It was a very beautiful day on the mountain top here in Honduras. This morning, one of our mission team members said that we were going to travel to the “end-of-the-world” today (or at least close enough to see the end-of-the-world). The 2-hour trip up a very narrow, bumpy “cow-pasture” trail up the mountain sort of seemed like we were going where few had traveled before. To get to our destination of Las Dantas, we traveled in two 4-wheel drive pickups, forged a couple of small rivers, opened/closed 6 gates to cow pastures, stoped while a small herd of cows passed us, etc.

Arriving at the very small village of Las Dantas (20 families in the village; 10 children in the school) on the mountain top, we immediately realized that we were in a very beautiful part of God’s creation. In the small one-room classroom, we performed the Bible skit. Then some girls from the school put on a hula-hoop performance for us.

Our team then had a craft for the children in the school – decorating a “heart necklace”.

The children were given some clothing and a bag of rice & beans for their family.

The leader of the village treated us to chicken soup for lunch.

After retracing our 2-hour route back down the mountain, we visited the Los Hornos school where the children were standing at the entrance to welcome our team.

We then toured the construction site of the new 6th grade classroom that HAF is helping the school build (HAF provided all the materials and some labor for the construction).

Prior to dinner, we gathered our US/Honduras mission team together for a team photo.

This evening we were treated to a wonderful dinner at Gloria’s (former cook for HAF).
We thank God for keeping us safe in our travels up and down the mountain today and for allowing us to view some of His most beautiful creation on the mountain top.

God sent some rain today, but it was a great day visiting 3 very remote mountain villages today including Rio Blanco, Tierra Amarilla, and Laguna del Carmen. Our events today included:
Delivering a swing set and a white board to the Rio the Blanco school far up a very winding, bumpy mountain trail.

Performing the Good Samaritan Bible skit at 2 of the mountain villages.

Singing Christian songs with the children and leading hygiene clinics in the villages we visited.

Handing out bags of rice & beans to very poor families in the Tierra Amarilla mountain village.

This evening our team was invited to eat dinner at Graciela’s home.  She is a dear friend of HAF here in Honduras.

What a wonderful day serving God and being with beautiful children here in Honduras!

Another busy, but beautiful day in mountains of Honduras.
After breakfast, our mission team along with 4 of our Honduran team mates set out of the remote mountain village of Arena Blanca, about a 90-minute drive from Quimistan. The children there were waiting for us. Our team again performed the skit about the Good Samaritan which the children loved. This was followed by a hygiene clinic for all the children. Prior to a delicious lunch in the pastor’s home in Arena Blanca, we played several games with the children. It was a lovely visit in Arena Blanca.

After lunch, the team traveled to Teo, a village a little farther up the mountain. The children in the village had drawn some very special pictures for us. It was truly a wonderful moment when the children came up to each of our mission team members to give us the art work they had made for us. There were many hugs for the children.

In Teo we repeated most of the events of the morning (Bible skit, hygiene clinic, games, etc.).

Three of our team will be staying the night in Teo for a “movie night” using projection equipment the team brought with us this morning.

Our mission team has been so blessed to have had the opportunity to meet many Honduras children today, to teach them a Bible story, to play with them, and to give them many hugs.  God’s love was definitely present today in the Honduras mountain village.

A beautiful Sunday in Honduras.  We celebrated God in several ways today.

After breakfast, we met the children of Tejeras for their Sunday School Worship.  The pastor and Sandra led an active and spiritual worship.  Our mission team put on a skit of the Good Samaritan.  I think the children loved it.  Then we helped with a hygiene session with the children (brushing teeth, etc.).  We feed the children lunch before we finished.

After lunch, we visited the Tranquilidad, a home for orphaned or abused young children.  It was wonderful to see how loved and cared for the children are there.  God is definitely looking over Tranquilidad and the children there.

This evening we celebrated the graduating seniors that are in the Agape Promise program.  The program for the 8 graduates included a dance performance by AP students, a pantomime based on Matthew 25:35-40.  Then each graduating senior was recognized for their accomplishments.  It was a fabulous celebration.

What a great day.  God is good!

