Honduras - Here We Come!

Friday, 23 September 2011

It seems like it has taken a long time to get to these hours of travel. The team formed last spring and now we are finally on our way. I really like to fly, but I don't like trying to sleep on an airplane. Somehow airplane manufacturers, and likely government regulators (somehow government regulators must be at the bottom of this), figure that reclining your chair just 3-4 inches makes all the difference in the world, so that everyone can comfortably sleep for the duration of the flight. All those who believe that, are now sound asleep around me!

One of my problems is that I'm excited for this journey, and the other is that airplane seats are not made for human comfort! (That's enough about the seats, so I'll get on to my excitement!) I'm excited that for 4 of our 9 person team, this is their first mission trip outside the U.S.! I am so proud of each of them for taking this step to serve and learn in an unfamiliar country and culture. I believe God has some incredible lessons to teach each of us on this trip. Some of those lessons will be learned through joyful experiences, and some will come as we walk through life for two weeks with children, orphans, adults and parents whose lives are nothing like what is normal to us. I'm excited to hear most of our team share a devotional and to be challenged and inspired by what God is saying to us through them and His Word. I'm excited to see students at Proyecto Manuelito that I got to meet in 2009. These kids will steal our hearts and make every discomfort of the trip, including airplane seats, worth it! And finally, I'm excited to interact again with the pastors who had a burden from the Lord to do something to help kids in their own culture and who are doing amazing things with which we get to partner. These faithful leaders, their spouses, family members and churches are modern day heroes. These are people to praise God for!

Well, the darkness and silence around me are kind of deafening. I guess I'll sign off and see if I can join them in peaceful slumber, or at least in restless shuffling! God is good and, praise God, by His grace and mercy we can be tools in His hands to serve. We are honored and we will be changed!

Pastor Tom

Honduras - First Day Building Houses

Saturday September 24, 2011

Today, Saturday, was our first day out on the job site. We worked alongside 4-5 Honduran men. The sun was hot and most of us came back a little red even though we put on sunblock a couple times.Tomorrow we will go to church at Pastor Jeony's church. Pastor Jeony and Pastor Ray were at OCEC just about a year ago and shared in our worship services. We are all looking forward to worshipping with our Honduran brothers and sisters tomorrow. The rest of Sunday will be visiting and site seeing. Then on Monday it is back to the hillside to work on the houses. We learned upon our arrival that they would like for us to get two houses done during our week. That will be a challenge but we are working with some great Honduran men who have built similar houses. Please pray that we will be able to get the work done.

Blessings from Honduras,

Pastor Tom

Honduras - Sunday Church

Sunday September 25, 2011

Went to Church at Iglesia de Santidad Amor y Vida, where Jeony is senior pastor, and also in the Linda Miller community where he lives.· We got to share in a beautiful, Spirit-filled worship time and also participated in a communion service with our brothers & sisters in Christ.· It is amazing that even though the language is completely foreign, we were all in complete agreement as we praised God, and as we remembered Christ's sacrifice for us...the bread & the wine speak for themselves.· We heard a great message about Jesus' Great Commission from Adam, an American AFE worker, who preached in Spanish, with his lovely wife Hollie translating into English.· After the service, we were honored to be introduced to two of the little girls in the family that will be taking up residence in one of the two houses we are building.· Their names were Alejandra & Angie; they looked to be about 7 and 5 years old.· They will be living in the house with their mother, a teenage sister, and a brother.· They have been homeless & living at the dump since their home was burned down by an angry stepfather.· When we asked them how we could pray for them, they requested prayer for their grandma, mom & brother, who are all sick.· The brother was sick because he had gotten a cut on his hand while working in the dump and the mom was sick from being stuck by a dirty syringe while sifting through trash at the dump.· It was truly a privilege to pray over these girls and lift them & their family up to God...and so humbling to think about how much we have & take for granted back home.· After that, Jeony told us the story of how the church there got started, and then took us next door to tour a three-story concrete block structure that will eventually serve as a pastor-training center, which they hope to have completed by next year.· For the rest of the day we kicked into tourist mode:· went to a Chinese restaurant back in Tegucigalpa for lunch, and then headed up to the top of a small mountain to El Picacho.· It is a huge park with expansive views of the city, and the focal point is a giant statue of Jesus stretching his arms out over the city below.· Greg, our AFE guide, explained that it was erected back in 1997 by the city government (no concerns about separation of church & state in Honduras!).· The view was beautiful, but also sobering as we could see the area where a huge mudslide destroyed hundreds of homes & businesses when Hurricane Mitch hit in 1999.· It started raining as we walked through the park back to the van--felt just like home!

