Always a New Adventure

Weeks two and three are coming to a close here in Honduras and they have been filled with just as much excitement as the first!  I feel like my Spanish is improving daily, and I am so thankful for the sweet friendships that I am building with so many of the students here at Baxter.

Hanging out with Milena and Hillary!

Things at Baxter have been super busy over the last two weeks, and today finally marks the start of a short break for the students.  In the last two weeks, we have had a two day seminar, celebrated children's day at the clinic, and hosted a 3 1/2 day youth rally.  I would encourage all of you who have a chance to come and visit Baxter and see all of the wonderful things that this school is doing to show the love of Christ and spread the Good News of Jesus!

A little over a week ago the students finished up exam week by participating in a two day seminar with Dr. Allen Black.  Dr. Black is a professor at Harding School of Theology in Memphis, TN.  During his short stay at Baxter he took the time to walk us through the book of Mark.  His wonderful wife Nancy spoke to the women during chapel each day, and was such a sweet blessing to get to know.  I am continually amazed at how hard the students here at Baxter work on their studies, and how devoted they are to learning how to spread the name of Jesus.

This last Friday the nutrition program at the Baxter Clinic celebrated Children's Day!  Children's Day is always quite the party here in Honduras.  The Children's Day festivities started off with a devotional for the kids, and was followed up by games, popcorn, pinatas, and cake!  It was great to watch the kids smile and laugh while participating in all of the activities.  I am surprised that there are not numerous injuries due to pinatas around here!  Hillary even took the time to draw a giant Olaf, and we cut out 25 carrot shaped noses in order to play, pin the nose on Olaf!  The nutrition program at Baxter does a wonderful job at helping those from the community who are in desperate need for food and support for their families.

Sack races during Children's Day!

The final major activity of the last two weeks was the Encuentro Juvenil, which came to a close last night.  This is a youth rally that the fourth year students from Baxter organize for around 300 teens from Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.  Over the last few years I have been to my fair share of youth camps and retreats, and I can easily say that the students here did one of the best jobs I have seen at organizing and executing such a large event.  The theme of the weekend was Dunamis.  We focused on the power that we have because of God living in us.  I pray that all of the students that were here over the last weekend will continue to grow deeper in their faith and love of God and that they will remember that God has given us a Spirit of power, love, and self-discipline.

The students at the Encuentro Juvenil!

One of the classes during the youth rally!

The last few weeks have also included little activities such as, a trip to the stadium to watch one of the local Honduran soccer teams, a lovely Colombian dinner with one of the sweet families here at Baxter, participating in a soccer tournament, and multiple attempts at baking food from back home that have failed misserably.

The Honduran soccer game was an exciting experience.  Hillary found out that our driver and his two kids had never been to a soccer game at the stadium before because of the price of the tickets...which turned out to be around $5 a ticket. So she offered to take all of us to the soccer game.  You should have seen how excited everyone was to be inside the national stadium watching the game live.  We finished off a wonderful evening with a trip to the mall for a fast food dinner.

Hanging out at the soccer game!

The next day, my sweet friend Monica invited me over to have dinner with her and her family.  She made some wonderful arepas, which is a common food in Colombia.  Her husband Ronald also brewed some strong Colombian coffee for me to try!  It was such a blessing to share a meal with their family and spend some time after dinner talking and playing with their sweet kids.  Their oldest son fell in love with the no bake cookies that I brought over, and quickly downed two or three of them.

The past two weeks there has been a group of women from Baxter practicing in preparation for the soccer tournament at the youth rally.  I'm not much of a soccer player, but I agreed to participate.  I loved getting to spend time with our team each day during our hour of practice, and now feel so much closer to the women that I had the opportunity to play with.  We shared many laughs during our practice times, and improved a little bit due to our wonderful coach, Hillary!  Even with our quality 5 hours of practice before the big game, we just weren't prepared for the wall checking and intense game that we encountered this weekend!  We had a great time together, and it was a real blessing to get to know more of the women on campus.

Our amazing soccer team!

Yesterday, Hillary and I made some attempts at rice crispy treats and oreo truffles.  FAIL!!!  The oreo truffles were decent, and edible, just a much different taste than they have in the states.  I got to hand them out to a few of the students, and they thought they were wonderful, so I guess that was a win.  The rice crispy treats on the other hand...may I just point out that not all marshmallows are equal.  If you think marshmallows in the States are sticky...think again!  O well, it was a good experience, and now I know for future reference.

My new wonderful friend Hillary, and of course OLAF!

In only three short weeks I feel like I have built friendships that are going to last for a life time.  I have been blessed to get to spend the last three weeks with Hillary, and I am so thankful for the time that she has taken to teach me things in the clinic and for her caring, sweet spirit.  She leaves this Thursday and I am really going to miss having her around.  I feel like I am building some wonderful new friendships with so many of the students, and I have loved learning more about their families and the places that they are from.  I have also been incredibly blessed to have the Teels close by.  They head to the states for a month of fundraising on Friday, and I am really going to miss having them right across the street from me.  I am looking forward to seeing what other adventures God has in store for my time here.  I feel so blessed to be able to spend the next 10 months at Baxter growing in so many ways.