The Hendersons ~ On a Journey 4 Him Weblog...

Christmas is in the Air

Halloween. Thanksgiving is still a month away. Christmas is still 2 months away. We should be in Peru a few days before the big holiday.

On Thursday, we hopped a taxi to get to the mall. On Friday, Sk. and Sy. had the opportunity to dress as their favorite storybook, tv, or movie character, so we needed to look for a few key elements to get them ready. As we strolled on the sidewalks, in the stores, and through the 2-story mall, Christmas trees were lined up everywhere-- skinny, fat, short, and tall, loaded with beautiful decorations. Butterflies seem to be a big thing here, so many trees had huge, magnificent, sparkly ones fluttering as decorations. Purple and turquoise, gold and red, black and silver, pastel pink and baby blue--the colors of the variety of decorations left us in awe as we gazed around us.

The mall has a huge food court, ranging with many "home" restaurants--Burger King, Taco Bell, McDonald's, KFC. Sk. chose Chinese. Sy. wanted a Happy Meal from McD's. The area is huge. We chose to sat by the railing overlooking the lower floor of the mall. A HUGE tree sat in the opening, looming in its grandiosity, from the bottom floor to the ceiling of the top floor. It stands about 50 ft. tall! I believe it's the biggest artificial tree that I've ever seen! A few decorations were on its top, and a crew were putting lights on the bottom. I can't wait to see it when it gets finished. After we ate, we went down the escalator to the foot of it, and looking to its top, it is a grand sight!

After we caught a taxi and arrived back home, got the kids showered up, it was time for us to study. Usually, after the day is done, it's hard to focus on our studies at night. We are usually exhausted. We drink our nightly cafecito (coffee), but even it in its richness of caffeine doesn't seem to keep me awake. I had 2 tests on Friday, while B. had 1. Both of us had our grammar exams, which covered a rich array of perfrasis and reflexivo verbos. So much to memorize and be able to remember, not only for the test, but for us to be able to pick up in our language here. The learning is slow. This week, I've been frustrated, because I want to speak so much more. I feel like I can speak so little. I know God has called us, and He equips us with what we need. In the past, as a student, I always excelled in everything. I graduated with Highest Honors, and now, as an adult, with 2 children and a husband, my studies aren't coming as easily as they used to! But, to think of what we have learned in the past couple of months, coming in with very little, it is amazing. I enjoy watching B. He seems to understand most of what he hears. Like me, he struggles with speaking what he wants to say. If I could only write down what I want to say, have time to figure it out, and then speak it....that would be WONDERFUL.  However, I know language doesn't work that way! Pray for us as we finish up our trimester. We want to learn as much as possible, and be able to understand and speak the language. One trimester isn't enough to excel, but God knows what we need!

Friday, Sy. dressed up as Barbie. She brings home at least one Barbie book a week from the library. I didn't realize Barbie books have good lessons to learn. Sk. dressed as a Pokemon trainer. His job was to catch Pokemon and make them stronger. He has such a vivid imagination. LOL. It's funny to watch him in action!

Sy. (aka Barbie) with her teacher and friends

Sk. aka "A Pokemon Trainer"

I get so nervous before my tests. I am like a school girl again. I had my oral test for Grammar on Thurs. To me, those make me even more stressed than the written. I am so visual, so I would rather a written test any day! The written one for Grammar was 2 pages. I had to write my daily routine for a school day using a total of 14 different reflexive verbs, with a certain number used from each category. To me, the hardest part is remembering the verbs. Spanish is different from English. For every subject, the verb changes . So, you have to learn 6 different forms/spellings of verbs for each verb learned!!

This weekend, we are planning on relaxing, enjoying family time and catching up on a few chores that need to be done!

November Prayer Newsletter & New Peruvian Address

Hello, Prayer Warriors!

 

We cannot believe that it's almost November!! We have less than 7 weeks of classes left, 1 week of storying, and then we head to Lima, Peru! We have so much to learn, and so little time left to practice!!

 

Again, we thank you for partnering with us in prayer. We thank you for your gifts and offerings, your words of encouragement, cards, emails, and prayers that are lifted up. We also thank those of you that have been participating in special "errands" for us!!!  Words cannot express our gratitude for all that you do for us. May God continue to bless you in all that you do!! 

 

In our newsletter, we mention that the last date you should send mail to us in Costa Rica from the USA is November 20. We receive all of our mail in the school here, and it will be closing Dec. 11, so that will be our last day to pick up any remaining mail. We will fly to Peru on Dec. 19.

