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Barbie & the Crew take Tejeras

Rise and shine and give God the glory! After a wonderful breakfast prepared by the awesome Sandra and Gloria, we loaded up for the new church in Tejeras. Our mission today was to chisel out channels in the walls and pick axe trenches for preparation of electrical wiring and to dig a ditch to supply water to a spigot. Some of the group worked under the shade of the church's roof, while the rest played with balls and bubbles with the sweet children of the area. It is always humbling to interact with these kids and watching their faces light up as you hand them a cracker or a tennis ball.

Let the games begin!

Kari is gettin' it

Tommy be werkin'

muscle power

Two is better than one (Nate the Great and Jeffy J)

How many supervisors does it really take?

Barbie and the big oops

AGUA!

Barb.

Honduran Picassos

Water break!

After another delicious lunch, the crew headed to Goyita's business to watch the USA fight a valiant battle against Belgium in the quarterfinals of the World Cup (at the Hondurans' request) :) 

Go team USA!  .....

As we walked back to the ranch, we were awestruck by the fame of Barb in the village of Quimistan. People flocked out of their homes to catch a quick glimpse of her. "Hola Barbara" echoed through the valley! One day, I hope I can be as popular as the Great Barbara!

The Mighty Barb greets one of many fans

Weaklings.

This lucky crew got a picture with the famous Barbie

Maynor's happy family

 This blog was authored by:
Abby & Nate

Floors & Fluoride

Today (Monday) we went up to La Montanita to put a concrete floor in a room in Rosa's house.  We mixed concrete primitively by adding dirt, gravel, concrete mix, and water. Doing construction here is definitely not like back in the United States. However, primitive or not, the job turned out just as well. Kari and Daniel worked to level the floor in the addition onto the house while the rest of the group worked vigorously to prepare our concrete. The job took several hours, but it was a job well done and a job well worth it. Seeing the look on Rosa's face when she saw her completed floor made our task seem completely worthwhile and humbling.

Mixing concrete

Leveling the floor

After leaving Rosa's we traversed further up the mountain to the local school. Once there, we provided the school children with a hygiene clinic. Our clinic included providing each child with deworming medicine, teaching them to properly wash their hands with soap and water, to brush their teeth, and we finished with a fluoride treatment. All kids are kids no matter where you go, and it was apparent as they tried to sneak not having to take their deworming medicine. We stressed the importance and got them to take it, however, some of the children's shenanigans were rather humorous. It was shocking to think that the small important things that most children are taught at a young age don't have the same importance here for lack of supplies and money. All in all, today was a truly rewarding day for everyone, us missionaries and those whose lives we were able to impact with Christ's love and the Honduran Agape Foundation.

Brushing their teeth

Swishing the fluoride

This evening, we had the AP kids over for a screening of The Lego Movie.

Watching la película

Meeting the Kids

Today we were blessed; we got to sleep in late, meeting for breakfast at 8 am. Sandra and Gloria are the best chefs we could've asked for! After, we hopped into the bus for a short ride to Tejeras, where we had the opportunity to watch Sandra put on a bible study for the local children. My heart was torn watching about fifty children walk to the church, arriving in tattered clothing, some with no shoes, all carrying a cup and bowl each. It is apparent that God has brought these children to us. I was told that these were local children found scavenging the dump for scraps of food. Malnutrition was easily noted by the lighter hair color in the children. Thankfully, with the help of our program as well as locals and staff, we are able to provide these children with three meals a week. I have learned an important lesson about being wasteful today, knowing that these children would do just about anything for the scraps of food I throw away on a daily basis.

Bible study at Tejeras

Some HAF kids with some Tejeras kids

This afternoon, we visited the Agape Promise children for their weekly Bible study and meal.  We snapped portrait photos of over 80 % of the AP group (we'll try to get the rest next Sunday), plus several others.   Following the AP study session, we helped to serve their meal, then broke out the balls and frisbees for lots of interactive fun.  It was easy to have fun with the kids, but it was a lot harder to get to know them.  Our limited Spanish skills only took us so far, so we would have needed a translator to communicate beyond basic words.

Throwing the fútbol americano with some AP kids

When we arrived back at Celia Delfina Village this evening, we prepared for the VBS later this week. and relaxed with some Uno.

Making streamer sticks

The ocean in a bottle assembly line

We're not having any fun.

The Journey Begins

We started off on our adventure in the wee hours of the morning, leaving for the Augusta Regional Airport at 5:15 this morning.  We landed in San Pedro Sula at 3:15 local time and started on our journey to Quimistan.  For the newbies, the ride to Quimistan was an eye opening experience.  The poverty of the people was immediately apparent.  Once we arrived at Celia Delfina Village, we were surprised to find nice buildings with everything you'd want except air conditioning.

Arriving in San Pedro Sula

Kari catching up on some sleep at the gate

The view of Honduras from the plane

Sing the Word 'Hope' in Four-Part Harmony

Drawing our energy from Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, Dissection's Storm of the Light's Bane and Immortal's At The Heart of Winter (Maynor's requests), with pumping blood and boiling intestines, we made an incredible amount of progress at Rosa's remote outpost over the past few days.  We'll try to use this blog to play catch up on the coming and goings, haps and mishaps, triumphs and shortcomings.

