Freezing temps on our tropical toes!

So, I totally had to blog about something a little more upbeat after my last blog.  You can only waller in your sorrows for so long, that self-pity thing can become viral if you don't watch it...thank God for his grace when we feel so doubtful.

So, the low for tonight is supposed to be around 18 degrees Fahrenheit....that is SO darn cold for our thin, tropical blood!  We only thought that our toes were cold when we first got home, there is even snow in Texas! 

Holidays in Motion

After getting through Halloween and being in charge of the haunted house at the kids' school,  we barely got a breath of air when we began the journey into Thanksgiving.  Our church hosted a HUGE potluck dinner at a local resort.  It was absolutely beautiful with tons of food and fellowship, the kids swam and played while we all ate more than our bodies could possibly handle. We were not sure what to expect of a Thanksgiving in Honduras, but a great time was had by all along with many new memories.  We actually spent Thanksgiving day at the beach with the kids.

More Birthdays, Goodbyes and Travel.....

This past week Trey went to Texas and Arizona for the week.  It was his first trip off-island in 10 months!  Not only was he able to gain a new appreciation for the the little things that we can sometimes take for granted here on Roatan but he was able to have a ton of quiet time while driving across Texas.  The slower pace of life was much missed, as he juggled his "schedule" to include meeting after meeting in various places from The Woodlands all the way to Flagstaff.  He was unfortunately too busy to stop and see many of the friends he would have loved to spend some time with, but Trey was able to make some contacts with others that would possibly play a part in our future in the next few months.  God has a funny way of placing people in our lives at just the right time to throw us off of what we "thought" or "planned" for our near future.  Gotta love the surprises!

We saw our lastest house guest, Holden, return to Montgomery.  It sure was fun having a teen ager around to help shuffle kids on the scooter and get to to know the youth that we spend so much time with.  It seems like each young person that we have had as a guest in our home these last few months, has bonded with not only our kids and family but also with the youth group. It is so much fun to see the kids grow to know oneanother and build life long friendships.  Both Holden and Taylor have succesfully recruited Kenfor, one of our youth group members, to come to the states once he gets his passport.  We have some amazing kids here on Roatan and the more they can see outsiders that have willing hearts, the more they can visualize all the potential for their future through getting an education and never giving up.

Our oldest daughter, Anna, turned 11 last week.  We had the youth group over to swim and play wii and eat cake and ice cream.  It was a blast!  The weather has been very rainy and cool at night, so the kids were freezing but loving every minute of throwing eachother into the pool and sliding on the make shift slip and slide on our tile patio.  It was crazy and the best part was Anna getting her cake in her face, she loved every minute of it!

We have quite a few things going on with youth group and church each week.  The toddler class that I started, mainly due to the fact that my two youngest are a little disruptive during the kids church class, is doing great.  We have at least three and sometimes four toddlers each week and the older kids are now able to learn scripture and pay better attention to the lessons each week.  We are getting more volunteers so that will eventually free myself and Melissa to actually attend a church service.  I can honestly say that is one of the things I miss most, of course air conditioning and Walmart are pretty high on my list, but attending worship would be wonderful.

Trey and Mike's baseball is still going strong, twice a week practice with their first scrimmage this weekend!  The kids are amazing and such a testament to what hard work and determination can do.

Please continue to pray for us as we make some large decisions about what our family will be doing at year-end.  We have a great opportunity to possibly stay part time here on the island while spending the other part of the year back home, not sure where home would be, but it would be a great break both ways if it should work out that way.  Eyes to see and ears to listen...

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Fam

Fall is here and a new guest arrives

Today is the first day of Fall and we are not anywhere near the cool temps most are enjoying back in the states.  But, hey, we do live on a tropical island with year round warm temperature and beautiful blue water & white sandy beaches....some trade off, huh?

