¡OPERATION CHRISTMAS HONDURAS!

Well, we´ve been here for about a month and a half now and we love it here! As we head into November we´re continuing to keep busyand are starting to work on christmas plans! As many of you know, Amber and I will be spending christmas in Honduras are are really excited about being here to bless them! We are extremely fortunate to live where we do and have family to support us, when the people here have nothing. We feel that God has brought us here for a purpose and this christmas we´ll have the opportunity to make this year really special for them.

On Christmas Eve here they have a special service at the church, Agua De Vida, and afterwardeveryone stays and has a meal at the church. Everyone takes care of each other here and everyone is considered family, so it´s a big time for singing and fellowship.
Amber and I with the help of everyone at home would like to provide them with a Christmas feast. We have come up with a menuthat will feed 100 to 125 people and it is going to cost between $300 to $350 dollars. We believe this is a reasonable price giving how many people it will feed. We have also compiled a list of 100 children and youth that are a part of the church and will be with us this Christmas. Things that you and I take for granted everyday these children are lacking. Some of them need new shoes, or don´t have a warm coat for cold weather etc...We will be purchasing necessary items, but you can´t imagine how much getting new shoes will bless their lives. There are also many adults and families that have such a need here. We would like to make food care packages to send home with the families that are in need of food this christmas. The people here never have any extra and most families have more than 2 or 3 children to worry about. They are the most deserving, faithful people and we just want to bless their lives this christmas BUT we need your help!

Here is how you can help us. It´s $25.00 to sponsor a child and I need at least 100 sponsors. We are trying to gather as much resources as we can because with any extra $ we´ll be able to help more children and families this Christmas. I know the economy is really bad right now for everyone, but I promise you the rewards and blessings you will recieve just knowing that you enriched and blessed someone with such a need is worth the sacrifice. These people are amazing, and if you could meet them you would fall in love with them! We´re here with them everyday , but we need your help to make a difference in Reynel Funez this Christmas. If in your heart you feel like this is something that you are interested in and would like to sponsor a child you can mail cash or checks to:

Amber or Alisa Flores
3625 Jensen Court
Loganville, GA 30052

or you can send checks through the Oasis Church, memo- for Alisa or Amber Flores

Oasis Church
3295 Highway 81
Loganville, GA 30052

*Please remember all of your donations are tax deductable and are appreciated more than you know! We love and miss you guys SO much! Thank you for your e-mails and contiued prayer and support, it means a lot to us! We love you!

love,
Alisa and Amber

So last time i blogged i was sick and almost a week later i´m still sick and it only got worse over the last week. The weather changed overnight and this cold has just been annoying and stuck with me.



Not too much has gone onm since the last time i blogged. Amber taught the english class by herself while i was sick and she gave them their first study guide for a test she´s going to give them. We´ve been trying to motivate them to study so hopefully this exam will be the push they ned. haha : )



Yesturday we had church in the morning and then after the family and 2 of the youth went to Pizza Hut for lunch. They had a HUGE playland so i took one of the little girls, Violetta, whos 2 tp play on it and she was so precious. She stayed attached to me for the rest of the day. I think i fell for her, she was so cute! we just fellowshipped with the youth all day and we had a meeting about camp thats coming up this month. It´s going to be a lot of fun and everyones really looking forward to it. We decided we were going to playsoccer last night so everyone hung out and then we all headed over to planet "futbol" at 10:00. they made up 2 teams of the guys and all of us girls sat on the bleachers to watch. It was fun, we were all bundled up and grouped together because it was freezing. Soccer here is such a big sport and almost all of them were really good...although they fell and kicked each other accidentally a lot so it was fun to watch. : )



Today Amber and I are just praying for back home and the upcoming election. We´re kind of freaking out about the outcometomorrow and just praying that it is McCain and not Obama. BUT God is in control so we are leaving it in his hands. We HATE that we can´t vote but we´ll definately be watching the results over here!



We love and miss you guys SO much! keep us in your prayers! We¨ve already hit the one month mark so we´ll see you guys in 3 more months. Hope everyones doing good!



Love,

Alisa and Amber

It's been a while...

