Friday was a rough day. I felt terrible all day long. It was like the sickness renewed it's attack overnight and gave me all it had on Friday. To add to it we had a house build on rock mountain. We built in Santa Ana and it was a tough one. I literally built on a huge rock so digging the post was ridiculously difficult. I sometimes think that God must have known when He created the world that we would be building a house in places like this and why couldn't He have made the ground a little softer in these places. I wonder if He is having a good ole time watching us pound away at these rocks. Either way, hard or soft ground, we had a mission and it was to build a family a house, and that's exactly what we did. I personally didn't do a whole lot except direct people to do things bc I was really sick. My 43rd overall housebuild and I barely lifted a hammer but the result was the same. One more family in a house and that's what it's all about.
Saturday I felt much much better. The doctor gave me some different meds that started working Friday evening and Saturday was better. I wasn't 100% but anything was better than Friday. We packed up the remaining load of food we had and went to Mololoa to distribute it. We thankfully had a truck to haul the bags of food up the mountain but it's still difficult to get them to the houses. It was another very productive day and it was also the last work day of the summer for this group and for me, which made it pretty bittersweet when we were finished. We went to the peace monument for a little while afterwards and the back to the mission house.
Today we worshiped in Mololoa and I had a first. I'm not a song leader, never have been. Never done that before but since I've sorta given others my sickness the last few days, we were short on people to lead singing. So I got to do that at church this morning and it was quite an experience. After that we went straight to the Valley of Angels where about a dozen of us decided to go on the zip line. It was 15 lines that took about 2 hours but it was a lot of fun. We went to the top of one of the mountains that surround the valley and rode the lines all the way to the bottom. It was soo much fun. After that we went to Dr. Aguilera's house where his Nephew grilled steaks for us for dinner. It was an amazing dinner. Steak and beans and tortillas and pico and ice cream. We had devo there and have just gotten back to the mission house to pack up for our trip home tomorrow.
I'll go ahead and say that tomorrow will be a bad day. Any time you have to leave a place you love, it is a bad day. This trip has been incredible. I've worked with amazing friends and made incredible new friends along the way. Everyone I've been blessed to work with has been amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better team of interns to be a part of or better groups to work with. People say a lot that their heart stays here when they fly home and I can honestly say that. For the next 9 or 10 months my thoughts will be here, I will wish to be here, I will look forward to nothing more than the day I land at Toncontin airport again. My heart stays here though, with the people I've met and the ones I know are still in need. With the people at the dump who are hungry everyday and the kids who grow up knowing nothing but that atmosphere. With the people who pray everyday for a house and will have to wait day after day for their prayers to be answered. With the mothers who worry about whether or not they'll have food for their kids tonight. With the parents who earn $2 a day and wonder how their families will continue to survive. My heart is here with them. There are billions around the world living on $2 a day. No matter how much time you spend serving them, trying to ease their pain, we are never going to relieve all the pain and suffering. But one thing is for sure, we are going to give it our best shot until Christ returns. I hate saying bye to people here but the sadness is always lessened by the hope that I'll be back, that God has more plans for me here. That hope will help me tomorrow and if God wants me back here again, I know I'll be coming back soon. We try to reach people through service, by serving others you are showing them the love of Christ not by beating them over the head with a Bible. First comes meeting their needs and they are open to hearing about the gospel, about the one who inspired you to help them. These past few weeks we have been able to do that. To meet the needs of others in hopes that they will be open to hearing the gospel from the missionaries and preachers we work with. We may not see the results of our labors but we can trust that God is using the works of our hands to reach their hearts. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my adventures this summer. It's been a blast and Lord willing I'll be doing it again next year...or maybe sooner :)
Our flight leaves around noon tomorrow and we will be getting back home around midnight or just a little afterwards. If you would please pray that we all have a safe trip back home tomorrow then that would be awesome. I know we would all appreciate it. God Bless!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Don't tell me it's almost over...
Ok so I know I've gotten lazy with updating the blog. It's been a long week but a good nonetheless. Sunday we went to church in Mololoa. With 69 gringos we packed the place and the sidewalks outside. After church we went to lunch and then Didasko. If you remember a couple weeks ago I posted about the financial struggles that Jorge Castillo, the director of Didasko orphanage, was having. Palmetto Church of Christ and Mayesville Church of Christ decided to raise money specifically for the orphanage and together they raised $8,000. So we went out to the orphanage and decided to see their specific needs and which ones we can meet. Our leaders met with Jorge and the money is going to be a huge help for them. I'm not sure exactly how it will be used but it will help tremendously.
Monday we went back out to Mololoa and built 2 more houses. We had another long trek up the mountain but finally made it to the site. Then after carrying the wood down to the actual house site we got started. My team had a house right on the edge of the mountain, like if you fell, you were going all the way to the bottom unless a few rows of barb wire caught you first. It was intense but we got the house built.
Tuesday the group I was with had a few different things to do. First off, we went to the grocery store to buy bread, meat, bananas, cookies and water for over 200 people. We then made the sandwiches and headed to the dump to give them out to the people that live and work there. For those who have never been there, it is quite an experience and a place I love to go. Of course it smells terrible but you are giving food to people who literally have nothing. It's a place I wish we could go everyday. The little kids come running from everywhere all dirty and jumping over piles of garbage. It's a really tough place to go but it's a place that sorely needs hope. We fed just over 200 people. You want so badly to take the kids out of that place and put them somewhere where they will actually have a chance at a decent life. It's really awful. After that we went to the hospital for about an hour and then back to the mission house.
Wednesday I was with a group that packaged up food and went to Tres Rosas to deliver bags of food. It is a really, really mountainous area. We gave out about 225 bags roughly but it was a tiresome thing to do. After that we went to dinner in Santa Lucia and then back to the mission house.
Today we built another house out in El Peliguin which is in the La Tigra rainforest. The site was a little ways off the road so wood had to be carried but the build went pretty quick. We had the house built in 3 and a half hours. By 1:30 we had met up with the rest of the team that was delivering more bags of food in the area and we stole about 70 of their bags and went ahead of them to give those out. We were able to do a lot of great work today but I must say that I'm pretty tired.
We have also had Dr. Jorge Aguillera conducting medical clinics everyday this week. He has been working tirelessly in different communities seeing as many people as he can. I'm not sure how many he has seen but it is well up into the hundreds. It's awesome to be able to work alongside someone like him who has such a passion for meeting the medical needs of people.
Since Sunday I've been sick. First it started with my stomach and then it moved to my chest and head. My sinus' have been killing me and I've been coughing like it's going out of style. It's been a long week to say the least but today I feel I've turned a corner and am getting better. The bad thing is that a few others have picked up this cold, or whatever it is, from me. Tonight we are going to the Jesus statue after dinner so that should be fun. Today is Thursday and the thought is starting to creep into my mind that in just 4 days I'll be headed back to the states. It's hard to stay focused on the work at hand when you know it's going to be coming to an end for you soon. I want nothing more than to be able to stay here much longer but everything eventually comes to an end. I'm now on the home stretch, today marks exactly a month that I've been here. It's time to finish strong. It's amazing how quickly time goes by. Our team shrinks tomorrow. The Mayesville group heads back home in the morning and that leaves about 25 or so of us for the remainder of the trip. It has been a blast working with them again this year and hopefully things work out so we can do it again next year.
Monday we went back out to Mololoa and built 2 more houses. We had another long trek up the mountain but finally made it to the site. Then after carrying the wood down to the actual house site we got started. My team had a house right on the edge of the mountain, like if you fell, you were going all the way to the bottom unless a few rows of barb wire caught you first. It was intense but we got the house built.
Tuesday the group I was with had a few different things to do. First off, we went to the grocery store to buy bread, meat, bananas, cookies and water for over 200 people. We then made the sandwiches and headed to the dump to give them out to the people that live and work there. For those who have never been there, it is quite an experience and a place I love to go. Of course it smells terrible but you are giving food to people who literally have nothing. It's a place I wish we could go everyday. The little kids come running from everywhere all dirty and jumping over piles of garbage. It's a really tough place to go but it's a place that sorely needs hope. We fed just over 200 people. You want so badly to take the kids out of that place and put them somewhere where they will actually have a chance at a decent life. It's really awful. After that we went to the hospital for about an hour and then back to the mission house.
Wednesday I was with a group that packaged up food and went to Tres Rosas to deliver bags of food. It is a really, really mountainous area. We gave out about 225 bags roughly but it was a tiresome thing to do. After that we went to dinner in Santa Lucia and then back to the mission house.
