Sunday, March 9, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Honduras Pictures!
Honduras is a beautiful country, filled with lots of foothills and ridges. This picture was taken soon before we landed in the capital of Honduras. We didn't go into regions quite this rugged, but it does give you a little bit of a sense of what the driving is like.
This was taken just outside of Comayagua (where the Langendoen's live). I think it had just rained not long before. At one time, Honduras was covered by jungle and forests. However, large parts have been deforested, due to fires and tree-cutting.
The two Langendoen girls, Davina (left) and Eva (right).
Here you can see the three of us (me, Jonathan, and Melanie). This was the first VBS program we had, at the church.
The following three pictures were taken in the South where we had two programs in two different communities (Nueva Reunion and Ojo de Agua). Both communities were very poor but had LOTS of kids. :)
Nueva Reunion church.
Ojo de Agua (Eye of Water) church.
We played a lot of soccer in the south. Here, however, we were teaching the kids a Canadian (British?) game... British Bulldog. It worked quite well and was a lot of fun to see all the kids running.
Cockroaches. Mrs. Langendoen brought us out one night to LISTEN to them in the back compost heap. You could hear them loudly munching and crunching away all over the pile!
And ants. This was actually a lot of fun. I killed about 7 big red ants and stuck them close to a ant hole. I took this picture about a minute later. I counted 144 ants!
The Langendoen's had a nice palm tree in their front yard. I wanted to climb it, but Jonathan Langendoen had almost got badly hurt before trying to climb it, so that was out. However, while studying one morning, I decided to try to rig something up. So I took two dust mops and strapped them together. Using this as a long pole, I lifted up a lasso knot while Eva twisted the rope to work it around the coconuts. It worked very well! It was a lot of fun, though my study break was a lot longer than it probably should have been. :)
Taken from the balcony at the Langendoen's house. The tree in the foreground actually lost all its leaves while we were there and grew completely new ones. I never thought we would be raking leaves in the Honduras in February, but we were!
Mom said this was a Bogenvillia (spelling?) plant. It grew on top of the wall around the Langendoen's house.
The tarantula. This was a medium size. We saw another one later that was quite a bit bigger.
And finally, a fish picture. We went fishing in some (stocked) ponds just outside of Comayagua. This size was typical. (Sorry, I don't remember the name of the fish.)
This was taken just outside of Comayagua (where the Langendoen's live). I think it had just rained not long before. At one time, Honduras was covered by jungle and forests. However, large parts have been deforested, due to fires and tree-cutting.
The two Langendoen girls, Davina (left) and Eva (right).
Here you can see the three of us (me, Jonathan, and Melanie). This was the first VBS program we had, at the church.
The following three pictures were taken in the South where we had two programs in two different communities (Nueva Reunion and Ojo de Agua). Both communities were very poor but had LOTS of kids. :)
Nueva Reunion church.
Ojo de Agua (Eye of Water) church.
We played a lot of soccer in the south. Here, however, we were teaching the kids a Canadian (British?) game... British Bulldog. It worked quite well and was a lot of fun to see all the kids running.
Cockroaches. Mrs. Langendoen brought us out one night to LISTEN to them in the back compost heap. You could hear them loudly munching and crunching away all over the pile!
And ants. This was actually a lot of fun. I killed about 7 big red ants and stuck them close to a ant hole. I took this picture about a minute later. I counted 144 ants!
The Langendoen's had a nice palm tree in their front yard. I wanted to climb it, but Jonathan Langendoen had almost got badly hurt before trying to climb it, so that was out. However, while studying one morning, I decided to try to rig something up. So I took two dust mops and strapped them together. Using this as a long pole, I lifted up a lasso knot while Eva twisted the rope to work it around the coconuts. It worked very well! It was a lot of fun, though my study break was a lot longer than it probably should have been. :)
Taken from the balcony at the Langendoen's house. The tree in the foreground actually lost all its leaves while we were there and grew completely new ones. I never thought we would be raking leaves in the Honduras in February, but we were!
Mom said this was a Bogenvillia (spelling?) plant. It grew on top of the wall around the Langendoen's house.
The tarantula. This was a medium size. We saw another one later that was quite a bit bigger.
And finally, a fish picture. We went fishing in some (stocked) ponds just outside of Comayagua. This size was typical. (Sorry, I don't remember the name of the fish.)
