A new roof for an old house

We are in the process of putting a new roof on the Beltrand's current house because we had a thunderstorm last weekend which flooded their home. The clay tiles did not hold up which I expected anyway. We are putting tin down first and then putting the tiles over that. It will be much better. The men should finish today.

We have a heat wave today and tomorrow in Honduras. Businesses and schools will be shut down tomorrow because of the Spring Equinox. I never cared much about it before but in Honduras, the sun's rays are extremely close to the earth and it causes an extreme heat wave and is dangerous to be in the sunlight too long. They are to cut the electricity for 2 days here starting today sometime. The temperature is to get up to 115 degrees. It is HOT! It has been raining a few days this week which means the rainy season is very close. The rain helps out everything so I am excited about seeing it more often.

We had yet another birthday party last night for Doris, our Honduran director, and Danilo, our bus driver for the kids. I forgot my camera so I do not have photos. We had two cakes so that each could have one. Shelly made them. The kids loved them. They were chocolate and strawberry. We all had a great time.

Keep up your prayers. Thank you for keeping up with us. Send some cool weather our way!

Chad

The Ranch is Coming Along

Above are the pictures as of Tuesday of the new home on the ranch at Mission Lazarus Refuge. For those who worked on the septic tank, you can not see that both of them have been capped and are ready for their special substance. We are shooting for the middle to end of May to have our inauguration of the first two homes (one of them being the old house which we are renovating). We are currently taking care of 11 children off the Mission Lazarus property where they will call home. Please pray fervently that these two homes can be finished quickly and we can move the children to their new home.

Chad

Meet our Tias

Meet our two newest tias (aunts). Their names are both Claudia so it makes it easy for everyone to remember. I call the one on the left Claudia #1 and the other Claudita (small Claudia). They are a blessing from God. We have had 2 other ladies in the house with the Beltrand children and they have not worked out. For the first time, we decided to go ahead and put 2 ladies in the house with them since that is what we will do on the ranch. It has worked beautifully.

They are great at helping the children with their homework and making sure they are doing what they need to be doing. They know how to discipline with love but still make a point of behaving. God has blessed us with these two ladies. Please pray that we will continue to find women like them to serve in our other homes. We will be interviewing some more women for future jobs on Monday. Please pray that that goes well.

Chad

Muchas Fiestas

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOHELIA!

We had another party Tuesday night for the now 10 year old Nohelia. Her smile on her face when she got her new shoes was priceless! We limited each child to one piece of cake this time since we had a disaster last week. It worked out much better and everyone enjoyed the whole night (even after the party).

Another Birthday Party

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SELVIN!

We had a great birthday party for Selvin Leonel last night. He turned 11 years old. He has been begging for a new back tire on his bike since he wore out the other one. I surprised him with a new seat also which was needing replacing. As you can see, he is smiling from ear to ear. After we gave him the bike, we did not see him again for the rest of the night because he was riding it all over the place. He is one happy rider now!

We did learn one thing last night. Never give children 3 pieces of cake each. They kept asking for more last night and it ended up that half of them were up vomiting because they had eaten so much. Next time, we will only give them one piece that night and they can eat the rest for breakfast the next morning. Oh well, they loved it though! Everyone is fine now.

Chad

Pictures of the BC crew

Shelly and I with Gail and Jerrie Barber

Will Baxter, Jerrie Barber and me

Returning to Honduras

Shelly and I return to Honduras bright and early tomorrow morning. We ask that you pray for our safe flight. We have had a great time while in Tennessee visiting friends, churches and family but look forward to getting back in the "swing of things" in Honduras. I am anxious to see what has happened since we have been gone. I will let you know in the next blog.

I spoke to David Lipscomb Elementary School's 2nd Grade this morning thanks to the infamous Regina Lankford. They are a great group of boys and girls. I had the opportunity to show them our new Mission Lazarus promo video and speak about the wise man building on rock and how that translates into our lives spiritually. Regina is a wonderful woman who does not get enough credit for taking something on and running with it. With her initiative and the other teachers in the 2nd grade, the children and their families have collected all our bed linens and will begin later in the month to collect all our supplies for 2 kitchens on the ranch. Thank you Regina and the 2nd grade at David Lipscomb Elementary. You are making a difference in Honduras!

Adios.
Chad

Happy Holy Week

We are in Tennesse right now until the 11th. We had a Mission Lazarus Board Meeting to attend last Saturday and Jerrie Barber, the preacher I was working with at Berry's Chapel, retired Sunday and we did not want to miss that event for him and BC.

Jerrie Barber is my mentor and someone I deeply admire. He taught me so much over the years I was at BC and I appreciate every minute I had the opportunity to be around him. We had a retirement party for him yesterday at BC which lasted from 8 am until 3 pm. Jerrie said it was the longest party he has ever had and if you know him, you know that he has had a lot of parties. Shelly and I thoroughly enjoyed our time at BC yesterday. Getting to talk to our church family was encouraging. Knowing that there are so many people out there praying for you is such an encouragement and keeps us going. Thank you Jerrie for your example to me and thank you BC for a great party yesterday for everyone.

Do you like your shower at home? I have to drop a line and say that the showers in the States are absolutely GREAT! Having pressure and hot, hot water at the same time is a dream come true. Don't take your shower for granted!

We are enjoying our time with family and friends but look forward to returning to Honduras and getting our hands dirty again. I will post a picture of Jerrie, Gail, Shelly and I soon.

Adios. Chad