 

We do have our new address in Peru. Please note that you should not send ANY packages to the Peruvian address. STRICT RULES FOR MAILING TO US IN PERU--

***MUST fit in regular manila envelope (no larger than 10 x 12 in.) and MUST BE 2 LBS.

    or LESS.   

***Address MUST be exactly as written below:

    Brian Joseph Henderson

    Mision Bautista

    Apartado 18-7065

    Lima 18, PERU

 

We hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving holiday! We love you!!

 

Click below to download our newsletter for November:

Download Nov[1]

 

A VERY INTERESTING WEEK THAT WAS FULL OF SURPRISES!

We've had Spiritual Emphasis this week at school, which consisted of us having a guest speaker (and wife) during our break time/chapel period, and again at night from 5 until 6:30 PM. While were were listening to the speaker at night, a team of people from various churches in Tennessee came here to have VBS with our kids from 4:45 until 6:45. What a fun time they had! Their VBS ended last night. They are taking our children's names back home and will continue praying for them when they return home. What a blessing! They created fun crafts, made a team t-shirt, and gave each family an evangi-soccer ball, in addition to studying and learning more about God's Word!

I've had some unique, somewhat funny, things occur to me this week. They made me laugh, so I hope they will at least make you smile.

Wednesday evening, during the first half of our English lessons at the AMCA house, Chris always signals us 5 minutes before our recreo (break) time. After he signals us, 5 minutes later, a bell rings to signify that break has begun, in which students enjoy a cookie and coffee, and Chris reads a piece of the Bible in English, a student reads the piece in Spanish, and Cynthia leads songs of worship in both English and Spanish. Usually, we cram as much as we can in the last 5 minutes before break. He walked by signaling us, and a little bit later I heard the bell ring, and I urged students to break. I noticed they sat back down, and the other classes (we are sectioned off by divider walls) were still teaching. When the night was all over, they shared with me that we went on break a few minutes early. I had heard the ice cream man ringing his bell as he sold ice creams down the street. LOL!!!!  It was NOT Chris' bell that I had heard.

Almost everyone in Costa Rica has a dog. They are used for pets, as well as protection. Since we live in a city full of concrete and sidewalks, there really isn't much grass unless one goes to the parks that are spread around the city. The sidewalks are broken and uneven, including lots of hills, water draining, and slick areas where algae/mold has built up. As we were pass the corner where our church is located, I was stepping off of the sidewalk (the curb) onto the street, and my foot landed square in a patch of grass that happened to have a pile of the "bad and stinky!" I slid and almost fell. I did not realize that I had stepped int IT, until Sk. said, "Mom, you stepped in poop!"  I had it cascading out from underneath my sandal and even onto the side of the heel of my foot.  UGH!!!  Friends from school were walking by. I was trying to find a clean patch of grass to wipe on, and my friends and family were laughing hard AND leaving me behind to get it off!!  I spotted a puddle of rainwater in the street and I decided to wade, while other friends walking from another direction gave me a big smile and waved. A director from the children's school was waiting for a local mechanic, and she smiled big. What a morning!

Yesterday, I found a friend from school who wanted to start walking with me for exercise. I am thrilled to have someone with me, because I will not walk for long distances alone. We carry her long umbrellas in case we need to give someone a good jab with them! There is a walking track nearby that we decided to walk on today. As we almost rounded one end, I saw a man with a pistol aiming it at another person!!!!  I froze, got my friend's attention, and turned on my heels to GET OUT-TA THERE!! I was about to run down an embankment onto a lower section of the park, when my friend pointed out that there was a large group of probably 15 or more people observing. They each had pistols and handcuffs. It was a training of some sort. Embarrassed, I continued to walk around the track as they watched us walk by. Our company should be proud that they trained me well. I was ready to flee and get help. :D 

Our teachers have stressed that we not worry about errors, but SPEAK, SPEAK, SPEAK Spanish. We both have had funny things that we've said in error. B. told his class what he wanted for his birthday, and it was NOT appropriate to share. Today, I told my teacher that I would like to eat 3 pills after pizza, instead of saying 3 pastries after pizza. She said, "Huh?," and I repeated it again. Yesterday, I told another teacher that I knew what colored pencils are called in Spanish because my daughter had been talking to the pencils, instead of saying she had been studying the names of the pencils. Thank God for gracious teachers! 

I am sure that God has a great sense of humor. Sometimes, we have to laugh at the mistakes that we make. It's better to laugh than to cry. It also teaches us to be humble.