Really, I think we're all very satisfied with where we stand right now.  For the second year in a row, we have witnessed Rosa's house undergo a transformation.  Last year we built her a bathroom, complete with a toilet, shower and pilla.  This year we have built a 16x9' addition (which will serve as a bedroom) in a mere five days.  Last Friday we dug the foundation and footers, poured the footers, wired the rebar columns and mooked them in place.  On Monday we began laying block.  On Tuesday we finished laying block (save at the very top where the blocks had to be cut to fit the slant of the roof).

Yesterday we did finishing work on the block laying, mostly near the top and above the concrete beam we laid over the window, and we had to dig up some of the concrete from Rosa's stove area.  We also began the roofing process.  See:

Up-to-date photo of the new addition on
Rosa's house.
Notice Jerry's makeshift Coca-Cola cooler
hanging from the roof - it looks like a nootsack 

This morning we picked up a load of finely cut lumber Mark had ordered specifically for the purpose of making Rosa and her children beds to sleep on.  Up until today, they have slept on dirt, wooden boards and concrete.  Mark, Kay, Lorie and I spent the entire morning screwing together bed frames.  Three in total.  We screwed all morning.  The two twins were made into a bunk bed for Rosa's kids (Rosa's house is too small for three stand alone beds), and the third a full for Rosa herself.  We also sent a team out shopping to buy mattresses, flour, cornstarch, sugar, powdered milk, eggs, cleaning supplies, soap, plates and cups, etc.  

The bunk bed Mark designed and built
or...
soon to be monkey bars

This afternoon we cut a doorway between a room in Rosa's house and the new addition, which will be the only access to her new room.  See:

Digging out the door
stucco over about a foot of adobe

Deathtrap 3001 there in the background -
scaffolding HaHa style

   
We have tried to retain a healthy sense of optimism on this trip.  Despite the morbid tunes and open mic - like doom ramblings, what we have really tried to accomplish on this trip, as we have on past trips, is to bring hope to the lives of those who might need it.  Those who may have felt forgotten, unneeded, uncared for, hopeless.  Today marked the second time our team has circled up with Rosa and her children, prayed with them, and observed firsthand the difference our time, effort, blood, sweat, tears and pain have made in their lives.

The women presenting Rosa with food and new belongings

Too bad Chris couldn't ride this taxi up
the Trail of Pain.

 

A quick shout out to some personnel: Maynor and Danielson for once again guiding all us idiotic Americanas around the valleys and mountains of Quimistan, Nueva Esperanze, etc.  A thanks to Javier for translating for us (even though we missed Stan the Man), HaHa for teaching us a few new tricks Honduran style, Saundra and Gloria for preparing us breakfast and dinner every day, Sam for being Sam, the Federation and all its glory for having us bid its deed, the people of the Quimistan community for making us feel like we belong here.

Until next year...


Brad
Blog Overlord

Into the Shining Sun

Where were you when I was burned and broken?
While the days slipped by from my window watching?
Where were you when I was hurt and I was helpless?
Because the things you say and the things you do surround me
While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun…


Memories are made and in to the past they fade, but relationships are eternal… I’m not sure I am what you call a nocturnal person, but as I write it is 4:45 am in the morning. I look across at my roommates, one curled into the fetal position, and the other looks like a corpse in a body bag with sheets pulled up to the edge of his nose. I would go to the ends of the earth with those guys, and I literally have several times. At times we may disagree and need to take a trek to the railroad tracks, but in the end we are always brothers in Christ seeking to resolve our issues and maintain our relationship.

I cling to the hope of the relationships that have been built over the past few years in Honduras. Daniela, Maynor, Gloria and Sandra all locals who have dedicated their lives to the service of others including Los Hombres like us. They arise even before I and begin to plan and prepare the daily duties that make our lives so much easier… it is the little hidden things in life that we can and often do miss that creates bliss in the middle of the storm of life. I offer up my deepest gratitude to those people who willingly sacrifice time, talent and treasure to serve with a glad spirit.

Young, old, male or female, together we strive to serve a loving Creator and share in a hope eternal… Not that we may receive an earthly reward, but to respond to the call of service in His name, so that others can see His love expressed through our words, actions and deeds. 

“Where were you?...” Matthew 25:40 beckons that question. Daniela and I had a disagreement over the window size in Rosa’s new bedroom. He thinks it is too low to the ground and therefore to large. I have a vision of Rosa standing at the window in question, sipping on a cup of coffee and enjoying a moment of silence from the rowdy children tugging at the hem of her skirt, “Staring straight in to the shinning sun”. My hope it that through all of the blood, sweat and tears she realizes that her prayers have been answered. 

Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime

I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life

I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the waiting had begun
And headed straight...into the shining sun

(Gilmour)


The Division Bell will ring on Friday morning as we pack up our clothes, secure our keepsakes and whatnot possessions for the journey home, and there we will find our anxious families awaiting these weary travelers to return in their presence after a brief, but long absence. Hugs and kisses will be exchanged and possibly a few tears will be shed, but joy will certainly overflow in the airport lobby. The return to normalcy may come easy for some, but a large piece of my heart will forever be planted in the valley of Quimistan and the people of this humble village. My hope and prayer is that we never allow these memories that have been etched into our hearts to be discarded and or traded up for the next best thing in life… 

As a wise man once wrote; “When I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” Lives are fragile and limited, but hope found in a relationship in the risen Lord… is eternal.


Mark

I would like to dedicate this section of this blog to the loving memory and spirit of Cindy Shaw. Your spirit will always dwell in mine, and I pray for Steve and the kids as they struggle through this tragedy…  There is a hole in our hearts tonight that only God can mend, Godspeed, We LOVE YOU!