Hello from Honduras. We are all doing fine although a little warm and envious of the news of colder weather in the U.S. Robert has been working some with finances at church and within the ministry. Jennifer has been busy making and teaching crafts in her spare time. The Bridge House is doing well, too.Over the past year, we have been working through some areas that have been in need of change. We have added full-time work as a requirement for every young adult along with our college scholarship that we have always offered. And as the young men and women in our house have shown their preparedness, we have added more financial responsibility along with training, getting them more ready for adult life on their own. It has been a transition, definitely for them all, but they have done well with it. We have even had some friends donate the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University videos and we have been viewing them weekly with the Bridge House and have enjoyed some good discussions. That’s been a great video series for us all.
At the end of 2009 we anticipated several new youth moving into the Bridge House as they graduated from high school. This new group of youth that have just moved here from Rancho Ebenezer have come to us more prepared than ever before for the added responsibilities and challenges they face while transitioning to independence. They have embraced the requirements of our new Bridge House policy and have been enthusiastic about working and earning their own income. They have all been successful at finding jobs and have great attitudes toward work. This change in policy has given our youth more freedom to step into what they truly want to do at this stage in their lives. Our focus used to be almost entirely on university education but we found that that did not meet the ends of most youth in the house. As our youth accept more adult responsibilities, they are being much better prepared at a faster pace to begin pursuing the path they desire.
Please keep our youth in your prayers. The transition they are making is challenging for any young person thier age, but even more so in the third-world culture and economic environment we live in.
In looking for new ways to save money, we are shifting our internet U.S. phone line to a cheaper company, hoping that it will still work well for us. Our new MagicJack phone number is (559) 639-5933. It is a U.S. phone number so that if you call us, you don't get charged for an international call. So...please feel free to call us.
1st photo: NADETIE-teaching at a bilingual school and plans to start studying architecture soon
2nd photo: OBED- working with local cable company, loves sports and plans to start studying soon to be a PE teacher
3rd photo: NILSY- marrying “missionary kid” from North Carolina, where she will continue studying psychology/social work
4th photo: MARIA- working at a daycare, waiting for final acceptance of Sam Walton scholarship for college
5th photo: NANCY- working at a local coffee shop and plans to study engineering
Left photo: Conrado (our Honduran "uncle") spent an evening with our youth challenging and motivating them on how to set big goals in life and accomplish them. He has been a great mentor to Robert and Jennifer on how to best prepare the youth at the Bridge House.
Center photo: Enjoying each other at Nilsy's bridal shower before she left for her wedding.
Right photo: Nilsy and Maria helping sale products with Jennifer at a local craft fair. It was a good day together. Nilsy has helped in several shows and was a joy to have around
Right photo: Several of us went to the airport to see Nilsy off as she flew to North Carolina to get married.
