This morning Cindy presented the second in her series of Holy Week devotions – thank you Cindy!

After devotions & breakfast, we went high up the mountains to the remote village of Teo – about an hour and half drive on a winding & bumpy road but it was wonderful looking a God’s creation in these Honduras mountains.

At Teo, we set up and performed our hygiene clinic for the children.  At these clinics, we often notice how the older kids look after their younger siblings.

After the clinic, we began the mini-Vacation Bible School with the Bible story & song led by Danielle followed by the lion’s head craft project for the children.

We again played the “keep the ball on the parachute” game with the children before we departed for our second village of the day, which was La Montanita, about a 2-hour drive through the mountains to get there.

Just before boarding the van for the ride, we changed the traditional way we have been saying grace before meals when Danielle taught us and then led us in “The Superman Grace” – I think it may have put a smile on God’s face. We ate our PB&J sandwiches and some snacks for lunch as we were on our way.

In La Montanita, we again had the VBS with some games for the children. Patty & Jessica then screened the older children to determine which needed to come to the dental clinic we will hold for the next three days.

Over the past 2 days and 5 presentations, over 150 children have participated in the VBS. We want to thank Danielle for leading the Bible story and song in Spanish. She, with the help of her Spanish teacher in the Williston, SC school, did a lot of work preparing for this activity for our mission trip. We also are deeply thankful for all the effort Jessica and her mother put forth in preparing for the Bible story craft – there were well over a thousand construction paper pieces that needed to be pre-cut and then sorted before we left on the mission trip so the children here could complete the lion’s head masks so beautifully! Thanks again for all the preparatory work done by these dedicated folks! Many thanks also to the 2 AP students, Fabiola and Joselyn, who went to all 5 villages with us, and were a great help in both the clinics and in the VBS presentations.

Late this afternoon, the mission team visited the TRANQUILIDAD ORPHANAGE just a few minutes away from where we are staying here. Tranquilidad was founded 3 years ago by Roxanne & Sam Turnipseed who came here from Aiken, SC. Patty & Jessica did a dental exam on the children while we were there.

You may learn more about this wonderful Christian foundation by visiting their web site at http://tranquilidadfd.com/ , or their Facebook page at: TranquilidadFoundation .

God has been so good to us today as we traveled up and down the mountain roads here in the beautiful country of Honduras. THANK YOU GOD!

 

This morning Cindy began a series of Holy Week devotions – a great way to start the day today. After devotions & breakfast, we were off to the Los Hornos School. The children were all lined up with a wonderful sign welcoming us. That was a real blessing. We then set up for our hygiene clinic for the children – hand washing, de-worming pill, tooth brushing, & fluoride brushing.

At the conclusion of the hygiene clinic, we began the mini-Vacation Bible School. Danielle (the 16-year-old on our mission team) told the Bible story of Daniel in the Lions Den in Spanish to the 3^rd grade students. She said she was a bit nervous this first time telling the story to the Honduras children in Spanish but she did a marvelous job! Danielle, using a guitar, then lead the children in a song about Daniel in the lion’s den. Then came the Bible story craft where each student put together a mask of a lion’s head – with some help from our mission team members, the students did a great job with the craft.

While the 3^rd graders were doing their lion’s head craft, the other students in the school were either playing soccer with Ben (a youth on our mission team) or were playing a game trying to bounce a beach ball on a small round “parachute”. All the children had a great time.

Near the end of the visit, Dr. Patty with help from Jessica, did a screening of the older children to determine which ones needed to come to our dental clinic later this week.

After we finished with our activities with the children at Los Hornos, the team had some PB&J sandwiches and a banana for lunch.

Just after noon, we departed for Milpa Arada School which was a relatively short drive away. There we repeated the activities of the morning.

After finishing at Milpa Arada School, we traveled a short but very bumpy road in dire need of improvements to the very small village of El Jicaro, with a one-room school for grades 1-6 combined. When we arrived in El Jicaro, we saw that the bridge over a small stream had been washed out, so our van had to ford the stream – a bit difficult but we made it safely. There are only 30 students in this school, but they were wonderful children. There we again had a hygiene clinic and VBS.

