Monday we started our work projects. I was pulled off the VBS team and put on a
construction team. We had 2 houses and a
classroom for the Church to build by the end of Wednesday. I started out with a team building a house
and a classroom side by side right next to the Church. The Hondurans had already set all the post in
concrete and set the roof beams so it looked like it would be a piece of
cake. Then we realized that the outside
posts were too high and the roof would slope in towards the middle of the
building. That’s not ideal if you’re
trying to build a structure that doesn’t leak.
So we had to take the roof beams off and cut all the post which we were
almost done doing when Terry, our group leader, called me over to the
side. He was like, the guys building the
other house have no idea what to do. You
need to go up the mountain and lead that team.
So I headed up the mountain and when I got there I had to stop and laugh
for a minute because I have no idea what they were trying to do to that house. The Hondurans had set those posts as well and
put the roof beams on but the guys on the build team had random boards they
were about to nail into the post at odd angles and I was thinking what they
heck are they doing. We got everything
back to square one and ready to build when I realized that these corner posts
were all 10’ high. Again, if you want a
leak proof house the roof needs to be angled a little. So off with the roof beams again and cut the
posts and back on with the roof beams.
After that we started rocking and rolling. Other than the fact that I forgot to put in a
spot for the window, everything went really smooth. We ended up framing 3 windows on the inside and
cutting them out which actually looked much better than the way we were supposed
to do it. It provided him with 2 shelves
per window and a windowsill. The two
houses were built for two preachers that have been hired to work in Agua Agria. Belle Shoals Church of Christ in Florida
along with another Church that I can’t remember the name of have decided to
support these two preachers. Both of
them got to pick out the color to paint their house so on Tuesday we painted
the houses after we finished a few things that we ran out of time to do on
Monday. Wednesday we finished up the
classroom and painted it as well plus decided to do a few more things to each
of the houses since we had plenty of wood leftover. We were able to put trim on the corners and
around the roof and around the windows.
They really did look nice. Both
of the preachers were really grateful for their new houses.
We also put in a stone walkway leading up to the
classroom. Monday and Tuesday were long
days for the VBS teams. They had 6 hours
of VBS and they nailed it. The kids
really enjoyed themselves. The women’s
Bible class lasted 3 days and seemed to be a success with 30 women each
day. The medical clinic saw over 600
patients on Monday and Tuesday. There
were people lined up in the mornings before we even got there. The clothing distribution went really well
also. We were able to give out tons of
clothes. I think everyone enjoyed the 5
days we were in Choluteca even though it was hot. We were able to get a lot done even with a
few setbacks like our container with many more supplies for Agua Agria not
being released to us. The Honduran
government is about as corrupt as it gets.
They’ve been holding multiple Torch containers for months. Even the US Embassy has told us that they
Honduran government is holding containers of theirs and won’t release them. They charge $100 a day for storage so there’s
really no incentive for them to release them when their pockets are getting
full off the storage fee’s. We did have
one container released today and it cost $2700 for us to get it. That’s just storage fees, the paperwork has
been done and approved for weeks. They
just won’t let us go get them. It’s
pretty sad because we have a lot of playground equipment for the school in Agua
Agria but now it’s going to be hard take it down there and assemble it all once
the container is released. That might
just have to wait till next year.
But anyway, today we left and have just gotten to Villa
Gracia in Tegucigalpa, aka the Mission House, where I’ll be for the next 4+
weeks. It was a nice 5 hour bus ride out
of the heat and into the mid 80’s. It
was a slow day, other than unloading one container, but tomorrow we will be off
to the races. We’ve got a lot to do and
only until Monday to do it because this team leaves out Tuesday morning, which
is kinda sad. They’re an awesome
team. But that’s all I’ve got
tonight. I’ve got this head cold/
allergy problem so I’m taking a Nyquil to knock me out and going to bed. See ya later.
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