Even the birds speak Spanish!

I’m sitting here in the courtyard of our hotel enjoying the fact that it hasn’t gotten too hot yet.  I come out every day because I’m an early riser and I don’t want to disturb my roommates.  It’s so neat to feel the early morning breeze and here the birds chirping.  Today, I’m seeing what appears to be a common looking brown bird like we have back home, but its call was different.  Hmmm…..even the birds speak Spanish!  J

morning devo




 

 

 

 

You often here other animal sounds and I found out a noise that I thought was some kind of cricket, was actually a gecko.  We seem them all around the hotel.  For some reason, we have also seen several little frogs in our shower.  They must come up through the drain because I took one outside and then the next day there was another one!

 

 

On Friday, the plan was to serve the community of Agua Agria by giving the 150 people in the community a food bag and clothes.  I had been very concerned since we left Teguc because we didn’t have room to bring all of the clothes in our warehouse.  Usually we don’t have enough small men’s clothes, so we tried to get enough for them and bring all of our shoes.  We ran out of room in the truck, so we brought what we could.  I’ve told many of my friends, but the men here are much shorter than North Americans.  None of them wear over a size large shirt or a size 10 shoe, so many of the donated clothes won’t work.

 

 

By the time we reached the village, as always, there was already a line of people waiting to start.  Diane and I went to the classroom to prepare for her Ladies’ Bible lesson while the rest of the team either organized clothes and shoes, broke down the bulk food, brought up rocks for the foundation of the outside construction, or played with children.  Our multi-talented Pat Gutherie installed ceiling fans in the church.

This is the preacher's son that was born right after we left last year.  He enjoyed putting the Bibles in the suitcase. 

 

Diane’s lesson today was about prayer.  She had purchased about 50 Spanish Bibles and had the ladies of her congregation write their names and a prayer request in the Bible.  She included a picture of the lady in the Bible with her name.  The plan was to give each lady a Bible and we would give them a card and have them write back to the lady in the USA.  I prepared the cards by putting the names on them.

 

The lesson went really well.  Diane did a great job and Lily Perez from Brandon, FL translated. (I believe that she is originally from Puerto Rico.)  I said a pray in English and she said one in Spanish.  The ladies loved looking at the pictures of their North American “prayer partners” and wrote notes to them.  Diane had also purchased an Instamatic camera and we took pictures of all of the ladies to add to the note.

 

 

 

 

  At the end of the lesson it started raining and I don’t mean a sprinkle, I mean a monsoon, so all of the ladies stayed there for another 45 or minutes or so.   It is interesting how you can make friends and fellowship even when you hardly speak the same language.  I got out the camera on my phone and they all loved taking “selfies” with me.  It was so dark because of the rain, they didn’t turn out well.

 

Yes, I know I look like I have jumped in a pool.  I am wet, but it was totally from sweating.  It was very humid today.  The picture is so grainy because we didn't have electricity and it was pouring down rain outside.

 

A lot of our young people enjoyed playing with the little kids.

 

 

 

Diane and I worked in the Sunday school room all day and apparently the rest of the people worked on food and clothes all day.  Every time I checked on their progress, it seemed as if the line wasn’t getting any shorter.  I had been very concerned that we didn’t bring enough clothes, but when we finally finished around 3:30, they were still giving out clothes!!

 

 

FYI:  If you ever donate clothes for Central America, here is what is needed:  Women’s blouses, skirts and dresses (nothing over a large, most need smaller than that), Women’s sandals, and low-heeled shoes size 8 or less (no high heels), Men’s pants and collared shirts (Size large or less).  Some of the women will wear pants, especially the younger ones.  Most of the adults and older children do not want t-shirts.

Our bus driver picked up another lady and her baby to hitch a ride with us.  This is Pat holding the little baby.

 

All in all, it was a good day.  I hope my thoughts are not too scattered!  Today was our last work day in Choluteca.  The plan is to go back and worship with them on Sunday morning and then we will head back to Teguc.

This is Pat, one of my good Torch friends, he has been coming about 12 years.  He can pretty much do or build anything.

 

Hasta luego!!!

 

PJ  xoxo

Rain does NOT cool you off in Choluteca

We finished up our medical clinic on Thursday because both of our doctors had to either go home or had other commitments.  Our medical/eye glass teams saw a total of about 340 patients in two days.

Our bus driver always picks up the ladies and children and lets them "hitch" a ride with us.

