Pictures

The "old" house renovated.

Downstairs will be a house for some new children

while the upstairs will be offices, a library and a storage room.

Current state of our first house built.

(Elvin and Oscar) Two happy workers

One happy student at school.

Two of our "tias" (aunts) who take care of the children.

A Great Day at the Beach

Last week was kind of like spring break here in Honduras for schools. Friday we took the Beltrand children and their caretakers to the beach to have a vacation day. It was a beautiful day. The children had NEVER been to the beach. We left their house at 8:00 that morning, stopped at the ice factory to fill our cooler and headed to Los Delgaditos. When we got there the kids did not know what they were supposed to do. Everyone was hungry so we all ate ham and cheese sandwiches and enjoyed yummy cold cokes. Then Chad ran and got in the water. Soon after him, everyone had found their way into the water too.

They had so much fun. Iris is the only one that was not too fond of the water. She would go in but did not like to go where she could not stand up. We buried Gabriella in the sand, Geovani and Leonel made sand castles, Diana rode the waves, Nohelia and Iris played in the waves as they broke, and everyone had a great time. Doris, Danilo (our driver) and his two children went with us also. At about 11:00 they all went on a walk down the beach because the "lanchas" were coming in with their catches from the morning. They went down and visited with the fishermen and Danilo came back with fish and shrimp that he had bought to take home for supper. The rest of the time we were there we kept a count of all the boats that were coming in with seafood to sell.

The 2 Claudias got into a sand fight. It was great getting to see them all pitch in and throwing sand all over the place. Little Claudia was covered in sand! We got some great pictures of the day. We took a break at noon to eat lunch. Claudia had made a big pot of rice, veggies, and chicken. Chad had made brownies the night before to take with us. We ate and then decided we better get ready to leave. We had a 2 hour trip back to San Marcos. Chad decided he would drive us back to Choluteca because he wanted Danilo to have some time off from driving that day. We all loaded up in the van and backed up about 10 feet and we were stuck. Chad got the van stuck in the sand. Danilo, Chad and Doris all went and found rocks to put under the tire that was spinning to give it some traction, but that did not help. Eventually the man that runs the area where we were came over with 2 shovels and we dug out the sand and tried some more rocks under the tires. Chad went across the street to get someone to bring a truck over to pull us out and while he was there, Doris, Danilo and the man from the beach got the van out. We were able to head back toward home.

We stopped in Choluteca at Wendy's and got everybody a Frosty. We were all sitting there quiet. We were all so tired that we just sat there and ate our Frosties. After eating their frosties, the little ones went to the play ground to play for a while.

We had a great day and I think the children will never forget the experience they had that day. We hope to go again soon.

Shelly

Funday Sunday

This morning we woke early to join up with the Mayfair church of Christ (Huntsville, AL) group to go to Choluteca for worship. We had an area wide meeting today in the Central Church in Choluteca. There were 12 congregations present with 760 in attendance. We have 2 groups of North Americans here right now and they were all there along with the 10 interns and all of the Mission Lazarus team members. It was great to see some old faces that we do not see on a normal basis.

After worship we took the Mayfair group to Cedeno to the beach for lunch. We arrived around 1:15 and ordered our food. At 2:30 our food was brought to the table. It was so yummy! Chad and I had fresh fried shrimp and freshly peeled french fries. Everyone enjoyed the time we spent there.

This Mayfair group is spoiling us. They have rented out a restaurant here in San Marcos to cook all their meals like at church camp. They have invited us to join them whenever we can. Yesterday we had BBQ sandwiches and chips. Last night for dinner we had very yummy spaghetti and garlic bread. We are heading there now for chicken salad sandwiches. We think we will be hanging out with them the rest of the week.

Shelly

Update

We haven't forgotten about you on the blog. We have just been that busy and have not had the opportunity to sit and type. We have a group here from Crieve Hall church in Nashville, TN and another arriving today from Mayfair in Huntsville. We are swarmed with people on top of our regular day to day activities. It is fun to see the groups here interacting with the locals and practicing their Spanish. They really do help us out to get things done faster.

Well, the book. We finished the first copy of the book and had a group meeting about it last Tuesday night. Everyone is looking over it and revising it as much as possible and we are to meet again Monday night. It is thick! It is a great accomplishment that will help us in the future. It is still a work in progress though.

We will have another IHNFA training seminar on Monday for all our teachers and care givers for the children. It will run from 8 am - 3 pm. We will serve everyone lunch again. It is so beneficial for our employees to get this kind of training in children's rights. We are expecting 50 again.