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
En el Pais de las Honduras
En el pais de las Honduras
(I wrote this up yesterday (Tuesday), but didn't get a chance to post it.)
Hello to everyone at home! I hope you are all well! It has been two weeks already here in the Honduras. Sorry for not posting earlier, but we have been quite busy. Jonathan and Melanie left last Friday, so now I have a lot more time. I am using my spare time for my Greek and also am putting chords to the songs in the Langendoen's hymnbook. We three (Jonathan Reistma, Melanie Smit, and I) arrived here almost two weeks ago on a Wednesday after a LONG trip (8 hour stop-over in Washinton). We were quite tired when we got here, so we rested in the morning, then went through the neighbourhood around the church inviting kids to a two day vacation Bible school. That was held on Thursday and Friday morning, and went quite well. Mrs. Langendoen did most of the teaching, though I did help out a little in my stilted Spanish. One big mistake I kept on making was saying hombro (shoulder) instead of hombre (man). I'm sure the result was somewhat amusing at times (e.g. the Good Samaritan helped the poor 'shoulder' onto his donkey :) ), but hopefully people understood what I meant. We had twenty-eight kids in total. Saturday was a free day which we used to do a lot of shopping. (If anyone wants any vanilla, just ask me. I have two 500 mL bottles for Mom which cost just 15 lempiras (about 75 cents) each!) On Monday, we left for Choluteca in the South. Pastor Langendoen used to pastor there, so we went to visit his previous church there. It was very hot (30-35 degres). The people in the South are very poor. (I'll have to put some pictures up once I get back to Canada.) We had a small program at two different villages there on Tuesday. At Nuevo Reunion, we had 60 kids, and it went very well. At Ojo de Agua, we had over 80 kids. This was a little frenetic (proper word?) at times. The kids at the first place knew the story of the Good Samaritan already, but the kids at the second did not. On Wednesday, we travelled back to Comayagua. On Thursday, we had another free day in which we did a lot of shopping. Jonathan and Melanie bought 7 or 8 machetes between the two of them. (Would anyone like a machete? They are around $10 each.) On Friday, Melanie and Jonathan left. Saturday we cleaned up around the house. Peter (L.) and I were digging the back garden, and we saw EIGHT different tarantulas of varying sizes! Crazy, eh? On Sunday, we had church in the morning (1 sermon by Pastor Orlando, followed by a Catechism study by Pastor Langendoen). In the afternoon, the young people came over, which was a lot of fun. Yesterday (Monday), Pastor Langendoen, Pastor Orlando and I went to a bookstore in Siguetepeca and to visit there. It was the most beautiful stretch of road I've seen yet in the Honduras, but I forgot my camera!! Honduras is quite a beautiful country. There are many small razorbacks everywhere and not many flat sections. (Our airplane landing into Tegucigalpa was quite interesting. The runway there is very short, and to get to it we had to go through a curving valley!) This post is starting to resemble one of those long Jonathan epistles. :) I had better stop soon. I'll wrap up by saying that I am enjoying myself a lot, and am well and healthy. (Praise God that none of us got sick while we were here! It is not uncommon.) I do miss you all at home, and I am looking forward to seeing you in a week. Please continue to pray for me and the Langendoen's and for the work especially. Bye for now!
(I wrote this up yesterday (Tuesday), but didn't get a chance to post it.)
