Do you hear what I hear?

Besides the name of this post being one of my favorite Christmas songs, I honestly want to post about what I hear. I've been struck by the meaningfulness of sounds recently and wanted to share my thoughts.

I hear children reciting scripture in Spanish and English. Never underestimate the importance of memorizing scripture. We teach them the meaning of the verses too. God is present in our school.

I hear motorcycles and taxis race past my house. I live in a city. It's a small city, but this is a first for me (except for a few months spent in London). I'm surrounded by people all the time, I see at least 5 people I know every time I walk to the Centro. It can be hard to find time alone. Time with God. But I make a point to do that.

I hear Christmas music. This season of celebrating Christ's birth has been different in many ways that I would typically celebrate. I mean, you should see our crazy decoration. :D I'm filled with thankfulness though. Starting new traditions with friends, teaching the true meaning of Christmas, having the chance to go to the US for Christmas.

I hear laughter. From small children. From my friends. Laughter is hugely important to me. I love to laugh hysterically with my friends over silly things. I love to hear my students laugh when I say and do ridiculous things.

I hear the voices of my friends and family on Skype. Keeping in contact with my friends and family is important to me. It can be really hard at time, but Skype call is always worth my time. I am content where I am and I don't desire to be home more that I desire to be serving God here, but man, is it good to hear their voices and see their faces. Living so far from home has certainly brought it's challenges.

I hear water running very slowly. That is my washing machine. I fill it with buckets of water. It's one of many appliances that only sort of works. The list is long, so I won't bore you, but trust me when I say flexibility is one of those things you learn fast and are constantly challenged in as missionary.

I hear dogs barking and men working. These are the two most annoying sounds to me. No joke. First of all, we have about a million dogs that live in a 1 block radius of our house. They love to howl at night and bark all day! The auto body shop that is just over our back wall is run by the most hardworking men in Honduras. They work from 6am to 8pm sometimes. ESPECIALLY ON SATURDAY. Guys, just stop.

I hear rain on the roof at night. I love to sleep when it's raining. We have actually had fantastically sunny and warm weather that last 2 weeks (odd for december here). Making it through the 2 months of cold and rainy before that tested my patience. you expect to always be warm in a tropical country, even when taking a cold shower, but that is jut not the case here for November and December here. You can go weeks without seeing the sun and without feeling warm.

I hear children yelling "Teacher! Teacher!". This alternates between annoying and adorable. When my 1st graders run at me in a pack for a group hug while yelling "Teacher!", it's adorable and I love it. If my 2nd graders are working on an assignment and are yelling "Teacher!" when they need help instead of raising their hands....that's annoying. My response to that is "Don't "teacher" me right now!" I love my job and I love my students. I am blessed and thankful to have the chance to teach here this year.

I know this is a short post for me, but that's all I have to say for now. Check out my face book page for some recent adventures and Christmas pictures. I wish you a great Christmas filled with family, friend and Jesus.

"Said the shepard boy to the mighty kingDo you know what I know?In your palace warm mighty king.Do you know what I know?A child, a childShivers in the cold.Let us bring him silver and gold!"

A Story Worth Telling...

Here goes take two! My first, nearly finished post got erased! That's the worst! Anyway, now that I've checked that at least this little bit is saved...here goes again!

I was very fortunate to have the Thanksgiving weekend off. Since we're a private school, we can kind of pick and choose which Honduran and which US holidays we celebrate. It was a much needed break. On Tuesday night, we tackled the mammoth task of cooking an almost traditional Thanksgiving meal for our fellow Honduran teachers. We were cooking for 20! We brought it to school Wednesday and it was enjoyed by all! You should be impressed at our culinary and transportation skills. (: The next night we cooked up a storm again, preparing for the Thanksgiving potluck at our pastor's house. I made potato soup and eggnog. All the food was delicious and the fellowship was great!

We're obviously starting a band.

Jungle River Lodge

Early friday morning, Amanda M, Jenna, Kaley and I began our La Ceiba Adventure (aka Thanksgiving Break 2012) with a....light rain and a long walk to the bus station with heavy backpacks weighing us down. We were lacking the proper excitement for a beach trip, so we took turns giving pep-talks about how awesome the trip would be once we got out of cold, rainy, Siguatepeque. We took a bus called a "rapidito" to San Pedro and scarfed down some breakfast baleadas while waiting for our next bus. Mirna bus lines provided us with a cheap, sketchy, direct bus ride to La Ceiba. Gotta loves buses! Once we arrived in Ceiba we wandered for a little while and were fortunate to find their rather large mall. We opted for American food for lunch because we knew lots of cheap, Honduran, street food was in our future. Subway was my choice. Is there anything more delicious that a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie? No, there is not!

