Happy New Year!

The past 2 weeks in Chattanooga have been amazing. They were filled with time with my siblings, 2 nieces, wonderful parents, and even some cousins. What a blessing to be with family while celebrating Christ's birth and the new year.

This time last year, we knew we would be arriving in Honduras on January 17th but had no idea of the wonders God was going to show us. Here are just a few highlights from our time in Honduras in 2016:
* Provision of a home (rent free, furnished and all!)

* Attending a local church Luz Cristiana, growing in our faith, making great friends, and helping with a church plant in the mountains
* Obtaining a reliable vehicle that can seat up to 8
* Visits from my mom, Elizabeth, Kelsey & Adam, and Wil & Jane
* Missionary conference where we were encouraged in our work and connected with new friends
* Welcoming Joanna into our family
* Watching Thomas mature and grow

* Working with Eternal Family Project (Marvin on repairs and myself with Bible lessons and sewing classes)
* Working with Home of Blessing feeding program (especially the community health classes with moms)
* Trips to Balfate to serve with Hospital Loma de Luz and spending time with friends there
*Time with Marvin's family in Las Flores, San Pedro Sula, and Puerto Cortes

Many exciting times were shared in 2016, but our primary purpose in Honduras remains the same:

to disciple Manuel Martinez (Marvin’s cousin) and Josué Ramos (Marvin’s brother). Both these boys have spent their lives up until this last year in Las Flores, a small town in the Honduras mountains near the Guatemala border. While living with us this past year, Manuel and Josué completed 10^th grade. They both were on the honor roll and Josué held the highest average in their class of 15 students. We are so proud of their accomplishment and are certain that they will succeed as they begin their 11^th grade year in February 2017. This will be their last year of high school, and then we hope to support them as they begin their studies at a Honduran university. Manuel wants to study psychology, and Josué hopes to be a dentist. They may change their minds many times leading up to their careers like I did, but we will encourage them to seek the Lord’s will for their lives and use their passions to serve Him. 

Although the boys’ education is important, there is something else that we prioritize over that- their hearts. We desire to see them grow spiritually, serve others, and live lives of compassion and integrity. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” -Romans 12:2.We have been amazed at the transformation we have seen in Manuel and Josué. They came to us as simple boys from the mountains. Now their hearts have been transformed and so has their future. They are not just boys from the mountains. They are becoming men of God- men who work hard, men who serve others, men who grow in knowledge and seek out truth. Praise God for the transformation that He is doing in their lives.