 

We thank God for safe travels.  Our team of 8 (four from Aiken, SC and four from Starksville, MS) arrived safely yesterday afternoon.  Today our team and 5 AP students spent the day visiting the Copan Ruins (Copan is an ancient Maya city dating from roughly A.D. 426 and 820.  It is located about 2 hours from Quimistan in western Honduras.  It was a wonderful day to be with AP students and to see relics from long, long ago.

 

After returning back to Quimistan, we has a great dinner prepared by our cooks before we began the preparation for our events tomorrow.

It is wonderful to be back in Honduras this week among our friends here.  God is great!

The former Blogmaster is stepping in for Blogmaster Marco Francisco for the epilogue blog.  This is a duty I don’t take lightly.  Familiar with the rigors of the blogosphere from days long gone by, I understand and appreciate it enough to commend Marco Francisco’s steadfast dedication to this sphere.  I know what it takes to summon the will to write a blog on a nightly basis, after eight hour days in the grueling heat, and I praise Marco Francisco for assuming this duty and carrying the torch of the Federation’s once key communication portal .  It takes a commitment.  It takes minute detail.  It takes a holy life.  It takes emotion, it takes dedication…

First I will recap a few highlights Marco Francisco hasn’t already touched on in his previous blogs.    

First and most importantly is the Chicken Choker incident on 21 de Mayo, Day 8, when we were all sitting around the kiddie tables in the Laguna del Carmen schoolhouse dining on PB sandwiches (PB & J minus the J) for lunch, when Dirk spotted this guy:

Meet: Rhinostomus Barbirostris, or as it’s known in the northern mountains of Honduras, the Chicken Choker.  Or in Spanish, “escarabajo.”  This impressively sinister looking beetle of 3+ inches in length was observing our lunch from the wall when Dirk spotted it, and, with cojones of grade 5 Titanium, attempted to bag the thing in a ziploc.  And succeeded!

We had Daniella ask the locals just exactly what this mean looking insect was, and more importantly, the purpose of that weird looking orange, fuzzy appendage protruding from its cranium complete with two antennae and a spout-like orifice on the fuzzy tip of its extremity.  The locals informed Daniella this beetle was known as “The Choker” because it’s specialty is choking chickens.  The fuzzy appendage’s function is to penetrate the esophagus of the chicken, inject a fluid which chokes the chicken, and wait for the chicken to meet its unpleasant demise before consuming the dead tissue in the chicken’s throat destroyed by the toxicity of the injected fluid.

Right on!  This beetle garnered our immediate respect.  Any insect that can choke a chicken is worthy of these curious gringos’ admiration.  It’s too bad that when we returned to the jobsite on 22 de Mayo, Day 9, we found the chicken choker lying cold and dead on the concrete floor of the schoolhouse, no doubt trampled cruelly to death by the schoolhouse kids, who kill this beetle without hesitation out of fear that it will bring swift death to one of their family’s chickens.  We circled around and paid our respects to the chicken choker, recited a brief prayer (RIP Laguna Del Carmen Chicken Choker) and assured it that there will be more chickens to choke in the afterlife.

Dirk’s next find came between standing off in the corner to consume some canned jalapeño tuna and pulling sardines in salsa out of the can a la carte.  This one was more familiar to us.  Though, equally menacing nonetheless.  A foe that only the Scorpion King can quell.  Except that he was squealing like a sissy at the mere sight of it.

Centruroides gracilis.  To witness this scorpion and the Chicken Choker in a knock-down, drag-out duel would be a real treat indeed.  I would give the slight edge to the Centruroides gracilis just because it is battle tested and known as one of the more skilled fighters of the invertebrates.  The Chicken Choker is a relative mystery, though we did conclude from closely examining it’s movements that it seemed to lack speed, meaning it would likely lack the ability to apply the proper torque necessary to strike the speedy scorpion with it’s fuzzy appendage.  The scorpion also has the advantage defensively, likely being able to block the strikes of the fuzzy appendage with its pinchers, though the effect of the fuzzy appendage on any area of the scorpion’s exoskeleton is unknown.  We can determine though that if the fuzzy appendage found the throat the scorpion would be doomed.

