Honduras - Day 7

Well today was definitely an emotion-packed day. Today we were finally faced with the fact that we were going to have to say goodbye to these people and that today was our last full day to spend with them. We all woke up with that bitter thought hanging in the air. I quickly tried pushing it from my mind. I was determined that I wouldn't let it affect the rest of my day. We got to sleep in till about eight this morning which was very exciting and much needed. We drove to the clinic to load up the very last of the food bags.

 Mr. Greg explained that we were going to be passing out the food bags at the landfill. He told us that being at the landfill is very dangerous and that the girls would not even be allowed out of the vans. This had us all freaked out but we loaded into the vans and drove up to the landfill. Upon pulling into the entrance we could almost immediately smell all the trash. We looked up in the sky and there were hundreds of buzzards circling the trash. When we finally made it up to the top we were finally able to see the utter desperation of the people. We saw one dump truck full of trash pull up and the children began jumping onto this moving trash truck and digging through it for whatever they could find. Mr. Greg says that people will try collecting certain things (plastic, metal, glass) to try and get some money for it. Off in the distance we saw little tents set up right on the trash where the people lived. When the guys started handing out the food I was scared for a minute that a riot would start. We saw a couple of fights start but the guards stopped them pretty quick. But there was one thing that, to this day, still amazes me. There was a group of people off to the side and when we arrived they were standing in a circle holding hands. Mr. Greg later told us that a missionary had been working with them and that they were praying. When we began handing out food these people had not finished their prayer. They stood there praying while the rest of the people fought for a better place in line. When they finished the prayer they were at the end of the line. It brought me such joy to see where they placed their faith. God was more important than their desperate conditions. When we finally began to pull out the people began to chase our trucks and vans hoping to get more food. They chased us all the way down the hill. This was definitely one of the hardest and scariest things we had to do.

On our way to Jovenes we stopped at a gas station to get some lunch. We were hoping to make it a quick stop but it ended up taking forever. So me, Laura, Chelsea, Gavin, Shrek and Adam got to hang out. Adam told us that if we had time today he would take us for a ride on his motorcycle! We got to Jovenes and as usual, we didn't have anything to do. So me, Laura, Emily, Abby, Shrek, Johnny, Adam and Marvin drove over to the ranch to pick up some more mangos. If you haven't already figured this out, we ate a lot of mangos during the week. While we were there, the guys decided to start a mango fight. The girls got out of the line of fire and watched the guys goof off. After we had picked all the mangos we could carry we drove down the road to one of Adam's friend's house to get a motorcycle. I was, of course, freaking out because I had no helmet and we were on a bumpy dirt road in Honduras. But Adam was very careful while I was riding with him and I could tell he knew what he was doing. So I can now officially say that my first time on a motorcycle was on a dirt rode in Honduras! When we got back Laura, Emily and I decided to dress up in the guards stuff...we were decked out from head to toe in Honduran military garb!

We had to leave Jovenes at 4:30 so we would have time to get back to the hotel and get ready for the banquet. The ride back to the hotel was bittersweet. We had a great time laughing and singing but we also knew that this would be our last van ride with Adam and Shrek. But we made the most of things and we made it one of the best rides yet! We got back to the hotel and took showers and got ourselves all ready for the banquet. We had such a great time at the banquet. Everyone dressed up and we even had a Mariachi Band come and play music for us while we ate. It was Edward's 20th birthday so we got him a cake and a card and we sang happy birthday to him. He teared up a little which, of course, made us all tear up. Once the dinner was over we all took pictures together and said our last goodbyes to the ones we wouldn't see in the morning. We played cards for a while that night and we finally went to bed...not ready for the trip home.

God really worked on this trip. Looking back I realize that, at first, it did not meet my expectations. I thought we would be super busy all the time and constantly doing something. Instead we got to spend our downtime with people like Adam, and Gladys who may now be totally different people because of the time we spent just talking to them. I really see how God used the power of relationships this week. He really showed me how you don't have to be building a house a day to do His will. Everything we learned on this trip inspired me and Laura to come back for the whole summer next summer. We want to work with these people again but for a longer period of time. We have already started planning how we will make it happen. I really think God is going to great things and I am excited to see what those things are.

