Saturday June 21st Traveling home

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Kenny Smith, Jimmy Smith, Don Brownfield, and a couple of the village teenagers we worked with this week.

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A mother and her young son sitting outside the school.

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One of the many latrines we built on Monday. That's mud packed in to make the walls of the outhouse. The cement cap at the rear covers the collection area which is about ten ft deep and reinforced with cement blocks. A PVC pipe runs from the outhouse to the collection area.

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Preparing to leave for the village on Wednesday morning. We caravan in three of the land cruisers, but not before we pack in like sardines ;)

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Chicken prepared for the fiesta on Thursday. Chelsea and Mollie playing with the school children.

Friday

We left the ranch at around 8am this morning headed back to Tegucigalpa with a stop along the way at a Mennonite Bakery for lunch and some souvenir shopping. The entire trip takes about 7 hours and is used by most to reflect on the past week. After getting settled in our hotel in Tegucigalpa, some did some more shopping while others watched the Honduras vs. Ecuador World Cup Soccer game or took a swim in the pool. At 7pm, we met for our final dinner together on this trip, then held our last devotions meeting which included partaking in Holy Communion. Much of our discussions tonight revolved around how we saw God this week, what made us laugh or cry, or generally what the week has meant to us.
We all look forward to returning tomorrow to see our friends and loved ones and to tell you all about our trip.
Good night and God Bless from Tegucigalpa, Honduras

June 19th - Final Day in the Village

Today we finished our work in El Ocote with the completion of four more cement floors and work on some room additions. The room addition work consisted of packing mud into the lattice-work that makes up the frame of the house. This is literally dirty work, from the mixing of the mud with shovels and hoes, to the packing of the mud by hand.
We wrapped up the day by hosting a fiesta for all the villagers by serving them a meal of fried chicken, rice, and tortillas. We and the Hondurans also sang our respective national anthems. We then heard from some of the villagers who thanked us for coming and how they were blessed with the help we gave them and the friendships they made among us. Each of our team also received hand carved Christmas ornaments as farewell gifts.
We are now getting everything packed up for our 7-hour bus ride back to the capital city of Tegucigalpa . We are all tired but it is a good tired, having been blessed to be a part of an amazing group of believers doing God's will.
Good night from Rancho El Paraiso. We are all looking forward to seeing you real soon.

June 18th - Work Day #3

Today was another blessed day in Honduras. The work teams completed many cement floors in houses that previously had only dirt floors. We split up teams differently each day so that we all get to work together at least once, and we get to work with a different Honduran family each day. At breaks during the work projects, we ask the villagers about their families and share pictures and tell them about our families.
Bible School also continued today, where the children learned new songs, heard stories from the Bible, and played games. One game members of our team taught the children was Red Rover. It was amazing to see what joy a simple game could bring them. Members of Wesley Chapel UMC have led Bible School this week and they've done a outstanding job.
Thursday will be our last day in the village. We will complete projects in the morning and then host a fiesta in the afternoon where we will serve the villagers a meal.
Please continue to pray for us as we begin to wind down our work and prepare for our trip home to see all of you.
Blessings

June 17th - Work Day #2

Sent from my iPhoneWe were blessed with some sunshine this morning which dried things out a little from yesterday. Then we were blessed with more rain in the afternoon. Oh well, apparently it's the beginning of the rainy season here. God is good all the time.
Today, our work teams completed several floors and combination wash basins/showers. The wash basins are used to hand wash clothes... That's right HAND wash clothes.
Although we've completed several work projects so far, we have remind ourselves that the impact we have is not so easily quantified in tangible work completed. It's the relationships we make and love we show to the villagers, and what they show to us, which makes the biggest impact.
Dios Te Bendiga (God Bless You)

June 16th - Work Day #1

We have just returned from the village of El Ocote where we completed five new latrines. When we arrived this morning, the school children all welcomed us with a couple songs, then we sang a song and introduced ourselves. It was great to see friends among the villagers who we had met and worked with last year. This is our second year in El Ocote.
Part of our group held bible school in the morning and the afternoon but since it rained on and off all day, they didn't get a chance to play outside with the children.
The rain also made the work sites large mud holes but as I said before, we completed the day's projects. We brought back what feels like a couple hundred lbs of mud on our clothes and shoes so we're in the process of getting clean. We will be back at it tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers.

