Pastor Ken - In transit to Puerto Lempira

Despite a bit of culture shock, Pastor Ken Lang arrived safely in La Ceiba (?) today. He will travel with Katrina to Puerto Limpera tomorrow. He is excited and covets our prayers.

Peace - Eric

Letter from Michaela

Dear Friends and Family,

How is every one? Good…good. All of us here are fine too.

I’m very excited that Pastor Ken is coming down. While he is here, he is going to baptize me in James and Paula’s stream. My mother say’s that she hasn’t written a lot about them so I will….

The first time we went to their house was about two weeks ago. It is so beautiful!!! The inside looks like one of those things that you would see at hotel lodge in the Caribbean. They have huge colorful wall hangings on their walls (in a couple of weeks you can see them because we took pictures of them and are going to put them on our website.) They got them when they went to Costa Rica for a year. Any way, all their furniture is wicker with Hawaiian print upholstery. They also have a big wooden cabinet filled with tons of clay art that James has collected. The entire floor is wood. And it has a flushing toilet!!!! They have a big kitchen with an island in the middle and they have a mahogany table that James built. It has 4 bedrooms and a nice front and back porch.

Their yard is fenced in with barbed wire. They also have a guard that looks after the house when they leave. The guard has 2 dogs Campion the boy (or Champion in English.) And the girl dog I named Jules. After lunch James led us to a path that leads to the swimming hole. Only dad and I swam. It was very beautiful. O.K.,enough of that.

The past 2 weeks have been Holy Week for the Catholic Church, so there has been a big fair of sorts on the town’s soccer field. One Sunday after church we decided to have lunch there. We ordered 2 plates of rice. The brought out two humongous plates of fried rice with peppers, onion, carrot, chicken, and beef all sautéed into it, with bread on the side- all for the price of $3.00.

Today we went to the ocean with the Grigg’s. It was a lot of fun, Bethany, Gabrielle mom, dad and I went body surfing and the waves were pretty rough. After about an hour of that we went back to where the Griggs had decided to have lunch and fish. We spent the next hour just chatting and long.) We did see a lot²fishing (we only caught one fish that was about 3 of jellyfish and on the beach and some one had just gone shark hunting so there were heads and tails and bones all about. When we got back home we all had really bad sunburns. I just woke up from a 3 hour nap Well that’s all for now!!!!

Love Michaela
P.S.- We are all healthy and having loads of fun!!!!!!!!

Letter from Bethany

At 8:00 A.M., my family and I along with the Griggs set off from the rickety pier of Puerto Lempira to a beach that is located exactly between a fresh water lagoon and the Caribbean Ocean. Stepping out of the boat, I noticed skulls lying around a quickly and shabbily made table. As I peered closer I found skins, spinal chords, and many shattered bones. Seeing our inquisitive looks, Ray decided to enlighten us. “Oh, those are shark bones. They are valued for the oil in their liver.” True, they were only small sharks, but I sent a hasty glance in the ocean’s direction.

We began walking around the island to find a nice place to swim. After ten minutes, Gabrielle exclaimed, “Look over there!” There was an area in the water with huge and tumultuous waves shooting straight up. The saltwater and fresh water flow strongly and directly towards each other causing a huge clash when they meet. I stared in awe for a few minutes having never seen such a phenomenon before. I soon realized I was behind they others and ran to catch up.

We finally found a suitable spot and went body surfing in the big, ocean waves. After 2 hours, we finally let the ocean beat us and wearily went back into shore. On the way back, Zach (who had stayed and fished with his father) came sprinting up to us. “There’s tons of jellyfish!” Before he even finished speaking a jellyfish came rolling up on shore with the tide. They were about 5 inches in length and very squat. Their tentacles looked life one thick stem. They were varied in color, but most were light green or purple.

After being in the sun for many hours, I began to feel my skin tingling. I looked around at my sisters and my dad and realized what I must look like too. The sun block we were using was obviously not working. On the way back, we became burnt to a crisp. They waves were now high and we were all soaked when we got to the dock. Then, we had to walk through the dusty streets and which unfortunately stuck well to our wet skin. My hair was obstinately rebellious and my stiff arms did not help in taming it. I guess Newton’s third law-for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction- is true after all. We paid for our fun in the sun.