The interns are doing great. They are working in all our areas and doing a lot of helpful things. We plan on joining them tonight to make homemade pizza. It is becoming our Friday night tradition with them.

Everything is running smooth right now so we must be thankful for that. I have just spent the last 3 hours looking for and repairing the motor on my truck's door to lock-unlock the door with the security system. The motor went out 2 days ago. It is not easy to find things in Honduras. You have to get use to that and understand that it might take several hours to get the simplest things back in the States. I found one though and the lock is fixed.

We are about to head up the mountain back to San Marcos to work up there this afternoon. Have a great weekend and we want to hear from some of you. Let us know what is going on in your lives. My email is chad@missionlazarus.org.

Chad

The rain is here

It is raining "cats and dogs" in Honduras today. We have basically been without rain since October of last year and are just beginning 6 months of the rainy season this week. It rained most of the night and is continuing now. It is good to see a lot of rain. It does produce mud all over the place but the fresh air and coolness the rain brings is worth it. You just have to wear rubber boots wherever you go. Shelly and I bought some heavy duty plastic mats to put in her truck on Tuesday in Tegucigalpa which will keep the mud in the proper place.

We are still working on the BOOK if you have read previous blogs. It is coming along very well. I am proud of the work Ronald and Doris are putting into it. It will be a very valuable resource to have once it is finished. By the way, they have begun painting both of the homes on the ranch so we are only a few weeks away from opening them.

We have a big seminar for all our care givers and teachers tomorrow with IHNFA (Honduran child protective services). It starts at 8 am and goes to 3 pm. We have 3 speakers on the rights of children, lunch, a question and answer session and a finale with diplomas. I am excited about the day.

10 of our interns arrived on Tuesday to work for 9 weeks. 2 more will come in June and July. They are from all over the country and are excited to be here. They will spend time in all areas of Mission Lazarus and really get to work one on one with the locals and find out what it is like to be a missionary in a third world country. We are glad they are here.

Chad

Teacher Appreciation Day

We had a wonderful celebration Saturday with our teachers, cooks, guards, and other employees from both our Early Childhood Development Centers. Our theme was "You Are Special" based on the children's' book by Max Lucado. We began at 10:00 in the morning with a devotional and Chad had planned an activity for everyone to do. First he showed the movie of the book, but the computer battery went out in the middle of the movie so we had to finish it after lunch. Due to the computer quitting, we went on and did the activity. Each person had to get with a partner and talk about things that make them special and then they each had a sheet of paper to write why their partner is special. Those were all read aloud to the group and then each person got to take the paper home that was written for them. We rewarded all the men with a lantern spot light and the women with a coffee mug filled with goodies. Then, we had lunch. It was a very enjoyable day and everyone had a great time.

It is so important anywhere to make your employees feel appreciated. Most of all we wanted to make sure that they know that they are important in God's kingdom and in the work here on this earth that they are doing. I know that the activities of the special time we had together will have an impact on them for a long time.

Shelly

The Book...

Doris Corrales (our Honduran Director of ML Refuge), Ronald Millon (our Honduran Director of ML) and I are working hard on completing a book that no one has ever done before. We want to be the first (or maybe one of the first) children's home in the world to have a book that outlines every aspect of it...from discipline, daily schedule, rules, contacts, medical, you name it-it will be in there. We want to be able to hand this book to all our employees and they fully understand their role and what needs to be done at what time and what needs to be done if something goes wrong. It is a huge undertaking but we are taking it one step at a time.

We have been working on various aspects of it for 2-3 months now but it is crunch time. We have set the date of June 7th to have it completed. We got serious yesterday. Doris and I leave San Marcos at 6 am to travel 45 minutes to Choluteca (where our office is located). We start with a prayer with our other workers at 7 am and then hit the computers. We do not leave the office until the assigned project for the day is complete. As of day 2, it is working well. It will be a complete book when we are finished and one that will help our children's home run smoothly (or as smoothly as possible).

We had a meeting with IHNFA (the Honduran child protective services) this morning and they are coming to do a seminar on the rights of children for us next Friday. We are inviting all our tias (aunts who take care of our children) and teachers from the schools. We will begin at 8 am and go until 3 pm. Each person in attendance will get a diploma which is great to have on record for our workers. I am excited to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and some real progress being made.

Shelly and Roxanna (the director in the school) have put together a Teacher's Day tomorrow for all the teachers in our schools. I will lead a devo at 10 am and the party will go until 2 pm. They will have lunch also. It should be a great day. I know Shelly is excited about it.

Pray for our efforts in working on the book. It is a huge undertaking but something that is very necessary.