Parker just had her 4th birthday, it was so much fun.  We had a Tinkerbell pinata that was bigger than her and the power was out the whole party too.  Roatan!  Gotta love not worrying about such things as melting icecream and the blistering heat and bugs while celebrating a young persons birthday.  She had a blast and never even noticed that we didn't spend much but instead enjoyed every minute of us showering her with love.

This past weekend we welcomed a new guest, Holden Smith - 19, he will be here for four weeks helping out in the community and getting to know the island.  He arrived with three giant suitcases full of medical supplies for Clinica Experanza, they were so excited and appreciative of the efforts from way back home in Montgomery, Texas.  Thank you to each of you that went above and beyond to ensure that the medical needs of the poorest in the community will continue to be met.  One of the other big things that Holden wanted to bring was the colonia baseball team shirts and hats.  His mom had them printed up and sent with Holden.  These are such special items for the kids on the team, they cherish these items for they have never been on a team or had a uniform before.  This week we will be taking team pictures and individual photos for them, a surprise for the kids that will blow them away.  Each week they continue to progress and will soon be ready for their first scrimmage and game. 

Trey and I have taken a day here and there while Holden has watched the kids for us, some much needed time to just chill and enjoy the island.  We went on a scooter ride across the island with our friends Jeremy and Melissa.  It was like a mini vacation for us and we were only gone a few hours!  This island is so beautiful.  It is hard to believe that within such beauty there can be the inner areas that are so poverty stricken and in need while surrounded by abundance.  We definitely have made a priority of making sure people that we know and meet are aware of what they can do to help.

Anna and Wiley were in the Honduras Indpendence Day parade, the first time their school has participated in this, so it was a very special day.  It rained like crazy through the entire parade, sooo much fun for the kids and of course it gave us parents and teachers an excuse to act like kids too.

Please continue to pray for our family as we begin making some major decisions about where we will go as our year here on Roatan comes to a close....sounds so weird to say that out loud.

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Family

Summer is over and school has begun!

Summer is over?  Where did it go?  We have been so busy that when we finally look up and see that we are entering the end of August, it is a little mind boggling....Our last visitor, Lat Nichols - 14, just left last weekend and completed a week of serving the community and doing lots of fun island stuff, Anna and Wiley have started school at the bilingual school here in Sandy Bay and we are beginning to prepare for the many fall outreaches with the church as well as baseball season kicking off.  Never a dull moment here in Roatan!

We are also in the midst of thinking about what we will be doing when we return to the states at the end of the year.  So strange to actually talk about that and even more strange to know that this fall will fly by and we had better be prepared for all that God has ready for us.  Our flights have to be booked by January 17th or we will lose them, so we now have to decide where in the world will the Vick family land next?  We have a couple of different ideas as to what we might want to do, however, we are truly waiting to see where God leads us and what doors HE opens.  Talk about dropping to our knees and letting HIM take control; faith in its most true form.  This not the easiest thing to do, but we know that our needs will be met and that God has awesome things planned for our family.

Please continue to keep in touch and let us know what is going on in your lives!  We love you guys and thank you for following our journey.

Take care and God bless,
Connie and family

 

A new family arrives

The Tichi family recently arrived, they have three kids (6, 7, & 8), so our kids are pumped to have even more kids to hang out with and get to know.  They are from Durango, Colorado and have made a three-year commitment to Living Water 4 Roatan.  Wow, they are amazing in their faith and willingness to serve others!

Mike and Trey have been diving once or twice a week and getting to know the island kids that are the dive masters.  Talk about some life stories; these kids from the island have had some pretty tough lives and know nothing else of what life could look like.  It has become a great opportunity for a couple of good dads/husbands to minister to these kids about all the possibilities that this life has waiting for us all.

