OK I know I have not blogged in forever and the first one I put up is asking for a favor.

I need everyone to PRAY, pray and then pray a little more.

Jen is in need of many prayers.......

...... prayers for protection as she fights for the little ones in Mololoa to have what they need against the greed and corruption that is abundant.

......prayers for strength as she is carrying a heavy load.

......prayers for wisdom as she tries to navigate tricky political situations.

.....prayers for patience as she tried to deal with the never ending circles that she is running in due to bureaucracy.

.....prayers for peace when she can find it as this is a huge responsibility.

......prayers for the right people to step up to help her at the right time.

......prayers for the right people to kneel down to help her at the right time.

......prayers for her heart as she is pushed and pulled about.

I know that we can make an amazing difference, God will hear our pleas and he will answer. So I beg of you to take the time to hold Jen up. God knows what she needs and I have seen him work amazing things through her because she is open and willing to be his hands and feet.

P.S. Jen... We love you, I love you. You are never far from my heart even if we are oceans apart. You are the sister I did not have and the best friend I always dreamed of. I know you will do what ever is in your power and I know that you will do it with honesty and integrity. I am proud of you, you are a real life hero, without the fan fair and cape, you still work miracles.

Know that I am praying for you to be held in God's hand. Miss you more than you know.

Melissa

Okay I think that it is time to share a little too much information.
This lovely structure is the bathroom for all of the kitchen.
Yes that is a board and rock holding it together.

Yes that is daylight shining between large cracks.

Yes that is the door that does not close all the way.

Yes that is a little mini toilet.

Yes those are the buckets that you use to poor water into the toilet.

And Yes I have used this bathroom on more than one occasion.

Yes I am always wondering who is peeking in the cracks. Yes I have chased peekers away. (Franklin)

No I am not complaining, it is way better than 85% of the ¨bathrooms¨ that are on the mountain. I am thankful for the fact that we have a toilet and not a hole. We have walls of wood and not plastic or sheets. We have a roof and considering we are at the bottom of the mountain that is a really big deal. It is cleaned everyday with disinfectant and water by the ladies in the kitchen, so no complaints.

I am also very thankful that no one on the mountain can afford a camera.

But........ if there is anyone out there who is interested in funding some much needed repairs, walls and a door, new barrel for water, feel free to let me know. It would be much appreciated and well used. I can guarantee that it will not be just flushing money down the toilet!

Did you know it has been over two years since The Manna Project first served its first meal?

You might want to look back at a blog titled cookies and juice. http://klugezone.blogspot.com/2006/01/cookies-and-juice-we-have-started.html

or the first day at the kitchen
http://klugezone.blogspot.com/2006/10/yes-it-is-true.html

From passing out bananas and cookies from the back of a truck to serving hot meals in a loving and safe environment still has the power to amaze me.

We have served over 78,000 meals to hungry children.

We have prayed with these little ones hundreds of times thanking God for the food that was provided, for the women who fixed the food and for the people who provide the means to buy this food.

We have washed thousands of dirty little hands.

We have been able to employee six women from the community and allow them the chance to support their families as well as minister to the children in their community.

We have had unlimited opportunities to love, kiss, hug, comfort, discipline, feed, laugh, teach, hold, and pray for and with these little ones.

We have been taught and we teach. We have blessed and we have been blessed. We have loved and been loved. We have held and been held. We have offered comfort and been comforted. We have prayed and been prayed for. For everything we have given we have received far more than we could have ever have imagined.

When I say we I am not only referring to those of us who are blessed to be able to be in Honduras physically working I am referring to everyone who has worked with us, everyone who has loved one of our children, everyone who has worked in the states to keep Manna serving hot meals, everyone who has listened, who has cried with us and for us, everyone who has spent time in prayer for this mission.

I am referring to everyone whose heart has been touch by a hungry child and has stepped up and said I will do what I can. That is who we are.

We are blessed beyond measure to have been called and to have answered this call.

How many times have we all been told as children to clean our plates? Over here cleaning your plate has a whole different meaning.

It means even if your little belly is full finish everything because it might be tomorrow before you eat again.

It means even if you do not like it finish everything because eating food you do not like and being full beats going hungry any day.

