Our Brief Story...

In early October of 2012, our family moved from Seattle, WA to Nashville, TN as the start of a new chapter in our lives. I (Joseph) was returning to full-time schoolwork in a doctoral program in Leadership at Lancaster Bible College. No longer would I have been able to work as an engineer, attend school, continue our work in Honduras, and be a halfway decent dad and husband. Thus, we decided to pack up our belongings and move to Tennessee, where I would have easier (and cheaper) access to Pennsylvania and Honduras, and Hailey could pick up some photography work to help support the family. Little did we know that about six months later we would be packing up once again, but this time to move back to Honduras.

On Super Bowl Sunday, we began our day like any other day. We woke up, drank coffee and ate breakfast with our children (the kids didn’t do the coffee part), put Abbey down for her morning nap, and then left for church. After church, I had a meeting to attend (at the church), so Hailey returned home to put the children down for a nap. Because we only have one car, I had to wait after the meeting was over for Hailey to return to get me with the kids. Then, it was off to Hailey’s brother’s house for a Super Bowl party.

Rewind just a couple hours to my meeting…it was a meeting for people interested in getting involved in missions at Brentwood Baptist (The church we have been attending since our move). At the end of the meeting, I had a couple hours to wait, and I spent it reading and praying. It was during this time that I felt God impressing upon my heart that He desired a change in our lives. Both Hailey and I felt like we were spinning our wheels here in Nashville, and weren’t serving in ways that God has gifted us. To make a long story short, I decided to write Hailey an email explaining everything that I was feeling and thinking.

At that same time (I didn’t know this until about 9 PM that night), Hailey was having a conversation with her younger sister about our lives here in Nashville. While it has been a joy to be around Hailey’s side of the family, Hailey explained to her sister that our family was not serving in ways that we would like to serve. Furthermore, Hailey felt that God would be opening up doors for her to move away from photography and back into service. She told her sister, “I just don’t want to be the one to push this, so I am praying that God speaks to Joseph.”

Reminder: The abovementioned paragraph occurred as I was sending the email.

So, Hailey now comes to pick me up at church and head to the Super Bowl party. We have a great time with family, but neither one of us mention what we had been feeling that afternoon. We left the party early (that’s what happens when you have two young kids) and went home. After getting the kids in bed, Hailey sits down to read her email. To her surprise (looking back, it wasn’t much of a surprise…that’s how God works), she had an email from me explaining why I think God is calling us back into ministry/service.

Over the next several days, Hailey and I spent a lot of time in thought and prayer (mostly individually). We both felt like God was opening up the doors for us to return to Honduras as a family. While there were several practical reasons to stay in Nashville through the summer, at least, we wanted to respond to God’s call as soon as possible. Thus, with weddings on the books in June and July, and a trip to the Northwest scheduled in July, we decided to pack up and leave at the end of April. We recognized that logistically this would present some challenges, but were reminded of the many great men/women in the Bible who did things for God that seemed crazy by worldly standards.

Since we made the decision to move to Honduras a few months ago, we have gotten a wide variety of responses. However, we have never lost confidence in God’s call, and not once have we doubted whether we should move forward with our move. We have had greater peace, and even though circumstances here haven’t changed, our outlook has. Both Hailey and I can truly say that we are excited and grateful to be responding to God’s call in our lives. While Honduras will certainly present many challenges, there is great opportunity as well.

Please feel free to share our story with others. We hope that it will inspire others to listen to God’s call. Also, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers – they are much needed and greatly appreciated! And if you ever find yourself in Central America, please contact us. We’d love to put you up for a few nights and allow you to experience our ministry.

Many Blessings,

The Rahm Family (Joseph, Hailey, Micah, & Abigail)

One Week Left

Well, we are down to our final week in the US before we depart on April 30th for Honduras. We still have our entire house to pack, phone calls to make to get things in order for our departure, money to raise, and much more on our ever-increasing list of "To Do's." Even in the midst of a busy schedule, we are at peace, and very much looking forward to our arrival in Honduras next week. As difficult as it is to leave our family and friends, we eagerly anticipate everything that God has in store for us in the coming weeks, months, and years (or however long we are in Honduras for).

