For the past few days I’ve been trying to put my experience in Honduras into words, and none of my words seem to do the month justice. But I’ll try my best to give you a couple of snapshots. With some pictures! Because everyone loves pictures!! 😀
ALL SQUAD!!!~~ Last month all 50 A Squadders were living together in a ranch called Casarita in the Honduran countryside near Talanga. This is our front yard 🙂
Sleeping Arrangements!
In the screened in porch, “hammock city” was strung up within hours of arriving (our Squad loves hammocks!), and out back “tent city” was pitched on the backyard hill. After a week, I slept in my hammock for the first time and I really liked it! Although pulling my body up my sleeping pad every few hours of the night makes for a good story, I can’t say sleeping on a hill in a tent was very much fun compared to a hammock!
MINISTRY!
February was an incredibly short ministry month, but we did so so much! Every day there were several teams working different things and then the floaters who helped wherever it was needed.
~ Construction Team!!! We built a wall from scratch!
Gracie and Papi Lee just planted fruit trees and we helped build the wall to protect them. The first day I learned how to lay bricks and set them upon the foundation laid by one of the other teams. Then the second day our team laid the foundation for the second part of the wall. I was amazed how hard it was!
It was so much easier to build upon the straight and solid foundation laid by others than it was to lay a new foundation straight and solid! What an allegory of life, right 🙂
After we finished we got to sign the wall "Mighty Love" and put Scripture on pieces of paper into the foundation, sealing it beneath the concrete. 🙂
Landscaping
We also felled some trees!!! Our friend Juan shimmied to the tops of the slender trees to tie rope on them to direct how they fell. It was just like Mulan and the arrow in the pole!
~ House Team!
We cooked, cleaned, and played with kids and it was hard work! Meet the kids!!
Moises!
Moises is a testment to God's love and goodness!!! 2 years ago he underwent surgery in an ill equipped Honduran hospital to remove an 18lb tumor from the side of his body! Until he came to Heart of Christ, no one wanted him because the doctors all thought he would die. We celebrated the 2 year anniversary and today he is laughing and full of life and love!!
Diego
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Alejandro
Alejandro started the week off all tough and grumpy, saying "no" and "mala" (which means bad) once or twice a minute… but by the end of the week he was all hugs and smiles 🙂
Milagros and baby Catarine
Cristofer (Fifi)
Fifi is such a bundle of energy and fun. He is the tiniest boy I have ever met because his mom did drugs and alcohol while she was pregnant, but he has the biggest heart and is so incredibly filled with joy and laughter. He is also super smart and a great escape artist, constantly finding new ways to sneak out the door and into the yard.
Jenesis (Milagros' daughter)
Kitchen Duty:
The first two days I figured a little cleaning was bearable if I was going to learn how to cook some sweet Honduran dishes so I signed up for the kitchen! I helped make tortilla and pataste (gourd-like vegetables that are ahhhh-mazing!). The cook, Maria was amazing and we laughed as we tried to communicate with hand gesture and Spanglish.
Cleaning was also an experience. As I left the ranch the first day I thought, maybe I should bring some bug spray… but I decided against it and ran to the bus. Bad move. When I got to the house, the first task was cleaning out the bucket shower stalls… and as I walked into the dimly lit stall, ALL of the mosquitos in Honduras swarmed out around me. The sky might have been black for a minute. Alarmed, I did the only logical thing and ran away, thankful to hear that the girls living at the house had already cleaned them so I didn’t have to. You better believe I brought bug spray every day thereafter.
Village Team!!!
Going to the villages was one of my favorite experiences in Honduras! We rode in the back of a pickup through the countryside (which I LOVED!), tried local food~ plantain chips covered in cabbage, cheese, salsa and salt, visited widows in their homes, prayed for people, built relationships, washed feet, conducted surveys for a food aid program, and had a blast walking around a village in the Honduran hills!
This is Ramona. She is an abuela living on her own since her kids all moved out. We visited and prayed for her and Jesus healed her arthritis in her arm and knee. 🙂
Another cool story! This particular morning, before we left Gracies, we had prayed for God's direction and my teammate Kristy saw this woman's house in a vision, even though we had never been to this village before. Then when Kristy saw this house as we were walking, (blue with white on the side, we decided to walk over, even though it was out of the way. When we went to the house she was so thankful we had come because that morning she had been talking to God about some heavy things regarding her family and she expressed her thanksgiving for our prayers and time. 🙂
At this house our team was surprised by an exuberant 8 year old who literally sprinted up the driveway to the main road to give all 8 or us hugs: twice!
Each day we went was amazing and unique. At almost every home an arrangement of plastic chairs were brought our and we were invited to sit while the entire family came to visit with us. There was such hospitality and I left every home uplifted simply because we were honored and received so well. Peoples asked us when we would be coming again. To be welcomed and honored by total strangers was humbling indeed!
Other highlights of the month included:
~ A Valentine’s Day dinner hosted by the A Squad men, (aka, the A-Men) 🙂 They spent over 6 hours cooking and preparing it for us. Best dinner ever!
~ Going to Honduran Malls for our off days… (you gotta do what you gotta do to get WiFi)
~ Cramming 45 people in a pickup truck pulling a cattle trailer to get to church
~ Spending the night at Gracie and Papi Lee’s! (We had a bonfire and danced around with sparklers while making declarations!)
~ Stargazing in sleeping bags
~ Playing musical chairs as a team
~ Enjoying my very first “Chicky.” Cookie on the top, chocolate on the bottom!
Honduras was fantastic. I couldn't have asked for a better month and I miss it already 🙂
Thanks for reading! Blessings!
Love, Chelle
