Day 8

This morning began with a few sad goodbyes to the little boys leaving to go home. It made for a little bit of a rough start to the day being that we had to wake up at 5:45 to see them off, plus all of the emotions that come along with goodbyes anyway. But before we realized it the rest of the team was up ready to start another full day.

The first stop planned was Mi Esperanza.  It is an organization that helps train women in trades that will allow them to earn an income and support a family.  Sewing and hairstyling are among the trades the women learn.  We toured the building and saw the training rooms (including the new salon that was designed by our stylist Caity Davis).  After, we went to the store where all proceeds go to the furthering of Mi Esperanza's vision.  (Perfect timing for Mother's Day) 

Next we headed out to the farm run by Bread for a Hungry World in Zambrano. All of the products of the farm go towards feeding the people of the dump. We dug through some hard rock and set up posts with cement for an overhang on top of a few of their compost piles. 

After finishing up what we could there, we went up to the orphanage called Didasko. Corey Bryant had been absolutely dying to go back there since visiting a few weeks ago and we all quickly understood why.  The area was beautiful and the kids were even more so! We were all swept off right away to the playground for some running, climbing and swinging to start off our vist. Then we set up a movie and brought in a popcorn machine that everyone seemed to enjoy (including the bus driver, Edwin).

We ate dinner at a new burger joint in Teguc.  (I know... we can eat burgers at home...but they had a  touch of Honduras in them)  It was called La Matambrita.  Afterwards we returned to the house for our last evening together.  We talked about continuing our passion for serving God after the trip.  We worshipped and communed with passion as a family with One Father.  We are all upset that week has come to a close, but overjoyed with the memories made and the relationships created.  

Written by: Caity Davis and Michael Wallace 

Day 7 (Photos)

Mother Teresa Home

Casitas Kennedy

Day Seven

Today was a very special day for me as we were set to visit the Mother Teresa orphanage where I was most impacted on my first trip here. We started off the morning by going to the village of Moa Loa where we spent time playing soccer, playing with the kids, and visiting the village daycare and food serving house. Before leaving we also passed out our remaining food bags to a few of the families in the village. Next we visited the Casitas Kennedy which is the orphanage that all the children in Honduras are run through before they are distributed out to more long term orphanages. The orphanage was celebrating Mothers day which meant that many of the children had mothers visiting. We spent time playing with a few of the other children in the meantime. We had some group bonding time on the playground as we played a few rounds of  "trust fall" where we took turns falling backwards off of the playground equipment into the waiting arms of our fellow team members. Some rounds went better than others...lol. We spent the next few hours after that at Mother Teresa where I was reunited with Kenny, who I have completely fallen in love with. Seeing his smiling face put a smile on my face that nothing could take away! Being able to hold and spend time with him is what these trips are all about, showing God's love. If I could figure out a way to bring him home with me, I would do it in a heartbeat :) I am constantly amazed by the love the children in this orphanage have to give and the joy that is brought to them simply by giving them your attention and showing them love. There was a big difference from last year when the kids were acting chaotic to this year which was much more reformed because they have hired a teacher which spends one on one time with the kids each day teaching them motor skills and discipline. After dinner we spent the night at Breaking Chains where we helped to do a feeding for the homeless of Honduras. In Isaiah 56 we find God talking about the fact that it was not just Israelites who would become children of God, that eunuchs and Gentiles would also be accepted into God's family. Often times as Christians, or even simply as a people who are blessed with an adequate amount of money and luxuries, it can be easy to forgot that Jesus died that ALL would be saved. I am constantly overwhelmed by a people who, by the worlds standards, have so little but are always the first ones to praise God for all He has done for them. It is a source of motivation for me in my daily life, that I would strive to not just call myself a follower of God, but to be truly thankful for the blessings in my life and to always put others before myself. I am so thankful to be a part of what God is doing in Honduras and He is DEFINITELY at work!

-written by Stephen Carter

Day 6 Photos

Before

During

Jesus Statue (El Picachu)

Day Six

This here blog is being written by Joshua Davisson and Eric Somerville, please do enjoy.

Today was a very emotional and intense day, we built a house for a 47 year old woman who had 12 children and 8 grandchildren, 16 of whom all lived in the same small "house" . When we arrived we did not see the build site right away, to our surprise it was an addition to her current living arrangement and it was back behind her house. It was a very tight squeeze but in the end it paid off more than any of us expected it to. And upon completing the mother wanted to say something to all of us, she began to cry and said "I want to thank God first, and you all second..." This stood out to me personally because this should be the attitude all of us take when we do works for others, this is the primary building block to our faith. As it says in James faith without deeds is dead. As the day wound down we had dinner and began to head for the Jesus statue ,which is inspirational in itself, when we got there it was just becoming dark and we had the most beautiful view I think I have ever seen. You could see out across the entire city and the statue itself was enough to take your breath away. After taking in the site we met underneath the statue and had a time of worship and devotion. It was an amazing time to sit and talk amongst one another about the day and our thoughts so far on this trip. It's been a life changing trip, moment after moment, and a week of my life I will never forget. I am constantly amazed at the amount of love that can be poured out of one group and the amount of love one person can take in. To say I have found the true meaning of love is an understatement. Up to this point in my life my view of love has been skewed, God is love.
-Josh & Eric

Day Five

Wuzz good? Day five started out with a delicious reheated breakfast from Caity.  We then did some finishing touches on our food bags that we prepared for our feeding with the Mayor of Tegucigalpa's wife.  We arrived at the facility to the sight of a crowd of women sitting and waiting for the mayor's wife and the food bags to arrive.  After unloading the bags and waiting she arrived to the applause of the crowd.  We were called to the front and after we were cordially welcomed, they gave a quick speech and we began handing out bags. The event organizers maintained control and prevented any chaos.  We took a picture of our group and the Mayor's wife for the newspaper.  Then we were off to our next destination. (Daniel Wallace)

We then traveled to the dump site and handed out food and water to the people there with Mark Tindall.
They typically scrounge through the rubble looking for plastic and cardboard in amongst the cattle, vultures, and dogs. The view is unfathomable...pictures can never do justice to the situation at the dump.  Alan and Mike described how it used to be at the dump....years ago girls were not allowed to go.  Now we are able to go and mingle  It was a life changing day for me and the rest of the team as well as we saw God's love radiating through us and onto the Honduran people. There was even one man at the dump that gave me his bracelet even though I had nothing to give in return. (Lindsay Tejan)

When it was time to leave, a man jumped on the back of the bus and got a free ride down to the bottom of the dump. After that the stench lingered in the air for what seemed like forever. We were supposed to build a house but instead we went to Breaking Chains to help clean up the rubble from their old roof as they are getting a new roof.  The work was hard and incredibly dusty. We had a group of guys lifting wheelbarrows full of brick in to the back of a dump truck.  We had to separate the tin, tile, wood, and cement.  Many people from the community ranging from toddlers with wheelbarrows, to teenage Moms, to a man with one leg ... all along with our team worked for hours.  Although we didn't finish, we were able to fill two dump trucks before we had to leave. (Liz Grimsley)

We came back to Taco Loco for dinner.  A feast everyone who does a mission trip to Honduras should experience.  Tomorrow we build again!

Day Four Pics

 Shopping

 Setting up the store

 Standing in line patiently

 Soccer in Nuevo Oriental

 The village road

The Basicila

Beautiful Stained Glass windows

Night time soccer....