Honduras - Day 6

This will probably be my longest entry...just preparing you. But you should definitely keep reading!|

Outside of the Basillica

At this point in the trip all of my days start running together. For the most part they all start and end the same way. This morning after breakfast, before we headed to the clinic we stopped at the Basillica. It was a beautiful cathedral. We sang several songs and the acoustics were amazing. It was a very spiritual time for everyone. We all got to reflect on the trip so far and spend precious time in a very spiritual place. It was a great way to start off the day!

Inside the Basillica

After the clinic we headed to the clinic to collect some more food bags. By this point we could all drive to the clinic with our eyes shut (and that's saying something because driving in Honduras is a death sentence). We definitely built up some arm muscle lifting and loading the food bags every morning. Of course we all kept getting distracted because we were playing the punching games (you punch someone in the arm and they have to pass it on). It is actually a very convenient game when you don't speak the same language as someone. Today we are passing out food bags to members of the church in Zamerano. So after loading the bags, we loaded ourselves into the vans and drove to the Church of Christ in Zamerano. We got to the church early so we decided to play some games. Of course we have to teach the Honduras our crazy American games. So we started playing tag...but that got old after about 10 minutes (it was extremely hot and sunny). So we taught them big booty and ninja. Walter got a huge kick out of the games...he said he is going to teach them to his kids. We also attempted a human pyramid but as usual, it didn't turn out very well. This was another example of God's purpose for our trip. We got to spend the morning building relationships with the Hondurans just by playing silly games and running around.

Ninja!

Attempted Pyramid

When it was finally time to start handing out food bags, Laura and I jumped in the back of the truck! We had been dying to ride in the back of the truck all week, so we weren't going to pass up the opportunity again. We drove down the dirt road in Zamerano handing out food to the church families. I was once again amazed at how differently the people live over here. It makes me sad and sometimes angry, but at the same time there is something appealing about living with the bare essentials and being able to thank God for taking care of you.

Handing out food bags

After we had handed out all the food, we drove back to Jovenes. Once again we (the girls) had nothing to do. The guys were still finishing up some construction at Jovenes, so the girls walked (AnaMaria and I ran) to the ranch to pick some more mangos! This time we brought some bags so we could pick some to fix for the all the boys at Jovenes. When we got back we decided it was time for a break so we all sat around the pool and just hung out. It was another one of those moments that, looking back, I thank God for. Out of no where, Adam decided it would be funny to push Walter in the pool. We all instantly join in the fun and after a little struggle from Walter, we got him in the pool! We were all laughing and not paying attention, because before I knew it, Walter had gotten out of the pool and was attempting to push me in! After a minute of a struggle I realized that he was going to win so I gave in and fell into the pool. The water felt amazing and I was definitely glad that I decided to let him push me in. Walter followed through by pushing Emily, Nixy, Laura, and AnaMaria in the pool with me. We immediately thought about pushing Adam in (since he was the reason we were all now in pool) but he was going on a date later that night and had nice clothes on. So instead we just basked in the moment (and in the sun).

When we finally decide to get out we remembered that we didn't have any changes of clothes and the clothes we were currently wearing were soaked! So Laura, Emily and I to on a hunt for a dryer so we could dry our clothes. Our hunt ended when we found a dryer in the Casa Verde (Green House). We attempted to explain to the house mom what had happened. With a lot of sign language and poor Spanish, she gave us some of her clothes to wear while our clothes dried. The clothes she gave us looked ridiculous so we just decided to wait there at the dorm until our clothes were dry. While we were waiting we ended up teaching Gladys, the house mom, how to play Bunco. What a God thing! When we think of Jovenes we think about all the boys and how we can form relationships with them; we never think about the workers that spend every day serving the boys. We were so blessed to spend that hour getting to know Gladys. Shortly after our clothes finished drying the group loaded back up into the vans to go to dinner.