Tuesday October 28, 2008

So it’s been a while since I’ve blogged and a lot has happened…in the beginning of last week we had really bad rain and just outside of Tegucigalpa (not where we are) and a lot of flooding occurred and mud slides. A ton of people lost their homes and have been living in churches and schools since everything happened. It was kind of like what happened with Katrina, except here there isn’t any huge organizations to come in an rebuild or offer supplies. Don’t get me wrong, people and churches etc. are gathering stuff together and everyone’s trying to help them but they just don’t have the back up plan or resources like we have in the states…it’s really sad.

We were also busy trying to get things finalized for Mission Of Mercy and for the garage sale the youth had on Saturday and Sunday. The youth have Camp which we’re going to as well on November 21st where we’ll go to another city 2 hours away from here and stay in cabins and they have a lot of things they have planned to do while their there. The price for camp is L400 lempira’s which comes out to about $22.00 US dollars which is a lot for the kids in Reynel Funez. They got together old clothes and had gotten donations and old shoes, etc and held a garage sale for the village. We had a lot of people show up and kids got new clothes, new shoes, jackets etc…some of the stuff was really old but you could see in their faces how excited they were. They were digging through the stuff because maybe they didn’t have a good sweater for when it got cold or their shoes were really old and didn’t fit anymore and they were able to get some new stuff for a price that the people here could afford, so it went really well! We were playing Christian music outside and the kids were playing and they were advertising it over the church’s PA system. They ended up making about L1100 Lempira’s which should take a chunk off each youth price that they have to pay.

Then, this Monday we had Mission of Mercy come out to Reynel Funez and they registered all of the children and did all of the interview processes. Now to finalize everything before they actually came out was a ton of work for the youth. We had to go back out to all of the houses that hadn’t checked in with us and make sure they were coming on Monday and were still going through with the program…and remember these people don’t live right in the same area, they’re spread out across the whole village some on top of a mountain with another on the completely other side. It was hard work but these youth put in the hours and are amazing. On Sunday night we were at the house all day after church and lunch working on stuff and we worked into the night doing stuff for the next morning. We went through each child and Amber and I were down there until about 2:30 am helping them. The youth spent the night working until 3 and left to go home at 5:30 am and we all had to be back by 7 am. Amber got up and cleaned the church with one of the youth Yensel and as people started forming a line I was handing out numbers to the people as they came. Over night the weather had completely changed and it was rainy and really cold and yet all the people came and waited in the cold with their children. Monday was such a long day and it went a lot slower than I think any of us expected. The interviewing process takes about 20 minutes with each child and their parent, filling out paperwork and if the child was old enough they answered personal questions about their likes/dislikes etc. When each child was through with that part we went outside and I took their picture with their numbers so we could keep track and then a picture for the sponsors and for the program. We started at 7 am and we finished at 6pm…with the youth running the interviews and all of us working non-stop except for a short lunch break taking turns. It was a very successful day and the children were so cute. They had been there all day but no one was complaining and everyone was happy so it went very smoothly.

Then after we were finshed about 30 minutes later we all sat down to discuss the day and we lost power and it was completely pitch black. We all huddled up in the Pastor’s house and got some candles and eventually we drove everyone home and went and bought some chicken and a little tiny place by Reynel Funez. The pastor’s house had electricity and so when the power goes out they can’t cook anything. Amber and I made it to our room by candlelight and just called it a night since we couldn’t see J I woke up today sick with a cold and still no power and it‘s so cold here…overnight it literally turned to winter with odd crazy wind (no rain just wind) that’s opening and slamming the doors and sounds like there’s a hurricane outside . I love the cold but I wasn’t prepared for it to change overnight so its caught me off guard, not to mention I was already sick so freezing didn’t make it any better :) Amber taught English to the children in the afternoon and we got to talk to our Mom and Dad (YAY :) ) and the power came back on just in time for us to make something to eat…earlier in the day I couldn’t take a shower and get ready because I thought better of the soaking wet hair mixed with a cold and it freezing outside…so when the power came back on I decided it would be good to get ready before church because we have a Tuesday night service. I took my shower and got out and then the power went off again…wet hair J haha just my luck! We went ahead with the service but moved in inside to Pastor Macklin’s house and set up candles and had church in the living room with Bessy speaking. They just started praying for the power, for Mission of Mercy, for sickness, for the people in Reynel Funez who don’t have heat, or warm clothes, food, etc. It was an awesome night and I know I say this a lot but I can’t say it enough how dedicated these youth are. They are here all the time, always working, doing everything you ask of them and witnessing to the people of these village…if it means they have to work through the night and spend the night and get up and do it again then they do. It’s truly amazing to see because they never once complain, this is their ministry and their village and they are doing everything in their power to change these people lives and witness and pray over every family in it. They don’t ask for time to hang out with friends or a break they just come every time the doors are open and are helping in some way daily. I love these people and I know Amber and I will continue to be friends with a lot of them long after we leave Honduras, they’re the most amazing sweet people.

