Sunday

Today we headed out early to build a church. The village we were building in is right in the city. It is butted up against all kinds of rich houses and yet no one takes time to notice it.

Well today we showed up to do just that. (notice it) We went in early and attended church in their pre-existing building. The make shift building that stood there before was one that they had made themselves from whatever they could find. Some of the families could have used those pieces of scrap wood/metal to fix leaky holes so that their kids could be dry. Instead, they so valued having a place to worship God and fellowship together that they sacrificed those pieces to build the church.

After attending their church service the members of the church helped us tear down their building and in its place we built a brand new building. The tear down process included lots of termites, a snake, a man falling off the roof, and so much more but at the end of the day it was all worth it.

After we finished building we headed back to Amber's ministry to attend church with the homeless and then we served yet another meal. It has been cool to watch the team connect to some of the homeless people there as we return time and time again.

The back side of their make-shift building.

With a team of 21 girls and just 3 boys our girls have had plenty of chances to flex their muscles ....and flex them they have! Today we had girls scaling the building to work on the roof. We had girls running chainsaws. And we had girls swinging hammers everywhere!

I of course spent more time playing with kiddos than building. :) BUT we did have around 30 people working on one site so I happily backed off and let the others build while I loved the heck out of the dozens of kids running around. This sweet baby girl is Sadie....she quickly became one of my favorites.

Saturday

Today we headed out to Casa de Esperanza. It is the orphanage I lived/worked at for the 2 1/2 years I lived in the country. So needless to say I was ecstatic to get out there.

We took fried chicken, fries, and coke with us and had a picnic at a local park with the kids. After we ate we spent hours playing with the kiddos. We played tag, pushed kids on the swings, went down the slide countless times, and so much more.

After the park we headed back to the orphanage and did art projects with the kids. Each of our team members picked a kid and decorated a picture frame with them. We then took pictures with our kids to put in the frames. We ended up spending close to 6 hours total with the kiddos. It was great seeing them but 6 hours seems completely inadequate when I'm only getting 6 hours every 4 months.

When we left the orphanage we went back to Amber's homeless ministry to feed again. I got to meet this really cool man named Max. He is a self-proclaimed hippie and I thought he was great! :) I was proud of our team. It was a long day and they all had the option of staying home instead of going to feed yet ALL of them chose to go....not only chose to go but were excited about it.

I love this little one more than life itself.

Friday

Today we headed out to one of my favorite villages, Nuevo Oriental, to set up a clothing store. We took all of the clothing, blankets, shoes, etc that were donated by people back home and organized it in a building in the village. It is kind of like a glorified yard sale. We organize the clothing on tables and then allow the people that live there to enter and "shop" for stuff. We charged 20 Lemps ($1) for 10 items. They then could sort through and find the type/size of clothing that they wanted and then purchase those items. We have found that by accepting their money for the items they are able to keep a level of dignity and they have a sense of ownership. We then take the money that we make from the clothing sales and donate it back to the local feeding center. We ended up making $140.

We were also able to play with the kiddos all day. That village has a TON of children. Which is of course one of the main reasons I LOVE it there.

We played duck, duck, goose and tug-a-war.

We walked around and helped the people shop. The line to get into the place was SOOO long!


We ate at Carnitas tonight for dinner. I clearly enjoyed the food! :) I think that because I'm only here for a week it is acceptable to gorge myself on food because I soon won't be able to eat these delicious meals! The restaurant makes some of the best food I've eaten in this country.

Thursday

Today we headed to my friend Amber's ministry. She started feeding homeless people a meal out of the back of her truck. She would drive from spot to spot feeding them food and building a relationship with them. About 6 months ago she began renting a building in one of the sketchier areas of town. The building is HUGE and Amber has huge dreams for the location. It needs a lot of TLC but it is an amazing project. They have already opened the doors and are allowing some of the homeless community sleep in the rooms. They are now feeding 4 days a week out of the front room and they have church service every Sunday morning in the building.