Last week, their family started taking a truck-load of kids from the colonia over to the ball field to play baseball.  The kids are so interested in learning and playing sports; yet another great opportunity to take our kids and model what being a family can look like.  The kids in the colonia have a very different view of how a family operates; abuse in every form imaginable, neglect, you name it.  All it takes is the commitment on our part to model a positive lifestyle and they will never forget that there really is another way to do life.  Praise God for this awesome opportunity to love on these kids and let them just be kids in an unconditional environment.

Today, we will hit the ball field and hope to eventually get a team or two put together for the fall ball season.  Very cool stuff.  Trey sent out an email to recruit donations of baseball equipment, lots of replies and people cleaning out their old ball bags to donate.  Eric and Tara Kendrick and their two boys arrive on June 21st and it is looking like they will be bringing a couple of extra bags full of everyone's ball stuff!  Thanks Kendrick family!

Take care and God bless,
Connie

Engineers from Northern Arizona University

Trey spent last week with a group of engineers from Northern Arizona University.  They visited last year and saw the needs of the people of the colonia and couldn't stay away.  They applied for funding for a water treatment facility in the colonia and decided to return and further assess the needs of the people before moving forward.  As it so happens, engineers are very intelligent, but not all people realize what they were so blessed to realize:  when you give to a needy community you MUST provide what they see as their need, not what we as Americans see as their need.  They met with several of the leaders of the colonia, as well as the mayor of Roatan and other engineers from the island.  The consensus was that the people want more clean water and a new school.  So, back to the drawing board to see what sort of support they can get for funding the NEEDS of the people of the colonia.  It is an exciting time to see Trey light up with enthusiasm while being a part of this incredible endeavor.  His heart is moving and he is listening intently for guidance by the One that has placed us here.

Take Care and God Bless!
Connie

Painting the town...er, school

We spent Saturday painting at the Sandy Bay Alternative School.  We ended up completing four classrooms; all very large with very high ceilings.  Whew!  We worked our rear ends off spackling, sanding, taping off trim, painting and chasing kids around.  We had a family from Oklahoma and one from Michigan, several teachers from the school and neighboring schools as well, some of the students and were even blessed to have a paint contractor, Tom Corwin, that took the bull by the horns and made sure we had everything that we would need to complete the project right.  He did a great job and it is evident in the results, beautifully painted classroooms that the kids and teachers can be proud of!  The director, Miriam, was in awe of the volunteers and children that chose to spend a day or two gettting their elbows dirty (or painted) just to give back to the community.  We all ended up at the pizza joint down the road and ate about a dozen pizzas and then hit the hay.  It was fun to let the kids play and the adults hangout and fellowship. 

This day was a great opportunity to show others what Christians are all about, giving back unconditionally. 

Take Care and God Bless!

Connie

Since our last blog, we have had a few changes occur. Our three oldest started school here in Crystal Beach, Texas, Parker turned 3, I signed up to start substitute teaching at the school here on the peninsula (I am the only sub located here...negotiations need to begin very soon.....) jj:)
So much change with being here at a beach front school and yes, you can see the beach from the windows in the hallways. Each of the kids got to pick out one new outfit for school, a very large change from the past, all of our school supplies were provided, even back-packs (not done yet), their breakfast and lunch is provided, and Parker (our 3-year-old) gets to attend school all day, the bus picks and drops off at the front door too...Oh, and Anna was chosen by her new principle to represent the school at the monthly Superintend ant's Advisory Meetings. So much favor and we are so grateful for absolutely everything that we are blessed with! Thank you, Lord. Wiley and Anna have also lost a couple of teeth at the same time in the past couple of weeks too. That Tooth Fairy fund is amazing. We go to the beach most days after school for a little boogie boarding and skim boarding. There are no extra curricular activities here on the peninsula since the Hurricane Ike one year ago, we are fine with that and embracing the ease of no 'scheduled practices' at a ball field. These kids of ours are so resilient, thank God.