 

 

The nurse and doctors mostly gave out medications for parasites (most of the little kids) and antibiotics for upper respiratory system.  There were  only a couple of potentially serious cases.  An elderly lady was taken to the hospital because of her blood pressure and she was admitted and there were some babies with fevers.

Here's some of our medical team.  They have done an amazing job considering we are very short of translators.

 

 

  I worked in the eye glass clinic again today.  We had several older people who had very poor vision and they would just have to try on all of the glasses until one worked.

Donated prescription glasses (These plastic bins later served well for our foot washings.  You get pretty resourceful down here!)

 

Diane had this little old lady who said she had cataracts.  She kept trying them on and would make faces when the glasses didn’t work.  Diane said she tried on almost every pair she had and then finally she found a pair and she started reading the Bible.  She kept reading the Bible as tears were running down her cheeks.  Almost every one of us had similar touching experiences.

I believe this was the lady with cataracts. If you will look closely, we have rigged up boxes and suitcases to make a table for our donated reading glasses.

 

In the afternoon, I helped Diane in the Ladies’ Bible class.  Thursday’s lesson was about baptism.  I had brought some of my earrings and had hoped I would have enough to give to all of the ladies in class, but I didn’t,  so, I decided to mark 5 chairs and give those ladies a pair of earrings. I used an illustration that I got from our preacher to give out the earrings.

 

This is Karen with her children.  She helped us all day inside the church and came to everyone of our Ladies' Bible classes and church services.  She made a special connection with Diane's preacher's wife who came the year before last.  You can see she is wearing the bracelet that I made with the ladies on the first day.

 

 

 

 

I told the ladies that  I had a gift for 5 people.  I held the earrings up and asked if they would like to have them and I just stood there.  Then, I said, “If you want them you must come and get them and receive them.”  I then asked them, if the earrings cost them anything.  I asked them if they earned the earrings and they said, “No, they are free.”

 

 

This is Aaron Erkleman, one of our big guys.  You can see how we can get inventive.  Some of the men worked on a covered area where additional classes can be help outside.

 

 

 

  I asked them if they had to do anything to get the earrings and they realized they had to do what I asked and get up and get them.  I explained that we must obey God by repenting and being baptized for remission of our sins.  It is a free gift that we must receive from God.  We finished the lesson by giving the ladies a sugar scrub, foot washing and a new pair of flip flops thrown in for good measure.

 

While we were having our class, many of the young people had a VBS lesson for the children.  We finished up the evening with a gospel meeting at the church.  Today was a little different because we had a hard rain.  It seemed to cool off everything for about 10 minutes and then it was even more humid.  One more day to work at Choluteca!!

 

 

Hasta luego!!

We start the day and end the day with a devotional to God. Steve Schneider from Mobile, Alabama is leading this one.

 

PJ  xoxo

 

 

8 Hours of Hot Yoga without the yoga

(You will have to read the entire post to understand the title!!

 

Today we started bright and early with breakfast at the hotel. Breakfast here is not complete without some kind of beans, which everyone knows is good for the digestive system!

 

We stopped  by the grocery on our way to Agua Agria because many people needed to buy lunch and other supplies. We headed to Ag40ua Agria which is probably no more than 15 miles from the center of town, but it’s at the end of a bumpy, rutted rocky road. That means the trip takes 30-40 minutes.

This is Wyeth from Louisiana helping with the eyeglass clinic. Nahum, in the striped shirt, is the associate minister. He helped us translate.

Going to Agua Agria is like going back in time.  We always see cows, chickens and pigs roaming freely through the village.  Most houses do not have electricity or indoor plumbing.  Torch has worked here for 9-10 (longer than I have been coming.  No other missionary groups go there, often times the people only see a doctor or receive medical care when we have a medical clinic.  Also, when the word gets out, many others travel from surrounding villages to get there.

 

The plans today were to:  1. Have a medical & eye glass clinic   2.  Have a ladies’ Bible class  3.  Have a VBS lesson  4.  Have a gospel meeting  5.  Build an outdoor meeting area for the church

 

Noticed the sign they made for us!

 

 

 

 

Diane had asked me to help her with her Ladies’ Bible class lesson, but that was not until later in the afternoon, so we worked with the eye glass clinic.  Just imagine trying to help people find the glasses they need when you can’t speak someone’s language.  I soon learned the phrases, “Para leer?” (For reading?) and “Mas Fuerte o menos fuerte?”  (More or less strong). 

Diane is teaching the ladies' class. This is the new classroom that her church sponsored last year.

 

 

 

 

A church had donated a large supply of reading glasses and that part wasn’t too hard.  It was more difficult to help those who couldn’t see far distances.  We basically had a bunch of donated glasses ( all strengths and types) and they would just try them on until they found one that worked the best for them.

