Kristi Archives - 61 Isaiah

January 25, 2021 by Kristi Hopkins 4 Comments

9th Grade Psalms

I asked my 9th graders, after reading some of David’s psalms, to write their own. I couldn’t help but sharing a few (with permission) from these young ladies.

Nightmare by Nathalie Oliva

This nightmare is a blurry memory

Stuck inside my head,

It is mostly made of what I felt

When I saw my father dead.

How it happened I don´t remember,

My memory is only composed of feelings,

Like my heart was completely conscious,

But my brain was only dreaming.

I saw everybody walk in and out,

But did not recognize a face,

All I knew was that they weren´t my dad,

And only wanted my pain to erase.

I called out to God,

And asked Him to bring back my dad,

And when He didn´t do it,

Well, that just made me mad.

When I accepted he was gone,

I told God to take control,

And surely I felt a little bit lighter,

But my dad had still left in me a hole.

All I wanted was for this nightmare to end,

I wanted someone to take away my pain,

And when I cried for someone to wake me up,

They whispered: But darling, you´re already awake.

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MY PSALM TO YOU OH LORD! by Elem

Oh! My Lord I cried out to you! You surrounded me with your arms and your peace was over and in me! You brought me close to your chest and hugged me and I heard the tender whisper of your love! You are my strength in my afflictions! I felt your grace over me and it encircled me. And I said take me Oh Lord and mold me like a diamond no matter how much the pain is make me who you want to be! You do whatever you need and make me an unwavering person. Hold me in your arms because there I find my comfort.

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Belonging by Isis

When I don’t know where I belong,

When I am unshared of who I am

When my heart and my hands shake

For been afraid and scare,

But then I remember that He is always there,

When I don’t know what to do

I pray, pray to the Lord

Who bring me peace and love

All I have that I can give is love,

That He already gave me so far

When I think I am alone,

In a whole world without someone to help,

I remember He comes, to give me peace and love,

Because his huge love all around me He covers and all ,

When darkness comes, and a shadow is the only thing I can saw

I know He is there, being my light, even when I don’t see it

When people try to cut me down,

He is the one Who brings me up,

The one who give me strength and courage to keep on,

If I don’t have his love, I am nobody

His love, his peace, and his grace should cover our world

For a better been, for a better spirit and soul,

In this world of sinners.

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A Father by Hasly

Almighty God, you listened to me in those harsh times.

Powerful and wonderful God, you heard my prayers.

You gave me strength when I was weak.

My mind has been hard to control,

But You have helped me.

It was not easy to get over it and I do still tend to fall again in my own game,

But you are always there supporting me.

Just like a father takes care of his children,

You have taken care of me.

I clearly understand that you do not give us a cross we cannot carry,

And I know I am not the exception.

Now, I know I am strong and I can get over it.

It has been hard to control what I think,

But with you in my heart I have started to control my thoughts.

My thoughts took me to things that were not correct.

I was not taking care of my body,

I was not protecting your dwelling place.

Trust me, I am really sorry.

I know that what I did was not correct.

I do not deserve the forgiveness of such a powerful and perfect being like you,

But I know you love me and I know that I love you.

I promise to take care of myself and love myself,

Just as I love you.

It might not be easy in a world like this,

But I am sure that with you with me I am going to do it.

December 27, 2020 by Kristi Hopkins 4 Comments

TEN years?!?!

This month marks our anniversary of when we left the US to live in Central America for “three years.” The days turned into years and those years somehow turned into TEN YEARS. Can you believe it? When we left the US we were a family of four, serving alone and have now grown to a family of 5 and a team of 10. If you had asked the younger me if I would still be living in Honduras, I would have laughed. Of course not. I would miss my family, Dr. Pepper and convenience. God lovingly chose to tell me what he knew I could handle. I couldn’t understand the bigger picture and my Father knew that. And so he walked me through the day to day things until I could accept the larger plan He had in mind. He held me as I grieved not living close to my family and gave me friends to comfort me. He provided Dr Pepper through supermarket owners and fabulous students who tried (and may have succeeded) in bribing me. And I am pretty sure FaceTime is a miracle, created just to make family seem a little closer. While I would never have dreamed I would still be here, I couldn’t have hoped for a better place to call home.

For you guys who agreed (ten years ago) to support us for three years, we are so very thankful for your friendship and your prayers. We would not have been able to stay here without you. We would not have made it through the hard times without your constant prayers. We would have no one to share our joys with (or read our blogs) without your friendship. Thank you.

As I was reflecting, I looked back over some of my first blogs. I might have cried a little as I remembered just how much God has done for us. I for sure laughed a lot and thought I would share some of things that made me giggle in our first months overseas:

A couple of weeks ago Emma was not happy about school and made plans to “buy a guitar, start a band and move back to Teague.

Last week we watched a movie in my class. When the kids complained that it was in English I explained that our school is an English speaking school and therefore our movie had to be in English. Josep, one of my newer kids, responded, “The school is not in English, only the Mrs. is.”

