Broken feet and breakthroughs

This year the boys are attending the bilingual school in Rio Esteban a few pueblos down the road. And they are learning English FAST! They already knew random words and understood things they overhear Lisa and I talking about in English. But now they'll be telling me something and will throw in an English sentence randomly and then continue on in Spanish. I cannot express how proud I am of them!! This week the boys asked me during the end of one of our nightly Bible studies to pray in English, because they're practicing listening to it but also because they find it fascinating hearing people pray in different languages, which I do too. Jose asked if he could pray in English, and when he did the other boys started giggling because it seemed weird to them for one of them to not pray in Spanish. But, with a little practice, a few of the other boys have started sharing short, precious prayers in English with a very heavy accent--and I sit there trying not to be too obvious with how much my eyes are watering and I just want to go over and squeeze them in a big hug.

Jose and Jeremias hilariously laughing & reenacting the Titanic in our front yard/river

Psalm 118:5-7
"In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free.
The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
The Lord is with me; he is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies."

God is doing major breakthrough every day. Sometimes it's little details that I notice here and there, and other times it is obvious and loud. Several of the boys were neglected and/or abused verbally, physically and sexually before coming to Casa Betesda. Recovering and coping with this trauma is a roller coaster process and culturally something that is very taboo to admit that it happened or talk about past that. Unfortunately, it is accepted as "normal" or "just what happens" here by many people and child welfare rarely looks into cases. A few nights ago after Bible study we went around the table and each boy took a turn praying. One of the boys, that I know has had an especially traumatic past compared to the rest of them, was praying and right before he finished he prayed that God would forgive and heal his stepdad and protect his younger siblings that still live there with him. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I actually opened my eyes to look at him to see if he was really praying what I thought he was praying. What he is asking God to forgive his stepdad for are things I won't type here, but know that is so twisted and sickening that it's unfathomable to even think someone could do those things. God may not have brought complete healing to this boy's past--but he brought compassion and mercy into one of the hardest parts of his heart--and it led to forgiving his stepdad and asking God to forgive his stepdad as well.  

Game day!! Boys had fun and no one got too badly injured.

When I say I'm going to Honduras, people always say "That's so great you can be a nurse in a place that needs so much medical care!" And...then I go on to say I'll be helping raise a house of teenage boys trying to get through high school (some of them starting in the 3rd grade since they never went to school), learn responsibility and respect, counsel them in healing from their broken pasts, and most importantly be raised up to be Christian leaders in the community...and I won't be using my nursing degree much. Except...I do every moment. I may not be starting any iv's, but first of all-- mental health is huge for them and Lisa and I act as counselors several times during the day when it comes to anger management, anxiety, depression, violence, drug addiction cravings, etc. And to say the boys are always getting hurt would be an understatement. I don't think I've seen one day without some type of injury since I got here! Whether it's a big scrape up someone's arm, a rolled ankle, broken toe(s!), deep tissue injury to a hand, or a broken foot...let's just say these boys play pretty rough especially when it comes to soccer. So I do a lot of wound care and splinting/ace wrapping.

Isaias and Franklin

A couple of nights ago, Franklin came inside after playing soccer for a while and was limping and clearly in a lot of pain. When any of the boys even admits they're in pain--you KNOW it's bad. These kids have the highest pain tolerance I think I've ever seen. After examining his foot, I was certain it was broken but unfortunately the nearest hospital with an emergency room that's open during the evenings was over an hour away. I made him ice his foot for longer than he wanted to, gave him some Tylenol and then we prayed during Bible study that night that it would heal completely by the morning. The next day, I had "take Franklin to hospital" on my list of things to do and when I went to look at his foot with a fresh ice pack in my hand, I found him walking around without the slightest limp and saw no signs of pain. After gently looking at & moving his foot, I ended my exam by literally hitting his foot all up and down the areas that were painful to the touch the night before. Not a flinch. All I saw was a small bruise on the lower part of his foot. I think I was more shocked than he was especially having planned on making a trip to the hospital and come to find his foot 100% better. WOW. God is so good!! And it's moments like these that I love to experience with the boys and see tangible answers to prayers. And it was a good reminder for me--no matter how painful, obviously broken, or very inconvenient something is, God WILL use it for good. And sometimes He will heal it completely in a matter of hours and we will be in awe of His power and his love for us, and that will be worth the injury the night before.

Thank you everyone for thinking of and praying for me and the boys!! Feel free to send me selfies or videos if you want to say "Hola!" to the boys, they love it when I show them messages people have sent me to share with them. :)