First Work Day at TQ

It is amazing, and it shouldn't be, when our Heavenly Father brings people together from varied locations, backgrounds, personalities, and skills forming a unified team.  On day 1 we saw God get us out of our normal roles somewhat.   The ladies rallied together to dig four 2 foot deep holes in rocky ground.  I saw those same ladies help to nurture the children we came to serve.  We saw progress on the playground that was started last week by another group not at all different from our own.  We saw table tops start to come into shape.  And we prepared a wall space for the chalkboard that will come tomorrow.

As my pastor says when he gets up every Sunday, "God is good!"  All the time, God is good!!!  

The following pictures show some of what was done.

Some of the girls feed the 3 littles at TQ!  How can you resist those sweet faces!!!

These giant tree cookies is being turned into table tops for the picnic area.

The ladies who take such great care of us while we are here receive a gift from the team!

This is only a portion of the painting that went on; besides the tires seen here, some of the playground  equipment and the chalk wall were worked on.

MORE TO COME TOMORROW!

July 6 (Wednesday) by Roy Bassett 

The last day, last blog of a mission trip is always bittersweet.  Of course we're happy to be headed home, but we're sad to have such an amazing experience come to an end.  We'll miss this place that has come to mean so much to us.

I don't "journal" very often...which is to say, not at all.  I didn't even know you could use journal as a verb until very recently.  However, my daughters gave me a nice journal for Father's Day, specifically for this trip.  So I felt obligated to give it a try.  Here's what I wrote my first morning here.

"Who would have thought I'd feel most at peace in a 3rd world country with a somewhat violent reputation?  I know there is violence in this land, but it seems so far away as I sit on the porch with a cup of coffee enjoying the cool of the morning.

Hummingbirds flit among the flowers.  The birds chitter to each other.  Gloria, Sandra, and Leti have a constant dialogue as they make our breakfast.  I catch a random word, but have no clue what they're talking about.

I know they're happy.  In a hot kitchen, cooking food that will likely be cold before they eat...they're joyful.

It's infectious and a good reminder that joy is where you choose to find it.  Even in a 3rd world country."

If you're reading this blog and have been here, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  If you haven't been here, I truly can't adequately describe it in words or even pictures.  You need to come experience this place and the sense of fulfillment and peace that you get in helping these people. Even more, you should experience the gracious hospitality they extend to all visitors.  

If you can't come experience it for yourself, I can think of no better way to spend your money than to support the amazing work being done here.  Lives are being changed in tangible ways.  The love of Christ is being spread daily.  People are being saved physically and spiritually.  Be a part of it.

Our last day was spent putting the finishing touches on the playground tower and slide.  It had its challenges...mostly the Honduran standards for lumber that meant a 2x4 could be anything from 1.5x4.5 to 2.5x3.5! A straight board and a "square" corner were almost unheard of...at least in the hands of these Norte Americanos!

But, at the end of the day two important things were true...the work was completed and Joel couldn't get enough of it as his smile blotted out the sun!  It's likely that's the first playground he's ever experienced.  The younger children will be joining him before he knows it.

When not helping with the tower and slide, the girls did an amazing job painting slabs of wood and then painting the letters of the Spanish alphabet on them.  As Joel and the other children step from piece to piece, they'll be learning as they play.  All in all, it was a job well done and will last for years and years.

Stanley and his crew will quickly complete the covering over the playground.  When that's done, there are swings we brought with us that will turn the space into a real playground.  They will hang from the rafters of the covering.

While the guys put the last few finishing touches on the playground equipment and cleaned up the tools and scraps, the girls spent the last of the afternoon making one last visit to the roadside feeding program.  Many of the children there have already learned names and asked about their favorites.  It's a vitally important mission and truly life or death for many of those children.

So, tomorrow morning we'll pack our suitcases and make our way to the airport.  It will be good to be home, but we will all see things differently as we go.  This place is not easily left behind.

From left to right: Daniel (translator); Stanley (construction foreman); Mario (driver)

Cooks (Gloria, Leti, Sandra) 

Bailey and Joel

Dr. Brooks Rogers evaluates the children from la Tranquilidad 

Joel on the slide 

These girls are riding on top of the car! (just for a short distance, moms!) 

Our playground. 

Keith was our playground champion. 

The girls painted these letters on cross sections of a tree trunk.  Each section is about 2 feet across.  

this group is awkwardly close

July 5 (Tuesday) by Makenzie Manning

Today we started out with a tour of the White Dove School in Santa Clara. It was inspiring to see the children learning in such a fun, disciplined environment. Every child in the school is trilingual; they know English, Spanish, and French. They all were so excited to be at school, and we could just tell that they truly enjoyed learning. The teachers were asking some of the fifth graders history questions that even I wouldn't be able to answer (A&M, please don't take back my acceptance). They were all so kind and hospitable and they answered all of our many questions.

