On The Ground

After more than 2 years of preparation, we finally arrived in Tegucigalpa on November 17th; from the roller coasters in Disneyland, to the emotional roller coaster in Honduras.

Thank you to everyone that prayed for ease in getting through customs. Other than 2 guys that seemed to be trying to work us for a bribe to get the dog through, it went very smooth. And when we produced the 2 letters from the Honduran consulate approving the dogs entry, they were left stammering and let us go.

Our first 2 1/2 days were spent shopping to furnish the house...everything from beds to pots and pans. The boys and I prayed Monday night in Houston that we'd be able to get beds and sleep in our own house Tuesday and the Lord blessed us with just that. We got to the furniture store about 3:00 pm and after paying they literally loaded them into the truck and followed us to the house. We were told that this NEVER happens in Honduras, but then we knew Who was really behind it.

Friday night we celebrated with the first hot dog feed and marshmallow roast at the Wiggs. 18 Micah guys and staff and our family had a great time playing Bop It around the fire pit. During the time we were praying for God to bring the right house, this was a vision consistently in our mind. Seeing it come to life was joyful indeed.

Reality began to creep in on Saturday, though, when Brian got lost in the city. No cell phone and a wrong turn made him realize how alone and vulnerable we truly are. He did manage to find his way out and home, but it was a bit unsettling. Here he was, a gringo, in the middle of a country in the throes of political chaos, with little ability to speak and no way to contact anyone he knew for help. Later that night we heard loud voices and music behind our house, obviously a party going on. This also was quite unsettling as we live in the woods, out of the city. There are no houses behind us, just dense thick trees. It dawned on me at that moment that if we were to ever be in any danger out here, you can't just pick up a phone and call 911.

As I was praying that night I began to see just how much of my faith and security are in the things of this world, and how little of it is in the Lord. Deep down inside I had to ask myself if I truly believe the things about God that I profess to believe. According to E-dictionary the meaning of believe is this: to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so. I love the Lord and my life is His. I will go and do what we are called to do. But when I dug deep inside I found that the KNOWING, the unbending KNOWING of all I claim wasn't there. What was there was hope, hope that my belief in Him is not in vain, hope that what I have staked my life and the lives of my children on is true, and hope that He will reveal Himself to me in such a way that one day I will KNOW, absolutely KNOW.

The next week Brian went with the Micah Boys to the North Coast to spend 4 days in the jungles of Pico Bonito. Cliff diving, zip lines, white water rafting, they had a wonderful time together and it gave Brian a great opportunity to build "street cred" with the boys. These kids are tough, most have seen and been through things the rest of us will only ready about. They play soccer in the brick courtyard at Micah in the rain, slipping and slamming to the ground as if it were nothing. They wrestle so hard I have to leave the room it makes me cringe so much. I'm convinced they'll be a trip to the ER everytime we're there. So if you are going to have any respect from them, you have to earn it, and Brian was able to gain some solid points on the trip.

Michael, Brian James, and I stayed behind and began home schooling. We also had Hauner here, one of the older Micah guys who had was under disciplinary action which meant he couldn't go on the trip. Hauner is the brother of Oscar Amaya, who was in Portland earlier in the year. He's a 10 year old in a 19 year old body, with the true mindset of an orphan. He was about 7 when both of his parents had died, and spent many years in various orphanages and on the streets. He is desperate to be part of a family. He was so happy to have "his room" and to do chores, to sit down for 3 meals a day, and to play with Legos for hours. The Lord has placed a burden on my heart to give him that family he craves, to be the mom he lost 12 years ago. He currently does not live at Micah due to interpersonal conflicts, but he is still very much a Micah boy. Pray for us as we strive to give him the sense of stability and family that he needs so very much.

One day while Brian was in La Ceiba, while walking the dog, I spied something in the grass back up into a hole in a rock. I bent down to take a look and to my horror discovered a tarantula. I went bounding and screaming across the yard, what a site that must have been for our neighbors. I hate spiders more than anything. My friends used to throw balls of fuzz on me and yell "spider!" when I was a kid just to watch me freak out. A tarantula? No, that just couldn't be happening.

