Warren Family update Sept 11, 11

Hello! As always, we hope this finds you well!


Opalaca Hands of Hope Update:

It is so awesome to see the chip bag ladies arrive with new things that they have created. Last week, they brought the first large purse with a handle. They also continue to get more and more creative with the earrings bringing squares, letters, and some that even look like Christmas trees. So much fun! You all know the love that I have for these ladies. It is so awesome to see God strengthening my love for the basket ladies, and changing my heart even more toward the chip bag ladies as I pray for them. It makes it that much harder to leave in a week. I will get to see the ladies on Friday for the last time in 2011. Please pray that God continues to strengthen them while I'm away. I pray daily that their faith would grow, and it's always cool to see that come to fruition!


Opalaca Coffee update:

I (Andy) got to spend two days with Francisco this past week. Francisco is my "go to" guy who lives in the Opalaca Mountians (San Pedrito). Not only is he taking the lead for our coffee project in the mountains, he also is one of our indigenous ordained pastors. I had the opportunity to take him to a large coffee farm and processing facility in Gracias. This proved to be a good time to get to know him a little better and to find out how committed he was to the improvement of the farmers' lives in the mountains. On Thursday I took him to San Pedro Sula to look at the equipment we are looking at purchasing for our processing facility. When he saw the equipment it was like a child receiving a big present at Christmas or a new puppy. I looked at him and asked if this would be a benefit to the farmers. His response was one that I did not expect. He said this is exactly what we need to help improve the quality of the coffee, and with the increase of price we will receive for the better coffee we will be able to re-pay the equipment. I love it, he is feeling empowered and is thinking of ways that they can improve the lives of the community.

Please pray for the meeting I have on Monday the 12th. I am meeting with a coffee exporter who is willing to walk us through and educate us in the export process. We have a buyer in the states that is willing to buy 2 containers of coffee. To process this order we will need an exporter whom we can trust to help process the order here in Honduras, I am praying that this meeting goes well and that Omar is the right exporter for us.

Plans are coming along for me to attend the Coffee Q Grader accreditation class. For me to attend this class I will need roughly $2500 by Oct. 1. ($1250 for the class + expenses). Would you please pray about this with us!?!?

Francisco confirmed the need for me getting the Q Grader accreditation. He said if someone with that status gives a report on our coffee, that will put us on the map as 'legitimate coffee producers'. I already love the coffee, with some improvements and receptivity, their coffee will go from good to great. These are a couple quotes I received recently regarding our coffee: "I drank some of my Opalaca Gold coffee this morning and it is soooo good! Thank you for helping it get to my coffee mug!" - Hannah & "Out of all the coffee I have had in my life my favorite is Opalaca Gold straight from the mountains in Honduras! Thanks Andy Warren for being my supplier." Lydia

Construction update:

Mercy International hosts around 20 teams a year, most of those teams are involved with some sort of construction project. This year this is an area that I have stepped into as the overseer. When the team season is over, that is the time that we take inventory of what we started and have not been able to finish for one reason or another. Brian Rothove and I have been diligently trying to work through a list of last minute work projects to close out our year. The last couple of weeks we have found ourselves wearing many hats. Installing doors, hanging molding, hanging monkey bars and swings in two different parks and building a roof for our new coffee production center in San Pedrito. Just for good measures we've also grouted tile in the coffee house and did some electrical re-wiring of one of our church buildings in Monte Verde. Needless to say we have not had much down time since the team season ended. Some of the joys I have in the construction projects is finishing the project and handing it over to whoever we are building for. The smiles and tears of joy and watching the kiddos swing on the swing sets we install gives me great joy and makes me want to keep going and start 50 more projects.

Makenzie's update:

She is getting super excited about heading to the United states. She just completed day #50 of 1st grade. When we asked her if she would like to do gymnastics again this year, she said "can I please do ballet?" I reluctantly told her that I would get in touch with someone and see if she could take. I prayed that if, because of our short time there, she could not take ballet, that God would prepare her heart. But, God sent someone to help us, and she will begin classes on the 20th. She is super excited to see her friends, but she has a lot of mixed emotions right now, and we would ask for prayer for her (and us) as we prepare for our upcoming furlough.

Furlough update:

We will arrive in Northwest Arkansas on Monday, September 19th, and will hit the ground running. We will be in the states through Christmas and plan to return to Honduras in January. We have lots of things on our schedule which is great, but we also have a lot of open time. If you, or anyone else you know, would like to visit with us, please write us. (Andy says coffee anyone?)