Today we built another house out in El Peliguin which is in the La Tigra rainforest. The site was a little ways off the road so wood had to be carried but the build went pretty quick. We had the house built in 3 and a half hours. By 1:30 we had met up with the rest of the team that was delivering more bags of food in the area and we stole about 70 of their bags and went ahead of them to give those out. We were able to do a lot of great work today but I must say that I'm pretty tired.
We have also had Dr. Jorge Aguillera conducting medical clinics everyday this week. He has been working tirelessly in different communities seeing as many people as he can. I'm not sure how many he has seen but it is well up into the hundreds. It's awesome to be able to work alongside someone like him who has such a passion for meeting the medical needs of people.
Since Sunday I've been sick. First it started with my stomach and then it moved to my chest and head. My sinus' have been killing me and I've been coughing like it's going out of style. It's been a long week to say the least but today I feel I've turned a corner and am getting better. The bad thing is that a few others have picked up this cold, or whatever it is, from me. Tonight we are going to the Jesus statue after dinner so that should be fun. Today is Thursday and the thought is starting to creep into my mind that in just 4 days I'll be headed back to the states. It's hard to stay focused on the work at hand when you know it's going to be coming to an end for you soon. I want nothing more than to be able to stay here much longer but everything eventually comes to an end. I'm now on the home stretch, today marks exactly a month that I've been here. It's time to finish strong. It's amazing how quickly time goes by. Our team shrinks tomorrow. The Mayesville group heads back home in the morning and that leaves about 25 or so of us for the remainder of the trip. It has been a blast working with them again this year and hopefully things work out so we can do it again next year.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
I really don't like concrete footings under a house site.....
Friday began a new part of the trip for me. I was the only one staying to work with the next group and they were arriving around noon. I road downtown on the bus and waited for about 3 hours at the airport until they landed and jumped into the extremely long customs lines. One good thing about going to the airport is that you never know who you're going to meet. I met who runs a youth camp near lake Yojoa which is about 3 hours from Teguc. We talked a lot about the things he is doing there and the things that he hopes to do in the future. He gave me his info and said that they are always looking for people to come help out so who knows what will become of that but either way it's nice to meet others who are living out their passion. When the group finally landed we went to lunch and then back to the mission house. We didn't really do any work but got settled in at the mission house. I was able to weasel my way out of being in the 30 man room and into a 4 man room in the nice upstairs building with just 1 other guy. We'll see how long this lasts but right now it is great.
Today we had two house builds in Mololoa. With this group I'll be in charge of a build site each day we build. So I've got 20 gringos looking to me for direction which is fun but hectic at the same time. Just as the last house I built in Mololoa, this site was way, way up the mountain. I thought the last one was far up but the one was up past the other one. The best thing was that the site was right next to the road, the worst thing was that the site was ridiculously small. The people had built a retaining wall and then filled it with dirt up about 5 feet. Then they put a ton of concrete the next 2 feet, and then 6 inches of dirt. So here I was thinking that this thing was going to be great. A small site but it seemed to be full of loose dirt which makes post hole digging sooo easy....I quickly found out that wasn't the case. We chipped and whacked at concrete for quite a while and finally were able to put the post in. There were plenty of blistered hands after that. I got frustrated with a person, Honduran, that I wish had not been there. Not some of the young guys that always work with us but another that I won't name but he had seen a house built differently and thought we should do it that way. Thankfully we had a few other guys that had never built before but they helped out tremendously since they were contractors and had an idea of how to build. They understood I was the go to guy and pretty much ignored the other dude and we were able to finally get some things fixed that had been done wrong because that dude had been going behind me telling people to do things a different way. Frustrating to say the least. I finally told him to back off and stop bossing people around and he did a bit but not completely. It turned out to be a nice 12 x 16 house though, with what I'm assuming is the first Torch awning over the front door to keep water from coming in. It was pretty sweet. One of the greatest things about working here is that when you deliver a bag of food or build a house you get to see pure joy on the face of the person receiving it. I was frustrated today and the lady we were building the house for must have noticed. She was a really sweet lady and pulled me aside for a second and said, in english, "God bless you for what you are doing, you are doing a wonderful thing for my family and we thank you and praise God" and she said it with a huge smile on her face. That was all I needed to turn my day around. That's what it's all about right there. Serving in a way that people praise God for what we are doing. I won't lie, I was a little surprised she knew english but it was a great pick-me-up. From then on it was like nothing could get me down again. We finished up about 2:30 and headed down to the daycare for a special presentation by the staff and kids. The other build team finished up at 2:45 so by 3 we were all at the daycare and ready for them. It was family day and since Palmetto Church of Christ sponsors the daycare and kitchen, they try to have a family day that we can go to while we are here. The kids had been practicing a skit, The Good Samaritan. It was absolutely hilarious. 2-5 year olds acting this skit out and really putting all their effort into it was great. They also had been practicing some songs in english and sang them to us. It's awesome to see how much of a difference we are making in not only the kids lives but also the staff and the families. They had cake and coke for everyone and we played outside with the kids for a little while. By now they all know who I am so when I get there they are ready to play, it's great. After that we loaded up and came back to the mission house and we've been here since.
I'm still trying to get psyched up for the next few days. It's still hard but it'll get better. We have a lot of great things planned for this week and it will all be fantastic. There is another group staying here at the mission house with us and they have said that they are going to just work alongside us as part of our group. That will make 69 of us which is a pretty nice sized group. We'll be able to do a lot of things but more importantly show the love of Christ to the people we will serve. Tomorrow starts my last full week here and it is shaping up to be a great one.
Here's a great picture of the kids singing today
The house we built. The house site was so small, not much room to maneuver.
This was moments before the Good Samaritan was beaten. The two on the left with the gold bats were the robbers and the poor little guy in the middle right was the samaritan.
Man down, MAN DOWN!
Today we had two house builds in Mololoa. With this group I'll be in charge of a build site each day we build. So I've got 20 gringos looking to me for direction which is fun but hectic at the same time. Just as the last house I built in Mololoa, this site was way, way up the mountain. I thought the last one was far up but the one was up past the other one. The best thing was that the site was right next to the road, the worst thing was that the site was ridiculously small. The people had built a retaining wall and then filled it with dirt up about 5 feet. Then they put a ton of concrete the next 2 feet, and then 6 inches of dirt. So here I was thinking that this thing was going to be great. A small site but it seemed to be full of loose dirt which makes post hole digging sooo easy....I quickly found out that wasn't the case. We chipped and whacked at concrete for quite a while and finally were able to put the post in. There were plenty of blistered hands after that. I got frustrated with a person, Honduran, that I wish had not been there. Not some of the young guys that always work with us but another that I won't name but he had seen a house built differently and thought we should do it that way. Thankfully we had a few other guys that had never built before but they helped out tremendously since they were contractors and had an idea of how to build. They understood I was the go to guy and pretty much ignored the other dude and we were able to finally get some things fixed that had been done wrong because that dude had been going behind me telling people to do things a different way. Frustrating to say the least. I finally told him to back off and stop bossing people around and he did a bit but not completely. It turned out to be a nice 12 x 16 house though, with what I'm assuming is the first Torch awning over the front door to keep water from coming in. It was pretty sweet. One of the greatest things about working here is that when you deliver a bag of food or build a house you get to see pure joy on the face of the person receiving it. I was frustrated today and the lady we were building the house for must have noticed. She was a really sweet lady and pulled me aside for a second and said, in english, "God bless you for what you are doing, you are doing a wonderful thing for my family and we thank you and praise God" and she said it with a huge smile on her face. That was all I needed to turn my day around. That's what it's all about right there. Serving in a way that people praise God for what we are doing. I won't lie, I was a little surprised she knew english but it was a great pick-me-up. From then on it was like nothing could get me down again. We finished up about 2:30 and headed down to the daycare for a special presentation by the staff and kids. The other build team finished up at 2:45 so by 3 we were all at the daycare and ready for them. It was family day and since Palmetto Church of Christ sponsors the daycare and kitchen, they try to have a family day that we can go to while we are here. The kids had been practicing a skit, The Good Samaritan. It was absolutely hilarious. 2-5 year olds acting this skit out and really putting all their effort into it was great. They also had been practicing some songs in english and sang them to us. It's awesome to see how much of a difference we are making in not only the kids lives but also the staff and the families. They had cake and coke for everyone and we played outside with the kids for a little while. By now they all know who I am so when I get there they are ready to play, it's great. After that we loaded up and came back to the mission house and we've been here since.
I'm still trying to get psyched up for the next few days. It's still hard but it'll get better. We have a lot of great things planned for this week and it will all be fantastic. There is another group staying here at the mission house with us and they have said that they are going to just work alongside us as part of our group. That will make 69 of us which is a pretty nice sized group. We'll be able to do a lot of things but more importantly show the love of Christ to the people we will serve. Tomorrow starts my last full week here and it is shaping up to be a great one.
