Honduras January 2010 Day 5, Thursday

[We had no electricity or water when we got back yesterday evening. They both got restored some time over night.]

I just saw a teenage Honduran boy get into a truck. He was wearing a bright yellow jacket that had the name of a school and the word “Cheerleader” boldly written across the back. I think he has no idea what the jacket says, but he is very grateful to have it. It’s a little cooler here today, low 70s I would guess. It was cloudy most of the time with a heavy mist periodically falling.

It was another good day, and it started in the same way for me: a run and another yummy breakfast. After breakfast Dan, Darrin, Steve, and I met Mark at the warehouse. Then we headed out to the work site. We went to a different area today. The build was right behind a Church of Christ building.

The house was built at the request of the Mayor of Tegucigalpa. He has donated lots of tin for the roofs. His wife wanted to come to the dedication, but could not make it. She plans to visit in the next few days. I thought that was all kinda neat. Torch Missions has a wonderful relationship with the mayor, and some of our Torch leaders know personally and have a good relationship with the new President of Honduras.

The lady for whom we built the house was so grateful. For a living she makes and sells what looks like the elephant ears you get at the fair or the Persimmon Festival. She had a tub of them and insisted that we eat one. I was leery, but Mark said it might insult her if we did not take one. So in the name of Jesus, and a with quick prayer of gratitude and mostly for gastrointestinal protection, I took one. She then squirted some kind of red sauce all over it. Man, it was good! I’ll know soon whether I should have eaten one or not. I have my bottle of Cipro ready! Steve and Darrin also ate one.

Dan didn’t. He was too busy being the big-hearted generous guy that he is. He started passing out clothes, shoes, and toys. It didn’t take long for the lines to form. Once that happens you are committed until everything is gone. Many of you donated many wonderful things. The folks at the Bryantsville Church of Christ sent lots of very nice clothes. A lot of those were distributed today. Thank you!

We gave the recipient of the house a bag of corn and a beautiful blanket that was made by Phyllis Mundy. The lady loved it. The house was dedicated to Steve’s parents. They have been very generous and helpful with our Help for Honduras ministry.

After our build we made our way to the Baxter Institute. It is a school that trains evangelists for all over Central and South America. They have about 50 students from 10 different countries. We met the new President of the institute, Howard Norton. He was very gracious and gave us a nice history of the place. It is a very impressive place. Beautiful.

Manuel continues to be my big buddy. He is helping me learn Spanish in a very playful way. We have a phrase book, and we’ve been looking up silly things. Today we started singing Feliz Navidad. It was hilarious to hear him try sing the English parts. Then I started singing Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean’s not my lover...” Manuel then started singing it. It was clear that he was faking the words. I suppose you had to be here, but it sure cracked me up.

Manuel lives in a Torch house that was built some time ago. Dan, Darrin, Steve, and I were talking about how he always is clean, neat, and dressed in clean clothes. It’s hard to imagine how he does it. The same is true for Murlon, the recipient of yesterday’s house. It gives us some sobering insight into life here. Even the people who look a lot like us and value neatness and cleanliness are living in little boxes without any modern conveniences.

Tomorrow we build our last house for this trip. Following the build we plan to visit the other children’s home where we installed a water treatment system in October. We also plan to stop at a medical clinic.

This trip has been wonderful in many ways. Dan, Darrin, and Steve are a joy to spend time with. We have all been blessed in many ways. We would all appreciate your prayers for a good final day of work.

Honduras January 2010, Day 5