Political Discussion. Please Read.

Whats up people who are literate?  Oh how we've missed each other.  Can I share some needs I have with you?  If the answer is no, hit the "x" in the top right hand corner.  If the answer is yes, proceed to the following paragraphs and have your reading pants on.

Need 1- Text books.  Maybe you can help me.  I need a few texts books.  I'm trying some new things in my classrooms and I'm in need of a few  text books.  I don't need a book for every student in my classes, just one for me.  Then, I can make lessons and translate them into Spanish for either class of mine.  What I really need is a Biology, Chemistry, and a World History book all on the high school level.  If anybody could help me out here, I will promise one (1) optional hug in the future or a hardy hand shake.  But really, this would be a gigantic help if anybody had the resources.

Need 2- 1 final pair of birthday shoes.  So I have one last girl who didn't make it on the birthday shoe list.  Her name is Norma.  She wears a size 7 and would absolutely love a pair of black converses.  The old Chuck style.  I think they're only about $35 or so.  If anybody wanted to buy her birthday present this year, that would be great.  Let me know.  Her birthday is January 1st and she'll be 17.  Birthday shoes by the way have been going amazing.  My girls have been extatic to get a cool gift of sneakers on their birthdays.  I wish you could all hear the "oooo"s and "ahhhh"s. 

Need 3- Educational sponsorship.  I have a longer letter circulating somewhere.  But I need more teachers my school.  For $500 a year (about $42 a month) you could sponsor one of my girls for their educational needs.  This cost would cover supplies, uniforms, curriculum books, and teachers.  I REALLY really need to hire 1 or 2 more teachers but just don't have the funds right now.  It breaks my heart not to have enough teachers to effectively teach my girls.  I got to get those chicas into college.  If you'd like to help, please contact me.  I have much more information to share on this topic, but I don't want to bore those who are less interested.

So, I'm getting good at making blog titles as you can see.  No, there is not any political discussion here.  Yes, it is an attention grabber.  If anybody could help me out with any of these needs, feel free to contact me on here, facebook, bheath09@gmail.com , or at 770-616-6673.

My Mom told me to make a blog

Whats up yo?  I'm back in the States for a while.  I just got back from my 4th long-term trip to Honduras and passed my 1 year anniversary in September.  Its been a quick year.  So I was riding in the car with my Ma today telling her stories and she told me to make a blog.  I got alot to say.  I have internet access and free time.  Lets say 1. Stories  2. School  and 3. Rambling.

2. So the school....again.  I got alot of things on my mind, but nearly all of them are about educating girls in Honduras.  I will be asking people for financial support for my girls.  I'm hoping that the letters will be effective because I haven't asked for donations for myself.  I feel like I have a larger playing field now, right?  I need to hire a few more teachers.  I'm going to find some bible verses and use alot of logic.  You'll like it.  I have about 9 churches that I plan to send letters to.  If you want an e-mail to share with your church or whoever, let me know.  If you get mad because you don't get a letter, but you don't ask for one, don't cry.  I will not have sympathy for you.  But really, be looking for it.

1.  So I had a flat tire about two weeks ago.  Flat tires mean that my tennis shoes get a little muddy.  So I started walking to the farm expecting to walk an hour, but hoping to catch a ride.  As it happened, I had been walking about 5 minutes when a truck came through town.  It was an older truck.  Older trucks usually pick up hitchhikers, and a hitchhiking I was doing.  So I waved, and he stopped.  Now, I was excited about this ride.  A few months ago I caught a ride in the rain with 6 other people, a crying infant, a dog, and a pig which I caught as he tried to jump out of the moving truck.  This ride was different.  No rain, a nice dry place to sit, and only one other guy in the back.  I was feeling good about my ride.  I was going to get to the farm with enough time to eat breakfast, do the devotion, and drink some coffee before time for school.  I felt like the boss of hitchhiking.  So we're driving down the road and at the first stop where I normally go left, the driver went straight.  I thought to myself, "Oh, this guy is going around some of the muddy spots.  He wants to keep his truck clean.  What a nice ride."  I figured that he'd hook around town and get back on the regular road.  Well, at the next place where I knew he'd turn right, he continued to head straight.  So I break out my Spanish skill and ask the other guy in the back of the truck, "Are we heading to El Obispo?"  (El Obispo is the comminuty where the ministry is.)  The guy replied, "No, we're going to Semane."  Semane is an hour in the other direction.  I eagerly informed the driver that I wasn't going to Semane and got down from the truck.  I walked for the next hour, in the rain, down the right roads to the farm.  I felt a bit less cool during my walk.

