Day 6 --April 11, 2014

A very long and productive day!

Busy day today!!!  Erected the swing set at The Light of the Valley school just outside of Quimistan.  Traveled back up the mountain to complete the screens on the school at Arena Blanca.  Yes...Completed!!!!  Distributed glasses to the children, which was a hit!  The biggest, and brightest smiles you have ever seen.  A lot of hugs given, and a tears were shed as we left.  Surly the presence of the Lord is in this place.  Then to the Tejeras, to feed the children.  I don't mind telling you that this truly tugged on my heart.  To see these children walking to get food by themselves, on this very dangerous road without parental supervision.  And looking into their big, eyes and beautiful faces, as food was given to them.  Just really hit hard!!  Especially when all the food was given out, or so I thought.  I looked up and a little head peered around the door.  I approached her and gestured, asking if she had eaten.  She shook her head no.  She was then verbally asked in Spanish, and she confirmed she had gotten there to late.  We quickly scraped a bowl of food and a glass of juice. Just enough. God was definitely in this place!!!!  The roof to the building is to be completed tomorrow.  This is the place where the picnic benches are to be delivered, and these will greatly enhance this program.  Ate at a local restaurant, played soccer with some of  the AP kids.  Then ended the night watching a movie with all the AP kids!  A great day was had by all!!!

Here we go again!

Today we went back to Arena Blanca. After the long drive up the mountain, we were greeted by screaming kids all happy to see us. We stayed at the same school as yesterday, and installed screens while others played with the kids. Every one of the children got bubbles, and we did the whale craft too. The local women made us some tasty chicken soup for lunch, and then it was time to go. We took the bus to another school close by that the team had been to last year. We saw the classroom that we helped to build last year, and we also saw the swing set. We were given some sweet rice pudding by the teachers. After that, we played with the students for an hour. They had so much energy! When we had gotten rid of our energy, the tired team loaded into the bus and headed back to Quimistan. We finished painting the tables we built during the week and ate a wonderful dinner of chicken tacos and macaroni and cheese. Today was a fun day of construction and play!

If you got bumped into God's path, then you are blessed

Today we went to Arena Blanca.  It is a mountain village a little over an hour from where we are staying.  The road to get there is winding and bumpy (luckily no one got car sick). The scenery was beautiful.  The mountain sides are full of coffee plants and lush vegetation.  After the rain we got last night the temperature was a pleasant surprise.  The girls described it as brisk.  It made the work at the school house pleasant before lunch.  When we got there, all the kids came running towards us! There were about 60 kids ranging from 1st to 6th grade. They meet in two classrooms. 1st, 2nd, and 6th grade students met in one classroom and 3rd, 4th, and 5th met in the other. When we got there, the guys put in a swing set for the kids that HAF donated and rescreened the front windows of the school. The girls spent the day playing with the kids in a whole bunch of ways. We threw tennis balls, played a little bit of soccer and volleyball, and drew on the chalkboard. Then we took a little break for lunch. Then we played and worked again. When we finished what we needed to do for the day, we left and it took another hour to get back home, but we stopped and took a picture by a waterfall. Then when we got home we, finished painting the tables and we ate dinner, then played cards. We all had a wonderful day filled with so much love and joy, because of the amazing God we have!

Day 3........Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's Off to Work We Go!!

Day 3

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho it's Off to Work We Go.....

What an amazing day!  We started off at Los Hornos school.  We treated over 160 children and teachers with deworming medication and fluoride treatements.  We also lead hygiene clinics that included proper hand washing and teeth brushing.  Afterwards we read a bible story and did a craft with the children.  They rewarded us with hugs and smiles and warm applause.  They also gave everyone a Coca-Cola.  Life is good!!!

 

 

After lunch we worked on tables for the Tejaras feeding program.  We were able to make 8 tables and have one coat of paint on 4 of them.  Very excited to see the finished product.  The team all got along well during the process.  We formed a bit of an assembly line.  Fun times; but super hot today. 

 

 

 

The team had worked hard and all were ready for a little fun.  We went to the indoor soccer arena for a little team downtime! 

                













 

 

Our long day ended with dinner at Rana's house.  Best pancakes in Quimistan!

 

Dinner at Rana's House.  Best pancakes in Quimistan!  

 

We returned to the villa to find we were having power outage.  Now blessed with a little rain!!!!!!!   God is good!!!!!!!!

 

 

Day 2

Today we woke up to the birds chirping outside our windows. We went to the Three Presidents school in Pinalejo where we put in a swing set for the children. At the school we also gave them deworming pills, showed them how to properly brush their teeth and gave them a fluoride treatment. The children showed their thanks by giving hugs and drawing us pictures. For lunch we ate at Mrs. Gracie's house, which was delicious!! She told us that she wants our help in starting a new foundation called Hope Honduras. Later in the day we began to make picnic tables for the Tejeras Feeding Program, we have not finished them yet but we will!!


Children at Three Presidents

Children learning to brush their teeth!


Putting in the swing set at Three Presidents!

Day 1: Mutant Lemons!

Today we arrived in San Pedro Sula early this afternoon. We arrived at our houses, and after a brief but yummy lunch we went to hang out with AGAPE Promises Children. This was a lot of fun as we were able to play with the kids and get to know them better.  When we arrived back at our housing, we found strange fruit in the backyard. It look like a lemon the size of a football, but smelt like an orange (we still don't know what it was).  We also found coconuts growing in the trees. Overall today was a very successful day and hopefully tomorrow will bring even more fun and adventure!

April Mission Trip - April 6 thru 13

The next mission trip starts on Sunday, April 6. 

Team Members:  Michael, Jimi, Allie, Dave, Andrea, Brianna, DeeDee, Ford, Heather, Jeff and Kaylee

 

Here is a brief schedule (subject to change, of course):

 

Day	TEAM #1
Sunday, 4/6	Arrive at Quimistan   Agape Promises Meeting at 2:00
Monday, 4/7	Morning: Hygiene and VBS at Three Presidents (60 students) / Deliver Swing Set Visit Los Panales school (batteries)
Tuesday, 4/8	Morning:  Hygiene and VBS at Los Hornos (164 students)   Afternoon: Construction for Tejeras (tables)
Wednesday, 4/9	Construction at Arena Blanca (toilets / screens) / Deliver Swing Set
Thursday, 4/10	Morning:  Visit Teo Afternoon:  Construction at Arena Blanca (toilets / screens)
Friday, 4/11	Construction for Tejeras (tables) Tejeras feeding at 4:00
Saturday, 4/12	Take AP kids on a field trip to the beach.
Sunday, 4/13	Team Leaves for Aiken

 

Please pray that we will have a safe and productive trip.

Michael