From Soup to Nuts

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I have noticed recently my use of idioms that I enjoy is a mixed bag with other people.  The point of language is communication, and sometimes what feels right to me leaves other people scratching their heads.  Such it was when this week I used "from soup to nuts" in a conversation.  Putting this blog post together, the phrase quickly came back to me.  Turns out, the origin of this phrase that means just covering everything, comes from old meal courses, when soup was the first course, and something like six courses later, you ended with dessert nuts.  Go figure.  

​The mission house remodel continues.  Currently, tile is going in the new shower stalls, the new fancy hot water heaters are being installed in the walls, and soon we will be able to get everything painted and the bunkbeds moved downstairs.  One step at a time!  

The coffee harvest continues as well.  We have had some vehicle issues, but overall there is just a lot of hard work being done by a lot of people.

We are currently working on properly drying all the coffee we have harvested, but soon we will have to also sell on the local market (where the prices are again lower than the base of the totem pole.  

And with keeping lots of green coffee, that means finding more places where we can sell it as Hill Climber Coffee.  Part of my time in the US has been trying to find more short and long term customers, like at a Church in Indiana where we found a missions pastor with such a passion for coffee he makes his own pour over stations from reclaimed wood.  We might have to follow in his footsteps on this one.    


The Milk Project is starting off the year just like it ended last year...with no grass growing under it (to use another idiom.)  Not only the continuing physical feeding of bellies, spiritual feeding of souls, there is also play, Valentine's Day celebrations...and as seen here, more tutoring and homework help.  Joshua and Yoan are doing some Spanish homework.  

Speaking of which, I just heard recently that in the US there will be millions of Spanish speakers soon that will not be able to read or write the language, as they are learning it at home, but not studying it in school.  I found that shocking to hear, but really, that is what we see all too often in Honduras, or something close to it, where literacy and reading levels for children who are not blessed with good schools or the ability to attend schools for long suffer the same fate.


Being able to provide the kids with school supplies, backpacks, and school shoes is not just nice, but a huge deal for them impacting their ability to go to school year after year, with their parent's help and support. 

Education, learning, growing and changing our neighborhoods and our country, one child and one family at a time...not something we want to say just to sound good, but want to do, and continue to work on going forward.  College scholarships for these kids...wouldn't that be the greatest thing since sliced bread?





The clinic work continues as well.  I thought this picture was a good representation of what sometimes is very complicated and not photogenic work.  

This is Alex.  He is from Jamastran, which is out in Andy's new ground (another idiom I have heard, this one from my father, that I don't think I have heard anywhere else...it means, way far away.)  He is 14, and had an accident from a harvester that is used to cut field grass for cattle.  

He came to the clinic to have his stitches taken out (which stitches he had for over a month) and for some wound care from losing his leg, and we were able to bless him with the crutches seen in the picture.  

Praying for his health, he had originally tried to go to the emergency room with his hemoglobin at 3 (which if accurate is dangerously low) and still has recovery and adjustment of life to deal with going forward.  
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A new growth group in Talanga in a home there, this picture was sent to me recently, just one picture of many such groups in the Church there and the other Churches around the country, and that is always something worth writing home about.  
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​Well, that certainly covers quite a few of the areas of the mission.  It doesn't exactly go from soup to nuts, certainly not as close as two coats of paint, but good enough for a blog post.