Report 6 Honduras Summer 2013

Wow, that was a great day! We had planned to reach our peak over the weekend, and I think we did. Most of our group stayed in Guajire all day and all night Sunday. I wish I could have, but the old death bug kept me in bed.

It was great to join everyone today and hear of the great day yesterday. They all had a good experience with the church, a trip to the falls, a feast in the evening, and being the first ones to sleep in the new camp dorm. I think some got a little cold, so we will take note of that for next time.

Today was wonderful! We arrived to find that the overnight team had everything organized and ready to go. The princess day was in progress when we arrived. Our ladies fix the hair and nails of the little girls, then dress them up for a photo. There were long lines, and everyone seemed to have a great time.

We also had a medical clinic today. We have a couple of docs from Texas that came in yesterday. Sheralee Kerr, who aspires to be a physician’s assistant, helped out a lot, along with several others. More than 100 people were seen. I think everyone was given parasite medicine. Some people walked an hour and a half to be examined.

We also did a couple of piñatas, one for the boys and one for the girls. This was a very popular thing. The kids really enjoyed it. We all were entertained.

Food distribution was also a part of today’s activities. That went really well also. The local church organizes it and does a great job. We are thankful for the generous donation of the Bryantsville Hunger Relief Project.

There were a few things to do to the dorm. A few men spent a long time hanging the doors and a few other things. It is a nice place.

Leopoldo Villacorta came by today. He has a great vision and great hopes for the church and village of Guajire. He, over and over, told of how the people are being blessed because of our work. He had a great vision for making it place with a thriving Bible camp. We, too, believe this is the will of God and will seek to help in the ways we can. We are committing to building another dorm next summer.

The day got topped off nicely when I realized we were riding on a Carpenter bus. For those who don’t know, these busses were made in Mitchell, IN for many years. There is a good chance that people I know work on the one we rode on today.

Keep praying for us! Tomorrow we wind down some. We will build another house and visit the hospital. Then we pack for home.

HERE are some pictures from today.

Report 5 Honduras Summer 2013

Getting some ideas for my bike wheels

Hello! Sorry about the delay in this report, but your faithful scribe has been really sick. I think I am feeling better now after sleeping around 15 hours with but just a few waking moments between. I’m not sure what I got or where it came from. I’m not the only one fighting it, but the majority of our team is doing very well.

Yesterday we divided into two teams, with each team building a house. Both teams did really well and were able to bless some families with a much better place to stay. We also distributed more than 100 bags of food to the community where we were working.

Today most of our team headed out to Gaujire to spend the day and the night. I would really like to be there, but my sickness in that context would not be a good combination. The plans for today were to go to the amazing water falls, put the finishing touches on the camp dorm, worship with the church, enjoy a meal with them, and then spend the night.

I hope to join them tomorrow morning. We plan to do a medical clinic with a couple of docs who are coming from Texas today. We also will distribute food and do a princess day. It should be a wonderful time!

Please keep praying for us as we strive to show the love of God in various ways.

HERE are a few more photos I took yesterday, and HERE are a bunch from Christopher.

Report 4 Honduras Summer 2013

Can you find all 31 of us?

Wow, the Lord blessed us with another powerful and good day! Today was not about hard physical work. Today was more consuming of emotional energy. It was wonderful.

We went to The Dump in Tegucigalpa. I've written and talked about it several times before. To me, it is the most disturbing place I've ever been. It is reminiscent of the Greek work Gehenna, which is translated, "hell" in the Bible. Gehenna was a smoldering trash dump. We were there, in some ways, today.

The troubling part is that people live and work there. There are many who minister in the dump, so the culture there is changing. I can see it. It's still a very disturbing place. We take lots of food and water and distribute it in the name of Jesus.

Across the road from the dump is a Christian school. It was our next stop. It ministers to the children of dump workers and includes a day care. Before, these kids would just hang out in the dump all day. Lots of babies died over the years. This school is an amazing ministry and now has a medical clinic that serves dump workers.

After the school we went to a mall to eat and get a few supplies. It is such a weird juxtaposition. Wealth. Poverty. Side by side. We are living in two worlds this week. It's uncomfortable at times. This is a good thing.

Next stop was the school for the blind. I did not take my camera in, so I don't have any pictures. I think Christopher will have tons. He takes a lot of photos and spends hours editing and sorting. He is amazing! His blog is here. There was one little boy who sang for us. He was so sweet and such a good little singer.

It would be hard to express how much love and appreciation I have for our team. Everyone is doing so well. We have formed a community of loving service. We are striving to be the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus to each other and others.

Here is a link to a few photos from today: https://picasaweb.google.com/allenmitchellchurch.org/July122013?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Report 3 Honduras Summer 2013

Wow, what another great day in Honduras! The Lord continues to bless us in lots and lots of ways. Today we split into two groups. One smaller group returned to Guajire to finish the camp dorm. It took about four hours and went very well.

The other group stayed at the mission house this morning and bagged about 3 tons of food. Yes, 3 tons! We bought a ton of rice and ton of beans, along with spaghetti, sauce, and salt. The group placed it into 396 bags. We will distribute these on Monday.

This was all possible thanks to the generosity of the Bryantsville Hunger Relief Project. Due to a crop failure last year, coupled with ongoing support, allowed them to donate money to us to buy food. We are very grateful for this redemptive blessing.

After the bagging group finished their task, they headed up to Santa Anna to eat and then visit the children’s home. They had a great day and were able to bless lots of people.

Tomorrow we head to The Dump...

Here is a link to some pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/allenmitchellchurch.org/July112013?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Click here to go to Christopher's blog, which has connections to tons more pictures!

Thanks for stopping by, and please keep praying for us!

Report 2 Honduras Summer 2013

Getting Lou Ann ready for the day!

Hey! Two days in a row! We had another really good day. We went back to Guajire to work on the dorm and got along really well. We did not get finished, due to shortage of lumber. The needed lumber arrived late in the day, so tomorrow we will finish.

Our group is great! We are getting along super well, and everyone seems healthy and happy. We are blessed abundantly and know it. We sure appreciate your prayers.

Here are some pictures from today: https://picasaweb.google.com/allenmitchellchurch.org/July102013?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Report 1 Honduras Summer 2013

Part of our team on the first floor

Hello! Sorry about the lack of communication thus far. We have had a lot of techno problems, which is to be expected in Honduras.

Here's the condensed version of what has happened so far:

• We had a really smooth trip down. All the flights were good, and everyone got along fine.
• We have had a great couple of days so far. The highlight is the construction of our camp dormitory in Gujaire. We will finish it tomorrow. Today went really well!
• Some of our team members helped out with a medical clinic, while others went to the market to get supplies for the new dorm.

Marc had a really bad day today. He got robbed and then had a car wreck while pursuing the guys. He had just been to the bank, so he lost several thousand dollars. We are thankful that he is OK. He is banged up a little but nothing too serious.

Here is a link to a photo album (I hope!)

https://picasaweb.google.com/allenmitchellchurch.org/Report1HondurasJuly92013?authuser=0&feat=directlink