It has been an interesting last few weeks for our family. I went to Honduras at the end of March to host a mission's team from University Presbyterian's College Group (The INN, in Seattle WA). Less than 36 hours after I returned, Hailey left for one week in Seattle to visit family and friends. In the middle of the hectic schedule, I was wrapping up the end of my quarter in school, and Hailey has been trying to work through all her photography commitments. Not only has it been a busy time for us as a family, but it has been interesting to hear the wide array of responses we have gotten when talking to family, friends, and acquaintances about our move. On one end of the spectrum, we have received some great encouragement and support. Whether from new and old friends, strangers picking up furniture that we sold on Craigslist, or extended family, it has been a breath of fresh of air to hear that we are in fact doing something noble and honorable. However, on the other end of the spectrum, we have received numerous confused looks, questions that doubt our motives for going to Honduras and our methods of delivering education, and more. While this has been a bit discouraging, it has not brought any doubt to our family, nor has it drained our excitement.

So, as we begin the last week here in the US, we remind ourselves of the things that we are grateful for: warm showers, unlimited electricity, the ability to cook/eat whatever we want, close friends and family, our own transportation, and much more. Yet, while these things are wonderful, they don't compare to the joy we will receive from following God's direction for this next season of our lives.

I have attached a recent picture of our family. It was taken by our friends Eddie and Chrissy who have a photography business here in Nashville (http://www.highfiveforlove.com). Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we take this next step in our journey!

-The Rahm Family

The Rahm Family is Returning to Honduras!

Greetings Family and Friends,

While we have spoken with many of you personally, we also want to send out an email to our family and friends to let you know that we are returning to Honduras as a family at the end of April. We will be living on The Leadership Center campus, a university-level school dedicated to educating, training, and developing the future leaders of Honduras. We will be teaching, tutoring, and mentoring the young women to become leaders of integrity and to influence change in their poverty-stricken country. We are excited about the opportunities that God will give us to impact many lives and to help provide a better future to marginalized and impoverished families throughout the country.

Because many of you already know about the mission and vision of The Leadership Center, we don’t want to take too much of your time explaining what we’ll be doing. However, we are always excited to share what is going on at The Leadership Center, so please get in touch with us if you have any questions. 

We ask that you would consider supporting us through your payers, encouragement, and finances, if you are able to do so. We are volunteers on campus, so we are responsible to raise our own support to cover living expenses, transportation, health insurance, and other miscellaneous expenses. If you desire to support us financially, we have made this easy for you through the use of gofundme.com. Just follow this link to donate: http://www.gofundme.com/28dyqw.

It is with great joy, peace, and anticipation that we send you this letter. We are excited for the things that God has in store for our family in Honduras, and hope that you will consider staying in touch with us through our blog or email. Many blessings to you and your families, and we look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Much Love,

Joseph, Hailey, Micah, and Abigail

New Blog...

I am sure that you know by now, but our family has returned to the United States after 10 months in Honduras. What an amazing it experience it was, and we look forward to continuing to participate in the lives of the students in a new and different role. I (Joseph) will continue to make trips to Honduras on a somewhat regular basis as I have accepted a leadership role at the university.

Rather than updating our family blog, we have decided to create a new blog for The Leadership Center (http://theleadershipcenterhonduras.blogspot.com/). Please subscribe to it so you can stay updated with what is happening at the university. It will include posts by our family, other staff members, volunteers, and students. It will be a great opportunity to stay up to date and to know how you can be a part of what is going on in Honduras.

As always, thank you so much for your support. Without you, many young women in Honduras would not be educated.

Trouble on Two Wheels...

The day before we left the US to head back to Honduras, a cousin of Hailey’s invited me to go mountain biking with him just outside of Nashville, so I decided to join him. Of course I did not have bicycle, so I rode his wife’s bike. Even though it was a very nice bicycle, it was a few sizes too small. Nonetheless, I had a TON of fun riding the trails. At first I was a bit nervous, as the bike handled much different than my motorcycle in Honduras, and it actually took some effort to make it move (instead of just turning my wrist). As we were nearing the end of the trail, I had a minor accident. Nothing too bad, just a big bruise on the inside of my left thigh.

I learned today that accidents on motorcycles are motorcycles are worse than on bicycles. On my way into town to take one of our students to catch a bus back home, we hit a slippery patch in the road and my back tire slid out from underneath us. We slid on the dirt/rock road and finally came to a halt with the motorcycle on top of our right legs.

“Duele mi pierna…duele mi pierna,” cried Martha. (“My leg hurts, my leg hurts”)

I lifted the motorcycle off our legs, and we both lifted ourselves into a sitting position. My attention immediately turned to Martha, ignoring the fact that my shoulder and knee were in pain. After firing off several questions, I determined that Martha was not hurt seriously and a quick trip to the neighbor’s for some gauze and bandages would be the best choice. It was as I climbed back up on the moto that I realized that I too was injured, though I knew it was nothing serious.