 

 

 

 

At 3 pm, Diane had the class for ladies.  Her lesson was about how to use the 24 hours of the day that we have to show love and honor God.  Diane had asked me to think of something we could make or do to illustrate that and we decided to have them make a bracelet with 24 beads on it and one bead was different.  That different bead was there to help them remember to put God in their life. 

A picture made from a puzzle.

This young lady is wearing the bracelet that I had them make.  I'm sure you can tell that I'm miserably hot!!

 

The rest of the group worked with the “ninos” in a VBS class and after that Jeremy Myers from Arkansas had a wonderful lesson for the gospel meeting.  We had a wonderful and productive day, but after spending the whole day in 100 degree temps with high humidity, we were beat and it was hard to stay awake at dinner!

 

Right across the "road" from the church (about 10 feet LOL!) 

 

 

Here’s an extra amazing story for you:

Diane and I sat at dinner with a Honduran doctor who is working with us.  There is a great story to tell about Dr. Ponce.  Last year or the year before, the advance team and interns landed in Tegucigalpa and Erika Wenger, one of the interns, starts talking to this man in the airport.  Erika is not shy!!! While talking to him, she  finds out he is a doctor, so she asks him to work with us. Incredibly, he agrees to work with us.   Not only that, in the next few days, we find out that he is considered a hero in Honduras.  He was a great track star and ran in college.  He also qualified and ran in the 1988 Olympics in Korea!!  I had forgotten that story, but as we were sitting with him, I remembered that.  He seems to be a very humble, kind man and he has a great heart for his people.  Besides working with us, he has his own ministry where he and his wife goes out in the communities to help the poor.

 

 

 

Until next time! 

PJ xoxo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bananas & Broken Fan Belts, Tuesday's report

 Tuesday's Report (Posts will always be from the day before.)

View from the side of the road when our bus broke its fan belt

 

 

 

 

Today we loaded up and headed back to the bodega, better known as the warehouse.  Timotea met us there with a box truck and we loaded up the supplies to take to Choluteca.  (Clothing, medical, shoes, Bible study, & school supplies)

 

 While we were on the side of the road, I watched this young lady work in her outdoor kitchen and wash her dishes.

Torch has a long history of working in Choluteca.  Actually it is a small village called Agua Agria outside of Choluteca.  Timotea grew up there and his elderly father still lives there.  Timotea graduated from Baxter Bible University and became a preacher.  If I have the story right, Timotea asked Torch to work in his village because it didn’t have a church.

 

 

 

 

 

Through the years, Torch has built a church, added a concrete floor and pews.  Through the years, we have had gospel meetings, medical clinics and clothing giveaways.  Timotea would make a long trip (3-4 hours one way) every few weeks to hold a church service, but there wasn’t a full time minister for the community. 

 

Here is our hotel room. I am rooming with Sarah, our nurse, and Diane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost two years ago, the Bell Shoals and South Trail churches of Christ (possibly others) hired and support the preacher.  Plus last year our group built a house and Sunday school room for the preacher and his family.  (As well as a home for the associate minister too.)

Randi, Bob, Taylor, Pat, and Bobby (They are from PA, FL and KY.)

 

In case you are wondering what we eat in Honduras....I could have also had a pancake, but this is beans and rice, a tortilla with chees, a fried plantain, and fruit.

 

 

Saying all of that, this group has close ties with Agua Agria (which means bitter water) and that is where we are working for 5 days.

I know this makes it look like we are on vacation, but I promise no one would come here for a vacation.  Our hotel does have very nice grounds.  We will be here through Sunday.

 I

 

I know that is a long story, but our day was made up of picking up teams at the airport, giving them there packed lunch, changing money for them and collecting passports. 

 

We were excited to get an early start on our long road trip only to have the fan belt break on the bus.  Norland, the other Torch bus driver, came like Superman to save the day.  He gave his bus to us and stayed to fix the fan belt.  Apparently he can fix anything on our buses!!!!  He’s amazing!

You never know what will be crossing the road.

 

 

 

Here's a preview of our ride out to Agua Agria:

 

 

 

 

We made it to our hotel, which is very nice for Honduras standards.  The whole group left for dinner and Diane and I stayed back because we were beat and I wasn’t really hungry.  We will have the devo later and will probably be breaking down our medical supplies to get ready for our clinics.

 

There is nothing like being in Central America during the World Cup!!!