Honduras - Day Five: AFE and the Trash Dump

Wednesday, 28 September 2011

Yesterday was our second day of working on the houses. It was a day of hard work and meeting the families who will be living in the homes we are building. In the morning, we met Carmen and her children: Kathryn, Alejandra, Brian and Angie. The home that we have nearly finished, just needs the roof, is for this family that currently works on the trash dump and the children attend school at AFE. In the afternoon, we started the second home and the father with two of his sons came to assist with construction. The boys are Ronald and Saul and are in the 1st grade at AFE. It was almost more than we could handle emotionally to meet these precious families who would be living in these extremely modest homes. (In the US we would not consider these structures appropriate for a house.)

Today, Tuesday, we traveled to AFE, the school that has been developed by Pastor Jeony and his church to give an education to the children who live on the trash dump. What they are doing is incredible and their life of faith in trusting the Lord for His provision is inspiring to hear. We have some of his story on video and will try to post it to the web after the team returns. We had a tour of the facility and met most all the children. They introduced themselves to us, and we to them. They were also instructed to tell us what they wanted to be when they grow up. Pastor Jeony said that when students first came to AFE their responses would be something like "I want to drive a garbage truck," or "I want to drive one of the bulldozers on the trash dump." Now, with some education and exposure to other occupations through professional people visiting the school, the kids will say, "I want to be a "teacher", "policeman", "doctor", "social worker," and one that came up often was a "paralegal" because they want to help with the injustice to children. Just before lunch we met a mom who works in the trash dump and she told us her story. I'm looking forward to sharing about her life when we return to OC.

After lunch, we went up to the trash dump and gave out small plastic bags of fresh water and a small meal. 100 meals and 250 bags of water were given out in less than 5 minutes! You have probably never been anywhere like the trash dump or seen so many people, 1000 adults and 250 children, scavenging for recyclables, food, usable clothing, etc. and that alongside dogs, a herd of cattle and countless vultures. It was a bit overwhelming! We saw several of the children whom we had met earlier at the school, and now they were back "working"; including seeing the families who will soon be living in the homes we are building. The change that will come to these families makes our time and money more than worth it!

I've asked each of the team members to share a couple of their thoughts about the day. Here we go....

Roberta Hurt: "I was at this dump three years ago, so I thought I was prepared. But, this time their seemed to be so many more people plus a herd of cattle. The way we were swarmed for food and water was heart breaking for me. The whole dump seemed so much worse. This thought from scripture convicts me, 'How can I say that I love God, who I have not seen, if I can't love people, who I can see."

Mark Griggs: "The children at AFE today imprinted on my mind what God can do through people who listen. I heard about a woman, Leanne, who emerged out of the dump to say 'God is so good to me. He provided for me and my family today'. Those are the words of someone who is truly loving God."

Steve Werner: "Our trip to the dump made real for me the kind of people that Jesus spent so much time with and shared so much compassion for while on earth, those outcasts of society. The dump visit also showed me how hard it is for me to share loving contact with the 'untouchable' people that Jesus showed so much love for."

Dan Stewart: "AFE- A place of hope. Inspires kids to dream."

Matt Nelson: "Even after a third time the experience was harrowing. I continue to pray for those who are seeking a meager living in the dump."

Jenny Storey: "The eyes of the people at the dump are what got to me most of all. The ones that we knew & are with AFE have warm, friendly eyes, but the eyes of nearly all the others were either desperate, empty, or malicious. What a difference love makes."

Angela Wonder: "How greedy Americans can be and compared it to some of my friends who live from paycheck to paycheck because they live above their means. Their entire check is spent before they get it because they have to have all the latest things. 1 Corinthians 13 contains the phrase...'love bears all things.' It is easy to love when funds are taken automatically out of your checking but it is different when you are face to face with the need."

Pastor Tom: "Amazing things can be accomplished by God through people who will trust Him. We cannot hear stories of great need by a person and only pray for them and wish them a good day. We must take action and help meet the need."