Laura, Emily and I in Glady's clothes

Dinner tonight was at an authentic taco restaurant. It was definitely my favorite place we ate at all week.

Honduras - Day 5

After a crazy long day yesterday we were all a bit weary about waking at the early hour of 7am. As usual we went downstairs for breakfast and chatted with the guards for a bit. The construction crew left to build a house earlier (they had a lot to do before the day was over). The rest of us went to the clinic to get some of the food bags to pass out to a small village in Tegucigalpa. When we got to the village my heart was completely broken. I am pretty sure I cried while I passed out the food. The roads were all dirt, there were cows walking in the street, kids running around barefooted, children crying and people screaming. The smell of urine mixed with rotten fruit and dirty water reeked throughout the whole village. We would knock on each door (except each door was a sheet or a piece of cardboard) and hand them a bag of food and say "Dios le Bendiga", and "Iglesia de Cristo". The people would come up to us in the street get their food bag and then run back to their house to change their clothes, in hopes that we would give them another bag. When we were out of food bags the people came up and basically swarmed our vans. Mr. Greg says they will always get upset when we have to leave. Going to this village made me think. It inspired me to write a book (but that is for another time and another blog). I was upset all through lunch but it was good to get a break from the heartbreaking situations going on all around us.

Boy at the village where we handed out food bags

After lunch we went to INFA. It is an orphanage run by the Honduran government. It is in really bad shape but at least it is their attempt to help the children. We handed out Beanie Babies to all the kids and we handed out the dresses that Emily's service group made. The girls felt like princesses after we left. The infant house had me crying, once again. You could see how all these babies needed was some love and affection. They would stop crying when we picked them up and they would just sit with us and they were happy for the few minutes we were there. We then moved on to the older girls and they all ran up to us and gave us hugs and kisses. They were so grateful for us being there. Even though they didn't speak English, you could see it on their faces that they were happy and thankful. Being able to brighten these children's day put a smile on my face and a warmth in my heart. We left INFA and we headed back down the long road to Jovenes.

Some of the group at INFA

On arriving at Jovenes, we didn't have anything else planned for the day. We were basically waiting on the construction crew to finish up and meet us at Jovenes. So...Ana Maria, Laura, Edward, Erylin and I decided to go to the ranch and pick mangos for us and all the construction people. Ana Maria taught us how to climb the trees and pick the mangos. This was another one of those moments that God gave us to build relationships with the guards and with Ana Maria. God knew what he was doing when he brought Ana Maria on this trip. She has been such an amazing example to Laura and I. There were several times on the trip when I told her that I want to be just like her when I am older. She is so selfless and she is such a joy to be around. She always has an adventure up her sleeve...just the way I like it! The mangos were so fresh and we learned that the best way to eat them is to cut them into slices and let them sit in the refrigerator for a while. I am definitely going to miss the mangos when I get back to the United States.

Walking to the ranch

Climbing the Mango trees

Honduras - Day 4

One of the dorms at Jovenes en Camino

What a wonderful weekend the Lord blessed us with. We had a few days of work, a wonderful day of rest and we are all acquainted and ready for the week ahead of us. Today has been, by far the busiest day. We had an early start, and after breakfast and a quick prayer we drove to the clinic to get construction supplies to take to Jovenes en Camino. Our next stop on the way to Jovenes was the open market. We needed to get food supplies  for one of the ladies who was cooking the food that we were going to hand out at the hospital. Walter and Mr. Greg felt that the open market was something we needed to experience (they have no idea just how wrong they were). I do not have enough words to describe this place other than "horrendously smelly". The guys decided to take us through the meat section. There were flies everywhere due to the raw meat hanging from the ceiling in ninety degree weather. There were slimy animal parts everywhere and half of them were a mystery to me. It was extremely crowded so we had to hold onto each other for fear that we might get lost in the middle of a hallway of pig carcasses. There was dirt and bugs on everything and the people would walk around barefooted. I cannot even imagine what kind of diseases and sicknesses you could get. So of course we practically bathed in hand sanitizer while the guys purchased the things they came for.

