Rule #2--Be flexible

Sorry I haven't done any writing this time.  I got REALLY sick and as a result, just didn't feel like it (so sue me). The team did just fine.  There were 16 teens and 5 adults, besides Tom and I.  The first thing we were suppose to do was go to a couple of orphanages and love on the kids.  The orphan situation down here is just plain sad.  Basically, children cannot be adopted. Period. So, abandoned children are placed in government run orphanages and the government doesn't staff them or fund them.  They are dirty, crowded, bleak and depressing.  The kids will share a twin bed or there might be 3 babies to a crib.  There are separate rooms for the mentally and physically handicapped children and in some cases, teenagers confined to a crib.  Yes, I said a crib.  Anyway, the workers of the orphanages decided to go on strike, which meant we could not get in.  It was sad for the team, but even sadder for the children that wouldn't get loved for a day.

Anyway, instead of the orphanage, we went on to the worksite a day early. There were two vans and a box truck traveling 2 hours into the mountains.  Once we got there, the Honduran driver of the box truck casually told us his brakes were out and we would need to get the truck fixed.  What exactly did that mean; the brakes are out? After an animated conversation of tarzan spanish, it was determined the brakes were COMPLETELY out.  He had driven two hours with no brakes, up and down mountain roads. Hmmmmm, guess there is something to be said about driving a standard shift vehicle. Glad the clutch worked.

The work project was to start the foundation of a new home for the pastor and his family. Typically, when we do houses, the local people have the foundation already dug and we swoop in and start laying block.  This, of course, would not be typical.  The teens got to finish digging the foundation. Remember, no machinery here.  They used a pick axe and shovels. The first day the teens tried to show how awesome and how hard they could work.  They lasted the first day.  They quickly realized you gotta pace your self. The kids worked hard (for kids) and the adults worked real hard.

In May, the pastor's wife had (what she thought would be) reconstruction surgery as she is a breast cancer survivor.  The doctor butchered her.  He cut her from the lower back all the way up her side and across her breast.  And it was infected.  She thought she was going in for an implant and she came out with a doctor that tried to make an implant from her own tissue, which is why she had such a humongous scar across her entire body. There happened to be a medical brigade(nothing "happens" by chance) working at the local hospital so we took her there and a doctor from Tennessee operated on her to remove the infection.  He couldn't believe what had been done to her.  He did the best he could and told her he would be back in September to finish the job.  He opened her up and is going to leave the large area open and her daughter must clean it every day until he comes back.  It is pretty gross.  She still has some infection there, but hopefully by the time the doctor comes back, it will be gone and he can close up the area.

She was typically our cook, but this time, she was not able to because of her surgery, so she had 3 other women cooking for us.  The food was ok, but not as awesome as before.  We had A LOT of refried beans and tortillas.  You can imagine how well that went over with a bunch of teenagers.

Then I got sick.  Boy, did I get sick.  It is kind of funny now, but at the time, no one was laughing.  I kept passing out while on the toilet (too much info, right?!) Tom had to hold me there, trying to get me to wake up.  He admits he was very worried at the time.  Once I did wake up, I had to puke.  Note to self.  When staying at a hotel, make sure the trash can doesn't have holes in it when you "gotta do what you gotta do."  Poor Tom.  That's all I got to say.  Poor Tom.  He got me back into bed.  I yell, "I'm hot!!!". Tom puts a fan on me; directly on me.  He goes back to try and clean up the bathroom.  I yell, "I need a wash cloth."  He brings me one.  Poor Tom. He goes back to the bathroom. Remember, this is not your typical hotel you would find in the US of A.  It is clean, but you get one tiny roll of toilet paper, and two hand towels you are suppose to use for a bath towel. Poor Tom.  Two days later, I emerged from my room.  Poor Tom.  He had to run the team all by himself.  He did get one of the adults to drive my van so everyone could get to the worksite.