Hello to everyone at home! I hope you are all well! It has been two weeks already here in the Honduras. Sorry for not posting earlier, but we have been quite busy. Jonathan and Melanie left last Friday, so now I have a lot more time. I am using my spare time for my Greek and also am putting chords to the songs in the Langendoen's hymnbook. We three (Jonathan Reistma, Melanie Smit, and I) arrived here almost two weeks ago on a Wednesday after a LONG trip (8 hour stop-over in Washinton). We were quite tired when we got here, so we rested in the morning, then went through the neighbourhood around the church inviting kids to a two day vacation Bible school. That was held on Thursday and Friday morning, and went quite well. Mrs. Langendoen did most of the teaching, though I did help out a little in my stilted Spanish. One big mistake I kept on making was saying hombro (shoulder) instead of hombre (man). I'm sure the result was somewhat amusing at times (e.g. the Good Samaritan helped the poor 'shoulder' onto his donkey :) ), but hopefully people understood what I meant. We had twenty-eight kids in total. Saturday was a free day which we used to do a lot of shopping. (If anyone wants any vanilla, just ask me. I have two 500 mL bottles for Mom which cost just 15 lempiras (about 75 cents) each!) On Monday, we left for Choluteca in the South. Pastor Langendoen used to pastor there, so we went to visit his previous church there. It was very hot (30-35 degres). The people in the South are very poor. (I'll have to put some pictures up once I get back to Canada.) We had a small program at two different villages there on Tuesday. At Nuevo Reunion, we had 60 kids, and it went very well. At Ojo de Agua, we had over 80 kids. This was a little frenetic (proper word?) at times. The kids at the first place knew the story of the Good Samaritan already, but the kids at the second did not. On Wednesday, we travelled back to Comayagua. On Thursday, we had another free day in which we did a lot of shopping. Jonathan and Melanie bought 7 or 8 machetes between the two of them. (Would anyone like a machete? They are around $10 each.) On Friday, Melanie and Jonathan left. Saturday we cleaned up around the house. Peter (L.) and I were digging the back garden, and we saw EIGHT different tarantulas of varying sizes! Crazy, eh? On Sunday, we had church in the morning (1 sermon by Pastor Orlando, followed by a Catechism study by Pastor Langendoen). In the afternoon, the young people came over, which was a lot of fun. Yesterday (Monday), Pastor Langendoen, Pastor Orlando and I went to a bookstore in Siguetepeca and to visit there. It was the most beautiful stretch of road I've seen yet in the Honduras, but I forgot my camera!! Honduras is quite a beautiful country. There are many small razorbacks everywhere and not many flat sections. (Our airplane landing into Tegucigalpa was quite interesting. The runway there is very short, and to get to it we had to go through a curving valley!) This post is starting to resemble one of those long Jonathan epistles. :) I had better stop soon. I'll wrap up by saying that I am enjoying myself a lot, and am well and healthy. (Praise God that none of us got sick while we were here! It is not uncommon.) I do miss you all at home, and I am looking forward to seeing you in a week. Please continue to pray for me and the Langendoen's and for the work especially. Bye for now!
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Steve & Ruth's Birthday Party
This past Friday, we had a birthday party for Steve and Ruth at our house. I think we had over 20 people over, which made for a full downstairs and a great night of fellowship! Here are some pictures of the night.
The birthday man himself. (Ruth had a beautiful matching hat too.)
We played a very rousing game of 'Cat Loves Dog'. For those who have never had the fun of playing this game, it involves hitting people as hard as you want (or as hard as you can, in some cases, not to mention any names) with a newspaper bat. Quite invigorating!
And some more pictures...
The birthday man himself. (Ruth had a beautiful matching hat too.)
We played a very rousing game of 'Cat Loves Dog'. For those who have never had the fun of playing this game, it involves hitting people as hard as you want (or as hard as you can, in some cases, not to mention any names) with a newspaper bat. Quite invigorating!
And some more pictures...
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
On Reading
I've been thinking (believe it or not). When so many people are using the Internet or watching TV, how many still read books? I used to read tons of books... I think I've read about 3/4 of the books in our house (and we have a lot of books), a good number of which I've read several times. But over the year's, it's gradually dwindled to a very small number. As I've had some more free time lately, I've been trying to get back into it again. I'm happy to say that it is definitely well worth it.
Here's a couple of books I've read lately that I really enjoyed.
How Sleep the Brave, by James Hunter.
This book is historical fiction (fiction in history) about the persecution of the Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland by King James Stuart of England. It's a really neat story about the incredible exploits of Duncan Fenwick (I am not sure how much of the book is real) and how he took up the cause of the Kirk to become the Black Avenger, the avenger and protector of the weak and helpless of the land. I think Duncan is somewhat based upon William Wallace, the real (almost legendary) defender of Scotland (on which Braveheart is based.) This book is exciting, has a beautiful love story threaded through it, and demonstrates throughout simple faith and trust in God acting in difficult situations. A very good book (though it is a little over-dramatic at times.)
Twice Pardoned, by Harold Morris.
This book is the life-story of Harold Morris, an ex-con. He writes telling about his own life as he moved from starting a friendship with some slick criminals. His 'friends' got caught and framed him so well that he was sent to the Georgia State Penitentiary with two life sentences. He quickly became a hardened convict, until by the grace of God, his family finally tracked him down and started visiting him. He finally gave his life to Christ, and after much hard work and petitions received his freedom (hence the name 'Twice Pardoned'). This book is quite a powerful testimony.. I read most of it twice. (It is NOT a kid's book however.)