Looking forward to seeing you all in a few short months!
Love,
Bethany

Rising Temperatures, Humidity, and a Faithful Prisoner

All continues to be well with us, thanks be to God! The temperatures are rising as well as the humidity. Soon we will be dripping with sweat when just sitting, and when we exert ourselves (like walking) the sweat just pours off our chins in great drops. I may think about adopting the Miskito women’s custom of carrying a hand towel over one shoulder to have a read mop for the rivulets of sweat that run down the face and neck.

The traditional Miskito women I see in town are usually barefoot and always wear a skirt with a short sleeved, mismatched shirt. Their beautiful black long hair is most often worn up. If they were to wear it loose, it would fall down their back in ringlets. Their skin is a lovely dark brown and their facial features are not unlike our Native American’s. They are on the stout side, by American standards, but exude a strength that leads me to believe they are mostly composed of muscle mass. They are no stranger to hard physical labor. The Miskito mothers carry their babies on their backs using a bed sheet. One end of the sheet comes over one shoulder; the other end comes around her waist, on the opposite side, and then tied together in the front. This gives the baby a comfortable sling to travel in. Babies are nursed whenever and wherever the need arises, without a moments notice.

When Katrina was in Syracuse last month she told the couple staying at our home that the Miskito women have a saying they instruct their children with- “You should obey me because I bled for you”. Katrina adds to that thought-- how much more should we obey the Lord Jesus, who bled and died for us? Amen.

The wear and tear on our bodies is much different than what we are accustomed to in upstate N.Y. We’ve stayed clear of chapped lips and almost all the upper respiratory ailments that usually come with the winter months. Here our feet are under attack. Gabrielle’s toenails are peeling and two of mine have fallen off. I think a fungus is the culprit. The beginnings of new nails can be seen underneath, but they’re not quite the same in appearance as the originals. The good news is that there is absolutely no discomfort associated with it. It’s just a slightly unnerving phenomenon. Our feet also look permanently soiled. Two of the girl’s feet are peeling on their soles and heals. Our skin has acquired more freckles and moles than ever before. We even have anti-freckles; white dots where there is no skin pigment at all. Intestinal problems are much more common. Ed, by far, has the most sensitive digestive system of the family followed by Gabrielle and then Chaela. Bethany has only suffered a couple bouts of stomach problems, eating something that didn’t quite agree with her. Everyone in the family has experienced increased light-headedness in this climate. If you’re crouched down and stand up quickly it’s not unusual to see stars and have to hold on to something for fear of toppling. All of our hair is very dry. It seems as if our skin is more prone to scarring too. Besides that we feel great!

We were invited to lunch on the island of Yahsu where Paula and James (American missionaries) live. Their home is gorgeous! When we figure out how to get the next round of photos onto this website you all can see it. Ed and Chaela swam and we enjoyed a wonderful day of good food (rice and beans of course) and fellowship. Paula is a R.N. and James can fix or build anything. They were sent here to refurbish a vacant house, a bunkhouse, and a couple other structures on the island so as to be able to host short and long-term mission groups.

A young woman (Juana) from the church we attend came to our home last Saturday morning in tears. She had just come from the hospital and was told nothing could be done for her here and that she needed to get to La Ceiba as soon as possible. We had helped her in another situation so she rode her bike to our house, knowing without help, she could never afford passage to La Ceiba. We got a written prognosis from her doctor at the hospital stating she had glaucoma and was in danger of blindness if not treated soon. We prayed with her and she was on her way on Tuesday to get treatment. We haven’t heard anything yet. Her eye looked terrible!

This week, March 21-25, is called Santa Semana or Holy Week. Very few people are at work and most of the country heads for the beach. The bank closed on Saturday, the 19th . A sign showed up in the bank window announcing it won’t reopen until the 28th! Thankfully we were able to borrow a little money for food from a friend until we can make a withdrawal. Ed never likes to have very much cash in the house or on our persons (just in case). The unusual thing is that the Hondurans celebrate and vacation until Friday and then Saturday and Sunday they go back to their regular schedule. They don’t celebrate Easter, just Palm Sunday through Good Friday. Thank God, Jesus did indeed rise from the dead!