Praises:

God providing a place for us to stay while in Arkansas
Makenzie is able to take Ballet and Gymnastics while we are in the states, and other fun things for her
Our Health
Opalaca Coffee project - The things that need to happen are happening
$11,500 raised to go toward the purchase of a truck in Honduras

Prayer Requests:

For our families, we know that us being in the US adds some difficulties to their lives
For us, we have many mixed emotions with leaving our home here, but definitely want to be in the US with family and friends
For the Hands of Hope ladies, that they would continue to be challenged and blessed by God
For our transition as we head to the US
For funding to be available by Oct. 1 for Andy's Coffee Q Grader Accreditation ($1250 + Travel Expenses)

Be blessed, and we hope to get to see most of you soon!

Because of Him,
Andy, Corbett and Makenzie
Warren Family Adventures

Andy, Corbett and Makenzie
PO Box 10516
Fayetteville, AR 72703

Would you like to be a part of our ministry?

Donations can be made out to GRACE CHURCH and sent to our address above!

God bless you.

Are you interested in helping me become a Certified Coffee Q Grader

A few years ago the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) established a program called the Q Grader, which is a comprehensive professional accreditation for coffee graders and cuppers. This program aims to establish a common language to ease the information exchange among colleagues working in coffee quality control around the world. Some producers, exporters, importers and roasters have experienced a lack of tools that ease the discussion process around coffee quality issues. Based strictly on technical issues, it is important to exchange information on the coffee crop from one continent (producers) to another (consumers). I believe this program has positively contributed to creating common ground rules for technicians that are involved in quality control in producing and importing countries.

Currently there are around 1000 certified coffee Q graders world wide. Currently in Honduras there is only 1 certified Q Grader. I have the opportunity to attend a week long certification class in Oct to obtain the Q grader accreditation.

This will be a huge advantage not only for Mercy International but for myself as well. Being one of the only Q graders in Honduras will help open doors that I thought would never be opened. Not only will it benefit here in Honduras but it will open doors for us World Wide.

The ony down side is the cost. The class alone costs $1250. Then add on the airfare and food, hotel and car rental I am looking at $2500. The class is Oct 3 - 7th.

Would you please pry with us for provisions, and the wisdom that will be needed to pass the accreditation. The overall process includes 22 seperate tests administered over the week. If you are interested in helping send me to the conference donations can be made out to Grace Church with our name written in the memo line and sent to:

Warrenfamilyadventures

Andy, Corbett and Makenzie

PO Box 10516

Fayetteville, AR 72703

If you are interested in knowing more about the accreditation please email me at andy_warren2007@yahoo.com

Warren family March 13th Update

Hello everyone! We hope this finds you well!
We’ve had a very busy couple of weeks.
Our first big news is that ½ of our roof is completed! YAY! Andy
will start the other half on Monday as long as there is no rain!
PRAISE GOD for dry floors! We put a layer of tin roofing and then on
top of that replaced the “Tejas” (ceramic-type tiles). It looks very
nice! (See attached picture)

Andy just got back from a great mountain trip with a team from Florida
State University. They put a roof on a house and began another
foundation. Mercy International promised to do ten houses in Santa
Maria, and we are well on our way to finishing 4 houses. The projects
change circumstances but it is the relationships that last a life
time. Currently their are around 20 men in the village that appear to
be hungry for the word.

The coffee market is coming along, the farmers are having great crops.
Andy is on track to purchase around 4 thousand pounds of coffee for
this year. That is 50% more than last year. In April, Andy will be
travelling to Arkansas and Houston, Texas for two coffee conferences.
This is a great opportunity to learn more about the coffee industry
and make more networking connections.

Makenzie and I had a unique experience yesterday. We got to go to a
local bilingual school called Southwest, and see the science fair. We
have a student, Dunia, who was participating. She and her team
created an experiment that tested to see how long it took a balloon
filled with water, to pop when put above fire. It was very
interesting! They ended up winning second place. CONGRATULATIONS
DUNIA!

Makenzie is now very close to finshing her school for this year. She
just finished Day 128 and she has 160 total. It is so exciting to see
her learning as much as she has. She is one smart cookie, and we are
SO very proud of her! She started writing her first and last name in
cursive before the teacher said it was time. I love seeing her a
little bit ahead of some areas! I got the opportunity to see her
“teaching” to one of our staff members today, and it was so cool to
see her mimicking Mrs. Bere. What fun!

