December was a whirlwind of activity! Some joyous , some somber...

We were able to find an artificial Christmas tree which definitely helped us get in the Christmas spirit, in spite of tropical temperatures. It did get really cold one night, about 65! BRRRR. ;-)

Travis began pastoring the Roatan "R" Church which meets at 10 on Sunday mornings. It is located in a conference room of one of the resorts here. This means set up each Saturday to get ready. Ella practices with the worship leader and plays there on Sunday mornings. Ella also helps with worship at Calvary on Wednesday nights and Travis teaches there as well.

We held a youth Christmas party and had a great time eating, playing games and listening to Travis speak about the true meaning of Christmas. We have truly enjoyed meeting some wonderful Christian and non-Christian folks there and are seeing lives impacted with the Gospel. Many are Americans or Canadians who have lived here several years and can give us good island info! We held a Candle Light Christmas Service with the "R" church and invited as many people as we could through facebook and other internet contacts. Travis preached an evangelistic message to around 70 people in attendance. We pray that many seeds were planted.

Tish and the kids continue to volunteer at the Children's Home and have also begun helping a small bilingual school that serves the Colonia in Sandy Bay. It provides some wonderful ministry opportunities. We have lots of special buddies at both of these places. Zach and Ella were able to play some Christmas music for them and it was a real treat for the kids. We were also blessed to be able to provide a Christmas portraits for the families at Calvary Chapel providing them a Photo of their family for Christmas. Many of them don't have any photos of their children at all. Example below...

The car continues to be a strange tale with bad news. We finally found a talented American on the island who is a certified mechanic (hooray) and could give an accurate diagnosis. Unbelievable, but the dealer we bought it from had put sawdust in the engine to mask its problems. Yep,we need a new engine. We have to ferry it back to the dealer who promises to fix it. Let's just say we have some trust issues with the guy. Prayer is appreciated for this situation as it was expensive in the first place and we really did not expect to have to spend so much on a vehicle. We are praying for a good outcome after 6 weeks of dealing with this.

WIth some sadness and some joy, the two young men Travis had been ministering to with terminal diseases passed away in December. Harrison passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 17 in the arms of his adopted mom. He was 21 years old and had come to Christ 5 weeks prior. He was a blessing getting to know and we look forward to seeing him in Heaven. Travis officiated his first Island funeral and they had over 100 from the community come to celebrate Harrison's life. Sherell passed away on Sunday, December 23 after a long bout with his disease. He was just 30 years old. We are happy for them that their suffering is over and sad for those they leave behind. The young man in the red and green hat at our youth event (pictured above) is Harrison's brother George. He has now lost both parents, both grandparents and two brothers and is the last one in his immediate family left. Please pray for him and that God will use this to draw him closer to Christ.

Tish's parents arrived December 22nd and we enjoyed showing them the island. We took them to some of the fun tourist spots that have many things to do and see and put her dad to work in the Colonia repairing a single mom's house. It was a special blessing to be with some of our family for the holidays.

We also had a special writeup in the News Sentinel that was an unexpected blessing. We pray that it will help encourage other families to go where God calls them.

Blessings to all of you! We can not thank you enough for your notes, prayers and emails. Each time we hear from you it is a tremendous encouragement. We look forward to seeing many of you at Christ Covenant's mission conference in February! We will get in on Feb 16 and be in Knoxville for two weeks.

En Cristo,
Travis, Tish, Ella, Zachary, Heather and Eli