Here's a great picture of the kids singing today
The house we built. The house site was so small, not much room to maneuver.
This was moments before the Good Samaritan was beaten. The two on the left with the gold bats were the robbers and the poor little guy in the middle right was the samaritan.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
I've gotten a few days behind on posting what I've been up to. So I've got a lot to say and a heavy heart that just wants to talk. Sunday we worshiped with the church at Los Pinos. It is a great congregation that has been around for quite a few years. They have great leadership and it's always great to be able to worship with them. From there we went to the valley of angels so the group could do some shopping. One advantage of coming here every summer and making friends with the bus drivers is that once you are friends they start taking you to places that they wouldn't dare take most other people. So at the valley they said that they knew of a great restaurant just a few blocks away so a few of the interns and I went with them and boy was it great. I had half a chicken and I heard the ribs and pork chops were amazing. I love getting away from the restaurants that everyone eats at and the restaurants that cater to tourists and are "americanized". Give me an off the map restaurant and that's where you'll find some amazing food. After we spent a few hours at the valley we headed back into Teguc to go to the mall for a few hours. We could eat dinner, which I did at Fridays, or just walk around and hang out. I did see the corndog lady for the first time this year but I saw her after I left Fridays and didn't want a corndog, next week though I'll get one of those bad boys. After that we went up to the mission house and had devo and everyone started getting ready to leave on Monday.
Monday morning is another one of those days you dread. The second team was leaving and we had to say goodby here at the mission house. I know I said it with the last group but I'll say it again. The people that we are blessed to meet here are incredible. I absolutely love the chance to meet so many amazing people and to see so many amazing friends every year. Very rarely can we all get together and see each other but one day we will all be together and I can't wait for that day. The interns had to say bye at the mission house because we were heading out to do a little more work. We went to the Church of Christ school here in Teguc called Baxter where a few Americans were staying to pick the up. They were here on a mission trip but really didn't have anything to do for a few days. Terry met them at the Didasko Orphanage and invited them to work with us monday so they could see how Torch operates. First we went to Mololoa where some people worked in the Kitchen and some of us went up to the daycare to play with kids. It was a blast. After that we took the remaining 55 bags of food that we had and went to a part of the La Tigra rainforest that I hadn't been to and gave out our last bags. It was bittersweet because that was the last bit of work that we were going to do as a team. It was awesome to have completed what we set to do this summer but it left us wanting to continue to serve alongside each other. The Americans we picked up from Baxter really enjoyed the things we did and seemed to have had a great time. So after we dropped them off the retreat for the interns officially began.
There was a rumor, started by Terry, that our retreat was going to be quite interesting. So of you may have heard of his poverty simulation that he did a few years ago. He took all of his interns to a nice restaurant, took them to a really nice hotel, and then the next morning gave them 10 minutes to gather 3 items each. He then dropped them off at a work site where they had to build and live in their house. He didn't tell them how long they would be there but he only made them stay one night. He provided water and bug spray and gave them each 20 limps a day, 1 USD, and left them. Apparently they had too many chiefs trying to build the house and didn't get it finished before the rains soaked them all. I heard it was pretty miserable but that now they wouldn't trade that experience for the world. So as the rumor started spreading that we were going to do that, Minor and I started coming up with an attack plan. We had 9 girls, Minor and I. We strategically determined the items we wanted to take and how we were going to do things and what amount of food we wanted to take. Terry took us to a very nice restaurant for dinner and then took us to Janet Hines amazing house where we stayed for the retreat. Everything was going just as it did the first time and I won't lie, I was pretty pumped up and excited. Anyone that knows me knows that I love building houses here and this would have been the ultimate challenge. I've built more houses than everyone else that was going to be there all put together. It was going to be great. So the Tuesday morning Terry takes us to the Bodega where we think we are getting the tools to go build a house. He said to pack our backpacks wisely so I was ready with my knife and hammer and flashlight and jackets and extra socks and all kinds of stuff. More than items but he never specified three to us. So we get to the Bodega and he stops us and tells us that we aren't going to be doing the poverty simulation. Instead the ladies that work with Mi Esperanza needed to practice manicures and pedicures to fulfill their service hours before they can get an internship. For a minute I was bummed out but then the lady came out and was like, we really need all the guys to do this because they really need to practice on men.....so for the sake of serving these ladies by allowing them to practice on men I reluctantly, very reluctantly :) let them torture my hands and feet. It turned out to be a lot of fun and it wasn't that bad. We had a great time and all the girls enjoyed it. Afterwards we went to the mall and had lunch again at Fridays, the corndog lady wasn't there, and bought groceries so we could cook our meals for the rest of the week at Janets house. We then chilled back at the house the rest of the evening and cooked burgers. Sat by the fires, and just hung out.
Wednesday we got to sleep in. We were leaving the house by 10:15 to head to the water park for the day. There is a water park just outside the city with water slides and a wave pool and a lot of other cool things. Every time I've gone it's been overcast and like 80 which makes the water cold. This day was no exception but that never stops us. We had an absolute blast on the the slides and in the pools and when the rains came we didn't let up...well not immediately. It eventually got pretty chilly and I was starting to turn purple and we started one by one heading back to get changed into some warm dry clothes. I think we all had a great time, I know I did. Once we had all changed we headed back to the house about 4 and had another relaxing evening. We grilled chicken and had a great dinner and devo and it really set in for me that this was almost over. A few of us stayed up till about 2:30 or 3 just talking because we knew that the end was near and we weren't ready to face it yet. We just wanted to continue to be in each others presence and be with one another. I have another 11 days here but all the interns are in the air right now flying back. We dropped them off at the airport and after they had cleared the checkpoint and we couldn't see them anymore, I came back here to the mission house with Josue, Yoni and Cesar.
It is such a great feeling to come here and do so many great things for people, to know that you are changing someones life, that you are giving someone hope that they didn't have. But as great as that feeling is, when the team you are working with begins to break up after the mission is accomplished, the heart ache and sadness you feel as they leave equals the greatness of the things you've done and trust me we have done some great things. I've been sitting in my room here at the mission house for 3 hours not wanting to leave because I just don't want to move on. I feel like a teenage girl talking but it has been such an incredible 3 weeks with some of the most amazing people on the planet and I just don't want it to end. As we talked last night I said that it was hard when the first team left and the second team arrived. We had to say bye and then Hi within a matter of 30 minutes. We had to immediately be geared up for an energetic team coming in when we were sad to see people leave. That doesn't compare to having been with a small group for 3-4 weeks and having them all leave. Seeing people you care about go through the security gates and you know you can't follow. I am so thankful that I'm still here and able to continue serving but I'd give anything to have those that are in the air back here with me right now with more tasks to be accomplished but that just isn't going to happen. They are now gone and there's another group coming in tomorrow that will be energetic and ready to work and I've got to get ready for them physically and emotionally but emotionally is the tougher task. I've made friends that I hope and pray I have for years and years to come, people that I hope and pray that God will bring us back together. These are friends that don't just push and inspire me to be a better person, I have friends at home for that, but rather to be a better servant of God, people I don't completely lack at home but that I need more of. But it's times like these when you feel alone that God is there to comfort us. He is who we need to strengthen us and to guide us. So my journey continues with a heavy heart. For those that know me, you know I'm not a very emotional person. I don't cry much but if I do I do on my own. Today has already been a long day and I can't wait for it to end.
But tomorrow is a new day, a new trip for me in many ways. It's time to suck it up and lay everything out on the table again. I'll have my pity party today and be waiting at the airport tomorrow ready start over. My prayer today and I hope yours to is that the team makes it home safely. Two are going to the Florida Keys, one to Missouri, one to Oklahoma, one to Maryland and the rest to Nashville. Lets pray they all make it home safely.
Monday morning is another one of those days you dread. The second team was leaving and we had to say goodby here at the mission house. I know I said it with the last group but I'll say it again. The people that we are blessed to meet here are incredible. I absolutely love the chance to meet so many amazing people and to see so many amazing friends every year. Very rarely can we all get together and see each other but one day we will all be together and I can't wait for that day. The interns had to say bye at the mission house because we were heading out to do a little more work. We went to the Church of Christ school here in Teguc called Baxter where a few Americans were staying to pick the up. They were here on a mission trip but really didn't have anything to do for a few days. Terry met them at the Didasko Orphanage and invited them to work with us monday so they could see how Torch operates. First we went to Mololoa where some people worked in the Kitchen and some of us went up to the daycare to play with kids. It was a blast. After that we took the remaining 55 bags of food that we had and went to a part of the La Tigra rainforest that I hadn't been to and gave out our last bags. It was bittersweet because that was the last bit of work that we were going to do as a team. It was awesome to have completed what we set to do this summer but it left us wanting to continue to serve alongside each other. The Americans we picked up from Baxter really enjoyed the things we did and seemed to have had a great time. So after we dropped them off the retreat for the interns officially began.
