Trip Participants
B.A. Barlow, Elyssa Barlow, Laura Barlow, Allen Burris, Elmer Graber, Midge Hendershott, Casey Marshall, Teresa Moon, Drew Myers, Libby Myers, Jalayna Page, Lou Ann Rader, Tyler Seibert, Steven Walden, and Christopher Wiles. There was a wonderful team spirit from beginning to end. Everyone got along great, worked hard, and experienced no stomach trouble, which is amazing! We all developed new friendships and strengthened existing ones. We were also able to spend everyday with Sheralee Kerr. She is in Honduras for a few months.
Brief Summary of Activities
We fed people at the Tegucigalpa Dump. I’ve said it many times before – it’s the most disturbing place I’ve ever been. Marc is doing amazing work there. We go to show love, support, and to share meaningful touch.
We visited the school for the blind. The children are precious and so happy to have visitors. It was hard not to have a heavy heart when you see them, knowing that Honduras does not have the resources to take care of its disabled population. The children sang some beautiful songs for us, and we played with them, sharing small gifts.
We built 6 houses with built-in beds, which cost about $2100 each. That cost includes the house, mattresses, and blankets. The blankets were hand-made by our ladies at church. These blankets are highly valued by the Hondurans and become treasured possessions. The children’s faces light up when they receive one.
We built a chicken coop at the children’s home. I think this is the first time we have built a chicken coop, but it will be really helpful. It will help supply fresh eggs for the children and staff.
We bought $600 worth of food and distributed it in our adopted village of Guajire. Along with the food, we gave away more hand-made blankets, clothes that we had collected, hygiene packets, and other miscellaneous items that people from back home sent down with us. (Thanks!)
We conducted a Princess (and Prince) Day. We take the children and really focus on giving them love, attention, and meaningful touch. For example, our ladies paint the nails of the girls, fix their hair, and put them in nice clothes. The boys receive hats and a toy or two. We take pictures of each child, print the picture and give it to them. It is a wonderful thing to watch!
We spent significant time with Karol and Kelin – the two girls that we are sending through university. They are simply amazing young ladies and are so very thankful for the assistance we are providing. We can always use more partners. I think this link will work. If not, simply contact me for more information.
We became more incarnational in our work with Guajire. The incarnation of Jesus serves as a model for ministry. He, according to a literal reading of the Greek in John 1, "pitched his tent with us," meaning that he entered into our world to identify with us to help us. Following that model (in a very limited way), we slept in the village of Guajire, after building a house during the day. Then the next day we built another house and conducted the Princess Day.
A Few Summary Thoughts
The last thing listed–spending the night in Guajire–to me was the most significant thing we did. It was a big step in furthering our relationship with church and the village of Guajire. We had a dream that we articulated two years ago to Marc Tindall. That dream of working primarily with one village, building encouraging relationships, is becoming a reality.
The people of Guajire are simple, rural, warm, and very friendly. We worshiped and prayed with them around a camp fire and then slept in their church building. The next morning we spent a little more time around the fire. Maria opened her home and kept a constant supply of her sweet coffee coming to us.
As we sat and stood around the camp fire on Saturday morning, Elmer, the evangelist of the church, was fiddling with a radio. He finally had it tuned in, and all the Hondurans were listening intently to it. We Gringos were chatting when the Hondurans all starting pointing the to radio, signaling to us to listen.
Leopoldo, the evangelist in Mateo who sends Elmer out to Guajire and assists in various important ways, was the speaker on the radio. He was talking about our group being Guajire. At one point he switched over to speaking English, thanking us for coming to help the people of Guajire. It was pretty cool!
I’ve left out lots of stuff, but I think the above gives you an idea of what we did. It was a great trip! It would not be possible without lots and lots of people working together. Marc Tindall does an amazing job of organizing things for us in Honduras. Laura Barlow does an amazing job on the US end. The Washington group and Casey from Kentucky were wonderful. We were family from the beginning. Many people who did not go on the trip helped out in so many ways. Thanks again! All the credit goes to God, and hopefully we were good tools in his hands.
Here is a link to some more pictures.
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