In El Jicaro, we also gave each young girl in the school a hand-made dress. These wonderful dresses were made by ladies at St. John’s UMC in Aiken, SC. The girls loved the dresses! The last thing we did before leaving was give a soccer ball to the school.

When we left El Jicaro, we decided to board the van after it crossed the stream, just to be on the safe side.  🙂

While our team is tired this evening, everyone on our team felt we had a great day working with the people in Honduras and serving the children here – the children are so full of love. GOD IS GREAT!

We awoke this morning to birds singing loudly and beautifully to us. It was almost as if the birds’ singing was God’s way of reminding us of the way Christ was welcomed on Palm Sunday when the crowds sang & shouted “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!” (John 12:13).

After devotions & breakfast, we were off to Tejeras for Sunday School. We were welcomed there with beautiful and very lively singing by the many young children that attended from this extremely poor community. Both the children and the adult leaders were full of energy as they worshiped this morning. No palms in the worship service but we knew without a doubt that the Holy Spirit was with the children there this morning!

After the worship service, the Tejeras children were fed a nourishing meal, which our team helped to deliver and serve.

Following the meal, one Tejeras mother presented her sick child, who we prayed for and laid hands on. Pastor Wilmer, Sandra Rojas, and Cindy led the prayers. We surely hope he is feeling much better soon.

We then had a super treat later this morning at the AP youth group meeting. These young people had prepared a wonderful program for us. One of the group, Genesis, led us in the Lord’s Prayer in English! Then we had a reading from Psalms and a prayer.

Then the youth showed us two traditional Honduran dances. In the first one they wore traditional Honduras dance costumes – just wonderful. Towards the end of the second dance, they invited several of our mission team to dance with them – we were not as good as them, but we at least tried!

 

The festivities were concluded with homemade doughnuts and soda, financed by Trinity UMC’s Circle of Light.

After lunch, our team started preparations for the visits to the mountain villages/schools that begin tomorrow. Danielle (who is taking Spanish in High School) practiced telling the Bible story of Daniel in the Lions’ Den which she will present in Spanish to the children in five villages over the next two days. Our Honduran translator congratulated her on her Spanish for the Bible story.

This afternoon the team made a brief visit to the hospital where the dental clinic room is located so the new members of our team this week could look at the way the dental equipment & supplies were set up. Just before leaving the hospital area, our team looked at some of the fruit/nut tree on the hospital grounds. We got a good picture of our 3 teenagers along with one of the AP students that will be helping our team for the next two days.

On our way from the hospital area back to our home for the week, we stopped at a small souvenir shop along the highway. We took more great photos of the teenagers that will be part of our team tomorrow.

We now look forward to a good night’s rest, and another busy day tomorrow!

TRANSITION DAY – DENTAL MISSION PART ONE COMPLETED – DENTAL MISSION PART TWO STARTS

After morning devotions & breakfast and a group photo, we took Dr. Charlie, Karen, & Dr. Randy to the San Pedro Sula airport for their flight home. We thank them so much for coming to do God’s work here in Honduras! They served with a great willing heart and humble grace not only in all the long dentistry days but in their overall spirit of giving . For example, last evening after a wonderful dinner, the two dentists and Karen stayed and washed all the dishes from the meal so our Honduras cooks who had worked so hard supporting us all week could go home a little earlier last night – thank you Dr. Charlie, Karen, & Dr. Randy for your service and your example for us! This sort of reminded me of the topic of our morning devotion on our first day here based on John 13:1-15 when Jesus did the washing and then said “¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you”.

While the rest of the team was going to and from the airport, Tommy got a chance to catch up with things on the home front via FaceTime with Mandy.

As Charlie, Karen, & Randy were waiting at the airport to go home, the additional team members for the second part of our dental mission trip arrived safely – Cindy, Jessica, Danielle, Dr. Patty, Ben & Sarah. We had a late lunch after arrival in Quimistan, after which the new team members joined right in as we took 7 of the Honduras Agape children shopping, mostly for school supplies & shoes. One also got a bag full of rice & beans for his very poor family.

The new team members are very tired from their very long day of traveling, but are in high spirits and are ready for a good mission week here in Honduras.

God has been so great to us today.