There was a rumor, started by Terry, that our retreat was going to be quite interesting. So of you may have heard of his poverty simulation that he did a few years ago. He took all of his interns to a nice restaurant, took them to a really nice hotel, and then the next morning gave them 10 minutes to gather 3 items each. He then dropped them off at a work site where they had to build and live in their house. He didn't tell them how long they would be there but he only made them stay one night. He provided water and bug spray and gave them each 20 limps a day, 1 USD, and left them. Apparently they had too many chiefs trying to build the house and didn't get it finished before the rains soaked them all. I heard it was pretty miserable but that now they wouldn't trade that experience for the world. So as the rumor started spreading that we were going to do that, Minor and I started coming up with an attack plan. We had 9 girls, Minor and I. We strategically determined the items we wanted to take and how we were going to do things and what amount of food we wanted to take. Terry took us to a very nice restaurant for dinner and then took us to Janet Hines amazing house where we stayed for the retreat. Everything was going just as it did the first time and I won't lie, I was pretty pumped up and excited. Anyone that knows me knows that I love building houses here and this would have been the ultimate challenge. I've built more houses than everyone else that was going to be there all put together. It was going to be great. So the Tuesday morning Terry takes us to the Bodega where we think we are getting the tools to go build a house. He said to pack our backpacks wisely so I was ready with my knife and hammer and flashlight and jackets and extra socks and all kinds of stuff. More than items but he never specified three to us. So we get to the Bodega and he stops us and tells us that we aren't going to be doing the poverty simulation. Instead the ladies that work with Mi Esperanza needed to practice manicures and pedicures to fulfill their service hours before they can get an internship. For a minute I was bummed out but then the lady came out and was like, we really need all the guys to do this because they really need to practice on men.....so for the sake of serving these ladies by allowing them to practice on men I reluctantly, very reluctantly :) let them torture my hands and feet. It turned out to be a lot of fun and it wasn't that bad. We had a great time and all the girls enjoyed it. Afterwards we went to the mall and had lunch again at Fridays, the corndog lady wasn't there, and bought groceries so we could cook our meals for the rest of the week at Janets house. We then chilled back at the house the rest of the evening and cooked burgers. Sat by the fires, and just hung out.
Wednesday we got to sleep in. We were leaving the house by 10:15 to head to the water park for the day. There is a water park just outside the city with water slides and a wave pool and a lot of other cool things. Every time I've gone it's been overcast and like 80 which makes the water cold. This day was no exception but that never stops us. We had an absolute blast on the the slides and in the pools and when the rains came we didn't let up...well not immediately. It eventually got pretty chilly and I was starting to turn purple and we started one by one heading back to get changed into some warm dry clothes. I think we all had a great time, I know I did. Once we had all changed we headed back to the house about 4 and had another relaxing evening. We grilled chicken and had a great dinner and devo and it really set in for me that this was almost over. A few of us stayed up till about 2:30 or 3 just talking because we knew that the end was near and we weren't ready to face it yet. We just wanted to continue to be in each others presence and be with one another. I have another 11 days here but all the interns are in the air right now flying back. We dropped them off at the airport and after they had cleared the checkpoint and we couldn't see them anymore, I came back here to the mission house with Josue, Yoni and Cesar.
It is such a great feeling to come here and do so many great things for people, to know that you are changing someones life, that you are giving someone hope that they didn't have. But as great as that feeling is, when the team you are working with begins to break up after the mission is accomplished, the heart ache and sadness you feel as they leave equals the greatness of the things you've done and trust me we have done some great things. I've been sitting in my room here at the mission house for 3 hours not wanting to leave because I just don't want to move on. I feel like a teenage girl talking but it has been such an incredible 3 weeks with some of the most amazing people on the planet and I just don't want it to end. As we talked last night I said that it was hard when the first team left and the second team arrived. We had to say bye and then Hi within a matter of 30 minutes. We had to immediately be geared up for an energetic team coming in when we were sad to see people leave. That doesn't compare to having been with a small group for 3-4 weeks and having them all leave. Seeing people you care about go through the security gates and you know you can't follow. I am so thankful that I'm still here and able to continue serving but I'd give anything to have those that are in the air back here with me right now with more tasks to be accomplished but that just isn't going to happen. They are now gone and there's another group coming in tomorrow that will be energetic and ready to work and I've got to get ready for them physically and emotionally but emotionally is the tougher task. I've made friends that I hope and pray I have for years and years to come, people that I hope and pray that God will bring us back together. These are friends that don't just push and inspire me to be a better person, I have friends at home for that, but rather to be a better servant of God, people I don't completely lack at home but that I need more of. But it's times like these when you feel alone that God is there to comfort us. He is who we need to strengthen us and to guide us. So my journey continues with a heavy heart. For those that know me, you know I'm not a very emotional person. I don't cry much but if I do I do on my own. Today has already been a long day and I can't wait for it to end.
But tomorrow is a new day, a new trip for me in many ways. It's time to suck it up and lay everything out on the table again. I'll have my pity party today and be waiting at the airport tomorrow ready start over. My prayer today and I hope yours to is that the team makes it home safely. Two are going to the Florida Keys, one to Missouri, one to Oklahoma, one to Maryland and the rest to Nashville. Lets pray they all make it home safely.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Create in me a clean heart, Oh God. And renew a right spirit with in me. Psalms 51:10
Thursday we built a house in the La Tigra rain forest just north of Teguc. The site was right off of the road and it was a great site. We put up the house in a little over 3 hours. A group was also breaking down big bags of food into smaller bags for individual families in La Tigra. As they were heading into the rainforest they drove by our work site and we had finished about 15 minutes earlier. So we loaded up on their bus and went and gave out bags of food. La Tigra is a very mountainous area with lots of steep hikes. Thursday we were able to build a house and feed about 200 families so it was an awesome day. The only bad part was we had a person get injured. I was standing on the roof holding a piece of tin roofing and waiting for the lady, Katie Wells, to finish nailing in a piece so I could put the next one down. As she finished nailing she stood up and took a step back so I could put the next piece down and as she stepped back she missed the roof rafter and fell. She was able to catch herself with her arms as she fell down but on her way down her wrist hit the piece of tin I was holding and sliced it open. She was bleeding pretty bad and had to go have 12 stitches in her wrist. She is ok now but it definitely hurt her although it hasn't slowed her down much.
Friday we had two groups building houses out near the dump. The group I was with went to a place I hadn't been before and the view from the front of the house we built was incredible. You could see 4 rows of mountains off in the distance, it was a great place. The build took just over 4 hours which is still a pretty quick build. We had one more injury, the fiance of Katie Wells (the lady whose wrist I accidentally sliced open) named Jared. Another intern, Rachel, was on the roof and dropped her hammer and it nailed (no pun intended) Jared on the top of his head. It bled for a while but he didn't need stitches or anything. Those two have had a couple of rough days.
Today we built two more houses and the group I was with was back over near the dump. The build took a little less than 4 hours. We had to drop the first team off at their site and by the time we made it to ours it was 11:30 but we were able to finish by 3:30. It was another steep climb to the site but the build went very smoothly with no one getting hurt this time.
