Christmas Food Drive 2011

Our first food drive Pandy Town, Fiddlers Bight, Barrio Lempira, El Bight, Lucy Point and Milton Bight

Our second food drive Mud Hole, Hottest Sparrow, Wild Cane, Man Trap, Spring Garden, Isla Bonita,Crawfish Rock

We weren't able to go out on this drive since we were volunteering at the Made In Roatan.   Thanks to Renee and Liyan for taking these photos.

Our last food drive:  The Barrinche, seniors in Flowers Bay, Pubberton, Brass Him and the Swamp

For the past few years we have been involved with an Island Wide Food Drive.  It is expanding and we were so grateful for the help of so many to make this happen.  The driving force behind this was Nidia Webster, a beautiful local girl and a host of volunteers who worked hard going around the island getting donations, packaging up the food, and handing it out to various communities.   The list is too long to thank.  I would also like to thank our friends who made a generous donation through the Made in Roatan online store and also for Kevin setting up the donation button.  I would also like to thank all the people on the cruise ships who put money into our 'donation' gourd... the total for that was 225.00.  WOW! 

Nidia checking her list and Santa helping!!

We handed out close to a 1000 bags of food and tons of toys and candy!

What were some of the highlights for me?   Well other then beautiful smiling, grateful faces and seeing communities and praying with people?   I want to tell you one story that really touched me personally.

We went into Pandy Town for the first time this year and I love to talk with the locals.  I was standing on the road and an older lady carrying an umbrella came up to me and thanked us for coming.  I told her that it wasn't much but I hope it helped.  She told me that she was a widow for 10 years and the Lord had been taking care of her all that time!  She said, "This isn't a little:  it is just what I need!"   Then again she thanked us for coming.  I told her that I almost didn't come today because I wasn't feeling well but I was glad I did.  She looked deep into my eyes, put her hands on my shoulders and said, "Whatza matter honey?"  Her love almost melted my heart.  I told her I had a bladder infection and was feeling really weak.  She wrapped her beautiful arms around me and started to softly pray for me that the Lord would give me strength and heal me and give me courage to keep reaching out to the people of the island.  I admit:  I cried.  In fact I sobbed.  I didn't realize how tired I was until I was in her arms, I didn't realize how much I missed my own Mom until she enveloped me.  But by the time she finished lifting me up to the Father above I felt stronger and with glistening eyes I told her that she had just made my day!!!  

I am so glad that I didn't stay home because the Lord knew I needed this woman's prayers and love. 

So grateful for her love to me when I least expected it.

When we give, we are blessed.

That is just one story of how I was blessed.  

Let me tell you one more while I am typing.  We went into Pollytilly Bight too for the first time.  I remember seeing a beautiful lady standing on the porch looking down on all the people and she was smiling.  She was so beautiful.  I took her photo because I was taken by her inner beauty. I could see the Lord in her.   Later she came around with a large plastic container full of molasses cookies, yucca cake, and johnny cake that she had made for us.   I was taken back by this woman's generosity to US!

The face of a daughter of the King

These people are so poor and yet they keep giving.  They keep praying, they keep loving, they keep giving.  What an example!

So Lord please bless the people of this island.  Lighten their loads, help them to know that You are providing for them.  That You are watching over them, that You know the hairs on their heads and that You will continue to take good care of them.  Strengthen them to continue to believe, to serve and to love as You love.   Amen!

Padrinos

We were so honoured to be asked to be Padrinos (godparents) for Angela's graduation.  We first met this family last year in February when Zenola told us that the Mother, Elizabeth wasn't able to put her kids in school.  Bob jumped in the car and by the end of the day the 4 kids were outfitted with uniforms, backpacks and school supplies.

You might be wondering what it means to be padrinos:  it means that when they walk down the aisle the parents or padrinos walk down the aisle with the graduating student.  It is a wonderful idea!   I called Zenola to get all the 'lowdown' and she told me:  you gots ta dress up, and you gots to bring a present for Angela.  I said, So when do I give her the present?   Later?   She told me to walk down the aisle with the present, get your photo taken and then give her the gift.   Good to know!!!  

