Day of the School, Day 2

The boys have had a night to rest and will be ready to go at it at full tilt again today. Up next are the soccer finals, the long jump, the shot put and the three-point contest.

Yesterday, Rojo won the marathon! I was really excited, seeing as how that is one of my favorite events. The race is scored like a cross country race, and my team ran really well - we had three people in before the next team had two. We didn't do so well the rest of the day, being beat soundly in other events. Amarillo and Verde had good days, competing well in the field events. But today is another day. Rojo should benefit by the fact that we are in a lot of the finals, worth big points, so hopefully, our point total will increase. Right now, Azul is in first, Amarillo is in second, Verde, third, and Rojo....last.

On another note...last night, after the basketbal game, a student collapsed on the basketball court in seizures. The campus nurse came running, and they took him to the clinic. By the time we went to bed last night, he was better - awake and talking. I haven't heard yet how he is today. Please keep him in your prayers.

The Games are beginning

Today is the first day of Day of the School. It's a field-day event that lasts for three days here at El Sembrador. It's a pretty big deal, because we are divided into teams, and the boys compete in everything from basketball to sack races. And, they get out of class for three days - how cool is that? Day of the School is a common event in Honduras, usually a day to celebrate the anniversary of the said school. This weekend is the birthday of the El Sembrador founder, Donal Hawk, and so this is when we celebrate Day of the School.

I am a co-captain this year, with Lori, for the Rojos, or red team. Today's events include the "marathon" (a 5K), the 4 x 100 relay, the eating contest and finals for basketball and baseball, with some other random activities scattered between. It's going to be a busy three days, because the other days are just as full.

Go Rojo!

Revival Services

If you think about it, could you pray for El Sembrador this weekend? We have revival services all weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. Just pray that God will make himself known during this time. Pray for joy, for healing, for spiritual renewal. Pray that the boys who need it will hear God's call and respond. Pray for changed lives. God wants to move on this campus, we know it. Is this the time? Thank you for your prayers.

Some Independence Day noise

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated the Fourth of July. I went into greater detail in my e-letter, but I'll share a couple of the highlights here. After a rather tame noon-time picnic, we waited for darkness to fall and for the campus to fall asleep. Then we let loose with a traditional all-American fireworks show.

The "picaroes", or, trouble makers, ready for a party.

Okay, as you can see from the picture, it was really more of an ambush. We directed all of our firepower at the boys' dormitories, an armory which included firecrackers, cherry bombs and bottle rockets. Wow, it was fun, running around in the shadows, listening to the indigent howls of the boys, whose response ranged from annoyed ("I'm trying to sleep!), to excited ("More, more!") to all out anger ("Just you wait..!" Yikes!). We spent the better part of an hour and half causing a little bit of patriotic chaos.

It looks like Amy has done this before.

They weren't entirely sure who was responsible at the time, but as the days have passed, the rumors have flown. The consensus is that Amy, Lori and I are responsible, and that Travis had nothing to do with it. Which is a laugh, since Travis was the one firing off the bottle rockets and lamenting that we didn't have anything "bigger", as he said. I have, in fact, been labeled the campus "fireworks dealer", as the boys seem to think that I was the ringleader. Also a bit of a joke, since I couldn't figure out how to use the lighter and didn't light a single one!

The rainy season.

It has finally quit raining. Sort of. We had a couple of sprinkles today, but that was the first for three days. Before that, I think it had rained every day since the end of May. Yeah, yeah, why am I crying, right? I'm just a little tired of everything being so wet. I have given up trying to keep my shoes clean. I just walk straight through the puddles. You can't avoid them.

Welcome to the rainy season.

Located where we are, we can watch the weather change. If you are from Marion, think about the stretch of interstate 81 between Abingdon and Glade Spring, about the wide valley, with the mountains rising up around it. That's what it is like here at El Sembrador. We are in the middle of a valley, and can see the mountains around us on all sides. If we look to the mountains in the east, and can't see them, then we know that a rain system is moving through the valley. We'll have about thirty to forty five minutes until it arrives. If the mountain is completely obscured, then we can expect a hammering of a rainstorm. One day last week, I stood on my porch and watched the rain arrive, hitting the milk barn, coming up over the dormitory, before getting to my building.

It is kind of useful to be able to walk out the door and look at the mountains and know whether or not to take your raincoat.

Happy Birthday..to me!

Okay, so my birthday was last month. But, I just got this photo that I wanted to share. I spent my birthday with Julia, Brad and Mary Kay in San Pedro Sula. As we walked out of the house that morning, Julia came up behind me and smashed an egg on my head! Yes, it is true. This is a typical Honduran birthday tradition. Lucky for me, it was a hollow egg shell filled with confetti. Julia decided to have mercy. If she had wanted to be mean, it would have been a raw egg. Thank you, Julia!

Some things to pray about

This has been an interesting week here. Without going into too many details, I'll just remind you that, as much as we love and laugh and brag about our students, not all of them are angels. They come from tough backgrounds or rough homes, and it's hard to reach every single one of them. There have been some rough episodes recently, with students testing the limits of discipline. It breaks our hearts, to be sure, but...yeah.

I guess this is what Jesus felt like a lot of the time.

Anyway, if you would like to add something to your prayer list, would you pray for the school? Pray for the students, that they will understand the reasons for the tough love that happens here. Pray that hard hearts can be softened. Pray for staff, to give them strength, courage and encouragement. If you want to be specific, you can visit the El Sembrador website and pick out a name and a photo and pray for that student or staff member. www.escuelaelsembrador.org