The Rio...

The next leg of our journey was a jaunt into la selva (jungle). We hired a taxi for a staggering price of 17$ to drive us about 1/2 into la selva to a place called Jungle River. A small, slightly odd hostel that is actually located on a river! This taxi driver was an expert at fording rivers, avoiding cavernous potholes and talking. Do we know Raul's life story? You bet! Jungle River was beautiful and relaxing. We hiked down the river some for a swim and some hilarious risky moments. That night we all took freezing cold "showers". Can you really call a faucet in a dark closet a shower? Not sure. Dinner was delicious Honduran food. Our room was delightfully odd. It was tiny, but had a loft with a bed in it. We squished 4 ladies into 2 beds and shared a bathroom with no door. Definitely a fun experience. We woke up early again, knowing that the bus back to town was coming pretty early. As we were paying, the owner told us it was coming any second! We made a mad dash for the road and got to the bus stop just in time. After the bus stopped, the back door opened and revealed to us a very full bus. We stood in the back, where a couple seats had been removed to make room for luggage, bags of beans and coffee, 5 men and 4 gringas who are always looking for adventure.

We took this bus as far as we could and caught another bus to Sambo Creek. We had plans for a day on the beach. Clouds did not deter us! We were sure that once we got to the beach, it would be sunny. A little naive, but don't doubt our power to wish a sunny day into existence.We got off the bus right next to the "Bienvenidos a Sambo Creek" sign and walked toward the ocean. We reached the beach and asked directions to the hotel we were headed for. This is a direction quotation "There's no road there from here, you need to walk down the beach about a mile". This wasn't the best news we'd heard all day, but a walk on the beach is always fun. Unless it's raining, and you end up having to cross a river and get your jeans soaking wet. We did successfully find our hotel.

We're also pretty good at Spanish and we know what "Cerrado" means. Closed. Great. Luckily there was a swanky hotel next door that told us for the low, low price of 30L ($1.50) we could hang out for the day. Gracias! Muy amable! (Very kind). We donned our trajes de bano and prepared to enjoy the ocean. The sun slowly made a glorious appearance and we were able to fully appreciate that we were standing on a beach, on the edge of the jungle, looking at a majestic mountain range. Awesome. God's world is incredibly beautiful. We wrote crazy things in the sand, swam like fishes in the ocean and sunbathed by the pool.


Around lunch time, we hiked back to the highway and caught a bus back to Ceiba. This bus ride, like all bus rides in Honduras was eventful. We got on the bus, noticed how nice it was, and held on as the driver sped off. Maybe the brake pedal wasn't working, or maybe he just enjoys driving like a maniac. Either way, he barreled down the highway, passing every car, bike and truck, especially on turns. Amanda and I exchanged many terrified looks on the short ride. We were thankful to get off and head to the hostel Jenna knew about. She assured us that despite horrible reviews, she'd stayed there before and enjoyed it. We ditched our bags in another small room, with another cold shower and head out in search for lunch. Asking locals about eateries is always a good choice. We were pointed to a delicious typical restaurant and thoroughly enjoyed our baleads, pastelitos, enchiladas. Yum!!


We enjoyed some ice cream next and did some mandatory souvenir/ Christmas gift shopping, then went back to the hostel to change for dinner. We decided to dressed up and go to a nice Honduran restaurant at a water park nearby. I recognize how strange that sentence was, but I can't change the truth. The whole night was fun and relaxing.


We woke up early Sunday morning (WHY must you always wake up early whilst traveling?!) and went to the bus station. If you've been counting...this is the 6th and final bus. It took us about 5 hours to get home and we were so glad to see the "Bienvenidos a Siguatepeque" sign.

I am thankful and blessed to have great friends who double as co-workers and travel buddies. I'll do an update about my life soon. For now, enjoy this story and these pictures!



"My heart says of You, “Seek his face!”
    Your face, Lord, I will seek."

"Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart    and wait for the Lord." 