We only did one bad thing:   we forgot to get out of the way for the principal to give her the diploma so he kinda reached past Bob.  We were the first to come out and no one told us to move! The rest of the people were held back and told not to go up with the principal but no one told us.   I guess they thought, oh... those gringos!!!!   Too funny!

I am happy to say that Angela graduated with high honours in her class:  98%

We are so proud of her!   And we know that God has good things in store for this family!
Thanks for praying for them.

goggle eye fish

 

Yesterday I was inside when I suddenly heard Moto, our dog, barking

which to us is equilelant to a doorbell because when anyone

comes to the gate he lets us know.

I went outside to see our neighbour's son, O'Neil

standing at the gate with a plastic container in his hand.

I will be honest:  my first thought was CAKE???!

But it wasn't cake it was fish.

Goggle eye fish.  

6 whole little fish ... cleaned

but with their heads and tails and scales still on.

Now I am going to be honest again:

I can't stand to eat fish that is looking back at me

Especially one named 'goggle eye' because truly they 

have the BIGGEST eyes I have ever seen on a fish.

So I asked O'Neil to come inside and cut the heads off.

He did.

Later I went over to take some money over to my neighbour

to pay for the fish.

I know that they don't have alot of money so I thought that I should pay.

When I walked up her steps, and into her house they were all gathered around

frying up fish, and eating it happily.

I handed her the money and she said,

Oh Miss Debi, don't be insultin' me.  I don't wan yor money. 

At times I think... boy I still have so much to learn.

They may be poor but they are so giving, and I can't embarrass them

by paying for our friendship.

I think to myself.. if one of my friends brought me over a cake 

(yeah yeah.. I want cake!)

I wouldn't PAY them for it.  

That would be ridiculous so why do I do that here?

Because I know they need it.

But they are still my friends and Carol is right:

it is insultin'

Living and learning.

So ...  goggle eye fish are a very very special treat!!

They are only available for a short time every year.

They are only found out Punta Gorda way and they come through

the reef in HUGE schools and are caught with a net.

Apparently islanders LOVE goggle eye fish.

Carol gave me the low down on how to cook them:

heat the oil good and hot,

put on some salt and pepper

and lots of lime and fry em up.

Then she looked at me and smiled saying,

"I remember when you told me that you liked little fish,

well the goggle eye she be little!"

Delicious.

Lots of bones but delicious!!!

I am blessed.

I had said to Bob that I wanted some fish and then

the following day it comes to my door.

A coincidence?

No

God~ is ~ good!!!

touring and photographing

 

One of the things I enjoy is to be able to take people out and show off the island.

My friend Teresa had emailed me saying that her friends from Brussels were coming to Roatan on a cruise.

It was such a JOY to meet them.

We had a great time:  we stopped at the View, Punta Gorda,

took a dory ride through several bights around Oakridge,

visited some friends inFrench Harbour, 

stopped at our house in Sandy Bay, 

had lunch at Hungry Munkey, snorkeled at West Bay

and then went to the Made in Roatan shop.

It was a glorious day ... a perfect Caribbean day.

We are now officially into our 'high season' and this week there were 10 ships that came into two

different ports here in Roatan. 

That is ALOT of tourists.

This past week was busy, almost TOO BUSY!

We are happy that the online shop for Made In Roatan is up and running.

But it means alot more work for us:  for me my main job is photographing all the jewelry,

resizing, writing descriptions on line and posting them.

Bob handles the shipping and also makes all sales are recorded and that

people get paid. 

It all takes time.

We are grateful that we can serve in this way but we need BALANCE

We are going to try to order our days so we have time to help the local artists, 

but also have time to visit with people, meet people's spiritual needs

and also have some down time just to be together.

Please pray for us that we would be able to give but not to the point of exhaustion.

It is a very fine line!

I had a bit of a scare this past week with chest pains. 

I went to the Dr. and got all sorts of tests and an EKG.   

We thought it was my heart.   

There is nothing scarier then thinking you  are having a heart attack 

but I am happy to say that it wasn't my heart but it was Costochondritis

This morning I made an appointment with Claudia, a physiotherapist on the island

and she really helped me.  

I will be seeing her regularly for the next couple of weeks.

I am thankful to those of you who prayed for me.

Thank YOU!

