Time warp.

It feels like it's been forever since I've seen the boys...and yet, I was here just 6 months ago this past September. But a lot has changed in my life and in their lives since we last saw each other: I'm now a full-time RN and I'm taking PTO for this trip instead of seeing them between semester breaks or summer vacations. And for them--there have been family heartbreaks, a new school year, new and old struggles popping up, some of the boys have ran away from home...some chose to come back and some chose not to.

And now, it's April 4th and I'm putting my 'normal life' on pause and jumping back into a world that is completely opposite in almost every way possible. I'm back at my home away from home. The place where I feel most alive and I feel God's Spirit moving and guiding me like it's a dance: leading and following, weaving back and forth through situations I would never be able to handle relying on my own strength.

If you're reading this and don't quite understand why I go to Honduras, here's a quick re-cap below. And if you want to read more stories and see how Bethesda Home for Boys has grown and changed over the past few years, check out my blog posts from past trips on the left side of this post from 2012 and 2015. :)

-Bethesda Home for Boys aka "Casa Betesda" is home to 8 boys in Balfate, Honduras. The number of boys fluctuates though, as Lisa has an "open door" policy so sometimes there are up to 12.
-Lisa is the foster mom who cares for the boys by raising them in a Christ-centered home where they go to school, have assigned chores, do Bible study, help with the property where the new home is, play soccer, and play on the beach. Also, play soccer. A lot of soccer.
-Most of these boys are from the La Ceiba area (a 'big' city near Balfate) and have parents of their own and several other siblings too. They're with Lisa because their biological parents neglect and/or abuse them, or their parents have recognized they are unable to take care of all their children and have reached out to Lisa to provide a safe and healthy home for their son.

-This year donations were able to provide tuition money for the boys to go to the bilingual school. This is HUGE since the school is private and provides an education of much better quality, is safer, and most of their schooling is in English. Most of the boys understand a lot of English already, but learning how to read, write, and speak in English will be a crucial skill for the boys' future and ability to find work.

-Bethesda Home for Boys was given property down the road up on the mountainside a while ago, and this past year God has provided the funds and laborers to start (and almost finish!!) building the boys' new home. So, eventually everything will be moved up there but for now it is a construction project that we are very excited about!! The new home will be safer (further away from the main road and no neighbors), provide more open space for the boys to run around and play, and a lot of the acreage is used for growing foods such as: avocados; mangos; cacao; plantains; pineapples; etc. This means the property will provide food for the house of rapidly growing boys and also provide a means of income by selling the extra crops.


I'll try to post a few times a week while I'm here, feel free to share my blog with anyone you think would like to read it or be interested in Bethesda Home for Boys!

Prayer requests:
-Safety
-Good health/energy during long days
-Wisdom and patience with disciplining & teaching a home full of teenage boys