I think most of the team would agree that our last two days were the hardest.  The kind of mook mixing and hauling in direct sunlight and oppressive heat we subjected ourselves to in Pinelejo will wear a body down (even a Honduran, as evidenced by the fatigue of Marcos), but it’s always more than that.  It’s the emotional toll of knowing the trip is nearly over and that we’re going to be leaving pieces of ourselves behind when we leave.  Two of our veteran team members are talking about not returning with us next year, which brings another dimension of sadness to our team.

Hodo, you don’t have many friends, but you’ll always have this:

Que Pasa, don’t ever doubt yourself.  You’ve still got it.

Lama, congrats on being this year’s AM Award winner.  Three times in seven days.  Impressive.

And Mater… happy birthday.  I hope you enjoyed the Mariachi trio singing the special birthday song to you on the beach.

To everyone else, Deniella, Minor 69er, our Honduran friends, the 5th graders in Pinelejo who let us help them with their English homework, the Honduran military, the volunteer mason, the 3x deportee with a 10-year probation who ate pizza with us, Marcos the Moocher, Blackie… thank you all.  We couldn’t do it without you guys.  The more we come the more we all feel like family.  The community of Quimistan/Pinalejo and the community of Wilkesboro are inextricably linked.  We will be back next year, and we will look forward all year to seeing you guys again.

Here’s this year’s cast, in order of appearance:

Senor Jefe Pastor Rey – Chris Lakey
Senor Mater – Jerry Kilby
Marco Francisco Valle Valle – Mark Reavill
Que Pasa – Kay Hayes
Quanda – Wanda Sapp
Hodo – Tom Schardt
Dirk – Derrick Smithey
JJ – Jacob Smithey (Son of Dirk)
KC – Casey Woodruff
Lama – Lorie Triplett
B-Rad (Am) – Brad Triplett

Photo collage courtesy of: Quanda Sapp

Until next year, when the blossoms sprout anew.  This sphere signing out.

B-Rad 
Former Blogmaster

The pre dawn thunderstorm this morning awakened all those who slumber in this nest together. As I lay awake listening to the crackle of lighting, I wondered if we would be able to work on the job site at Los Hornes school. By zero dawn thirty the clouds gave way to the morning sun that rapidly created a sauna bath across the valley. A quick bite to eat and a short hop to Penelejo to continue to pour mook and lay blocks. Much to our supprise there was some additional help from some parents of children, a local block mason and 4 guys from the local military base to offer assistance in todays activities.  The military guys moved the block pile from the gate to the outer edges of the foundation, team gringo began laying the blocks across the front of the building while the locals laid some down the sides.  The Military guys also took over the Mook Master 9000 to supply the others in pouring the foundation. Early in the afternoon we came to a good place to stop working… Praise Jesus because I think the Gringos gas tank was running on fumes from the heat today.

We packed up and headed back to the ranch to gather supplies for our afternoon project in Teherrias.  After assisting Sandra in feeding the kids at the church, the American’s walked along the slippery slope of CA 4 passing out rice and beans to all those who lived in the community.  We then returned to the compound to dine on Pizza from Tony’s pizza joint. Some stayed to pack bags for the return trip home tomorrow and other went to the trinket shop in La Flecha to purchase some last minute gifts

The day is done and the trip is almost complete, but the saddest part comes in the morning… We will once again have to say farewell to our friends and return home. I am sure everyone will be excited to sleep in their own bed… in some AC and speak a common language that does not require a translator, but a small piece of our hearts will forever remain here in the little village of Qumistan, Santa Barbara, Honduras.  I will shut down for now, but remain calm, B-Rad the Blogmaster himself is coming out of Federation Blog retirement to scribe the epilogue for the team this year. God Bless and good night

Marco Francisco Valle Valle

With only a couple of days to go here in the land of Honey dew, we began a new project that will take quite some time to finish… more time than we have on our visas and in the patience of our families to complete.  We are literally laying the ground work for the next group or the next people to build upon…

We assisted Daniela with a new school addition that required much mook…. AM of the day award goes to the Mook!  Thankfully we were able to procure the Federation Mook Mixing Machine today… For if not, I dare say we would have all expired from a heat stroke!  Senor Jefe, Senor Mater and Marco Francisco and an assist from Quanda an the machine all day long. That thing was gobbled up the sand, lime and cement mixture like a hungry hungry hippo!  In my best estimation we mixed about 9 yards of concrete in that thing today. Am drove the truck to and fro, Hondo slung it with a shovel, Que pasa, Dirk, JJ and Casey dug, poured, gathered rocks and assisted where ever they could to fill the void in the ground with a firm base to start laying blocks on tomorrow.  By 5 pm local time we had completed about 80% of the foundations, but it was enough to start laying blocks.