Renewed Vision

I saw this sign while driving to French Harbour on our way to church.

Do you ever wish for a sign that says:

Go this way!

  Turn Here!

Go Right!

He leads me beside still waters

Sometimes His direction is clear and other times it isn't.

But I have come to know that through it all He is there to help, to guide, to teach

and to strengthen.

One day in early October I was waiting for Bob at Infinity Bay while he had a meeting.

I was standing looking at the beautiful sea, and I was talking to Jesus.

Jesus works there.  Oh not the Jesus in heaven but the man who lives in the Colonia

and who is trying to learn English.

We were having a wonderful chat together when another man began asking

me about my life here, what I did etc and within a very short time had offered

me a JOB!

At first I laughed and thought he was joking but he was serious.

He asked me to be the Activities Director at Mayan Princess Resort.

At first I said, No because I didn't have time for that with all the ministry opportunities here.

  I went home, prayed about, talked with some mentors about it 

and decided to try it.

After all.. how bad could it be ... working on the beach, talking to tourists all day 

about how much I love the island and selling them tours.

But here is the catch:  I love people, I love the island, but I don't love selling!

Plus I found that after working I didn't have any energy to visit with people,

I didn't want to talk to another person at the Made in Roatan shop because I had just 

'sold all day' prior.  

(I would work for 9-2 then go to the shop from 2-4)

I was torn up inside because I felt that I didn't have energy for what I 

had a passion about:  helping people practically and spiritually.

One day I was crying (literally) out to the Lord for direction

and while I was reading John 4 this verse literally jumped out at me:

"My food", Jesus said, "is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to finish His work"

My heart clamped down, my tears fell, my spirit agreed:

Yes... I was called to do His will and I need to finish it.

He didn't call me to work at a resort.

Now you might be wondering WHY would I do it in the first place.

Well we have been having some problems with our investment and instead of

living off the interest as we had been, we have been

eating away at our principal.   Every month we lose more and more money, so I thought

I could help out in this way.

But it is not possible. 

I am thankful for the experience because, not only did I 

get to meet some awesome people who work at the resort

(Avi, Grace, Sophia, Orlando, Ivis, Maria,Charley, Sandra, LoLo, Jorge... to name a few)

but it confirmed to me what I amreally ALL about: 

I am about the Father's business!!

This painting was given to me as a gift:  it reminds me of my island people!

I believe He will take care of us financially!

He has in the past and He will now.

It also renewed my passion and my desire to do His will.

Renewed vision is worth a million dollars in my books!

Thanks to those of you who practically helped me through this 

with prayers, advise and council.

Please pray for us that we will continue to 

do HIS will and finish HIS work.

Love you all

xoxo

Our trip to Canada

 You may be wondering why Bob and Emily are looking so absolutely exhausted!   Well imagine what it would be like to get on a plane at 8:00 one morning and get to your destination 2 1/2 days later (11:00 pm).  Our flight out of San Pedro Sula was 5 hours late (which meant we spent the night in the airport) which incidently made all our other flights late or worse, non existent!

After 3 days of travel we were all quite tired but happy to have arrived finally in Toronto Canada. 

this was taken at sunrise.. somewhere.. on our journey!

 We came to Canada to go to a Cowan family reunion and are so happy to be able to have all 3 kids join us as well

we have been enjoying the beautiful Fall colors, long walks, and visits with family

 Here is Emily and her aunt Debbie at  Windermere, Ontario

This was taken at Debbie's backyard in Markham Ontario

So wonderful to be all together again!

 Here is the whole Cowan Clan... well not all of them, but a very good representation!

helping hands

I am constantly amazed at the generosity of people!!   A few months ago I met a couple of ladies at the Rchurch in West Bay who came to the Made in Roatan shop.  Well a couple of weeks ago one of the missionaries told Bob that he had something for us and we were shocked and thrilled that Teresa had sent
us a huge parcel with jewelry making supplies as well as jewelry that she owned that the girls could 're-make' here in Roatan!   It is awesome to have people put action to their words and we are thankful for her helping hands

This is a photo of Oneyada while she is being interviewed for TV.   She came into the Made in Roatan shop about a couple of months ago and asked for a job.  I told her about the shop and how we get locals to make jewelry and sell it for them and she said she could make jewelry.  She has been coming faithfully every week and learning to make things that the American tourists like.  We are proud of her for her hard work.   I was also happy that the local station sees this as a 'story' because it is:  it is a good story about working hard and living selflessly.

