Christian Ministries to Central America

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:31:00 +0000

Fortunately it was sunny. There is no way this amount of people would have fit into the Center for graduation.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:26:00 +0000

Erica and I with the girls after grad

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:11:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:03:00 +0000

Graduation was on October 30. It was a special day. Even though it was raining all over Honduras, here in Trujillo it was sunny and beautiful. There were between 175 and 200 guests at the Center to celebrate with our graduates.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:48:00 +0000

This is Angelica, one of our second year students. This year, because of your support, we were able to have her eyes checked and purchase her glasses. Her vision was so bad that she couldn't read anything written on the board. Since receiving her glasses there has been a marked improvement in her grades. Thank you for giving her this gift.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:44:00 +0000

This has been a great week. No curfew, no sick girls. There are only three weeks left until graduation, so the girls are busy, studying for final exams and making their graduation dresses. Graduation is a very big event in the lives of these girls, and we try to make it a day they will never forget.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:56:00 +0000

We are still under curfew here in Honduras, but the hours have been changed to only at night which is a relief. Last week we had two solid days of 24 hour curfew. You can only imagine what it is like to be confined in a house with 20 teenagers for two days without the freedom of going out the front gate. The night curfew will probably be in effect until things are more politically stable here - that could take a long time. In the meantime, please continue to pray for Honduras.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:24:00 +0000

Today, because of the political situation here in Honduras, we are under a 26 hour curfew - imagine what it is like to be locked in a house with 20 very active teenage girls. Hopefully the curfew will be lifted tomorrow. Politically things are very serious and we covet your prayers.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:43:00 +0000

The most important part of a pinata --- seeing who can grab the most candy without causing any bodily harm..... only one girl ended up in tears when someone grabbed her earring - ouch.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:15:00 +0000

As you can see, beating the life out of the pinata is very serious business. We all took turns, even me. This is Rosa Idalia taking her turn.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:29:00 +0000

I have to admit I regretted picking a rabbit pinata when I saw the girls begin to beat it.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:19:00 +0000

Sept.10 was the Day of the Child so, of course we had to have a pinata.

Finding an appropriate branch to hang it from was Elda's job

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:58:00 +0000

This is Sinia, one of our first year students celebrating her 16th birthday today. Since March 26 I have made 20 birthday cakes,but almost forgot today's cake. Fortunately I remembered just in time to make it and get her gift wrapped before lunch time.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:32:00 +0000

These are our second year students who will be graduating on October 30, 2009

Meidy, Wendy, Belkis, Keydi, Xiomara, Elda, Norma, Sindi, Angelica, Rosaida

I am really going to miss them!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:20:00 +0000

Thursday we went to the fort here in Trujillo and took group pictures. This is a picture of all of our students attending this year.

In the background you can see the beautiful Trujillo Bay in the Caribbean ocean - our little piece of paradise.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:25:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:05:00 +0000

August 1 was Erica's birthday so we celebrated outside in the yard beside the Center. It was a beautiful, sunny day, as most days are here in Honduras, and we had a great time.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:51:00 +0000

This is how our wood is usually delivered, I always feel so sorry for the horses, what a life!

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:15:00 +0000

We have this amount of wood delivered every few weeks for fuel for our stove. We encourage the girls to cook on the wood stove outside as much as possible since that is what they will use when they return to their villages although we also teach them to use the gas stove.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:42:00 +0000

Everyone pitches in to help when the wood is delivered for our wood stove

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:11:00 +0000

Once we got the girls to the other side, this is the bus they left on - notice the broken window. Tomorrow, Monday, the girls will return to the Center in the same manner but in reverse.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:02:00 +0000

It's been over a month and things are still unsettled here politically, and we still have to deal with road closures. On Friday we drove these girls to the place where the road was closed and walked with them through the demonstration to make sure they got a bus on the other side.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Last week we had to send the girls home a day early due to road closures and a potential bus strike. This is a few of the girls scrambling for their bus early thursday morning. This week we are keeping them until Friday even though they will have to walk through a demonstration to catch their bus on the other side. There is still no end to the political turmoil in the country but we are trying to keep things at the Center as normal as possible.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:40:00 +0000

On Sunday, Erica and I were able to go to Tocoa, the nearest town, to get her husbands medications and a few essentials not available in Trujillo with the road closures. We had to walk a short distance through the closure, but it wasn't too far, and there were very few demonstrators probably due to the fact that it was Sunday and it was raining. This is a picture of some of the buses parked at the other end waiting for those of us who walked through, to drive us the rest of the way in to Tocoa.

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Francis) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:30:00 +0000

Even though things still aren't settled politically here in Honduras, we are doing what we can to maintain some semblance of "normalcy" in the Center. Yesterday we celebrated 4 birthdays, with 4 cakes, and 4 presents.