 This is their mission statement that was recited to us by a fourth grader in all three languages. It was really neat to see these children taking the steps necessary to become leaders in their community and work towards making their country as a whole a better place.

 Sam arm wrestling two of the kids in the fourth grade class. The two little boys had superman strength and came back to beat him at the very end. ;)

 The prep classes in their computer science class. I was very impressed by the fact that this school is teaching the children how to use computers and technology because they will need this to continue their education after high school and eventually get jobs.

 The principal's daughter poses with her completed fourth grade multiplication problem. Bailey wanted to know how White Dove fourth graders compared to American fourth graders when it comes to math. It was good for all of us to see that they are still learning to multiply the way all of us know how and not the new American way.

 Bailey showed the students exactly where we were from with the help of the map hung on the wall. The teacher even commented, "Wait, you are from Texas? I never would've guessed! I don't hear an accent at all!" There is always a first time for everything. #yall

 The group of 6th graders played "Time to Say Goodbye" on their flutes for us in a mini impromptu concert.

 Lexie, Makenzie, Madeleine, & Jamie gather for a quick pic in front of the adorable mural on the side of the White Dove building. It was refreshing to see that these children start every day with a devotional and their education is centered around Jesus. 

 Some of the children playing at morning recess.

 Arturo, the founder of the school with one of the children. We could all tell he genuinely cared for each of the children; he knew each of their names and would ask them questions about things that he taught them earlier in the school year.

After lunch we headed back out to Tranquilidad to start finishing up the playground. We started on the ladder that will attach to the structure, and we painted soooooooooooo many tree stumps to be used for the Spanish alphabet.

 Lexie, with Tory in the background, show off their work in painting 29 tree stumps to be used for the Spanish alphabet to go around the playground. This will help the children to be active in learning their letters and eventually spelling words when they get older.

 Makenzie in the process of painting one of the 29 tree stumps for around the playground. 

Keith paints the top posts of the playground structure while Roy and Matthew discuss the best possible way to put the stairs on.

Gloria, Lettie, & Sandra, our wonderful cooks, and the sweetest ladies on Earth, show off their FUMC to Honduras shirts that we ordered for them and the other awesome workers that have graciously served us throughout the week!

ps. mom, I promise I've been wearing my sunscreen but I might be a light shade of pink when we come home...........ooopss.......love you lots :)

Monday July 4

by Jamie Powell

Hey everybody! So today was the Fourth of July as I'd hope everyone was aware, however we weren't in America. Also I'd hope that was pretty clear so we didn't really do very many traditional Fourth of July things. The people here obviously really don't care too much about America's holiday so we didn't focus on today being the fourth at all. Despite not doing "Fourth of July things" today, we still had a ton of fun. Today we went on our excursion ,to the Pulhapanzak waterfall. At Pulhapanzak, we went zip lining and took a tour behind the waterfall. To get to Pulhapanzak is about a two and a half hour drive from Quimistan so we needed to leave Quimistan relatively early. Once we arrived, everyone got all harnessed up to go zip lining across the waterfall. There were multiple platforms to get from the starting point to the ending point, the whole zip line had an amazing view, but the last three had a magnificent view of the waterfall. This waterfall is about 140 feet tall and you can see the force of the water when you look down at it. It is very hard to describe the waterfall with words, it is one of those things you just have to see in real life to really, truly understand the beauty. Pretty much everyone who did the zip line finished and declared that that was one of the most amazing things they had done claiming that nothing could top that experience. Little did they know that there was something just as spectacular to come. The team was headed to go behind the waterfall which I think we all expected to be something like a man-made tunnel behind the waterfall that was simply going to be a scenic walk-we sure were wrong. We followed the guide down towards the base of the waterfall but didn't anticipate the amount of mist that was going to hit us. There was this nice little path down and then the path gradually turned into big rocks that we had to navigate our way through and on top of that the mist from the waterfall started getting pretty intense-or so we thought-and that was when I think I realized I really had no idea what was coming. As we neared the waterfall, we got to this little pool of water that we jumped into to get even closer to the waterfall. So after we passed the pool we were right at the base of the waterfall and there was a lot more mist and we still didn't realize that that was only the beginning. The guide took us behind the waterfall which they really should have called "through and then behind the waterfall". Once we got behind/under the waterfall, it was one of the craziest things I, and a lot of others, had ever experienced. There were a few places that we passed through that were calm places blocked by rocks, but most of the time I felt like a weather reporter in a hurricane. The wind down there was even worse than Lubbock wind (hard to believe I know) and then it was combined with water which made opening your eyes and walking or really doing anything other than standing there with your eyes closed pretty hard, so the guide who didn't seemed very fazed by any of this, impressed us all. When we finally got the the part that was really behind the waterfall, the water wind wasn't any better, but if you could look up. you could see the water rushing over the cliff and it was breathtaking, literally. Then we turned around and went back through but this time we were prepared which was good. When we made it back to the pool of water, we got to jump off of some taller rocks which was my favorite part. After reading about our little adventure you might be thinking something along the lines of "Oh my goodness! why would anyone think that was a good idea?" or "Who in their right mind would do that?" Well, it was actually one of the most "one of a kind" and exhilarating experiences any of us have ever had and I never once felt scared or anxious, I was too busy having fun trying to beat the water and looking in awe at God's creation. Today was one of those days that you can try but can never fully explain your experience no matter how hard you try and I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity to see God and his power in such a unique way. So although we didn't have the usual Fourth of July, we had a day that we will all surely remember!