I don't know if you like avocados or not but since moving to Roatan I love them!!   We have 5 trees on the property and I am so happy when August rolls around because that is when the avocados are ready!  One of the trees actually grows up through the deck (they cut a hole) and in the morning we go out and find at least a half dozen there that have fallen off the tree!   We have a nice variety too:   the typical green one, the yellow avocado, (my favorite!)the long neck, and a purple variety.   So what do we do with all those avocados??!   We enjoy them and we give them away!  This is a photo of Emily with some people out in Punta Gorda where we brought them some clothes, avocados, quava, and plaintain.

We also brought some ladies clothes that we were given by a Canadian girl who is going back to Canada.   She had soooo many clothes that she no longer wanted so I was able to make up bags of clothes for Punta Gorda, for Christy and Angela's family, for our neighbors and for Kendi.   I love how being able to give to them because I know there isn't alot of money on the island and it is encouraging for them.

the crowd that gathered when we showed up in Punta Gorda

Bob is here talking with Pedro (one of the artists in the Made In Roatan shop) that we will be needing more things since we just got news that a guy in Canada is going to try to sell some things in some shops in Nova Scotia and he is also in the process of making a website FREE of charge in order for us to sell that things that people make online.   Isn't that incredible??!   We are so grateful for people who have caught the vision of 'helping people to help themselves' and they are partnering with us!   Kevin, Lord bless YOU!

click to view large

The following is written by Bob

Going to hand out food with Nidia Webster is like traveling with a bundle of passion and humour mixed with a heart of gold! We meandered out to a small eastern village known as Pollytilly Bight. There are about 200 people living a basic existence by the sea, but their resilience and joy has not been thwarted. Pollytilly is one of the places rarely explored by cruisers or even locals, so they get largely overlooked for relief aid. But we arrived armed with a list of 25 of the neediest families, and enough basic food stuffs to last each family about two weeks...enough to give them a ‘breather’ from their troubles. As we pulled up to the front yard of a house, everyone was politely sitting, standing, lying around, and waiting for whatever God would bring their way. After initial hugs of love to Nidia and introductions to me, a few boys were recruited to help pass things out. We didn’t have carry bags so two ladies disappeared and momentarily returned with a ready supply of plastic grocery bags. Everyone was concerned that each lady stand close enough so as not to cause any strain on my back by having to lean forward...haha.
In short order all the food was distributed and all were ordered to stand by the grocery store wall for a group picture (glad we had a camera!).  I was able to share with the ladies about how they are not forgotten and how He wants to take care of them.  As we stood in a circle and I prayed you could sense His presence and His pleasure. I was then introduced to a 9 year old severely handicapped boy and then taken to a nearby house where another similar 7 year old boy lay on a simple carpet on the floor laughing and smiling at me. Needless to say, I returned two days later with 400 diapers...just to make the caregivers lives a little bit easier. My experience with the lovely people in this village reminded me how little we need to be happy, and how much more grace we all need in our lives for one another. I will be back to Pollytilly soon, to sit on porches and shoot the breeze!

Beautful Faces

Beautiful People!

Roatan ALIVE!

These past two weeks have been jam packed with events, ministry opportunities and blessings as we have had the Roatan Alive group come to the island.   

Roatan Alive began fours years ago under the leadership of Darla Cherrington Sutherland, 

a native of Roatan

The purpose of the mission is to strengthen and bless the church, community, and family!

They worked non stop providing many many people opportunities

to hear His Word and be blessed by His love.

They had a beautiful couples night, 

Women's Conference, Men's Outreach, Teen Outreach, and Children's Bible Day Camp.

I thank God for people like them who take their holidays

and come to our little island to serve.

We enjoyed them so much and are already looking forward to next year!

Today they are leaving to return back to Canada and the States.

