We hope you enjoyed a wonderful Easter! We had fun celebrating the Risen Savior! The Saturday before Easter was a most egg-citing day. Most of the kids had not decorated eggs before, so we hardboiled 50 eggs giving them each 2 to dye. When we brought the eggs and dye out, we told the kids what we would be doing. Their reaction was, “We’re doing what with the eggs?” And, “Won’t they break? Then we’ll get the gooey stuff all over our hands.” Quickly they were having fun watching the white eggs change into eggs of color. Some of the older kids asked how they could get more than one color on an egg, and so we told them to hold half of the egg in one color, then do the other half in another color, and, if they want to, they can add a third color by combining colors. Off to the races they went with their decorating. We talked about how like the dye changes the egg, Jesus changes our lives when we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. He gives us the gift of eternal life through His death and resurrection. Sunday we did a candy hunt using bags since we couldn’t find any plastic eggs here. Sunday night the Big Family attended church together.
In April, we’ve celebrated 5 birthdays. Dayana’s was on April 5. She turned 8 years old. Gaby’s was on April 15, she turned 14 and now joined our older kid’s devotion group. Jorge (also goes by Noel) had his birthday on April 21 and turned 9 years old. Shenice’s was on April 22 and she turned 16 years old. Yulissa’s was on April 25 and she, too, turned 16 years old. We’ve enjoyed lots of cake and ice cream!
Our devotions this month included Paul’s second missionary journey in Acts and James. We finished this last week together doing the Bible School program titled Cave Quest. During our Bible School week, the kids learned that Jesus gives us hope, courage, direction, love, and power through the Holy Spirit. This tied in great with our Acts studies.
It’s hard to believe that another 3 months is coming to an end! Our hearts are touched deeply as the kid’s share their desire for us to stay and some tears are shed. The kids surprised us with a little going away party after devotions. We love seeing God moving in their lives and allowing us to build a relationship with each of them. We pray that our relationship will guide them into a deep relationship with Christ. Again, the two of us talk about the joy we have as we share in the “ministry of presence”…getting to share everyday life together with these kids. What an amazing gift that God gives all of us…the ministry of His presence in our lives. It’s hard to leave, and yet we look forward to seeing family and friends at home. We will be home in MN a bit longer than usual, as our son is getting married. We will be back here in Honduras in mid-September.
We thank you for your continued prayers as we serve God here at the Children’s Home!
In His love,
Christie and Rick
Christie and Rick in Roatan 