Adios 2005!

The end of the year at the Micah Project is always an exciting time. School vacation lasts from November to February, leaving us plenty of time for other pursuits! Service, celebration and recreation are some of the ways we bring the year to an end. Check out the pictures below for more details!

Above: Cristino spent his first Thanksgiving in the United States at an international students' retreat in Nashville. It was a nice break during his first intense semester at Missouri Baptist University. Here, our Cristino poses with singer/songwriter Michael Card, who ministered to the students at the conference through song and testimony. Micah Project director Michael Miller was very jealous when he found out, since Michael Card has been one of his favorite musicians for many years!

Above: Our BMOC look like they are adjusting well to winter weather in St. Louis! (BMOC stands for "Big Men on Campus", by the way). Here, Olvin, Cristino and Marvin accompany Matt Darr to the opening of "The Chronicles of Narnia" during a break from their studies at Missouri Baptist University. Matt and his wife Amy, have been supporting these young men in many ways during their first year at Missouri Baptist. We are extremely grateful for their ministry to the guys!

Above: In December, our young men created Christmas baskets to give to their families and to other needy people in Tegucigalpa. Here, David gives a basket to his mother, while his brother Pedro Luis looks on. It was a very special time, especially since David is getting ready to move to Costa Rica to begin his classes at the Universidad Latina in January.

Above: Miguel (brown shirt) and Jeferson (orange shirt) give their Christmas basket to their mother. They pose in front of the house that we built for their family in 2004.

Above: Pedro had the honor of sharing his basket with Olvin's mom, since Olvin did not come back to Honduras during his Christmas break at Missouri Baptist University. Pedro makes a pretty good "surrogate" son!

Above: In December, we celebrated our sixth grade graduation through our education program at the city dump. Here, young Junior receives his diploma from Jessie, one of the teachers at the program (and Jeony's wife!).

Above: As part of our outreach ministry, our young men built these stairs for an elderly lady that lives in a poor community in Tegucigalpa (see our December Photo Album for more details). Our guys love ministering in this way!

Above: Our guys were able to take several day trips in December in order to get out of the city and enjoy Honduras' beautiful campo (countryside). Here, they spend a day swimming in a river about an hour from Tegucigalpa. Our newest participant, Marvin Morazan, takes a flying leap into the water!

Above: New Year's Eve! Our guys worked hard on a Honduran tradition called the Año Viejo (The Old Year). The Old Year is a dummy stuffed with firecrackers. At midnight, the dummy is doused in kerosene and lit! The tradition symbolizes the end of the old year and the beginning of the new.

Above: Our poor Año Viejo exploded for almost ten minutes at midnight on New Year's day. What a racket! I don't think my ears have stopped ringing yet! We hope that your new year began with a bang as well!