Roger Engle (Katrina is still in the States) was sick last week and thought he might have malaria again. Ed and I went to visit him to see how he was doing. Two days prior I had asked him what I could get for him and all he wanted was Gatorade. There’s only one place in town that has carried it in the past. Of course they were out of it. As we approached the house we ran into Margarita on her bike, she said they had just chased a drunken thief out of their house! She was out looking for the culprit. Ricardo had come into the house and grabbed the intruder. As he did the thief dropped the items he had grabbed and fled, leaving his shirt still in Ricardo’s hand. It turns out everyone knows who this young man is. Roger was going to report the incident to the COBRAS.

Over the weekend the Roger and children made the move to the House of Hope. He asked Ed to hire another taxi to help with transporting things so they could complete the move all in one day. At the end of the day, as the taxi pick-up truck was backing up, a little girl jumped up on the tail gate, lost her balance, and fell. The truck stopped abruptly and the girl was underneath the truck. She received a scratch on her shoulder but seemed to be other wise fine. The child’s mother came to the scene yelling at her daughter for not listening to her and for not staying away from the vehicles. We found out later that the family had pressed charges and the taxi driver was being detained and his pick-up truck impounded. Because Ed was an eyewitness he had to go to the Fiscalia (police station) to give a statement. The rule of thumb here is that you are guilty until proven innocent.

On a lighter note, one sees many strange slogans and sayings on t-shirts in English and obviously the wearer has no idea what it says. Our associate pastor preached two Wednesday ago wearing a white t-shirt that read, “I hate funk and hip-hop”. Another boy I saw on the street had a red t-shirt on that said TOMMY across the front and GIRL across his back. Most of the clothing here is vintage Rescue Mission, thrift store-type wear shipped here from the U.S.

A couple unusual sights I’ve noticed more than once, are similar to what Ed and I saw on our 2001 trip to Vietnam. Men urinate in public if necessity prevails upon them, albeit, discreetly. Also, bicycles are loaded with everything imaginable. I’ve seen rebar (it’s about 20 feet long) being carried on a bike, full propane tanks balanced on the handles, even babies held on mother’s knee bobbing up and down as she peddles. It’s incredible. Often two people are aboard, one steering the other peddling.

Chaela has a new nickname given to her by her beloved older sister Gabrielle. Chaela has grown quite a few inches since we’ve arrived in Honduras and is all arms and legs. Her athletic skills don’t quite mesh yet with her new elongated frame. For physical education the girls often go outside and hit the volleyball to each other. Gabrielle designated her the “startled stork” after one such class. It fits her perfectly!

One of the prisoners that’s been very faithful to attend the daily bible study and asks many thoughtful questions asked Ed today if he could speak with him privately. He braced himself waiting for the request for money or something that requires it. It turns out he just wanted him to go and visit his wife and share the gospel with her. Please pray for us. Every soul is precious in the eyes of the Lord.

Please write us about what is happening in your lives!

God bless you all abundantly with His grace and peace,

Karen and family

Invitation to Sign the Guestbook

Ever since setting up this blog, I've been curious to see who reads it. If you get a moment and are so inclined, please sign the guest book. Include as little or as much information about yourself. Then, I'll compile it together and pass it along to the Eagans.

Thanks and God Bless,
Eric

Dogs, Mosquitos, Bass Playing, and Blessings from Above

Dear friends and family,

First, the bad news. Gorgi, our adopted little dog, is dead. Ed called him, “the Italian stallion.” We had noticed that his eyes were runny and that he would shiver when lying down. His true owner, Digna our landlord, told us that he wasn’t eating either. His body was found not far from here, on the edge of a soccer field. It’s truly a dog’s life for all dogs in La Mosquitia. They are not fussed over or cared for by anyone and roam around, sometimes in a pack literally oblivious to the human beings around them. I’m thankful for this, having been attacked by a German shepherd in my youth. I am often very leery of dogs. If these dogs barked at people or approached them I’d be beside myself here. There are hundreds of dogs and I’ve yet to see one leash or collar.

Gabrielle and I DO have one thing in common in our experience here. We’ve both knowingly have eaten tiny ants that got into the cereal we like. Unbeknownst to each other, each of us found the cereal crawling with ants, but mostly near the top portion. We killed all the ants we could then poured a bowl full and ate. Both of us reasoned they were too small to matter. Ed was incredulous that both of us would do such a thing and said we no longer had the right to mock him for any unsanitary thing he may do. We used to tease him about certain habits, saying that he had lived in Paraguay too long.

