Monday, June 25, 2007

Glorious Day in Honduras!
Hola and Buenos Dias from Honduras. We have had a very productive and satisfying day in Honduras. First, to give you a quick update on yesterday's events: After breakfast, we loaded the bus and headed up the mountain to Union for worship services with the congregation in Union to celebrate the 5 year anniversay of the Union congregation. The worship service was in both Spanish and English and was jointly lead by our Honduran brothers and mission group brothers. Each group sang songs to each other and there was no doubt the we were worshiping God in spirit with our voices in both languages. Cary Hadley provided the sermon by speaking first in Spanish and then in English so we all could follow and understand the message. What a gifted speaker and talent this man has been given. We all were so touched to hear the familiar passage from Matthew instructing us to serve the poor as Jesus instructed us to do. This message could not have hit home more poignantly while sitting next to our brethen who represent the poorest of the poor. Cary so aptly reassured everyone of our ultimate reward, how we will all be united in Christ someday with no cultural, socio-economic, racial or language barriers. To say we were blessed does not begin to describe the overwhelming emotions we all experienced. The group than traveled downtown for a quick fast food lunch and then the majority of the group traveled to the Valley of Angels for shopping. The shopping group returned to the hotel and the entire group road by bus (all transportation takes place via 2 school buses) to a new mall to eat at the food court. We returned to the hotel for our nightly devotional and to bed to get ready for a new day.

Today there were many activities to choose from and something for everyone. There were 2 construction groups to either finish up houses that were not complete or to start work on new construction. Another group traveled to Mololoa to work in the kitchen and prepare food for 150 school children in this community. Also in this community, a group of workers worked very hard digging a trench for a water pipe to provide water to the village and also the church. Another group in this same community continued a second day of back breaking trench digging for a footer for a daycare. Image having to use picks to break up rock and then shoveling loads of dirt to dig a 5 foot wide and 5 foot deep trench. I know for you construction types, this doesn't sound like anything like a footer (those digging thought the same thing). There was a group of workers that travled to the local hospital to visit with the children. There is such limited caregiving available for the sick children of Honduras. A parent must stay with their children because of the lack of nurses available. The group distributed juice boxes, crackers, stuffed animals and spent time praying with each child and family member. Our awesome teens said prayers with the families (some of our teens said prayers in Spanish - yes, something has been retained from all that Spanish in school!) Although it was a very emotion packed experience and day, they have learned that by focusing on the needs of others, their own needs diminished by comparison. The final group went to the church in Union to dispense vitamins and over the counter medicine. The line was quite lengthy by the time the bus arrived, emphasing the true need of the families on this mountain. The construction crew completed 5 homes today. We all returned tired but satisfied that in some small way, we provided and helped to serve the people of Honduras. There is nothing like the happiness and joy we have received by serving those here in this place. Adios and buenas noches.
suzanne