True Orphans

I cannot imagine what it must be like to be a child of 10 years old and have no Mom and Dad. We are working on getting the paperwork for 2 little boys, Oscar-10 years old and Victor-7 years old, to move to Mission Lazarus Refuge very soon. Oscar and Victor are not brothers by blood but have lived together their whole lives. They are actually cousins but Victor was given to Oscar's mom when he was a baby. Oscar's mom and dad (and Victor's) have died. They were living with an aunt who has died also. They are without family.

We went with Oscar yesterday to his old home in hope of finding someone who knew where his papers might be. After an hour driving on a long dirt road with many bumps along the way, we entered his parent's old house to find no papers and not much information. As it was getting dark, we arrived back in Choluteca to drop him off at his foster parent's home.

Oscar is a very smart young man. He has only finished the 1st grade and is 10 years old but he is wise beyond his years. He said two lines yesterday that I will never forget:

"No tengo nadie" meaning "I have no one."
and
"Dios es mi padre" meaning "God is my father."

How powerful! I am looking forward to getting to know Oscar and Victor more and I ask that you pray for their paperwork as it is never an easy job to find all that we need.

Chad

Feliz 2008

Happy New Year! I am going to go on the record right now and say that 2008 will be our best year. I really believe that this year will be our best for Mission Lazarus and the missionaries here. We are on the verge of some great things and 2008 is already getting off to a great start. I hope you are challenged by the new year with new beginnings and will make it your best year also. Let's shoot for the stars!

Shelly and I have just spent some time in the States with our families for Christmas. What a great refresher to be with family and friends! We needed the break and feel energized and ready to start again here in Honduras. Shelly is a bit under the weather right now but will jump back soon. Staying with Honduran tradition, we arrived in our apartment with an inch of dirt/dust on everything and the electricity going out soon after we settled in. We have only been here 24 hours and the electricity has gone out 3 times. The wind is very strong here right now which caused the trees around the lines to interfere with them and cause an outage. Welcome back to Honduras!

Shelly and I have the best families. I want to publically say that we have the best Moms and Dads that anyone can ask for. I am willing to put ours up against yours any day of the week. Thank you to our parents for making our time in the States so special. We love you very much!

Everything is good here. We are ready to hit the trail again on Monday morning bright and early. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, appreciate the electricity that you have (because I am typing in the dark right now) and start the new year off with a BANG.

Let Your Light Shine,
Chad

Wrapping it up

Do I have a wonderful wife or what? Her blog yesterday made me break down and cry. I am so blessed to have her and I take advantage of that. Life is so precious and we need to take time to share with those who are closest to us.

I am back in San Marcos now. I arrived back last night after spending the day with Sandra and the brothers. We went to Gerardo's office at Baxter first to find some things which was difficult. We then went to the hospital to pay his bill which ended up being about $1,100. The family is putting together a list of funeral costs so that we can help. I will share that with you when I receive it this weekend.

My guesstimate is that the total cost for Gerardo's expenses will be about $3,000. If you are interested in giving to that overall expense, you can make a check to Berry's Chapel church of Christ and mail it to 7052 Sunrise Circle, Franklin, TN 37067. Please designate on the check that it is for Gerardo Flores. I will personally make sure it is put towards his expenses.

Please keep Gerardo's family and especially Sandra in your prayers. This is so tough for them because Gerardo was such a special person for the family. He will be missed.

Chad

Greater love hath no man...

I just want to express my thoughts and feelings on the events of this past weekend. I am in TN right now and Chad is in Honduras. Chad called me on Thursday telling me that our brother and precious friend, Gerardo Flores, was in the hosptial again after many previous visits this year. I prayed for Gerardo that day asking God to comfort him and give him the relief from the horrible pain that comes with his illness each time. Friday, Chad called me in the middle of the afternoon, which was weird because he usually calls me later in the evening to tell me about the events of his day. I answered the phone and Chad said, "Shelly, Gerardo died!" I immediately lost it and asked questions about what happened and was trying to get a grip on what was going on. Chad remained very calm and walked me through the details. He told me he would let me know when he knew more.

He called me about an hour or so later with new information and still very calm and collected. I told him that I wanted to fly to Honduras to be there with him and with Sandra, Gerardo's wife and his family. We decided that would not be necessary and we left it at that. We talked a couple more times that afternoon and evening.

Saturday Chad went to Tegucigalpa and spent the day with Sandra and Gerardo's family making sure that they were taken care of. He was there comforting, offering his help, and just there as a a shoulder for them to cry on. I received calls throughout the day on Saturday and then again on Sunday catching me up on everything. All he could talk about was making sure that Sandra and Gerardo's family were taken care of.