As we’re finishing up October and go into November the kids are going to be getting out of school for their “summer” break (which is really in their winter ) and we’re going to be getting a lot busier. They’ll be having day camps and things planned daily for the children to do and the youth will have camp in November as well. Continue to pray for this team here and for the families that lost their homes. The rain is a huge problem here and it’s destroyed roads and highways have split in 2 because of it so just pray for the country as a whole. November is also their coldest month and many people here don’t have good jackets or cold weather clothes or heat etc, so pray the God provides for them and just keeps a hedge of protection around this village J I’m sorry this blog is so long but a lot has happened here in the last week so I had to share. The power is still out and I’m writing in the dark and my battery is about to die but we love you guys so much and miss you all! Natalie we’re sorry we couldn’t call you on your BIG 2-0 but we couldn’t get to a phone…we love you and I hope it was amazing. Amber was very upset she missed the first one in 15 years...we miss you! And another very special birthday happened this week, my best friend Katie’s little girl turned 4 on Saturday :) I’m sorry I couldn’t call, believe me I wanted too! I can’t believe she’s already 4 Katie…she’s growing up so fast and the time has flown by! I hope she had fun and give her a big kiss for me, I love and miss you guys so much! Thanks for the continued support and prayers, we love yall!

Love, Alisa and Amber

WE FOUND OUR 100 CHILDREN!

So this weekend we continued looking for children for Mission of Mercy...Sunday the youth and all of us and Pastor Macklin skipped church and about a team of 20 of us set out in teams all over Reynel Funez to reach our goal of 100 children...we all left at 8 am in the morning and were out all day. We went to every part of the village and into the surrounding areas in the village...we found so many children that needed help and signed them all up for Mission of Mercy. It was really hard work but the teams did so good and with Sunday alone combined with the work we had already done, WE FOUND OUR 100 CHILDREN! The kids are so sweet and all excited to be given a chance to go to school and receive help :) Yesturday we were at the house all day doing papaerwork adn making the final selections to make our goal...the children and their parents came by all day to see if their children had made the list. It was really rewarding to see because you just know they have nothing and their lives about to change so much!

This next Monday Mission of Mercy is coming to Reynel Funez to register all the children, take their pictures and get everything ready to start the program :) It may be starting as early as December so I'll update you more on that when we find out! O, and Amber is learning how to play the guitar, she wanted me to let you know that ;) Yensel who is one of the youth here started to teach her yesturday and she really liked it...so I think he's going to start helping her! Maybe she'll come back home knowing how to play :) We're having a lot of fun and are really getting close to all of the youth here and starting to feel really comfortable around them...so it's been fun getting to hang out with them on a daily basis :)

We're still waiting on the internet to have in the village...they said most likely Friday so hopefully it will be soon and we'll able to talk and communicate a little more often :) We love you all so much, thanks for the continued support and prayers..we miss you guys!

Love, Alisa and Amber

Mission of Mercy

So this past week the pastor and soem of the youth that are the leaders of the group attended meeting for Mission of Mercy. They are the same organization that my brother Jordan and Children's Cup are partnered up with in Africa. They come in and provide meals, schooling, medical care, etc. for children that have nothing. They've chosen 7 churches/villages in Tegucigalpa to get involved with in Honduras and each church is starting out with 100 children. They leanred about how the organization works and all that is required of the program on a daily basis.

Yesturday we started the selection process. in a village like Reynel Funez there are way more than 100 children that need help so we have to narrow it down to 100 with the most dire circumstances. The catch is there can only be 1 child from each family and they cannot be receiving aid from anywhere else. HOW DO JUST PICK 1 CHILD?! Every one of these families have more than 1 child, most with between 4 and 7. Their homes have dirt floors.arely anything to eat, no electricity, no bathrooms, rain leaking in etc...it would break your hearts to see how these families live on a daily basis.