3.  I went out of order, but I kept true to my promise of numbers.  I'm glad to be home.  I'm working for some weeks.  Its nice to be home working with my back instead of my brain for a little while.  I'll be tired of it before its time to go back though.  I've been a little nervous about heading home though.  After all 3 of my previous trips, I've recieved news within the first week of being that multiple girls had either been kidnapped or had ran away.  Girls that were and are real important to me.  It hasn't been the staff's fault, but I am happy about what staff is in Honduras while I'm not this time.  Its turned out to be more stressful being in the states during my time of "rest".  Its been crazy how fast the last year has passed, but I'm beat to death.  I've been pretty mad about some things at the farm that aren't really that important.  I've found that in situations that should make me sad or upset, its much easier to become angry or resentful.  I'm not sure how you go about fixing that, but I feel like any psychiatrists reading this will be impressed, right?  I need some rest though. 

Oh, and.... I was hoping to be home before my first neice was born, but I unexpectedly became an uncle last Saturday, just 2 days before heading home.  My brother's family is doing well,  my neice, Aubrey, is healthy and cute, and her uncle, Ben, is extatic.  Thanks for whoever reads these.  I appreciate the support.

Ramble ramble....mumble.....words

My mom says "humble" funny.  She doesn't pronounce the "h".  Sometimes Christians talk about how humble they are.  Might be counter-productive.  Or they say that they're nothing.  Or that they're just dirt.  It makes me miss where I work in the states.  That we are dirt is assumed.  Sometimes we walk into fast food restaurants and get looked at like we're foreigners (I speak with experience) because of how dirty we are or the holes in our clothes.  I call one kid "braveheart" because of the tar marks that are always on his face.  I literally don't know his name.  Alot of times Christians have a hard time really being as low as their mouths say.  It makes me miss my home.

This has been a hard trip.  Its been good, but its been hard.  I feel like a year has passed.  Its really great how the school is going.  I feel like I have purpose.  I felt like a baby sitter during my first stay in Honduras.  Its cool that the school has turned around from a place to keep the girls busy into really an effective atmosphere for learning.  We've got more structure now than at any time in the last year.  We've got good plans for the future.  Its good when hard work starts to produce an outcome, you know?  I really feel good for the girls mostly.  Their is basically no potential in Yamaranguila for women with no education.  I want my girls to have a future.  If anybody marries an alcoholic, I'm going to murder him.   I really might.  Thats what a dad would do, right?

But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ready to be home now.  Its great having the plans and organization at the school, but its been draining.  I spend alot of days in a bad mood.  Many days, by 5 or 6 in the afternoon I don't have anything left and real little things set me off.  I feel a little bad for skipping devotions though.  The other professionals do a great job picking up my slack most days.  Pray for me if you get a chance.

I've become a guy who says "great job" alot.  Its not very colorful.

My first annual Honduran blog post

Heh, see, what I did up there?  So I've been here a full year now.  We're celebrating Dia del Independencia for Central America.  Its kind of neat because I can remember the things that we did last year for this holiday.  This past year has gone by SOOO fast.  Its had its ups and downs, but its been quite wonderful.  I thought I'd make a post to mark the occasion.

We put 5 goats in the white truck the other day.  How did you like that face full of information?  We tied of 2 of the goats by all 4 legs and stuck them in the bed of the truck.  Two of the goats we had tied by the horns to the rail-guard standing up.  The last goat we bound and put in the back seat of the truck.  The truck smelt like.....goat.  Goats don't smell so great.  If you're ever in Bath and Body Works, and you're deciding between Country Lane and Goat...... don't pick Goat.  Nobody wants that in a basket for Christmas.  If wash your hands with Goat scented soap, you will immediately want to wash your hands with a non-Goat based soap.  Goat poop actually hides the real scent of goat.  If you have a sinus infection and a goat in the back seat of your car, God has blessed you.  The only upside of goat-roping is that if builds friendships.  Kind of like mending fences makes good neighbors right?  My short story would be called, "if you tie up a goat and lift him into the back of a truck with another man, your relationship with that man will be better afterwards than it was before."  I would read that.  Robert Frost can fly a kite.  I'll need a good illustrator.

