Honduras Missions - Hearts and Hands

This week has certainly been an interesting mission with lots of ups and downs from all aspects of mission and at home happenings. Good things and bad things.  All week long we have been adapting to circumstances, holding each other close at times when things weren’t so great, and celebrating the good things.  Between sick kids at home, loss of family members, orphaned children in Honduras dealing with terrible traumatic events, and all the “regular” things that happen on mission its been tiring.  But, there has also been much to celebrate and it is always clear that God is with us every step of the way.  There’s no way to explain in words how we all feel when we are down here and how you can see the power of God in every step.  From getting the feeding center one step closer to opening up, to giving over 250 people readers and prescription glasses, to cooking classes, snuggling with kiddos, giggling with kiddos and worshiping with our extended family and so muc...

 At least in optical it was a very busy day, but the other areas we are working in were also busy!  The construction crew was working really hard to get the projects finished today so that we can get the feeding center up and running.  There were people shopping for supplies for the La Ceibita feeding center and Mike was meeting with people planning for the future.  So people were kind of all over the place today.  Lots to do and lots to finish for the day.  Optical was crazy!  Lots of people and some really interesting cases.  Some funny moments and some amazing moments.  The funny moment was with an older lady.  We scanned her eyes and gath ered a few different pairs of glasses.  When she tried on the first pair she looked at me and burst out laughing. She literally giggle like a little girl for 5 minutes and we finally got out of her what she was laughing at.  She said I had two noses! Lol.  Clearly those glasses were n...

 There are no coincidences in Honduras is a phrase that was spoken this morning at devotion and has been on my mind a lot today as work through our various different missions here in Honduras.  It seems like every time we come down here, something big or small is placed on our hearts and in our path.  We don’t always know what it means, or what to do with it, but we know it wasn’t a coincidence that it was put there.  Yesterday (Tuesday) Mike our team leader, was at the Cricol and our mission coordinator pointed a house and said, I think that was on the news a few days ago.  Turns out that house was an orphanage and was on the news because 6 people were arrested due to sexual abuse of the children.  Now there are 2 good people taking care of 28 children and now the orphanage is lacking funding.  That same afternoon, out of the blue, some government officials came to us and asked us for help.  Not a coincidence, God put this in our path and it has ...

Angela with an adorable Honduran baby Yep - Mike is like the pied piper of Honduras with the kids as his followers Kids in special needs school in VBS Kids in Special Needs school in VBS Another VBS kiddo Many in the kitchen with the La Ceibita Ladies Day two in optical was a little slower, but we still managed to see 45 patients.  Around 16 of them prescription.  So that is 16 more folks that have glasses that needed them.  Two of them surprised me in that we were able to find glasses.  Sometimes these folks come in with vision so bad you just don’t know if is possible to get them what they need.  But somehow we almost always do!  One ladies vision was so bad, and her numbers were higher than I think I have ever seen, so I didn’t have much hope after I scanned her.  But to my surprise we found some.  The look on her face when she tried on the very first pair we pulled, gave me goosebumps.  It was like she was seeing the world for the first t...

 Today was our first day of “work” in the field.  Optical ministry, women’s ministry, and construction were taking place in various different place in La Ceibita and Tocoa.  The optical clinic ran pretty smoothly today with very few equipment hiccups.  That was great!  We saw 61 patients today and gave out 22 prescriptions and any more reader.  Our oldest patient was 98 years old.  The media showed up again at our mission and interviewed Mike.  Seems to be a regular occurrence now to have the media show up!  But thats good - the more publicity for ministry the better.  Theres much to do!  I had Franklin translating for me today and I’m always so grateful to him and our translators.  They make our jobs so much easier.  I also had one of the church ladies helping me pull glasses and once she got the hang of the location of the glasses, she did great.  It was nice to work closely with one of the church ladies and get to ...

 Today was a day of work, fellowship and a little play.  We started our day with a very spiritually filled church service in La Ceibita.  We were welcomed by a bunch of little kids with signs in English and Spanish saying welcome.  Lots of smiles and hugs and familiar faces.  Its always such a spiritual service with so much connection and love and I really enjoy these services.  My favorite part - the little kids running around and no one being all too concerned.  Its a wonderful thing to see so many kids and they don’t all have to have their bums in chairs! After church, the church family fed everyone a snack and we spent time outside catching up with people.  I got to visit with my little girl Valery and got to enjoy her amazing snuggles for a while.  She stole a piece of my heart the first time I met her and I just love to visit with her.  I chatted with her mom a little bit and we talked about connecting more with church.   We t...

 This physical journey for this mission never gets easier, but its always worth it.  I met up with the team at the airport around 3am this morning, which seems like a long time ago now.  The team had been driving across Illinois since 11:30pm so this was leg two of a long day.  A long time standing in line at the airport waiting for the gate agents to show up.  Eventually they did and we got everyone checked in and on the way.  A short connection in Atlanta next for our final flight to San Pedro Sula.   Once we arrived in San Pedro Sula, we experienced some frustrating problems with customs and some of the equipment we use for the optical ministry.  We also had some donations taken away.  After a lot of conversation and unwillingness to back down, we got the equipment back and some of the donated items. But, lesson learned, they have a new protocol and we must stick to it for future trips.  This is all new and we have never had to do thi...

It seems like just yesterday that myself and 11 other people from Wisconsin and Illinois, made the trip to Tocoa to help open the feeding center and participate in various other ministries in the area.  Lots of people ask me why so soon, and why Honduras.   I think those are tough questions to answer in a short sentence, and I think that someone who has never been there, would have a hard time understanding.  The people we meet along the way and the connections we make, in all aspects of our lives, but especially missions, become part of who you are.  They become the very fabric of your being, one piece of the puzzle at a time.  I can personally say that the people I have met in Honduras have grounded me and shaped me.  They continue to ground me and grow me as an individual and just when you think your faith couldn’t get any deeper, it does.  The love these folks show towards us and others who have needs in their community is amazing and unmatched. ...