  ~Psalm 27: 8, 14

How much can I really handle?

This is a question I asked myself not too long ago. I was feeling overwhelmed. I was having trouble seeing that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.  Changes in teaching staff and administration, difficult students, being sick, being homesick, thoughts about the future, concern for the difficulties my students face, etc., were robbing my peace. I felt like my world was tilting. God, I really don't think I can handle one more thing. My prayer was said in agony. We all know the drowning feeling of one too many things piled on our shoulders. Thankfully, things started to look up quickly. God spoke as I quieted down and sought Him. It turns out, I can "handle" more. I know this for one main reason. God wants to carry my burdens. Trouble, trials and pain are are literally promises to Christians. But so is the constant presence and help of God, both in times of need and when things seem to be just fine. So, my peace didn't come when I decided I was strong enough to take care of my own problems, it came when I realized that "when I am weak, then I am strong." I gave my worries and my stress back to God. I can't change any thing! I have no answer to any of my problems. Peace comes when we let God be in control of everything, especially the things we can't control, but desperately try to.

Even though I was recovering from an awful stomach bug this week, I was significantly more upbeat  than I have been in a while. More deeply joyful. I had more to give to my students. I feel myself putting forth more effort in my classes, simply because I wasn't wasting all my energy on stress. Hey, I can even stay awake during my lunch break now, a significant accomplishment - I promise.

We had exam week last week. No one can really imagine how hectic such  a week really is, unless you've experienced something similar. First and second grade exams are mostly oral...it took so much time to test all our students. I also had to make up worthwhile, educational activities for the whole week for all my classes to work on while not testing, because we don't do any of our normal curriculum. Phew!! I'm glad we're back to normal school. I did have fun doing the conversation section with my 2nd graders. Most of them giggled through the whole thing. So adorable!! I also included a funny question about buses on the grammar exam for my 8th graders and enjoyed watching them look at me as they go to that question, laugh and say "Teacher!?". It was great.  The first week of this parcial went very well and I am looking forward to starting a new week tomorrow (I started this Sunday night). Now, it's Monday night and I had a great day at school today. Highlight of my day was definitely reforzamiento (reinforcement). I kept 3 of my 2nd graders after school and I had a great time tutoring them. Working with them in a small group helped me catch them up on what they haven't been doing well on in class and gave me a chance to connect individually with them. I mean...I keep the cutest ones on purpose...just kidding! They're all the cutest. :) Also, last week my 8th graders wrote letters and one of my boys, Dilson, wanted to write a letter to his Dad who lives in the US. I told him if he knew the address I would send it. He wrote the letter and asked me to proof read it for him. I began to cry as I read it. "Dad, I really miss you. We need you here at home. I want you to meet my friends and watch me play soccer." It was absolutely heartbreaking. He came to school with a big smile on his face last Wednesday and handed me a post-it note with an address on it. We grinned like fools at each other.  It's possible that no one in his family has ever sent a letter. Sending and receiving mail isn't something people do here. I'm so glad to be able to send this letter for him.

One thing that has a been a blessing to me recently is Skype. I've gotten to Skype with a number of friends and my parents recently and while it usually makes me homesick to see their faces and hear about what they're doing, I love it. Every second of it. The laughter, the serious conversations, the funny faces, the "hugs" from Patrick, did I mention the laughter?

As I write this, I'm thinking about how it's only 1.5 weeks until Thanksgiving and only 6 weeks until I come home for Christmas. 6 weeks! Where did all the time go? I'll be getting together with a bunch of other Americans to celebrate potluck style. It's going to be really fun! Also, we're hopefully going to La Ceiba for our long weekend. It on the coast....YES! Beach!! :) Just so you all know, I'm really excited about being home for Christmas this year. I didn't come home last year and that was a good experience but definitely difficult. If you live near me, I'd love to see you!! I only have 2 weeks so I won't be able to travel out of NY at all. Alright, that's all for now. I'm including a few random pictures....

I love and miss you all. Be encouraged by this verse:

"But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

~ 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I....spend lots of time in this hammock. :)

One of my fav places in town...walk to the Mennonite store!

Scariest bridge ever!

Out for lunch with my companeras! 

We moved all the furniture in out house in one day!

When it rains all the time...you have dance parties.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer...