We finally got back to the vans and we headed off to Jovenes! Our van decided to take a detour at the mall to get soccer balls for the boys at Jovenes. While we were there we decided to get some lunch. After about an hour we finally pulled onto the long and beautiful road in Zamerano; miles and miles of beautiful farmland and mountains in the distance. And finally I saw Jovenes for the first time in two years. Jovenes is one of my favorite places to go in Honduras. I just love seeing all the boys and playing with them. Today we mostly played cards and volleyball. There are several of the boys who are in bi-lingual school, so they could speak some English. They definitely had the advantage when we were playing cards. They wouldn't tell us they could speak English so they could understand what we were saying but then they would end up being able to trick us. Of course they always won every game.

Working with the youngest boys

 After a while Chelsea and I decided to take a break and go sit under the pavilion with the guards. Hector started showing us how they do push-ups in the Honduran military and so Chelsea decided to try one. Well she slipped and ended up cutting her leg. When she first stood up it didn't look too bad but then the blood came...and it wouldn't stop. Emily went and found Frank and Martha Warren (the doctor's on the trip) while I took her into the office at Jovenes to wait for them. When Frank and Martha saw the cut they immediately knew that it would need stitches. She only needed three but it was still exciting to watch. They gave her a shot to numb her leg and then went to work...right there in Suyapa's office! Chelsea, of course, was freaking out but it was over in no time.

After Jovenes we drove to Wendy's for dinner. Wendy's was always the go to place to eat. We ate there several times during the week. Laura and I sat with Erylin and Edward. We all had so much fun trying to figure out what each other was talking about. We definitely improved our Spanish during the week. We all finished up our food and drove over to the hospital to pass out food, water and toys. This was the first really emotional thing we had to do on the trip. It was extremely hard to walk down the halls and see all the hurt and disease. There were people asleep on the hallway floors and patients on stretchers lining the halls. Babies were crying, people were so sick and the floors and walls were covered with dirt. It seemed like the people could get more sick just from being there. All the people were very grateful and we would tell them, "Dios le Bendigo", which means "God bless you". The group I was in handed out food in the emergency room and then another group went to the children's and women's ward. They had a really hard time seeing all the sick women and children. I can hardly imagine how hard it was for the mothers in the group. We all said a prayer before we left and we sang two songs before heading back to the hotel.

It was a long day but it was filled with the presence of God!

Honduras - Day 3

So after two intense days of working in the heat we got to take our day of rest. They let us sleep in so we had a slow morning getting up. Me, Chelsea and Laura shared a hotel room and we were on the west side of the building so the sun didn't shine through our window in the morning, so we never wanted to get up. We quickly ate our breakfast and we loaded up into the vans. This morning we are going to the Jesus statue for worship. Up in the hills around Tegucigalpa is a Jesus statue that is holding his hands out. It is such an amazing thing to look up and see Jesus every morning. When we got up the mountain we found that the Jesus statue is in the middle of a beautiful park. The view was absolutely breathtaking. As we looked for a place to sit down and have worship we noticed many other groups of people that were singing songs and having services. We finally found a nice place in the shade and we sat down to begin our worship. Worshiping with people of another language and culture is such an amazing experience. Even though we speak different languages, we are still brothers and sisters in Christ. We all have that one unifying thing in common. We had a great service singing, taking communions, reading scripture and listening to the words of Mr. Greg. Once we finished they gave us twenty minutes to walk around and look at the park. While we were walking we saw this guy and it looked like he was shooting a music video. We heard a little squeal and turned around to see Shrek hyperventilating. He told us that this guy (Divino) was a very famous singing in Central America. So we took a picture of him and watched him sing and film his music video.