Chad

Update

Shelly and I are back from the States. It was great to be home, celebrate Mother's Day with our moms and be a part of my cousin's wedding. Emily and Jared were officially married on Saturday and the whole day was wonderful. It was an honor for me to stand before them and marry them. They are in Jamaica this week. Pray for their safety and the start of their new marriage. They will be living in Gallatin, TN.

I am running around today checking up on things. Shelly traveled to Choluteca today with Roxanna, our school director, to purchase some items for the Teacher's Day on Saturday. They have asked me to do a devo for it. They are taking time to just show our teachers how much they mean to Mission Lazarus and how glad we are to have them a part of us. They will have a delicious lunch for them and several other activities. It starts at 10 am Saturday.

It is warmer here than in TN. We have had to adjust back to the heat. It was 93 yesterday but it did rain hard for about 30 minutes last night. We are adjusting back and getting back into the routine of things. Our 12 interns show up next Tuesday for 9 weeks. I am excited about them and the experiences they will encounter.

Thanks for reading our blog. Let us here from you: chad@missionlazarus.org

Adios.
Chad

In the States

Shelly and I are in the States right now until the 21st. I have the opportunity to perform my cousin's wedding next Saturday in Bowling Green, KY. I also had the opportunity to talk to the congregation at Maple Hill church of Christ last night in Lebanon, TN. It was a great evening and great to see their enthusiasm for Mission Lazarus. They plan on paying for and sending a group of 40 men next February to build our next house at Mission Lazarus Refuge.

Shelly and I both got to spend Mother's Day with our moms which was special for everyone. We also spent today at the lake with Shelly's family on their pontoon which is always enjoyable. We have many people to see and much work to do before the 21st here in the States. We will get back with you on our blog when we return to Honduras.

Oh, I almost forgot, I got word today that one of our children we take care of, Diana (13 years old) was baptized last night in San Marcos de Colon. She has been thinking about it and finally made the decision last night. What a great announcement! I am so eager to get back to Honduras and give her a big hug and help her start her Christian walk. Please keep her on your prayer list. God is good!

Chad

Pray without ceasing...

We as Christians can do just that. Over the past 10 months that Chad and I have been here in Central America there have been a lot of prayers offered on our behalf. I just want to take this time to thank each of you for the prayers. I had a little accident while horseback riding a few weeks ago and know that if there had not been those "never ceasing" prayers of so many of you things could've turned out a lot worse for me. Each day in our Early Childhood Development Centers we talk to God with the children impressing on them the importance of petitioning God for blessings as well as thanking Him for the life He has given to us. We have this one little boy, Luis Sernando, at the school in San Marcos that reminds me so much each day during our devotional time that God wants me to be as a little child and come to Him with the slightest little things and He will be there to listen. Luis is 3 years old, but look at the example he is to so many. Just a little food for thought. God bless you!

Taking Another Step Forward

Today is a historic day for Shelly and me. I am sitting in our apartment writing our blog on the internet.

What is so special about that? WE HAVE INTERNET IN OUR HOUSE!

I thought this day would never happen. Our internet connection before this was 45 minutes away in Choluteca but with the advancement of cell phones in Honduras, we now have internet over a cell phone connection. This will give us the opportunity to stay connected more and have a convenience in our life.

Nothing is convenient in Honduras...except internet service now...when it works. I try not to get too excited about things because you never know what might happen in Honduras but for now, I am celebrating.

Thought I would share my enthusiasm. The little things that make you happy in Honduras are amazing!

Chad

Los Photos de la Semana

Got enough cushion?

Priceless face of a boy on an island we visited last week.

These eggs have not been colored for the picture. They are ready to be cracked for lunch.

Shelly took this picture on our way up the mountain from the office in Choluteca.

Dia de los Trabajadores

Monday was Labor Day in Honduras. We have spent since last Friday showing our employees of Mission Lazarus that they are special and we do care about them with pool parties, cookouts, and visits to the beach. It has been enjoyable to get the workers out of their normal day to day jobs and spend time with them in other places in Honduras with their families.

We are busy this week doing all that we do. I am asking myself, "What do I do to keep me so busy?" But as Shelly said last night to her mom on the phone, "Staying busy keeps life interesting." There is not a dull moment here in Honduras. Between spending time with the children to keeping up with paperwork to working on the ranch, time flies by here.

I do ask that you keep our very good friend, Gerardo Flores, in your prayers. He is in the hospital again for the second time in 3 months with his sickle cell anemia. He is very sick once again. We are searching for more definite answers to what is going on and may have to consult with some doctors in the States. Please pray for him and his wife and family as they are very worried about him. We plan on visiting him tomorrow in Tegucigalpa.

Chad

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