I write all of this to say that my husband, Chad Hedgepath, is truly a servant of God. I cannot express how proud I am of him and the way he has poured out his heart to this family in their time of need. Chad was very close to Gerardo and has lost who he considers his best Honduran friend, but instead of asking for comfort from others, he was there to comfort others. Gerardo was a servant just like this and I think that is why he and Chad understood each other so well. It did not matter if he was sick or having difficulties in his own life. He was always "laying down his life" and looking out to help carry someone else's burdens. I know Gerardo is smiling at Chad and saying, "you are such a man of God, thank-you for taking care of my family."

Chad, I cannot thank God enough for blessing me with you as my husband. I am so blessed to have you in my life. You are such a strong hold for me and the greatest example of what a true servant really is. You give of your love to whoever needs it. Not just to those that you choose, but to all that God puts in front of you. Thank you for your example and for being that support for me and so many others. Know that even though I am not physically there for you right now that I will always stand beside you and support you in everything that comes our way. I love you so much.

Shelly

A Great Man

The world lost a great man today. Gerardo Flores passed away this afternoon after suffering from sickle cell anemia his whole life. He was only 35 years old. He has been in and out of the hospital all year and was there when he died. His family will have his body in their home tonight and will move it to their church building tomorrow morning. They will bury him on Sunday afternoon. Please keep his wife, Sandra, and his family in your prayers.

I will never forget Gerardo. He was my best friend in Honduras. I loved his smile. I loved the way he shaked his shoulders when he laughed. He was always so optimistic and happy. He would do anything to help you out. I have never met anyone like him in being so giving all the time. He would make the time to spend with you and made you feel like the top of the world. I love him. I will miss him. I cannot believe that I will not be able to see him face to face any more. I have so many memories of him that I will cherish forever.

Thank you Gerardo for being so special in my life. Thank you for being so encouraging and teaching me more than you will ever know. I want you to know that I will do whatever it takes to see that Sandra and your family are taken care of. I can't wait to see you in Heaven.

Chad

The Right People at the Right Time

Baxter Institute (a Christian university in Tegucigalpa) is having their graduation on Saturday. They had groups of Americans start arriving yesterday and I traveled to Teg to pick up two men who wanted to see the projects of Mission Lazarus firsthand. Little did I know that it would be one of those great life moments. I did not know they men and had to have the President of Baxter introduce them to me. We rode for 3 hours to San Marcos getting to know each other.

We woke up this morning and left the house at 6:30 am to go to the ranch for my weekly devotional with the workers. I showed the men around the ranch and talked about what God was doing through Mission Lazarus. We then traveled back into San Marcos to see some more things and pick up their luggage from my house so they could travel back to Teg this afternoon.

I wanted to take them by Gloria's house to see her and her 7 children. Gloria is dying of congestive heart failure and they are some of the poorest of the poor in San Marcos. They have no running water, not bathroom facilities, no electricity and many times no food and live in house which is not even considered a shed. They are filthy dirty but have smiles on their faces all the time. I love this family and strive everyday to provide their basic necessities. While we were in the house, I asked if they had any food. THEY HAD NOTHING! Not even a crumb. One of the men caught onto it. He handed me $20 as we walked out the door and said to do whatever we could with it to help them out.

We immediately went to the grocery to purchase a $20 provision which is enough food for 2 weeks for this family. After we delivered the food to the house and the men realized that they had just helped this family beyond what we could ever imagine, we got into my truck and drove off. I told them that I strongly believed that God put them in that place at that time to help that family. These men came to Honduras for a graduation but felt compelled to visit San Marcos de Colon and was introduced to a family that needed their help at that very moment. I thanked them for being there and for providing and for making a difference in that family's life even though it may only be temporary.

The man in the back seat starting saying something in response and then got choked up. In a cracked voice he said, "We are the ones who are truly blessed. That family made a difference in me." Isn't it amazing how God works? He puts us in situations to be a blessing but transforms us through the process.

God was present today in a big way in my life. I am so grateful to have been in Gloria's house today and allow God to work in the lives of those two men. What a blessing! Be careful to not pass up what God might be asking you to do today. Thanks Thomas and Raymond for visiting!

Chad

Heading Home...

We have been BUSY! In the past week, we have moved another family into a Mission Lazarus home, had our last day of school in our 3 schools, taken the children from the refuge on a field trip to Tegucigalpa, had the district final evaluation in our San Marcos school, visited Duyure where we plan to open a new school next year, celebrated Chad's 31st birthday and tomorrow is our Kindergarten graduation. We have just crammed it all in haven't we.

The children at the refuge especially enjoyed celebrating their "tio Chad's" birthday.