It was raining all day and we went out all over Reynel Funez, down one side of a mountain and climbed another. The youth had to have each family answer questions for paperwork and explain how the program would work. We were out all day and after the parent picked which child would go we took their photo, signed them up and prayed over each fmaily. It was really sad to me because before yesturday I wasn't aware of the 1 child per family rule..Ithought it was jsut 100 unsupported children. However, this 1 child is going to bless every family that they're in and bring hope to them and show them that someone cares about their life. God will begin to shine through these children through the church & this program and lives will be forever changed...startign with these 100 fmailies and 600 others around Tegucigalpa. So yes, it will start with 1 child, but you could see it across the mother's faces how happy and fortunate they were that their child was going to be given oppurtunity as well as us having the oppurtunity to bless them in return. After 2 years and the program gets started they will be able to have more of the siblings and additional children added to the program and it will expand.

Please continue to pray for us, we went out all day yesturday and we have 11 children but need 100...it's very hard work physically and emotionally picking these families so just pray for this team here. Also, Amber and I are really starting to miss home and sometimes having a hard time being away from home and everything so jsut please keep us in your prayers! We love getting your comments and messages too...we don't alwasy have time to write back bc internet time is very short but we love you and appreciate hearing from home. We miss you guys so much! I have to get off because we're going out again today to find more children! Love yall!

Love, Alisa and Amber

SKYMILES!!

SKY MILES!!!

If anyone has sky miles they would like to donate to my sister and I it would be so greatly appreciated! We have to change our ticket and will be returning on January 28th because it can only go 120 days out from when we flew here. The airlines fee to change the ticket and then pay the difference is CRAZY so I just wanted to throw it out there to see if anyone had extra sky miles or ones that you weren’t using to help us out :) Although they have to be from one person and each ticket will be round 60,000 skymiles, so if you would like to donate for a ticket it would be greatly apprciated! We will be having to purchase the tickets by the end of this month so if you would like to help you can e-mail me at calichic2005@yahoo.com or my mother, Holly at msholly05@yahoo.com. Thanks so much, love you all!

Love, Alisa

We're learning SO MUCH!!

Saturday October 11, 2008

Today we went to visit the homes again…it was just the girls and there were about 10 of us that went out. We walked to the front part of Reynel Funez and it probably took us around 25 to 30 minutes to get there. Some of these youth live in the beginning and walk to and from church whenever the doors are open and are always doing walks through the villages, services or working on the building….they’re dedicated! We went to pray with one of the Nora who’s one of the youth’s Aunt, Catherine and her story was a sad one. Her son got sick at 18 and was living with epilepsy in Reynel Funez with no medical care. He’s now 26 and stays in bed and is very sick and can’t really do much. She just started to crying and although Amber and I could only pick up on certain things in the conversation you could tell this woman was so worn out and hurting. She just poured out her story and we went into the bedroom where her son was sleeping and prayed over his body. She tried to get his attention and he looked but couldn’t speak and just rolled back over…it was so sad! I’ve never heard pray so strong before I heard them pray over him….these were youth screaming and calling out the sickness from his body and praying over his life and his family…they’re just kids themselves and have so much power already, more than anyone I know. We then went to Wendy’s house who is one of the man youth. She’s nineteen and is an authority in the church…she sings in the praise and worship, teachers the little kids on Sunday mornings, oftens leads youth and services and can pray like nobodies business! She has 3 younger sisters who are all just the same and are very active in the youth group and they all live with their single mother in a very small house with their sick grandmother…heart breaking. These girls are so powerful and the happiest, strongest , most beautiful girls you will ever meet and they have NOTHING! They have SO MUCH JOY and are completely sold out for God and their entire life is about doing his work. When I walked into their house their aunt, uncle, young cousin and brand new baby cousin, and another aunt were all in the house, as well as their sick grandmother is bed and the entire youth group. Everyone showed up and went into the bedroom and completely just started praying over body. They’re so strong and supportive of each other. Back home we might plan something far in advance and maybe half of the people show up...here these kids LIVE for it!

We had another great night of teaching our class and because we were already with our entire class out praying we just all followed eachother back to the church and went right into class…ON A SATURDAY! Yep they ALL showed up :) Then after the class they immediately got ready for youth group which started 30 minutes after class. The service is completely done on their own with a lot of music, prayer, different people come up to share and a whole illustrated sermon done by one of the older youth…SO AWESOME! These kids are nothing short of amazing :)

Love, Alisa