Another great week in Honduras

We are back....It has been a couple of days but that is how it goes here...Time just seems to get by you. It has been a good three days and ones that already have had a big impact on those who are here.
Let me catch you up on what we have been doing.
One Saturday Ry, Erin, E and Jenny and I took a trip out to Santa Ana to see our new property. I had great joy showing them around and sharing with them the vision and all the ministry that is going to happen here the children's home, church, artisan center etc.. We also wanted to go because Marta and Dennis and "the boys" were going to be out there for the day working and Ryan and Marta have been trying to see each other for days. Marta is now my Honduran daughter and it is a great story to tell.


Ryan and Marta and Family

Three years ago while here with our Torch team we were working in a village named Union Y Fuerza. We were there building houses one day and my daughter and niece Carly, (who arrived today) were on a house site building. Across a small river was living a young women and her family. While on that site that day the young women came across the river interested in the group of Americans in her village. Ryan and Carly began talking to her and the rest is history as they say. As they talked with Marta that day they found her family consisted of her husband and two small sons. They lived in a extremely small wooden structure that was made of scrap wood and tin. I am not good at guessing measurements but maybe it was 8x8. But the funny thing was in front of it was a brand new Torch house. The girls found out that a Torch team had been there in the spring and built them a new house but they could not move into it because of water problems. Their floor would not dry out so the house was damp and breeding mosquitoes.
Ryan and Carly decided they wanted to help so they funded and poured a concrete floor in her house. With the help of a couple of team members they lay the floor in a day and within 3 days they had moved into their new house. Since that day Marta has been a part of our family and from this relationship God has continued to impact the lives of Marta and Dennis. As I mentioned we have new land and many projects going on. Dennis is a concrete block maker by trade and Torch has hired him to come and work, and this will be consistent work for Dennis which is stability for the whole family. But Santa Ana is about 25 Kilo from where they live now so what was arranged is that Marta and Dennis are receiving one of 16 brand new concrete block houses on the property so they can live more conveniently. This house is beyond anything they ever dreamed of or could have ever afforded. It will have a "real" kitchen and working bathroom, two bedrooms and a small living room. This will be a great place to raise the boys and settle down. It will move them from a very gang infested community and give their boys a safe environment to grow. When I think back of when we met Marta and where they are now I am full of joy for the way their life has been moved and the activity of God we see in their lives as he provides for them. I see God's handprints on every move that has brought them to this place.


Pink is Power


Erin at Work


We do it the Honduran way!!!



Mother and Daughter

While we were on the property we did do a little work...Moved some concrete, built block drying platforms. The gilrs loved soing some hard labor and showing what they are made of!!! Everyone loves having a part in the work that will make a difference in so many lives.
on Saturday my son in law arrived from Miami, this is the home country of his family so I know he is happy to be here!


Moving Concrete


Man that's heavy..none of this work for Jenny and baby!!!!

Sunday we attended church in the community of Los Pinos where we all have relationships with children and families after years of Torch groups working in this community. Eric spent a lot of time here when he was here an entire summer as an intern and was anxious to get back and see "his kids". It is amazing how impactful we can be when we simply give of ourselves. Eric has not been there in 2 years and when he got out of the jeep his little girl Linda came running. It had been two years but she still remembered Eric.
We talked about that at Devo about how more than anything the people here remember the love and concern you show and the time you invest in their lives.


Erin and the girls in pick!

The afternoon was spent in the community of San Miguel. This was the last day for the Mi Esperanza interns and this is the community that we have spent out summer serving. This is the community we have already blogged about. So everyone was happy to spend a day with the kids and families here as the interns said their good byes. The kids picked out the house site we will build a new house in memory of my mom and their grandmother on Tuesday. It was hard for them to make this descion as it ment that as they picked one family they had to say no to many others. It was an emotional day for everyone. It is experiences like these that bring you face to face with reality of life as it exsists for 95% of the world. Erin is really experiencing this struggle as she faces her own life in comparison to those she sees. It is a struggle we all face here but it is one that challenges you to your very soul. Erin quickly realized how happy the people are here in the midst of poverty and what that spoke to her in her own life.


JC and Melvin..... our new family member!!!

Today, Monday, my two nieces, Carly and Crystal arrived. They where suppose to arrive on Satuday but..well that is ANOTHER story!!!! We are glad everyone is here now even if they have no luggage!!!!


Mark and Tim after the interns boarded for home!!!

We spent most of the day at the airport but not before we had 15 boys here for breakfast club! (Mark got donuts!!! They loved that!!) We were getting interns off and welcoming Carly and Crystal to Honduras. We spent the rest of the day preparing for some work we will do later this week. We went to a store named Stock and filled ( I really mean filled) a shopping cart with candy, and crayons, and beads and stuff to bring to the hospital and a children's home we will visit on Weds.


Shopping Haul


Girls bagging goodies

Mark and Erin also went to our bodega and found some toys and brought water filer systems we will put in the houses we build this week.


FINAL WE ARE ALL HERE!

We also had a great Honduran lunch and enjoyed being here as a family and catching up with eachother. Jenny is experiencing some morning sickness so please pray for her!!! It is going to be another great week in Honduras.