Our Happy Place

For this team, our church home, New Hope Baptist Church, Mt. Horeb, Pavana, Choluteca, Honduras is called their "happy place".  They wait three hundred sixty four days each year upon their return.  They love calling this place home away from home.  But this year their precious "happy place" took a very different turn in events.  Team leader Pastor Brian prepares his youth month out to learn how to be flexible and find contentment in every situation.  It is like putting on the full armor of God daily but putting it on with switching up cultures a little bit.  So as I unfold this week it will be a week like we have not ever experienced before and definitely not what these youths ever anticipated.  But as they said all week God has this and we will serve where God places us.

The tea started each day with an amazing breakfast of bacon, eggs, tortillas and grits.  One morning they got blessed with the famous Honduran breakfast, balatas, a breakfast burrito. The Balatas had the usual breakfast dishes wrapped up in a soft shell with lots of crema.  These young people are not allowed to bring any technology on this trip.  So each morning they would gather up on the porch waiting for breakfast talking to one another.  Yes not texting but talking with each other about the day ahead or what they have already experienced.  They come in after a long day of working to the gift shop to purchase their cold Fresca's and chatted again.  The joy found on these young people's face each day as they gathered around being "together" in human form was refreshing to me.  They did a morning devotional, lunch time devotional and an evening devotional daily.  The porches on this campus were well used daily by our future generation.  It would have made all parents involved this week so very proud of their children who are growing up to be godly young people. Mike and I were blessed to call each of you family this week.

Let's start the journey towards an amazing week serving our Lord!

One day Scott shared a morning devotional which was so appropriate for our week ahead.

Our Happy Place Day

During the last month the gas prices have sky rocketed in Honduras, the entire country.  So the locals all over the country to action on their defense. If gas prices go up then buses and taxis prices need to go up as well to pay for the fuel of their vehicles.  So on the day upon arrival of New Hope Baptist Church the protest began.  The protest continued throughout the week into the next week.  They did take Saturday and Sunday off.  There was not any violence.  The buses and taxis simply blocked anyone who was trying to travel out of Tegus, Choluteca and other main roads.  Mike and Pastor Brian made a decision to keep everyone on the ministry campus for their first day of construction work.  Actually this team was so huge we had already decided  before their arrival if you were new to Honduras you would be who would build the home and do VBS.  If you were a returnee you would help put the wrap around porch on the Honduran Dorm.  So it was just a slight change in plans.  The Honduran Dorm team just had a lot of extra help.  So we also decided we would do other projects as well, much needed stuff which needed to get done.

Mike gathered the team on the steps of the Honduran dorm to plan out their day ahead. Mike asked some to clean up the debris inside the Honduran dorm rooms where construction had taken place and also along outside the edge  of the building.  Mike needed a crew to start mixing mescal for the wrap around porch floor.  Mike added one more project which I have been asking for along time, a stable for Carolina and Tintone.  God is so good, even though we did not go to start the home for Santos and her children our first day, God was able to use these young people and their adult chaperones to further His Kingdom work here at Mt. Horeb.  Our goal is to have the Honduran dorm up and running by October and with what is fixing to unfold we may just meet our goal. 

Clean Up Mt. Horeb

I have some before pictures of the floor before they got started laying the mescal.  I also am sharing how so many of your young people got in there and went to work cleaning out the debris in the Honduran dorm.  This is a menial job but a job which truly needed to be done.  They filled buckets of debris and hauled them across the ministry campus behind the multi purpose building where the trash gets burn.  They made several trips back and forth until every bit of the trash was gone.  Is this what these young people prepared their hearts for this week?  Is this what Pastor Brian prepared them to do, sweep concrete floors and haul off construction debris until the floors and counters were spotless?  Yes it was exactly what Pastor Brian prepared them to do, be flexible.  These young people took flexibility to a whole new level.  They worked diligently continuously until this project was completed to Mr. Mike's liking.  He was so proud of how efficiently and thoroughly they clean up this facility so now we can move forward to putting the plumbing and other last minute stuff in for our Honduran brothers and sisters.  Because they are eagerly awaiting to the day they can come to worship, do bible studies, pastor conferences and church retreats.  They are waiting on us and by God delaying our day of construction to work on Mt. Horeb is drawing us closer to opening up this for our Honduran brothers and sisters to come and grow in Christ and His Kingdom work.