It means taking the time to sit and feed your baby sister/brother every bite they will take even if your friends all run off to play without you because food is more important than play.

It means walking down the mountain and then over the river and up to the kitchen, no matter how cold or hot, how windy or rainy it may be to have lunch.

It means picking every single grain of rice up with your fingers.

It means tipping your bowl back to get the last drop of soup.

Watching these little ones have the chance to clean their plates means the world to me and I want to say thank you to all of those who continue to fill up these little plates.

Bad hair day.

What can your pocket change do? Let me share a few pictures of what a little change can do………
As a lot of you know and I have written about in the past there is a holiday here called Day of the Child. It is similar to Mothers Day but obviously for children.


This year we had several different celebrations, one at the kitchen and the other with our Sunday School Class.

For the children that come to the kitchen we celebrated on September 10th, the actual Day of the Child. We had a lunch of Honduran enchiladas (fried tortillas topped with hamburger meat, potatoes and chismol) the children love them and they are one of our more popular lunches. I really like them myself. We had coke instead of kool-aid and then we had chocolate cupcakes with white frosting and chocolate sprinkles.

To add a little sugar to the mix we passed out goodie bags full of candy to take home. It was a busy day with lots of excitement in the air. It was a real treat to have such a special lunch and treat. We served over 200 children. In fact we ran out of food and had to make spaghetti for the last hour. I tell you after such a busy day I was pooped.


We also gave gift bags to the children of the ladies who work in the kitchen, as you can imagine working with these children every week for the last two years they have a special place in our hearts. I loved the excitement they all had at getting a gift.

On Sunday we planned a special time with our class. It was Jens first Sunday back after about six weeks and so that made the day special in itself. Well we started by praying and singing a few songs. Then we got down to the party, we set up the room around our TV and put on Finding Nemo. As all the little ones settled down to watch we got busy serving lunch.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ( a whole sandwich each!) a bag of chips, cold coke and then a piece of yellow cake with rainbow sprinkles. What a fabulous lunch and treat for the class. As you can imagine a hundred or so kids can get pretty noisy in one room. But as they started eating the noise level fell and lunch was enjoyed. While I did not have a sandwich I did test the cake and can report it was very good. After lunch we watched some more of the movie and then had a chance to give each of the kids goodie bags.

It was a busy day but one that was filled with surprises and treats that the children will remember for a long time.

As you can see your change can make a difference. This day was provided by the collection of pocket change by Palmetto Church of Christ. I received a call about 10 days or 2 weeks before the Day of the Child and was ask what I thought about collecting change just one Sunday to do something for the children. Well I thought that it was a terrific idea.



So they ask everyone for their pocket change. I want to say thank you to everyone who gave and all of those who rolled and to those that are always thinking and praying for ways in which to help the children here.

Many of these little ones would get nothing on this day. When you are a mom trying to come up with a way to even feed your child I am afraid that these things fall by the wayside. That doesn't mean that they do not want to do something to celebrate their child it just means that basic necessities come first.

Thank you for making it possible to bring a little joy to the lives of the children here.

Many of you have been asking and yes she has a name, Angie Maria. She has been pretty sick with a lot of congestion but is doing much better . She is still just a little bit of a thing. I just love to hold her. Thanks to everyone who had been praying for this little miss.

Manna Manna how does your garden grow..............

With peppers, onions and carrots all in a row.

We have been harvesting the vegetables that the group from TN planted this past spring. We only have a small garden with a drip system but as you see we are getting good results from our first trial garden. I noticed that some things like the peppers and the green beans did really well. The melons did nothing and the tomatoes where pretty sad. But this has been a good learning experience for us as to what will grow and what will not. With the prices of food higher than ever we can us all the extra help we can get and growing our own vegetables is a great way to save some funds. I hope that we can expand the garden this year and concentrate on the things that we had the most success with.

So here is a special thank you to Nathan and his group for all of the hard work they put into planting seeds here so that we can continue to plant seeds, and as always a special thank you to God for providing the growth.

Katherine is the big 05
yep five years old I can not believe how fast these years have gone by.
It seems like yesterday that she was a little baby and now all she talkes about is going to schoolWe had some juice and chips when she went with us for the day.

She is still a little princess .