Friday, June 29, 2007

Time Zones and Faith

Good morning to all from Honduras,

Yesterday was such a great day. 3 construction crews headed to a new village called Villanueva to build 2 houses and a classroom. There are always unique challenges to overcome with each site, but yesterday, all 3 sites were finished ahead of schedule. The classroom building is to be used for bible classes at the school where approximately 250-300 children attend school. It was quite fun to have all the children in their school uniforms watching us so intently as we scurried around, dodging raindrops to complete this classroom for them. Their smiling, intent faces were all we needed to keep working hard to complete the building for them. The siding used for the walls and floor was different than what we had been using, so we had to switch to the 3" nails instead of the 2" nails. For some, this is not a noticeable change in procedure. For otheres however, we really felt the muscle burn quickly. Especially when you are hammering in a board over your head, balanced on a rickity step ladder with someone holding your back for balance! Another group traveled again to Mololoa to serve lunch and to do a VBS for the children and another small group visited the hospital again. All of these acts of serving bring such cherished smiles and enormous gratitude from the Hondurans.

It does not take one long once in Honduras to realize that "Honduran Time" is much different then the time you and I operate by. You can forget your watch or any specific plans you have made because they rarely coincide. If you ask someone a why question about timing or why something is being done a certain way, 99% of the time you will hear, "That's Honduran time or You are in Honduras". Most of us try to run our lives on our own time schedule. There are really two different time zones going on when it comes to correlating God's will and our experience. God exists in another time zone entirely. in GOT (God's Own Time), His will is always done and He takes into account the times zones of everyone. There are many time zones as there are many people, and that means they can often be in conflict. But with God there is never any conflict. There is only one GOT and as far as He is concerned, everything is right on schedule. We are witnessing daily that when we pray here for a successful and productive day and we run to challenges, that God is hearing our prayers. We move ahead, believing that in GOT, it will be answered.

Today is going to be an action packed day and we will be having an early start with our morning devotional occuring at 7:00 a.m. before breakfast so that we can get an early start. There will only be one construction crew today while the majority of us travel to give out food, clothing and vitamins in the morning. In the afternoon, we will be visiting the blind school, a favorite site for all.

This is our second to the last day and we all are feeling the mixed emotions of the desire to return home to see our loved ones while trying to leave a little bit of our hearts here. Thank your for your prayers as always. May all of us have a productive day while doing the Lord's work.
suzanne

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Carrie & Catie - The 2 BEST Sisters/Aunts in the WORLD!
We all Miss you both so so so much! It is getting harder these last couple of days. I woke up this morning and it felt like christmas because the girls are coming home tonight! I am so happy but will be thrilled to have the whole family back at home. I am so proud of you both for doing such amazing work - and I will never be able to say enough that I am so blessed to have you both for my kids to look up to. I love you both and miss you tons! We will see you real soon. Hugs and Kisses!

Mom and Dad - I can not wait till you all get home, I know that Michael is missing his MiMi - he is starting to act rotten so it is time for you to come home (to much boy time)... the boys have had a fun week after Jimmy works they have been going fishing and that has been fun for them. We actually had fresh bass last night that Jimmy and Stephen caught and Michael helped reel in!
Everyone is doing good, I taked to Momaw and she is feeling better.. Carla and Kenny and their crew is doing good! We are all excited about going up to the river. I love you both, Dad I hope that you are feeling ok. I can't wait to give you both a big Hug! XOXOXO - Christy

PJ.. your Mom is missing you so much and I know that she tells you but I just want to reiterate that she is so so proud of you we all are!

Tiffany Sanchez said...

To the NW Tampa group:

I wanted to send all of you my best, as you start to wrap things up these last few days. This was always the hardest part of the trip for me...because after putting heart and soul into this great work...it was time to head back to the real world...coming back home. It is always a very emotional period. Take comfort in the fact that you have given hope to so many. Make the most of it...and like I have said before, I can't wait to hear all about it...this is something I'm very passionate about, as some of you know. See you Sunday! I love you all!

Tiffany

Toni Torocco said...

Tonia, I hope you are feeling better ... you have three little ones that just can't wait to give you big, big hugs. And of course the rest of your family. It's just wonderful how much you are all getting accomplished. Everyone is fine here and I hope when you read this you are feeling back to normal. I love you amd miss you ... kisses and hugs (give some to Tami) Love, Mom

Anonymous said...

Hello to all!
I just want to send you a final note of strength and happiness!

So good to hear about all the wonderful works you are performing and all of the ways that God is opening your eyes so you understand how to serve Him better.

Nothing is more powerful than Suzanne's words about the group of school children sitting and watching you work intently on their schoolroom. Remember that those children are actually always watching you - but you could just really see them watching you this time.

I thought I was going to die laughing when I read that you worked at a "new village" called "Villanueva!"

