La, la, la, la, life goes on...

When I (Corey) look back at the last 5 months here in Honduras, two things come to my mind first: “Wow, time has flown by!”, and the other, “Wow, can time please go by faster?!” As we have been adjusting to the culture, learning language, and just living life, it seems time both creeps by and speeds by. Since November our calendar and schedule has been very full and one of the reasons I, being the communication “expert” of the family, have not communicated as well as I have wanted to! Since the end of December I have tried to chisel out time to do our “quarterly” newsletter (you know the pretty one with pictures and a review of the past few months?), but have been busy with other projects for ministry here with our team, language school, the boys school, home school (more on that in a second), vision trips, and more. We have gone through so many changes in the last month that I could literally write a thesis on them... but I won't. It is for these reasons that it seems like time has flown by. On the other hand it is our learning Spanish and desiring so deeply to be at the coast with the Garifuna that it seems as though time is creeping by. So with that, let me share some highlights from the last few months...
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Puzzle-time with fellow missionaries during Thanksgiving.

“Well, we made it through the holidays!”

That was our response the day after Christmas when we looked back over the past two months. We have a huge extended family back home in Oregon so getting through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve was difficult and different, but still joyful. For Thanksgiving we focused as a family on the good things God has done over the past year and were intentional about our thankfulness to Him. We ate turkey dinner with fellow missionaries and our kids played with theirs. Christmas was spent in the usual way as we celebrated with the church body on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning was joyful as well, but different knowing we would not see our family that day. And of course mixed into days between holidays, events, and ministry we attended our language classes each day. Finally at the end of December, the day after Christmas, we traveled to the north coast to spend some time exploring three different Garifuna communities which could potentially be locations for our long-term ministry here.

Traditional Garifuna dance at the home of Profé Virgilio.

While in the north of Honduras...

we stayed in a large, beautiful lodge-like house on the beach devoted specifically to missionaries to use. It was such a blessing to us and we may potentially use this house for teams to stay in when they come down to serve with us.

We discovered there was a contact in the nearby Garifuna community of Tornabé who knew about the various other Garifuna communities, so we wanted to meet with him. We only knew his name, Profé Virgilio, and that he lived in this community so we ventured there looking for him. Before long, and after asking directions a few times, we found him. We drove down a very narrow (dare I say) road, going under clothes lines and passing through, what seemed like, people's back yards and came upon and interesting sight. In front of us was a group of people sitting on the porch of a house. I walked up to them and asked the first person I met if they knew Profé Virgilio. He answered, "Es yo." (it's me).

In the office/museum of Profé Virgilio.

As soon as he answered a large group of Garifuna all dressed in traditional worship clothing, complete with masks, head dresses, and ankle shells, came past us drumming, singing, and dancing. They stopped in front of the crowd gathered on the porch and continued this for about 10 more minutes. After getting several photos and talking with a few of the kids, they continued on through the neighborhood dancing, singing and drumming. One of the kids was commenting to his friend about Garret's “white hair.” I asked him about what he said and he had never seen “white hair” before. He was in awe. We were then invited into Profé Virgilio's house and he took us into his office which was also a museum of the Garifuna people. We ate cassave, a type of baked tortilla of sorts made from yucca (like potato) special to the Garifuna, and talked with him about the community. He had lived in this community for 70 years (he's 74), had written 14 books on the culture of the Garifuna, and knew specific details about 34 Garifuna communities along the north coast of Honduras. He had traced the Garifuna back 400 years to specific countries of Africa. He is perhaps the expert on the Garifuna people in all of Honduras and we happened to find him this day!

Main street of Tornabé, a more modern Garifuna community.

