It is a little weird waking up this morning knowing that it is our last day in beautiful Honduras.  This trip has been an abundant blessing to all of us and it saddens us team members knowing tomorrow we will be back in the U.S.A.  The morning started as all mornings do; a great breakfast, followed by a short meeting of the plans to come.  The plans were that some of us would go to Moñtanita to measure a railing for replacement, while the others hung back to go shop a little.  The trip to Moñtanita went fast and before we went home we had to stop for some fresh bread! Sarah really loved that part because she was able to play with the newly born puppies that were at the bakery. Before we knew it we were back down the mountain.  We were all excited to get to the waterfall and swim and relax a little!  As we arrived to the ranch we all ate a little lunch and proceeded to head towards the falls.  The hike to the falls was a hot one considering that the fields beside of us were burning crops!  As soon as we reached the “jungle” part of the hike, things cooled down for us a little.  Seeing and hearing water was a sweet relief!  We arrived at a waterfall that was not that far ahead, but heard that the waterfall we were going to was bigger and better.  Hiking around the first waterfall we started to see the beginnings of a big pool of water followed by an almost 25ft waterfall!  We all were excited not only to see the water, but to know that swimming and jumping in were ahead!  The team took no hesitation to find their way to the top of the falls to jump in.  
The water felt amazing and was the perfect temperature for swimming.

After a few hours of swimming and down time, we headed back towards the van to make it to the ranch for dinner.  Our dinner was very good, as always, and filled us up quite well.  Afterwards Daniel took Aaron, Alex, and I to see about purchasing a Honduras soccer jersey.  While we were out, Dane bought Jose (a 10-year-old kid at the ranch) a brand new soccer ball to play with.  
Coming home we ran into Jose walking on the road to the ranch.  We picked him up and took him with us.  When we got out of the car we told him that the new soccer ball he had been holding and playing with was his.  It was great to see his face light up as he realized what was really going on. Following that we knew that the time had come for packing.  So here we are, packing away and waiting for the morning to leave for our flight.  Jarred is also giving Debbie, our translator, a couple of dreadlocks tonight since she decided to spend the night with the girls. This trip has touched us in so many ways.  The children, families, scenery, and translators have been truly a blessing to us.  Our trip here was to serve the people and do God’s work, but I believe I can speak for us all when I say that we are equally as thankful for them as they are for us.  It has been hot and it hasn’t been the easiest thing, but we are here for God’s glory to shine through us and all of that seems to go away when you think about why we are here.  God has moved in us, and God has moved in the people here.  Nothing else matters!  This has been a great trip, and we can only hope that our next one is as good.  We will come home and carry out the same qualities we show here.  To be a light to this world and share the love of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior!  We hope you guys have enjoyed this blog, and we love you all!  Expect to see us home sometime tomorrow!

God Bless,

Jim Coleman

(editing by Sarah Webb)

Is it a boat or a hat?

¡Holá! from Honduras! This morning we went up an extremely curvy, bumpy, and dusty road up a mountain on the way to Tao (Texoxingales).  We went to “Tao” to build benches and to screen in a cooking area that the previous screening had withered away.  We arrived at the school and immediately were bombarded with kids of all ages with nothing but smiling faces.  After removing all of the wood from the classroom for us to build with, we set up a bench-building station under a big tree in the schoolyard.  

We all grabbed gloves, hammers, nails, tape measures and started our projects.  The bench team began to piece together the bench legs as the screening team ripped off the old screening.  Some of the children started holding the nails for us while we were hammering together the benches.  One side of the kitchen area had rotten wood around the windows that had to be replaced.  After a few hours of working and sweating, we started to see a lot of progress.  After taking a small break, the children gathered around and started making hats and boats out of old newspapers.  By this time, the screening was mostly done so Jim and Sarah began playing with the children.  While Sarah made hats (that were actually boats) with the kids, Jim took pictures and showed them.   

