Day Five: A blog from a non-blogger

Since this is my second trip down here (came last June with my granddaughter, Dora) and this time with my grandson, Coy, it is good to renew old friendships from last time here. My primary job has been working on the plumbing, which includes figuring out where to lay pipes and where to dig the ditches, along with sending many people to the store multiple times a day for supplies.

            Today is hard to put into words as we did multiple things during the day. In the morning we began the day as usual with the event of working at the TQ house. Many things were completed, including; 4 showers in the house and 5 toilets plumbed, and the plumbing has almost been completed on the first floor of the new Administration building.

Finally, this bathroom is plumbed!

Admin Bldg is being plumbed from the beginning (this time).

        Second thing we did was begin the Vacation Bible Schools in Tejeres. Kari, with Daniel’s great help in translating, began the VBS with a lesson on being the light of the world. Then we sang songs with the kids, and then passed out snacks of sliced watermelon and a whole banana! The kids were separated into three groups and went to stations: music, games, and crafts. We then gave each of the 80 children a meal of rice and carrots on tortillas. I was amazed at the patience of the kids waiting for their meals, as they only get about 5 meals a week. Overall, I think it was a very rewarding experience interacting with the children, and seeing faces from last trip. And also knowing that is one of the main reasons we are down here.

Frederic in his element...a baby in his hand.

Demo: Finding things in the dark.

A snack of banana and watermelon...yummy!

Kari and Daniel teaching the lesson.

The ping pong/spoon relay.

Make a joyful noise! And add some maracas for fun!

            After dinner, we visited a church in Quimistan. We all accepted the challenge of venturing to a Spanish-speaking church, where none of us knew any of what was said. We all agreed afterwards that the song (or songs?) were impossible to discern the words or one song from another. We came to the conclusion that it was approximately 4 songs blended together. There you go. Roxanne told us that the sermon passage was 1 Samuel 10:18, and afterwards that the sermon was about Saul changing after being anointed. Personally, I thought he was a fantastic speaker as he could hold your attention to the point it seemed that he made you want to listen, even if you had no clue what he was saying. Everyone in the congregation seemed very appreciative that we attended their service.

            Tomorrow we will begin the day the same with more work at the TQ house, and after that we will do our best to be flexible in our plans to help Roxanne not stress out! Maybe she is trying to help us remember since we have a sign in the kitchen that says, ”Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.”  It also helps your back! Ron will let you know if plans have changed tomorrow night, and how those all worked out.

Jenn, caught swinging the maddox. We're not sure
 if her dreads are snaky or sneaky:)

            From all us here in Quimistan to all ya’ll North Americans (and anyone else reading this in other parts of the world) ADIOS AMIGOS!

~Butch

Day Four - Beautiful Faces & Smiling Faces :-)

As this is my first international mission trip to Honduras, I wanted to share a few of my first impressions.  Upon landing in Pedro San Sula, we couldn't help but notice the lush tropical greenery with surrounding mountains along the bumpy road to the Quimistan valley.  There were people everywhere alongside the roads, so my question of "why?" was quickly followed by "there is no electricity, no running water or plumbing, translated 'no job."  My next question, as I love the water, is "what are they doing along the river?" answered with "bathing and laundry!"  Martha and Gary's place, our home for the week, is amazing; the cooks, pictured below, are spoiling us with three delicious hot meals a day; we only thought we would lose weight this week!  Our alarms each morning are roosters crowing and birds singing...and the rains are God's very best sound machine.

Gloria, Sandra and Leti

After 2 1/2 days of plumbing, digging ditches and laying pipe as well as nurturing the incredible flowers at the Children's home, we had our first face to face time with the Honduran people as we shared the hygiene kits so graciously provided by Crossroads Church in Aiken as well as Community Bible Church in Beaufort, SC.  The families were extremely grateful for the regalo (gift) and had a ready smile for our team as we shared "Bendiciones en el nombre de Jesus Christo" (Blessings in the name of Jesus Christ).  As we returned after distributing almost 300 hygiene packets, the three children  from the first house we visited were freshly bathed and had clothes on...all smiles!

 Frederic in
 his element.

A young  boy 

eager to pose for

our camera....

muy guapo!

 George and Kari
delivering on the left.

Coy and Kari serving in His name.

Sam, Frederic and Ron draw a crowd.

Roxanne blessing 

this young man in the

 name and in the

 power of Jesus Christ.

Ron working hard or harding working?

"Beautiful places, smiling faces" was printed on the South Carolina license plates for several years as a state slogan.  I can think of no better way to remember Honduras!  In the next few days, we begin our Vacation Bible School ministry...looking forward to see how HE continues writing the rest of the story!

Friends, Falls and FUN!

Crossroads Aiken Mission Team Jan. 2015

Today was truly an ADVENTURE! All the team members explored their adventurous side when they zip-lined across Pulhapanzak Falls, the largest waterfall in Honduras with a 140 foot drop. 

George, who's been to Quimistan 18 times for mission work, described this excursion as the best he'd ever had while in Honduras!!

