Honduras Missions - Hearts and Hands

 Today was a long day of travel in the van back to San Pedro Sula.  We usually spend our last night in Honduras near the airport so we don’t have any issues with travel on the actual flying day.  So today we spent about 7 or so hours in the van driving from Tocoa back to the big city near the airport.  The van ride, as usual, was a lot of fun with lots of giggles and laughter, music, singing and silly games.  Also a few naps scattered here and there, with some breaks for stretching.   It is also a time when you have some quiet time to reflect back on the week and all the things we witnessed and were part of.  This has been a truly special week where we have seen so many blessings and even amongst the most poor of all, we saw hope, love and gratitude.  Even in their suffering and pain, these people still some how remain faithful to God.  They know they are loved and that He will provide some how.  To have that kind of faith and strength i...

Putting on the roofing material A little down time in the hammock Finally, some shade from the sun! The finished shelter with the team  Couple of kiddos on a home visit that lost their mom.  3 and 5 years old The girls cooling off in the water Preparing food at the feeding center Team on their way to church  Team at dinner The church cross lit up at night.   Today was our final work day for the week.  With the help of Hector this week, we have been able to get the shelter up and built in two days.  We really were Hectors apprentices and he really must take all the credit for the shelter.  He is a local guy who works in construction and was the one who helped build the special needs school.  He volunteered his time this week to help build the shelter, and thank goodness he was there, because I am not sure we would have done anything anywhere near as nice as what he did. Still, we had fun helping with the project, driving nails in wood and clim...

 There are many days when we come down here when it’s difficult to understand the level of poverty and suffering and the why.  We are not meant to understand it all and simply have to have faith that God has all people in His hands.  One way I think a team can cope with that is with the incredible bonding that happens as a team and the times we spend enjoying each others company and laughing together.   One of the things I love about coming on mission, is not only the work we do down here, the relationships we build and the things we learn and grow from, but its the times spent in laughter, with the USA team and the folks from the community and Honduran team.  We have had more than our fair share of laughter this week.  There are no language barriers with laughter and it’s one of the simplest ways to spread joy.  Laughing speaks the same language.  So while the work we do here is serious and important, so is the joy that we can experience while we...

 Today was our second full work day and today we continued with the painting of the church in La Ceibita.  But before we arrived at the church we had the chance to stop at the grade school and say hi to the kids and teachers.  We got such a wonderful welcome from the kids and were almost bowled over with hugs.  So amazing and awesome to feel so welcome.  They are such great kids.  I wanted to chat with the principal about future projects but he was not at the school so we planned on having me come back later on that day.   So we headed back to the church and began with painting for the day.  Some of the team got to go and help get the food ready for the kids in the feeding center and they had a blast learning how to make tortillas from scratch.   The painting of the church was lots of touch up and busy work going around posts and filling in spots and took some time to do. The backside of the church had never been painted so that required a fe...