The House with 2 Smiles

Hola Amigos, The last weekend of August I took on a physical challenge that had been on my list since we moved into our house in the country way back in May, to find out where the road past our place ended. I'd made several exploratory attempts, each time getting a little further, discovering which forks were tributaries and which one led, so to speak to the source of the Nile. I set out on my bike early and brought lots of water, nightfall and thirst had forced me to turn aroundall those other times.I broke tradition and asked directions of everyone I met, though I met few people on the way, mostly woodcutters and people heading for market. Of these most were on foot or horseback. The road wound through beautiful mountain country, past rivers, cliffs, jungle-like forest, cornfields... I felt like Lewis or Clark discovering a new land. Finally after 2 sweaty, uphill, rock-hopping hours I arrived at San Buenaventura where our children's home is located. I was just in time for lunch and the kids were a great audience for my fascinating story. Mountain-bikers come to Honduras! Just remember to bring water and a good tool kit.

For my final health talks to the kids I brought together physical health and spiritual health. I compared the most important health practices: washing your hands and bringing your hands together in prayer and worshipping God,... eating a healthy balanced diet and reading the Bible, The Bread of Life,... exercising daily and the spiritual exercises of love, sharing with Christians and others, too,... avoiding harmful stuff like drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and too much food and staying away from stuff that kills your spiritusl relationship with God, sin. I finished with the Greatest Commandment Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. Mark 12:30. Life takes a total commitment. God wants us whole, body and soul. When Jesus teaches he heals, too.

Our last hike almost didn't happen due to a transportation glich. I had a crowd of excited kids all dressed up with no where to go. Fortunately one of the child care workers had an idea. We all trooped off down the road toward the village and off into a ravine where a water main pours a shower of water into the creek bed. What fun to be with a lot of kids just getting yourself and everyone else wet. To top it off I had a sack of guavas from our tree at home to share with the children. None of our hikes have been walks in the park but always the resilient spirit of the children and staff and God's blessing have turned things around. Just a few days before,

I took the staff on a bush-whack where I totally lost the track home. We had 3 small ones with us ( 4 year olds). Finally by we climbed out up a steep hillside covered in slippery pine needles into a corn field above the children's home. I felt like we'd done Mt Everest. Still they all laughed and were ready to go again the next day.

It´s been such a privilege to have a place of our own while we´ve been here. I´ve enjoyed early mornings on the porch listening to the birds and looking across the valley while I read my Bible and and think about things. Our friend Valerie described our house with its 2 hammocks as ¨The House With 2 Smiles¨. I feel like those are our smiles. Leaving is hard.

Wednesday we got loads of ¨valentines¨ ,hugs, and kisses.I got a list of all the kids birthdays and hope we can get messages to them through the year. We caught a ride with a friend and swung by to pick up our luggage only to find that some one had broken in and taken it. After the shock wore off, we took comfort in the fact that our passports and credit cards were left behind and that we´d already given away quite a lot. Actually, what we really have is what we gave away - I´m thinking of gifts of love and work that build up friendships. Those we have plenty of. We´ve got those ¨love notes¨ to prove it.

Don´t forget to pray and act for peace and justice in Honduras. We spent one of our last days here with Juan and his wife, local community activists. Juan remembers when he was a student in the 80´s and the difficult times in El Salvador. He thinks the situation here and now is very similar. They are praying and working with others to build toward a more just society. So much money that should go to pay social workers and community health workers like them has been lost to corrupt and inept politicians, leaving people like them unemployed. We visited a beautiful library that was built in this poor barrio. The Global Village helped build it, and the Reicken Network filled it with books, but the mayor´s office has not come through with operating expenses for months now.

This is my last note written in Honduras. Friday night September 11th we´ll be arriving home in Seattle. The job hunt begins anew. Thanks so much for all your support, prayers, and kind thoughts while we´ve been away. I plan to keep up the blog so stay tuned. Gil.