Adios Honduras

I cannot believe that I will be leaving in the morning! This month has flown by and I've loved every minute of it. I made friends here in Honduras that I will remember forever. I had completely new experiences, learned more than I thought I could, was put out of my comfort zone, learned to be okay out of my comfort zone, laughed A LOT, loved A LOT, and learned A LOT! Today was the day that I have been looking forward to since the beginning/dreading since the beginning. It is bittersweet, because I am soooo excited about seeing my family and friends, but I am so sad to be leaving the kids here at Emmanuel.

Olivia and I had originally planned to spend the night with the special needs girls, but instead we watched a movie with them after we showered them. It was fun being able to hang out with them. We decided to self timer a picture, which was hillarious and after everytime they would go wild and start cheering. They are precious and I will miss them so much!

But anyways, the other day I was able to take a "sibling group" out. This was so fun, because I know how much my family means to me and I can't imagine how much more they mean to each other here. Not having parents, but only having each other. It is very difficult for siblings here at Emmanuel, because they are all relatively close, but don't really get to see each other much. I got to take Wilmar and his 2 brothers and sister to the Tienda (the store) and we got to hang out for the afternoon! It was fun seeing them get so excited to see each other! Truly warmed my heart.

Today with the Special Needs kids we are talking about God creating the animals this week so we decided to paint their faces like animals. We did over 20 kids, and it was a sight! It was really fun and they enjoyed it. The special needs yard looked like a jungle with all the kids running around.

Tonight, we thought was going to be our last time to shower the special needs girls, but they asked us to come again in the morning. Tonight after everyone was showered we were all sitting on the couches talking. One of the girls started crying about us leaving and then it spread and with 10 minutes, every girl in the house was in tears [including myself]. At that moment, I felt like that was the best thank you present ever (weird I know, tears=present?). But after giving over 400 showers in one month to see every girl in tears over the fact that we were leaving meant so much. I really felt like I had been able to make a difference in these girl's lives despite the fact that I can't speak Spanish. Maybe that is why God had me shower the girls, so I could build relationships with the girls considering my talking to them was limited. God is good! I can't even think about how much I am going to miss the special needs girls. I am used to being with them all day every day, they are so full of joy and can truly lift anyone's spirits. They will be missed dearly.

For dinner tonight, all the volunteers put their food together and had one last meal together. One of the other volunteers, Rachel, taught me to make crepes. I was so excited, because I am actually becoming domestic. Dad, I plan on making you crepes before we leave for Dothan...get excited! But we all sat around and told stories and laughed a lot. It was great hanging out one last time.

I'm going to sleep now! Adios and America...I'll see you tomorrow:)
Nohemy

This is my favorite person at Emmanuel...Her name is Estefany, I plan to bring her to America one day!

Martin

One group for facepainting

Special Needs House

Precious Wilmar

Sweet Family

David

Playing dress up with the special needs kids

Just a few photos...

olivia and I after we got in the shower from yesterday haha

just getting ready to spend the night at the clinic

we come prepared...mattresses and all
thank goodness for foldable foam:)

our last trip into town

heading to guaimaca

puzzle with wilmur

La Clinica= LIFE

Well the 2 boys in the clinic has grown to 5 boys and 1 girl all with chicken pox! It is quite an adventure in the medical clinic (la clinica)! Since there are so many kids in there I have been spending a lot of time in the clinic trying to help a little bit. I've spent the night a few nights and I absolutely love it, the kids are just so precious. Last night I was laying in my bed about to go to sleep and I overheard one of the volunteers saying that her sister was in the med clinic and needed some help because they were acting up. I immediately jumped out of bed, put my shoes on, and went to help hahah! At that moment I felt like a parent and I needed to go take care of my kids...I guess that was a sign that I have been spending a good amount of time with them! Last night I was trying to get Wilmur to fall asleep so I started reading him "Cat in the Hat" well it actually had both spanish and english in it. I decided I would attmept to read to him in spanish, I thought I was becoming so Honduran. As I was reading he would be giggling, because I couldn't read Spanish...I can't even speak it, not really sure what I was thinking! haha We both got a good laugh out of it. About halfway through the book I asked him if he wanted me to read to him in spanish or english and he said ENGLISH...I guess it was that bad!!! I feel so bad for the kids because I know they are so uncomfortable and are bored being confined to a big room or the porch of the clinic. The little girl in the clinic is the big sister of one of the little boys in there, and I love getting to watch her take care of him. The other night his fever just made him extremely irritable and he was misbehaving and acting out of control, so we were trying to calm him down and the language barrier made that really difficult. Sweet Anna with a 102 fever got out of bed, despite the fact that she felt awful and went and layed on the ground next to him and tried to talk to him and get him to calm down. It reminded me a lot of my siblings and how much we all truly care for each other and I know that my siblings always looked out for me and took care of me too, much like what Anna did! There are not that many movies in spanish here, so in the time that I have been there we have watched Stuart Little maybe 9 times and Transformers 11 and then these Spanish cartoons 8 times, and then some other random movies hahah! Hopefully they will start feeling better soon and will not have to be in the clinic for too much longer!