Jesus Statue

 View from the 'Jesus' Mountain

Shrek and Divino

We all had a great time at the park but once we were done, it was time to drive to the Valley of Angels. Shopping! The Valley of Angels is a very popular tourist shopping area where you can find almost anything.  We only got to shop for about an hour but it was still a lot of fun. I ended up buying some Honduran sandals, a colored hairband, and a Honduras bracelet. We just had a lot of fun hanging out with our guards (Alfredo and Hector) and Shrek. Once again, we continued to deepen our bonds with the Hondurans. It seems like God gave us a different opportunity every day to get closer to the people of Honduras. It was definitely a beautiful day for shopping and being outside. We finished shopping and loaded into the vans to drive back to Zamerano for evening church. But...on the way back our brakes overheated and we had to pull over for about thirty minutes to let them cool off. It was pretty hot outside and we just happened to pull over next to big pile of rotten mangos. Needless to say we were not too happy about this slight detour.

We finally made it to church about forty-five minutes late. The service was all in Spanish which was so neat to listen to. Just looking around at the congregation, I could tell how excited they were about God and His word. We hung around awhile after church while Adam and Shrek went to get a new van. Emily and I attempted to talk to some of the people from the church. They didn't speak English so we did our best with the little Spanish we knew and had picked up during the three days we were there. But we could figure just about everything out with the phrase, "Como se dice...en Ingles?". We left Zamerano and drove to the Chinese restaurant near our hotel. We had a crazy time at dinner. We began throwing paper and spit wads at each other (which became a tradition that we would do at just about every meal). Though they would never admit it, Jeff Liddle and Walter were the masterminds behind it all.

Valley of the Angels Shopping

A group of children from the church in Zamerano

What a wonderful blessing today was! We got to spend the entire Lord's day with friends from another country enjoying the simplicity of life. It was so refreshing. God is SO good.

Honduras - Day 2

Still getting used to the jet lag. I woke up around 4:30 just as ready to go as ever! But I ended up using this time to pray and focus my thoughts on what I was on this trip for. When everyone finally got up and got ready we went downstairs and ate our first of many Honduran breakfasts. This consisted of bread, eggs, fruit, and re-fried beans (yes they eat beans at ever meal...I guess I should get over my dislike of beans). After a prayer and a song we loaded up into the vans and headed to Zamorano. Adam was our driver and we all instantly loved him! He lived in California for fifteen years but when he went through a divorce he moved back to Honduras, met Walter and got a job driving the vans for our brigade. And yes, I fully believe that that was a God thing. Also in our van was Nahum who Mr. Greg calls Shrek. Of course "Shrek" stuck with everyone and that is what we called him the rest of the trip. He also spoke English so he was another one we ended up bonding with over the course of the week.

We got to the church and Laura and I helped set up the clinic. Then for about thirty minutes Hector (the doctor) taught us how to take blood pressure, check the lungs for infection, and how to give shots! Only in Honduras can you learn how to be a nurse in thirty minutes and then spend the rest of the day seeing patients. It was amazing! We ended up seeing over two hundred patients. This whole experience really made me appreciate my health and my ability to see a doctor on a regular basis. Hector explained to us that the doctors in Honduras would see patients, tell them what was wrong, but then not be able to provide them with a cure or even a prescription. The patients would come in and Hector would ask them some questions and then Laura and I would check their vitals and basically do whatever Hector told us. If they had an infection we would give them a shot of amoxicillin. We saw patients for nine hours straight. We didn't even take a break for lunch. It was amazing how I didn't even get hungry. I was so focused on helping these people and working with Hector that I didn't even think about eating. After all the patients were through, I had Hector check ears because they were still bothering me from the flight. So...he diagnosed me with an ear and sinus infection, who would have thought!

Checking vitals at the clinic

VBS for the kids

It was a long, hot and tiring day but it was such a blessing to help all those people. But of course, we were not the only ones working all day. There was also a group working in the pharmacy. Hector would fill out a prescription, give it to the patient and they would go over to the pharmacy where they would receive their medicine. There was also a group putting on a VBS for the kids. God was definitely present today. Just seeing the smiles on the people's faces when they go to see a doctor, warmed my heart. I was so blessed to be in the presence of such gracious people. After we cleaned up, we loaded up into the vans and drove back to the hotel. The drive back was much quieter because we were all so tired. We dropped some people off at the hotel and then a group of us went to Pizza Hut for dinner. We had a really fun night that ended up with a mini food fight that, of course, was started by Shrek and Walter. Day 2 and we are already enjoying the company of the Hondurans and feeling a peace about the work we have already done.