My days have been modified recently by the fact that the main office
computer lost its power supply. We are waiting on a new one to arrive
so that I can get back to my daily grind. The supply of baskets on
hand looks great at this point, and I am looking forward to my ladies
“stepping out of the basket” a little to bring me some new designs! I
love it when they get creative!

The twins that I mentioned last time, have now both gained at least 1
pound, and continue to grow. Please don’t forget to pray for them.
Their names are Cindy Melissa and Henry Adonai. We are blessed to
have the opportunity to see them grow, and blessed to be able to pray
for them.

We have been truly blessed in so many ways, and continue to be blessed
on a daily basis. We thank you all for your continued support, and
look forward, as always, to hearing from you.
Because of Him,

Andy, Corbett and Makenzie

Warren family update

Hello everyone!! We are well, and we hope you are too!!!!!!

We've had a very busy couple of weeks! First, a group of 32 young adults from a discipleship school called Kairos were here for a couple of weeks, and we had a great time with them! Andy took a trip to the mountains as Mak and I stayed back and held down the fort at home! It was our first time at our house without Andy, and God blessed us with peace and no fears! That was quite a blessing for mom! :)

We now have the money to replace our roof! We are praising God for the blessing. Right now, it has been raining a lot, so we really need to replace it soon. The plan is to purchase materials this week andput it on as soon as we have a couple of dry days. We are SO excitedto not have to cover everything before leaving the house! THANK YOU GOD!

Mak is doing really well. Yesterday, for lunch, I made her “buy” all of the items to make her jelly sandwich, chips and glass of water. She is learning about Pennies, Nickels, Dimes and Dollar Bills… their value and what they are called. She has had a hard time relating as to which is what, so I figured for her to get out her play money and buy all needed for lunch would help! Now, however, every time she eats, she asks if she needs to “buy” it. We better be careful, a team may come down and hear her say that and think we are LITERALLY making her buy stuff to eat! Oh wow!

Andy is headed to the mountains tomorrow to purchase some coffee from one of the growers, and I always look forward to hearing what God does with his time there. I am praying that the coffee looks great, and that God would continue to use Andy through the coffee!

I am keeping busy in the Mercy International office, and am almost caught up on
the months that we were gone to the US! I am excited toget 2010 out from under my nose and put into the box! :) Last weekend, we received a call from a couple that the wife is American and the husband is Honduran. They asked if Mak and I wanted to go tothe park, and we had a great time! (I got a little sunburn, but still enjoyed my time!) See a picture with Andy and Sofia attached eating their suckers!

So, for those of you getting this from Grace Church, I want to make a little plug... June 21st – 28th, Grace will be bringing a team down to see us! I also know that there are a few ladies receiving this from last fall’s Beth Moore study – I am sure that you guys could hook up with Grace to come down if you so desire…. Just write me back and I will get you contact information for the leaders! We would love to have you all here! (Hey mom, maybe this year!!!????)

Also, I want to tell you guys about something else going on that needs some “extra special prayer”. We have twin babies that were brought to the farm a few days ago. They were 2.5 pounds each, a boy and a girl. Their mother was sick in the hospital, and they were being cared forby other family members. After a trip to the pediatrician that we trust, Mercy has taken on the cleaning of bottles (two different ways) and the giving of CLEAN water for their bottles. These little babies are only living through the grace of God, and we are so blessed to see them growing slightly. Would you please pray for them? I am attaching a picture of one next to the hand of Cindy Lowman just to give you an idea of how small they are.

We are so blessed, and always love hearing from you all! We wish youthe best week and thank you as always for your prayers!

Chili Peppers update

Well it has been three weeks since I planted my chili peppers. So far I am having mixed results, our Honduran helper Jorge has been advising me of a couple of different things to do to get better results. However the little results I do have ten little green sprouts sticking out of the dirt. Whoo Hoo. I have planted over sixty seeds so I have my fingers crossed. I can taste the salsa now.

I have another planting project going at our house, this one involves Makenzie. She helped me plant the seeds and is watering the plants everyday. We started this project about a week and a half ago and already have three sprouts showing. Who knows maybe Makenzie has a green thumb.

Super Bowl Fiesta

Hello everyone! We hope you are all doing well! It is amazing at how fast the times are changing here in Honduras. Two years ago we got to watch the Superbowl on Spanish TV, everything was in Spanish and we didn't get to see all the great commercials. Today we are preparing a Superbowl fiesta, and are going to get to see the game via American TV in English and with American commercials. (We know that is the real reason for watching the Superbowl)

Over the weekend we travelled to Gracias, Lempira, Honduras it isabout an hour and a half from where we live, a few years ago it wouldhave taken four hours to get there. Our purpose for this trip was tomarry off one of our very own. A missionary student that we love verymuch, Carlos, married his sweetie, Rina (say ree-nuh). It was abeautiful wedding, and we were blessed to have the opportunity to bethere! We met some awesome people, and had an awesome time offellowship. I also got my Honduras drivers license while there, and Andy got to go exploring, he visited two different natural hot spring parks, a good way to unwind before our next group comes in on Wed. We really had a great time!

