really be beneficial to have a truck with these specks.  If you know of anything, please contact me.  If you don’t know of anything, it would be great if you would join us in praying for a vehicle.

Well, I’m getting a bit longer with my blogs.  I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.  I decided to write down some things through out the week and I think it helped me get a few more stories and ideas in here.  As always, thank you for checking out my blog.  It really helps me to feel connected to you guys back home to be able to write and know that so many of you are reading this.  Please keep me and the farm in your prayers.