Then Tom got it. Poor Tom.  I had taken 2 tylenol PMs and was out for the night.  I had also put my earplugs in so I could sleep.  Apparently Tom was "doing what he had to do" several times in the bathroom and I completely slept through it.  Didn't hear a thing. Poor Tom.  Then it was his turn to stay back and rest while I took the team.  We made it through.

Since we couldn't go to any orphanages, we stayed and worked an extra day.  On the way back to the campground, we did stop at a government run daycare and played with kiddos there for the morning.  I took some incredible pictures of the children and couldn't wait to get them posted on facebook.  One of the adults was going to print the one of the little boy she was bonding with and have it framed.  They got erased. sigh.......

Oh, I forgot to tell you we had to rent a van in order to get everyone from point A to point B.  This was the most "used" van we have rented. When you rent the van they take a diagram of the van and mark any dents or scratches. You would have thought the van had chickenpox when they were done. Every morning we had to push the van and pop the crutch to get it to start. I also forgot to tell you the day we went to the airport to get the team, The Honduran pastor driving the box truck kinda hit the van we rented.  Yep.  Hit the van and lifted it up. We stopped him and we slowly backed away.  In Honduras, everyone (except rental van companies) do not care about little things like that. Oh well, it is what it is. Tom looked the van over and if it caused any damage it was not noticeable compared with all the other dents and scratches (thank you Lord). Another Honduran from the church we were working on was using our truck to pick up the cement block we needed. He hit a car with it. He was absent the rest of the day while he fixed and painted the car he hit. Try that in the USA.

After a week of mixing concrete by hand, tying a ton of rebar columns and playing football/soccer, we left to go back to the campground.  The campground is located smack in the middle of sugarcane fields.  There is no road going back to it; just  a dirt "road" tractors from the sugar cane company have beaten down over time.  We are in the rainy season now.  The "road" was one long mud hole.  It was very interesting getting in and out of there. A truck delivering our drinking water got stuck coming back to us. Pastor Efrain called Tom and asked him to take the box truck and pull them out. Tom pulled the truck out of the campground to help and the truck driver told him ( at least Tom thinks he told him) "no way you can pull me out with that thing, we will both be stuck." Finally two tractors from the sugar cane field came by and pulled him out. We got our water, the truck left, and unfortunately he left two big ruts where he was stuck.

The "fun" day was going to the beach.  We took the group to Punta Sol, which is a national park in the middle of the Caribbean.  They had a lunch of fresh fish, rice and beans, and plantain chips.  Then they played in the Caribbean.  The boat ride over was 45 minutes and the kids were stoked during that ride.  We had a nice day for it and the day went quickly.  One more wake up and it was off to the airport.  We jump into the van and nothing.  So, out everyone goes and they push it to pop the clutch.  It wouldn't start.  They push from the front to back it up and do it again.  Nothing.  they do it again. Nothing.  It is like 100 degrees and just as humid and these guys are dressed to go home.  They are sweating.  They are pushing.  Nothing.  Tom gets jump cables (oh yeah, we have those here at the campground...) We are off to the airport.  I go with the kids to get them checked in and Tom takes the rental van back (I'm not an idiot, let him try and talk his way out of the damage).  We get the kids all checked in and fed.  We say our goodbyes and off they go.  When you return rentals here you must be very leery of them trying to charge you for previous damage. The van was so incredibly covered with mud from the "road" that if there were any new scratches or dents (we don't think there were) the woman couldn't tell (thank you Jesus for the fresh rain that night).

