✨ Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

December, 2018

Jingle bells, Jingle bells, jingle all the way ….

Oh what fun it is to fly from Roatan to Canada, eh?

And that is what we will be doing very soon. We’ve certainly felt blessed to have had this opportunity to return to Roatan. We had no special projects awaiting us, but have filled these three weeks brim-full with good connecting time.  We attended two graduations and congratulated three other graduates. Report cards were collected from the school – only three stops at the school required. Despite being on school break, a group of students have come to our classroom three times a week to study. Also very importantly, Larry enjoyed some down time after the fall harvest.

Yesterday afternoon was the best of times! With our departure soon, we set off to wish Merry Christmas to some families.  We delivered Christmas treat bags of candy and marbles/hair bows to some of the younger kids from the church. Most of the kids do not receive Christmas toys as presents. (Did you know Santa does not visit this island?) Families will go to church with new clothes and shoes – that is a Christmas treat. In the picture above, Besi and Marvin’s kids are eager to show off their gifts.

Carlos' Graduation

Special to us was the invitation to Carlos’ graduation from grade 9. We have watched Carlos in school since grade 2, so seeing the responsible teen he is becoming is very rewarding. After this school break Carlos will continue in school. Our friend Luis invited us to join his family for his daughter Brandy’s kindergarten graduation.  We continue to be excited with families as their kids progress in school. Many parents went no further in school than grade 6 (and many less than this). We are now seeing many kids continue through to grade 11 or 12 and also local university. This is a reason to celebrate! Kenia and Alberto’s daughter Keidy graduated from Kinder. Because of the cost of the graduation ceremony itself, they chose to celebrate at home. We are so pleased that Keidy loves school and are cheering her on from the sidelines.

Over the three weeks, I was able to visit several times with Greicy and her family. We had many good discussions. They want to know more about life in North America – “how do people celebrate Christmas in Canada?” I asked about customs in Honduras. Greicy is almost three-quarters of the way through her nursing program. It is hard and many hours. And she loves it! Her family continue to be so supportive of her. Thank you to those friends who are supporting Greicy. This is a financial and emotional boost for her. 

As far as Larry is concerned, Roatan has arrived! In our town of Coxen Hole, a new hardware store has opened.  Larry compares it to Home Hardware. I am sure that we will have some reason to stop in - frequently. I can’t wait.

Our prayer requests at this time include:

ó  For our students that they find pleasure and success in their learning and find meaningful work when they finish school

ó  For protection and guidance for one of our families in a difficult situation

ó  For God’s direction for us for a few projects currently in the waiting stage

ó  For the people of this island that Jesus becomes the focus of their celebrating

As Christmas comes closer, the sound of firecrackers popping startles us. Sometimes it is a single pop! Other times it is a rat-a-tat-tat as a whole package of crackers is lit. These are just crackers, but on Christmas Eve (and also New Year’s Eve at midnight), the sky over our Spanish community will be splashed in colours and the sounds of the fireworks signifying a real celebration. This reminds us of the sounds of another celestial celebration at Jesus’ birth. The angels sang their songs of worship to God - Glory to God in the Highest - to the shepherds out in their empty fields. Our Christmas wish for you – and ourselves – is that we can see and hear and worship over the flashing and popping of the distractions of our celebrations and worship our Saviour.

Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.

Merry Christmas to you all!   ~ Larry and Susan

 

(You can read about various Christmas traditions we experienced the year we were here Dec. 25. See:   roatancampbells.blogspot.ca       Go to 2017 – January – Navidad-ing a Different Way)