Sunday & working/celebrating the 4th

Sunday is usually a day of rest around here and it kind of was.  We got to sleep a little later and we worshiped with the church in Mololoa.   (Where I had built a house the day before!). It is always cool to worship in a bilingual service.

The people at the mission house have part of all of the day off on Sundays, so we had a lighter breakfast and lunch in the mall after church.

Here is Pat giving this baby the first solid food ever!!! Cinnamon roll!

The rest of the day, we worked on sorting, assembling food and medical supplies.  Diane and I were ready for some quiet time, so we worked on bags for new mothers in our room.  We assembled about 75 bags.  I had posted a picture and said I would reveal in the blog what it was.  Diane's church has a sewing group and they work on different projects.  That pattern was found on the Internet.  It is a washable, reuseable sanitary pad.  They made enough for us to put two in each bag.

Monday was the 4th of July and they've planned a special celebration for us.  For $5 each, our group can get the whole movie theater and watch Independance Day.  (That includes a drink and popcorn!)

The word had gotten out that we had made up the new mother bags and one of the leaders asked if we wanted to go to the hospital & of course, we did.   Every time we go, it's a little different.  This year, one of our speakers is a cool COC youth minister from New Jersey (tats and all).  He's a great speaker, and what's even better, he can speak Spanish.  We headed into Hospital Escuela and he found someone who happened to be the main administrator for the hospital.  He lead us to the areas where we could visit.   Someone had sent some supplies to donate and he took us down below in the halls underground.  We had never been there before!!!  We even passed the morgue!!!

Capybara

Jenny Taylor, Diane and I were the only ones who visited the new mothers.  We had almost exactly enough bags.  It would have been exact, but a few mothers had "hemelos" (This may not be the correct spelling, but it means twins.)

We headed back to the Mission House for a quick lunch and then our group had to get 200+ heavy, floppy food bags loaded on the back of the bus.  I helped with that and got quite a workout!!

This is Reed.  This is her 3 or 4 missionary trip.  Her parents have been coming since they were in college. She is a hard worker and always is a trooper.  She will be in 2nd grade next year!

We then headed up the mountain to a very pretty area to hand out the bags.  I made the first steep hike with two heavy bags & I was winded!  Could someone please check what the elevation is here?  We can sure tell a difference.  Actually, the Mission House is even higher up the mountain!!!  It was very beautiful though.  When you get out of the city it is much cleaner.

After that, I started handing bags to our people out of the back of the bus.  This was also a workout, but I really liked it.  We finished around 4.  I couldn't believe we had actually given out all of the bags.  You have to understand, those people don't live on nice little streets.  They live on windy paths way up the mountain.  I commend all of the young people who hiked those paths tirelessly.  Specifically, I worked with Hunter Galbraith, Rachel Tucker, Kelvin Roberts, and Ansley Roberts, as well as others.  Shout out to their  parents!!!

The things you see in the mountains

We all rushed to get showers to be ready for dinner.  It was about that time that we heard there was going to be a baptism.  Sara Whitley from Brandon, FL put Christ on in baptism.  We rejoiced with the Angels!!!

It is the 4th of July, and we had an extra good dinner.  Pupusas are a local specialty.  They are made of corn tortillas and they are similar to empanadas, truly delicious!!!  We were in a hurry to make it to our movie, which we did.  I have to say, I couldn't keep my eyes open for the movie, but it was fun anyway.

All in all, a very full two days!!!

Angels rejoiced on 6/21!!

It was a beautiful Lord's day in Honduras yesterday.  We worshipped with the Los Pinos church of Christ down in the city.

If you have never been to a bilingual service, you should try it.  It is cool even though it can often take twice as long because the service is given in two languages.  It is always a powerful moment when you realize you are many miles away from your church family, but we are bound together in the "One Church" as member worship all over the world. (This was actually a thought from our group leader.)

Terry (that group leader) gave the message today and he brought out a rope.  He was holding that rope and it extended out the window.  He had us imagine that the rope stretched out the window, down the mountain, through the ocean and around the world.  He was holding a small portion of the rope and he put a knot in the rope.  This section, he said, represented his/our life on earth.  The rest of the rope represented the rest of life (eternal).  He went on to describe how today we mostly focus on the small portion, our life on earth and not our eternal life.  It was a great lesson that really got all of us to think.

We sang an invitation and Maria, a Honduran lady responded.  She confessed Jesus' name, and "went down in the watery grave of baptism" to have her sins washed away and stepped out of that grave in "newness of life".  Of course, there was much rejoicing!!  (More about this later!)

The rest of the day wasn't as eventful, so I'll try to keep it short.  This year's Honduras trip is different in that we have groups coming and going the whole time. At this point our group is only about 20, but that will change soon.  We all went to la bodega (the warehouse) and first visited Mi Esperanza.    thewomenofmyhope.org . This is a service mission that educates/trains poor women here.  Please check out their website for more information. We shopped and had pizza for lunch.  Our Florida Keys group will be leaving next Saturday, so this was their only opportunity to have a "chill" shopping day in Valle de Angeles. (Valley of the Angels).

The rest of the us spent the day hanging out at the warehouse.  Diane and I reorganized the warehouse (something we've done many times). Some  partitions are going to be built, so we were moving the boxes to allow room for that.  Brandi, Caleb, and Jose helped us pull some supplies that we would take back to the mission house.  The rest of the group (Pat, Cassidy, Randi, Kathryn, Sarah) painted some trim and areas for Mi Esperanza. Later in the day, the bus with the Keys group came and picked us up.

Sunday is the one day off for the workers at the mission house. (Although Katia was there in the morning to fix our breakfast.) So, that meant we went to a local food court for dinner.

Angels rejoicing:

During our evening devo (devotional), Terry explained that during the baptism he suddenly thought of Luke 15:7: 7 I say unto you that likewise more joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance.

This is what happens when Tricky Pat orders black coffee in Spanish!!

Adios!!  House numero uno will be built today!!!