I am not sure words can describe today, but I will try. It was joyous, challenging, amazing, heart-warming and humbling. We started our day with one of Doña Lucy’s delicious breakfasts. We would need our strength because we started the process of setting posts for the fence. Amber had woken up with Angelina Jolie’s lips! Actually, none of us noticed until she pointed out her lips were swollen, and she did not know why. Maybe it was sunburn? Maybe it was an allergic reaction? She seemed to be in some measure of discomfort, so we tried to make her feel better by observing that many women pay thousands of dollars for lips like hers!
Before we went to the job site, Douglas took us to the farmers market. Wow, what a colorful site! We bought all kinds of fruit, some souvenirs and a piñata for the VBS. The entire street was a rolling sea of colors, smells and sounds as people bought their daily food and just spent time catching up on the local news. We found some ripe mangos and pineapples for lunch and dinner!
We started the concrete mixing for setting posts for the fence. Alejandro and Josue were the actual ones to set the poles, as they had an intricate way of insuring accuracy! 50 lb test fishing line stretched the length of the fence, which crossed the road. Bicycle is a common mode of transportation so we saw some near misses as they passed through or under the string!
Mixing concrete is done the traditional Honduran way. You mix the first batch on the ground, with cement, sand and gravel, and then you spread it out to mix the rest of the batches on top of the foundation batch. The mixing increments are measured by wheelbarrow so the quantity is pretty large. It is mixed by hand! We agreed that we would rather dig holes through solid rock than mix concrete – it is back-breaking work! But, as with all the tasks we have been asked to do, the team did it with joyous hearts! About noon, and two posts later, we cleaned up and changed for vacation bible school.
It was a mini Blitz camp in Honduras! Rodain and Amber went with the bus to pick up the 35 kids in the neighborhood, while Dave, Cliff, Peggy and myself helped our friend Bessy set up camp. Bessy is Mizael’s wife, and she teaches school and Sunday school, so she knows a bunch of kids’ songs to sing! Mizael is the chief architect and in charge of construction at La Providencia. More on him later.
Everything is all set and the bus arrives with a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds. Many were crying and asking for their moms! This was the first time they had been away from their moms for a church function as we would later find out! The three older kids that are the first orphans from la Providencia came too, including my buddy Jair!
We really just planned the school last night, so the entire camp was off the cuff. We had chosen the story of Noah because we thought the kids would be entertained by the little animals we bought at the store!
Bessy took the kids through the entire Sunday school song book and the kids slowly began to trust the us. They began to smile and enjoy themselves. After songs we had a lesson, which “Pastor” Rodain read from the Spanish version of the same kid’s bibles we use in Kidsfest. He did a great job! After the lesson, we colored Noah’s Ark pictures with the kids. It was so cool being able to see the future of Honduras. The kids we were serving are kids that have been chosen to be a part of the Providence educational program. They along with the orphans will be attending the school when it is built. The purpose is significant. Orphans in Honduras are considered a sub-class, and are subject to ridicule from the rest of the students. Since these local kids will be going to the orphan’s school, and therefore interacting with them from the beginning, growing and learning with them, there will be no difference in class, therefore no ridicule!
We saw that at this camp first hand! But, kids are the same all over the world, and they knew there was candy somewhere, so the next activity was highly anticipated! 
The piñata. We took the kids down to the soccer field where Rodain and Douglas had put the piñata, and the kids each got to take a whack at it. It was so fun to see them swing at this giant strawberry. Needless to say, showing these kids the love of our Savior was the highlight of the trip thus far! All of us were touched by the kids’ enthusiasm and love they had for God!
Dinner that night was at Doña Lucy and Don Jose’s home. She has been cooking for us all week, and so to be invited over to her house for dinner was a true honor! We arrived to a houseful of kids and parents most of whom we knew already from La Providencia. Israel and his family were there, same with Mizael and Bessy and their kids, as well as Douglas our guide and David our driver. She had made the most amazing “arroz con pollo” we had ever had! The atmosphere was one of a close knit family, and we were welcomed in as such! The house was a beautiful colonial Spanish home with a porch that went around the entire home. They had many fruit trees planted in the garden as well as coffee plants. After dinner we were treated to their own coffee they had grown on the property, and had roasted. It was probably one of the best cups of coffee I ever had.
Later that night, as the team sat around our little table and contemplated the day, the talk centered around how life changing this tip has been, and what things we would do when we returned next year, and how we would do them different. Tuesday we had been 6 strangers with a common cause. Wednesday we had begun to form a team as we built trust with each other as we worked for the Glory of God. Thursday we had jelled as a team as we overcame the “big hole” challenge together, Friday we became a family as we served these children together. Dave had suffered some injury when he sat on an anthill and the ants began biting him on his back and down his pants! Ouch! Cliff and Peggy hung in there, and worked as hard as anyone else. Amber showed obvious signs of pain throughout the day as her lips did not stop swelling. And Rodain was the constant workhorse. It was cool to seem him read scripture the kids, as he has a heart for kids as he has shown working with the little ones in Kidsfest.