So, we also have a pretty cool trip that Trey will be taking at the end of this month. He will be traveling to Flagstaff, Arizona, to meet with engineers from NAU about building a water treatment/sewer facility in the colonia in Roatan. Quick background: a few years ago, some engineers from NAU took a mission trip to Roatan through Living Water for Roatan (our dear friends) and felt moved to put them on their list to receive the benefits of the funding of a waste water treatment system/sewer plant. They have moved up the list and now are contenders for the funding and this could be a reality for the people of the colonia that have zero indoor plumbing. God works in mysterious ways and this is just another example of how great His reach is.

Trey actually had quite the events fall into place in getting him to Flagstaff. First of all, he waited to book the flight so that he could be certain of what time to arrive, in that time the flight doubled in price. So, he checked into staying over one night for a better fare, this worked. Only problem, he flies into Phoenix (Flagstaff is a very small airport), which is 3 hours from Flagstaff. So, Trey contacted another meeting attendee, Dr. Patrick, to see if he could catch a ride to the meeting. Well, he says he is planning on taking his private plane and that Trey could tag along. Seriously, how much more "open" does the door have to be? So, Trey will fly to Phoenix, catch a ride with Dr. Patrick and they will meet with Henry and Frances of LW4R and the engineers of NAU. It gets better. Trey remembered that Tom Hackett of Alternative Missions has a condo in Phoenix, Tom and his wife, Linea are actually going to be there and he offers for to Trey stay the night. Just so happens, that our family needs to speak with Tom about mission work and our future endeavors. Man, when you pray for all doors to open, they do!

Please pray for our family that we find our way and follow what He has planned for us.

Take Care and God Bless,

Trey and Connie

Our last day in Roatan

Our last day in Roatan, Honduras was eventful, to say the least. We decided to start out with a quick breakfast at 7am and then straight to the beach. It was so strange knowing that it would be our last time piling into the little Nissan pick up, all windows down, kids hanging out the windows, no seat belts, you name it, we did it, only if it was something we didn't normally do in America. Too funny. To put minds at ease, there are hardly any cars and the roads are so hilly and curvy that no one can go over 40mph, seriously. So, it is not all that bad, really. We even end up picking up hitch hikers often, don't think that we have mentioned that little tid bit yet, but as we drive by and slow down a little they hop in the back of the truck and off we go. No big deal, everyone gets around here that way, like I said there are hardly any cars here. What is so amazing to us it that the hitch hikers are so polite and thankful, they say, "thank you, sir" or if it's just me and the kids, "thank you, momma" and they even say, "have a blessed day"...it is very refreshing to see such gratefulness. Anyway, we finished up at the beach and headed home from the beach for the last time, it was surreal, almost to the point of knowing that we would be back some day, hopefully soon :)

We got home to the power being out, great, we actually need to shower at this point and we have a load of clothes in the washer that have to be dried before we can finish packing....can it get any better? All we wanted was to get our last beach day in.....

Well, of course, a knight in shining armor always has been found while we have been here; Henry of lw4r, called and came straight over to grab our clothes and take them to their house to dry them for us (they still had power). How great is that? We truly do have favor in the midst of many moments that seem hopeless at first, even if it is only laundry. Henry and Frances are just like a set of parents that God hand-picked and placed in our lives while here in Roatan. What awesome role-models that we know our own parents would want right by our side in if they could not be here themselves. So, we ended up calling on Jeremy and Melissa (rchurch) for our showers, they have running water when the power is out, we do not. Gotta love crashing in on our friends with sandy kids to just shower and run, oh and say good bye. The thing is, they are just a great, normal, family that we will know for the rest of our lives and like she said, "we don't even need to go there," (of, me saying, "we wouldn't know what we would have done otherwise"). We miss them so much!