We're baaaaccccckkkkkkkk

After almost a 10 month forced hiatus, We have put our feet back onto Honduran soil. But, as with anything we do that concerns Honduras, it couldn't be a smooth sail.  We got to the airport this morning and boarded the plane without incident. After 3 hours of sleep, Tom and I were REALLY looking forward to sleeping all the way to Houston.  Since you don't get fed anymore, we wouldn't be awakened for anything. The flight attendants kept getting people to hurry as it was a full flight.  There is always one person on a plane that is a problem.  This flight was no exception to that rule.  A lady brings on a huge bulging suitcase and can't get it to fit into the upper compartment.  One male flight attendant tells her it wouldn't fit and she needed to check it.  She ignored him.  She tried it again. It didn't fit.  He told her again to check it.  She continued to ignore him.  There were two people from the landing crew at the front of the plane.  They were watching this and one of them gets tired of the scene and decides he is going to take charge and get the suitcase.  He goes down the aisle and talks to the woman.  She unzips her suitcase and starts taking things out and putting them on her seat, as the now two male employees are watching.  The second ground person at the front of the plane mutters something under his breath and walks sternly down the aisle, picks up the suitcase, without a word, and carries it off the plane.  Everyone needs a little humor at 6:00 in the morning.

Just as we were settling down for a 2 1/2 hour nap, the pilot comes on and states the computer wasn't working properly so they had called maintenance.  Our first thought was, "great another 20 minutes of sleep" and we both floated off into sleep land.  That lasted for about 5 minutes when the pilot came on again and stated it would take longer than they hoped.  Then, the pilot comes out of the cockpit and starts talking to the passengers, walking up and down the aisle.  That was our first real clue this was going to take a while.  The mistake they did make was allowing passengers to get off the plane to do whatever.  We only had 45 minutes between connections, so it didn't take a genius to figure out we would miss our connection. With sleep impossible at this point, I called United from my "approved cell phone" instead of getting off the plane and going to an agent.  I wish the others would have done that, too.  Of course, when all these people got off, the plane was ready to go and we didn't have all the people. So, we sat a little longer.  Everyone (or so they thought) had returned and the flight attendants counted the peeps and decided we were all there.  The walkway is pulled away and the engines are cranking up.  I was sitting by a window directing across from the agent that was operating the walkway.  I saw him look at us, then I saw him look to his left.  I saw the expression on his face go from relief to anger.  It was so funny to watch.  I turned to Tom and said, "I bet we left someone."  The agent grabs his walkie and screams into it.  I could almost hear him through the air space.  I looked at our flight attendants and they were frozen.  I looked back at the agent driving the walkway, and saw him throw down his walkie and reach for the controls to move the walkway back to the plane.  The engines were shut down.  I turned to Tom again, and said," I bet I know which passenger didn't come back."  and sure enough, on walks the same woman who had the luggage issue carrying a LOT of food, and actually eating a sandwich while she sauntered down the aisle to her seat..  It was so funny.

We landed in Houston and didn't have to rush to make the connection as the plane wasn't there. What we didn't realize was when Continental and United merged, they did not take away one of the flights to Honduras, so there were now two flights from United going into Honduras an hour apart.  We got on the second flight. Manuel was waiting for us with the biggest smile. We were home.

A vision for an alcohol treatment center in Tegucigalpa

There is a Nazarene Pastor named Yanuario who has a vision and he has shared this vision with Tom and I.  He is PASSIONATE about this vision and has been praying for several years that God would bless the vision and what he would like to do.  I am sharing his story with all of you in hopes that you, too, will help him by praying.  As Jesus has said, there is power in the prayers of the saints.  After reading his testimony, if any of you are led to help in his vision, you can contact us.  This is his story as told to Tom and Paul Jetter:

One night Yanuario heard someone moaning in the weeds behind his church.  Upon investigating he found a drunk who had dirtied himself with his own excrement.  Yanuario carried him to the church, helped clean him up, and offered to let him sleep in the church.  The man refused, saying he was not worthy.  So he slept outside the church instead.  This happened several nights within a short period of time.  Then the man asked Yanuario if he could help him get sober.  Yanuario found a Christian rehab center, got him in, and now the man is an active member of his church.  Yanuario then started a rehab program of his own.  He has 20 to 30 men in it.  So far, four or five have gone sober.  One is in heaven, three are in his church, and the other in another church. 

