The newsletter for December really has two functions; it serves as the first edition of our now quarterly Newsletter and also as a reflection or recap on the year of 2009.  So much has happen ed this year that I think a brief recap of the year would be a blessing to our readers.  However, it would make this newsletter much too long so if you go to the Project Honduras website at www.hondomission.com and click on the newsletter tab you will find all the newsletters from 2009 listed there.  We will make these newsletters available on the website for the entire month of January and then they will go into our archives file.   Our next quarterly Newsletter will be published in March of 2010.

Ken and Nancy go through the medication for the School  nurse. 

The month of October found us spending special time with our dear friends Ken and Nancy Flowers.  They spent a week with us on Roatan and we did our best to show them what life and the ministry was like here.  Nancy serves Project Honduras on the Board as an Officer.  We were able to show them many of the ministries and churches and of course the kids of Roatan.  Time passes quickly as all visits do and we found ourselves taking our friends to the airport and getting ready for another very special event.   

Our current home/office had many problems but was what we could afford and so it served the purpose.  Sometimes though bad living conditions can eat away at you and it was beginning to affect our ministry and our safety.  We mentioned this to Jim Chastain one day in an email and he soon after went to work on getting commitments to increase our housing allowance for better living conditions. 

October 30^th we moved into a new area and apartment with real hot water toilets that flush and a full size stove.  The new apartment is located in a neighborhood that provides security and has a place to park the vehicle.  We are so enjoying being able to sleep nights without the loud noise of the barrio. 

November found us with more blessings; Project Honduras received a recommendation by the Circuit Superintendent of the Methodist Church to serve as Director to the North Georgia/North Coast Honduras Methodist Mission. We began negotiations and discussions almost immediately with the North Georgia group and the Methodist church of Honduras to investigate this possibility. 

Our Street Kids Project has grown into a group of approx 70 children and its still growing.  We recently received a special blessing within the project as a retired music teacher from the United States having 38 years of experience volunteers to work with our kids and teach them music.  

November also makes way for more preaching assignments given to us by the Superintendent for our island churches.  We once again start receiving mission commitments from our U.S. groups, a sign the political crisis is ending. 

We have our Presidential elections that turn out to be one of the best in Honduran history, the coup and all of its negativity is dwindling.  We begin planning new programs for 2010 and possibly the first church to provide a contemporary service in the Honduran district. 

Dora was busy in the process of creating her Lenten Devotionals of 47 days.  I received a special invitation to be the God Parent to the son of our District Superintendent and stand by him at his 6^th Grade Graduation ceremony at the Methodist Bilingual School.  Our relocation to the west end of the island has brought many new people into our lives where we serve as Christian Witness and provide council to the lost.  We designed a new mission’s handbook for the newly formed Honduran Methodist Partnership Ministries.    

This month we finally broke down and began designing some PH T-Shirts.   We have had requests by several team leaders to create a t-shirt with the Project Honduras Logo for their teams.  I finally found someone locally here in Honduras that can make what we want for a price we can afford.   

December was upon us and we had meetings to attend in La Ceiba with a team of 5 representatives from the North Georgia Group.  The Group provided me with a hotel and with many good meals and showed me their projects and introduced me to their staff.  After participating in these meetings lasting three days we were ready to submit our ideas and hopes to the Project Honduras Board of Directors.  

The Board of Directors after reviewing many documents and statistics and suggestions voted in favor of pursuing the position of Director for the newly formed group hereby known as the Methodist Partnership Ministries of Honduras.  An agreement between all parties has been made and we now have agreed to begin serving as Director in March 2010.   

Through this additional position of Director we still remain at full operation with no change in ministry on Roatan.  This Additional position opens up new avenues for teams coming to Roatan as many of the already Honduran Mission teams out of North Georgia are scheduling to come here.  This is part of the cooperative effort agreed to within the plan as Director to this newly formed ministry.  Project Honduras can also now offer a wider range of activities / Projects for teams.    

While on the Honduran Mainland I met two Pastors from UMC churches in the U.S. that wish to do some specialized ministries with us in 2010.  We will for the first time be hosting young musicians and vocalists here on the island in some musical outreach programs.  One of the groups is Christian Blue Grass music and the other is contemporary.  T his is going to be a great experience for all of us this year.  In addition we are making plans to also for the first time have a Methodist Youth Choir.  Using our Street Kids Project as the foundation we look to having a group that will sing Christian music from a Caribbean and African sound, we have already recruited the Steal Pan Drum School to join with us.  This should be a great program for the kids to get involved in.  Remember those kids I told you about earlier that we taught to sing Christmas Carols, well we booked them into the Resorts here and they were fabulous.  Some of these kids had never been to a nice place before much less have people appreciate them.  They are ready to get involved with another music program. 

With your support and prayers Proj ect Honduras continues to grow and reach out to people in the country of Honduras through mission work and Christian service.  I am also pleased to report that we are making an impact on the lives of the missioners also.  We are so blessed to receive letters of thanks and stories of how the lives of the Short Term Missionaries have changed because of their visit.   

Yes I know the newsletter is long, but it’s long because there is much good news to share.  We thank God for providing us with safety throughout this past year, we thank our Savior Jesus Christ for allowing us to serve him and we thank the Holy Spirit for strengthening  us to get up every day and do it all again.    

HAPPY NEW YEAR