Our team spent the day painting rooms. Building benches to be used as seating for their church services and scrubbed the entire building clean.

This evening we went back to Amber's to serve food to the homeless. We bought 30 pizzas to distribute as a special treat. They normally get beans and rice so pizza was a welcome change. We ended up having way more pizza than we needed so we loaded the extras on the bus and started driving the streets looking for people to give some to. We didn't have to go far before we found people sleeping on the streets or families walking around. We would pull over and ask if they wanted pizza. At one point the kids we gave pizza to started jumping around and cheering. A piece of pizza made their night......I was humbled to tears.

Wednesday

The team is finally all together! woot woot! The remaining 5 of us flew in today.

The team spent the morning at an orphanage called the "Mother Teresa home." Our teams have been going to this orphanage for the last couple years and I just love it there. The facility is far from luxurious and they are way under-staffed. However, the place is run with love and kindness. The kids have their basic needs met but due to the under-staffing most of the kids aren't loved on nearly as often as what they should be. Our teams love going there and spending a few precious hours doing just that....devoting our time to simply showing them God's love for them.

After the Mother Teresa Home the team headed to the city dump. Over 1,200 people (men, women, AND children) call the dump home. They find shelter in the scraps of cardboard or plastic they find and they make entire meals out of the "trash" that the rest of us throw out. The team took beans, rice, tortillas, and water out to the dump and served a warm meal to those living there. For most of those people it will be the only warm meal they get all week.

After handing out the meal our team put on a make shift carnival at the dump. We had games, prizes, popcorn, cotton candy, and so much more. The kids LOVED it.

Our final stop was Bencaleth. It is a special needs orphanage. For those of you who have followed my blog over the years you've heard me speak of my Izzy. Jen and I found Izzy nearly 3 years ago dying on the side of a mountain. She has come a long way since then and is now living in this special needs orphanage. It was the perfect way spend my first day in the country! The team spent time pushing the kids around in their wheel chairs. Much to the kids delight Mike insisted upon playing bumper wheel chairs. Some of our group was content to simply sit talking to the kids.

Here!

We made it safely. The team is finally all together. I'll post more later when we get back for the night.

And so it begins

We woke up at 2:00 this morning and headed for the airport. With everyone being on Christmas break people were flying from all over. Myself and 2 others were going from Columbus, 14 people were flying from Canton, 1 from Providence, 1 from Kentucky, 1 from Nashville, 2 from Pittsburgh, etc.

When I arrived at the airport I found that our flight had been delayed and that I wouldn't make it to Atlanta in time to make my connecting flight. As I began questioning the people at the Delta counter they gave me a number to call to work it all out. So I got on the phone and began what would be an hour long phone conversation in pursuit of a solution. I had a wonderful and friendly lady on the other end and she did her best to accommodate myself and the other 2 with me. However, no matter what she did there was just no way that they 3 of us could get to Honduras before Wednesday. We could fly out today and go to Atlanta but the flight out of Atlanta going to Honduras was booked solid tomorrow. So we are having to wait until Wednesday to fly out. I cannot express to you the amount of sadness I am carrying with me right now. I awoke this morning preparing to head to the country that I love so much. I expected to be hugging the necks of those brown people I cherish. Instead I spent 7 hours driving to Columbus, working stuff out, and driving home. And now I wait.....

The girl flying from Providence is delayed until tomorrow. And the two going from Pitt will fly in on Wednesday.

8 of the 14 flying out of Canton made it to Atlanta in time for their connecting flight. The other 6 missed the connecting flight so will be spending the night in the airport tonight and hopefully will make it to Honduras tomorrow.

So as of right now 10 of our 22 are in Honduras. 6 are stranded in Atlanta. And 6 of us will be flying out in the next day or two.

Please continue pray for safe and speedy travels for the team. I'll keep you updated the best I can as things unfold.