A few of us have built three houses the last three days and I definitely won't deny that I'm tired. I have muscles hurting that I didn't know I had. As tired as I am now though, I'd have to say that Thursday was one of my roughest days yet. I was still feeling pretty bad with a sinus headache, I was tired that evening after building and going up and down the mountains giving out food. To say the least I was exhausted physically and mentally. 1 Peter 5:8 says, Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Thursday night I was that someone. Mentally I was ready to check-out. I started having thoughts about how great it would be to sleep in my own bed and have time to just do nothing, to be back home. I started thinking about how stupid I've been to think that I could actually be a full time missionary when a few weeks of this wears me out physically and mentally with all the hunger and misery and pain that you see and the needs we strive to meet. Physically I can't do it, emotionally I can't do it. Why did I ever think I could? All these thoughts and doubts about what am I doing here, I can't make a difference kept running through my mind even as I was building a house and passing out food. It's so much, you can never do enough. That night at devo our speaker talked about knowing your weaknesses and understanding that we are doing great things for God and that Satan hates it and is going to use our weakest moments to tear us down. Talk about the right devo at the right time. Satan loves to attack at a persons weakest moments. For me it's when I'm tired, worn out physically and/or mentally. Those are the times he is after me. I prayed that night that if God didn't want me here then to take my desire to be here away, to lead me away from this mission field and to something else that He wants for me. But that if He does have a plan for me here then to strengthen me emotionally and spiritually to continue this work and increase my desire to be here to the point that I can't stand to be anywhere but here serving Him. I took some nyquil (Anyone that knows me well knows that stuff knocks me out quickly) and went to bed. Satan placed doubts in my mind but the last two days have been amazing. I started thinking about how great it'll be to go home but my mindset literally changed overnight. I'm now past the halfway point of my trip and I am dreading the day I have to leave. My passion right now for this place and the work here is as strong as ever even though my body is weak and tired. I hate to think that just a few days ago I was thinking it would be good to go home. One thing that always irritates me is when people do something bad and say, "well the devil made me do it". Satan doesn't make us do anything just like God doesn't make us do anything, well except for maybe Jonah. A strong argument can be made that God made/strongly persuaded Jonah to go to Ninevah. But anyways, Satan gives us a choice just like God does. God doesn't make us obey Him, He doesn't make us live our lives according to scripture but He gives us the choice to do it or not do it. Satan doesn't make us sin but he gives us plenty of opportunities to. He waits for our weakest moments and gives us a temptation that he thinks we can't ignore or deny. He feeds us thoughts that we can either give into and listen to or let them go in one ear and out the other. He didn't make Jesus turn stones to bread but he tried to tempt Him into it. Satan tries to get us to do anything that goes against God's will but we always have a choice to or not to give in. Thursday I started giving serious thoughts to the doubts Satan was feeding me. I could have shut down for the rest of the trip, given in and let Satan dwindle my desire to be here away. But over the last two days I've chosen to let God work through me and He has strengthened my passion for the works here. He has built me up emotionally and started drawing me back towards Him. My point is that in all things we have a choice. Spiritual warfare is ongoing and will continue until Christ returns. Satan has lost but he isn't going down without trying to take a few of us with him. Our choices are our own, they aren't Satan's, they aren't God's, they are yours and mine. The only question is who are you going to follow? The temptations of Satan to stray you from God or the truth that is God and His love and desire to save you from evil and show you through His word how to live life to the fullest. The choice is yours and yours alone.
We also lost an incredible woman today to cancer. The desire and passion I saw in Claudia Pinkston to serve the people of Honduras and to try to make a difference in the world not only here but in every aspect of her life should inspire anyone that knew her and saw her in action. We lost a great lady today but heaven gained a great soul.
Friday we had two groups building houses out near the dump. The group I was with went to a place I hadn't been before and the view from the front of the house we built was incredible. You could see 4 rows of mountains off in the distance, it was a great place. The build took just over 4 hours which is still a pretty quick build. We had one more injury, the fiance of Katie Wells (the lady whose wrist I accidentally sliced open) named Jared. Another intern, Rachel, was on the roof and dropped her hammer and it nailed (no pun intended) Jared on the top of his head. It bled for a while but he didn't need stitches or anything. Those two have had a couple of rough days.
Today we built two more houses and the group I was with was back over near the dump. The build took a little less than 4 hours. We had to drop the first team off at their site and by the time we made it to ours it was 11:30 but we were able to finish by 3:30. It was another steep climb to the site but the build went very smoothly with no one getting hurt this time.
A few of us have built three houses the last three days and I definitely won't deny that I'm tired. I have muscles hurting that I didn't know I had. As tired as I am now though, I'd have to say that Thursday was one of my roughest days yet. I was still feeling pretty bad with a sinus headache, I was tired that evening after building and going up and down the mountains giving out food. To say the least I was exhausted physically and mentally. 1 Peter 5:8 says, Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Thursday night I was that someone. Mentally I was ready to check-out. I started having thoughts about how great it would be to sleep in my own bed and have time to just do nothing, to be back home. I started thinking about how stupid I've been to think that I could actually be a full time missionary when a few weeks of this wears me out physically and mentally with all the hunger and misery and pain that you see and the needs we strive to meet. Physically I can't do it, emotionally I can't do it. Why did I ever think I could? All these thoughts and doubts about what am I doing here, I can't make a difference kept running through my mind even as I was building a house and passing out food. It's so much, you can never do enough. That night at devo our speaker talked about knowing your weaknesses and understanding that we are doing great things for God and that Satan hates it and is going to use our weakest moments to tear us down. Talk about the right devo at the right time. Satan loves to attack at a persons weakest moments. For me it's when I'm tired, worn out physically and/or mentally. Those are the times he is after me. I prayed that night that if God didn't want me here then to take my desire to be here away, to lead me away from this mission field and to something else that He wants for me. But that if He does have a plan for me here then to strengthen me emotionally and spiritually to continue this work and increase my desire to be here to the point that I can't stand to be anywhere but here serving Him. I took some nyquil (Anyone that knows me well knows that stuff knocks me out quickly) and went to bed. Satan placed doubts in my mind but the last two days have been amazing. I started thinking about how great it'll be to go home but my mindset literally changed overnight. I'm now past the halfway point of my trip and I am dreading the day I have to leave. My passion right now for this place and the work here is as strong as ever even though my body is weak and tired. I hate to think that just a few days ago I was thinking it would be good to go home. One thing that always irritates me is when people do something bad and say, "well the devil made me do it". Satan doesn't make us do anything just like God doesn't make us do anything, well except for maybe Jonah. A strong argument can be made that God made/strongly persuaded Jonah to go to Ninevah. But anyways, Satan gives us a choice just like God does. God doesn't make us obey Him, He doesn't make us live our lives according to scripture but He gives us the choice to do it or not do it. Satan doesn't make us sin but he gives us plenty of opportunities to. He waits for our weakest moments and gives us a temptation that he thinks we can't ignore or deny. He feeds us thoughts that we can either give into and listen to or let them go in one ear and out the other. He didn't make Jesus turn stones to bread but he tried to tempt Him into it. Satan tries to get us to do anything that goes against God's will but we always have a choice to or not to give in. Thursday I started giving serious thoughts to the doubts Satan was feeding me. I could have shut down for the rest of the trip, given in and let Satan dwindle my desire to be here away. But over the last two days I've chosen to let God work through me and He has strengthened my passion for the works here. He has built me up emotionally and started drawing me back towards Him. My point is that in all things we have a choice. Spiritual warfare is ongoing and will continue until Christ returns. Satan has lost but he isn't going down without trying to take a few of us with him. Our choices are our own, they aren't Satan's, they aren't God's, they are yours and mine. The only question is who are you going to follow? The temptations of Satan to stray you from God or the truth that is God and His love and desire to save you from evil and show you through His word how to live life to the fullest. The choice is yours and yours alone.
We also lost an incredible woman today to cancer. The desire and passion I saw in Claudia Pinkston to serve the people of Honduras and to try to make a difference in the world not only here but in every aspect of her life should inspire anyone that knew her and saw her in action. We lost a great lady today but heaven gained a great soul.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
A treehouse playground to rival them all
On Saturday we had to do what we had all been dreading, say goodbye to a group of people who were a blast to work with and hang out with. There were so many great people in that group that we wished they could all have stayed the entire length of our trip with us. I made some new friends and hopefully we'll all be back here next year and can work together again. One great thing about Torch trips is that you meet people from many different parts of the country but the part about it that sucks is that when everyone goes back home you really can't just go see them. They live all over the place. One day though, we'll all be gathered in one place. So as we said by to one team as they began boarding their planes, we had to say hello to another group that was coming through the customs lines. The group that flew in Saturday was a little larger, about 55 which makes it a total of 68 people on the second trip. There are a lot of veteran "Torchers" on this trip and they pretty much know the routine. This year however is a little different. We loaded them on a bus after lunch, 2 hours later than we had planned, and headed to Choluteca for a few days. It's tough saying bye to people you want to still work with and within minutes welcome in new people but the bus ride was a good time to catch up with old friends and start making new ones. A 4 hour bus ride later and we were in Choluteca, the hottest and most humid place on earth. Saturday we didn't really do much except go to our rooms and sleep.
The Village outside of Choluteca that we worked at is called AguaAgria, I think it means Sour Water. It is a village with about 600 people, no running water and no electricity. Although they do have a well and a generator that they carry around if they need any power. It is a farming village with fields all around it and the people work the fields to make a living. They have one church and their own school which were the two places we worked in the most. So Sunday morning we went to worship at the church and it was amazing how many people showed up. Right around 290 people were counted in the church building. Subtract the 68 gringos and you have 222 Hondurans at church. I've never been to a Honduran service where there were that many Hondurans or people in general. It was a small one room church in the midst of a bunch of trees so there was very little breeze and it was steaming inside but it was a great church service nonetheless. After church we went to eat lunch at the center of town where our choices for lunch and dinner everyday were given, KFC, Wendy's or Pizza Hut. Needless to say I won't be eating at either of those 3 places for a while. Sunday afternoon was a day for sorthing all the clothes, shoes, meds, hygiene packs, vbs supplies and other things in order to get ready for the next couple of days. I went with 5 others to the school to see where we could build a playground, but I'll get to that beast later. So Sunday was a sorting and packaging day.