So, we get all the bags into the back of the little Nissan and off to West End for lunch with Henry and Frances of lw4r; as well as get our now dry laundry. Goodness, it does get better, doesn't it? Our lunch was much needed nourishment for the journey ahead and we were running a little behind getting to the airport. Nonetheless, the ticket agent that said he would be there, was actually there, we were the last to check our many bags, and off to pay our$34 per person to exit the country. Does America do that? Surely we have thought about doing that??? We said goodbyes and hugged and took pictures and it was a great farewell. Jeremy, Melissa and the boys showed up to see us off and help out, Henry and Frances were there and even as we were paying our fees we saw Marvin, a teenage boy that we met while working at the Colonia. What a blessing that was, he had little puppy dog eyes when he saw us leaving and I can promise you that he will never forget us for the rest of his life. He remembered all the kids' names and said goodbye to them; what an angel. He even had told me that he 'loved' the group from Roopeville, GA. that had just left a couple of weeks ago. "I love them, " he said. So, I promised to let them know that he said hi and of course will tell them every word he said. This is what it is all about, even if you only effect ONE person, you really end up having an effect on EVERY single person in that one person's life, forever.

So, we sat in the VERY back of the plane, the flight attendant nearest us was a grandmother, so of course, our awesome favor was as such, she passed m&ms when needed and we had a great flight home. Customs was a breeze and our good friends, Brandon and Fawn Creighton, picked us up at the airport. We had to go by and get our car from Trey's grandmother's house and then to our friends' house, Spencer and Karyn Ashton. They were out of town, so we just unloaded and got everyone bathed and in bed. Lord, thank you for getting us home safely, we could not have done it without you!

Sunday, we hit FOTW, our church, and then went to lunch with some friends that we usually do lunch with every Sunday. Wayne, Stacia and the kids are actually moving back to Louisiana, so this may be the last time we see them until they have their fourth baby and Craig, and Craig and Diana just wanted another excuse to go to Wings and More (right?).

After lunch, the kids stayed at Karyn's house to swim while Trey and I divided and conquered. He went by one storage place to drop off extra stuff while I went to another to pick up sheets and towels for the beach house. We left Conroe and are here in Crystal Beach, TX. We slept like rocks, all six of us, last night. It was great. Time to get our ducks in a row and figure out where we are supposed to be.

Take care and God bless!

The last Thursday and Friday in Roatan

Our last two full days have come and gone in a flash. Thursday we took it easy, knowing that we soon would be full speed ahead with packing and airport stuff and kids and all that. We met up with who else but Melissa and Jeremy and the twins to swim and go to the Iron Shore. The iron shore is an area of what looks to be dead coral or volcanic formations that formed along the seashore. Pirates hated iron shore because it was impossible to dock near these giant iron like formations. Anyway, we took the boardwalk over the iron shore to get to the edge where it meets the ocean. The waves hit it like a ton of bricks and splash way up high and fill up little tide pools among all the little cracks and crevices that it can find. There are tons of snails of all shapes and sizes all over these formations, even some little turtle shell looking things that we could not get to come off of the rocks; hopefully these creatures are not dangerous or in any danger of extinction...needless to say we were unable to remove them and we have not come down with anything. We found some hermit crabs that had totally outgrown their shells, the kids did not want to leave but we had to get home to eat dinner because Mr. Tom was coming over to talk about Alternative Missions. We had a great discussion about what the organizations does and how he started it. Pretty cool stuff. Definitely sparked some deep discussion.