The children love seeing themselves on the camera screen!  Shortly after, both projects were finished and we quickly gathered to head towards the van.  The ride down the mountain was refreshing with a little AC, some water, bananas, and a PB&J!  On the ride down the mountain we arrived at an overlook and took a few pictures of the beautiful mountains and scenery.  As we arrived back to the ranch, we packed up and left for Santa Clara.  Armed with toys and a new ball pump, we arrived at Santa Clara and dropped off all the toys for the children.  It was a quick trip, but was just as satisfying.  We arrived home to the glorious smell of fried chicken and papas fritas (French fries)! A quick meal and devotion from Aaron and we are ready for bed.  We can only hope that tomorrow is as good as today, but we know it will be.  Our day tomorrow will consist of a ton of fun and fun times at a nice waterfall!  Who doesn’t like a waterfall?!

God Bless,
James Danger and Sarah

Day 7 - "That's a rock!"

Yesterday, the team headed to Sandra’s new house in Quimistan to level the ground around the site. Sandra is a teacher at the Agape Promise school, and cooks and takes care of the groups that stay here.

Chris, Allison, Joe, Dane, Aaron, Alex, Erin, and our crew of translators and drivers worked on the “landscaping” crew. We started with a huge mound of dirt (and rocks) behind the house, and made steady progress in moving wheelbarrow loads to the front and sides of the house, where they were leveled out. We are now pros at shoveling and wheelbarrowing, and with the addition of all the dirt that was in our socks, that mound was much smaller by the time we left.

Jerry, Morgan, Brad, Sarah, Jarred, and Sam basically wired the entire house for electricity, which was quite an accomplishment. It got off to a slow start without the presence of fish tape, so they used cable instead to push through to the outlet, then pull the wire through. Once the fish tape arrived, the wiring went much faster. There were no wire strippers, so the team used wire cutters (or knives) to cut off the insulation on the ends of the wires. Most of the team handled the two-receptacle circuits, while Jerry the electrician handled all the overhead lighting and hooked up the breaker box.

We ate lunch at a restaurant in Quimistan, which had actual air-conditioning! The food was delicious, and was a buffet that included chicken, ribs, and pork chops. It was a little hard to keep working after all that, but we went right back to shoveling and wiring like champs.

After we finished working at Sandra’s house around 4, we headed to a souvenir place for some shopping. Debbie and Daniel helped us out with the bargaining, and everyone was able to make plenty of handmade Honduran purchases.

Overall, it was a great day of service, and even though some of the jobs were a little difficult, it was a real opportunity to remember our purpose in being here. We continue to be amazed by how God is blessing this team and ministry, and look forward to Texoxingales and Santa Clara tomorrow!

Erin   

(with an electrical consultation from Morgan)

Day 6 - May 23, 2011 - Blessed to be a Blessing

Around thirty more children at the school were left to take the de-worming treatment, dental hygiene education, and fluoride treatment. Although we weren't brave enough to ingest the banana flavored treatment, many of us swished the bubble-gum flavored fluoride with the last class of kids and took a group photo.

After climbing the mountains to Nueva Esperanza, our tasks were to paint new chalkboards for the classrooms and put on a roof of the last classroom building.  When we arrived into the community, it was palpable that God had already prepared our way to work with ease to finish the projects.  Sanding the aged chalkboards brought a bounty of dust under our fingernails while some of the team put the hot tin roof on the last building. We were able to finish two coats of pea green paint on the two chalkboards.  Two of the school buildings we worked on previously in the week had not been used for 14 years and are now available for teaching to begin once again. Hopefully the space will allow the community to start a kindergarten classroom soon.

The community showed us gracious hospitality by providing our lunch of chicken and rice and delivered an afternoon snack of donuts and coffee.  Upon finishing the projects, the community gathered in one of the classrooms to read a Psalm of thanksgiving (Psalm 100), pray, and give thanks for how the Lord has done mighty works among us.  Folks who gathered for the meaningful closing celebration included a Pastor in the area, President of Nueva Esperanza, President of the Parent Teacher Association, Director of the School, President of the Water Board, and women and men of the community.  The community presented us with a plaque and the community will post the HAF logo on the school.  We closed our time together by playing Frisbee and soccer with the energetic school children. 