As I have considered this week where to go with my blog, I've kind of drawn a blank. It's not like a lot hasn't happened, maybe I'm overwhelmed by the thought of getting all of it into one post. I wish I had pictures to post. It's one of those time where pictures could do a better job explaining than I ever could with words.

I'll start with my house mates. When I was in college I had the incredible privilege of living with some really amazing women ("Perkins 43 and friends" shout out) and I loved that. I wasn't sure what to expect from life once I moved into the big scary "real world". I mean, my friends and I were all headed different directions; grad school, missions, jobs, etc. I knew we'd never live together again, but I loved the idea of living in Christian community. This year I get to experience that again. Did I move in with my best friends? Nope. A handful of very different women, for various walks of life, were thrown into two neighboring houses. The nickname of our house? "Hotel Gringa" (term for white women). The hang out spot? Living room of the yellow house (where the internet works the best). The place you know you can find all of us? On the corner by Mercadito Ashley where we catch the bus, 7am every Monday through Friday. Also, you're likely to find us having crazy dance parties late at night, cooking and eating dinner together, staring at our washer as it makes weird noises, shaking our fists at the internet when it cuts out at inopportune times, eating baleadas at Norberta's, and eating ice cream at the Mennonite store. Suffice it to say, we like to spend time together. I am often blessed and challenged by these women and I am so thankful to be able to work and live with them.

You also need to know that, the more Spanish I speak and the more hilarious English I listen to, the worse my English is. I mean, it doesn't even phase me my when my students say "Borrow me one pencil, please!" or "Teacher, what we make next in class?" (note that "hacer" means make AND do....so spanish speakers often mix up the two in English). The nice things is that, as my English skills deteriorate at an alarming rate, my Spanish skills are improving. I'm picking up more and more idioms, becoming comfortable with making jokes and earning respect from my students when I understand everything they say in Spanish. I stubbornly speak to them in English most of the time, so our conversations sound crazy I'm sure.

Now about my students. I think I love them too much. I am so attached. Each of my 65 students that I teach everyday has a special place in my heart. The first- graders are just so cute and some of them try so hard at English. Others babble to me in Spanish and I respond in English and they just stare and me and say "Que?!". They are all the CUTEST and the FUNNIEST! Of course there are always the days that Josue just will NOT stop calling out in class and Meylin will NOT stop talking to her neighbor and Axel just doesn't understand a THING you say. But despite the hard and frustrating days, they are a joy to teach and have fun with. Great things have been happening in 2nd grade. Everyday I can tell that they are learning more and more English. We have exam week the last week of October and I'm a little nervous about that, but I think most of them will do well and it will be a good chance for me to see who isn't doing quite as well as I thought they were. I have also noticed my attitude toward that class has much improved. For a while, I wasn't sure how well I was going to connect with that class and we still have our rough days, but I genuinely like them and enjoy teaching them now. 8th grade, oh 8th grade. I couldn't enjoy this class more, but I've noticed how my tiredness transfers to them. If I am especially exhausted, my class just sits in their seats slumped down with a blank look on their faces. Well, let me tell you, no learning happens on those days! I have been doing something I really enjoy, which is doing a different "Who is Jesus?" devotion each week. We look at a different passage of scripture each Friday, always a story about Jesus or one of his teachings and talk about what this passage tells us about Jesus. I have the freedom to do this, so how could I possibly pass up the opportunity? This week, I was reading a book and it talked about not even talking about the biggest most important things in your life until you'd given them over to God in prayer. I prayed a lot about school and for my students the last two weeks and last week, God showed me that I NEED to be praying for each of my students. My biggest prayers for each of my classes are this: First grade: I need wisdom to know the best way to teach the material and WHAT to teach. 2nd grade: I need true love and deep patience. 8th grade: I need energy and enthusiasm at the end of a long day. This last week, I struggled with feeling like I was getting nothing done in class and not making a difference here in Honduras. I think I worked most of it through with God, but keep praying that those things don't become a problem again!

I don't feel like I have the time or space to fully explain what I think God has been teaching me in the last two months. A quick explanation would be patience, learning to be content, and what living more like Christ looks like everyday. I'm sure God will keep teaching me in these areas, and I will elaborate on them in the coming weeks. Promise!