 Matt and Amā at the base of the waterfall

Jamie, Lexie, Tory, Makenzie, and Madeleine posing after they had made it through the waterfall

 Lexie posing in front of the waterfall

The whole team posing for a picture by the sign after making it through the waterfall

 Madeleine on the biplane!

Tory having a blast!  

Sunday is our Fun Day

Sunday, July 3 by Daun Lipetska 

We started our day off with a devotion and some yummy pancakes.  Next we headed out to the Terejas Program.  On Sunday mornings Sandra (one of the ladies that cooks for us) leads a Sunday School program there.  Today there were about 50 kids from 1 year olds to teenagers.  Sandra does an excellent job of singing church songs with these kids. She has so much enthusiasm and the kids have tons of excitement for the Lord!  Bailey got to teach the kids one of his Spanish church songs he had up his sleeve. Who knew he had this talent too! We also attempted to teach them a few songs in English. Makenzie, Lexie, Madeleine, Matt and Bailey taught the lesson for the morning. They talked about how special each of the children are, how the Lord loves them so much and how we worship the same God in Texas as they do in Honduras. After the lesson we helped them make butterflies to take home. At first some of them weren't sure what to do (many of them probably don't get a lot of opportunities to make crafts), but then they got going and loved it! Even the teenagers got into it!  The other neat thing to see today was how some of these kids that we saw at the medical clinic on Thursday already looked better.  Several of them had some pretty nasty cuts and scraps or skin rashes that Dr. Rogers had given medicine for that had already started healing by today!  When it was time to leave it was so hard to tell them goodbye.  It's hard to imagine the things they deal with everyday. I just wanted to keep loving on them.

After lunch we drove up into the mountains to Buenos Aires. It was about a 40 minute very bumpy, curvy drive where we were able to see coffee bean crops and lots of trees. Once we got to the top it was so worth it! It was absolutely beautiful! You could climb up to a lookout area and see the entire Quimistan village while we watched clouds roll in off the mountains...just a little bit different than Lubbock, Texas.     

After Buenos Aires we drove into Quimistan to get some ice cream and go into a few shops.  We got 4 pairs of new shoes for one of the families that lives right outside the gates of the Tranquilidad Children's Home. We can't wait to give them to the 4 kids!

This evening we all went to a church service at a local church.  It was quite an experience. It was all in Spanish and was a service full of ENERGY! Most of us didn't always know what was being said, but it was a special experience to know that we all worship the same God and that He loves us the same as He loves the beautiful people of Honduras. After the 2 1/2 hour service we went back to eat and celebrate 2 special birthdays.  A sweet mom and her 7 year old daughter that live on the grounds where we are staying had asked us to celebrate their birthdays with them.  They are new to Quimistan and the mom didn't want them to celebrate alone. She brought a beautiful cake to share with all of us. It was so much fun and such a blessing that we got to help make their day special.   

Basically, it was a great day in Honduras!   

 Daniel, Daun, & Bailey prepare to sing "This Little Light of Mine" to the children!

 The children show their "little lights" to the group members leading the songs in English.

 Bailey wraps up the message to the children while Matt does a great job of translating. #spanishrox

 A few of the boys show off their gorgeous butterflies that they made during Sunday School.

 A little boy falls asleep on the bench after intensely listening to the sermon or maybe we bored him to sleep. Who knows, but we are going with the latter ;)

 Bailey and one of the girls share a sweet moment after she completed her butterfly project.

 Pearl and her meal from the church made up of a tortilla, a meat, beans, and some sort of sweet butter (shown below). #yumyumyum

 Matt and a tired little boy hang out at Sunday School.

 Lexie, Bailey, & Jamie play with Pearla and Andy, our new friends from Tejeras. This hand shake is a universal language from America to Honduras to anywhere else.

 The group visits Buenos Aires to take in the scenery and the cool mountain air. #nohumidityuphere

 The gorgeous view from Buenos Aires.

 Madeleine, Tory, Jamie, Makenzie, & Lexie with our new friend Emma from Aiken, South Carolina. She is helping out for a month or so at Tranquilidad with Jennifer.


xoxo, Daun Lipetska (Kenz did captions :))))