The team arrived back at the ranch in time for a bocce ball tournament and showers.  Martha and Gary Thompson joined us for evening meal. Martha shared her story with us and we were blessed by the ministry in this area and her words of counsel as we live out our Christian faith.  Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place and we are blessed to be a blessing to this community.

We send our apologies to the next group using the eyeglass assortment. Part of the group spent two nights and four hours sorting the eyeglass project and doing the best we could to get them in order for whomever will be using the filing system in the future.

Allison Kelly

One big day of fun!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Day 5

Following a brief, but delicious, breakfast prepared by our wonderful cooks Sandra and Gloria we packed up and headed out to Martha’s Sunday school.  Once there the children greeted us with several well disciplined songs as well as a few solo performances by some of the braver children.  After joining in with the children in singing a few collaborative and interactive songs we performed a short skit.  In the skit, members of our group acted out the well known story of the good Samaritan which illustrates the values of compassion and sacrifice.  Following the skit we helped Gloria distribute her homemade lunch to the children.  After they had finished their lunch the children were ready for playtime!  Alex, Joe, Dane and Aaron quickly volunteered to join in on a soccer game that some of the young Honduran boys had started.  After only a few minutes we realized that we were extremely unprepared for what was to be a royal butt whooping.  The intensity of a Honduran midday sun and the surprising skill and athleticism of the young Honduran boys quickly had us panting and sweating harder than any of us could recall.  And while we were out playing soccer, the other members of our group played several games with the children.  After about an hour and a half of playtime it was time to say goodbye and head back to the ranch for some lunch.  Following our lunch we had a short period of rest before we piled into the vans and headed back out to help Vilma, an Agape promise volunteer, feed and entertain a group of children known as the AP group or Agape Promise children which have been sponsored by individual citizens from the U.S.  We fed them a light supper of quesadillas gave each of them some well deserved candy.  After the kids had finished eating we went out into the courtyard and played several games with the children involving Frisbees and hacky sacks.  After a few hours of fun it was again time to say goodbye.  So we reluctantly departed and headed back to the ranch for the night.  So in all it was one big day of fun!

Alex Stutts

Days 3 and 4: "Our God is so big, so strong, and so mighty!"

So, the unavailability of the internet has led to a little delay in blog updating. This blog will therefore contain the goings on of the past two days!

Day 3 was quite a busy day. It all started with our arrival at the elementary school in Quimistan. The task at hand: de-worming medication, tooth brushing lessons, and fluoride for 867 awesome kids! The kids were all very excited to see us and swarmed the team immediately. The operation was set up in 3 stations.

The first was the delicioso banana flavored de-worming station. Erin, Aaron, Allison, Jerry and Brad, with Maynor’s help, delivered the tasty treat to the kids and sent them on to the next area. Station 2 consisted of dental hygiene lessons from Morgan, Joe, Chris, Jarred, and Daniel (translator Daniel). The kids were each given a toothbrush and travel-sized tube of toothpaste. We did our best to dole out the pink ones to the girls and the blue and green ones to the boys. Morgan provided a demonstration of the proper technique with a giant mouth model. We could
tell that many of them were not used to brushing their

Jerry was serenaded with the Happy Birthday song by one
of the classes.  Such a cool gift!

teeth. There were lots of laughs and possibly some gagging when it came to brushing their tongues. Lots of spit flew at the next station! Sarah, Dane, Alex, and Debbie (our other translator) reported mixed feelings when it came to the bubble gum flavored fluoride’s taste. After coaxing the children through the required one minute swishing regimen, it was quickly and forcefully expelled from their mouths. Both the tooth brushing and fluoride station team members were extremely careful to stay out of the firing range. The kids aren’t shy when it comes to spitting!

After a delicious lunch of tilapia fillets and rice, the team finished up with the treatments and prepared for the Tejeres feeding. Jim provided assistance when needed at the de-worming station and took untold numbers of pictures.