I have a few fun bus stories. If you haven't figured this out yet, I love buses. Like, a lot. A couple weeks ago, I got to ride the Titanic home. Now, the Titanic is the coolest bus in town and I've been dreaming about riding it for about a year. One evening, we were standing on the edge of the highway, looking for a taxi, and out of the fog and light rain, come the Titanic. In an extremely impulsive move, we flagged it down. I was literally jumping up and down, I was so excited about riding it. Did I mention we had no idea where it was going? Haha! Even more fun! It took us generally the right direction and we walked from the closest stop. Also, this last week has been awful rainy and both of our buses lack some essentials, like windows. I mean obviously there are windows on the bus, but a few are missing and a few don't stay up. I've gotten wet more times that I necessarily like to this week. Last bus story is from today. We went to the lake for lunch today. I mean...less than 10$ for two bus rides and a delicious lunch. Who would pass that up? Not me! Our first bus ride was rather uneventful. Now, the 2nd was more exciting. The aisle was literally only 8 inches wide AND the man sitting next to me was just taking up way too much space AND the small child sitting in front of me was throwing a huge tantrum AND the lady behind me was singing along to every song on the radio. Oh...buses!

I should stop for now. With the mood I'm in, I could write all night. Sorry it's been three weeks since my last post! I hope you are all well. I always love to hear from people about how they're doing or prayer requests....so feel free to email me! (christine.rankin10@houghton.edu)! I miss and love you all!! 

P.S. This scripture has meant a lot to me the last two weeks. Meditate on it if you have the time.

Romans 12: 9-18

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Time speeds by!

Wow, it's hard to believe that two weeks can pass so quickly.  SO much has happened since I posted last. Really it feels like the 6 weeks I've been back have sped by like an out of control motorcycle (of which there are many in Honduras!)

I'm really getting into the swing of things as far as school goes. When I posted last, I had only had a few days of school. Now, I've got three weeks under my belt and I'm a pro....NOT! It turns out I am teaching 2nd not 4th this year. Jenna and I switched classes for a variety of reasons. It was a hard switch for both of us, but it was best for the students! First impressions on my classes: I assist in 1st grade and these kids are so adorable, it's hard not to just constantly hug them. Luckily for me, one of them is always trying to hug me or hold my hand. Love it! They are generally cooperative and eager to learn. They are a bit chatty, so it's been a struggle to find seat assignments that result in the most amount of work happening and least amount of children being a distraction to each other. I'm convinced this first grade seating situation is harder than a wedding seating chart! I teach 2nd grade with the assistance of Hayden and everyday brings a new challenge. At this age they have enough English to get their point across, but there are some days I don't understand a thing they say and letting them speak in Spanish is always my last result. When I get to class they always greet me with an enthusiastic "GOOD MORNING, TEACHER CHRISTINE!!!" They are so loving and high energy. I really do enjoy teaching them :D. As a class they struggle with talking too much. Some days I want to say, "Dear Students, I just want to teach you English. Please be quiet." Other days I can't help but smile at them the whole time. They try so hard with their English. It's so cute! 8th grade is the other class that I teach. I actually only teach half of them and Hayden teaches the rest. What can I say. Some days I'm tempted to think they are perfect. They're not of course, and they struggle with normal teenage problems, but they seem to be an unusually great bunch of kids. Our curriculum for 8th grade is less structured than 2nd grade so I have more freedom to do creative things. We have our English books that we work out of everyday and we practice our spelling/vocab words each day but past that, we've got a bit of time for conversation practice and fun!  I think the biggest lesson I'm learning right now is that when I don't have the strength, God does. I mean He really can and does give you strength and ability to do things that normally you wouldn't be able to do. Philippians 3-4 and the whole book of Titus have been where I've been studying and studying these two weeks. Just reading and speaking words of truth into my life. Phil 3:12 especially has been on my heart lately. "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." God has placed me here and I will find a way to live how He wants me to and be content with whatever He places in my life. 

