Missing us like Crazy?

Sorry for the delay in a new post...I have had some difficulty finding time AND when I do, the internet is down. So tonight I am home getting caught up while the group is playing soccer and holding a clothing give away at Baxter Institute.

Sunday was a day of worship and play a relaxation. We attended worship with the church in San Miguel. The rain had been gone for a couple of days so all the families living in the church had returned to their homes and the church was opened for morning worship. We were glad to see the river low and easy to cross. We had a wonderful morning of worship and fellowship. As some of our group was leading the children during bible class hour the rest of us enjoyed each others company in the church yard. Larry and Jr showed "the love" to Mark and I was able to capture a picture of the "Mi Esperanza girls". The girls showing off their Mi Esperanza handbags.
After worship we had lunch and headed to Valley of Angels. After an afternoon of shopping for gifts and souvenirs we had a nice dinner at the Inn at Santa Lucia. Santa Lucia is a sweet, quaint old honduran village with cobblestone roads. After dinner we had devo at the old catholic church in the Village. The church is 500 years old and is said to be the oldest in Honduras. We had an awesome time of singing and worship. It was a long day but one that gave us all much needed rest and relaxation and time to recharge for our last 3 days of work.

Monday we hit the ground eager and hard, which has been the norm for this group. We worked in several places and continued to accomplish much work. Most of us returned to San Miguel. I had the pleasure of working on a house crew to build a house in the memory Beverly Roundtree from the Okalona church. Beverly was a great supporter of the work in Honduras and always wanted to come but was unable to because of her health. Now a house stands in honor of all she did for the Honduran people. We built the house for a single mother of 5. She was one of the families that was living in the church when the relief effort was in effect. She had since gone home trying to dry out her belongings and rid her house of the mud that had come through the plastic walls. When we got to her house we found a very tiny structure that was made of card board, plastic and a few pieces of wood. This house also had interesting guests.....YIKES guests that we are hopeful the new house will not have!!! The new house was more than double in size than what she had. It was a hot hot day and the site was a hard one. The wood truck dropped the lumber at the road and all the lumber and tools had to be carried to the site which was a climb straight up a hill. Larry, Joel, Andy, Lori and Rachel carried lumber all morning as Steve had several others of us start digging post holes for the posts of the house, we got, by far, the easy job of the two. We had a great day on this site with lots of children around and watching. The man we built our first house for came to help us with this house out of gratitude for the house he received, that was very special to us. The women that received this house was filled with happiness and gratitude for this act of love. We were filled with happiness and graditute to be a part of the answer to a prayer!


While we worked on the house we had an other group at the church, The crew that headed for the church found something they had never encountered before, something called MUD?.............. This work has been hard and tiring but people like David, Elise, Mark and others, stuck with it and have worked long and hard on this project. The purpose of moving all this mud, you are probably asking??? Is to get a drainage system in place around the church, remember the BUCKETS and trench digging..YEP we are still trying to get this job done...So we are still praying for no rain to get a handle on this job!
Also at the church was a HUGE vbs for the children at San Miguel it was attended by over 100 children which is pretty impressive considering half of the community children where in school. The children enjoyed, singing, puppets, and activities. Hannah, Raquel and Rachel headed this team in an afternoon the children loved!!! Mark brought in bunches of watermelon and we had a big watermelon party at the end of the day for all the children where they enjoyed fresh sweet watermelon on a hot summer day!

We also had a group out at Santa Ana continuing the work at the new property. After the bufftruck points Melanie and Melissa earned out there on Saturday, Joe hand picked those girls for this job. They had the fun with a little horseback riding in the midst of their day. It was not all fun and games however....They began a concrete walk way that will wind its way through the property and also the electrical and plumbing work were continued. From what I hear we now have a flushing toilet and the "POWER IS ON". This is huge because now when the next group arrives in few days the work will continue but at the same time the clinic will open for business and we wills start serving the community, that's what it is all about no????
Good things are happening!


and Today!!!!
by now we are all very attatched to our community of San Miguel. Because I was not on any particular work crew I was able to get around and see a lot of TORCHERS in action. IT WAS ANOTHER GREAT DAY ON THE MOUNTAIN! We are so sad that tomorrow is our last day and our time of service here is almost over. I have to say it has been a great trip, a great group and we all feel well used!!