Friday we started our day with a trip to the airport to get our boarding passes in order to alleviate any time that we had to stand in line with four kiddos. The agent said he would be there tomorrow for our flight and to just head down the Elite area and he would get us right through; it is so awesome to have such favor! While at the airport we couldn't resist getting a shot of the man in fatigues with his rifle sitting on his lap. Former President Zelaya is supposed to try and step foot back on Honduran soil, so security is pretty much everywhere over here, again. We even have noticed quite a few Apache helicopters patrolling the island, in pairs. We ran some last minute errands and headed home to eat lunch and get the babies down for their naps. Anna, Wiley and I headed to Gumbalimba Park to go kayaking while Trey watched the babies and did some work on the computer. The kids and I had so much fun however, I will probably be unable to move tomorrow. This evening we went to Flowers Bay to the dedication of the Dwellings House by Alternative Missions. It was a huge revival style dedication. No other way to describe it. They had a guy set up to sing with his keyboard and large speakers, lawn chairs, the family, extended family and friends all in attendance and the ladies had even prepared food, drinks and cookies. At one point everyone was jumping and clapping hands; we were waiting for someone to start doing flips like John Belushi in "The Blues Brothers". It was awesome. They said a prayer of thanks and each of the guys that had helped build the house got to say a few words, even Trey, I was so proud of him (he totally is not the center stage type guy in a big crowd). All the kids played together and had a blast, they were totally filthy and hot and tired by the time we left. Afterward we headed to West End to eat at The Dive, we had Texas style burgers. The owner is from Dallas so he takes pride in his meat, he even ships it all the way from Miami, I bet it is the only place on the island with 100% Angus burgers, made fresh. We hit the ice cream shop afterward and headed home.

We plan to head to the beach first thing in the morning for our last dip in this beautiful ocean then head home to pack up. For lunch we are planning to meet Henry and Frances of lw4r for and then we are off to the airport. Jeremy, Melissa and the twins are meeting us there too, so we will have just enough arms and eyes to help out with the kids while we get the bags unloaded and checked. We will miss everyone dearly.

Take care and God bless!

The Official 'Last Ofs' Begin

This is the beginning of the official 'Last Ofs' of Roatan; Our last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, etc.

On our 'last Sunday' we started out our day at rchurch, Laney spent some quality time with several of the male friends that we have made, she absolutely adores men, who of course just scoop her up and will hold her for as long as she wants; atta girl. Before the service was over, Jeremy, the pastor and our new good friend, prayed for us that our family would find our way to follow the path that He has for us, it was very moving and extremely thought provoking in that we truly are seeking that which He wants for us as a family. No matter what IT is, we definitely have come to a place in the last five weeks that has prepared us to follow. It was not a coincidence that we met so many amazing people from so many different walks of life; Henry and Frances with lw4r, the mission team from Georgia, Jeremy and Melissa of rchurch, Tom with Alternative Missions; the list could seriously go on and on. We pray that when we return home, wherever that will be, that we can stay focused and not get caught up in any of the 'land of need' stuff.

Sunday night we hit our 'last crab races and fire dancing show'. We met up with Melissa and the boys and her parents. The kids get so excited to run around on the beach and drink Fanta. The entire fire dancing family was there again and the kids just ate up those child fire dancers. It was a great time and we even had another winner in our group, two free ice creams at Ms. Vicky's ice cream shop.

Our 'last Monday' began a little rough with the power out most of the day. We tried to go into town and get some shopping done so as not to go stir crazy in the house; not only was the power off but there was no wind and it kept raining, it was more or less like a sauna in the house. Not fun. Anyway, Trey's back had been out since Sunday, he twisted or pulled something, so he was in some kinda pain and not the best person to be around, so our shopping trip was cut short in an attempt to track down the local 'back' guru, Cathy. Needless to say, we never got ahold of her so he just kept taking ibuprofen and aleve with hot compresses. Btw, he is doing much better and on the road to working it out. Monday afternoon it finally quit raining and the power came back on, so we took the kids to the beach to run off some of their pent up energy. We decided to have our 'last Monday night pizza', they have a two for one special on Mondays that we have hit for five weeks straight, brick oven and very yummy! They even have a swimming pool that you can swim in while dining, kinda like the sand boxes at some of the restaurants back home, only less messy. Well, our last Monday would not be complete without more drama of some sort, so we ended up taking it to the limit. The floors in the restaurant are wood decking with tiny little cracks in between, one would never notice them much unless they happened to drop just the right size item and it fell in the cracks. Our item was our car key, yes, we are mostly shoeless, wet from the pool, full tummies and kids ready to shower and get to bed; oh, and it's about 7:30 and after dark and there are tons of mosquitoes outside at this point. Our cell phone decides to run out of minutes, the waitress calls the rental car agency and they do not answer the phone; so, we lock up the truck and start walking down the road to get a taxi. We were quite a site to behold, swatting the bugs, kids crying because we have no shoes and the gravel, water-filled pot-holes are killing our feet, carrying the baby and all our towels and crap from the beach....that was the best $5 taxi ride ever, and we only went about 1/2 a mile uphill all the way. At least when we got home the power was on and we could shower and hit the hay. Laney ended up getting a mosquito in her room and she woke up in the middle of the night screaming and scratching at about 50 bites all over her body, bless her little heart, ours too, we got zero sleep. Our last Monday was eventful and I'd say the longest day of our trip so far.