Monday we are flying home to see our families. We are so excited about the time we are going to get to spend there. Hopefully over the next few weeks we will get caught up on our blog. I just want to wish everyone a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Enjoy the time with your family and make sure to tell each and every one of them how much you love and appreciate them.

Shelly

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

Almost October

Can you believe that tomorrow will be October? Time is flying by. We have been busy with my cousin, Amy Lofton Hartford, and her husband's visit with us last week. They took their vacation to spend a week with us. We showed them all the projects going on early in the week and then went to Roatan for the last half of the week. They left yesterday. We thoroughly enjoyed them being with us for the week. It is awesome to have family (and friends) around you sharing in what you love to do. Thank you Amy and Sam for your visit and come back really soon!

Roatan was great. It is the Caribbean island off the shore of Honduras. It is the biggest revenue producer for Honduras since it is totally geared toward tourism. They have 3 or 4 Carnival cruise ships dock on the island for the day which produces major money for the country. They have been voted the top 5 dive sites in the world. The weather was HOT and the water was crystal clear. Sam and I spent one morning snorkeling and seeing the beauty of God's creature below the surface. What a sight!

I began Amy and Sam's visit with a bad cold. I had a 102 degree fever, cough, headache, pains in my body for 2 days when they first arrived. I was not very fun to be around. I still have my cough right now but it is getting much better. I am on medicine and think that all will go away by the first of the week.

We are gearing up for my mom and grandmother's visit this Wednesday. They will be here for 5 days and we cannot wait for them to see all the projects. We will have to put some incriminating photos of them on the blog for everyone to see while they are here.

It is a sunny day here and we are catching up on rest and computer work today. Enjoy your day and let us here from you soon!

Chad

Update

We have been extremely busy lately with day to day activities that I have not had the chance to actually sit down and update our blog. I do want you to know that we moved our children into the new house last Friday and it was a day I will never forget. Their faces expressed every emotion I could ever imagine them having. Just to give you one little hint of what it was like...we played in the sinks for an hour with the HOT water. They were amazed. Their showers will never be the same. What a blessing!

I am putting together a full report to send nationwide with pictures and such but wanted those who read our blog to actually know that the children are in their new house thanks to the work of our skilled laborers on the ranch and our home congregation, Berry's Chapel. I cannot wait until the next one if finished so we can experience that great day all over again with some new children. Maple Hill is building that one and are ready to work.

We also celebrated Independence Day in Honduras last Saturday in the new house (it is the biggest house out of all the missionaries). We invited Doris Corrales, our Director, and her family who have a rich history in the San Marcos area and the ranch itself. We had a spread: tacos, pasta salad, beans, tortillas, brownies, cookies, coke...the works. It was awesome! The kids enjoyed the leftovers on Sunday also.

I am sorry that I do not have pictures to post but Shelly has the camera in Choluteca today. I am working here in San Marcos. I will be sending a massive email out soon with all the details of the new house and the children. Thanks for your prayers in our start-up and making this dream become a reality. Talk to you soon.

Chad

Children's Day

We celebrated "Children's Day" in our schools on Monday, September 10th. The entire country celebrates this day every September 10th to honor the children. It is such an exciting day for the children. The mayor's office and the bank in Choluteca even donated pinatas and candy for us to use. There were 20 pinatas, 456 packs of cookies, 500 lollipops, and no telling how many pieces of candy that just the children in the Early Childhood Development Centers enjoyed. There is no telling how many tons of sugar the children in the entire country consumed in this one day.

One mother donated her time to make these yummy cupcakes for the children.

There were games planned for all ages.

And, even the smallest of the children had a great day!

This day was the highlight of my week. Although I was unbelievably tired when it was all over, it was absolutely wonderful and fun. It was discussed numerous times during the day that in the United States "Children's Day" is not celebrated or really even thought of because really every day in the US is children's day. We take for granted parties, celebrations, candy, and treats that these children only see once a year. I cannot imagine attending another party without thinking of the faces of these children when they were celebrating their special day. Thank you to those who donated money or materials for us to use for this special day!!

Shelly

A night at the theater

Yesterday was a big day for Mission Lazarus Refuge. 4 representatives of IHNFA, Honduran child protective services, visited our homes to inspect them and see if we are ready to open. WE PASSED ALL INSPECTIONS! They were thrilled with our new house and were excited for the children that will move there. We also took them to visit a brother of the Beltrands who wants to move with them. He chose not to move last year. He is 16 years old and very quiet. It will be the beginning of a new life for him. We then ate lunch together and then visited the Beltrand children in their house. They were pleased to see the difference in them.