Well, we've gotten the price to replace our roof. $1,200 - Andy met with the landlord and he agreed to let us do it (Andy can do it with the help of a few people) and take it off the upcoming payments for rent! This is good because we can get it done on our own schedule and can work on it around our teams. Would you please pray with us that God would provide all that is needed at the right time!?!? We will do one section to help financially, and then wait until the next month to do the other section.

Makenzie is doing really good. She has totally adjusted to being back home. She misses everyone in the states, but she's fitting right in here! :) She's doing school, and having fun with it - and a few challenges, but that's just part of it! :)

We're excited to see our vehicle fund growing! Thank you to all of you that have contributed. We are not quite to the point of looking for a vehicle yet, but it's definitely close! Our goal is to raise12,000 and we are currently at 8,250, Praise God for his provisions!

We do officially have our own Internet connection now. We are excited to be able to see friends and family! It's not perfect connection -but we can at least see people for a few minutes at a time! :)

Chili Peppers

I love hot peppers. I love them roasted put into salsas, on top of burgers, on nachos, just about anyway you can eat a pepper I love them. When we are in the states people ask us what do you miss in-regards to food. My response seems funny to most. I miss Salsa and hot foods.

Here in Honduras we do not get to enjoy a lot of hot foods (Spicy). Most Hondurans do not like the really spicy foods. Even though they have bottles of hot sauce on the table ready for every meal.

One day last fall when I was in the market I found a bag of habenaro's and thought I struck gold. The ladies in the market thought it was funny, they made a face indicating the peppers were horid and would set you on fire. True it may be tough to handle if your not use to eating and preparing them. I brought the habenaro's back to the farm with a couple different varities of tomatoes and made my own salsa. The ladies in the kitchen thought I had lost my mind and when Suyapa tried some of the habenaro salsa, she looked like she was going to cry. Lets just say it was a little on the hot side. When we would eat the salsa they would just watch us and laugh and waited for something to happen.

Today I am trying something new. I planted two seed packets. One is a mix of cayeene, hungarian wax, serrano, habenaro, hot cherry and other hot chili types. The other is a packet of hungarian hot wax peppers. Several years ago I planted some Jalapeno's in Fayetteville and they grew ok. But this is a first for me to try to do here in Honduras. So here I begin a blog on my chili pepper growing adventure. I pray it is a success and can not wait to be writting updates on how the peppers are growing. And ultimately making my own salsa out of my own home grown chilis.

Happy and Healthy New Year of 2011

One of my many New Year resolutions is to keep posts up to date on this Blog. Here is my first of many (hopefully)

Our latest update that was sent out today: (if you would like to be on our email update list, let me know!)

Hello all! We hope this finds you happy and healthy in the new year of 2011!
We have been very blessed here in the United States, and our time is
coming to an end. Our appointments have been God directed, our visits
have been God centered, and our time has been surrounded by God!
Needless to say we have been truly blessed.

We have just purchased our tickets to return to Honduras on January
18, 2011. So, I know there are a few of you that have expressed
interest in seeing us - please get back with us and we will try to get
our schedules worked out.
Our Christmas was beyond blessed in many ways, and we are looking
forward to our coming year being blessed in Honduras!
We look forward to hearing from each of you in the coming year... even
if it is just for a prayer request. We love hearing from you.

We have a few prayer requests that we would like to share with you:
-For the people of Yamarangula. We love them so much and are so
excited to return!
-Every time we purchase our tickets to return to Honduras, Satan
really tries to get after us, please help us pray this out!
-We need to replace our roof on our new house in Honduras, we have a
need for about $1500 that has not been met yet, and we MUST get this
done fairly quickly after our return. Please pray for provisions to
do so.
-We have been blessed by a few new monthly supporters this year, and
we are so excited to have you on board! We continue to ask for more
people to help so that we can do more for the country and people of
Honduras. We will accept donations of any amount. Would you please
pray to see if God is calling you to help?
-As we gear down for our time to end here, we have expenses that come
up, and we are praying this year as always, that He will provide
everything that we need.