Right now, I'm torn between telling you what a normal day looks like and sharing some things about my life that give me joy (mostly about my students!). I'll start with what my day looks like:
I get up about 6 and stumble around. Some how I manage to eat breakfast, get dressed, pack my bag and get out the door by 7. The bus comes around 7 and the fun really begins. Our buses are old, bumpy, missing windows and driven by skilled Honduran men. We have the best time ever. Seriously. 8am is start time for all our classes! I actually have a break from 8-9 in which I read my Bible, lesson plan etc. 9-10 I spend with 1st grade. SO CUTE!!! Then I take 8th grade for a bathroom break and chill with them for a little while while their teacher gets a break. 10:30-11:30 is the morning half of 2nd grade. We doing our English Zone workbook usually and phonics. 11:30-12 is our lunch time. The moms of the children in the school actually help cook. The food is muy muy rico! (yummy) 12:05-12:50 is afternoon 2nd grade time. Usually we start strong with spelling and then practice the Bible verse we're memorizing and usually read a book. Then comes the super fast mental switch because 8th grade starts at 1pm. 1-3 is 8th grade English. We are all very tired by this time, but we still have a good time! 3pm brings us to the bus again! Monday afternoon we have reinforcement (we keep some children after school and help them catch up on subjects they're behind in) and Thursday afternoons we have teacher meetings/ bible study. We get home around 5 those days. It's a long day. Usually we cook dinner and just chill out for the evening.

Now for somethings that give me joy. The bus ride: we pack 6 kids in almost every seat. It's hilarious. I ride standing up of course and as more children get on, I start playing "kid tetris" it is a "rompecabeza" (puzzle) to get all those kids on the bus! Sometimes when some of the kids get off, I get to sit with my adorable friends. We giggles and talk and have a fabulous time. First graders hugs. The moment I walk into that class, they all start trying to give me hugs. Love it! Sometimes my 2nd graders surprise me and use really fantastic English to answer a question and I say "Great English!" and put them on the happy face. Chatting with my 8th graders. Before we start class, I always just let them talk to me. About whatever they did that day or the day before. Or I ask them questions. They think so hard I think I see smoke sometimes. They make a huge effort to only use English and only in desperation will they ask me for the right word. They love that I speak Spanish, but we only speak that during their recess, other breaks, or on the bus. I'm teaching them Honduran sign language. They love it. Their enthusiasm for it makes it so fun to teach them! They beg me to teach them moremoremore.  I'm also slowly giving my 8th graders nicknames. They think it's hilarious and they're helping me think of nicknames for their classmates.

My birthday was yesterday! In case you didn't know this about me, I love my birthday. I still get little-kid-excited about it. Like bouncing around, announcing how many days left until my birthday for the whole week leading up to it. I'm never really expecting gifts, I just love everything about birthdays. I even love celebrating other people's birthdays, buying or making gifts, planning parties or special days out. Love it! For my birthday I received about 200 hugs. Better than any present I've ever gotten! I also got a bag of fresh picked madarinas from Lorena and a radish from Scarleth and flowers from Ana Lola Laura Veronica Gabriela...She tells me a different name every day. It's our joke. She is so funny! I also got a special birthday lunch made by all of the Honduran teachers and delicious cake! The 8th grade girls sang "Las mananitas", a traditional birthday song, to me as soon as I got off the bus on Friday. The 1st and 2nd grade both sang to me in English and a million children told me happy birthday. I was smiling ridiculously all day. After school we went out for Mennonite ice cream. The best in the world. Then for dinner we went to my favorite Baleadas place and Kaley baked me surprise peach cobbler for dessert! It was a great day. We even caught some of the Sept 28th parade (celebrating the marching of the declaration of independence into Tegucigalpa). The celebrate my birthday every year in Honduras with a parade. Thank you, Honduras. I'm honored.

My weekends have been full of just doing all the things I have no energy for during the week. Laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping. Of course I hang out with my friends, go out for dinner, go to church and read in our hammock. They're usually very restful.

I read Titus maybe five times this week and this passage has been on my heart all week:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Titus 2: 11-14

Thank you so much for reading!! I miss you all and I hope you are doing well! I will post some pictures of my students on Facebook soon! My computer hasn't been working well this week, but hopefully a techy friend is going to look at it to see what's wrong soon! Please pray that I am always loving and patient with my students and that I will have the energy to give my best every single day! 

Just Pictures....

I decided to post pictures from what I've talked about in my last 2 posts....Enjoy!

This is my adorable house!

Helloooooo Destino! You can see the building materials for the Jr. High here!

My super awesome teacher friends!

Baby Kitty Milo!

House visits...You can see Profe Kelin here - she assists me in 8th grade.

Rosa and her brothers! So cute!

Celebrating all the August birthdays! Fun times! 

Que lluvia!! So much rain!

My classroom! 