Two days later, Saturday, we took a short drive to Valle de Angeles, a city about 20 km from us that is a hot spot for tourists. We browsed through all the souvenir shops and had lunch, got the boys pictures taken in front of a jeep with a machine gun locked and loaded as the military was guarding the building were the electoral ballots were being kept, and had a nice afternoon. Upon arriving home Michael and Brian jumped out of the car first and ran to the front door, only to run screaming off the front porch. The tarantula was no longer in the rock, it was waiting for us at the door. I freaked out, locked myself in the car and screamed like a baby. Meanwhile, my husband is taking pictures of it! So much for living in denial. I kept yelling at him to catch it and relocate it, but he just kept moving it on the wall for a better shot. ARRRGGGGHHH!. Finally, he moved it out onto the sidewalk where I could see it walking and I started screaming again. This thing was huge, probably about 5 inches in length, black and hairy. I thought I was going to pass out.

After it had been disposed of, I went inside and had a mini nervous breakdown. I screamed "I moved from my comfy home in Beaverton to a house in the jungle with ants in the kitchen, mosquitos that carry dengue, and spiders big enough to eat my dog! And I have to do tick checks on my kids every night! I'm ready to go home now!" I proceeded to lay on my bed in the fetal position and have a meltdown.

Not exactly what you were expecting from a "missionary", right?

Sunday found me a little calmer and a little more realistic. It was election day and the streets were quite empty. On our way to the 8:00 pm worship at Micah it was incredibly eerie to be 1 of about only 4 cars on the road in a city of 1.2 million people. The city was almost deserted as people stayed in their homes hoping to finish the day peacefully. During prayer we heard the sound of gunfire from all around and I was brought back, once again, to the question of where my faith and trust are. I knew that in just a few moments we were going to have to get in our car and drive home, with the popping of gunfire going on around us.

It has been an emotionally taxing 2 weeks, and I know that the Lord will continue to stretch and grow us like never before. But today He also gave me a gift that put it all into perspective. While driving in the car from the city to our house, with Hauner in the passenger seat giving me directions, he said in his limited English, with sincerity and gratitude, "thank you for giving your life for me."

Wow.

I told him my life was Jesus Christ's and it was His to give. But I knew what he was saying. Suddenly spiders were just not that big of a deal anymore.

Praise God for:

A wonderful vacation and safe travel.

For getting our house furnished.

For the relatively easy transition, so far.

For new friends for the boys just 500 km down the road.

For a peaceful election yesterday and the hope that Honduras can move on and get back to regular life.

For His abundant blessings that have been so graciously poured out on us.

Prayer requests:

For additional friends and opportunities for the boys to interact with other missionary kids.

For us as we begin formal Spanish classes next week.

For continued protection and safety as we travel and spend time in the streets in ministry.

For strength and courage to face whatever the Lord places before us each day.

That our cargo, sitting in the Port of Cortes, would arrive safely and nothing would be "missing".

That the short sale offer that we received on our house would be accepted by Bank of America.

We are grateful beyond words for your prayers. Love and blessings to you all,

The Wiggs

En Route Part 1

The last 6 days have been quite a whirlwind and I'm finally getting a few quiet minutes to sit down and make a post. We left Beaverton at 4:30 am on the 6th. God Bless you Mark Mavromatis for being the chauffer at such a crazy hour. And to Mary Hunter, a huge "forgive me" for when you stopped by the night before. I was teetering on the edge of a breakdown trying to get everything packed and together so we could get just a few hours of sleep. You know I love you girl!

So, with about 4 hours of sleep we arrived in LA ready for some fun and escape from reality. Our oldest son, Jake, flew in at the same time. He's a senior in high school this year, on the wrestling team, working at Chili's, very busy with his own life, so we hadn't seen him in 14 months. It was a great reunion on the sidewalk there, waiting for the Enterprise shuttle so we could get our minivan...