 

Until next time!!! (Oh, don't let me forget to tell you the story of Dr. Ponce!!!)

 

PJ  xoxo

Torch Missions 2014 Cholutecta, Tegucigalpa Honduras & Costa Rica

Bienvenidos a Honduras

 

(sorry, no new photos because of poor internet!)

 

 

We use that phrase here often. Translated it means “Welcome to Honduras!”, but it has a second meaning.  It also means, “This is Honduras and things may not be the same as back home!”

 

 

Yesterday was a travel day.  I spent part of both Friday and Saturday packing and getting all of my supplies.  Saturday evening, Nick, Taylor and I had a farewell dinner at The Depot in Springfield, TN. Then I tried to go to bed early because my travel day started at 3:30 am. 

 

 

Nick figured out that I could upgrade to first class which would include the cost of my second bag for a few extra $$$.  First class was a nice treat for my flight down to Miami. 

 

My flight down to Honduras was uneventful, but if you know anything about landing in the capital, it’s like landing in a soup bowl because mountains surround you and the runway is short.  Only specially trained pilots can land there.  Our landing seemed a little rough, but we made it and as usual, the passengers all clapped afterwards.

 

We had a long line in customs, but finally made it through and meet up with our fearless leader, Terry Reeves and the local missionaries, Mark and Lori Connell. 

 

While Terry waiting on the last of the advance team, Mark took us to the warehouse, so we could check and see the state of our supplies since last year.  Surprisedly, it was as we left it.  So other words, we should have enough supplies, which is good since we didn’t ship a container this year.

 

 

We finally made it up to our home away from home, Villa Gracias around 4 pm.  Most of us were beat because we had little sleep and had been up since early early morning.

 

Terry and the guys watched the disappointing US World Cup soccer match.  After that was over, we literally piled 7 people in a small pickup and headed down the mountain to one of our favorite local restaurants, El Patio.  It is known for its delicious typical Honduran grilled meats.  Diane and I shared some wonderful chicken and steak.

 

 

By the time we got back, it was only 9 pm local time, but we all headed to bed. 

 

It is Monday and our plan is to work in the warehouse, break down medications, and prepare lunches for the rest of our team which will arrive tomorrow!!!

 

FYI, it is possible that I won’t have a good internet connection until we get to Choluteca on Tuesday, so…….Adios!!

 

Monday is my husband’s birthday!!  Join me in wishing him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  I love you!

Advance Team Work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advance Team work

 

 

Advance team work is more laid back than the usual work we do.  That is a good thing because when the first team gets here tomorrow, we will hit the ground running.

 

 

 

Pics from El Patio

 

 

 

 

 

 

First you will see some pics I took our first night when we went to El Patio.  They are known for their delicious grilled meats and generous portions.  It’s also a bad thing when Diane and I are the translators for our group.  We seemed to get a lot of things we didn’t order, but the total bill was not too bad considering there were 7 of us!!!

 

 

I was glad to be at my hone away from home!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, I started the day with some wonderful Honduran coffee and then we did some prep to get ready for Team 1.  Here is a list of the things we did:

 

 

 





 

Here is Diane working on her Ladies' Bible lesson.

This is the dining area at the mission house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.        Pulled boxes of shoes, clothes, VBS and medical supplies for our trip to Choluteca.

 

 

 

2.       Terry checked on flights for the small group who will go to Costa Rica at the end.  Last year, he used a private company that had very good rates.  It was no longer there and the rates at the counter were not good.  The clerk said rates would be better over the internet, but IF ANYONE KNOWS A WAY TO GET ABOUT 22 ONE WAY TICKETS TO COSTA RICA FOR A GOOD RATE, PLEASE MESSAGE ME!!!!

 

The bodega (warehouse)

 

 

3.       We also made a trip to the grocery store to buy supplies to make sack lunches for Team Choluteca.  We bought bananas, bread, peanut butter & jelly, bologna & cheese, cookies, chips and juice aka sugar water.

 

 

 

 

 

4.       There is a small team here from Jacksonville, FL.  They invited us to ride down the mountain with them to Baskin Robbins. Sarah, Diane and I went.  I went for the ride, but I was almost asleep on my feet.

 

 

 

Tomorrow, we will make the sack lunches. Load up the luggage and supplies that we will need for our 5 day trip to Choluteca and then pick up Team Choluteca at the airport around noon.

 

We will then make the 3-4 trip by school bus to Choluteca aka the place where the devil goes to get a hot cup of coffee!!!  Hopefully the internet will work better there!!!  Hasta luego!!

 

Xoxo  PJ