Little Milton that COULD!

Once a week at Camp Hope, we have Discovery class. Discovery can encompass a wide variety of activities, but the main goal is to get the students thinking outside the box. This week was the students' first experience with Discovery and we did the "Tallest Tower" challenge. The students broke into groups of 2 or 3, were given simple supplies, and were told to build a the tallest tower they possibly could that stood on it's own only using the supplies given to them.

At first, the students looked at the paper, tape, popsicle sticks, and straw, and then looked at me with completely blank faces. "Build a tower? But we don't know how!" I told them to just start experimenting and doing whatever they could to turn those things into a tower. Pretty quickly, the class of older students got to work tearing and rolling up the paper, taping things together, and hiding their designs from the competition. When it came time to measure, each group in the older class had a free-standing tower.

For the younger class, this task was a little more daunting. The blank faces didn't change as quickly, and one young boy, Milton, looked up at me and said, "I can't build a tower," in tone that suggested the task was ridiculous. I knelt down next to him and assured him that he could, be he continued to insist that it was impossible. He and his partner, Alduvin started to fold the paper with doubtful looks on their faces, and each time I passed by them, Milton looked up at me and reminded me, "I can't build a tower!". Each time, I affirmed that he could. Eventually, Milton and Alduvin had a design in progress that was standing on its own and climbing at the same steady rate as Milton's confidence. By the end, Milton was beaming as he looked around the room, noting that his tower was significantly taller than the others.

When it came time to measure all the towers, Milton and Alduvin's tower was the tallest in the younger class, and even taller than the tallest from the older class. As I announced this, Milton's eyes widened and his grin broadened. At closing, he made sure everyone knew that his tower had been the tallest of them all, very proud of his great accomplishment.

As he walked out the door at the end of the day, I looked down and said, "See, Milton, you can build a tower." He smiled back and me and said, "The tallest one!"

Camp Hope: It’s only the Beginning!

Last Wednesday we started the After School Program in Nueva Esperanza. We had a showing of 27 kids on the very first day! It was a blast, the kids are so excited for every activity we throw their way. God’s faithfulness and grace are evident in every aspect of the After School Program.

Here are a few highlights from all that God did in the first week:

· The weekend before camp started, we visited houses to register children from the community in the program. In each house, the kids were eager to be a part of Camp Hope. Going to into almost each and every home in the community was a blessing for our team because we were able to build trust and relationships with the families, and meet some of the kids before the first day of camp. We’re excited to see how relationships develop as we continue to work in this community.

· It is completely evident that God speaks Spanish. The kids in Nueva Esperanza don’t speak English at all, so the official language of Camp Hope has to be Spanish. For all of us English-speakers, this was a little daunting, but God equipped us with the language skills we need and communication to the kids was clear!

· Probably the most exciting blessing of all is that from day one, we had a youth interested in volunteering with the program. Saraí came the first day and jumped right in. Just having a youth volunteer from the beginning was major, but she was extremely helpful and worked well with the kids, which is even better! By the second day, it was evident that she is an indispensable helper, and has great potential. We are all extremely excited for her to keep coming and to see God grow her in this position of leadership.

All in all, the first week was a success! It is clear that the community wants and needs a program like this and we’re excited to see how God continues to show His power and love as Camp Hope goes on.

Pictures!

So here are a few pictures of our first day of the After School Program (ASP). We had a blast and are looking forward to working with these kids for the next 7 weeks!

This is Kevin Josué. :) Fun, energetic, and helpful!

Coloring and hanging out before things got started

Snack time!

Painting the Camp Hope banner!

Yeslin, Kensi, and Glendy - Master jump ropers!

To see the full album, click below!

Urban Promise Honduras

"Las cuestas cuestan"

"las cuestas cuestan" essentially means, "walking up the hills is a lot of work!" Not so glamorous and cute in english, but it still rings terribly true! Copán is a city of "cuestas" (inclined walkways, aka leg workouts). My favorite part about the cuestas is walking down them, not just because it's easier... haha, but really because the views are spectacular. The hills are blanketed in trees and the sky is a blue that perfectly offsets the green of the land.

This past week has been full of adventures, one of which was a scavenger hunt of the town. We set out with a map (it doesn't get any more touristy than that) and a list of things we had to accomplish. It was a very fun way to get to know the city. Another classic trait of Copán in the Fall is that it rains cats and dogs for about 10 minutes every afternoon because of the humidity. Out of the 8 days I've been here, I've been caught in a torrential downpour and soaked to the bone on 3 separate occasions. Each time, it was quite comical and spurred some nice conversations with the locals.

I also serendipitously was asked to take Spanish classes to learn the hondureñismos and local phrases. I'll admit that before I started classes, I was dragging my feet a little bit, but trying to have a good attitude about it. Little did I know of the blessing that was waiting for me--my Spanish teacher was a local girl my age and we got along like two peas in a pod! I only took one week, and by the end of the week, I was getting a little sad thinking that I wouldn't get to sit and chat with her for four hours each morning the following week. The nice thing is that the UPHonduras Staff hangs out with a bunch of the teachers from the school, so I'll be seeing her around. :) I was just so excited about that blessing that I was totally not expecting. It was pretty sweet.

Working with the UP Honduras team has been new and fun. This week, Alex and I spent most of our afternoons getting oriented with the ministry and getting ready for the After School Program (ASP) that we'll be working with Matt (UPH Staff and ASP director). The ASP starts this Wednesday in Nueva Esperanza, a neighborhood in the hills just outside Copán's center. We've spent the last two days visiting families and getting kids signed up for the program. It's gonna be goooooo-oooood!

I've been lesson-planning for the first week and a half and I'm really excited to see how all this turns out. I'll be teaching Bible, Cooking, and Discovery for the first two weeks and I'm stoked. UPH is all about activity-based lessons, so I'm trying to get the kids moving around and experientially learning as much as possible. We'll see how it goes!

Please be praying for us as we get going this week and work out kinks as it's a BRAND SPANKING NEW program. :)

I have arrived :)

So I'm here. I flew into San Pedro Sula yesterday and rode 3 hours up in to the mountains to get to Copán Ruinas, a very beautiful town nestled in the mountains along the Honduran border with Guatemala.

I've met the Urban Promise Honduras team, and they're great. Matt, Blair, and Rachel are the three "staffers" here, the ones in it for the long haul. There is one other volunteer here, Alex. She arrived with me and will be here for 4 months (as opposed to my 2 month commitment). We are due to get another volunteer in our midst in a few weeks.

We will start orientation on Monday. For now, Alex and I are just getting to know the team and the town. We're meeting friends and making connections. It's been great.

Life and ministry here are very different from what I experienced in Mexico. However, I am trying to keep the wise words of Rick Romano in my mind and heart, as I try not to make comparisons and see what God has for me here without constantly measuring it against Mexico.

Thanks for all your prayers! I will be trying to write as frequently as possible on this short experience here, and as I try to find out where God wants me next.