Beautiful view while hiking at Panacam

Cascada (waterfall) and my friends.

Kaley with her the stick she found that looks exactly like a gun!

First day picture with my housemate Amanda. 

Kids filling the buses at the end of the first day...

...and this is how we squish them in :D ! 

Hiking, Hugs, and Hilarity!

Phew! Things have been pretty crazy around here! I know it's been more than two weeks since I've written - sorry! I wanted to wait until I finished my first week of school to update again. Also, I tired hard to add pictures but the upload failed twice. Scowl! I might try to upload them as a separate post tomorrow.

We made the decision to start school late this year, mostly because we had no water.You can imagine that 300+ people at the school and no working toilets would be awful! (We actually DID start without water, but we had a supply of water with which to flush the toilets. We ran out on Wednesday and things were bad. Very yucky.) So we took extra time to decorate our classrooms, cover a million books (all the text books need to be covered) and just have a good time getting to know each other more. We had a meeting for all the parents of the school, mostly mothers came and it got me really excited about starting school. We gave them all their children's uniforms and told them about new school rules and expectations for the year and I could easily imagine kids filling the seats in each class. That whole extra week we had, I was so antsy to meet my students.

At the end of that week, we went out to dinner with all of the teachers. I thought this was just a normal informal dinner. WRONG! Turns out t-shirt and jeans was.....not quite was everyone else was wearing. I couldn't solve said problem, so I just acted like it was OK. Anyway, we had a great dinner and at the end of it each of us took time to share what God had taught us the last few weeks. Many of the teachers shared how excited they were to work in a truly Christian environment and be able to teach children about the Lord.  Most of us agreed how eye opening it was to visit our students home and see how they live. We can also see God's hand clearly in the ministry and know that is it going to be a fantastic year.

We had a long weekend before school started, so a bunch of us went hiking at Panacam. It was great to just spend some time in nature, far from taxis honking, people yelling on the street, motorcycles racing past my window at midnight. Peace, quiet, friends. It was a great way to spend a Saturday. That evening we went to our pastor's house, just to fellowship and MAN was it raining! We've had some crazy rainstorms since I've been here. I know it's rainy season, but I don't think I'll ever get used to it raining every afternoon! I do so love to sleep to the sound of rain though.

Monday morning, bright and early I hopped out of bead and rushed around my house getting ready for the first day of school! We got on the bus and picked up all the kids. They all look so adorable in their uniforms and they all say "Good morning teacher!!" and give you a big hug. Honduran kids are small so we squish 3-5 kids into a seat. Let me tell you, there is nothing cuter than 5 first grade boys all squished into a seat. When we first got to school, we had an all school chapel service. It was pretty fantastic. All the kids were SO EXCITED to be back and we started the year by talking about King Solomon and how when God said He would grant him anything he asked, Solomon asked for wisdom. We need to ask for wisdom, teachers and students alike, in order to have a great year.
My first class of the day was assisting in 1st grade. They are so cute and I think I finally have their names now, but seriously, about 5 of the boys look exactly alike and there are actually twin girls in our class. Gisel and Jasel. I love twins so much!  After that was my 4th grade class. This week, for everyone, was just review. Games, conversation practice, introductions and getting to know each other.These kids are so stinking smart! I love to hear them speak English, knowing it is their second language and still hearing them put together sentences and ideas that are hilarious at times and deep at others. I love making them laugh and getting hugs from each one of them before they pile on the bus for the day. I didn't start 8th grade yet because our Jr. High building isn't quite done yet. There is a roof over one of the classroom and Amanda and I agreed that a roof is all we need! Doors and windows...not essential!!  I did end up switching to 2nd grade so starting Monday I'll have my first 2nd and 8th grade class!

 Today we spent the day in Comayagua, which is a cute old town about 40 mins from Sigua. It was relaxing and we got to spend lots of time squished in taxis and buses. I have lots of lesson planning to do this weekend AND a couple parades to attend! Honduran Independence Day is Saturday and there are parades tomorrow and Saturday. I love parades and holidays :D. On Saturday at 7am, a bunch of us from my church are going to meet to hand out free coffee and fliers and tell people about our church and the coffee shop we're opening soon! Should be fun!

Just so you all know, I am so out of the loop with all of your lives, so if you want to send me an email and tell me what is up and let me know how I can pray for you, I would love that :D (christine.rankin10@houghton.edu).

