🍂 September Update

Hello!

Our summer return to Roatan has come and gone and now we are back on the farm preparing for fall. Our trip was so quick – only two weeks – but in that time we feel that we accomplished the three goals we had set for ourselves.

We were able to check in with so many people. Each of the students that we support has successfully completed his/her second quarter of the school year. We were very pleased to be invited to participate in various activities at the Sandy Bay Adventist Bilingual School. Larry was consulted about plans for the new room to be used for a computer lab. I spent a morning reading Canadian storybooks to the younger grades and speaking to the older students to encourage them in their English studies. On the Friday before we left, while Larry packed 😉 I assisted with the school-wide spelling bee. Spell G-R-E-A-T!

It was such a JOY to spend time visiting and having friends come to visit. Our hearts are full 💕 !  Chris and Laura are thriving now that they are settled back in Roatan. Laura works a few days a week house-cleaning. Her employer recently surprised her with funds to remodel the front of their house to use to sell second-hand clothes. “Laura’s Closet” will soon open to local customers. We are worried for Maria. While her oldest son finds day-jobs as he can, the family is subsisting. We assured her that we will assist her as we can. Recently she invited another single mom to come live in her one-room house. While visiting, I noticed that the women have put up tarp curtains to divide the house. While this woman is likewise in need, between the two they share babysitting, freeing one to look for work. Challenges continue but the nearby church provides support.

Our second goal was to say good-bye to our house. In Roatan, furnishings are left for the new owners, but Larry needed to finish selling/distributing his tools. The final items rolled away on our last day in Roatan. We tried to savour all the good things we enjoyed about our special Roatan house. A few days after we left, the house sale closed. We will go back, just not to our house. We have many options for places to stay. And we have so many golden memories of our time living in that house. (Our blog at roatancampbells.blogspot.com (2022 September) recalls experiences at Our House).

Our third goal? We needed a vacation. Roatan is a beautiful tourist island. People come for fun and relaxation. We have had plenty of fun over the years, but rarely have we taken advantage of the tourist opportunities. So, we went to the beach – and not just on Sunday. I snorkeled and Larry lazed. Most mornings we lingered over our coffee up in the perch. Coconut shrimp dinners and other treats were enjoyed. 

We spent a day with our favourite tour guides, Elias and Rosa, traveling “down island”. Our trip included a delightful water-taxi ride through the mangrove passages (long-ago pirate hideouts). Winding roads took our car up and down as we caught glimpses of the ocean and travelled through tunnels of trees. It was a day of greens and blues. A good balance of treats and normal made for a time of refreshment and re-creation.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul ~ From Psalm 23

And now? We’re home and content. We’re asked when we will go back, and we say we don’t know. There is the fall farm work to do without Larry’s partner, Paul. We have family responsibilities. So, as during the two years we couldn’t travel, we rely on online connections, hoping that this time of waiting won’t last two years! We have trusted people who can be our eyes and hands.

For those who support us financially, we will continue to have needs including school support and support for families with medical or other needs. We continue to appreciate every donation and recognize that it is a gift that comes from open hands and hearts. We also need your continued prayers for the people we serve and for our family over the next months. Let’s make plans to visit and catch up together soon.                        

Blessings to all! ~ Larry and Susan

🏡 Our House 🏡

 

“Congratulations! We closed!”  was the message we received from our real estate agent. A few days later it was really official – the wire transfer of funds for payment was made to our account in Canada. And with that – our house was sold. I don’t think we really thought it would go so fast. We listed it in February, but in our minds once April arrived we anticipated slow season for sales, and July and August slow-slow season. But, in late July we had our offer with closing in early September. We are happy!  We are sad! We are content.

For nine years, this was the house where we stored our second toothbrushes, our sandals, and a week-plus of unmentionables.  This is the house that allowed us to do God’s work. This is the house that was at the end of imaginary line between Home 1 close to those we loved, and Home 2 close to those we loved. I guess we feel a little like the peg at one end of the line has been pulled up and right now it is twanging with no place to re-peg.

So, this is a time of reflection. Not on the stuff and not so much on the building itself but on the work we were allowed to do from that house and on those we love as a result of that work. It’s a time with so many good memories:  

➤ when our classroom was used for English classes, homework help, and computer literacy/games

➤ when our classroom was used for games 

➤ when we hosted Eat and Study Friday night Youth Group

➤ Larry's memories come with lots of sweat

➤ can't forget living with Juan for a few seasons - a companion for Larry and regular meals for Juan

➤ remembering deck and laughter-filled visits 

                   ➤ and attempts at growing in the heat

➤ remembering last visits

➤ and final, for now, goodbyes.

While the sale is completed and our house isn't our house now, we are content. We had an opportunity - a temporary gift - provided to us to do the work we had been given. We were able to share day-to-day living with many friends in Roatan. Our house is gone, but our memories continue as a lasting gift. We thank God for both gifts - our house, and our memories - and look forward to where we will call home in Roatan again.