God sent a gentle, cooling shower that greeted us as we awoke this morning after a restful sleep. Karen led our morning devotions before a good Honduras breakfast. Then we began the final day of our first dental week.

The children treated today were again just great! The final tally of dental treatments for this week is:

• 49 Agape Promise students,
• 2 other Honduras youth,
• 4 Honduras adults.
• 55 total dental treatments in the last 3 days.

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• This evening for dinner we invited many long-time Honduras friends including Martha & Gary (who provide the facilities where we stay); Maynor, Jessie, & Arleth; Sam (Roxanne was sick); Sandra & Gloria (long time support to mission teams and to HAF); Daniel (translator); Dr. Tino; Joselyn & her brother David, and Lupe’s 2 grandsons, Isaac & Carlos. It was an absolutely super evening and dinner with these very dear Honduras friends.
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• Dr. Charlie, Karen, & Dr. Randy are now packing to be ready to leave for home tomorrow morning while Tommy & Leroy are looking forward to welcoming the 6 new arrivals that will join the dental mission team tomorrow afternoon.We are truly thankful for a blessed first week of our dental mission trip – God has been so good to us this week!

Another great day in Honduras. A wonderful sunrise with birds chirping amid the beautiful flowers welcomed us to the start of the third day of our mission trip. We had a warm sunny start to the day but later this afternoon, God sent a brief rain shower that brought a slightly cooler and more comfortable evening.   Some members of the mission team sipped the milk directly from a coconut that had been plucked from a nearby tree this morning. God is great!

This was our second very full day of dental treatments of children (without all the normal equipment, dental tools and office comforts that dentists have in the US). The dentists treated and provided dental cleanings for 21 children today. This included one student that had 6 cavities and some other dental issues. Just this one student took over an hour and half to treat. The dentists worked an 11-hour day today with only an hour break for lunch – they are very tired tonight but are praising God for helping them complete another successful dental day here in Honduras.

It’s always great when we can meet or reconnect with those young people we have a part in sponsoring. For example, Dr. Randy enjoyed seeing Belkanik again, who is sponsored by his Sunday School Class, and Tommy was happy to meet Oscar and Naidely, who were recently sponsored by the Trinity UMC Missions Comm.

While they wait their turn in the dental chairs, we try to keep the kids occupied. Some play soccer, while others, even the boys, like to color.

The children we treated today were all so wonderful. It was great to see their beautiful, smiling faces. While undergoing their dental treatments, they were all such great patients – no complaining, whining, or crying – just hugs and fist bumps for the dentists when their treatments were completed. One younger student (Selin) drew an amazing picture for Dr. Charlie after his treatment was finished.

We look forward to a good sleep tonight so we will be ready for whatever God has for us tomorrow here in Honduras for our last day of dentistry this week.

 

The dental mission team had a wonderful day serving Christ and the children here in Honduras today. After devotions and breakfast, we got to the dental clinic about 8:00am. There were already several Agape Promise (AP) students waiting for us. It was wonderful to see several of the children that we have known from prior mission trips. In addition, we met several new students who just joined the AP program is year.

The dentists worked a very long day, completing the last patient a little before 7:00pm with only a short break for lunch. In total, 18 AP students were treated by the dentists today. In addition, they extracted a broken tooth from Dr. Tino (the Honduras doctor that supports the Honduras Agape Program.)

 

While some of the students were waiting to be treated, they colored pictures for members of the mission team – what a wonderful way for them to say THANK YOU for their treatments.

We look forward to another great day tomorrow. God is good!

After a rainy departure from Aiken very early Tuesday morning, we had a good trip to Quimistan, arriving about 2:00 PM. Unfortunately, the Internet service was down all day, so we could not report our safe arrival right away. This was corrected the next day.

We spent the afternoon moving dental equipment and supplies to the Gracias A Dios hospital, where we set up the room set aside for our clinics. We also assisted with today’s Tejeras feeding, where we also gave away 2 trunks full of children’s clothing.

We then enjoyed a great dinner at the home of Gloria Castillo and her family. We were very tired from a long and busy day, but thankful to God for our safe passage to Honduras and our great friends here.

