Bess, a Butterfly, and a Honduran Dog

Bess used to be our dog, but when we moved to Honduras, Tanner and Katie took her. She's smart and obedient and does all the things a good dog should do. We miss her......Especially when we see so many pathetic, diseased, untrained dogs......

But despite the ugliness of the parasite-ridden stray dogs and horses (actually most of them aren't technically strays....they usually belong to someone), the details of God's design are amazing.

Living with Death

Josh is good friends with a guy named Louis, who runs a fairly substantial woodshop in Balfate. Of the many types of furniture they turn out, caskets are always in demand. On any given day, you can walk by the shop and see a stack of them in various sizes and stages of completion.

Louis' daughter Debra is five, and the family lives in a house attached to the shop. Josh and Tanner and Katie went to see the shop and snapped this picture of Debra perched on a casket. To us it seems rather morbid, but in this culture death is so much more a part of everyday life than in the States. Out here in the campo, nobody can afford an undertaker, so families simply hold a funeral and bury their dead within 24 hours, as required by law. I think the irony of a healthy, vibrant 5-year-old playing on a casket is perhaps less ironic when viewed through the cultural lens of the area.

The Guildster

A couple relatively recent pictures of Guildy.....

She loves playing at the beach. On this particular day, the beach at Balfate was really flat (its slope changes almost every day) and the waves were pretty big. Guildy would splash around and dig in the sand waiting for a big wave to knock her down and then roll around and laugh and squeal like it was the most fun she had ever had. Of course, we were watching her carefully so she wouldn't get washed away. Guildy looking so angelic......

Some Central American Scenery

No doubt we live in a beautiful place. This is a January sunset taken just west of the hospital. Notice that the fence posts are actually little trees. Pretty much anything you stick in the ground will grow here, and fence posts are no exception. After a number of years, the trees grow up and the wire rusts away, leaving behind a permanent tree fence. The next two pictures were taken by our friends Tanner and Katie when they were in Guatemala on their way down to see us in January.

February Newsletter

First, a scene from La Ceiba
La Ceiba is a bustling city of 200,000 about 35 miles west of Balfate. Despite its modern aspects, horses and carts are still a perfectly viable mode of transporting goods.

Now, on to more important things….
Since our last newsletter in November (sorry for the hiatus), things at Hospital Loma de Luz (http://www.crstone.org/) have continued to change and move forward. We have a nurse anesthetist here until June, allowing more complex surgeries that previously couldn’t be done. Also, a Honduran dentist from La Ceiba is volunteering one day a week working in the hospital’s dental clinic, which has been closed due to lack of a dentist. These were two major areas in which the hospital had been wanting to provide better services, so we are thankful for the people He has provided to make it happen.

There is the possibility of a new project that will establish monthly medical clinics in four centrally located villages in the mountains south of the hospital. Of the 54 villages that the hospital serves, only 11 of them are on a vehicle accessible road, so the hope is to provide regular care, as well as evangelism and discipleship, in areas accessible only on foot or horseback. Please pray that God would provide the wisdom and personnel necessary to see the project through.

Construction and Teaching Stuff
The hospital tries to employ Honduran contractors whenever possible, as it gets work done quickly and provides opportunity to build relationships with local people. Josh has enjoyed getting to know several of them in the past few months and will be working with them on a couple more projects in the coming months. School continues to go well. Guildy enjoys the opportunity to play with a babysitter, and I enjoy the challenge of helping make math and science clearer for my students.

Browning Briefs
When we were in the states in December, the big question was, “What next after your year in Honduras?” Well, after much prayer and seeking, we feel that God is calling us to stay for another year. As we spent the month of December telling various friends and relatives about all the things going on in Honduras, we realized how fortunate and blessed we are to be able to serve in such a dynamic ministry with a group of people so committed to Christ. We are looking forward to seeing God work in our midst in the coming year.

We have been busy moving from the house we rented in San Luis to an apartment near Lucinda. It’s nice and quiet, and we are much closer to the hospital and the kids I teach. And we have the luxury of internet in our house. It’s wonderful!

To the right, Josh is remodeling the master bedroom and bathroom in what is now the kitchen and living room in our new apartment.

Guildy is growing like a weed. She zooms through her days like a tornado in a trailer park, and we just try to keep the damage to a minimum:o) She learns new Spanish and English words everyday, calls herself “Gooby,” and makes our lives so much brighter (and busier) than we ever could have imagined.

Prayer Requests
Please be praying for us and the hospital ministry:
1. That God would provide the Honduran and American staff needed, including doctors, nurses, teachers, and a computer tech person.
2. That there would be continued unity among the missionary community.
3. That Honduran churches would be committed to teaching and preaching the whole counsel of God’s Word.
4. That God would break the cycles of violence and revenge so prevalent in Honduran culture.
5. For our endurance, health, safety, and protection.

In Closing
Thank you all so much for supporting us! We couldn’t be here without you! We hope to hear from you!
In Christ's Love,

Josh, Linzy, and Guildy

Support for the Brownings may be sent to:
CornerStone International
PO Box 192
Wilmore KY 40390
1-800-859-4578
carla@cornerstoneinternational.org
http://www.cornerstoneinternational.org/