Three Shall Be One, by Francena Arnold
(F. A. is also author of Not My Will, which I haven't read, but I believe it is quite well-known).
This fiction starts off with a happy marriage between a lonely woman (Pat) and a lonely man (Tony), and is told from Pat's perspective. Pat and Tony are not Christians, but are very happy together (the two are one). However, things start to go wrong between the two when Tony's mother-in-law steps in. Midway through the book, Pat gets in a car accident, and gets a solid case of amnesia. Tony, meanwhile, thinks that Pat has separated from him and has run off. I'm not going to wreck the ending (which has quite a non-expected twist), but suffice it to say that they both come to love the Lord, and are reconciled to each other, such that Three Shall Be One (Christ becomes the center of their marriage).
This was the second time I read this book. The first time I read it, the ending didn't make any sense to me. But now that I reread it, everything made sense. Very well-written, and quite an enjoyable book.
If any of you have any good books you'd like to suggest, then comment away! Brad V. also has an excellent post on reading books at his blog: http://bjv-maranatha.blogspot.com/2006/12/books.html
Here's a couple of books I've read lately that I really enjoyed.
How Sleep the Brave, by James Hunter.
This book is historical fiction (fiction in history) about the persecution of the Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland by King James Stuart of England. It's a really neat story about the incredible exploits of Duncan Fenwick (I am not sure how much of the book is real) and how he took up the cause of the Kirk to become the Black Avenger, the avenger and protector of the weak and helpless of the land. I think Duncan is somewhat based upon William Wallace, the real (almost legendary) defender of Scotland (on which Braveheart is based.) This book is exciting, has a beautiful love story threaded through it, and demonstrates throughout simple faith and trust in God acting in difficult situations. A very good book (though it is a little over-dramatic at times.)
Twice Pardoned, by Harold Morris.
This book is the life-story of Harold Morris, an ex-con. He writes telling about his own life as he moved from starting a friendship with some slick criminals. His 'friends' got caught and framed him so well that he was sent to the Georgia State Penitentiary with two life sentences. He quickly became a hardened convict, until by the grace of God, his family finally tracked him down and started visiting him. He finally gave his life to Christ, and after much hard work and petitions received his freedom (hence the name 'Twice Pardoned'). This book is quite a powerful testimony.. I read most of it twice. (It is NOT a kid's book however.)
Three Shall Be One, by Francena Arnold
(F. A. is also author of Not My Will, which I haven't read, but I believe it is quite well-known).
This fiction starts off with a happy marriage between a lonely woman (Pat) and a lonely man (Tony), and is told from Pat's perspective. Pat and Tony are not Christians, but are very happy together (the two are one). However, things start to go wrong between the two when Tony's mother-in-law steps in. Midway through the book, Pat gets in a car accident, and gets a solid case of amnesia. Tony, meanwhile, thinks that Pat has separated from him and has run off. I'm not going to wreck the ending (which has quite a non-expected twist), but suffice it to say that they both come to love the Lord, and are reconciled to each other, such that Three Shall Be One (Christ becomes the center of their marriage).
This was the second time I read this book. The first time I read it, the ending didn't make any sense to me. But now that I reread it, everything made sense. Very well-written, and quite an enjoyable book.
If any of you have any good books you'd like to suggest, then comment away! Brad V. also has an excellent post on reading books at his blog: http://bjv-maranatha.blogspot.com/2006/12/books.html
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Funny Faces (Finally)
So here is part of my funny-faces pictures... some of my best ones. I hope you enjoy them! And to anyone who's featured here, I hope you don't get too annoyed with me... all I can say is if you pictures like this of me or others, then go ahead and post them! It's a lot of fun! :D :D :D
Laurie has some good ones here too at her blog.
Just to clarify, I don't think there is any editing done on any of these except for cropping.
Single Shots
Dad, who can pull off some of the most amazing faces I've ever seen. (Yes, that was a big fish, but not ...that... big.)
Jorge, a good friend from Mexico, practicing to be an opera singer. (Actually, Josh B was trying to steal his nose :) ).
Steve... always stands out in a crowd, eh?
My new cousin Joseph, VERY happily married to Sarah out West.