There is additional land behind Yanuario's church.  He has the dream of building a rehab center there.  Unless the land is purchased soon, it will likely be filled with houses and then unavailable.  He ask the price, the the owner offered it for about 1.2 millionlempiras.  (Exchange rate is about 19 to one dollar.)  Yanuario didn't have that kind of money, so he for weeks he would walk around the land praying.  The owner came down to one million.  Yanuario kept walking and praying and the owner came down to about 750,000.  It went on that way until the owner came down to 425,000 ($21,700 US dollars), and said that was as low as he would go.

Yanuario raised 100,000 ($5,107 US dollars) (I don't know how) and made a down payment.  I have promised him 100,000($5,107 US dollars).  I think he said that he thought he could raise another 20,000($1,021) to 40,000($2042), but the payment date is in January, 2013.  I do not know where the rest of the money will come from, but he is praying($11,000 US dollars are still needed)

I asked Yanuario why he was so interested in a rehab center, and with tears in his eyes he said that it was because about ten years ago he was like the man in weeds, drunk and lost, but that God had rescued him and that he felt called to help others.

Alcoholism affects everyone around the world. When in a poor country, there is no insurance or welfare programs to assist these people.  They are on their own, which is why they fail so much of the time.  This man, once in the same situation, was used by God and is now a passionate man of God, trying to reach people for Christ.

PLEASE PLEASE join us in prayer that his vision will one day become reality.

thanks to all

Blessings!

This is a picture of Yanuario and his family

you should never use defensive tactics against a piñata .

July 31st was Tom's birthday. We celebrated it along with two other team members with a special dinner, dessert and a piñata. The two teens went first and then it was Tom's turn.  Tom grabbed the thing as if it was the "red man" in a training class for the police department and started kneeing it in the chest. It was hilarious.  He didn't bother with the stick.  He didn't need it.  Apparently someone took a video of it so it might appear in the next training class for the Genoa Police department( or Facebook).

Pastor Rigo took the opportunity, when it was his turn to try it, to "choke" and shake Bob the Builder (the piñata), so the candy came out in no time.  I think Tom started a new way to break a piñata.  I don't believe Rigo was ever that aggressive until he saw Tom...  we all had a big huge laugh , which should remain in people's memories for a long time.

Today was the last day the team had here in Siguatepeque.  What a great way to end our time here than with a day at a small pool, riding horses and participating in a baptism. Four of the church members got baptized AND 3 of the team members.  It was a super special day for the coming together of two different worlds for the same cause; Jesus.

 Pastor Greg had never been on a horse before.  He mentioned that it was amazing what a youth pastor will do that is so far outside their own comfort zone.  He thought the horse was very relieved when he got off of it.

See the old red van in the background of the above picture?  Well that is one of the vans that is always breaking down and today would be no exception.  When we got back to the hotel after the day at the pool, we stopped just long enough to drop off the team and then we were going on to delver the church people back to the church.  The van wouldn't start.  No matter how much coaching, it was not to be.  We piled into the box truck and the grey van and took the church people back.  While I ran around to the store, pastor's house, etc, Tom took apart the distributor, cleaned it and put it back together.  It started. Yea Tom!  One of the team members made the comment that Tom did a great job.  Of course he did!  I think I will keep him for another 20 years.

Back to church for one last meal and one last service.  The singing was great as usual.  The people baptized were presented to the church and were prayed for as well. Even the 

little ones prayed. We had to pry the team away.  No one wanted to leave. It was pretty quiet on the way back to the hotel for the last time; not many dry eyes in the group.

I wanted leave you with a few pictures of what the landscape of Honduras REALLY looks like so you can see why people find it so beautiful AND hard to leave here.

Buenas Noches to all.

Sunday morning VBS service went really well. There were a lot of kids and they absolutely loved all the singing, dancing and the puppets.  Afterwards, we did a craft which got pretty messy. But, the kids loved it anyway.  I'm not sure how much the parents of the kids loved it when they got home, but anyway....