Arrived at the Ranch

We have arrived safely at Rancho El Paraiso and are getting settled in. It has been raining most of the day here and the forecast calls for 60% chance of rain every day this week. We hope the holes dug for the latrines we will build this week are not full of water tomorrow. We've also begun inflating the soccer balls which were donated by one of Gaylord Spencer's contacts at work. Handing out the balls to the children is always a highlight for us and the children.

June 15th - Pancake Breakfast

We all enjoyed a good nights sleep and just finished a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and toast. This morning we will take a short walking tour of Juticalpa, ending at the town's Cathedral. We expect to arrive at Rancho El Paraiso today around noon local time which is 2PM ET.

Happy Father's Day as we all thank our Heavenly Father for all that we have and what He has willed for us today.

June 14th - Travel Day 1

We have arrived safely at Hotel Boqueron in Juticalpa. We will have dinner, devotions, and a good nights rest before continuing on to The Ranch tomorrow. Here's a photo of us in our team shirts. Thank you Lord for safe travels.

June 14th - Touchdown in Tegucigalpa

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June 14th - Travel Day 1

We're all checked thru security and getting ready to board the plane to Tegucigalpa. It's such a blessing to have already met members of 3 other mission groups and we haven't even left Atlanta. One team named World Mission Group from Indiana and Michigan are headed to Catacamas, Honduras. Another team from Saint Peter Episcopal here in Atlanta are headed to Tegucigalpa to work at a children's home.

June 13th - Final Prep Day

Here's a photo of one of the ranch dormitories. The hammocks hanging between the posts on the porch are prime real estate after a day of working in the village. The grassy area was our volleyball court, where we had friendly games against some medical and veterinary students who we're at the ranch the same week we were last year.

For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:10 NIV)

June 12th - 2 Days til Departure

One of my favorite times of mission week is Tuesday morning. This is the time when we gather for devotions, along with the entire ranch staff, at this spot out in front of one of the dormatories. It is a time of prayer, scripture reading, and singing hymns (in both Spanish and English). We Gringos are all given Spanish music booklets which we use to try our best to keep up. Correct pronunciation or not, we make a joyful noise unto our Lord and His spirit is always present.

Distance to "The Ranch"

June 11th - Rancho El Paraiso (Paradise Ranch)

As we prepare for our trip in 3 days, we busy ourselves with trying to remember to pack the things we will need like toothbrushes, sunscreen, water bottles... and oh yes, our passports (almost forgot that one ;). While we pack these things we also think about the villagers of El Ocote, and look forward to renewing friendships we made last year or to new friendships we'll make next week. In my post yesterday, I asked for your prayers for the staff of Rancho El Paraiso, so I thought I'd provide some more information on the "The Ranch", as we like to call it. The Ranch was purchased back in the late 1980's by the World Outreach Foundation and over the last 25 years has served as the staging point for Honduras Outreach International (HOI) sponsored mission trips in the Agalta Valley. In additon to hosting and supporting mission groups such as ours, the ranch staff also supports the local community in the areas of agriculture, nutrition, healthcare, faith-building, commerce, construction, and education. The Ranch operates like a well-oiled machine which is evidenced by HOI being rated as one of the top five most effective non-profit organizations in Honduras. The Ranch is where we will live next week. The dormatories, while not 5 star, are very comfortable and sort of remind me of basic training army barracks without threat of any push-ups. We also eat most of our meals at the ranch and the food is very good. I learned early during my first visit to the ranch in 2012 that refried beans are commonly served at every meal. The beans are very tasty so it doesn't take long to get used to eating them three times a day. I plan to write more about The Ranch next week so I'll stop here and say thanks again for all of your support and prayers. Remember everyday is a missions day and everywhere we work, play, and live are mission fields. Dios es Bueno, todo el tiempo (God is good, all the time)

June 10th - Preparing for Mission Trip

Only 4 days until we depart Atlanta for Honduras. I am blessed to be a part of a group of 25 from Hillside UMC and Wesley Chapel UMC going on this year's mission trip. This will be our 2nd year in the village of El Ocote, where we will work alongside the villagers to build latrines and lay cement floors, among other projects. Members of our team will also hold a daily Bible School for the children of El Ocote. As we prepare for the long trip, we ask for your prayers for our team, the staff of Rancho El Paraiso, and for the villagers of El Ocote. Dios Te Bendiga (God Bless You)