Hey everyone just wanted to do a quick update to let you know what is going on down here in Honduras.
We don't currently have a consistent access to WiFi or Internet so we will be doing our best to get updates out to you as we can until we do. We appreciate your patience and understanding in this matter.
Our first week in Honduras has come and gone and there has been quite a bit to report. One big "Praise the Lord" is we are finally in our house. We are still waiting for hot water to be hooked up but since we will mostly want cold showers anyway we moved in yesterday. After over a month of not having a place to call home or a bed to crawl into at the end of the day that is your own, this is a major point of joy for us.
We are getting to spend a lot of time with the orphans already. For the past several days while waiting for our house to be ready we were eating all our meals with them. Turns out we usually sat at the girls table.
The work we will be doing here is starting to take shape. Megan will be cooking some but her main role currently is going to be working with the nannies for the smaller kids to help them learn skills that might make them more effective in their "House Parent" position. She will be observing how they interact with the children so she can help guide them as well as helping them better figure out how to set up the younger children's home to allow for maximum growth and development for the kids living there. She will also be teaching flute and possibly some art classes. Dustin will be teaching multiple instruments as well as singing and recording to the kids living here. A new opportunity that has opened up that will that will take a lot of his time as well. He will be assisting the missions director by learning everything involved with hosting the missions groups that come visit. That way when the missions director is out of town or there is a large group or groups on site they will all get the support they need and the orphanage won't have to turn away groups during those times. Dustin is very excited about this because it will allow him to utilize the gifts God has given him in both of these positions.
Olivia and Maggie will likely end up teaching art and makeup classes respectively or at the very least just have a bunch of kids hang around them while they do them. DJ is looking forward to teaching baseball as soon as the field is done. All the kids are looking forward to starting school as it will give them some structure to their day.
We have made some great relationships with the kids already. One girl, named Doris, has taken to calling us Mommy and Poppy and is telling us she is our other daughter. She's very smart and wants to be a pastor's missionary's wife when she gets older so she can be a pastor/missionary too.
It's incredible to see the heart that these children have for Jesus. When sitting down for meals these kids not only pray on their own without prompting, but their prayers are longer than one would expect for a standard meal prayer. These children are actually spending time talking to and thanking God for their blessings at each meal. We got to attend a church service Saturday night with the kids and we got to watch them dance before the Lord in joy. It's truly amazing.
This isn't to say everything is all roses. There are needs for prayer that we would put out to you. The biggest shock when we got here was basically a big bunch of miscommunication. We told them we were bringing our dog. They told us that would be no problem. However to them dogs are outside animals not inside animals. This was not what we expected and while they are graciously making outdoor accommodations for Lucy, she's never been an outdoor dog and will need favor in this transition. Grandma will also need to make decisions regarding this as well. For now they've let her stay in a house where her dog and Lucy can be inside, this isn't a permanent option because that home is intended for another missionary couple who's arrival has been delayed by a couple months. God's timing is perfect and he isn't caught by surprise by these changes so we just ask for prayer that the animals will adjust quickly or that other doors will open for grandma since her dog is her companion.
We love you all so much and are so grateful for your love, prayers and support of us on this journey. We will definitely try to keep you updated as regularly as we can. We will try to blog hopefully once a week and do a monthly newsletter as well. This is all new to us so hopefully we do it all right! Again we love and miss you all.
God bless you.
The Miller's