October 18, 2012 We started the morning with a trip to Santa Clara. There we met with the leaders of the White Dove School, who showed us the growing campus of a bilingual, Christian school. We also watched with joy the kindergarten children, when asked in English, writing their names and performing simple addition for us at the board. We also watched third graders, again given instructions in English, reducing fractions and solving equations. We also met with the leaders of their parent’s organization. One of these ladies said her family moved to Santa Clara in order to place their child into this school. Another family moved their child from public school, placing the child in second grade rather than fourth. The child is now well beyond the level of those in public schools. These families are very pleased with the opportunity this school is presenting to their children. About noon we continued to Acequia, where HAF had paid for desks. The teachers there fed us lunch to show their gratitude. This is a large school which teaches first through ninth grade. They have eight teachers and an impressive amount of activity going on. There is a room with computers and the solar system is painted on the walls. They are in progress of adding toilets, which has been partly funded by the red cross. Next we went to Las Dantas, to look at a village which has asked for help on a water project. This village is way up in the mountains at the end of the poorest road we have traveled so far. To begin the trip, we had to ford a river, which in times of heavy rain prevents travel by the road. The people in the village were very excited to have us come because no one from another country had ever visited the village. There are fifteen families in the village and they all come to get water at a spring. They have one small dam to collect drinking water and a lower pool is used for washing their clothing.

Photos from our current Trip

SUNRISE IN HONDURAS

SCHOOL IN TEXOXINGONLES (TEO)

SCHOOL RESTROOMS IN TEO

CATHOLIC CHURCH IN TEO

CHURCH OF GOD IN TEO

SCHOOL IN EL VENADO

BAKERY IN EL VENADO

SCHOOL PLAYGROUND IN LA MONITANITA

KITCHEN IN MILPA ARADA REBUILT BY EARLIER MISSION TEAM

TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TILING THEIR NEW KITCHEN

SCHOOL IN JICARO

SOME 'STARS' OF JICARO

October 17, 2012 Today we visited La Montanita. After meeting with the leaders of the village, we met with the students who have been able to continue their education beyond the sixth grade, with help from HAF sponsors. The parents expressed their gratitude for the foundation doing what they cannot afford to do for their children, and the young people expressed a strong desire to stay in school. It was really heart-warming to see these young people who wish to get an education. We also met with pastors from all the churches. The Catholic representative was the first one to speak and told us that they all get along and share the materials they have received for training their children. When asked about the need for additional Bibles it became apparent that some of the pastors had shared Bibles so that members of other churches could have them. This is truly watching God at work. We stopped by Milpa Arada to check on the progress in the cocina (kitchen) at their school and found the teachers working at laying tile in the floor. It will look really nice when completed and will serve all of the community.

October 16, 2012 Today we had a nice drive over the mountains along a road which provides a very good view of the Quimistan valley, which is a wide, relatively flat, fertile plain. I had not noticed the beauty the last time I was on this road due to cloud cover. The mountains and the road are very steep. We visited Texoxingales (or Teocingales), where we met with the church leaders, Patronado and the president of the water board. There are two churches in Teo, Catholic and Church of God. The people get along together well and are very interested in working together to make good things happen for their community. They are very grateful for the Bible study materials we have provided for use in teaching their children. The catholics would like to have the Latin American version of the children’s chatecism, which is taught in four age groups. When we asked about their school, we learned there are way too many children in each classroom. We were given a very nice lunch of chicken soup, with rice, potatoes and cabbage. Next we visited El Venado. There are three churches in this village, two of which are different versions of the Church of God and the other one is Catholic. The new Church of God needs Bibles, but the others stated that we have already provided enough for each member. This village has one school room for all grades kindergarten through sixth – the other room in the building is where the teacher lives. They would like to have another classroom to separate the kindergarten from the elementary grades. This village also requested a small generator as power source for nebulizers. They do not have Justa stoves. Many also do not have latrines. They stated that there is a problem with water entering the holes.

Oct 15, 2012 We arrived in Quimistan after an uneventful trip a little past 1pm, Honduran Standard Time. After a nice lunch, we met with Dr. Constantino and Maynor, to discuss the medical mission activities and our schedule for the week. The main purpose of this trip is to gather information which will be used in our vision conference to establish plans for our 2013 mission activity. Two very interesting items we learned include that a Red Cross representative told Maynor that there has been a marked improvement in respiratory health recently due to the people having Justa Stoves. We also learned that the ladies in La Montanita, who started sewing with HAF assistance, and then grew into a bakery business, have been noticed by USAID, which has donated ~$3000 to help them improve their bakery facilities. God is good and has rewarded these ladies for their hard work. I view this as confirmation of HAF's micro enterprise development activities in La Montanita. After our meetings we had the evening meal and turned our attention to settling into our quarters and getting ready for a much needed shower and a good night's rest.

To Mega Therion

Today marked the beginning of the end of the 2012 mission trip to Honduras. To celebrate the completion and the success of the experience, the team took today to walk across a swinging bridge, shop, and trek through the wilds of the Honduran mountains to swim at a beautiful waterfall. The day ended with feasting on pizza for supper.

Abby, one of the girls from the Aiken team, had suggested the swinging bridge at the beginning of the trip. The bridge is reminiscent of the bridges seen in movies (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Romancing the Stone, for movie buffs), with the wood planks attached to ropes, or in this case, cables, that crosses a river. This bridge was well kept and several people crossed it while we were there. In fact, we watched as a woman holding her baby practically strutted across the bridge, never loosing her balance once.