One of HAF’s newest projects is the feeding of about 70 children from the roadside community of Tejeres. Some three years ago, team members saw the hungry children and their families gathering food from the dump near their homes. The team took them a meal later in the week and notified the foundation. This was only the beginning of Tejeres feedings. As of about a year ago, the kids have been fed on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Gloria cooks and serves some of the meals, and a lady from a local church serves others. The entire team got to go and witness this incredible event. Two of the children that stood out were Kevin and Dooley. Kevin had just returned from a 3 month Boston hospital stay in the States. Only he was granted permission to leave Honduras after being severely burned from melted plastic at the landfill that he was collecting for his family to sell. He had sustained third degree burns and needed skin grafts, treatment he could only receive in the USA. The surgeons were only able to save his thumb on his right hand. Dooley was another heart breaking case. It was after Wednesday’s feeding that she was run off the highway by a gas truck, causing her to break her arm. Dooley couldn’t hear the truck or screams of her mother to get out of the way because she is deaf. She was taken to the Quimistan hospital for x-rays and a cast. Our hearts were all touched by the joy the kids had over simply receiving a meal. They were all smiles when Alex and Jarred whipped out an American futbol.
Friday saw the touching of many hearts and the joy of many children!

Okay. So now we’re all up to date. Let’s continue on with today!

The team headed out in the van and Turnipseed Excursion around 9:00 after being briefed by Allison for Vacation Bible School. After driving about 45 minutes through windy, dirt mountain roads, we reached the village of La Montanita. The kids were waiting for us when we pulled up to the school and unloaded the Armor of God teaching materials. Four stations, consisting of art, music, Bible teaching, and games, were put in order. The kids were divided up into four groups, and the rotations began!

Morgan and Aaron delivered a kid-friendly Gospel presentation and Armor of God lesson with the help of translator Daniel. Two of the Agape Promise university students, Vilma and Laura, were also there to help lead the kids in prayers of confession and prayers for protection against the attacks of the enemy. The kids really enjoyed throwing the foam darts of the enemy at Sam and Chris as they defended themselves with Allison’s crafty and creative belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, helmet of salvation, shield of faith, and sword of the Spirit. They were also taught to be eager to share the Good News with the sandals of peace. Everything flowed extremely well with the transition from English to Spanish, and the kids really seemed to catch on to what we were telling them. The presence of the Holy Spirit was truly in that place!


Beautiful songs of praise echoed throughout the school grounds as Erin, Jim, and Sarah led the kids in worship. Erin beasted it up with her macho Spanish skills as there were not enough translators for them to have one. They reported that the kids were enthusiastic and engaged, a true testament of the Lord’s faithfulness to come through in times of need.

Jarred, Dane, and Joe led the kids in some exciting Bible games. The kids especially loved the parachute exercises. They also enjoyed participating in the relay in which each person had to don the full “Armor of God” before they could run for their turn. Lastly, names were learned as the rag ball was thrown around the circle. I can testify to the fact that fun was had, as some of our Bible lesson participants struggled to keep their focus because of the screams and laughter of those outside the classroom.


Finally, the art station! Once they were taught how to color and were assured that it was okay for them to do so, their creative sides were unstoppable. Alex, Brad, and Jerry were witnesses of extreme shield of faith and sword of the Spirit decorating. The otherwise completely obedient children found it difficult to pry themselves away from their masterpieces.

The team feasted on our packed PB & J’s at the home of Juana, one of the ladies who operate the little bakery established recently in the village. They were able to start the bakery with proceeds from their handiwork making "tortilla cloths" that are finding a market in the U.S., plus a loan from an area Catholic church.   That bakery provides work for women of La Montanita, who also cooked the delicious snacks for Bible school. We were able to see the beehive-style adobe oven that makes the operation possible. It was after seeing a breathtaking pineapple plantation down the road that the team returned to the school to finish up the afternoon.

Once back at the school, the guys led a discussion with other young men of the village about the importance of refraining from drug use. Apparently that has become a recent problem for some of them. The Spirit had opened their minds to receiving the message the guys shared. From what I hear, it was a really cool time of sharing. The girls talked with Debbie, Vilma, and Laura our about college and tried to encourage them to stay strong in their Christian walks. We really enjoyed learning about the differences between education in the US and Honduras.