About Our Father's Business

We have been buried in Spanish studies. It seems like we were only learning very small sentences and vocabulary words yesterday, and now, they are challenging us to say as much as possible. During one-on-interviews with our teachers, we both received our progress reports this past Monday. Our grades are good, thanks to God and your prayers. However, we both have areas that we need to work on, and you can help us pray for improvement. My weak area is being timid about speaking aloud in class. They pinned me well of lacking confidence in speaking orally and being a perfectionist (I thought those days had long ago disappeared!!); therefore, I would rather not say anything than make an error. Also, when I am called on to speak or answer a question (which is OFTEN), I freeze up, get stressed out, and go BLANK. B. needs prayer also in being fluent in his communication.

On Friday night, Brian and his friend, Greg, joined the Ticos from our church here, El Lugar, in a Bible study at the church. With the pastor's help, they gave their testimonies in Spanish, as well as their call to missions. It was a WONDERFUL time of fellowship for them.

On Friday, we also received our confirmation for our flight to Lima, Peru, which will be on Dec. 19.

This past weekend, we journeyed with our Tico friend, Ronnie, and Sy.'s little friend, Lottie, to a park,  Parque Metropolitano La Sabana, with the intention of letting Sy. zip-line around the park. We found out she couldn't zip-line with her daddy, but because of safety reasons, she'd have to zip-line with the guys running it. She backed out. As we strolled around the park, many people were out and about. This park was huge. It was covered in trees, areas to play sports, a playground, a pond, ponies to ride, and a magnificent open outdoor skating rink. Sculptures by artists were here and there, and Sk. found a huge dinosaur-looking skeleton that he posed with for us to take pictures. Sy. and Lottie opted to ride the ponies. We observed several professionals practicing their advanced skills on roller skates, preparing possibly for an upcoming event. Synchronized, they raced around the rink, going about 30 or more miles per hour!!

On Sunday, the kids and I were able to talk with my grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousins, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, and parents, via web cam. Although I had to hold back tears of sadness, I enjoyed our talk very much. I do not regret choosing to follow God's will for our lives, but I do miss my family and friends!! I know His thoughts and plans for our lives are higher than I can ever even fathom of understanding.

On Monday night, I had something very strange happen. We have been taught about the ploys of the devil, and how he roams to and fro the earth. Although most of us do not understand or even know about evil spirits, they are out there. I have heard many strange stories, especially in third world countries. When I laid down to go to sleep, I felt a little dizzy, and I even looked up at the ceiling fan strings to see if they were moving, which would mean a small tremor from an earthquake. There was nothing. In the few minutes of waiting for B. to get out of the shower and join me, I drifted off. I started "dreaming" of something slipping into bed with me. I was laying on my side, and I had my back to it. It was like it was hovering behind me. It was such a terrifying feeling because I could not move or get away. It was cold, and enough to make the hair stand up on one's body in a frightening sort of way. I literally tried screaming, but I was so petrified nothing would come out of my mouth. I managed to get out a small little moan or some sort of muffled sound. By this time, B. was in bed with me, and he grabbed my arm. In the meanwhile, he had laid down beside me, on his back, and he was praying. He noticed my distress, and heard the small sound that managed to escape my lips. Was this a dream? Was it something else? I am not sure, but I know it seemed real, and I was scared. I had a scratch down the side of my arm of which I am not sure how I managed to get. Whichever it might have been (dream or whatever), thank God B. slipped into bed and happened to be praying at that VERY minute. Thank God for His protection.

This week, we have Spiritual Emphasis  during our breaks at school and again at night. We have a husband and wife team from Alabama that are speaking to us that have traveled all around the world. The kids have VBS from a wonderful team that has traveled in from the USA. The music and time of worship has been great.

Thank you for your prayers, and continue to pray for us. In 2 Corinthians, 1:10-11, Paul says, "(God) has delivered us from such deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him, we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers." What can we do to counter Satan's attacks? The Bible tells us to pray for one another--"always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God (Col. 4:12).

Please pray for us in the following areas--

daily spiritual growth with Him

to be filled with His Spirit

time in the Word & prayer

relationships within our family & with others

wisdom in daily decisions which have eternal consequences

boldness and fluidity of speaking Spanish

continued transitions for us and family in USA

safety and health 

God bless you!!!! We love you!

God is in the Clouds

This morning I read about John in my Bible study, "Beloved Desciple," by Beth Moore. It described John's banishment to Patmos and how he grew even closer to God instead of thinking God abandoned Him. In Rev. 1:10, John says, "On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit."

