Hello!

We are currently in our 9th month here in Roatan, Honduras.  God continued to show us that we are where we should be!  Have we experienced challenges? Yes!  Have we gone through periods of discouragement? Yes.  But, God has always been present to confirm His call upon our lives. While we are both still in the learning curve that is necessary during the adjustment phase of moving to a third world country, we are seeing more light in the tunnel!  Here are a few eye openers we have experienced thus far.

A lesson we quickly learned was to drive defensively. Roatan has about 400 Taxi drivers buzzing about our small West End of the island, and none of them have any serious driving experience!  They pass cars on curves, drive in your lane while passing another car, and quickly swerve back into the correct lane just in time to miss a head on collision with you!  We only have one paved road in Roatan that ties the West end to the East end.  There are very few straight sections.  Most have very dangerous curves and hills.

Of course, there was no road rage here until I arrived. I was taking Pastor Chuck and his family to the airport, and we stopped to have lunch along the way.  I thought I was smart when I parked in a spot where no one was supposed to park behind me.  Lo and behold when it was time for us to leave the restaurant, another car was parked right behind me.  We looked and looked for the driver of the car.  He was no where to be found. Eventually, someone left beside me and I was able to work with my car and get us on the road again.  On another occasion Frances and I were leaving a store and we slowly backing up.  Another car pulled in to just sit and chat with a friend.  We honked the horn, revved the engine, and continued to move while backing up.  The car would not move.  I got out of my car to ask them to move, and they looked at me like I was the one who was creating the frustration! This is the usual flow of life on Roatan.  Everything here moves as if you are living in "slow motion".  Time is of no consequence and there is plenty of it.  It is what you would call very "laid back". Living here takes great patience.

Many of you have asked about our home we were building.  It is completed now and living full time in our Island cabana home. We are enjoying what it means to be neighbors.

Next to us is an open-air church.  Frances and I have had the wonderful opportunity to sit outside and watch, listen, and revel in their worship services.  They met several times a week throughout one week.  We noticed that they prepare for church much like we do.  A group of plastic chairs were secured by a long metal rope. After unlocking it, adults and children began setting up the chairs.  As the people arrived and sat down, men sat on one side of the isle, and women sat on the other side.  They just began singing out loud and it was obvious that they meant what they were singing about.  It was beautiful.  Many of the songs were ones we recognized even if we did not understand the words.  Then occasionally people would fall to their knees while praying.  The dirt floor of the church did not matter.  As night fell they plugged in the lights which were supplied by long sets of extension cords that came from another neighbors house.  It was truly a special occasion for us.

On the flip side of things, we had an unbelievable experience being a neighbor as well.  Our home is located in an area where there is a good amount of open land with mostly thick brush and beautiful trees.  Our backyard backs up on the poorest community on the island - the Colonia. The Colonia is a Shanty Town where people live in deplorable living conditions. (More about that later)  People began coming down the path of the Colonia carrying machetes.  They began chopping down the brush and the trees.  Within 2 weeks, they had leveled the land, and homes appeared.  Large families with children and little babies began moving in.  The numbers increased exponentially!  They would clear all but 4 small trees and use them to stake off their homes.  The trees were literally the foundations of their homes.  Then plastic was used to go over the top, and around the 4 trees to create their home.  They had no electricity, beds, water, bathrooms, or stoves. All they had was a roof over their heads.  They were called "squatters".  They thought if they stayed there a couple of years that the land would be there's.   This is a common practice on the mainland.  When the owner of the land found out he called in the police and government officials.  It took the police many many days of arrests to finally stop the squatting process.  The Mayor, Congressman and Governor were all involved.  This was quite an event for us to witness!

While going through all this and adjusting to our home, we have been busy in the Lord's work as well.  The family of our former Landlord, was going through the final days of their mother's life.  She had recently had a stroke, and her health was declining. "Ms. Iris" also suffered from Alzheimer's disease.  She had great difficulty keeping focused.  We began reading God's Word to her, and we were amazed at how quickly she came around.  She started saying, "Amen".  Ms. Iris just loves Jesus and she is continually telling her daughter that she is ready to "go home".

Another area of ministry that is growing is the attendance of children at our Sunday morning church services.  Many children are bringing themselves to church from the Colonia.  Frances and I are attending to the small children.  This is not my calling believe me, but Frances is just fantastic with the kids!  This has been a wonderful learning opportunity for me to watch and learn from children of a completely different culture and life style.

I believe that the Lord used the building of our own house and the digging of our own well, to prepare us for the biggest job of our mission on Roatan.  We have successfully completed the installing of a Water Treatment System for the SOS Orphanage, and then we began supplying clean water to our neighbors. As we began the drilling for our own well, we were blessed with an abundance of water.  This would allow us to supply water to about all of the 80 homes around us!  Then a team from Tallahassee Florida purchased a Water Treatment System, and came to install it and all the pipes necessary to reach the 80 homes.  Please pray that God will use this as an opportunity for our neighbors to come to the Lord!

What is the biggest part of our job here in Roatan?

It is providing clean living water to around 800 homes in the Colonia!  Along with their deplorable living conditions is horrible parasitic infested water.  The leaders of the Colonia are only allowed to turn the water on in different areas of the Colonia for a couple of hours every few days.  The people collect the water feverishly in any containers they can find.  The water is stored, often with no lids, for days as they use it.  Combined with the heat and dirt, the water becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes, bacteria, and parasites.  Not only is the water contaminated to begin with, it gets worse over the time it is contained.  The local health clinic told us that over 50% of all the health problems in the Colonia are caused by the contaminated water!

Living Water for Roatan is here to provide the clean water needs of this community.  There is no running water to their homes or schools.  We desperately need to build two 75,000 gallon water tanks and dig the wells to provide the water.  One large Water Treatment System needs to be bought, along with the pipes and pumps to work the water system.  Please look at our approved plan for meeting these goals this year in our front page article.

Where do you come in?  We respectfully ask for your prayers that the Lord will begin to move in the hearts of his people throughout churches to provide for these mechanical needs for water and for the spiritual lives of the people who will drink the water.  Pray that the Lord will open doors for us to share the "living water" with all of these people as well.  We have some well thought through plans where mission teams and travelers alike, can participate at a variety of levels in sharing the gospel with this community.

Thank you for YOUR continued interest, prayers, and financial support as Frances and I seek to obey the Lord's call in our lives.  God has been faithful to lead us this far and He promised in His Word to be faithful to complete what He began in us!

Kindly,

Frances and Henry