Another house went up today for a women name Onata...She is a mother of two beautiful children. She is the wife of an alcoholic and has a very unstable life. Giving her, her own home adds some stability to her life and the life of her children. Onata also was one of the women and her children that stayed at the relief shelter. Her old house was made adobe and was falling apart. After all the water it just crumbled. We keep seeing over and over how God has used us HERE, NOW in the midst of this disaster. God wanted His presence know and we have done all possible to make that happen.
This crew started the job in the hot sun and finished their work in the rain! YEP the rain was back this afternoon for about an hour an dropped another heavy dose of water on the village. But the crew worked on and GOT THE JOB DONE!!! Onata and her children are in a dry and safe house tonight,
thanks to Ed, Chris, Brett, Jordan, Tamara, Alvaro, Justin and Tyler, David and Elise!

The concrete mixer was running today as the concrete drainage system began under the direction of Timeteo Estrada, a local MacGiver! Timo is a genius when it comes to any kind of construction in the conditions of Honduras. The mixer was going and Larry, Joel, Brian, Mark, and Boone, shoveled, mixed and hauled concrete. When I came up on the crew what I found was a group of guys working the tough job of concrete and looking well, a little rough. They were holding nothing back, they were getting after it and BEFORE the rain came they had layed about 1/3 of the concreted needed in the back of the church....So tomorrow, we will start the mixer up again and try to finish this job before we leave..IT"S PERSONAL NOW!!!!!
The concrete crew took a watermelon break before the rain came and over course shared it with their little friends that were hanging about. I think our guys enjoyed it more than the kids....What do you think?

House to House we delivered food today! We went to the far reached corners of the community and worked in bringing food packages to hundreds of families. Our crew of Jennifer, Melissa, Melanie, David, Hannah, Rachel, Raquel, Valerie, Garrett, Owen, Paige and others walked the community,and this is no easy task! They were behind our flat bed delivering house to house. As they traveled through the community they had a group of children following along and helping find all the houses. It was a hot day, and I had the pleasure of coming up on a drink break and the group sharing with all the children that had been helping. The children enjoy the treat of a coke!!! But as I said the rain came and because the roads become "slippery when wet" we pulled the crew in and we will continue tomorrow.

VBS was in session again today for the children. They are loving our presence and we are loving them. They had another fun day of singing, puppets and hearing about the love of God. I think more importantly they are seeing the love of God. It is a joy to hear them singing and laughing. Life on the mountain is not easy and the children receive very little "extras" in their little lives. Toys, coloring books, treats, candy are all things they do not have the luxury of having and I love to see them enjoy such simple joys. It does not take game boys, x-boxs, or all the other latest and greatest. A simple jump rope, sitting and coloring, a cookie, a cheap pair of sunglasses will put a smile on their face that will light up the world!!!! We have something to learn, no?

We also had a crew work with Jimmy Hughs. A missionary who runs one of the children's home we visited, a home for extremely traumatized children. Jimmy contacted us and asked if we could help provide clothes, shoes, etc for some families he knew were in need. So Joe, Jason, Aaron, Bethany, Lori went to our warehouse with Jimmy and packed up boxes and boxes and boxes of "stuff" to be delivered to 1000+ people. So thank you for your contribution of clothing, shoes, toiletries etc...that made its way here...Many are receiving much needed relief. It is cool to know God is using us to be a resource for others.....Our work is spreading even further!


As I said tomorrow is our last day of work, please pray for us!.........Good things are happening!