Funny story...in the morning my alarm is set for 5:15, so I have a few minutes before I go shower the girls at 5:30. Well this morning I guess I was really tired, because I didn't wake up until 5:25 (I know it's not that big of a deal, but I usually pop up right when my alarm goes off). So I ran from the clinic to the girls house to go shower them. Well I didn't even look at myself in the mirror this morning and when I got there they all asked me if I was tired hahah. Guess I looked THAT bad:) Anyways they kept making me lay down on the couch because they wanted me to get some rest, they turned off the lights, gave me a stuffed animal, and played with my hair! It was absolutely precious to see them take care of me when I apparently look tired! I think it is so neat to watch the kids here truly act like a family and care for each other, and I guess I'm now a part of their family because they sure did take care of me!

Tonight we went to shower our girls and somehow got extra wet tonight...Olivia and I decided to get in the shower with our clothes on and let them wash our hair! They thought it was hillarious and it really was. Let's just say I am extremely thankful for warm water...their shower was FREEZING!!!! But it was a great memory!

Other than that nothing really new has been going on, this week most of my days/nights have been spent either in the med clinic or showering kids hahah but I wouldn't have it any other way!

I'm still in shock that I only have 3 more days here, this month has FLOWN by! The Lord has taught me more this month than I ever imagined I would learn. It's been an extremely humbling experience where I have learned that I can serve God in anyway that He calls me to, not just the glamorous jobs, but ANYTHING (ex. showering special needs girls everyday, staying with kids who have chicken pox, changing toddlers diapers without wipes, etc.)! And I've really learned about the body of Christ and how we all play different parts, but it works perfectly that way.We all do our part in order to glorify Him. Sometimes we have to serve the Lord in ways that we don't really think He is getting the glory in (ex. showering special needs girls everyday, staying with kids who have chicken pox, changing toddlers diapers without wipes, etc.) hahaha, but ultimately He IS getting the glory through everything that I do! I've also learned what TRUE JOY looks like. If you heard some of these kids stories before you met the kids you would imagine Orphanage Emmanuel to be a dark and angry place, but SURPRISINGLY some of the kids here are the most JOYFUL people I have ever seen. It is such an encouragement to see that people can be happy ONLY because of God. Because according to the world, these people should not be happy, but God has filled that hurt with joy and happiness. Emmanuel is such a special place and I'm getting really sad thinking that I am going to be leaving these sweet kids in a few days. The girls here are so sweet, and despite the fact that I don't speak Spanish they are still so accepting of me. A majority of the time I struggle with understanding what they are saying to me and attempting to talk to them, but we make it work. I've really learned that love speaks all languages and I find that encouraging to know that I can still show them God's love even without talking. Although I do have to say that my spanish is much better. I can somewhat carry on a spanglish conversation with most of the girls. I'm sure I sound ridiculous, because I don't put words in the right order, don't congugate words, and have a funny accent, but I can usually get my point across. I'm about to try and catch on some lost sleep so good night from Honduras!

"And we know that God causes ALL THINGS to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His Purpose." Romans 8:28

Emmanuel

Precious Special Needs Kids in the Craft House

Katie and Wilmur

Katie and Abner

Abner

Wilmur

Hosea Edwardo

Wilmur

I don't know if you can tell, but he is my favorite:)

Hello Honduran Makeover...

Last night, all of the volunteers got to hear David and Lydia's (the people who started Orphanage Emmanuel) testimony at our volunteer meeting. It was really great to hear how they were called to Honduras and just to hear all that they did to get here. They lived every single day by faith and they continue to do so. It is really encouraging to hear people do that, and to see that when we do that God will provide for us. I've been really challenged just to live everyday by faith, because I don't know what God has in store for me, but I know that He does and I have to remember that. I have also just been trying to figure out what ways God wants to use my life to glorify Him. It was awesome to hear about all the stories and really made me appreciate this place even more than I already do!

This morning we did our normal morning activities with the special needs kids. After we finished that we took the most well-behaved ones to the school program. The school program was "The Day of Inidans"...in Espanol of course. But it was so funny, some of the kids were dressed in indian costumes and danced around the circle. Well, that is actually all I got from it, because I could not understand anything that they were saying. It was like a normal school program, just without the parents. That was one of the few times that I remembered that these kids were orphans, you kind of forget about that everyday.

I'm already getting sad thinking about leaving the kids here. I actually got to have a "real" conversation with one of the older girls. She speaks a little bit of english, and I can understand a little bit of Spanish so we made it work. We just talked about life and it was neat to see that the language barrier didn't stop the friendship from happening. She was also working memorizing scripture so she had her Bible out and she asked me what my favorite verse was. It was neat being able to look through the Spanish bible and show her some of my favorite verses: John 13:35 and John 3:30. I know this was something little, but it was a huge step in just building the relationship.