Is your life covered with dark clouds? 

(Excerpt from Beth Moore's Beloved Desciple:

"God's glory is so inconceivably brilliant to the human eye that He often shrouds His presence in a cloud. One day the clouds will roll back like a scroll, and He will stand before us revealed. He has so much to disclose to us in the meantime, and we'll be greatly helped when we accept that clouds are not signs of His absence. Indeed, within them we most often find His presence.

In the July 29 entry of "My Utmost for His Highest," Oswald Chambers wrote figuratively of clouds, "In the Bible, clouds are always connected with God. Clouds are those sorrows or sufferings or providences, within or without our personal lives, which seem to dispute the rule of God. It is by those very clouds that the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith.  If there were no clouds, we should have no faith. 'The clouds are but the dust of our Father's feet' (see Nahum 1:3). The clouds are a sign that He is there. Through every cloud He brings, He wants us to unlearn something. His purpose in the clouds is to simplify our belief until our relationship to Him is exactly that of a child--God and my own soul,  other people are shadows...Unless we can look the darkest, blackest fact full in the face without damaging God's character, we do not yet know Him."

Is your life covered in dark clouds? Or perhaps the clouds aren't dark. They simply obscure clarity and tempt you to be confused in your own circumstances.

What kinds of cloud--if any--are in your life?")

Also, see Scriptures--Exodus 16:10; 24:15-16; Leviticus 16:2; I Kings 8:10; Luke 9:34 about God's presence being in a cloud.

Experiencing Costa Rica

This past weekend was 3-days of freedom! We had off Friday, due to a Staff Workday.

On Saturday, we were able to travel to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. The beauties that God creates cease to amaze me! Mountains, waterfalls, rain forests, animals and insects.......wow!!

Here's a small clip of one of the waterfalls-- Download MVI_1143

In Jan. 2009, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit the La Paz area. What devastation! With rock slides and other shifting earth, many houses and land areas were devastated. Over 100 people died! Parts of the roads are still being reconstructed, as well as the waterfall park that we visited. Several of the pathways and bridges were ruined and are still closed. The location of the epicenter of the earthquake was pointed out to us and could be seen from a distance on a mountainside from where we observed. 

 

We got to view many animals and birds during our visit. It was fun to see a wild monkey climb on top of the monkey habitation. We were told that these monkeys fed their food through their cage to the monkeys roaming free in the forest! How funny is that! We marveled at tropical frogs, birds, snakes, and butterflies. We even got to feed and hold 8 month-old-toucans on our arms.

The force of the waterfalls cascaded a mist of spray on us as we were able to reach out and stick our hands into the water and pose on rocks in front of the various beautiful photo opts. Be sure to check out both of our photo albums on Facebook if you have not already done so!

On the way home, we saw coffee plantations cascading the mountainsides. How beautiful. We were able to stop and sip on some delicious coffee from one of these plantations. We were told this particular coffee is sent to the States and sold to companies such as Starbucks. I believe it; it was WONDERFUL!

Unfortunately, closer to home, we were able to see some of the real world scenes for people living in the urban streets in San Jose. Kids and adults loitered the street everywhere, sitting on the edges of the sidewalks and milling here and there. A lady stripped down to her bra and thong was about to take a shower from a hose in the edge of the street. No one seemed to notice or care as they watched or chatted lifelessly with friends. Tears dripped down my face as I prayed for these people, especially this woman. This is the first that I have seen anything like this scene, although I have watched homeless men wander the streets, digging through the garbage for food to eat and drink, or in hopes of finding recyclable items. I have watched men sleep on the sidewalks and in the medians, covered only with the clothes on their backs or with plastic bags and cardboard boxes. I have handed out food to those who have called at my door telling me they are hungry, and I have tried in my best Spanish to tell them that Jesus Christ loves them. Pray for the people here and across the world to be introduced to Jesus and to repent from their sins, accept Him, and follow Him. They may be in pain here, but if they find Him, one day, their sorrows here on Earth will be no more. Pray for people to get out and share the one and only TRUE Gospel to peoples everywhere!

The days and the weeks continue to fly by! The Holemans, our supervisors in Peru, have contacted us numerous times. We now have an apartment waiting on us when we arrive in Lima. An exact date that we leave has not been pinned, but it should be somewhere around Dec. 18 or 19, if all goes well. We should have our Christmas in Peru! The apartment is midway between the mission office in downtown Lima and the children's school, which is in the edge of the mountains (from what we can tell on Google Earth). We also have sent in applications for their private Christian school, which will be reviewed for approval in a board meeting this month. After we leave here, Sk. and Sy. will be on summer vacation in Peru until the latter part of February.

