It was apparent at the breakfast table that our time here is almost over. It is a sad and happy time all at once. We are all going to miss this place and the people, but we do want to get home to see our families. For the most part, communications home have been intermittent and unplanned. After breakfast, we met on the porch for our usual prayer time and it seemed somehow more solemn. We were headed out to our last day of work, and we were eager to get more posts into the ground. But before we would hit the job site, we had two side trips to make.
The first was to see Peter, Douglas’ friend who sold things at the market. He was a hit, as we all spent the rest of our Lemps (Lempira’s) on all sorts of things, but mostly machetes! Yeah, our little band of missionaries were armed to the teeth with 24 inch swords that looked equally suited to cutting through dense jungle as close combat! But, they are so cool! They come in a very cool sheath made of leather.
No one more than Cliff enjoyed his machete more the first day, as it completed the Indiana Jones outfit he had been wearing. So with it strapped to his side, we made our way to the second stop of the day, the nutrition center where the kids we held VBS for got their lunch.
We saw many of our little friends show up with their parents for lunch, and we got a few smiles! Cliff showed off his new toy, and Amber found a beehive the size of those orange Igloo water coolers! It was cool to see the children again, but we left to head back to get some work done.
Lips Update: Dr. Turcios helped Amber with some medication, and her lips are back to normal from what we can see. Case closed!
Over the course of the rest of the day, we got 8 posts set, mixing about 1800 lbs of concrete. We seemed to have dug the holes too deep and too wide, so it took a lot of concrete to fill them! We were determined to finish the posts we had brought down, so we could feel some sense of accomplishment, but we knew the real mission was accomplished days ago, when we became part of the La Providencia family, and kept the story and mission close to our hearts.
We left the site, looking back one last time as the shadows grew long on the ground. We had worked longer than we had any previous day, maybe to finish the job, or maybe to just spend one more moment in such a magical place. I think God met us there, and each one of us were touched in a different way. It will interesting to see how the future will play out for each of us, and how much of La Providencia we take back with us. It will also be interesting to see how much of ourselves we left in Honduras, in order to bring back something new and better inside.
I watched as the bus took us out of view of Providence, and I felt joy at what God had accomplished in this team, with this team and for this team. We had been blessed, but there was more to come!
Alfredo invited all of us over to his house for dinner. It was dark when we arrived, and Alfredo has a huge, walled front yard, so a lot of people were hanging out outside. That included all the Leader Trek kids and the research team from Wheaton, plus all the Providence staff, Mizael and Bessy, Israel and Holly and the interns.
It was a full house of about 50 people, and there was so 
much going on! There was ping pong, games, and Cliff even found time to give a golf lesson to Alfredo. Cliff, Golf Pro Missionary! We ate carne asada, Honduras style, rice, beans, chismol and tortillas, and it was so good! Chismol is sort of like a mild salsa. The Hondurans put it on everything. So did we! Alfredo had cake for us that said “Have a good trip” in Spanish, it was then we realized this was our going away party! It was a joy to spend more time with our friends, and I really enjoyed talking with Israel about his decision to move his family from Nashville to Honduras, leaving behind a comfy life to serve the Lord at Providence. Talking with him planted seeds inside me of what could become something of significance in the future. We will have to see what God’s plan is for me and my family and how it relates to Providence, but I felt a stirring inside that had not been there before.
After a long goodbye, we made our way back to our house and the geckos that scampered across our walls in the house. Even they came out to say goodbye! We talked a lot about the trip and how we could make it better in the future – if that is possible. I was so proud of this team. They were a model of a servant’s heart through and through. I felt honored to have served with them on this trip and a connection to each of them. They came to Honduras not knowing what to expect as we were the first team down from Lakeside. Some had fears and others doubts, but the reality was God knew all along what He had in store for us. He showed us there was nothing to fear in Honduras, and in fact it was probably safer to walk the streets at night in Siguatepeque than in Folsom! This team was the hands and feet of Jesus, and sometimes even His camera!