This new family was ready for a day off, and a chance to explore Honduras. Alfredo had spoken to us earlier in the day about which activity we wanted to do, either go to the waterfalls or hike the cloud forest, which also had waterfalls. He said no other team had hiked the cloud forest before, and his wife Jennifer, who is really physically fit, was just beat after the hike. But we opted for the cloud forest. We would need our rest!
Before we went to the job site, Douglas took us to the farmers market. Wow, what a colorful site! We bought all kinds of fruit, some souvenirs and a piñata for the VBS. The entire street was a rolling sea of colors, smells and sounds as people bought their daily food and just spent time catching up on the local news. We found some ripe mangos and pineapples for lunch and dinner!
We started the concrete mixing for setting posts for the fence. Alejandro and Josue were the actual ones to set the poles, as they had an intricate way of insuring accuracy! 50 lb test fishing line stretched the length of the fence, which crossed the road. Bicycle is a common mode of transportation so we saw some near misses as they passed through or under the string!
Mixing concrete is done the traditional Honduran way. You mix the first batch on the ground, with cement, sand and gravel, and then you spread it out to mix the rest of the batches on top of the foundation batch. The mixing increments are measured by wheelbarrow so the quantity is pretty large. It is mixed by hand! We agreed that we would rather dig holes through solid rock than mix concrete – it is back-breaking work! But, as with all the tasks we have been asked to do, the team did it with joyous hearts! About noon, and two posts later, we cleaned up and changed for vacation bible school.
It was a mini Blitz camp in Honduras! Rodain and Amber went with the bus to pick up the 35 kids in the neighborhood, while Dave, Cliff, Peggy and myself helped our friend Bessy set up camp. Bessy is Mizael’s wife, and she teaches school and Sunday school, so she knows a bunch of kids’ songs to sing! Mizael is the chief architect and in charge of construction at La Providencia. More on him later.Everything is all set and the bus arrives with a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds. Many were crying and asking for their moms! This was the first time they had been away from their moms for a church function as we would later find out! The three older kids that are the first orphans from la Providencia came too, including my buddy Jair!
We really just planned the school last night, so the entire camp was off the cuff. We had chosen the story of Noah because we thought the kids would be entertained by the little animals we bought at the store!Bessy took the kids through the entire Sunday school song book and the kids slowly began to trust the us. They began to smile and enjoy themselves. After songs we had a lesson, which “Pastor” Rodain read from the Spanish version of the same kid’s bibles we use in Kidsfest. He did a great job! After the lesson, we colored Noah’s Ark pictures with the kids. It was so cool being able to see the future of Honduras. The kids we were serving are kids that have been chosen to be a part of the Providence educational program. They along with the orphans will be attending the school when it is built. The purpose is significant. Orphans in Honduras are considered a sub-class, and are subject to ridicule from the rest of the students. Since these local kids will be going to the orphan’s school, and therefore interacting with them from the beginning, growing and learning with them, there will be no difference in class, therefore no ridicule!
We saw that at this camp first hand! But, kids are the same all over the world, and they knew there was candy somewhere, so the next activity was highly anticipated! 
The piñata. We took the kids down to the soccer field where Rodain and Douglas had put the piñata, and the kids each got to take a whack at it. It was so fun to see them swing at this giant strawberry. Needless to say, showing these kids the love of our Savior was the highlight of the trip thus far! All of us were touched by the kids’ enthusiasm and love they had for God!
Dinner that night was at Doña Lucy and Don Jose’s home. She has been cooking for us all week, and so to be invited over to her house for dinner was a true honor! We arrived to a houseful of kids and parents most of whom we knew already from La Providencia. Israel and his family were there, same with Mizael and Bessy and their kids, as well as Douglas our guide and David our driver. She had made the most amazing “arroz con pollo” we had ever had! The atmosphere was one of a close knit family, and we were welcomed in as such! The house was a beautiful colonial Spanish home with a porch that went around the entire home. They had many fruit trees planted in the garden as well as coffee plants. After dinner we were treated to their own coffee they had grown on the property, and had roasted. It was probably one of the best cups of coffee I ever had.
Later that night, as the team sat around our little table and contemplated the day, the talk centered around how life changing this tip has been, and what things we would do when we returned next year, and how we would do them different. Tuesday we had been 6 strangers with a common cause. Wednesday we had begun to form a team as we built trust with each other as we worked for the Glory of God. Thursday we had jelled as a team as we overcame the “big hole” challenge together, Friday we became a family as we served these children together. Dave had suffered some injury when he sat on an anthill and the ants began biting him on his back and down his pants! Ouch! Cliff and Peggy hung in there, and worked as hard as anyone else. Amber showed obvious signs of pain throughout the day as her lips did not stop swelling. And Rodain was the constant workhorse. It was cool to seem him read scripture the kids, as he has a heart for kids as he has shown working with the little ones in Kidsfest.This new family was ready for a day off, and a chance to explore Honduras. Alfredo had spoken to us earlier in the day about which activity we wanted to do, either go to the waterfalls or hike the cloud forest, which also had waterfalls. He said no other team had hiked the cloud forest before, and his wife Jennifer, who is really physically fit, was just beat after the hike. But we opted for the cloud forest. We would need our rest!
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