Christmas Letter

Now that we're 2/3 of the way through January, it's probably time to post our Christmas letter!!


Merry Christmas from the Browning’s in Balfate!
It’s a newsletter, Christmas card, and birth announcement all rolled into one!

Talby Mildred!
Of course, the biggest news in the Browning house is the arrival of Talby Mildred on December 5th. Even at just a few weeks old, she has a distinct little personality and seems quite content with her new lot in life. Guildy and Hadley are very sweet with her and love holding her and talking to her.

What We’ve Been Up To In Honduras
We arrived in Honduras in mid-October and jumped back into life here like we’d never been gone. Things are never slow around Hospital Loma de Luz (www.crstone.org), medically or in the maintenance department. Josh and the other maintenance guys are constantly working on checking broken and worn out things off the never ending list of maintenance needs. He spent the second week in December helping rebuild the motor on the tractor that is used to mow between the 30 acres of African palm oil trees, which should one day provide significant support to the hospital.

Right now, my main job is making the adjustment from a 2-kid family to a 3-kid family. But before Talby was born, I was teaching General Science and Biology classes and tutoring several of the older missionary kids in math. I am also home schooling Guildy, who is becoming quite the reader and math scholar. I will pick up my science and math classes again sometime in January.

Real Life in the Browning House
People often ask us what life is like here. Well, it’s crazy. No two ways about it. In the past month, we’ve lost several good nights sleep chasing rats around our house (finally burning one to death in the insulation of our oven), been invaded by thousands upon thousands of marching tropical ants (they actually clean out all other insects in your house, so they’re not such a bad thing), had a good round of stomach flu (or bad water, who knows?), been to San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba twice each working on passports for Talby and Guildy, fought a nasty round of bacterial/fungal skin infection (thankfully, just Josh and Hadley have it), tried unsuccessfully to trap the 3-foot long iguana still living between the clay tiles and tar paper of our roof, and because it’s the Holiday season, listened to constant cherry bomb explosions courtesy of the neighborhood kids for the past 3 weeks (it‘s just how kids celebrate Christmas here).

A couple weeks ago, a visitor from Georgia spoke about what we base our faith on. Do we base it on FACT, found in the form of Biblical and historical truths, or FEELINGS, coming to us in the form of sentiment, emotions, and whims? On days when nothing seems to be working, which can be frustratingly common here, it’s tempting to FEEL discouraged, but the FACT is God is at work here and we are fortunate to be a part of that great work. There’s no place else we’d rather be - even on the days when things seem completely insane.

Please Pray for Us and Loma de Luz
1. Hospital Loma de Luz’s physical and spiritual ministry to Honduras’ North Coast
2. Hospital finances and staffing needs, particularly an anesthesiologist
3. Josh and Hadley’s skin infection to clear up completely
4. Talby and Guildy’s passports to arrive by Jan. 11th (so we can leave the country when our visas expire)

We hope this finds you well wherever you are with hearts thankful for the birth of our King and Savior! Thank you so much for all the ways you love and support us!
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Many Blessings!
Josh, Linzy, Guildy, Hadley, & Talby


Contact Us:
Josh Browning/ Mike Yost Apd. 139
La Ceiba, Honduras, Central America
Email: yznil1@yahoo.com
Blog: www.joshandlinzy.blogspot.com


Support for the Browning’s may be sent to:
CornerStone International
PO Box 192
Wilmore, KY
Check made out to “CornerStone International” with “Browning” in the memo.