Thanks for reading this.  Check back in next year for my Second annual Honduran blog post.  Have a good year.

I´m going to mention illegal drugs in this blog

Its new post time.  Here´s the low down.  I´ve been really busy this trip, but not so much with interesting stories.  I have stories from earlier this year that a childrens´ fiction book writer couldn´t make up.... if he was on acid.  This year has been equally as exciting for me, but not as many awesome stories for the blog.  I´m going to give you what I got though.

So, the plans for the new school are going swell.  I made it out to Comayagua last week to check out Enlaces, the school of which we want to be a satellite campus.  Honestly, I haven´t seen a school in Honduras yet that I was impressed with.  Enlaces really impressed me.  It was organized and structured from the big picture situations down to the detailed specifics.  They´re program really impressed me with how simple and effective the lessons seemed.  I liked it.  We´re really looking towards getting legal work and planning together for January.  Be in prayer for us.  I´d love it if our school gave a better education to our girls and could minister to our community with the love and the message of Christ.  I hope thats where we´re headed.

Another cool thing from my trip to Comayagua is that I´m more away of how awesome the English is at the farm.  Our girls really speak it well.  At the school in Comayagua, I met students who had been studying English for hours and hours every day for years and years, right?  They did a great job, but their English wasn´t as good as some of my girls.  In fact, some of my girls at PTC speak better English than their teachers.  I don´t say this to slam the teachers or students.  They did a great job.  I´m just excited for my girls that they´re getting such a useful skill at the Farm.  I try to explain to them sometimes how much easier getting a job will be if you´re bilingual, but I´m not sure they believe me.  I´m right though.  I´m always right.

Well, thats about it.  I´ve been on the internet sparringly in the last few weeks.  I need to spend a little time today looking up biographies on Jose Trinidad Reyes, Cecillia del Valle, and Trinidad Cabanaz.  Oh, you don´t know those people?  Me neither.  But I will before I teach history on Monday.  Pray for us, we need it.

School plans, coconuts, and a man on a horse

     I either have a great idea or a lovely bunch of coconuts (doodly-doo).  While I do love that song, I’m quite allergic to coconuts.  They make my mouth itch.  Which means that what I have is a potentially great idea.  But, this great idea has a bit of back planning.  So sit down while I tell you a short story.  What?  You’re already sitting?  Stand up.  Now sit down.  Now look at your man.  Now look back at me.  Huh?  Here goes. 

      So, we have a sweet new plan for school.  Right now, we’re doing a work-at-your-own-pace system for school called Educatodos.  It’s a US-Aid funded program to help Honduran Children get accredited through grade school.  It’s a very simple system, so we also teach lots of other classes at school as well.  I teach English, Math, Geography, History, and an assortment of other classes as well.  Anyhow, there are a few problems with this method.  1) I don’t speak a ton of Spanish and my school is in Honduras.  Whenever we get new girls, there is a huge language barrier.  2) Most of our materials (books) are donated from the states.  They are in English.  This makes it hard for me to teach the Spanish-only speakers and nearly impossible for them to learn.  These are the problems that we face at school every day. 

     And so here is the solution.  Mrs. Pam has a missionary friend who runs the largest bilingual school in Honduras.  After discussing some options with her, we’ve decided to try and open our school as a sort of satellite campus of this large and successful school.  We would use an internationally successful program called PACE that would come in English and Spanish.  From my understanding, it is a work-at-your-own-pace program (hence the name, PACE), but incorporates teacher interaction and is much more geared towards preparing children for the university.  We’re still nailing down the plans, but we’re hoping to start this school at our ministry (PTC) as early as January.  This would be a great way to provide a better education for our girls as well as reach out to the community with Christ-focused Education.