They will be sorely missed and we did what they desired:

Roatan is more ALIVE in Him and we are grateful for that!

click on photo to view large

food for thought

What is your favorite food?  I have been sitting here thinking what is my favorite and I can't rightly say.   I like healthy, whole foods.  I like chicken or fish, fresh vegetables cooked lightly and peppered heavily, I like a hearty salad.  My favorite dessert is chocolate cake and whipped cream!

Lately we have been 'watching what we eat'.  I am currently trying to only eat 1300 calories a day.  I will admit:  I am hungry!! I am hungry even as I write this, but instead of eating crackers with peanut butter (yes I enjoy that!) I am training myself to drink water instead.(gulp gulp!)  And I want to know why is it when I lose weight it is on my face and my butt??   Just not fair!  :-)

But that isn't really what I want to right about.  

I want to write about another type of hunger:

spiritual hunger

I want to write about another type of thirst:

spiritual thirst

this is where I spent my morning time with Him

I believe that we can replace spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst with activities that in an of themselves are good but they don't fuel our souls or connect our spirits with the Father.  I remember someone once saying 'we aren't human doings but human beings'.  In order to fulfill the spiritual hunger deep in our souls we need to learn to STOP.

  I am once again learning to be still, to be quiet before Him again.

I had lost that for awhile now.  No that isn't quite true, I didn't  really 'lose it\ I had 'left it'.   On Sunday, 

Hank, from the church in Pandy Town preached from Rev. 2 about the church of Ephesus.

