The Micah Project: September 2009

Against a backdrop of political upheaval in Honduras this summer, the Micah Project has continued to minister to the people to whom we have been called. Despite curfews, protests and street closures, we have continued to educate and disciple the Micah boys, to reach out to their families, to minister to the children and youth on the streets and to bless many others in our Dias de Luz, or days of light.

We hope that this photo album will help you to pray for the Micah Project even as we continue to pray for God's peace and justice to reign over Honduras.

What's new at the Micah Project?

Above: Jenna Miller joined the Micah Project in August as our newest missionary! She is a graduate of Biola University in Los Angeles and has taught for the last two years at the International School here in Tegucigalpa. She brings skills in graphic design, teaching and one-on-one mentoring to the Micah House! Click here to learn more about our staff.

Below: We had a big despedida (going-away party) in August for Dan and Kamia Paul and Oscar Amaya. Dan and Kamia left the Micah Project in August and are currently teaching at a Christian bilingual school here in Tegucigalpa...and are still a part of our guys' lives! Oscar moved to Houston in August to take English classes at Houston Community College.

Below: John and Rebecca Bell hold a dinner every Monday night at the Leadership House (Micah's home for our older participants). The Leadership House continues to be a place where our participants can live while they begin their college careers. Here, the guys enjoy their meal together!

Below: Missionary Barry Horst has been coming to the Micah House on Mondays and Thursdays to teach carpentry skills to the Micah boys. Here, he teaches Hector how to use the table saw as Nelson looks on.

Building relationships with street youth through sports

We continue to run our sport's program for street youth every Friday afternoon at a soccer court by the river that runs through Tegucigalpa. The goal is to build relationships with these youth that have been largely rejected by society and to reflect God's love through friendship.
Above, left: Alejandro and Sergio tussle in the goal. Below: Jose Daniel watches the soccer game in progress with glue bottle in hand.

Below: Jason and Selvin take a break from soccer to inhale their yellow glue.

Days of Light...and Years of Building Relationships

Dia de Luz, or Day of Light is a new initiative that the Micah Project has started to help our young men take initiative in serving others with God's love. Each week, three of our young men are in charge of planning a service project to be carried out by the whole project on Tuesday afternoon. It has been very exciting to watch them enthusiastically choose people to help, then show compassion and empathy as they undertake the projects.

Above: Our first Dia de Luz project was to help an elderly widow named doña Agueda who lives in a broken down shack just up the street from the Micah Project. We went to help her build stairs up to her shack, to paint, and to try to make her door more secure. Becca and Wilmer paint one side of her house (above) while Axel, Hector and Jason paint the other side (below).

Below: John, Becca and guys gather around doña Agueda to pray for her after finishing the project. To see a video of this project produced by our friends Andy and Heidi Dryden, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em0rQomi84I&feature=related .

On one of our September Dia de Luz outings, we went to help Jarvin, Darwin and Arle's mom Yolanda. Jarvin is studying psychology at a university in Costa Rica, but was back in Tegucigalpa for a two-week vacation. Darwin and Arle were both part of the Micah Project before leaving last year due to personal problems. We are trying to help 15 year old Arle get into a boarding school next year three hours outside of Tegucigalpa, and Darwin hopes to be one of the first students in Micah's new technical school which Brian Wiggs will launch in 2010. Below: Marvincito and Arle mix paint for Yolanda's shack.

Above: Cristofer paints the interior of Yolanda's shack. Below: Yolanda stands with her three sons: Darwin, Jarvin and Arle.

Below: In yet another September Dia de Luz, the young men visited the CEDER shelter for abandoned seniors to take some treats and spend some time with the seniors there. Here, Wilmer (left) and Pedro Luis (right) take some time to chat with the ladies.

Randy Mayfield: a friend and mentor to the Micah Project for the last ten years

Randy Mayfield has been an instrumental part of the Micah Project for the last ten years. As the missions' pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church of St. Louis (for the last 30 years!), Randy gave Michael much direction and support when he was first visioning the Micah Project in 1999. Since then, Randy has served on our board, visited Honduras at least twice a year for the last ten years and been a constant source of encouragement and prayer. In September, Randy came to spend a few days with us to do just that!

Above: Randy helps Roger and our cook Aida pick dirt out of our daily ration of beans. Below: Randy and Charly have an opera contest during dinner at the Micah House. To see a short clip the hilarious contest, click here:

Randy also accompanied us to the southern Honduras island of Amapala for a day trip to the beach, which is in the Pacific Ocean inlet of the Gulf of Fonseca. Above: we get ready to load up and cross over to the island. Below: one of the guys' favorite activities on the island seems to be finding dead, ugly sea creatures that have washed up onshore. Marvicito and Axel hold what appears to be a blowfish and Hector holds shows off some sort of bug-eyed aquatic beast!