After lunch, I took Letty and some of the team to the grocery store.  Letty needed to buy food for the team and the rest wanted to buy coffee and vanilla. Literally when we were checking out, Letty gets a phone call from her daughter stating her son is sick.  Sure enough, I ended up taking them to the hospital.  So ONCE again, there I was sitting in a hospital waiting room. Tom met me with the other van so he could take the people and the groceries.  Apparently Moises got hit in a "sensitive" area while playing soccer yesterday and swelled up like a balloon.  The FEMALE doctor came into the room and Moises walked out of the room.  Letty told him to get back in there; he didn't have a choice about what kind of doctor to see. He was sent home with pain medicine and an antibiotic.  No slack for Moises as Letty said he was going back to church with us.  So, back to the hotel in just enough time to change my clothes and pick up the team.  Tom got a Nazarene nap, but I didn't.

Rigo told us at dinner that he has a plan for Maria and her children. His plan is to build a room for them on the church property so the girls would be safe.  He said he would give us an estimate of what it would cost to do it.  We are hoping that the cost won't be too much and just maybe, we can raise the money.  It would be so exciting to see those children being raised by a church family without the fear of these kids getting abused by the many men Maria associates with.  AND, if Maria lived near the church, the men won't be able to "visit."  We are certainly praying about this!

The evening church service was very nice.  Several of the team members gave testimonies, others sang and did sign language and Pastor Greg gave a good sermon.  It was a nice night.

Sorry this is a boring blog.  I have been so busy and fred at night that my brain isn't thinking of funny things.  Hopefully the next one will be better.

Tom and I feel like we are in the "MASH 4077" Unit

First day of work and we managed to go about two hours before someone got hurt. Apparently one of the boys thought if he swung a piece of rebar really high and hard he could get the "laja" pieces to come off better.  UNFORTUNATELY, his head got in the way.  He ended up hitting himself on the top of the head. We had a hard time trying to figure out exactly how he did it, but he did... We were going to make up a really good story of how one of the girls hit him with a pick axe, but then, his own story WAS pretty funny. FORTUNATELY his dad is on the trip and knows what really happened. No trip to the hospital was necessary (YEA) and today he is fine.

For those who don't remember the last time Tom drove the big box truck to Siguatepeque, let me remind you.  Tom hit a sign in town and had to replace it AND took down a phone line AND a cable line.  Efrain has been driving the truck this year so Tom hasn't had a repeat performance.  Efrain could NOT come with us this time so Tom is driving the box truck. Jared is his co pilot and Tom instructed  Jared that his primary and ONLY job is to make sure Tom didn't bring anything down as he passed by.  They got all the way to the church site and Jared figured he didn't have to care anymore. WRONG! Tom brought down the only electrical wire.... We are officially 0 for 4 on issues with the vehicles this time. 4 teams with 4 issues. I guess it is a good thing this is our last team for the summer or we might not have anything left to drive.

2nd day of work started early.  We left the hotel at 6:30 am in order to get to the worksite by 7:00.

I got there and Letty asked me where everyone else was.  I looked behind me and no one came. I waited and waited.  Still no one.  So I call Tom.  He says he was almost to the church when the guy driving the third vehicle called him and said they had to go back to the hotel for something. UGH! They didn't get there until about a half hour later.  Turned out the lady who is responsible for bringing the first aid kit forgot it and they had to go back.  The luck we are having at work sites, it was something that we needed to have.  The team worked till noon and then they REALLY got to work.  

They played with kids.  From 1pm until 3 pm, they played with small children and THEN, from 3 pm to 5 pm, they played and had devotions with the teens. The team made balloon swords and the children chased each other and the team with them.  The team painted faces and played with a parachute.  It was wonderful see them play so hard.  the kids LOVED it.



The team played A LOT of soccer. The other teens LOVED it.

Part of dinner was made by Angel, Jared, and me.  We made home made enchiladas, which are made from a corn flour mixture, rolled into balls, smashed with a small board and then deep fried. EVERYTHING Hondurans eat involve corn flour, hot oil and a flame.  They were delicious if I do say so myself.  Don't everyone get their hopes up for getting any when I get home to Ohio.  They are WAY too labor intensive AND greasy for me to do in my kitchen.  I'd be cleaning grease off my stove and cabinets forever.