On our last Tuesday, we all were up at about 5am and it was raining most of the morning so we stayed busy inside, playing on the computer, watching DVDs and driving each other nuts. Finally after lunch, Anna, Wiley and I met Melissa and the boys and her parents at the Butterfly Gardens. It was like the butterfly exhibit at the HMNS, but totally rustic and up close, no real rules and our guide was barefoot. They ended up having quite a collection of butterflies, a bunch of cool parrots, toucans and macaws, a baby deer and a cohote. The kids got to hold the birds on their finger, they were a little unsure of this, I'm still not sure why since they just about hugged the iguanas the other day, but they had a great time. They even got to bottle feed the baby deer, which is of the breed that is actually found on the island. After the butterfly gardens, we had everyone over for dinner, we had good food, great conversation and the kids were bouncing off the walls having a blast playing hide and seek. Laney became very good friends with Melissa's dad, Mike, he was at her beck and call, as are all men in her life. After some yummy homemade brownies, we called it a night.

We are planning to hit Gumbalimba Park and the dolphin show at Anthony's Key Resort over the next couple of days as well as have a couple more lunches/dinners with friends before we leave on Saturday.

Take care and God bless!

A Visit to Santa Helena

We are officially able to say that we have pretty much taken the kids on every possible excursion that we NEVER in our minds thought possible. Now we can add a visit to the island of Santa Helena (or Helene).

Thursday, we had to be up and out the door by 8am to get to Oakridge in order to catch our boat to the island. The getting up part is easy at this point because all of the little ones are up with the magnificent ball of fire in the sky that we call the sun, at 5:30 AM...We know that one day we will be blessed with sleeping in til noon for all of eternity....simple request. So we packed everything that we could possibly need and headed out to West End to grab Paul (a Texas boy finding his way with an internship through Alternative Missions) and then off to the gas station at French Harbor to meet Jeremy, Melissa, the boys, the parents and another family that was along for the ride. Along our way we ran into a traffic jam, a cow herder was leading his herd of cattle somewhere, it was a great tourist moment and we had to take pictures.

Once at the boat dock I discovered a small surprise, the restrooms are plumbed directly into the ocean, very different method than back at home. I was a little shocked until I learned that they do the same thing with all of the houses in Vancouver, B.C. Imagine that.

Well, our boat ride was uneventful, we got a little wet from some of the waves and the kids thought they were on a water ride at Sea World. The water was so incredibly blue out on the ocean, unbelievable, bright blue and turquoise, hard to imagine that this much beauty exists in the world all in one location. The island of Helene is separated from Roatan by a canal that is cut through mangrove swamps, the only way to get to the island is by boat. The swamps are huge and are infested with goo, bugs and crocs, thankfully we just went down the coast and not through the mangroves. The people of the island are of Afro-Caribbean decent, once were slaves that had been dropped off on the island in an attempt to hide them. Now, they have a whole little community that is very slowly progressing. No power, only generators, no sewers, no public water system, no stores, no cars at all. Yes, we would be hiking across this island with four children in tow, on foot. What were we thinking???

