Our New College Freshmen!

August 2005 was an exciting month for the Micah Project! Cristino, Marvin and Olvin, three of our young men that have been with the Micah Project since we opened our doors in 2000, moved to St. Louis, Missouri to begin their freshman year at Missouri Baptist University (click on their names to read their biographies). This is an exciting opportunity for them to get an education that will truly prepare them to become leaders in Honduras! The guys started classes on August 22, and although it's going to take a while to adapt to classes in English, they're off to a good start!

If you'd like to find out how to support these guys, our other graduates (Darwin, Jarvin and David) and those who are graduating in November of this year, click here to learn how to support our scholarship fund! (We'll get some pictures up of Jarvin and David once they start classes later this fall!)

Tino gets on an American Airline flight in Tegucigalpa to head up to the States! Passing through customs and getting through the Miami airport was a pretty scary experience (the Miami Airport would scare anybody!) but the guys made it safe and sound. The good-byes in Honduras were hard, but the guys are excited about this tremendous opportunity.

Here, Olvin, Tino and Marvin get the first look at their home for the next four years! Missouri Baptist opened in 1957, and has the following mission: "Missouri Baptist University is an evangelical Christian, liberal arts institution of higher learning and has as its purpose the offering of programs of study leading to professional certificates, undergraduate degrees and graduate degrees in an environment where academic excellence is emphasized and a Biblically based Christian perspective is maintained." (http://www.mobap.edu/info/about/mission.asp)

The guys stand in front of the main buildings on campus, the Pillsbury chapel and Dale Williams Fine Arts Center. Each of the guys are living in the on-campus dorms with roommates...that will be good English practice! They look very hot in this picture (100-plus degree day), but I told them that they'd be in for a surprise in January!

Marvin (circled) received a small scholarship to play soccer with MBU's team. He was excited when he found out that he made the varsity squad! Here, they get ready for an alumni game (which was blown away by a severe thunderstorm after halftime). The team had two-a-day practices before classes started to get ready for their season! Olvin will also be participating as a team manager.

Wow! Only in St. Louis a week and they managed to find the only Honduran restaurant in town! Actually, Micah board member Tim Baldwin, who runs a program for refugees in St. Louis called Refuge of Nations, took them to this restaurant near his office (for those of you who live in St. Louis, the restaurant, called "Los Catrachos" is on Cherokee in south St. Louis; take I 64 to Grand south to Cherokee east. The restaurant is worth a visit!) Here, the guys pose in front of the Honduran flag and a map of the country!