Honduras - Day 1

Well the day has finally arrived! I am finally on my way back to Honduras. I know that God had a reason for having me wait a year to go back. We got up nice and early (3:00 am). Emily McCarthy (who didn't sleep at all the night before because she was so excited/nervous about her first visit to a third world country), met us at our house and within ten or fifteen minutes of us waking up we were headed to the church to meet the rest of the group. I knew that I would forget something and, sure enough, I got to the church and realized I left my camera at the house. Luckily we now live five minutes from the church so mom took me back to get it. James Watson helped us load all our luggage onto the church bus and after saying our goodbyes and piling into the bus we were finally on our way to the airport. Despite it being 3:30, I was so awake and so excited! I just knew that God was going to work wonders during the week. As usual we got to the airport early and it still took us forever to get through baggage and security. Luckily we all made it through without having to be patted down or double checked. We sat at our gate and drank our Starbucks. I was suddenly overcome with happiness. I was with great friends and my sister and I was about to spend a whole week serving God and the people of  Honduras. What a great life God has blessed me with.

We finally boarded our flight to Miami. I normally have no problems flying but for some reason the pressure really bothered my ears; not to mention the fact that we were on the tiniest airplane I have ever been on. Seriously though, the plane only held one hundred people. I sat with Chelsea and she was a little nervous at first, since this was her first time flying since she was about four years old. Once the plane got in the air, she was finally able to enjoy the experience. Flying is one of the strangest/exhilarating things you could do! It never gets old! We had an hour and a half layover in Miami so we played cards. Then the funniest thing happened. There was this man sitting next to where we were playing cards. He asked us what we were going to Honduras for. We told him that we were going on a mission trip for the next week. Come to find out, his daughter is Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl/Country Strong/A lot of other movies). We told him we were from Nashville and he was like, "Oh yeah my daughter just got done filming a movie there. She is in Country Strong". We were thinking she was an extra or something but when he told us her name our jaws dropped. What were the odds that he would be going to Honduras. Turns out he had some business stuff to do in Tegucigalpa. Crazy! The flight to Tegucigalpa was an exciting one. It was finally hitting me that I was about to be in one of my favorite places on earth. I squealed, to Emily's surprise when I saw the mountains of Honduras coming into view.

Walter and the guards met us at the airport and helped us load our luggage into the extremely shady vans. But its okay because the vans end up being one of the best parts of the trip. Our first stop was the Hotel Excelsior (our wonderful home for the week). After spending about an hour resting in our surprisingly nice hotel room, we met the rest of the gang to find out the rest of the plans for the day. That is the one thing I love about Honduras...you never really know what you are doing until the last minute. It definitely makes things more exciting. We were surprised when we met our guards that one of them spoke decent English. His name was Alfredo and we all bonded with him right away (mostly because we could actually talk to him, unlike the other guards). The other guards were Hector, Erlyin, and Edward. They were all shy but as the week went on they definitely warmed up to us. We decided to go eat lunch at Wendy's where Emily cracked us all up trying to speak Spanish to the guards. The poor guys had to think we were crazy. And finally we headed to the Medical clinic where we bagged 500 food bags. Handing these bags out would end up being one of our daily tasks. Alfredo helped Laura and I bag the beans and in one of the bags we found a dead mouse and that had us all freaking out and laughing. Needless to say, after only a few hours of being in Honduras we were already  bonding with the people there. And if you decide to read about the rest of this trip, you will find out that bonding with the Hondurans was the reason God sent us on this trip. God is already working through our group. We are going to do amazing things through His name.

Medical Clinic were we bagged 500 bags of food.