I took a little bit different tack to the final blog post for our mission trip this year… some what out of necessity and some what because I thought it best to reflect upon the trip from a distance. Like any good story, the conclusion should tie up any loose ends and bring some finality to the story’s completion. The last couple of days of our trip resulted in us getting back to the compound after dark… eating late and then spending time together in devotion and reflection. The weary workers then rush to take a shower bath being ever mindful that our fellow team mates felt as dirty and nasty as I did… after nearly 2 weeks of enduring the sweltering heat of a sub tropic country, our living quarters was beginning to the smell…  likened to the average high school locker room. Once the cleansing process was complete, most of the team and I included only felt the need to recline and rest in preparation for the next days fun filled activities that included… Mook! Hence I chose not to write because my dehydrated mind was unable to conjure up enough new ways to describe the mooking process.

The events of the last few days in country were are all considerable notabilia events. On Tuesday we removed the vertical forms from the walls, several team members began the process of bending the 1/4″ wire into triangles while others helped inserting more rebar on top of the concrete blocks and tying it all together in preparation for yet another building code fulfilling requirement and later in the day we would pour of mook to strengthen the building further. The construction process as a whole has slowed down to a snails pace because any time you go vertical on the death trap 3000… you tread lightly on the narrow boards and the local OSHA departments did not require the workers to wear fall protection. Once the re bar work was complete we again started to form the walls with lumber that was supplied by the local sawmill. Holes were drilled. wires inserted and tightened… as the day light began to give way to the eminent darkness of evening that had began to settle over the mountain side we began to wonder if we could complete our assigned tasked for the day… Again I reiterate that it just takes a long time to do the job correctly and working 8-9 feet in the air it is at best described and slow. None the less… thanks to an unrelenting foreman… Daniela barked orders at the locals and gringos as well and at the point of total darkness we completed the pour… A late arrival at the compound… again! A quick meal followed up with a shower… a short conversation with our families and it is bedtime.

Wednesday we arrived at the construction site in preparation to lay the final courses of blocks on the structure. A new block layer was brought in to assist us in the process. By mid morning the heat and fatigue had finally gotten to the best of yours truly, and I turned the tools of the trade over to Mater and Hunterzilla to finish the block work. I ventured off the work site to tour the community. After a couple mile hike I returned in time for lunch… Catching my second wind I jumped back on the death trap and helped to complete the blocks… but as in normal fashion for the last week of our trip we did not arrived back at the compound until the early hours of the evening…

Thursday was planned as a day of celebration. We traveled up to the community one last time not so much to work, but to be given a generous dose of gratitude by the school children, community leaders and parents of the children. Some did get involved in pouring the final mook lift before the roof construction began. After lunch we retired into the classroom and after many people gave thanks for all of our efforts, each team member received a diploma from the teacher. The time had come to do the most difficult part of our trip… saying our good byes to our new friends in this wonderful community. Gifts were exchanged, tools that some of the team members had brought on the trip was given to locals to help finish the project…

I had been planting some seeds with Senor Jefe Chris all week…  to retire his boots there on the mountain as often done by athletes… He has worn these boots on all of the mission trips that he has served on for the past 17 years… they are rough, nasty and I would venture to say they were stinky too! He is moving on to a new ministry in July, a new venture of the sharing of the Gospel. I don’t think that this will be the last time that we will serve together, but next time it will be in a different context.  Our good byes was emotional as usual, but this time is was taken to a new level. He chose to retire the boots… and his hat as well! He gave them to a young man who struggled financially to support his young family and yet he was part of the building process… My hope, my wish and prayer is that every time he puts those boots on, he remembers this group of crazy gringos that in some way helped this little mountain community.

We departed the community and headed back to the compound… no rest for the weary we put together bags of beans and rice for the Tejeras community… This is a squatter community that lives along side of the busy super highway… Half of the team went up one side of the road and the other half on the other. It is such a blessing to help out these folks. We come in the name of Jesus once a year and it is part of our mission to serve the poor citizens that live here. Often there is more than one family per house… and yet we come to share the love of Christ masqueraded as a bag of beans and rice.