Two's A Pair, Three's Company
My dear brother and his wife. They are one of a kind, eh? :)
Like brother, like sister? (The picture of Rachel on the right was posed for last year's Boxing Day 'Movies'. You can find the pictures on www.ypfriends.com.)
Jason & Stef. Believe it or not, this was NOT planned.
Kevin and Dan, brothers.
Mark showing one of his skills and Ruth's reaction. (Well... not really, but the pic's do go together well.)
One of my all time favorites.
My sisters and niece all having a "blonde moment". (This one's compliments of Curt.)
And lest I make too many enemies (though I think it's too late already), here's one to make fun of me too. :)
Laurie has some good ones here too at her blog.
Just to clarify, I don't think there is any editing done on any of these except for cropping.
Single Shots
Dad, who can pull off some of the most amazing faces I've ever seen. (Yes, that was a big fish, but not ...that... big.)
Jorge, a good friend from Mexico, practicing to be an opera singer. (Actually, Josh B was trying to steal his nose :) ).
Steve... always stands out in a crowd, eh?
My new cousin Joseph, VERY happily married to Sarah out West.
Two's A Pair, Three's Company
My dear brother and his wife. They are one of a kind, eh? :)
Like brother, like sister? (The picture of Rachel on the right was posed for last year's Boxing Day 'Movies'. You can find the pictures on www.ypfriends.com.)
Jason & Stef. Believe it or not, this was NOT planned.
Kevin and Dan, brothers.
Mark showing one of his skills and Ruth's reaction. (Well... not really, but the pic's do go together well.)
One of my all time favorites.
My sisters and niece all having a "blonde moment". (This one's compliments of Curt.)
And lest I make too many enemies (though I think it's too late already), here's one to make fun of me too. :)
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Our New Home
30 comments so far, and growing! It would be interesting to stop writing and see what that number grows to! :) Ruth has definitely done her ad campaign well. So here I am writing away on a blog that I never expected to be on. I suppose that you won for now, Ruth, but I'll find a way somehow or other to get the upper hand. Maybe some pictures from my 'Funny Faces' album would do the trick.... :)
Anyways, as some people might know, and some people might not, we have moved! We now live in Jordan Station, close to St. Catherines, ON. It's in a tiny subdivision out in the middle of vineyards. Dad walks back and forth to school every day and we've been walking to church too! It's very nice to live so close... much different from Dundas days.
As per Curt's request, here's some pictures of the main floor:
And Curt, here are two pictures of the downstairs appartment. (Sorry, I couldn't find any nice ones of the kitchen area... it's on the right of the first picture.) Mom took these pictures before we bought the house, so the stuff isn't ours. I hope you don't mind a nice, PINK room! It will certainly wake you up in the morning!
I can't say I like the colors of most of the rooms, but other than that, I do like the new place, especially being so close to everything (except work, that is). Now Ruth and I are both prescribing the exact opposite course we did all through high-school! (Before we drove from Hamilton to Jordan St every day, and now we're both driving from Jordan St. to Hamilton every day!) :) But we are very thankful for where we are now. God has definitely blessed us in
giving us a home right next to the school and church.
It's 11:24pm and I am beginning to remember why I didn't want to start a blog. I guess I had better sign off here. ¡Hasta luego a todos!
Anyways, as some people might know, and some people might not, we have moved! We now live in Jordan Station, close to St. Catherines, ON. It's in a tiny subdivision out in the middle of vineyards. Dad walks back and forth to school every day and we've been walking to church too! It's very nice to live so close... much different from Dundas days.
As per Curt's request, here's some pictures of the main floor:
And Curt, here are two pictures of the downstairs appartment. (Sorry, I couldn't find any nice ones of the kitchen area... it's on the right of the first picture.) Mom took these pictures before we bought the house, so the stuff isn't ours. I hope you don't mind a nice, PINK room! It will certainly wake you up in the morning!
I can't say I like the colors of most of the rooms, but other than that, I do like the new place, especially being so close to everything (except work, that is). Now Ruth and I are both prescribing the exact opposite course we did all through high-school! (Before we drove from Hamilton to Jordan St every day, and now we're both driving from Jordan St. to Hamilton every day!) :) But we are very thankful for where we are now. God has definitely blessed us in
giving us a home right next to the school and church.
It's 11:24pm and I am beginning to remember why I didn't want to start a blog. I guess I had better sign off here. ¡Hasta luego a todos!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)