     Now here is where you come in.  Ready?  The schooling would cost money.  Each one of the PACE books cost in the ballpark of $2.50.  The children use a number of these books for different courses throughout the year.  Other general school materials (pencils, paper, ect) and fees for educators and uniforms add in to bring the grand total of tuition to about $300 a child per year.  $300!!!  I feel like that is a bargain price to help give a child living in a ministry across the world a hope and a future.  Don’t you?  

     So what I’m looking for are sponsors.  Sponsors to help my girls get an education.  $300 a year is not a lot of money.  I don’t have a great job in the states, but I clear $300 in a week.  In one week I could pay for a girl to have a great education for an entire year.  Most of you who are reading this make MUCH more money than I do (when I’m working a job that actually pays money that is).  You could probably send a girl to school for a year with just one of two days of work.  Or, maybe you’d like to help but really can’t afford this.  Why not share this with your Sunday School class or church group and sponsor one of my girls as a group.  $300 divided by 12 months comes up to $25 a month.  If that is spread out amongst a group of people, the cost comes up to……… pocket change.  

     So think this over.  Share it with other people.  Help me spread the word.  Most of you who are reading this blog know my girls down here.  Or, at least you’re familiar with my ministry.  Help my girls out.  I was blown away by how quickly everybody volunteered to buy shoes for my girls a few months ago.  So that’s why I’m posing this idea to you.  Now, we’re not starting this until January hopefully, but if you or your group would like to sponsor a girl, let me know.  Or, pretty soon I’m going to type up a more formal letter with information that I could send to Sunday School classes, care groups, or churches in general.  If you can think of anybody who might like to help, let me know so I can give them the info. 

You can reach me by e-mail at BHeath09@gmail.com or by message on facebook.

     This was pretty long, but I really appreciate you reading it.  Your time and efforts encourage me more than I can explain.  Thank you.

Home sweet Hogre

I'm back in Honduras.  The weather is wonderful.  I spent about 6 weeks in the states working for my brother.  I'm extremely thankful for the job, but goodness gracious its hot in Georgia.  But I have alittle more money in my pockets and little more muscle in my arms. 

So first thing, I got to spend the first 2 weeks of this trip with 2 teams from my home church.  We had such a large group last year that my church split two groups to send them to the farm this year.  It was really cool to start of my trip in Honduras with my church family there.  My parents even made it down during the second week.  I was pretty super busy, so i didn't get to spend quite as much time with my teams as I had hoped.  Yet it was great staying with them in the mission house and watching them with my girls. 

We have a few MAJOR changes going on at the school.  Last week we hired two Honduran teachers (with college degrees) to take over alot of the teaching responsibilites.  Its both exciting and intimidating at the same time.  I have real high hopes for where the school is going.  The new teachers will be able to cover alot of topics I'm not capable of.  The will also help to take some of the responsibilities at the school off my shoulders.  Yet, I'm not so sure the teachers like listening to a young, North American all of the time.  Now, I by no means know everything about school in Honduras and I obviously need some help up at the school with so many girls.  Yet, in the meetings so far, they seem very.... confident.  I think confidence is a good thing, but sometimes too much confidence can be a bit annoying.  Or if your confidence deters you from taking the director of the school too serious, it leans towards problematic.  They keep telling me about how they have been trained and how school runs in Honduras.  They don't understand yet that want better than that.  But we'll get there when we get there.  Be in prayer for the school please.  We've got some hard weeks of work ahead of us.  But I really feel like we'll be better able to serve the girls in the end.

I'm going to make this a short blog because even though its my day off, I have several more things to do in La Esperanza, need to pick up my bike, and I need to get back to the farm for a meeting.  A couple more things to pray for though please.  1) there have been talks about getting satellite internet at the farm.  This would be awesome.  I could talk to my family for free AND the girls could skype sunday school classes or supporters from the states.  This would be nice.  And 2) sometime in the near future I need to start thinking about fincancial support for the future.  I've been in Honduras for a year and I really feel that God is calling me back for long term (think years, not months).  So far I've been working in the states for months at a time to pay my way.  Yet, I think in order to be down here as much as God has planned for me (and as much as I simply want to be), I will need to look at some other options.  Pray for me though if you think about it.  Sorry I have to pictures and not many fun stories.  I'll try to do something interesting before I write my next blog.  Thanks for reading and please pray for my girls, the staff and myself.