Amber’s lens was a tool God used for His glory, and I am sure when the pictures get posted you will see a little of what God sees when he looks at his people in Honduras.
The first was to see Peter, Douglas’ friend who sold things at the market. He was a hit, as we all spent the rest of our Lemps (Lempira’s) on all sorts of things, but mostly machetes! Yeah, our little band of missionaries were armed to the teeth with 24 inch swords that looked equally suited to cutting through dense jungle as close combat! But, they are so cool! They come in a very cool sheath made of leather.
No one more than Cliff enjoyed his machete more the first day, as it completed the Indiana Jones outfit he had been wearing. So with it strapped to his side, we made our way to the second stop of the day, the nutrition center where the kids we held VBS for got their lunch.We saw many of our little friends show up with their parents for lunch, and we got a few smiles! Cliff showed off his new toy, and Amber found a beehive the size of those orange Igloo water coolers! It was cool to see the children again, but we left to head back to get some work done.
Lips Update: Dr. Turcios helped Amber with some medication, and her lips are back to normal from what we can see. Case closed!
Over the course of the rest of the day, we got 8 posts set, mixing about 1800 lbs of concrete. We seemed to have dug the holes too deep and too wide, so it took a lot of concrete to fill them! We were determined to finish the posts we had brought down, so we could feel some sense of accomplishment, but we knew the real mission was accomplished days ago, when we became part of the La Providencia family, and kept the story and mission close to our hearts.We left the site, looking back one last time as the shadows grew long on the ground. We had worked longer than we had any previous day, maybe to finish the job, or maybe to just spend one more moment in such a magical place. I think God met us there, and each one of us were touched in a different way. It will interesting to see how the future will play out for each of us, and how much of La Providencia we take back with us. It will also be interesting to see how much of ourselves we left in Honduras, in order to bring back something new and better inside.
I watched as the bus took us out of view of Providence, and I felt joy at what God had accomplished in this team, with this team and for this team. We had been blessed, but there was more to come!
Alfredo invited all of us over to his house for dinner. It was dark when we arrived, and Alfredo has a huge, walled front yard, so a lot of people were hanging out outside. That included all the Leader Trek kids and the research team from Wheaton, plus all the Providence staff, Mizael and Bessy, Israel and Holly and the interns.
It was a full house of about 50 people, and there was so 
much going on! There was ping pong, games, and Cliff even found time to give a golf lesson to Alfredo. Cliff, Golf Pro Missionary! We ate carne asada, Honduras style, rice, beans, chismol and tortillas, and it was so good! Chismol is sort of like a mild salsa. The Hondurans put it on everything. So did we! Alfredo had cake for us that said “Have a good trip” in Spanish, it was then we realized this was our going away party! It was a joy to spend more time with our friends, and I really enjoyed talking with Israel about his decision to move his family from Nashville to Honduras, leaving behind a comfy life to serve the Lord at Providence. Talking with him planted seeds inside me of what could become something of significance in the future. We will have to see what God’s plan is for me and my family and how it relates to Providence, but I felt a stirring inside that had not been there before.After a long goodbye, we made our way back to our house and the geckos that scampered across our walls in the house. Even they came out to say goodbye! We talked a lot about the trip and how we could make it better in the future – if that is possible. I was so proud of this team. They were a model of a servant’s heart through and through. I felt honored to have served with them on this trip and a connection to each of them. They came to Honduras not knowing what to expect as we were the first team down from Lakeside. Some had fears and others doubts, but the reality was God knew all along what He had in store for us. He showed us there was nothing to fear in Honduras, and in fact it was probably safer to walk the streets at night in Siguatepeque than in Folsom! This team was the hands and feet of Jesus, and sometimes even His camera!
Amber’s lens was a tool God used for His glory, and I am sure when the pictures get posted you will see a little of what God sees when he looks at his people in Honduras.
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