When I returned from the neighbor’s, Martha was standing up with a small smirk on her face, so I knew that she was ok. We treated her cuts and bruises, and she even joked with me. “Last night I prayed that if this trip to my family’s house (the reason for going is not important) was not right, that God would not allow me to go. This is not what I had in mind!”

I told Martha that we had three options:

1) Continue on to Zambrano for her to catch the bus

2) Return to campus

3) Ask a neighbor if he could take her in his truck

She chose option one, so we hopped back on the motorcycle and finished the remainder of the trip with no problems. I waited with her for the bus and we joked about how the morning did not go as either of us had planned. I apologized to her many times and asked that she tell her father I was sorry and explain that I was not being reckless.

After I returned to campus, I cleaned my cuts and took Ibuprofen for a very sore shoulder. My injuries are nothing serious, but I will take a fall on a bicycle over a motorcycle any day. I am sure I will be very sore tomorrow, but am very thankful that our injuries were nothing more serious. It was a good reminder to live every day with joy and to be grateful for the life that God sustains every day.

Back in Action...

After a two-week break in the United States visiting family and friends, we arrived back in Honduras last Monday, October 10^th. We landed in the airport and headed off in a taxi to the “bus station” where we would catch a bus to Zambrano. After arriving in Zambrano, we waited another 2 hours before our ride was ready to head back to campus. On our way back, we came to a river that is usually only a foot deep, but this time there were cars lined up on both sides waiting for the river to subside so that they could cross. We, on the other hand, decided that our truck was big enough to cross. After Hailey, Micah, and I exited the car and crossed on a small bridge, Elias took the plunge in the blue truck. Even though the water flowed over the hood of the truck, he safely made it to the other side. After another 40 minutes, we arrived on campus, exhausted from the long day of travel.

The next day, I was planning to head to San Pedro Sula to have a meeting with our organization’s attorney. However, two hours into the trip, our bus came to a sudden halt. After sitting for 15 minutes, we learned that there was a 5,000 person protest in the middle of the highway and that we would be stuck for hours, if not the entire day. After sitting a talking with my new friends on the bus, I decided to head back to campus since there was no way I could make the meeting on time. I got back to the nearest town, Zambrano, without a ride to campus. I started walking, thinking that not long into the 10 mile trip someone would pick me up and I would hitch-hike back to campus. Finally, after walking 5 of the 10 miles, I got a hold of Ira and he came for me on the motorcycle. We rode back in the pouring rain and returned soaking wet. What a day!

Now that we’ve been back for almost a week, we are starting to settle in again. We are enjoying our lives back here and the simple way of life. Although we are having problems with our water supply and electricity, we are grateful for what we have down here.

Thanks to everyone who made our short trip an enjoyable time. We look forward to seeing you all again (hopefully soon)!

Back in Action

After a two-week break in the United States visiting family and friends, we arrived back in Honduras last Monday, October 10^th. We landed in the airport and headed off in a taxi to the “bus station” where we would catch a bus to Zambrano. After arriving in Zambrano, we waited another 2 hours before our ride was ready to head back to campus. On our way back, we came to a river that is usually only a foot deep, but this time there were cars lined up on both sides waiting for the river to subside so that they could cross. We, on the other hand, decided that our truck was big enough to cross. After Hailey, Micah, and I exited the car and crossed on a small bridge, Elias took the plunge in the blue truck. Even though the water flowed over the hood of the truck, he safely made it to the other side. After another 40 minutes, we arrived on campus, exhausted from the long day of travel.

The next day, I was planning to head to San Pedro Sula to have a meeting with our organization’s attorney. However, two hours into the trip, our bus came to a sudden halt. After sitting for 15 minutes, we learned that there was a 5,000 person protest in the middle of the highway and that we would be stuck for hours, if not the entire day. After sitting a talking with my new friends on the bus, I decided to head back to campus since there was no way I could make the meeting on time. I got back to the nearest town, Zambrano, without a ride to campus. I started walking, thinking that not long into the 10 mile trip someone would pick me up and I would hitch-hike back to campus. Finally, after walking 5 of the 10 miles, I got a hold of Ira and he came for me on the motorcycle. We rode back in the pouring rain and returned soaking wet. What a day!

Now that we’ve been back for almost a week, we are starting to settle in again. We are enjoying our lives back here and the simple way of life. Although we are having problems with our water supply and electricity, we are grateful for what we have down here.

Thanks to everyone who made our short trip an enjoyable time. We look forward to seeing you all again (hopefully soon)!