The Wonder of God's Creative Nature!

Jennifer on the zip line filled with wonder!

Afterward, Roxanne, Jenn, Butch and Coy explored their wild side by actually getting into the waterfall and behind the falling water, feeling the water almost all over their bodies; crawling into a small cave behind the falling water; and then cliff-jumping from--10 foot drop---into the waterfalls! However, their bravery was really tested after their jump because the weather was a mere 60 degrees today! They were muy trio (very cold) walking around soaked!  (But they all said, "Well worth it!") 

The crazy and frozen ones after caving with their guide, Carlos.

After all the adventures at Pulhapanzak we enjoyed a late lunch at Turicentro la Colina. The restaurant overlooked Lago de Yojoa (Lake Yojoa) - the view was incredible. But when we looked at the menu we realized we had no clue what to order because all the food items were described in Spanish. The specialty of the area is tilapia grown in the lake so that is what we are had and it was muy delicioso!

Ron accepted a challenge from our bus driver, Mario, to a game of pool while we were waiting for our food to arrive. English rules = Ron won! Honduran rules = Ron lost! We learned that the Hondurans play billiards a little differently than we do in the States.

Coy & Frederic made a new friend, Mariposa, and she traveled back to Quimistan with us! Frederic decided to give her a new home in the garden on Gary & Martha's property. Note: Mariposa is the Spanish word for "butterfly."

We finished up the night by preparing the crafts for the vacation bible school we will be hosting for the Honduran children :) 

Buenos Noches!

Frederic + Day Two = Eccentric

Who's leading whom?

Doing the shovel twist!

WHAT? USC?

If you're happy...?

The sewage drainage ditch...is it one foot deep yet?

Greetings Bloggers (my first),

Since this is my first time blogging, it may be very short.   Actually, I rather someone else do the blog for me – not that I am shy but simple “me.”  

This is my first time with the Crossroads Aiken Mission team and my first time in this part of Honduras.  

The moment I left the airport, I was in my “comfort zone,” being back home.   I have done 11 missions in Belize, plus many other places.  Both countries are beautiful – of course, they are because they are GOD’s countries!  Likewise, so are the people, whom Jesus loves and He desires ALL to be saved.  

            At the present time, I have only met our hostess missionaries, the support staff, and the crew of men working on the construction site for the children’s home.

            I have seen many children and adults out the vehicle’s window, waved to them, and had most waved back.   I am looking forward to meeting more Hondurans

as knowing the people and their culture and history is my interest.   Work is just an excuse.   

Sincerely HIS  - Friendly Frederic   

PS

            Progress is coming along on all the plumbing projects.  The ditches are being dug laboriously but joyfully.  We never knew one foot could be so deep.  We actually got some of the pipes fit today.

            Vickie and Kari are extending the flowerbeds with Sam’s able help and have planted new plants.

            We did have several jokers in the group today: One handling a ‘snake’ which was actually a black root; and the other holding a USC shirt in front of Sam…ha, ha, ha! Everyone knows his blood runs Tiger Orange!

First Day

Our first full day in Honduras and hearts are full and excited for the rest of the week. Words cannot express and pictures cannot contain the beauty of this leafy and mountainous land.

 The weather has been kind to us on our first day of work at Tranquilidad… clouds in the sky to shield us from the sun, temperatures in the 70’s, with a soft breeze. It was absolutely perfect!

This morning we traveled up the hill to the TQ children’s home, which overlooks the gorgeous Quimistan Valley.  The progress that has been made on the home since our last mission trip is truly amazing. It is all coming together and is looking more and more like a home. It was moving to see the tree grove that our June 2014 team planted is flourishing. Much sweat, hard-work, fun, and laughter were poured into planting these trees by a group of people who knew very little about planting trees. It’s a reminder that we plant and sow but God waters and brings forth the growth!

Today’s work entailed pulling weeds and cleaning the flower gardens along the fence line as well as indoor plumbing. Vickie felt right at home among the flowers and Fred made thousands of new friends. All thousand of their names are easy to remember because they all have same name… Ant! Their kisses felt more like stings! No complaints from Fred… he just brushes them off and keeps going.

Inside the home, an intricate job is at hand and we just happen to have the men to get the job done! Butch and Coy’s plumbing knowledge is at work in a big way as plumbing is an extremely important part of building a home. Working alongside the Honduran employees, they accomplished a lot today!  You truly realize what hard manual labor is when you are doing everything by hand without machines. For Ron, this took him back in time to his manual laboring college days. If my calculations are correct, he went back to the 70’s today. I didn’t ask what he wore back then but I can just imagine a hip Ron with bell-bottoms and a beetle’s haircut… Groovy!

All this is taking place as Roxanne is overseeing the work being done at the home as well as the building of the administration complex that is now in process. Let us not forget, Sam was in search for the rock of the year and he found it! (See picture)

All in all, in was a great day in Honduras! Trenches were dug, pipes where laid, and unique relationships are forming within the mission team and across cultural lines. We look forward to the rest of our week with great expectancy! More to come!!!