I will leave you with one last thought. I was reading in Acts and read this scripture. Wow. The name of Jesus is powerful and He is the only way to be saved!


"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.  Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4: 8-12

Same city, new ministry...

Welcome to my first blog post of the 12-13 school year.

I’m sitting at my dining room table feeling like a real adult. I have a teaching job. I’m teaching 4^th and 8^th grade English and assisting in 1^st grade, by the way! My rent is due soon and the electric. We’re all paid for internet for September, the only catch is that we don’t actually HAVE internet yet. They’ll come or call sometime…We hope. We put the garbage out this morning as I caught the bus to head to school. My fridge is about  10% full of food and sometimes when I’m hungry I remind myself that food is expensive and I can wait until the next meal. I have pasta cooking on the stove for dinner. I have a housemate – fellow Destino teacher, Amanda.  I co-own two cats: Milo and Toby. They haven’t decided if they’re friends yet. We’re going to give it more time before deciding if one needs to be passed to a willing child and family. There is a mercadito across the corner from my little blue house and we’re their best customers. Seriously. We buy all our veggies, eggs, milk and water there. My land-lady, Mina, is very kind and her grand-daughter, Loami, is really sweet. They gave us mantucas the other night (similar to a tamale but better!). So yummy. It’s rainy season so right now I’m enjoying the slightly deafening sound of rain on a tin roof. If you’ve never experience it – it’s a must. 

I’ve much enjoyed my first week and a half here. It’s been filled with lots of time at school having various meetings and bible studies.  It’s been fantastic to be assured that I’ll be working in a truly Christian atmosphere. Each one of us desires to serve the Lord and from that,flows our desire to work hard at the school and share the gospel with each student. Each day we’ve had time to decorate our classrooms however we want! I’m sharing my class room with the 5^th and 6^th grade English teacher and that room will only be used for English. So, right now I have my rules, calendar, “Wall of Amazing”, phonics charts, and bible verse (John 14:6) up on the walls. I’ll soon have my Word Wall and behavior chart up. 

This week we’re doing things a bit differently. There is a visiting group from Georgia and one of the ladies is going to be leading our Bible study each morning. I’ve been asked to translate from English to Spanish for her at least a couple days this week. A voice in me says I can’t do this. I translate from Spanish to English all the time. That’s easy. Going the other way is unimaginably difficult. If it is what God wants me to do this week – I will do it through His strength and clarity of mind – not through any ability of mine. 

 Also today (Monday) we did home visits. This is where the whole teaching staff splits up into 4 groups and goes to find all the houses of our students with the intent of meeting their families, taking prayer requests then praying with the family. We visited close to 20 homes today and have many more to visit tomorrow. Now, if you were thinking that we have addresses, a GPS or even phone numbers for most of these houses, you’d be wrong. Addresses here sound something like this: “The yellow house near the little school, but before the field.”  Please, find that house for me, because we couldn’t. I loved meeting the families and a few of my 4^thand 8^thgraders. When we asked for prayer requests, the first thing most of them would say is that they would be praying for this school year, for the students to succeed and learn and for the teachers to have patience and wisdom. Wow.  These are very poor families that we visited. Some told us heart breaking stories and others were just thankful that everyone in their family was healthy. I am humbled. I am ashamed at how many things I take for granted. Indoor plumbing, windows, a roof without leaks, and a bedroom I don’t share with anyone. The list is endless. I’m very much looking forward to teaching these children and in some way understanding what life is like for them. I look forward to loving and accepting them the way Christ would. I look forward to a year spent among friends, students and other teachers alike. 

For now I leave you with one prayer request for myself and a few for the school. For me, I’ve been having a serious amount of joint pain most of the summer and I plan to go to a doctor to at least get some blood tests done to try to figure out what is wrong. I’m worried. Worrying is not OK. Pray for God to give me peace. For Destino: We have no water at the moment, but the well company FINALLY came today. Please pray that the new well can be dug quickly so we can start school. There is a big complicated mess happening with our electric – pray that it gets worked out quickly and Destino will either not have to pay anything for electric or at least a reduced rate because it is a non-profit ministry. Lastly, our buses are all in varying levels of disrepair. All the children and teachers are bused to the school each day, so to have these working is another necessity before school starts. 

Philippians 4:4-9

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – mediate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. “