On the subject of bugs and their cousins, we’ve encountered our first tarantula in the house. It was a youngster. Ed saved the day once again. The girls and I applauded and proclaimed him our hero, our “Slipper Wielding Spaghetti”. That same night there were many mosquitoes in the house. We kill every mosquito we see in light of the dengue fever threat. Ed was having great success smashing them against the walls and ceiling with his slipper. Gabrielle cried out, “Are you not entertained?!”. Can you tell which DVD we recently borrowed from the Grigg’s? We also had a half dozen cockroaches come into the house with a case of fruit juice cans. Ed again killed all of them but one. That one scurried under the freezer. Chaela named him “Ludwig”.

During the last couple weeks there had been a growing presence of soldiers and heavy helicopter traffic as P.L. (Puerto Lempira) prepared for its primary elections. We’ve heard that the people are encouraged to vote (given money) and usually a lot of drunkenness is the outcome. As we’ve learned already, when the men get drunk, they like to let off some steam by shooting their guns off towards the sky. We usually hear these shots in the middle of the night at least once a week. Ed has determined the shooting erupts once the electricity is turned off and the bars are forced to close for the night. This year the people voted and a winner was declared—all without incidence.

Michaela has been a nonstop source of humor for all of us. She likes to walk around the house using a piece of door moulding as a “feeler”, pretending she’s blind. She also calls the local chickens “cannibals” because they rummage through eggshells, chicken bones and other similar debris in our compost pile. We had to move our compost pile about a month ago. We now have tomatoes, peppers and papayas growing where it use to be!

There have been a couple of cases of Dengue fever in our neighborhood, so the soldiers have been given the task of spraying the houses and yards. The insecticide comes billowing out of a very LOUD hose-like contraption, leaving a heavy white cloud in the air. It looks and smells like it could kill more than mosquitoes (the carrier of Dengue). Ed refused to let them spray IN the house. The insecticide is so toxic that it gives you an instant headache. We left the area and waited for it to dissipate. There isn’t the concern for protecting citizens from harm like we are accustomed to in the U.S. They’ve sprayed around our neighborhood three times now.

Ed’s daily contact with the prisoners has allowed us to learn about the Honduran penal system. If you are sentenced for 5 years or less, you can basically buy your freedom. Each day of imprisonment is worth 10 limps (18 limps = $1 U.S.) toward your freedom. So for example, if you’re sentenced to two years in prison it would cost you roughly $400 to buy your way out. If friends or family can scrape together the total amount due in cash, you go free. You are assumed guilty until proven innocent. Three of the inmates that have come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ are now free. One of them was let go because it was finally determined that there was not a shred of evidence to justify keeping him. This particular young man was at the hospital last time we saw him. It was there that he told us of his possible release. He said he wasn’t praying to the Lord to be freed, but that the Lord would perform His perfect will for his life. His face shone with the light of His countenance. We prayed with him at his bed, then he and a visitor, his friend, studied the scriptures together. We pray he continues to be strong in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The other men were able to purchase their freedom with money their families were able to raise. Yesterday another prisoner came to Christ and wants to be involved in the daily study of God’s Word. They have finished the book of John and have asked Ed to go through the book of Acts with them. Today, as Ed was running late for his bible study with the inmates, I gently reminded him that they most likely aren’t going anywhere.

Digna is having two small houses built on her land here in our neighborhood. We took pictures of the workers digging trenches for the foundation with shovels and then hand mixing the cement. Considering how hard the work is they are making tremendous progress. One night a couple weeks ago, Ed awoke to the sound of a truck running and something either being taken off or put on the flatbed. Ed was afraid thieves were stealing the construction supplies. It happened after the electricity was turned off, about 3 a.m., so you can understand his suspicion. It turns out that wood was being illegally delivered for the new houses. Our friend, Ray Griggs, works closely with the wood workers and owns a kiln for drying wood. He told us that a new guy is now in charge of the local government office that oversees wood distribution and use. He’s decided to shut everything down in order to overhaul the system. The Griggs’ believe he’ll either be out of a job soon or dead. One of his predecessors was assassinated after refusing to allow one of the local honchos to cut down some of his timber. See why they call La Mosquitia the Wild West of Honduras?