Just as we were sitting down to eat, Maria's girls came by to get water for their family.  These girls range in age from 3 years old to 10 years old. They walk BY THEMSELVES over 2 miles over dangerous terrain to the church to get water.  We fill up their jugs and then they carry them all the way back.  Vehicles cannot go where they live, so they must walk and we cannot help them. These girls don't know where their next meal is coming from half the time, so they got to sit down with us and eat until they couldn't eat anymore.  And boy did they eat. Two of the girls ate 4 enchiladas, two ate 3 and even the littlest one managed to eat two.  They wanted to stay and play, but it was getting dark and they had so far to go so we made them leave.  BUT, they will be back tomorrow for church in the morning AND probably church in the evening as well.  BUT, they will come by themselves.  Their mother won't be with them.  You see she has another new baby at home; her 9th child. this single mom prostitutes herself in exchange for food...How sad...

BUT, we are God's hands and feet here in Honduras and we have answered God's request to help His children anyway we can.  Pastor Rigo and Letty minister to their spiritual and physical needs whenever they can, and we, as various team members, love on them whenever we can.  And, isn't that all God has ever asked any of us to do?

Have a blessed night.

H is for Hola

Here we are with our last team of the summer.  They are from Belair Maryland.  It was easy to spot them at the airport, wearing these "H is for Hola" T-shirts.  I must admit they practically stopped traffic with people trying to figure out what it meant.  It did bring about conversations between strangers and the team.  I guess that is what it is all about; communication.  The team arrived with no problems.

We got them back to the campground and into the work and witness house for lunch.  The AIR CONDITIONED work and witness house.  How awesome is that?  Don't know how long we will be able to use it since electricity is so high here,  but hey, someone needs to try it.  Thanks to the team from Salem Oregon, we got to put it in. Having 30 people in this space, with the temperatures over one hundred degrees is horrible.  We are VERY thankful.

7/26 - Today we went to the market and bought $300.00 worth of fruits and vegetables for the two children's homes we visit.  Since we went to the wholesale place, the items were waaaaayyyyyy cheaper.  We bought 200 bananas, 100 pounds of green beans, 100 pounds of potatoes, 20 pineapples, 200 oranges, 100 pounds of carrots, 12 watermelons, and 2 cases of papayas.  It was a blast buying like that.  I'm sure the Hondurans thought these Gringos were nuts.

 We took all the food and split it between the two homes.  The team sang songs and did a puppet show and then did crafts at the girl's home.  This baby is 2 months old.  His "mother" just turned 13 years old.  Can you even imagine a 12 year old getting pregnant?  And then, imagine that same 12 year old being thrown out of her home and placed in a home for girls at risk.  How sad is this? A child having a child.  She was even breast feeding it.  It was so obvious that she was awkward about all of it. Such a shame. Thought I'd better say here the girl in the picture is NOT the mom.  This is one of the team members (for those of you who don't know the team)      

When we got to the children's home, there was already a team there.  These kids were on attention overload by the time our team left. They were off the hook!  Our team tried to make balloon "art" but the kids kept breaking the balloons or stealing them and shooting each other with the balloons.  It was a zoo.  Note to self. NO balloons, EVER at the children's home!  The team split up and went in all the areas of the home with kids.  Some went to the special needs room and just held those same kids I talked about a couple of weeks ago.  Only this time, they have had a chicken pox outbreak there. Many of the kids were really sick.  BUT, our team held them anyway.  REALLY hope everyone has had chicken pox or at least has had the vaccine to prevent it or they might have a big surprise when they get home to the states.

We got back to the campground and we made everyone take a shower immediately upon arrival and to place their clothes somewhere that won't be touched again until they leave. Dinner was made by
Efrain's wife, Loyda.  She made Tajadas con carne and baleadas.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy the food.  Now the team is having small group time and Tom and Amy are having "missionary only" time.  It is a perfect night.

 Buenos noches everyone!