After we delivered over 100 pounds of rice and beans we traveled to the nick nack hut to buy some gifts for our friends and family. We returned to the compound for our final meal… Part of our devotion for the evening was done in part to pay respect to our friend Chris… and I wanted to see some more tears from him… They are rare and have even been rumored to cure cancer… Each member shared a fond memory and time spent with him over the years. Some stories were more emotional than others but each story was just a brush stroke of the portrait… and a way to honor the froend and brother that I have been blessed to have know for 17 years. The final leg of this journey had us to pack our bags and prepare for the lengthy travel day that lay before us on Friday.

A week has passed since we have arrived back to our homes and family. The normalcy of life has began to settle back in for most… yards mowed, clothes washed, but the memories are still sharp and vivid… to which I never forget my experiences and the people I have grown to love… and love even more serving together. “Happy Trails To You… Until We Meet Again”

Marco Francisco Valle Valle

• Our Gang

Senor Jefe – Chris Lakey

Senor Mater – Jerry Kilby

Hondo – Tom Schardt

B-RAD – Brad Tripplet

Hunterzilla – Hunter Combs

Qunda – Wanda Sapp

Que Pasa – Kay Haynes

Selfie – Madison Ashley

Body Pump – Tori Combs

Marco Francisco Valle Valle – Mark Reavill

The clouds prepare for battle…
In the dark and brooding silence…
Bruised and sullen storm clouds…
Have the light of day obscured…
Looming low and ominous…
In twilight premature…
Thunderheads are rumbling…
In a distant overture…

Peart

 

When the birds crow… we must go! After breakfast we again traveled up the mountain to continue the construction project . Aided by a new assistant mason, Alex we finished laying all of the block by dinner time. After a quick snack of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter crackers and roasted peanuts… see a pattern developing here? The team began to assemble the boards so that the concrete cavities could be poured and add much needed strength to the structure.  In total there was 11 columns to be poured full of the finest mook available in northern Honduras. The former Blogmaster named B-Rad and his team of Hunterzilla, Hondo and a few bi-curious locals pitched in the efforts to mix the illustrious creation with just enough seasoning and a secret ingredient of clam juice to swoon in the vultures gliding high above the clouds. Que pasa, Quanda, Selfie and Body Pump completed the painting the bathroom doors and trim work, then reinstalled. Senor Jefe, and Mater assisted the locals prepping the walls for the pour.

Pouring these columns may look easy to a… bystander… or shade squatter, but in reality it is a very laborious task. The boards have to be drilled and custom wires are fed thru the holes. A stick is then twisted and the wire stretched to the point of it yielding tensile strength stopping short of breaking. The mook is carried via a Honduran bucket brigade and handed up to the high flying acrobat that must balance on a tittering stack of blocks that forms the foundation of the Deathtrap 3000 scaffold system.  While part of the team was pouring, a larger segment went on into the community and delivered beans and rice as a good will gesture, but it also presents the opportunity to share the Gospel… Praise the Lord, three young men accepted Christ as their savior!

We worked hard and as day drew to a close and the dark ominous clouds began to roll over the mountain tops engulfing the community across the valley of Buenos Aries liken to that of a tsunami of mist flowing down the mountain scape. Every once in a while the sun beams would break thru the clouds and create the illusion of Jacob’s Ladder as described in Genesis by Jacob. The stairway to heaven from wince the angels descended to earth… not the 70’s tune written by Jimmy Page. I certainly have felt the presence of angels the past few days… and the presence of God has been moving and shaking the hearts of the people… Peart’s interpretation of the old testament story spoke of thunderheads rumbling in a distant overture… that may give the best descriptive account of the ordeal of having a love one fall ill while abroad. The ray of hope comes as the light overcomes the darkness and reminds us of the love of God and he never forsaking us.

As the evening drew nigh we pack up our tools and equipment and journey up the hillside to our awaiting driver Elmer, the ditch digger. Arriving late at the compound, Sandra and Lupie were awaiting our arrival to feed us our evening meal and they even served us Ice Cream in lew of the fact that by our tardiness… we caused them to stay an extra hour over to serve us. I am thankful for their hospitality and service to the team! I cannot express our gratitude for all they do… even though they get paid, my impression it is more than a job, it is a ministry to those ladies… to serve others while they serve the people of their country. I pray many blessing upon them and their families.