Last night we went with some of our friends (Doris Corrales and her family and Sabastiana, our social worker for the home) to a theater in Choluteca to support a children's home there who was selling tickets. It was a one man play about drug addiction. It lasted about an hour. The actor did a good job by himself. But only in Honduras do you visit the theater and see people eating corn on the cob while they enjoy the show and pull out their flashlights when the lights go out to continue the play. Near the end of the show, the electricity went out and there was a pause for about a minute and then 4 or 5 flashlights were brought out to continue the show. It will be a memory forever.

All in all, yesterday was a great day! It was intense but great to spend time with some representatives from IHNFA who we are becoming friends with. We are looking to move the children next week into the new house. What a day that will be.

Chad

Back to Business

We are back to business here in Honduras. The storm has passed and is a thing of the past. Truthfully, nothing happened besides about 30 minutes of extreme rain. No flooding here, no damage. We will wait for the next one though. It is that time of year.

Today our Mission Lazarus doctor visited San Marcos to check up on the children in the nutrition program and as an outreach of the church. We took all our children to him for a check up because with that many children, somebody is always sick with something. They all checked out pretty well. We need to have some other exams done on two of them but they will be fine.

I did meet some of the cutest children today. We are helping another family who has a sick mother and 6 children. 2 more do not live with them since they are a little older and can take care of themselves. I told this family last night that I would be at their house around 7:30 this morning to go to the doctor so everyone needed to be ready to go at that time. When I pulled up this morning, all the girls were dressed to their best in their cute dresses and had smiles that are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. They loved riding in the car. Remember, they went to see the doctor and they were THRILLED. They were able to get treatment also and take home some medicine to feel even better.

There is something about this family that makes me want to help them. They were first brought to our attention because we were told that the mom was dying and that they had nowhere to go when that occurred. We finally found them (which is more difficult here) to interview the mom and see what the situation was. It was not as bad as we had heard but still needed our attention. The mom is sick and is very poor. They live in a shack which does not even have complete walls. She is a good mom though. She tries her best, she is just poor. It is not a situation where the kids are mistreated or anything like that. They are a neat family and we are going to continue to help them in any way we can. It may be building them a new house or just supplementing their food. The mom has a doctor's appointment in Choluteca at the hospital on Sept 15 to find out specifically what is wrong with her. That will give us an avenue as to what to do next with her.

The sad thing is, we are bombarded every week with situations like this. We want to help all of them but we just simply can't. But for those who think the church of Christ is not doing anything in this world, know that the church here in San Marcos de Colon, Honduras is making a difference in the lives of the poor. The mom has never been to church but had a huge smile on her face when I dropped them off (after getting cookies and coke for everyone because they behaved so well) and said, "Everyone today was so kind to us. Thank you."

My challenge to you is to go out and be kind to someone before the day ends. You never know what kind of impact that will be on them.

Chad

Update on Felix

We are safe! We stayed in a hotel in Choluteca last night very safe and secure. It was a concrete building with a generator so we had power all night even when the electricity went out. It rained extremely hard for about 30 minutes last night and then gently rained the rest of the night. No damage was done but we are still trying to find out exactly where it is now. There are conflicting reports on the internet and television of where it is exactly and what it is doing. The sun is trying to pop out here in Choluteca right now.

Thanks for all your prayers and concerns. It was a stressful night but we made the most out of it. All of us ended up watching Evan Almighty last night since it seemed appropriate due to the amount of water coming our way. We are back in the office this morning working. Talk to you again later when we hear more.

Chad

Hurricane Update #2

Hello to Everyone!
It is 5:18 p.m. on Tuesday evening. We wanted to let you know that we are safe and sound in our hotel. It is a concrete building and we are away from the river. It is raining pretty hard here right now and the wind has picked up quite a bit. Just wanted to let those of you who are checking the blog that we are o.k. Please continue to pray for our safety.

We'll write more in the morning.

Blessings!
Shelly

Hurricane Update

As of 12:55 pm (Mountain Standard Time) we are safe and preparing for Hurricane Felix to come in. The southern part of Honduras is directly in front of the storm which should pass over tonight or early tomorrow morning.

It has just begun to rain here. Shelly, Jarrod Brown, Alli Brown, Meredith Jones and I (our missionary family) are moving to a hotel in nearby Choluteca (1 hour away) to be close to one another and closer to the capital (2 hours away). This will allow us to keep track on what is going on closer to our offices in case there is a need for a relief effort.

Everything is calm right now. No major wind, just rain. I anticipate the rain to pick up over the next few hours before tonight. The bad thing is that with a few days of rain mudslides will occur which effect those in the mountains who are extremely poor. Please pray for their safety as it is extremely difficult for them to leave.

Thank you for all your emails asking about us and we ask that you pray for this country and the people living here. This storm is bringing up bad memories of Hurricane Mitch in 1998 for many of them. We will keep you posted on this blog with what is going on as long as we have internet connection and a cell phone signal.

Chad