Emma just informed us she was going to the porch to “show off”. We found her later sitting outside, “waiting for peoples to walk by so I can show them gymnastics tricks.”

Tyler has learned to scale the 8 foot wall separating our house and our neighbors. A useful skill I am sure!

Tyler was most excited at the end of the school day to show me a lemon tree he had found. I however, just wanted to continue the half mile walk home. God is teaching me to slow down and smell the roses (or lemon trees in our case) and to see the little things as a gift from Him.

I was about to buy “fresh fruit” at the ferria this week but then noticed the apple in my hand was imported from the USA.

After mispronouncing a word in English Tyler said, “Well, I guess that a start. I have to start speaking bad English to learn Spanish.”

I was explaining to one of the kids in my class that she needed to speak English more. Her response, “Oh, since you speak bad Spanish, you need me to speak English.”

When asked by her teacher what the acronym for United States of America would be, Emma responded, “Texas.”

November 12, 2020 by Kristi Hopkins 1 Comment

Adoption Awareness Month

Today is Isabella’s 10th birthday which appropriately falls in Adoption Awareness month. I always wonder if her birth mother thinks about her on this day. Does she wonder where she is? Does she look at each little girl she passes wondering? Is she curious about how she has grown? Does she wonder if they have the same eyes? I can not imagine the pain and despair she must have felt when she gave up her baby daughter. And yet, I am beyond grateful. I would love to be able to hug her and whisper, “our daughter is loved.” And she is so very, very loved. Our family was not complete until we had this bouncing, joyous, VERY TALKATIVE child. In all honesty, our family would be very boring without her. The following are statements straight from Bella just so you can enjoy her as well.

Fog is really just sleeping clouds.
The Cowboys are my favorite team. They aren’t great, but they are good.
I AM SOAKING COLD!
What in the planet?!?!
I forgot to hold up my other finger to make the peace sign. (she actually held up a number one)
Social studies was so hard. I had to write sentences. Like teenage sentences that were long.
I am going to hangronize my closet (a mix between organize and hanging)
I am conculating numbers. (while using a calculator)
I think I see the horse! Oh wait, that’s just a chicken.
Do you have check-up for the french fries? ( aka ketchup)

And as I reflect over the last seven years with her, I would do it all again. I would hold this child as she screamed for her “other mother.” I would hug her as she shut down. I would dry those tears and rejoice when they turned into a smile. I won’t pretend it has been easy. But it is worth every bit of heartache because I have gotten to be Mommy to this sweet child. She lost everything and we gained it all. Please consider completing your family with one of the thousands of children waiting for their forever home. You may just end up getting sweet messages from your child like the one below.

November 8, 2019 by Kristi Hopkins 5 Comments

A Beautiful Side of Ministry

Kristi’s Update

A picture of Shannon and Kristi. One is leaving Honduras for the States and the other has just arrived to Honduras from the States.

There is a beautiful, busy side to ministry that you usually hear about. Then, there are difficult times that we rarely talk about. This has been a season of trials for me. For about six weeks now I have been sick without the doctors knowing what’s going on. It’s not life threatening but it is life interrupting.

We have finally decided that I need to return to the US and seek medical treatment. This season of sickness has left me exhausted at the end of the day and made ministry difficult. But through it, I have learned to rest in God’s presence and to crawl up in my Father’s lap for comfort. While I prefer to be “doing”, there is much to learned while just “being”. I am learning to be thankful in all circumstances. I have also learned how responsible my kids are. They have helped fix dinner, cleaned the kitchen, done laundry, packed lunches, you name it; they have stepped up to do it without complaining once. My husband has served me well making multiple trips to the capital with me to see doctor after doctor, getting up early to get me there on time… and we all know how much he loves mornings! And then there are my coworkers who have willingly picked up my slack both inside and outside of school. This is love, y’all. The willingness to serve when there is no return.

So while this hasn’t been easy or fun, it has been humbling to be on the receiving side of ministry; to have others pour into me and care for me. Please be in prayer for me as I am in the US. Pray that the doctors are able to determine the cause of my pain and are able to treat me quickly. As much as I have learned during this time, I am ready for this season to end!

June 21, 2019 by Kristi Hopkins 3 Comments

Hannah Williamson is joining our team!!!!

My name is Hannah Williamson. I am from Fort Worth, Texas and I am currently finishing up my first year of teaching at Abundant Life Christian School in Honduras. Next year I am excited to join the 61Isaiah team as their Field Logistics Coordinator. I was first introduced to 61Isaiah after my junior year of college when I served as a summer missionary. Since then I’ve graduated college and served as an on campus missionary at Howard Payne University for a year until I moved to Honduras. Being a teacher has been challenging and growing in multiple ways and I’m thankful to have had this opportunity. Next year I’m excited to see what the Lord has in store as I begin full time ministry with 61Isaiah.

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