Monday we really started our work. We had one team doing a medical clinic. The people would first see the doctor and he would give them medicine if they needed it. They would then go to our pharmacy to pick up their medicine. Then they would go to another building and be able to get clothes from the clothes give away for their family. That went on all day. The VBS and womens classes started at 2p.m and were a big success but our biggest challenge was in putting this monster of a playground that a few of us had in our heads onto the ground in front of us. We had to tear down the old skeleton of a playground that they had, move the new one to a new location, use all the wood from the old one and new lumber we bought to create this monster in 2 days....well a day and a half after the wood was 4 hours late. The place where they wanted the playground had perfect trees to incorporate into these towers we were going to build so you can imagine what kind of thoughts we were having, a treehouse playground. The sky was the limit....well except that we had a budget we couldn't exceed. So Monday we got all the materials, most of the post set, some flooring on one of the towers and a few other things done but I'll be honest, I didn't think we'd be finished by the end of Tuesday (we had to leave this morning coming back). So at 5 we had to stop and go to the gospel meeting that we were having down at the Church. I think there were like 150 Hondurans at the meeting which was pretty impressive. After that it was back to dinner and the hotel.
Tuesday we really hit the ground running. We knew we had only one day to finish and we had to finish. The medical clinic and clothing distribution were going nonstop again. The womens class and VBS were a huge hit again and the playground was still a daunting task. We worked on that thing for 9 straight hours only stopping for water breaks. Slowly but surely it began to come together. There was a fallen tree that we cut up and used a 21 foot section to make a balance beam from the bottom level of one platform that was surrounding a tree up to the second platform around another tree. It has a 15 foot pipe slide connecting two platforms. One tree has a 3 story tower around it. 3 slides and 9 swings, a climbing rope, 2 other pieces of the tree to climb up to other platforms. You have no idea how much I wish I was 5 years old and could play on that thing. If any of you have seen the playground that Torch built in Didasko and think that one is great, then you've got a surprise coming once I finally get a picture of this one. The reason I don't have a picture is because everything was finished except for the 3rd platform on the 3 story tower when we started hearing thunder. I was working with three others to get the floor and hand rails on when the bottom fell out of the sky and it rained like I haven't seen it rain in a while. We were determined to get that thing finished and as it kept lightening and raining we were able to finish the platform except for the handrails. The Hondurans are going to finish those themselves. We were soaked and cold but it was raining so hard that we could hardly see anything. So we finished the floor and headed down to the Church where they were nearly done with the gospel meeting. At the end of the meeting the guy that was in charge told us how thankful he was for everything we had done but the greatest blessing of all wasn't anything we had done. The area is a huge farming area and they haven't seen significant rainfall in 2 months which a surprise since it's rainy season. He said the rains that held off until we were nearly done was assurance that the crops would be able to last a little longer and give them hope of a better season than they were expecting. So it was a very, very awesome day.
Today we loaded up the buses about 1030 and headed back to Villa Gracia in Teguc. We made it back here about 4 and just had dinner and devo. It's been a very relaxed day but things start up again tomorrow. Choluteca was great. The village we worked in had many many men attending the church and leading the church which is a huge rarity in Central America. The men are a lot of time out of site when it comes to religious things and family oriented things. This village was a good exception. The stories about how hot is in Choluteca were all true. I was about an hour from Choluteca last summer and I thought that was hot but it wasn't nearly as humid as it is in Choluteca. I don't sweat a whole lot back home but all you have to do is sit for 10 minutes and you start sweating like crazy. It really is the place that the devil goes to get his coffee in the morning or as one Honduran told me last week, it's Satan's armpit. Either way it was hot with the heat index around 110. Even with the heat it was a great trip and hopefully we'll have the opportunity to go back soon. The team really worked well together in Choluteca and hopefully that will continue this week here in Teguc. I'll be building a house tomorrow and there are a lot of other great things going on tomorrow too so it will be another great day.
The Village outside of Choluteca that we worked at is called AguaAgria, I think it means Sour Water. It is a village with about 600 people, no running water and no electricity. Although they do have a well and a generator that they carry around if they need any power. It is a farming village with fields all around it and the people work the fields to make a living. They have one church and their own school which were the two places we worked in the most. So Sunday morning we went to worship at the church and it was amazing how many people showed up. Right around 290 people were counted in the church building. Subtract the 68 gringos and you have 222 Hondurans at church. I've never been to a Honduran service where there were that many Hondurans or people in general. It was a small one room church in the midst of a bunch of trees so there was very little breeze and it was steaming inside but it was a great church service nonetheless. After church we went to eat lunch at the center of town where our choices for lunch and dinner everyday were given, KFC, Wendy's or Pizza Hut. Needless to say I won't be eating at either of those 3 places for a while. Sunday afternoon was a day for sorthing all the clothes, shoes, meds, hygiene packs, vbs supplies and other things in order to get ready for the next couple of days. I went with 5 others to the school to see where we could build a playground, but I'll get to that beast later. So Sunday was a sorting and packaging day.
Monday we really started our work. We had one team doing a medical clinic. The people would first see the doctor and he would give them medicine if they needed it. They would then go to our pharmacy to pick up their medicine. Then they would go to another building and be able to get clothes from the clothes give away for their family. That went on all day. The VBS and womens classes started at 2p.m and were a big success but our biggest challenge was in putting this monster of a playground that a few of us had in our heads onto the ground in front of us. We had to tear down the old skeleton of a playground that they had, move the new one to a new location, use all the wood from the old one and new lumber we bought to create this monster in 2 days....well a day and a half after the wood was 4 hours late. The place where they wanted the playground had perfect trees to incorporate into these towers we were going to build so you can imagine what kind of thoughts we were having, a treehouse playground. The sky was the limit....well except that we had a budget we couldn't exceed. So Monday we got all the materials, most of the post set, some flooring on one of the towers and a few other things done but I'll be honest, I didn't think we'd be finished by the end of Tuesday (we had to leave this morning coming back). So at 5 we had to stop and go to the gospel meeting that we were having down at the Church. I think there were like 150 Hondurans at the meeting which was pretty impressive. After that it was back to dinner and the hotel.
Tuesday we really hit the ground running. We knew we had only one day to finish and we had to finish. The medical clinic and clothing distribution were going nonstop again. The womens class and VBS were a huge hit again and the playground was still a daunting task. We worked on that thing for 9 straight hours only stopping for water breaks. Slowly but surely it began to come together. There was a fallen tree that we cut up and used a 21 foot section to make a balance beam from the bottom level of one platform that was surrounding a tree up to the second platform around another tree. It has a 15 foot pipe slide connecting two platforms. One tree has a 3 story tower around it. 3 slides and 9 swings, a climbing rope, 2 other pieces of the tree to climb up to other platforms. You have no idea how much I wish I was 5 years old and could play on that thing. If any of you have seen the playground that Torch built in Didasko and think that one is great, then you've got a surprise coming once I finally get a picture of this one. The reason I don't have a picture is because everything was finished except for the 3rd platform on the 3 story tower when we started hearing thunder. I was working with three others to get the floor and hand rails on when the bottom fell out of the sky and it rained like I haven't seen it rain in a while. We were determined to get that thing finished and as it kept lightening and raining we were able to finish the platform except for the handrails. The Hondurans are going to finish those themselves. We were soaked and cold but it was raining so hard that we could hardly see anything. So we finished the floor and headed down to the Church where they were nearly done with the gospel meeting. At the end of the meeting the guy that was in charge told us how thankful he was for everything we had done but the greatest blessing of all wasn't anything we had done. The area is a huge farming area and they haven't seen significant rainfall in 2 months which a surprise since it's rainy season. He said the rains that held off until we were nearly done was assurance that the crops would be able to last a little longer and give them hope of a better season than they were expecting. So it was a very, very awesome day.
Today we loaded up the buses about 1030 and headed back to Villa Gracia in Teguc. We made it back here about 4 and just had dinner and devo. It's been a very relaxed day but things start up again tomorrow. Choluteca was great. The village we worked in had many many men attending the church and leading the church which is a huge rarity in Central America. The men are a lot of time out of site when it comes to religious things and family oriented things. This village was a good exception. The stories about how hot is in Choluteca were all true. I was about an hour from Choluteca last summer and I thought that was hot but it wasn't nearly as humid as it is in Choluteca. I don't sweat a whole lot back home but all you have to do is sit for 10 minutes and you start sweating like crazy. It really is the place that the devil goes to get his coffee in the morning or as one Honduran told me last week, it's Satan's armpit. Either way it was hot with the heat index around 110. Even with the heat it was a great trip and hopefully we'll have the opportunity to go back soon. The team really worked well together in Choluteca and hopefully that will continue this week here in Teguc. I'll be building a house tomorrow and there are a lot of other great things going on tomorrow too so it will be another great day.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
HTP.....