We also learned from him that there was a great need for people to work with the youth and young adults in these communities. This was a confirmation to us because we have felt for some time that our way into these communities would initially be through the youth and young adults. There is a great need for these young people to have something constructive to do and to have a positive influence in their lives. Many of the problems with the youth here are the same as that of inner city kids, such as gangs, sexually transmitted diseases (like AIDS), and just downright getting into trouble. The future of their communities depends on these kids. One of the things the Lord has put on our hearts is developing a community center in one or more of the Garifuna

Most common transportation in Triunfo de la Cruz is a bike.

communities. These centers would in some way help in the development of the community, be a place where young people could go to have a listening ear, a helping hand, learn a new skill, or just have a place to hang out, eat, play, etc. We can see how our experiences in the past with youth and young adults will be put to use in a project such as this. All of this would be to point to a greater need of having a true relationship with Jesus who can change lives in radical and immeasurable ways through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are really excited about this vision and see God doing a new thing in these communities that will cause others around to take note and give glory to Him!

A deserted pulperia is a potential starting point for a future
community center in Triunfo de la Cruz.

We also visited a community called Triunfo de la Cruz (Triumph of the Cross). This community did not appear to have an evangelical church presence, but did have a Catholic church and a Jehova's Witness church, along with a Dugu worship hut. I have researched these huts and the one we saw in this community was clearly for this purpose (Dugu is a form of voodoo). This community was more isolated from other communities and much of the traditional Garifuna beliefs are still intact here. We believe it may be a potential starting place for us.
(see photos of this trip here)

The boys showing off their care package of goodies and gifts
from best buddies in Oregon.

Homeschooling!

We are happy to announce that we are back to homeschooling the boys again! Although their school here was good for cultural adaptation and learning basics in Spanish, it was beginning to effect their tender hearts and personalities in negative ways. We learned very quickly that being an upperclass Christian school did not mean all the kids were Christians. Unfortunately, both Gavin and Garret had to endure bullying and many other cultural "norms" that were not quite Christ-like. School discipline in Honduras is practically non-existent, and what does exist falls short (it's a non-confrontational cultural thing...). The timing of schooling them again at home couldn't have been more perfect for these reasons and that we met several other missionary families over the course of our Christmas break who homeschool and do activities together. Thank you Lord!

What's next? 

Spanish studies are still coming along. Four months into classes and we think we are near an upper intermediate level. We are told this is very fast considering our level when we began (beginners). We give glory to God for this as we know that he is answering our prayers and your prayers for quick language learning! He is good! (see us in photos and video on the language school website! http://www.ispeakspanish.org)

In the next several months we plan to make monthly trips to the north coast to get better aquainted with the various Garifuna communities. We plan on visiting Sambo Creek again (we visited here in September) where a friend of ours is currently ministering. There is potential here to possibly partner with what he is already doing to have more of an impact and to learn from him. We want to work through the locals as much as possible and through people who are already working in the field to gain insight into the neediest areas and to know where God may want us.

Please pray!

• We will be headed to Belize once more next week for our 6 month visa renewal. Please pray for safety on our drive to the north coast, on our boat ride across the Bay of Honduras, and for no problems with immigration (both there and back). Our boy's passports expire in 6 months so we are slightly concerned about this and getting into both Belize and back into Honduras. We'll be renewing them next month in the capital.
• Pray for ministry opportunities. Many people know about Jesus but do not seem to have a personal relationship with him. It seems these are the hardest people to reach as they think they already know who Jesus is. The Holy Spirit needs to come into their lives.
• Pray for ministry opps. in Belize as well. There is a Garifuna community near where we stay in Belize that we were invited to on our next visit. Pray the Holy Spirit would work on hearts right now and that we would have ministering words to speak to those we talk to.
• Pray for our Honduran residency. It is in process now, but it takes time. We currently have 90 day visas and have to leave the country to renew them. This can be dangerous and expensive.
• Pray for understanding and fluency with Spanish for all four of us.
• Pray for continued wisdom and discernment for us and determining where God wants us.

Thank you for partnering with us in this way! It is your prayers that move the hand of God. HE wants you involved in what HE is doing! It is truly a joy to serve with you. And thank you to those who partner with us financially. You enable us to do God's will here in Honduras. We can't do what we're doing without our team members! If you are moved to pray with us and/or support us financially we could use your help and would love to hear from you! For more info about our ministry visit our Support page. Or just drop us an email to say "Hi!": cwells@caminoglobal.org.

Blessings to you in this new year!

Corey, Kirsten, Gavin & Garret