After a quick clean up at the compound, we headed over to Gloria’s hoime for a good ole fashion home cooked meal. This is the second year that we have been invited to spend an evening with her. As always it is good to share in laughs and joys with those who have impacted our lives greater than we have theirs.  Time for some shut eye, Blogmaster AM is working on the final episode for this year… Stayed tuned for another edition of How the Blog is Done! Good night.

 

Marco Francisco Valle Valle

Today we finished our adventure in Laguna del Carmen and the mooking wall project. In my estimation we should have finished sooner, but we finished in God’s time. It may have been time we needed to connect further with the community and their leaders. I am not sure if we are the first federation group to do construction work there or not. It is my experience that when a group of strangers arrives in a village or town, people are taken a back some what and not sure where their place is or ours as a matter of fact.  The last couple of days they have gotten use to us as much as we have them. We have been served café and bread by some ladies and that has broken down some walls while we have tried to build one to protect their kindergarten building. In the end the kingdom of God is what is truly being built. No matter your political faction, race, gender or nationality, His grace is for all who will receive. We have accepted the call to go forth into all nations and share the Kings desire…  To share the good news that He is Risen!

 

Marco Francisco Valle Valle

Today began on a slower pace for some reason… maybe the lag of the off day was still present in our blood flow or the reality of our body being stressed under the grueling climate of Honduras has finally set in. Our weather pattern at home consist of 4 distinct seasons… two which are pleasant, except for seasonal allergies and two with extreme differences of temperatures, but here there is really no relief from the oppressive humidity and the heat index for most of the calendar year. Therefore, in my opinion we are not built to take this for a long period of time… hence, the thought and my complaint.

Moving forward…Recaping the daily activities of our Lamaless team, we again ventured up to Laguna del Carmen to complete the block work on the mooking wall. Chief building inspector Senor Danela scrutinized the work that was preformed on Saturday while he was not there to keep watch. Two thumbs up he said… but our greatest fear came to reality when he said, “Man… I’ve been thinking”… big sigh in the crowd, the change order had been placed to add another layer of block on top of what we have already done. We scrambled to rearrange the death trap 2000 scaffolding to reach the unbelievable heights and satisfy his desires of recreating the tower of babble… I call it this because he just seems to babble on and on.

Finally, after Danela put his stamp of approval on the block work, we began to form the walls for the second pour for reinforcement. Understanding that this process is a tedious step in the construction process, Dirk seemed to struggle nailing some boards together to form the corner… AM of the day award.

Forming work continues

AM of the Day

All hands-on deck for the Mooking fiesta that began around 2 pm local time. The buckets were filled to the brim… we struggled to lift them above our heads…our muscles quivered in distress for lack of hydration and exhaustion. By 4 pm the pour was complete, the team prayed with the children and all locals gathered with some translation from our friends. We packed up and headed down the mountain… sort of anyway.

Mooking

Pouring the Mook

We ventured back to Terre Armarilla to visit with the friends we made last year while building a new kitchen for the school… that is another story to be told…. Hondo along with some good friends Big Tom and Tori brought gifts to an especially needy family in the community. They welcomed us into their home for a brief visit and good news spread that Ezekiel accepted Christ as his savior! What a blessing. I want to sing out the old hymn “Go tell it on the Mountain” as we dined at the school on coconuts, doughnuts and coffee.

The sun was sinking rapidly below the crest of the mountain tops as we pulled off into a cloudy ploom. Traversing down into the middle of a controlled burn on the mountain side. We made it thru unharmed but smoked no the less. Arriving back at the compound we dined on a delicious meal prepared by our cooks and spent some quality time with Darling… she is an AP student that has been sponsored by Senor Jefe’s parents for many years. It is always a blessing to see her thru the years and watch her grow up. Good night for now, Hasta Manana.

Runner-up Am of the Day… Shade Squatter Senor Jefe

 

Marco Francisco Valle Valle