Now,
To LB - Happiest Birthday!

Tonia - I hope you are feeling better (you didn't eat any of those beans while making up the food bags, did you?)

Heidi and Mikey - Don't let the end of the trip blues zap your creative strength! I can't wait to hear (and see) the wonderful things you have done!

Everyone - Thank you for praying for our baby and for lifting Mauricio up while he is away from me. It is such a blessing to be countries away and still have a whole other family. I can feel your strength all the way across the Gulf of Mexico!

Pups - I love you, I miss you and you know the rest. Thaaank you!

Please take care of yourselves!
STUDY - ACT - TEACH
See you all very soon! Love to all,
Cherilynne

Anonymous said...

To My Sweet 16 B'day Girl!! Happy B'day!! Woke up this morning and was so sad you were not here but you will be in 2 days!!!. Hope you have a wonderful day. Miss you lots and cant wait to get you home.

Love Mom and DB

Bettye Evans said...

Dear All,
Suzanne, what a wonderful message of GOT. It really hit home to me because of my own struggle with ADD. I love your words of wisdom.

Again, as I have said before, how amazed at the work ya'll are doing there. I was telling a friend about the water line, and even while I was talking about it, I was overwhelmed with admiration for all who worked that pipeline.
Seeing pictures of the guys hauling the rocks out of the sites that you were building on, made me really realize how all of the kids and adults have been dedicated to this work. The Honduran people who wait for ya'll to come every year to do this this work, really do live in GOT.
Kate, I can't wait for you to be home. I have missed you way too much. I can't believe that Miss Jan and Butchie are going to let Hayden leave for 10 days again. I'm definitely not letting you go anywhere for awhile. Just kidding, but you may wake up the first few mornings with me sleeping beside you. Oh, by the way, Mr. Richard may have lost his jobs with me due to your work with a hammer. I'm putting you on call to do the build out work that I need to have done for my clients.
I went by the gym yesterday and spoke with Linda. The team is ready for you to be back. She was impressed with the work that ya'll are doing and the work ethic that you are demonstrating. But she knew that already. No drama going on, she said. Have you forgotten how to "flip"?
I hope, too, that you haven't gotten the "Honduras Hop-Step". Did all that yogurt help the situation? You may be eating it again when you get home to cross back into this zone of food.
Daddy and I are looking forward to Sunday night and lots of hugs. We're bringing Pepper too, so get ready.
Love and miss all,
Mom/Miss Bettye

Anonymous said...

hi Alex im sorry i don't have any other funny comments to send u. but i am done with camp and you have probably worked harder than i have. it was exactly like ids camp except the kids cared a lot more. i liked laughing at the kids who screamed at the counselers because they tripped over the ball and thought it was a foul. They also would scream if they didn't make a free throw. their were a couple good kids but not many. i just dint want to get in their way because they looked like they were ready to rip your head off if u said anything to them. Every team i was on always lost so i dint have much fun but i kept entertained while i was their. hope your having as good as time as u can and seya when u get back. o and tell mom hi.

Anonymous said...

Hayden,Daddy and I keep hoping we'll hear from you tonite! We are soooo ready to see you. Jake still doesn't have a shoe and it will be Monday, Bill James has been fired and Bob is coming to remove Coops hoof wall- he has white line up to his cornet band-will be off for a long time.2 lame horses!!!! So no one is allowed to ride Jake till he gets a shoe. Megan is going to ride Cruz Saturday. Ms. Jan said you have been working hard, she is still not feeling great. Hope no one else gets the bug. Please stay well- you have to go to New YOrk! Debbie & Jenn left yesterday. You got a letter from Rachel.Nothing new here,can you tell. All of you are in our prayers and we can't wait to here about Honduras. Liked your kiss!
The pictures are great. Hope Miss Tonia is better-give her a hug. Love you bunches...mom & dad

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Laura!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sweet Sixteen!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Caitlin,
We're ready for you to come home. Sounds like you've had a successful trip. We've enjoyed keeping up with all the things you and the others have been doing to help the people of Honduras. We especially like the pictures. We think Marshmallow misses you since he's not eating like he usually does. (Hasn't stopped him from whining though.) We saw Evan Almighty tonight. It was really funny. You will need to see it too. We hope you enjoy your last day in Honduras. We'll be ready for you to be back home. We love you and miss you.
Mommy, Daddy, and Kristen

Anonymous said...

Hey Mom, Dad, Carrie & Catie
Just wanted to let you know that the girls are home. THey had a blast! Synthia loved it - Savanna had fun to but is sick I guess that it happened last day so they did not call, she has a fever and her chest sounds horrible so we will be seeing the Dr on Monday!
Michael got a BooBoo and he was mad at me so I asked him if he wanted me to kiss it and he said no MiMi kiss it! You are missed by all of us. See you soon. Love you all Lots! Christy