After the swinging bridge, the next stop was a souvenir store that contained quite a collection of merchandise. Hammocks, clothes, paintings, and backpacks are just a few examples of what the store carried. The girls were only too happy to spend time in there. Lakey bought some cigars for Stan the man.

Once the shopping was completed the team returned to the ranch to quickly change into bathing suits and then began the main event of the day: the waterfall... the "March to the Great Beast."  This activity was highly anticipated throughout the trip and did not disappoint.  After a brief hike through the jungle, the team reached the waterfall. Almost at once, Alex and Dane were jumping from the highest jump point at the waterfall, which is approximately thirty feet. Jennifer jumped from that spot as well but the rest of the team stuck with jumping from a mere twenty or so feet. After we had all swam 'til our hearts were content, we were about ready to leave until Brad decided that he wanted to climb to an even higher tier of the waterfall. There were three different falls, with the third being approximately 90 feet in height.  Brad began climbing a trail beside the 90-foot fall that went straight up - a trail that much resembled the trail Sam and Frodo climbed in Lord of the Rings to reach Cirith Ungol. Soon Alex, Aaron and Jarred followed Brad further up the mountain to see what was at the top of the waterfall while Jennifer, Lorie and Lakey waited anxiously at the bottom (with their hearts in their throats). Everyone returned to the ranch safely and enjoyed pepperoni pizza that Sam and Daniel brought back from a trip to San Pedro Sula.

Meanwhile, while the team was embarking on all these activities, Mark and Jerry returned to Gloria’s house to finish up as much work as they could on it. They placed more pins in the roof so water would not leak. That marks the end of the day and the 2012 Honduras mission trip. 

Brad, in the pouring rain, climbed through the river of mook to come out clean on the other side

Thank you for keeping up with the team’s progress. We will see you all tomorrow at the airport barring the tropical storm that made its way to Quimistan at 7:30pm tonight delays our flight.

Lorie & Brad 

Tejeras Mosh Pit

As the construction phase closed out today, I think we all can say, "muy bien" or translation: "very good." The crew at Gloria's home worked fervently to complete the pour on the rear veranda, or in southern speak - the porch. Stanley led the charge as usual; Jen, B-Rad, Hans and Frans, along with our adopted friends from South Carolina Team Aiken N Hurtin', joined at the mook pile for Mas Mook Siesta! Fighting grueling conditions as usual they persevered and came through like the champions that they are.  All the while our trusty and faithful bus drivers sat in the cool shade of the home and watched Futbol' until time to go to the restaurant at eat fried chicken... Again!

After lunch, the team divided into maybe three separate and distinct parties. Mater, Carl, Stan the Man, Jen, B-Rad, Hans and Frans returned to Gloria's home to continue the Mooking Siesta and complete the second phase of the Pila. Once the mook was placed, Stan the Man, who is only 5'-5", had to lie across the Pila to shape the concrete. The dude has some serious abs, but several team members had to assist by holding his legs to prevent him from face planting the Mook. B-Rad and Frans continued to pound in Gloria's bedroom creating a new access to her brand new, and well deserved baño (bathroom). They completed that task with a vengeance that would surpass Superman busting through a brick wall!

Team two, consisting of Ajax, Aiken n Hurtin', Coop, Jeff-Ray, Arooon, Lorie, Narnie, and Joe left the mess hall with bellies full of artery busting chicken. Folks, Colonel Saunders can't touch this doom of the grease that is oozing out of this pollo (chicken). They headed off to Santa Clara to deliver the communion set to Arturo and visited the children who were located there.

We completed our day at the Tejeras... For those who are not familiar with this area, let me say this... We should consider all that we have been blessed with, my friends. They literally live on the side of the road in shacks, and not just any road... this would be like I-85 at rush hour. Semi-trucks blasting through at half the speed of smell, while these precious little children of God play precariously just yards from the highway! There I met Kevin for the first time. He was the little boy that was severely burned about a year ago while collecting plastic bottles in a trash pile. Thank God someone in San Pedro Sula had connections in Boston, Mass to save three of his limbs. He lost all his toes and the fingers on his right hand, but showed no signs of pity. He was this vibrant litte boy that had accepted the cards that life had dealt him and he carried a beautiful smile that only God could supply. After feeding the children, which is part of Sandra's ministry, Chris Jericho broke out the the soccer ball and mayhem ensued... Let's Get Ready to Rumble! A 60 versus 1 Mosh Pit broke out as the children introduced us to a new Honduran game called Rugby Soccer! Chris succumbed to the relentless pounding as the children drug him down and started the ground-n-pound method of removing said soccer ball from his hand. Chris scraped his knee during the melee and the Type O Negative oozed from his wounds, which required more first aid action.

The day was completed with a wonderful dinner provided by Gloria and Sandra. Devotions and blessing were led by Jarred and Mark, who delivered a powerful and emotional devotion based on the scripture from Paul's letter to the church in Philippi. All you bloggers, please read chapter 3:4b-13 and consider or weigh out the choices in your life. Everything in life is but rubbish compared to a relationship in Christ Jesus. Consider this: we are blessed and yet we want more. I have seen a lot of sad things here this past two weeks, and yet there is so much joy in the eyes of these children. I am blessed to have been a part of this team and I hope to share my experiences with many, many people.

P90X ain't got nothin' on Stan the man

Futbol or drying paint?  What's more boring?

 Pounding... Mas pounding!

 Ground-N-Pound

 That looks like the chicken leg we ate for lunch

Mark