During our afternoon shower time, we got done showering all the girls so we were just hanging out. The older girls in the house always take pictures of themselves with my camera, and so they decided they wanted to take pictures of Olivia and myself. But before we were ready for pictures, we needed a "makeover". Yes we let 4 teenage Hondurans give us a makeover. They made us put on their dresses and HEELS, earrings, and makeup. It was quite an experience. hahah They really had fun doing it and all the girls enjoyed watching. When it was time for our pictures we just used some of the poses that we had watched them do! But, here are some of the pictures that they took of us. It's okay we know we look ridiculous so you can laugh!

The number of little boys in the clinic grew to 3 today, so I am staying here tongiht with them. I am supposed to give them all medicine in 3o minutes so I am waiting around for that. I didn't want to go to sleep because I was afraid that I would not hear my alarm. This is the latest I have stayed up in Honduras and I sure can tell haha! I'm trying to keep myself occupied so I will stay awake. I'm learning what it's like to be a mom, staying up with the kids while they are sick! Mom and Dad, I don't understand how y'all did it when all 5 of us had chicken pox at the same time. I only have 3 and their little cries in their sleep breaks my heart. But I just want to say thank you for taking care of me when I had chicken pox back in the day! Okay well that is all for now. I will be home a week from tomorrow...weird to think about! ADIOS

Ninos at the Indian Program

Peace. Love. Chicken Pox.

Yesterday two of the "small boys" had to go to the medical clinic because he had a rash. I got to sit with them for a few hours and had so much fun! We watched some of the Lion King and did a Lion King puzzle at the same time...pretty intense. And then we took LOTS of photos on my computer! Here are some of them. They just figured out that sweet Joche and Wilmer have chicken pox. Sadly a couple of hours into playing, they both got really high fevers so they just slept the rest of the time. Another thing to help me become a mom...deal with kids with fevers. CHECK! So our clinic duties are starting over. All the volunteers just take shifts staying in the clinic so there is always someone in there. I'm about to go back and spend the night in there. I'll try and have another post tonight from the past couple of days!

Saturday

Katie and a Precious Honduran aka I don't know her name

Just in jewelry making class...no big deal

Sweet Pedro at our Christmas Celebration

Olvin

My Girls

Oscar

Oscar...yes Hondurans can look white to!

The group that went into town...in the "town square"

It just hit me today how time is flying by and I only have about 10 days left! I love it here and don't want to think about leaving these precious kids. Today was a relaxing Saturday which was great to get re-energized for next week. Every Saturday one of the volunteers, Rachel teaches a jewelry making class. Some of us went to it today and made our own jewelry it was so fun!!! I've decided that is going to be a new hobby of mine. We did that for a couple of hours and hung out with some of the older kids while doing that.

Embarrassing story for the day...I went out to the yard to play with the older girls. One of the girls asked me to go get some paper from my house [in Spanish of course]. So I go up to the house and get my notebook and pull some paper out and walk it down to her. Well when I get there all the girls burst into laughter. In Honduras they call everything made of paper, paper such as school paper, kleenex, and TOILET PAPER!! So when she asked me to bring her toilet paper I brought her notebook paper hahah! Good thing I can laugh at myself. This was just my daily comical relief for the girls:) I told them from now on they have to make a distinction between the different types of paper!

My sweet friend Taylor shared this with us today from David Platt's Radical book: "We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes." This is so true especially after coming here, I know that it is going to be so hard to say goodbye to all the kids after building relationships with them!

Buenos Noches.

Feliz Navidad!

We have a lesson plan for the special needs kids so we have been teaching them the story of creation. Yesterday we took them to the court and played with the parachute, which was hillarious. I never thought people could so excited to play with a parachute. It's so refreshing to see the kids get excited about things that I don't really give the time of day for aka a parachute.

Today we took the special needs kids to the "Craft House" and we had a lesson about Genesis 1:1. I learned it in Espanol..."Dios, en el princinpo, creo los cieoles y la tierra"...I think that is it, but as you should know my spanish is NOT good! we took two groups to the Craft House and we did some sand/glue artwork and then colored in coloring books. We decided that we should play Christmas music so we celebrated Christmas in July in Honduras, which was rather memorable. We basically had a dance party with the special needs kids which always makes for a good time! We had the special needs yard singing Christmas carols the rest of the day.



This afternoon we went into the town of Guaimaca. I really enjoy going into town, because it is a nice break from the kids [not that I don't love them, but its fun to just get away and come back to all of it]. We went to the actual "town square" which is tiny, but adorable. I love the people in Honduras they are so precious and friendly. The people sit outside their houses and shops all day long so I love getting to watch them.

I'm still loving it here! I love the kids more everyday, they constantly keep me laughing and on my toes because I RARELY EVER know what they are talking about haha. It's okay I'm learning! Okay well I am going to try and add pictures later tonight, but that is all I know for now!

For the Hardekopfs and Hefners:)

Hello Hardekopf family and Hefners:)
I just thought yall would love to see pictures of Katie here in Honduras! But she is having a blast and the kids LOVE her here. She has such a precious heart and I love getting to watch her interact with everyone here. She goes out of her way to love on the kids. Thats all for now! Adios