But wait, that wasn't big enough for all our bags. Yah, wish I was kidding. We had to upgrade to a full size four door pick up for the 19 bags that we had (3 were Jakes's). The checked bagged fees are killing us, 2 of the 4 legs into the trip and we've rang up $376 in fees. It's kind of crazy to think that we have whittled our lives down to 39 boxes heading to Honduras, 8 full size bags, and 8 carry ons.

After checking in to the Super 8 we went on to Disney's California Adventure and hit the California Screemin' roller coaster first thing. As I've said before, better living through pharmaceuticals...my Xanax let me enjoy the ride just as much as my adrenaline seeking boys and it actually ended up being my favorite. We spent the rest of the day in that park and had a fabulous time.

Day 2 was spent in Disneyland riding rides and having fun. I hadn't realized until then just how much pressure we'd been under as I found myself really enjoying the "unreality" of everything. Not having to think about anything in particular, no agendas, nothing that had to get done. The world just kind of ceases to exist when you go through those gates.

We took Sunday off from the theme parks and went to the Van's Skate park in Orange so Jake could do some skating and shopping. Then we headed to Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, just to say we'd been there. Out of the mouths of babes, you know, as Michael said "wow, I just thought it would be so much, I don't know, more." Made for a great little discussion on what you choose to spend your life chasing after, fame and fortune, or things with eternal value. I had never been on Rodeo Drive either and was also quite unimpressed. I did make everyone just about hold their breath and keep their hands behind their backs as we looked at the $150,000 sculpture in the porcelan shop, however.

From there we did what every good parent does after dark in LA and took our kids to Hollywood Boulevard and walked the Walk of Fame. Wow, so many freaks in such a short amount of time. People in costume everywhere letting you flash a picture for a price. Gene Simmons, the first version with platform boots and detachable 6" tongue...disgusting; Captain Jack, Michael Jackson. Outside of Madame Toussad's there was a wax Samuel Jackson that totally gave me the creeps. Then we performed our most daring feat of the trip and had dinner at McDonalds on Hollywood Boulevard...there isn't a street vendor in Honduras that can scare us now. And I got to channel my 80's heavy metal days and get my picture by Motley Crue and Ozzy Osborne's stars. Sweet.

We spent Monday at Universal Studios. Jake has been accepted to Highland College in New Mexico and wants to study cinematography. After seeing the sets and the shows, learning how special effects are made and just being on the studio lot, it really just made him that much more sure of the direction he wants to take. "I'm going to work here someday"...I hope you do, Jakey.

Our last day in LA we spent going back on all our favorite rides at Disneyland and California Adventure, ending where we started, on California Screamin. It was a wonderful trip, a much needed break from the hectic schedule we've been on, and an unforgettable time together for all 5 of us. Our last chance at a great vacation before Jake goes off to college, we made it a good one.

Now we are in Phoenix visiting family and getting some rest. Who knew playing in Disney could be so tiring? I did, though, find out that my new knees are amazing! I walked more in those 5 days than I've walked in the last 3 years all together and never had any problem or pain in my knees...my leg muscles are another story. It'll take some time to get those back into shape. But it was great to know that the surgeries were very successful and that they'll be able to stand to whatever Honduras brings.

I'll get some pictures posted later today. Part 2 to come...

Almost time to go

October 25th marked our last Sunday at our home church, Grace Point Community Church. We were blessed with an amazing send off, 3 services and a dinner. Vicki Knez did an amazing job on this video.

The house is empty except for one room that will be cleaned out tomorrow. We are all feeling the complete range of emotions...excitement, sadness, fear, anticipation, relief. Please pray for us that our 10 days on vacation as we transition will be restful and a time to reflect on God's faithfulness over the past year to bring His plan for us in Honduras to fruition.

More to come...

Love, The Wiggs