"I have this against you.  \You have forsaken your first love"

~~~forsaken:  give up, left~~~

I haven't lost my times alone with Him and my devotion to Him

I have given them up for other things.

Yes that is the truth.

But on Sunday morning I bent my knee before Him in repentance and declared my devotion to Him.  My desire is to truly be close to Him.  I am inspired by young Samuel who slept by the Ark of the Covenant in order to be close to the presence of God.  Nothing matters more then walking in His presence, because where He is there is blessing, love and light.   I am ashamed to admit that sometimes my feet hit the floor and it is late in the day before I think to pray.  It never used to be that way but over the years I have slipped.

But I want to be like Samuel who listened and heard His voice, and spoke His words.

So this morning while I was quiet before Him I sensed Him saying, "Don't assume"

I asked, "Don't assume what?"

Don't assume anything!

I realize I often assume what the day will hold, I assume I know what is going on people's lives, I assume I know what I will do, where I will go, I assume I know how Bob will react.. etc etc. etc. etc.!

Don't assume anything!!

So being a dictionary type of person I looked up the word 'assume' and it means:  

suppose without knowing, or take upon one's self.

OUCH!

So I prayed,  if I am not supposed to assume then what should I do??

If you know the answer to that then you are my new bestest friend and mentor!!

EXPECT CHANGES

In other words, don't assume I know what is going on, or going to happen

in the day or in the lives of those around me, but

expect that He will bring change!

I love it!!

So I prayed this and you can join in if you want to:

Lord, You are always active

You never slumber or sleep

You are working all things out for the good of those who love You.

Help me to not assume things because by doing so I am limiting You

and I don't want to do that.

I believe You are at work in my life and in the lives

of my family and friends.

I expect You to continue to do the work You began.

You are always at work

I expect change:  in me and in my world around me.

It's wonderful to trust You and I do!

One final verse:

Jer. 2:2

"I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved Me 

and followed me through the desert"

Let's pray that He won't have to remember the devotion of our youth, 

but the devotion of today and yesterday and tomorrow.

xo

Look what I can do!

I want you to think of the one thing you are the MOST afraid of.

Perhaps it is heights

or spiders

or change

or snakes

or commitment

or dying...

For me:  I had a fear of being over my head in water!!

I can't swim.

When I was a girl my brothers thought they would 'help'

and they would throw me into deep water thinking I would 

suddenly just start swimming

but all it did was increase my fear of drowning.

When I was 18 years old that fear hit our family hard when

my brother Rob, his two friends and the dog all drown

in a canoeing accident.

Believe me that only cemented my fear that

the deep water is a dark, dangerous and ominous place.

So how did I get to the place where I am now snorkeling

and as of yesterday:  diving down?

victory pose!!

Well it was a long slow process that involved patience from Bob,

and lots of prayer.

The first fear I had to overcome was the fear of drowning.

Everytime I went over my head I would panic

so I needed to learn to believe that the equipment I had

(snorkel, mask and fins)

were my friends and would help me breathe and float.

I remember the day I said to Mattie

"I am going to go out to the reef today!"

(which is definitely over my head!)

Once the decision was spoken it released faith in my soul!

When we speak words we begin to believe them.. good words and unfortunately bad words

I was blessed to have Bob and Matt hold my hands as I snorkeled out to the reef.

Did I enjoy it that day?

NO!

But did I do it?  

Yes.

So little by little I have been overcoming this fear and becoming more 

and more relaxed in the water.

I have tried many times to dive down but I just couldn't do it.

Well yesterday out in about 40 feet of water Bob said,

"Just look down to the bottom, and let your head drop down and your body will follow"

Amazingly enough it worked!

The tricky part now is staying relaxed and learning to clear my ears

from the pressure of diving down.

I have to admit I don't like looking up and seeing about 10 feet of water above me

because I keep thinking I am going to run out of air, I am going to run out of air!!

So you might be wondering, 

why is it so important to dive down?

Well I guess the main reason is to be able to see better.

Instead of seeing fish about 10 feet below me I can swim over top of them

I can see the coral and fans and the tubes better.

Everything looks better close up!

And the other reason - diving down is awesome exercise!

I have been carrying around 30 extra lbs. for TOO LONG and 

I am hoping this will help to shed those.

This is such a huge accomplishment!!

I thank Him for small victories

like overcoming fear and tackling a new skill.

Some new news!

I  realize I haven't written in quite a while.

We are in our 'slow season' right now and yet 

things haven't really slowed down they have just changed.

I am loving the changes though!

So what's new?

Well, as you may know we go to church in French Harbour,

and although they have alot of meetings during the week we usually just

go to church on Sundays to keep the cost of gas down for the long drive.

BUT, here's the bottom line:  we need fellowship!!

So we bit the bullet (not literally of course)

and we are now going into French Harbour on Wednesday nights

and it is very refreshing spiritually for us.

Bob was asked to teach on leadership to those in charge of various

ministries in the church so he does that while the rest of us 

(non leaders.. haha!)

enjoy a time of worship, the word and prayer.

It is sooo good!

celebrating canada day (roatan style!)

I have also just recently committed to meeting with 

another girl for one on one mentoring and fellowship.

We are doing an online study called

Lyfe

and it has been such a blessing.

Last week we focused on the importance of solitude

and I can honestly say that my times of quietness before Him

(I am not talking about bible study or prayer) 

but stillness before Him was incredibly rejuvenating!

It isn't easy for me to 'stop' but I am learning what it 

means to 'be still and know that He is God'

Part of the solitude is learning to listen

and DO what He prompts.

The other day, I woke up thinking about Harla who just had a baby

in the Roatan Hospital.

I felt Him prompting me to bring her some food since it isn't provided

and it is up to the family to bring in food for the patients.

I am so glad I went because that day was the day she was being

released from the Hospital and she didn't have any taxi money to get home,

nor did she have any clothes, blankets or diapers for the baby.

sweet little jarrod

Now before you go tsk tsk tsk you need to understand that the level of

poverty on this island forces people to live day to day.

I am reading a book right now called 

Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne PhD 

and it is really helping me to grasp the depth of what they face

and what we can do to help them break out of the generational belief

that it will 'always be that way'

photography forces me to stop and see HIS beauty!

Another awesome new thing is that Emily has come to Roatan!

Yes that's right!

I am so happy to have her here.

emily reconnecting with buddy

She is going to be volunteering at the Library in French Harbour

working with Miss Joan in organizing and helping out with after school programs.

As you know, being away from the kids is very difficult for me so I 

am always grateful when they can come down!

Today we went snorkeling so I made a collage  for you to view.

It is a beautiful world down there isn't it?

click to view large

Another new thing is that I have been teaching

3 girls on the island how to make jewelry.

You can read about it here

if you haven't already.

I am so thankful for the generosity of the people who 

come in on the cruise ship!

They seem to be really catching the vision lately and we

are blessed to be partnering with them to make lives better here.

Thanks again for your prayers, your support and love.

We couldn't do it without you!

xo