We are finally on line with our own wi-fi connection.  Charlie told us we can even take the sim card out and place it in our phone to call home.  He does not know our technology skills very well yet.  However, we will get brave and try it eventually.

La Ceiba was incredible.  The memorial for Teresa was a great tribute to a wonderful selfless servant.  The orphanage appears ready, it just needs kids.  We partnered with Mount Horab Church putting on a women's conference (the men babysat), revival services and vacation Bible school at a church plant in El Pino.  El Pino is also where Living Water Ranch is located.  It was humbling to see nearly one hundred people worship in a vacant lot with a tin cover over a dirt floor.

It was strange waving goodbye to the rest of the team and then venturing out on our own to Orphanage Emmanuel in Guimaica. If you have heard wild stories about landing at the airport in Tegucigalpa, they are true and cannot do the actual event justice.  We will just leave it at that.  You must experience it yourself.

There are close to 600 children at Emmanuel ranging in age from infant to late teens.  Twenty-four full time staff members and volunteers work 12 hour shifts daily.  The staff members take one day off every three weeks, while the volunteers have Sundays off.  If it sounds intense, it is.  The day begins at 6:00 am.  The children start with a morning devotional lead by one of the staff members or volunteers.  They eat breakfast and clean their dormitories by 8:00.  School begins for the majority of the children at 8:30.  At that time the staff, volunteers and children that do not attend classes go to their other jobs.

Joany works the infant house.  She is the grandmother to 12 babies.   Feeding, rocking and changing diapers seems to take the majority of her day.  However, she is getting to establish a great relationship with some of the young mothers of these babies.  Spanish lessons are included and at no additional cost.

 I do odd jobs around the facility.  It mostly involves walking back and forth across the grounds searching for spare parts and tools to fix things such as tile fixtures, sinks, commodes, water lines, clothes dryers and showers.  I even helped  with the chickens one day, and fed the pigs another.  The swine barn brought back great Kermit and Knox City memories.  I want to be a pig farmer when I grow up.

We looking forward to the next team of volunteers that arrive on Saturday.  Of course we have a vested interest in this group because they are from Grace Point.  Continue to pray for us, Orphanage Emmanuel, Living Water Ranch and especially pray for the church plant in El Pino.  God is doing incredible things here.

Honduras Bound

We are finally able to edit our site.  What a relief.  The past few weeks have been extremely frustrating for two reasons.  First, we could not log into and edit the site.  Second and perhaps the biggest, setting up a new site as good as the one Whitney and Michael set up for us was next to impossible.  The greatest computer guru in the world (Anna Sexton) could not find it.  The Apple Store tech could not.  I could not, but Joany did. (and we all say wow!!)  Joany is the new techno wizard.  

As we begin our journey, we will periodically post thoughts, stories, and comments about our adventures or "escapades." Before we go any further, let us answer some of the "burning" questions many of you may have:

• Why now during the middle of the school year?  (TAKS, EOC, TELPAS, need we say more? Not really)
• Do you speak Spanish?   (no, but we are staying at a Holiday Inn Express)
• Isn't it dangerous down there?  (so is 5 o'clock traffic)
• Will you miss your family?  (Skype and FaceTime, need we say more?)
• What if you get sick?  (We will go to the doctor)
• And finally, What if a plane flies over and drops a load of manure on your head?  No, wait, that is my answer to the previous question.

In all seriousness, here we are sitting in a hotel room in Houston anticipating our flight to San Pedro Sula and the "roller derby" type ride to La Ceiba.  This is the most exciting time of our lives.  Why?  Because for the first time in our lives we are truly stepping out in faith.

When God speaks we must respond.  Henry Blackaby calls this a "Crisis of Belief."  How we respond demonstrates where we are in our walk with Christ.  Isaiah 6:8 says;  "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send?  and who will go for us? And I said here am I.  Send me!"  So, here we are.  Partner with us in our journey.  Pray that God gives us clarity in our mission, and that we never lose sight that this all about Him.    

Hey NeeNee, say hi to Dada.

Summer Break

Summer has arrived and we are gearing up for our next adventure. However, before we do, I must brag about the students of Fox Tech. This years class of seniors are incredible. As teachers, we always have one or two students every year that you know will achieve greatness in life. Once in a blue moon you have an entire group that you sense greatness from. From this group of seniors future leaders in business, industry, medicine, law and numerous other fields of endeavor will arise. I moved to SA three years ago with idea of making a difference in the lives of inner city kids. The opposite has happened. They have truly impacted my life in positive ways far beyond my wildest dreams.

We will spend time in Del Rio, Colorado and yes, Branson, MO. You know you join the ranks of the older crowd when Branson is on your travel list. We will have a great time with the Steigers. We must name the trip "Bob and Rob's Excellent Adventures?"

Mitch will finish the first phase of pilot training at the end of June. We will Travel to Del Rio for the end of his training. I know both he and Christy are looking forward to the next phase. Of course, that means a move somewhere else.

Michael is deployed and will not be back until sometime in the Fall. Whitney is spending time between Oklahoma and Texas. We are looking forward to her visiting SA. Continue to pray for Michaels safety as he performs his duties in the Middle East.

Marshall is the Cadet Commander for BCT (basic cadet training) at the Air Force Academy this summer. We are looking forward to traveling to Colorado Springs for a chance to see him in action. Of course we will have to try the jeep out on some rugged mountain trails (perhaps in the Pitkin/Tincup area.

The real deal

So my parents refuse to update their blog even though I spent most of a sunday creating it for them. So until further notice, I will be making their posts. Picture sitting between Rob and Joany for a full three hours listening to them be indecisive on how they want their blog to look. Once I would make an update, they would decide that they wanted something different. Whitney was really proud of my patience (praise the Lord for that). I hope you enjoy my parents through the eyes of Michael. Robert said,  "So today was a good day, I spent an hour talking to Michael and Whitney on the webcam, and I only talked about updating the blog once (which I still won't do). We are looking forward to the summer and not updating our blog." I hope you enjoyed this edition of my parents through the eyes of Michael. There will be more updates. 

Our Latest Purchase

We decided our kids no longer needed to be the cool ones in the family. To combat this, we made a small purchase. Much to the chagrin of our eldest son (who's a little up tight), we bought a brand new jeep. Why you might ask, "because we can." It is a blast to take our top off (the jeep's) and ride through the city. We no longer live in the country so we can't go off roading through the mud of Dimmit or West Texas, but it's still fun. It's a black hard top and it is sleak. Now we can load up Jake in the back seat and go anywhere we want. Who knows what we will do next, but guaranteed, it will be "because we can."

Our first trip to the "Blogosphere"

Today we had family time with Whitney and Michael. We had them set up our first blog. We are so hip and in over our heads. There will be many phone calls to Michael and any other family members below the age of 25 who are willing to help us. Next adventure, IPhones and laptops (more technology we don't understand).