What's up in Honduras?

Good Sunday morning to all,

What a productive and great day all the teams had yesterday. We continue to be blessed with sunshine so our construction work can continue without interruption. Two work crews were sent out yesterday to complete 2 houses in record time. Another blessing of good work sites (which typically means ground minus huge boulders and accesibility), good wood and weather. Combine that with workers that were ready to work and you have 2 more houses built for eagar families. The crew were challenged by Keith that if they finished their homes by 2:30 he would treat them to an ice cream sundae from McDonald's. Guess Keith found the secret to motivating the work crews because they both were finished in record time!

The rest of us travelled in our school bus to Limoncillo (please excuse my spelling)to conduct our second VBS and build a footer for a retaining wall to go in front of the Roger Quarles Technical School to keep the water out when it rains. Our trip took quite a bit longer going there because we were stopped by the police (driver had to show his license and they actually wanted a list of everyone on our bus; none of us can figure out why because they didn't stop us on the way back? Go figure. We decided that the guards were busy and it made them look important. After about a 20 minute delay, we were on the road again. Our bus driver did not know how to get there which resulted in another stop while Gabriel and driver got off and asked for directions. A couple of bathroom breaks and a gas stop, but alas we arrived. We will call the ride a sure test for those of us with motion sickness, but all did well and the scenic route finally ended with screams of joy from the children as we turned the last corner and came into view.

Gabriel was told to expect about 40 children and there was closer to 100 children. Children came from two different villages from miles away to attend the VBS and be seen at the medical clinic. About 15 of us worked on digging the trench for the footer. A bit of a challenge with the rocky ground and shortage of tools. We actually resorted to using our claw hammers in places to chip away the rock. Just when you thought you had completed the difficult part, we got to mix cement without the aid of a wheelbarrow. Previous trip members knew what was coming, but for us newbies, we found out that mixing concrete in a small hole in the ground was harder than the trench digging! I am sure that I am not the only one discovering new muscles that are sore! We had 4 hours to complete this task and it shows you that when a small group of people have a unified purpose, great things can be done. We finished our footer in 3 hours instead of 4! I am happy to report that the bus trip back was shorter than the morning ride. After a shower (varying degrees of water depending on where in the line you are), a meal of barbeque chicken and the kids and adults with any stamina left to go to Baxter to play soccer. A truely great day!

Today we are off to Union for church. We are waiting for our second group to arrive in about an hour. Wishing all of you a glorious Lord's Day.
(submitted by suzanne)