We have had no shortage of God experiences since our arrival in Quimistan. We truly serve an awesome God.  Hope all is well in the US of A! We do miss our families, but I can assure you, all is well in Honduras!

Over and out,

Morgan

Day 2: Nueva Esperanza

After a quick breakfast, we all loaded into our two vehicles and drove about an hour and a half up a winding mountain road to our first job site, observing the rolling mountains and beautiful scenery as we went. Our destination was Nueva Esperanza – a small village up in the northeastern corner of Honduras, close to the Guatemala border.

Our job was to put a roof on two school buildings, and basically move everything out of the old school building into the new ones (books, chairs, benches, books, etc). The buildings we worked on already had concrete structures and metal roof trusses. All we needed to do was put up the roofs.

The roofs were to be built using 3X17 pieces of aluminum, all placed and bolted together. The pieces had been stored in one of the school buildings, so we had to carry them all out and lift them up onto the roof. One group lifted them up, and one group placed and bolted them down. The first building was a simple 4-12 (for every 12 inches, it drops 4 inches) A-type roof, 30 feet in length. One side took about an hour and fifteen minutes to complete. The other building was just a smaller version of the first. For the second side we just switched teams. The team that had been on the roof lifted up the aluminum pieces, and the team that had lifted up the aluminum pieces got up on the roof.

So far heat has been a major issue on this trip. Highs are in the upper 90’s/lower 100’s, and lows are in the mid to upper 70’s. Needless to say, working up on an aluminum roof during the hottest part of the day was an exhausting experience, but, for a group of well trained, hardy, conditioned veterans, a task we met with neither fear nor hesitation. We jumped on it like a spider monkey.

We had finished both roofs by about 3:00pm. After spending some time carrying loads of books and desks into the newer building, we were done work-wise for the day. We drove a bit further into the mountains and took a short hike to a small waterfall, passing a fairly intimidating looking ant hill on the way. We would’ve liked to take a dip but nobody brought swim trunks. Instead, everyone just used the opportunity for a photo shoot.

On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at a lookout and got out to look at the vast stretches of mountains. At the lookout, there was a family that had laid their corn out to dry. At some point, the family started gathering up their corn and placing it in sacks to take back to their homes and grind up to make tortillas out of. The team spent a good deal of time helping the family gather up their corn. Then we finished the trek down the mountain, which due to bumps, constant turns, and sporadic speed increases, led to some cases of nausea and car sickness.

That’s pretty much our first working day in a nutshell.
Thanks for reading, folks.
Brad & Jarred

For more pictures, go to:
http://s604.photobucket.com/albums/tt125/TakingUpArmsjc1/Honduras/

Hot, Sweaty, and Ready to Work

We arrived in Honduras today after a very pleasant flight from Atlanta even though the team was running on no sleep!

We made it through customs in San Pedro Sula pretty quickly (and with all of our luggage)! Then we loaded all the trunks and suitcases on top of a truck and got in a van to drive the hour and a half to Quimistan. On the way, we got to experience first hand how the locals drive. (It was very exciting!) It was eye opening to see all the people and houses in the villages that we drove through to get to the ranch that we are staying at.

When we arrived we were greeted by Sandra, one of the cooks, with a big hug. We got to enjoy tortilla chips with a meat/potato compote and a yummy homemade salsa. Then we toured the area stopping at all of the sites that HAF is active in. We stopped by Tejeres, where the feeding programs for the children take place, then we toured the Quimistan hospital that Martha (the owner of where we are staying) helped fund. Then we traveled to the site of the children's home that the Turnipseeds are working to build. It was a beautiful location, surrounded by mountains, and Sam explained all the plans that they are hoping to put in place in the future.

We can't wait to see what God has in store for tomorrow! (Hopefully a cold front :)

In Christ,
Sarah & Erin

(And snaps to Jim for the pictures)