Crazy week!

Talk about a crazy week! This past week was filled with many highs and lows for us. We started out the week finding out that our neighbor had cut most of his hand off with a machete while working in the field across the street, and was fighting for his life in a San Pedro hospital. As we were driving into town, we passed an accident site where a man and his nine year old son were struck by a car as they rode a bike, and both were killed. Unlike the states where bodies are moved immediately, the bodies were left on the side of the road for hours, and it was pretty disturbing to see that. When we got to Sister Maria’s place, we were told that we wouldn’t be serving food that day because one of the children had died of cancer. That was a pretty low day for us… topped off by the girls seeing a mangled dog on the side of the road as they were walking home. Thankfully, Natalie and I missed that one.


We were able to take a day to go to a place called Pulhapanzak Falls that is nearby. It was pretty incredible and very beautiful. The girls were able to do a zip line over the falls, but it was a little too high for me. The girls and I did go on a very exciting hike that our guide told us was “an easy hike for ANYONE”. Well, apparently the guide is accustomed to different people than us, because the hike was anything but easy. We realized that we were in for an adventure when the guide told us to follow him, then jumped off of a ledge into a swirling pool of water below. We couldn’t see where we were going when we walked behind the falls, and it was difficult to breathe with the water falling on us. We had to alternate walking and swimming to get behind the falls, and then we were led through a narrow opening up to a little cave. We ended up going into several small caves, and it was a pretty cool adventure. Chantalle and Jenn also took a hike up the mountain by us and took some beautiful pictures of our neighborhood.

Jenn and Chantalle on top of Mount Nalgas

Pulhapanzak falls!

Zipline over the falls!

Jumping into the swirling water - not quite as scary as it looks

We are thankful that my cousin Chris returned safely from the states, but are sad that the wonderful team from Albuquerque and Jenn only have one week left here. It has been such a breath of fresh air to have them all here serving alongside us. Jenn is really spunky and encourages us to do things that we probably wouldn’t try on our own, which has helped us adjust to life here. There are definitely going to be some big holes left when they all leave.

Our neighbor, Mario, took us out on the lake in a rowboat

We are forming closer relationships with people here, which has been really cool. The kids take turns going to church with us every Wednesday and Sunday, and we all pile into a taxi. Last week we had eleven people in a taxi the size of a Ford Taurus! We have to regulate how many kids we have over at a time or we can easily get overwhelmed by the children. We use the same taxi driver every day, Alexander, and he is really friendly and helpful, coming to our house whenever we call, and taking us all over town. He invited us to his house to meet his wife and daughter, and we really enjoyed meeting them today.

We have started the feeding program at church, but need more financial support to expand the program, so if anyone would like to help out in that way, it would be greatly appreciated both by us and by the local people who will benefit. Many of the people here only have one meal a day, and some go days without any food, which is such a foreign concept to us Americans, who have more than enough to eat and don’t really know what it means to be hungry. It breaks my heart to see children with tummy aches because they haven’t eaten that day, and they are so excited to get some good nutritious food in their bellies. We never throw any food away here – between the starving children and the starving dogs, someone is always happy to get any food that we can’t use.

Neighbor kids, Cindy, Otto, & Franklin

Please continue to pray for us as we are working with Sister Maria and our church family, and also as we get to know our neighbors better. We have been blessed with pretty good health and feel safe in our home here. We are thankful for good relations with our neighbors, and can see God working here – the people are very receptive to us and to God, and we are really encouraged about our future here.

Honduran neighbor in need

We are so thankful to God for giving us such wonderful neighbors. All of our neighbors have been a big help in our adjustment to our new home. They have told us which areas of town are dangerous, and which people we need to look out for. They’ve stood up for us when scary people have confronted us and are constantly looking out for us. Recently, an opportunity presented itself for us to return the favor. Last week one of our neighbors, Jose, was working, hurt his arm very badly, and now needs several operations to try to save his arm and hand. We are asking for help from you to raise money for the operation and household expenses while he is in the hospital and in recovery, which is estimated to take six months. This family has ten children, and is supported solely by Jose, who works really hard. Our community here is very close, and everyone around here is working hard to raise the money for the family, but resources here are very limited and most people can barely afford to put food on the table for their own families. We are trying to raise $1100 as soon as possible. If you are able to help in any way, please send the money via paypal, and we will give the money to the hospital. If you prefer, you may give money through our mission’s organization, Shepherd’s Staff, if you need a receipt. Thank you so much for your help and prayers for this family!


Paypal: jesushelovesme@hotmail.com

Shepherd’s Staff: www.shepsstaff.org/eytzen.aspx

Quick update!

This has been a pretty fun and exciting week for us. We decided to be brave and take a bus to a nearby town called Las Vegas, and we were all a little nervous about riding the bus since we had been warned that they can be unsafe. Just as the bus pulled up, one of our taxi friends pulled up in front of it and told us that he would drive us to Las Vegas, so we saved the bus for another day. Yesterday we went to San Pedro on a bus, and it wasn't nearly as scary as we had thought - we had a great time there, and saw a movie - in English!  When it was over, I think all of us forgot we were in Honduras, and were confused when the attendant came up and talked to us in English. We have had a great time! We also had a neighbor take us out on the lake in a rowboat, and were able to swim there, which is really refreshing! We live in a really beautiful place!

