I want to post pictures, but...

Our internet is not working great today so I cannot put the pictures I want to share with you on the blog. I will keep working on it this week.

We are doing fine. It has not rained in 2 days which is BLESSING. We need lots of sun right now to dry things up a little. Everything is soup. Mission Lazarus is helping with food bags to those effected by the floods 2 weeks ago. Bags are going out on a daily basis for families. That is encouraging.

We are just working hard at this moment. Hope you are also.

Chad

Flooding Pictures

It has now been raining for 96 hours straight. Some of it is just a sprinkle, but for the most part it is pretty much a steady rainfall.

The above 2 pictures are of a bridge that you have to cross over to get to Jarrod and Ally's house. There were people on the other side telling me to bring them food because they could not get across to go to the market. Of course, I wanted to help, but obviously couldn't.

Shelly

Rain, Rain, Go Away, Come Again Another Day!

It has been raining for the past 72 hours. It is unbelievable how much water the clouds hold. We have been told there is a tropical storm around and it is supposed to continue raining for the next 3 days. Chad goes to the ranch every day with his rubber boots on. There is so much mud and water, I think it will be a while before this place dries out.

Yesterday, Meredith Jones and I trekked up the mountain in San Marcos to visit a little girl from school that has been having seizures. There was no other way to inform the mother of the doctor's appointment that she has without visiting her at home. We could not get the car all the way there, so we parked and walked. Let me begin by saying that we had been in the office all day in Choluteca and I definitely was not planning on going mountain climbing in my Merrell slip-ons. It had already been raining for 2 days, but there was a break in the rain so we decided to go for it. We walked, or should I say slid, up one road and had to look for the trail that leads up to this family's house. We found it and I am not kidding, it is straight up. It was beginning to drizzle somewhat but we thought, hey we've gone this far why not continue on. The lady that lives on the corner told us it was not the best idea because the rocks we would have to walk on were slick. Ignoring her advice, we decided we could make it. Very slowly, one step at a time, we made it and there were two little boys at the top applauding us as we arrived. We found the house and went in to talk to the mother. As we stood in the canopy area talking to her it began to pour. We visited for while and then said our good-byes. We were already muddy and wet, so we decided just to deal with it, head back down and not worry about the rain. About half way down, one of the little girls brought us an umbrella, but by that time we were already soaked and were more concerned with each step that we took as to whether we were going to end up covered in mud. Neither of us wanted to slide down on our rear end so were were taking it very carefully. I remember Meredith making the comment that going us she never thought about having to come back down. We finally reached the car again and all we could do was laugh. It was an experience that I will NEVER forget. Meredith called me this morning and we were still laughing and reminiscing about the rainy adventure that we went on.

Tristan cannot stand the rain nor getting wet. Here is a picture of him that Chad's mom took last week during "bath time." You can tell he was just so excited!

We are trying to stay dry for the most part. I do ask that you pray for the many families here that do not have cover for their heads and for those that are in danger of flooding. Please pray for their safety. Our friend Gerardo Flores is also very ill and I ask your prayers for his recovery. If anyone knows of a specialist that could help him, please let us know. We are very concerned for his health. He has sickle cell anemia, but we believe he needs other tests due to the severity of his illness.

Shelly

The Time of our Lives

We had a great time with my Mom and Grandmother. They will never know how much it meant to us for them to be here for 5 days with us. We saw everything and they went home with a better understanding of what we do exactly. Pictures do not do justice to this place. You have to see it to believe it and understand it.

After touring everything, we enjoyed a night in the Marriott in Tegucigalpa on Sunday night. It was sad to see them leave on Monday but we appreciate the time they spent with us. We will remember it forever.

Mom and Memaw,

Thank you for spending your money and time to fly down here to see us. It meant the world to us for you to be here sharing with us. You will never understand how much. We enjoyed sharing with you what we do on a day-to-day basis and experiencing with you some of the poorest situations in Honduras. We love you very much! Thank you for coming and we look forward to seeing you again really soon.

Love,
Chad and Shelly

Mom and Memaw

We are having a great time with my Mom and Grandmother right now in Honduras. They are seeing everything and enjoying getting to know what we do everyday. Mom just bought a digital camera and she is taking a ton of pictures. She will have a great diary of photos when she gets home if you want to get with her to see them.

We just finished supper. All the ladies made chicken enchiladas, rice, guacamole dip and Rocky Road candy. It was delicious. I also just finished writing my devo for the ranch workers in the morning. I look forward to sharing with them in the morning. It is such an encouragement.

I will write more later with some pictures of my Mom and Grandmother. Have a great night's rest.

Chad