Thursday, June 30, 2011

Thursday






Today we got up bright and early to build another house! And by bright and early I mean Mario woke me up at 5:55 by saying “Corey… GET UP” The boys stayed over last night and they can be a handful but they are awesome. We arrived at the build site with the wood already unloaded (by Mike, Daniel, and I) which means we were ahead of schedule! The brothers as usual were all about helping us build the house by doing whatever they could do help, even if sometimes that just meant running and giggling. We finished the house early even though we faced a lot of difficulties. I was so proud of our team as no matter what happened they continued to work hard and didn’t let these issues get in the way of providing for a family in need. The family we build the house for was so very gracious. The look in their eyes when the gazed upon their new house was all the satisfaction we needed!

During the building of the house Mario, one of the middle brothers, was by my side helping me for most of the day. He hasn’t said much to me so far on the trip but today he was extremely chatty! Mario’s story is a long one and to see him thrive is awesome. Whenever we have been around kids his age he is the center of attention and is always sharing with the other kids. Its amazing to see someone that has less that me give without even batting an eye. He is inspirational. On our ride home Mario, Marveen, and I sat in the back of the bus. Marveen was passed out after a few minutes but Mario and I were talking, singing, and dancing the whole way back. He is an awesome kid and I am so very thankful that I got to know him a little better today! Everyday down here has been a great gift and the things I have learned I will not soon forget. The boys are staying the night again so its time to get them ready for bed. Tomorrow we are going to the special needs orphanage, the dump, and taking some great kids out for dinner.. this all means that tomorrow will be my favorite day of the trip!


(Written by: Team member....Corey Bryant)

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Pictures

Our stuck bus....
Steph was a beast with the rake!
Our team building garden rows

Me with Christian (the little boy I attached to at the hospital)

Wednesday

We started our day off at Hospital Escuela. I have a love/hate relationship with that place. I love it because it continually breaks me. My heart has never left that place feeling anything less than broken and changed. Yet I hate that same place BECAUSE it continues to break me....and because of the reasons it breaks me. It breaks my heart to see so much pain and despair. The hospital is worse than most things I've seen here. They put 10+ people in each bed. So that when you walk into a room there are hospital beds lining the walls on all sides. They reuse catheters, needles, and who knows what else. To top that all of because it is a "free hospital" they don't provide meals or bedding for their patients. So it is easy to see why my heart breaks from just being there. I believe that one of the greatest injustices of this world is inadequate health care. Today was no different for me. We went from floor to floor handing out blankets and stuffed animals. I ended up spending the majority of my time at the bedside of a little boy whose Mom is working every day so she can only come visit him on Sundays. The boy (Christian) couldn't have been more than 2 and when I first saw him he was screaming and crying as he got his injections/treatments for the day. I went to his side to hold his hand and ended up staying until he went to sleep.

After the hospital we went to "the brothers" house to clean for a couple hours. The brothers are a group of 8 boys. The 5 middle kids were the first 5 children in Casa de Esperanza (the orphanage) when they opened their doors. They were placed back with their parents a couple of years ago. Since that time they've been living near missionary friends of mine. (Jen and David) So we spent a couple of solid hours scrubbing, sweeping, mopping, and washing everything we could today.

We then headed to a new ministry called Casa de Esther. It is a ministry for sexually abused girls. They will be opening their doors to the first 4 girls within a month and are equipped to take in up to 30. We spent time building shelves, cleaning, and hauling away wood.

Finally, we headed back to the homeless ministry that my friend Amber runs. She feeds every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday so we went there tonight to help feed and spend time with the sweet people that show up each night.

It was a very full day but we were blessed to get to be a part of all of it.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Monday & Tuesday

4 years ago I met Nathan Hale and we became fast friends. He came to Honduras to build a garden for the orphanage I was working for. During his 2 weeks here I picked his brain and learned more about cob housing, worm beds, composting, and gardening than I ever thought possible. He shared with me his dream/vision to start a farming project that would employ people to work there and in turn would produce food to feed hundreds.


Flash forward 4 years.....yesterday I had the privilege of seeing all of that become a reality. Nathan (and others) came here in April to put his dream into motion. Someone donated land for the project and yesterday our team was able to spend the day working there. I was brought to tears as I stood and looked out over the land.....this project that Nathan has dreamed for, worked for, prayed for, cried for, and fought for. I am moved by his faithfulness to this call that God has placed on his heart and I felt blessed to be able to play even the smallest role in it.


Unfortunately our bus, the truck, and a delivery truck all got stuck in the mud on the property. And when I say stuck I mean STUCK.....like sunk right in. We spent the ENTIRE day pulling, pushing, digging, and praying one vehicle after another out of the mud. Around 8 p.m (after close to 6 hours of working at it) we finally gave up and called a tow truck (which ended up also getting stuck!) to come pull the delivery truck out. Despite it all the team was amazing. They never once complained....even after the sun went down and the skies opened up and began to down pour.


Then today it was off to the Nashville school which is a bilingual school near the valley of the angels to build bookshelves and picnic tables for the school. The school is dedicating to not only giving the kids an education but also teaching them about God's love. After hours of working on the tables we headed to the Valley of Angels (a little shopping village) to buy our souvenirs. While there we enjoyed some authentic Honduran food. We got coffee, Coke in glass bottles (the only real way to drink it in my opinion), pupusas, and fresh fruit popsicles. I was IN heaven. :)

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Saturday

Today was a build day. We headed out bright and early to build a house for a sweet family. The family was made up of a woman, her daughter, and her two grandchildren. As soon as we arrived we began carrying wood down a narrow path to the house site. We also jumped right in to tear down the existing structure that they had been living in. It could hardly be categorized as a house with its gaping holes, sparse furniture, and small size. It took us 10 minutes to move out all of their possessions. It would take us weeks to pack up all of our belongings and completely move out of our homes.

The team did amazing. They jumped right in and helped in any way necessary and within 6 hours we had demolished the previous house, carried in the wood, and built the entire house.

My favorite part of the day was at the end when we all circled up inside of the house to pray over the family and their new home. The mother decided she would like to express to us her appreciation for our hard work. In doing so she started sobbing and kept repeating how blessed she is. I was humbled beyond belief. This women standing before me was expressing how blessed SHE is. How often do we, Americans, think we don’t have enough? We want bigger houses, more things, fancier cars, etc. Very rarely do we stand back and just recognize how truly blessed we are. Yet here was a woman, standing in a 17X17 foot home, praising the Lord for the blessings he has bestowed upon her.

Mr. Dan is 75 years old, yet he was out there today helping us build and serving those wonderful people. He is living proof that God can use anyone despite their age or what they may have to offer.




Friday, June 24, 2011

In Honduras!

The team all made it safely into the country. We headed out to Casa de Esperanza for the afternoon and played with the kids there. I can't even begin to describe how good it is for my heart to be there and near those kids whom I love so deeply. I will never grow tired of watching Katty come running towards me and flinging herself into my arms. Feeling her arms wrap around my neck is like a breath of fresh air. The team spent the afternoon playing and then grilled hot dogs to eat with the kiddos. I'll post pictures soon.