We had the above discussion with the Griggs at a restaurant celebrating Valentine Day. Here it is called “Dia de Amistad y Amor” or Day of Friendship and Love. Many were out and about. We thought this was a bad sign in terms of us being served our food within the hour or two time frame we’re accustom to. Further bad news, the restaurant had only two things on its menu available. We’ve learned to always ask first, what do you NOT have available. Sometimes the list is so long, it’s easier to ask what DO they have. This particular night all these bad omens worked out for the best. Because the cook was preparing only two items (chicken or lobster), we received our food in about 30 minutes--a record. We left happy and well fed.

We’ve been here over 6 months now. The girls and I share the same concern. Will our feet ever be clean again? It looks doubtful. I also have very distinct white stripes on my feet from wearing the same sandals everyday when I head out to get food. Whereas a deep tan covers most of my feet, the parts that are not exposed to the sun are as white as snow.

Some of the little food stands or “Pulperia’s” as they’re called here, are scattered throughout the neighborhoods. Most of the owners also live in the little store, dragging mattresses out at night and sleeping on the tiny floors. There is one near us that is “home” to a whole family with many small children. We bought some eggs there today and one of the young sons was manning the counter. He had a very difficult time counting to 12 to give us the dozen eggs we asked for. He then had an even more difficult time trying to do the math to give us the right change.

While having one of our many conversations about when the girls were younger, I learned something I never knew before. We’ve had some crazy nicknames for the girls over the years, especially when they were very young. Ed use to like to call Bethany “Sa-Sa Burger”. She told us when Eddie called her that one time, she ran out of the room and went crying to Gabrielle. Gabrielle asked her what was the matter, she said, “Daddy’s calling me a Saucy Booger!” We had a good laugh over that one.

I spoke to soon about the dogs around here. Last night as the girls and I walked back from painting the mural and band practice a lone dog was standing in the road facing our direction. One of the girls, I think Chaela, said he didn’t look too happy. Gabrielle said he looked stupid. With that, the dog growled and began to come after us. Before I could even react, Gabrielle lunged right back at him and yelled for him to “STOP IT!” He did! She certainly let him know who the alpha dog was. We laughed afterwards, remembering how Gabrielle had said he looked stupid. Maybe he understands English. Anyways, I was impressed by her fearlessness. That was NOT my instinctive reaction.

Two weeks ago, at a Wednesday night church meeting Michaela was so touched and overwhelmed by the presence of the Lord that she fell to her knees and was weeping for the entire time of worship. When we were asked to take our seats she asked me to please go with her outside. As soon as we got out the door she said, “I just want to keep praying!” I stayed with her while she cried with thanksgiving and love for the Lord, while begging Him to use her for souls. It was wonderful to hear such heartfelt thanksgiving flow from her lips, as Chaela is the one who really wanted to come to Honduras the least. To see her be so moved upon by the Spirit of the Lord HERE was a profound blessing.

Ed has now joined Bethany on the church platform to play the bass guitar with the other musicians during worship. Needless to say, Bethany is thrilled to have her dad up there with her. Kevin, the former bass guitarist, has left for the States for a three-month stay so Ed volunteered to play until he returns. I think he’s really enjoying it!

Three of us, in our private devotions, happen to be reading in the book of Revelations. I have a great companion book for understanding this book called, ”Revelation: Illustrated and Made Plain”, by Tim LaHaye. We were inspired to get it out and study it in order to get a fuller understanding of this amazing book, which truly is a revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a tremendous encouragement I discovered in chapter 7 of the LaHaye book, expounding on the letter to the church of Philadelphia (Rev. chap.3:7-13). Any of you that have this companion book, please read pages 55, 56 and 57. WOW! The Lord has certainly opened a door of opportunity for bringing forth the Gospel here in Puerto Lempira! Glory to His Name!

We are looking forward to a visit from our Calvary Chapel pastor from Syracuse. Chaela has expressed a desire to have him water baptize her when he comes. What a joy to be able to share with someone from home the wonderful blessings of what the Lord is doing here in our midst. For any one else that may be contemplating a visit, please let us know! We would LOVE to have you!

To the Maker of the heavens and earth-
Be all glory and honor and worship!
Karen and family