Thanks for your prayers! After a week + of sinus pressure and headache, both seem to have gone away. Sk. is doing a little better with bringing home the correct items (it's usually SEVERAL books, notebooks, etc.) for homework. Continue to pray for his organization, listening, and following direction-skills to improve. Continue to pray for supernatural learning of Spanish for all of us. Also, continue to pray for the people (and for us) that we work with or sit alongside with on a weekly basis during our ESL class and Bible studies. Pray for safety and health.

We have another 3-day weekend coming up. We will be on holiday Monday! WOO HOO!  God is so good! It does a body AND brain good to rest every once in a while! :)

 

Feeling Defeated, BUT OVERCOMING With His GRACE

This week has not been one of my best. I guess I have been weltering in misery. Whenever we tend to take our focus off of HIM, we begin to focus on other things, which is what the devil wants us to do.

All week, I have had a terrible sinus headache. I felt tired and full of BLAH! My nose is clear, but behind and underneath my eyes are sore.

Every afternoon (including the weekends), Sk. has come home with homework. This year, he has Reading, Math, Grammar, Spelling, History, Spanish, Science, Writing, and Music. He has always been very intelligent and easy to pick up on things, but he lacks in organizational skills. His new teacher is having a hard time whisking him into shape, but she is determined, and thankfully, VERY helpful. In the afternoons, we spend 1-2 hours getting him to do his HW, reviewing his answers, making corrections when necessary, reading over his Spanish (big test is 2nd week in Oct.), and practicing his cursive handwriting. He does NOT like to be corrected when doing anything. Therefore, it has been a week full of tears and whines for the both of us. Pray that next week will go smoother for him and me, too.

On Tues., we met with our mentors. They have been out of the country, due to his mother's death. Thankfully, they are back and are doing well.

Wed. was a GREAT evening. We taught our ESL intermediate class. We had 16 students who are AWESOME. We had such fun teaching them. I love it that B. is getting "into" teaching them, too.

On Thurs., the kids got to dress up for Nerd's Day. That meant no uniform shirts! I am surprised that they both wanted to dress up. I put 5 ponytails in Sy.'s hair, while B. tangled up a belt and put it over the waist of her shirt. Sk. tucked his shirt in, and wore a belt. They both rolled up their pants. Sy. wore 2 different colored socks and mismatched shoes. Sk. opted not to wear long socks.

Thurs. night, as we were packing Sk.'s bag so he could spend the night with his friend Mason, he decided he wanted to tease me by throwing his pants over the closet door (our closets our wooden cabinets that are stationed alongside the wall), so they would hit me as I was digging clothes out for him. Instead, the pant's leg caught his square clock, which sits on the corner of the top of his closet (cabinet), fell off, and hit me in the back of the head. Needless to say, it hurt!! B. thought I was faking it, since I couldn't pinpoint my pain after Sk. ran to get him, and B. came upstairs to check out my head. He took Sk. to his friend's house, while I walloped in my pain and pitied myself that they LEFT me laying on the floor in tears. When he arrived back home, I was able to point out my pain (the whole head hurt at this point, but it did not throb), which was a large egg on my head! Feeling badly, he got me some ice, and kept a careful eye on me that I did not pass out.

Have you ever had one of these weeks before?? 

We had a day off school today because it was a staff workday. I lay around and did nothing. It was really nice. I still didn't feel too great. Both sides of my head still hurts (sinus pressure AND the back of my head). However, we decided to meet this afternoon at the park with friends from FPO (VA) and from our Barefooting classes. It was such a refreshing afternoon, catching up on the weeks that have passed away and on all the blessings and the not-so-great-things that we all have and are going through.

I need to remember to count my blessings. I have so many. I have YOU who are sitting here reading this blog and praying for us daily. (THANK YOU!) God blesses us EVERY day. Sure, we may have some not-so-great days, and if I focus on those little things, the blessings that God is providing to us seem to fade into the background. That is JUST what the devil wants. We have a house, food, clothing, school, family, friends......the list goes on and on......WE ARE BLESSED!!!

THANK GOD FOR HIS GRACE!!!

NERD'S DAY AT SCHOOL

   Sy. & her Kindergarten Teacher

 

Sk. & his Fourth Grade Teacher