If you built it, you will win

Thanks to a generous donation, we finally have enough Legos for the students to create some pretty impressive sculptures. So last night in the rec room, we had a our first ever Lego Competition. We divided the students into two teams and gave them an hour to work together to build something amazing.

One team built this original aircraft with its very own airport.

But the winning team built a police station with an attached jail and a runway for the rescue airplane.

The winning team was rewarded with a 3-liter of Pepsi to share.

When the contest was over, we talked about how difficult it can be to work in a team. But, as this contest showed, we must work together to accomplish our shared goals. And our goal here at El Sembrador is the success of each of our students. So we all committed to work as a team for a successful new school year.

The View from My Front Porch

Nothing makes my heart happier than the view from my front porch this afternoon. Welcome home boys! El Sembrador missed you!

New Year, New Name

We're officially ready to welcome the students for the 2015 school year tomorrow! We're really excited! And we've spent the last few days sprucing up the rec room. It is officially transformed into an official fun space, complete with a new nickname. Welcome to "El Nido" ("The Nest")!

We traded in our cardboard "Open" sign for something a little more flashy.

 Believe it or not, we found some glass paint markers here in Catacamas. We used it to spruce up the doors. I can hardly wait to have an art contest to see who can paint the best door decorations!

Our "We want to know..." poster is back this year. And we started with a tough question: "What is one word that perfectly describes your personality?"

The ugly display case has been decorated and is ready for the photos of our various contest winners.

Our game menus are printed. Here, the student can see all the games available to check out and play. And just for something new once in a while, we have a collection of other games set aside to add to the menu later.

This year, we're hoping to have some art projects available to make during free time. So we made this gallery where we can hang our favorite pieces with miniature clothespins to decorate El Nido.

This project took way longer than expected, but I think it turned out cuter than just plain lettering.

A fancy new LED sign tells everyone what's happening and when.

Last time we were in Tegucigalpa, we had my design printed as a big sign for the wall.

Translation:

The Rules

Everyone is welcome.

Take care of your things.

Be respectful, friendly, creative. 

Try new things.

Make good memories.

Say please and thank you.

Play, share, learn, have fun.

Laugh.

Don't fight.

Clean up when you're finished.

We really need a new sofa in El Nido this year, but instead of just buying it from our own budget. We're asking the students to contribute by recycling at least 3,000 plastic bottles. So we made this poster to track our progress.

And of course the puppy is ready to greet his new best friends!

Just one more thing left to do before we open the doors. Will you take a moment to pray for the ministry of El Nido?

Reminders of Home

Every once in a while a little reminder of home takes us by surprise.

We found this little reminder of home at the supermarket in Tegucigalpa. While it's way too expensive for us to afford here in Honduras, Bongard's cheese is manufactured just a few miles from our home in Shakopee, Minnesota and we often drove by the small dairy. I confess that Nick and I did take a moment to contemplate and appreciate the yummy pepper jack.

You've Got Mail!

What a joy it was to arrive at the mission office in Tegucigalpa this afternoon to find our mailbox full of this treasure!

Thank you, thank you for making us feel special. It made our day!