When we arrive we take a short hike up some dirt paths to the ocean view clinic and school that the Alternative Missions teams have built. We get a grand tour, the dental office, the clinic office, the rooms and bunks for the teams to live in while serving this community. This is amazing that these professionals and young and old adults give of their personal time to help out with a people that has no government to help them in any way, no police to monitor them, no nothing, they are existing on their own completely and with the only help that we as Christians can really give without totally interfering, hope.

So, we head out on our first of many hikes for a tour of the island, we had tons of kids tagging along, curious as to who these little people are that we brought with us. They were all so sweet and spoke with the coolest little Caribbean accent, too cute. The children and moms all wanted to touch and hold Laney, they just love 'beautiful babies.' They liked Wiley's mohawk and even commented on Max and Clay's "soft" hair; they were mesmerized with the fact that they are twins. Jeremy and Melissa actually met while serving here on Helene back in '96, so they knew everyone. People would look and take a second look and just come out of the wood works yelling for 'Jeremy' or 'Melissa', 'how long you here?' The bonds that they formed with this community are very deep and they obviously touched many lives, there are friendships there that will last a lifetime and such true respect for the work that they did while here. All of the people that we met were so happy and ready to greet us with open arms.

We hiked through paths next to the ocean front, over little foot bridges and past tiny houses and some giant houses (there is a great suspicion that some of the very successful peoples of the island are so, due to their drug trafficking). We decided to take our hike to the north side of the island and head out for our lunch that would be prepared for us. We went through jungle, up and down hills, through neighborhoods, past ferocious dogs, along the seashore, sweating our pants off. When we made it to the place to eat, we had to wait a bit and so we hit the shore front. We got to hang out with some boys (all 5-12 years in age) that were cleaning their fresh caught grouper. Wiley collected a lobster shell and a couple of dead fish, Anna and Paul found tons of conch shells that had such bright colors that they looked fake. These would fetch $20 easy in the states. We planned to bring a couple back with us, but man they stunk like the dickens. I think we ended up bringing a small one back with us. Anyway, the view was magnificent, the boys that we met probably have no idea what they are surrounded by, the magnitude of how beautiful the ocean is. They see it everyday and know nothing else. It is kind of like always having your health and not knowing what sickness is, it's truly a blessing.

So, our lunch consisted of lobster and conch, cooked island style, fried. A side note, this community fries everything and puts sugar in everything, even the baby bottles. So, needless to say, the clinic sees alot of diabetes and high blood pressure. The food was excellent and we were so full that the hike back to the clinic seemed impossible. Before we left, Parker had to go to the bathroom so we used the lady's house bathroom while we were there. We took a quick snapshot of the inside of their house, very small but all tidied up and in order. They are very proud of the few possessions that they do have and take great care of them.

Along our hike back across the island we saw all kinds of wild plants and fruit trees, even cotton. That seemed a little strange to see cotton plants blooming with cotton on an island, they used to use it for pillows and mattresses but these days those that can afford it, take a boat ride over to Roatan and buy those types of things, along with groceries and other necesseties.

After our hike, we headed to the public boat dock and swam with the local kids. They were in heaven, even on a dock that was half falling apart. It was quite an adventure, we are still not sure that our kids are aware of the fact that not many children get to experience a remote island and its people. Good thing we can show them pictures as they grow up and tell great stories of all of our adventures. We finished swimming and headed back to the boat to make it back to the main island before dark. All the kids were passing out right and left and were just exhausted, as were the adults (not passing out, just exhausted). We got to our cars and headed home. Thank God the power was on and we all got to shower before hitting the hay, at like 7:30!

That was our visit to Santa Helena, we hope to one day visit again and possibly stay a few nights to really check out island life and the gracious people. Thanks to Jeremy and Melissa for letting us tag along.

Take care and God bless!