Tuesday I went with a group who went on a Gatorade blitz and to deliver food bags to a community. For those that don't know, a Gatorade blitz is when we go to the grocery store and buy every Gatorade that they have. The city has workers that sweep the sidewalks and clean trash off the sides of the road and that kind of thing, something that you see a lot of inmates doing back in the states but these people get paid the very minimum to do this job. So we drive around in the bus and give out a Gatorade to every one of these workers that we see. We spot a few workers and send out a few runners who play the life size version of Frogger as they cross the streets. They give the workers a Gatorade and say Dios le Bendiga, God bless you, and then brave the streets again to get back to the bus. It's a lot of fun and so far every frogger has made it back safely. After that we went up to the mission house and loaded bags of food we had prepared and went to the La Tigra rain forest and gave out 120 bags of food to families that live there. Most of the families in the rainforest live on less than $5 a day, some even less than that. The bags we give them are filled with enough food to feed a family of four for a week. It has rice, beans and flour along with a few other things. Nothing special or exciting but it's enough to get them through another week.
Wednesday I went on a house build in Mololoa. We had a nice hike to nearly the top of the mountain. By the time we made it to the top most of us were ready to call it a day but we still had a family to build a house for. We had a pretty decent work site and after we moved the wood from the road down the hill to the site, we were able to get started. The build was one of the smoothest Torch has had this year. Everything seemed to go perfectly. We built the house in under 4 hours and really didn't rush at all, we took our time and took plenty of breaks. We had plenty of time to play with the 40 or more kids that had gathered and had fun with them.
Thursday morning we loaded the bus with food to take to Didasko Orphanage and set off to visit hospital Escuela first. We spent 2 hours at the hospital and it seemed like it would never end. I don't care what country or how nice or bad a hospital is, I just don't like them at all. Add to it that I can't really hold a decent conversation with anyone over the age of 10 bc my spanish isn't that good and it doesn't make for a great time at the hospital. So I wasn't too upset when it was time to go. After that we headed to Didasko to deliver food, hold a VBS and play with kids. The orphanage is running at about 50% of their budget bc some of their sponsoring churches have stopped contributing due to economic reasons. They were almost completely out of food and have turned off their hot water heaters bc they can't afford the electricity. They have holes in their roof with no money to fix them and cars that need repairs and they just can't afford it. So we took $900 worth of food to them which completely filled their depleted pantries. We held a VBS and played soccer and basketball until we could pass out. It was a really fun day but it was also the last day of work for this first group. They are going sight seeing tomorrow and they fly out Saturday.
The last couple of nights I've had fun here at the mission house. Some of you know Delmy and Carmen, two ladies that run the ice cream shop here at the mission house. Carmen now works in the front office and Delmy runs the shop. We've been doing her english homework the last few nights and it is ridiculous how confusing her workbook is. Last night I showed her how to do one excercise and after she did it I realized it was completely wrong and we had to erase and redo it. She will ask what an english word is and I'll look it up and tell her what it is in spanish so she will know but I'm also learning the spanish word so I'm not sure who's benefiting the most from this. After about 30 minutes it gets difficult to make a complete sentence in just one language which makes for some interesting things that we say. It's a lot of fun.
Today, Friday, we started out by loading the bus with supplies that we are taking to Choluteca and then headed to the Valley of Angels for some time to shop. We spend about 3 hours there and came back and had dinner at the mall. It really hasn't been a very exciting day but it is the last day for this group and they have thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not going to be fun saying bye to all of them tomorrow but it's something we have to do. They have done so many things since they have been here, great things are happening here. We are all worn out and would welcome about 15 straight hours of sleep but as of noon tomorrow we will have another 55 energetic people ready to start their portion of this summers trip. The interns will have to get geared up and ready to go for another great 10 day stretch no matter how tired we are. The stomach bug has hit me pretty hard today too. A few people have been hit with it and a sinus problem but so far everyone has fought through it and haven't missed a beat. But it's been a long day that I'm ready to end. We will be in Choluteca until wednesday and I'm not sure if they will have internet or not so this may be my last post until middle to late next week. So if it is I hope you all have a great weekend and talk to you soon.
Wednesday I went on a house build in Mololoa. We had a nice hike to nearly the top of the mountain. By the time we made it to the top most of us were ready to call it a day but we still had a family to build a house for. We had a pretty decent work site and after we moved the wood from the road down the hill to the site, we were able to get started. The build was one of the smoothest Torch has had this year. Everything seemed to go perfectly. We built the house in under 4 hours and really didn't rush at all, we took our time and took plenty of breaks. We had plenty of time to play with the 40 or more kids that had gathered and had fun with them.
Thursday morning we loaded the bus with food to take to Didasko Orphanage and set off to visit hospital Escuela first. We spent 2 hours at the hospital and it seemed like it would never end. I don't care what country or how nice or bad a hospital is, I just don't like them at all. Add to it that I can't really hold a decent conversation with anyone over the age of 10 bc my spanish isn't that good and it doesn't make for a great time at the hospital. So I wasn't too upset when it was time to go. After that we headed to Didasko to deliver food, hold a VBS and play with kids. The orphanage is running at about 50% of their budget bc some of their sponsoring churches have stopped contributing due to economic reasons. They were almost completely out of food and have turned off their hot water heaters bc they can't afford the electricity. They have holes in their roof with no money to fix them and cars that need repairs and they just can't afford it. So we took $900 worth of food to them which completely filled their depleted pantries. We held a VBS and played soccer and basketball until we could pass out. It was a really fun day but it was also the last day of work for this first group. They are going sight seeing tomorrow and they fly out Saturday.
The last couple of nights I've had fun here at the mission house. Some of you know Delmy and Carmen, two ladies that run the ice cream shop here at the mission house. Carmen now works in the front office and Delmy runs the shop. We've been doing her english homework the last few nights and it is ridiculous how confusing her workbook is. Last night I showed her how to do one excercise and after she did it I realized it was completely wrong and we had to erase and redo it. She will ask what an english word is and I'll look it up and tell her what it is in spanish so she will know but I'm also learning the spanish word so I'm not sure who's benefiting the most from this. After about 30 minutes it gets difficult to make a complete sentence in just one language which makes for some interesting things that we say. It's a lot of fun.
Today, Friday, we started out by loading the bus with supplies that we are taking to Choluteca and then headed to the Valley of Angels for some time to shop. We spend about 3 hours there and came back and had dinner at the mall. It really hasn't been a very exciting day but it is the last day for this group and they have thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not going to be fun saying bye to all of them tomorrow but it's something we have to do. They have done so many things since they have been here, great things are happening here. We are all worn out and would welcome about 15 straight hours of sleep but as of noon tomorrow we will have another 55 energetic people ready to start their portion of this summers trip. The interns will have to get geared up and ready to go for another great 10 day stretch no matter how tired we are. The stomach bug has hit me pretty hard today too. A few people have been hit with it and a sinus problem but so far everyone has fought through it and haven't missed a beat. But it's been a long day that I'm ready to end. We will be in Choluteca until wednesday and I'm not sure if they will have internet or not so this may be my last post until middle to late next week. So if it is I hope you all have a great weekend and talk to you soon.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
One great thing about Teguc....Temps in the low 80's
On Saturday we had another great day of work. Our plan was to finish putting the fence up, put concrete in the trenches at the bottom of the fence to keep kids and animals from crawling under it, continue building the garden, do a VBS, and finish some painting. So we had breakfast and headed out at 8:30 to get started. So as I'm trying to help get the fence pieces out of the church to start putting up, Tyler Steffy, one of our leaders, says hey Tyler you've done the concrete volcanoes before so you should go with this group and show them.... My hiding and blending in didn't work. So I go with 7 Americans and 4 Hondurans to start mixing concrete using a few shovels and 5 gallon buckets. You have to put a lot of rock and sand together, put a bag of cement on top, mix it all together and make this volcano looking thing so you can pour water inside it, then you start mixing it with shovels. After it's mixed you can fill up buckets and carry it to where you need it. We made 2 batches of concrete before I noticed our numbers were dwindling. By the time we were on the 4th batch it was just me and 4 Hondurans. It is hard work but it ended up being a load of fun because one of the Honduras, Edgar, could speak just enough english and I could speak just enough spanish to have a good time. I think by 4 O'clock there was the 5 of us plus a few other local men and 4 or 5 of the women taking our time as supplies ran out and joking a lot with each other. It's amazing how much fun you can have with people who you have limited communication with because of a language barrier but we definitely had a great time. We finished up the last batch around 4 which was good because it started raining by 4:30. The fence was completely up and the VBS went well.