We have been going to Sister Maria’s place, “La Casa de Angeles” (the house of angels) where she feeds 130 children every day. We help make a bunch of tortillas and feed the children and play with several of the kids also. The first week, they sang a special welcome song to us and it was a lot of fun. After the kids left, we went with Maria to see her cows, pick some plantains and oranges, and got to see the view from the top of one of the mountains. It was absolutely breathtaking to see the villages from that vantage point! We plan on helping Sister Maria every week, and are looking forward to building relationships with the children there.

We officially started the feeding program with a spaghetti dinner, and are excited that it went well! We invited some of the families who live near the church, as well as our church family, and had food, singing, and a short service that some visiting missionaries helped with. Two ladies came forward to receive Christ, so that was an extra blessing! The English classes that we are giving are going really well, and the children seem really excited to learn. When we are out on our porch, neighbor kids are always asking us what different words are in English, and they write the new words down in their notebooks.

A few days ago, Gordon and I went for a walk with Conan and some neighbor kids, and a vicious dog attacked us. It was pretty scary for all of us, but thankfully one of the older girls quickly got the younger children to safety, and the dog had a thick chain still on him, so Gordon was able to pull him off of Conan and I and tie him up. None of us were hurt badly, and none of us even ended up getting bit, which is amazing! Conan has a little scratch on his ear, my skirt got torn, and I hurt my ankle, but we’re glad that it wasn’t worse. We’re going to be a lot more careful from now on!

I went to the eye doctor again and found out that I have lost quite a bit of the peripheral vision in my right eye, but the doctor thinks that the eye drops will stop the progression and possibly even reverse the damage that is already done. We are all really thankful that I went in when I did, and that I was able to find a good doctor here. Everyone is healthy again and adjusting well to our new life here.

We are enjoying trying lots of new foods here, and really enjoying our housekeeper, Karlenis’ excellent cooking. We found a couple of restaurants that we love, and the prices can’t be beat. One of the local places is owned by Americans, and we can walk to it from our house. We are getting to know the people there, and enjoying getting to know fellow Americans. It’s a nice place to go when we get homesick for America!

Please continue to pray for us here, and if you feel led to come for a visit, we would love to welcome you to our home! I forgot the camera today, so no new pictures… next time, though!

New Challenges

We’re getting more settled into our home and starting to find our place here in Honduras, but we’ve also faced a number of challenges, which have been interesting for us. Living closer to nature and sharing our living space with geckos and frogs has been an adjustment and provided some fun entertainment for us. Natalie has had a few incidents with frogs this week. One night she slipped on a frog, but thankfully, neither she nor the frog were injured in the incident. Later, she was washing dishes, and a frog hopped into the sink and scared her. I told her that the frog was on her back, and she did a fun little dance all around the kitchen until I confessed that there was not a frog on her back. We have named the geckos, and like having them because they eat the bugs, however, when they show up unexpectedly, like in the pan you want to use to cook dinner in, they can be a little surprising!

Marty, a gecko who lives in our kitchen

We all miss Alyssa every day, but are excited about the spiritual growth she is experiencing in Nashville. She has been able to meet a lot of inspirational people, and recently was re-baptised and re-dedicated her life to God, which is wonderful. Her roomate graduated from the program, so she has her own room for awhile.

We are really excited that our good friend Jennifer is able to spend the next month with us. Unfortunately, she became very sick within a few days of arriving, and is on medication for pneumonia, and is starting to feel better. Chantalle has had a cold this week, and Natalie, Conan, and I are fighting some kind of virus, so we’ve spent most of this past week on the couch. Gordon is doing great, though!

Jennifer and Chantalle in front of our house

The day before we left Florida, I had an eye exam and was told that I probably had glaucoma and needed to see a specialist as soon as I could. When I was waiting with Jenn at the doctor, we ran into a lady (Leslie) who was diagnosed with glaucoma and had gone to the doctor that I was planning on going to, and she said that he wasn’t very good and recommended another one that I was able to go to the following day. Our friends, the Roses, took Gordon and me, and they also interpreted for us, and the doctor agreed that I do have glaucoma and started me on medication. I will go back for more tests in about a week. We are thankful that we ran into Leslie when we did, and that I am able to have medication that will help me.

We have gotten to know a couple of families in our neighborhood, and are reaching out to them. We have begun teaching English to a small group of neighborhood children three times a week, and that is going well for us. A lot of families include grandparents, aunts, cousins, and uncles all in the same household, and many of them have poor living conditions. It makes us very thankful for our comfortable home here. We are getting the kitchen situated at the church, and plan to start our food program in the next couple of weeks, as we are blessed with the items we still need for the program.

Neighborhood boys, Efraim, Darwin, & Daniel at English class

The view from our house - muy bonita!

Please continue to pray for our improved health, for funding for our feeding program, and for ongoing relationships with the people around us. We are hoping that we can get out and explore next week, and get to know this beautiful area better.

Conan making friends with a calf on our back porch