Sunday we didn't really do a whole lot but what we did do was great. We worshiped with the congregation at Catacamas and it's always fun to be in a native church service. They are similar in ways and very different in ways. The order of worship is usually the same but you never know what extra things will happen like a lady breast feeding on the 5th row or a guy in the audience getting up and going up front to talk about how thankful he is for 5 minutes. As I was getting up to lead closing prayer the people of the congregation started standing up to ask for prayers for certain things and after 5 people had asked our translator looks at me and says, "Ok lets pray now, you got all that right". It took him a second of looking at my panicked face to remember, " Oh you have no clue what they just said". Even after he told me I couldn't remember some of the odd names but it was all good. After Church we had lunch and then left Catacamas for a 6 hour bus ride to Santa Ana where we were having dinner at a lady named Janet Hines house. I won't do the house justice if I attempt to say how nice it was so I'll just say it was a place I'd love to have. After dinner we went back to the mission house where we got the team settled in bc it was their first time up there. After room assignments were given out and we had devo we went to bed.
Monday was a pretty easy day. One group of 25 went to the Hospital, a group of 10 went to Nueve Oriental to work at the feeding center there. The group I went with, 11, went to work in the Kitchen and Daycare in Mololoa. As soon as I got off the bus Evelyn was hollering from the kitchen and then came down to give me a hug. 4 people stayed at the kitchen to help the ladies there and the rest of us went up to the daycare to play with the kids. So from 9:30 to 1 we were up there with the kids and helping with a few posters for the daycare that the ladies needed. I think I threw kids down the slide until my arms were ready to fall off. As usual the kids were a little shy at first but all you have to do is find the one in the crowd who is ready to play and once the others see he is having fun then it's go time. Once they had eaten lunch and gone down for their nap we helped create some poster boards for the ladies to use for teaching. Then we headed back down and caught the bus back to the mission house about 2:15. Once we got back we had a load of food to break down and bag up and that's what we just finished up. We were supposed to go to the Jesus statue for devo tonight but now it's raining so we'll see how that goes.
Catacamas was a nice place, really hot but the community we worked in was very grateful for everything we were doing. It's a new church and a new project but one that is already making a difference in that community. Hopefully we'll have a chance to go back there in the future and work with them again.
One other thing I love about coming here is seeing people that you've been able to create a relationship with over the last few years. Every time I see Evelyn she has a hundred questions to ask about how things are going and what I'm doing and I've always got questions for her because you grow to care about people even if you only see them a few times a year. Its a way of knowing that you are making a difference in someones life, encouraging them and showing them that you care enough to come down here and see them and work with them whenever you can, which isn't often enough. It isn't just about being a servant on a mission trip like it was the first year or two. You are now coming as a friend to see a friend, someone who you want to come see and help in any way you can. Just like with Bryan. I was with him earlier today and we just sat and talked for a while about things. He brought his daughter for us to see, Vienna who is a year and a half old. He couldn't wait to go get her from the house and bring her to show her off because we have transcended that American missionary to person who we are just here to serve food to and have created a relationship to where we now genuinely care about each other and what is going on in each others life. People ask me why I keep coming here and why don't I just stay home and work to make more money and that is the reason I don't. I can come and serve people I've never met, help them do things they can do for themselves but show them the love of Christ by taking our time and funds to help them and say hey we care about you and in the process make new friends just like we did in Catacamas. I can come and see friends that I care about. See what is going on in their lives which we do sometimes over email but to be here in person and serve them and serve alongside them encourages them. The personal relationships you build, whether on domestic missions or missions abroad, and the encouragement you can give is just as important as the houses we build and the food we give out. I couldn't imagine not spending part of my summer here. Yes the work is hard and the days are long but you see the poorest of the poor and hear stories that break your heart. You see adorable kids who you know live in one room houses/shacks and deserve better and you wish you could trade places with. But through everything bad and heartbreaking that we see, every dark and grim situation we encounter, there is a light burning bright in each of us knowing that every time we make a trip down here we are turning that darkness into light slowly but surely. We know that we are making a difference and ending not all but part of someone's suffering and to think that suffering will continue and increase if we were to stop coming and ignore the need here.....well that thought isn't even worth entertaining. However only God knows how long He wants us coming here and as long as He wants us here then I want to be here.
Sunday we didn't really do a whole lot but what we did do was great. We worshiped with the congregation at Catacamas and it's always fun to be in a native church service. They are similar in ways and very different in ways. The order of worship is usually the same but you never know what extra things will happen like a lady breast feeding on the 5th row or a guy in the audience getting up and going up front to talk about how thankful he is for 5 minutes. As I was getting up to lead closing prayer the people of the congregation started standing up to ask for prayers for certain things and after 5 people had asked our translator looks at me and says, "Ok lets pray now, you got all that right". It took him a second of looking at my panicked face to remember, " Oh you have no clue what they just said". Even after he told me I couldn't remember some of the odd names but it was all good. After Church we had lunch and then left Catacamas for a 6 hour bus ride to Santa Ana where we were having dinner at a lady named Janet Hines house. I won't do the house justice if I attempt to say how nice it was so I'll just say it was a place I'd love to have. After dinner we went back to the mission house where we got the team settled in bc it was their first time up there. After room assignments were given out and we had devo we went to bed.
Monday was a pretty easy day. One group of 25 went to the Hospital, a group of 10 went to Nueve Oriental to work at the feeding center there. The group I went with, 11, went to work in the Kitchen and Daycare in Mololoa. As soon as I got off the bus Evelyn was hollering from the kitchen and then came down to give me a hug. 4 people stayed at the kitchen to help the ladies there and the rest of us went up to the daycare to play with the kids. So from 9:30 to 1 we were up there with the kids and helping with a few posters for the daycare that the ladies needed. I think I threw kids down the slide until my arms were ready to fall off. As usual the kids were a little shy at first but all you have to do is find the one in the crowd who is ready to play and once the others see he is having fun then it's go time. Once they had eaten lunch and gone down for their nap we helped create some poster boards for the ladies to use for teaching. Then we headed back down and caught the bus back to the mission house about 2:15. Once we got back we had a load of food to break down and bag up and that's what we just finished up. We were supposed to go to the Jesus statue for devo tonight but now it's raining so we'll see how that goes.
Catacamas was a nice place, really hot but the community we worked in was very grateful for everything we were doing. It's a new church and a new project but one that is already making a difference in that community. Hopefully we'll have a chance to go back there in the future and work with them again.
One other thing I love about coming here is seeing people that you've been able to create a relationship with over the last few years. Every time I see Evelyn she has a hundred questions to ask about how things are going and what I'm doing and I've always got questions for her because you grow to care about people even if you only see them a few times a year. Its a way of knowing that you are making a difference in someones life, encouraging them and showing them that you care enough to come down here and see them and work with them whenever you can, which isn't often enough. It isn't just about being a servant on a mission trip like it was the first year or two. You are now coming as a friend to see a friend, someone who you want to come see and help in any way you can. Just like with Bryan. I was with him earlier today and we just sat and talked for a while about things. He brought his daughter for us to see, Vienna who is a year and a half old. He couldn't wait to go get her from the house and bring her to show her off because we have transcended that American missionary to person who we are just here to serve food to and have created a relationship to where we now genuinely care about each other and what is going on in each others life. People ask me why I keep coming here and why don't I just stay home and work to make more money and that is the reason I don't. I can come and serve people I've never met, help them do things they can do for themselves but show them the love of Christ by taking our time and funds to help them and say hey we care about you and in the process make new friends just like we did in Catacamas. I can come and see friends that I care about. See what is going on in their lives which we do sometimes over email but to be here in person and serve them and serve alongside them encourages them. The personal relationships you build, whether on domestic missions or missions abroad, and the encouragement you can give is just as important as the houses we build and the food we give out. I couldn't imagine not spending part of my summer here. Yes the work is hard and the days are long but you see the poorest of the poor and hear stories that break your heart. You see adorable kids who you know live in one room houses/shacks and deserve better and you wish you could trade places with. But through everything bad and heartbreaking that we see, every dark and grim situation we encounter, there is a light burning bright in each of us knowing that every time we make a trip down here we are turning that darkness into light slowly but surely. We know that we are making a difference and ending not all but part of someone's suffering and to think that suffering will continue and increase if we were to stop coming and ignore the need here.....well that thought isn't even worth entertaining. However only God knows how long He wants us coming here and as long as He wants us here then I want to be here.
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