Lassie and Oso Helped Too

Entertainment was in the air.  These two four legged friends thought they had found lizard for lunch.  They worked on these rocks for well over thirty minutes smelling and trying to dig them out.  Not sure what sparked their attention but it kept them busy for quiet some time.  We all love Oso and Lassie so much.  They are our little gifts from God plus they work at nights to keep us all safe with Rudy and Manuel.  We are blessed.

Mescal Crew

This group of folks worked very hard.  Please do not let the mixer fool you.  They had to haul four buckets of sand, three buckets of rocks and two buckets of water.  They formed the exact assembly line for each batch as they mixture formed into the perfect batch for the floor which was being pour a ways away from this location.  This was a continued process all day long.  These pictures cannot show justice to the hard work this crew put their day.  John Scott was an excellent supervisor of his mescal crew throughout their labor of love for Jesus Christ. Logan was apart of this mescal team as she along with the guys hauled the sacks of mescal from the back of the Toyota to the Honduran dorm porch.  Abby and Allison worked hard sifting the sand to go into the buckets which in turn went up into the mixer.  If I start naming everyone who had a hand in this I will surely leave out someone.  As you can see in the pictures our youth literally took it to the top in so many different levels of commitment.  They did not stop until the porch was near completion for this first day in Honduras.  Well done good and faithful servants.

Logan's scripture was on  1 Peter 4:7 "Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.  Above all love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.  Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling."  This is what this crew accomplished their first day, they worked together as one unit to get the mescal prepared for the floor.

Brandon's devotion for Thursday shared how we could become bitter because of how our mission trip is forming.  We do not need to get angry about  the small stuff but use it to glorify God. There is so many reasons why we could get angry about our day but we chose to glorify God with what He placed in front of us.

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ forgives us." Ephesians 4:31-32.  We could learn so much from our young people.

What petty stuff are you dealing with right now in your life which in the big scheme of things does not even matter,  As we say in Honduras it is not eternal.  So work as a family of believers for the Kingdom work, even it is mixing mescal for a porch you will never probably get to use again.

The Rock Crew

I sat up on the porch of Alexia's home as this group of young men unfolded their morning.  This was a small group of young men, Chase, Brandon, Scott and Justin A. who was led by an amazing and supportive supervisor, Ron.  Pastor Carlos was with them as they started working on the project for Carolina and Tintone's stable. When they volunteered for this mission project they did not know what they were getting themselves into.  I must say I was humbled by their ability to preserve through every single rock they moved out from the foundation of this place which one day will be called a stable.  Harrison wanted to see his project to completion.  But there was way too many rocks of all sizes they had to conquer to make this happen this week.  They dug endlessly making piles and piles of rocks right outside the foundation of the stables.  They dug and pulled, they pulled and dug so many different sizes of rocks came out of the ground.  Ron, supervisor made a very good analogy of this process.  This is how the chain gangs use to work in prisons years ago.  Yes folks reading this, these guys took rocking it to a whole new level.  They never wavered from their project they volunteered for.  They never grew weary because they were always lifting each other up plus they had Lassie right there with them helping every step of the way until Lassie stepped on Pastor Carlos rope for leveling the foundation for the poles to be set.  Lassie then had to watch with me from the porch as she watched her new friends working so hard. 

Move Those Rocks

This is a continuation of the rock moving from these guys.  They did this all day long.  Whatever it took for them to get this done they did.  They worked together pushing the wheelbarrow of rocks to  a new rock pile a ways away.  The pile they were forming near the foundation for the stable was growing larger and larger.  So Alexia suggested to them to take a wheelbarrow load to help move them out of the way.  They did not question this suggestion, they did not get upset about this suggestion, they simply started piling those rocks in the wheel barrow and off they went.  They made numerous trips to the new rock pile to add to the pile already in existence.  Mt. Horeb is blessed with all the rocks you could ever need and in any size you choose.  Isn't this correct gentlemen?  I am so proud of their accomplishments this morning but there is more so  continue reading to the next episode of move those rocks.

Alexia Helps With Rocks

Alexa did not think one wheel barrow was enough so she got them another one.  So they began filling up two wheel barrows of rocks carrying them to the rock pile.  They followed Alexa's lead on how to do what they needed to get done and more efficiently.  There was one boulder not a rock but a one hundred plus pound boulder they conquered slowly.  It took all four of them to get it into the wheel barrow as they turned the wheel barrow to head to the rock pile. The weight of the boulder flipped over the wheel barrow.  Mr. Mike walked by in his only little focused world and did not even notice what was unfolding.  Alexa calmly came over and showed them how they needed to do this feat of the muscles.  During God moments they shared how Alexa used the skills she had and not the use of her body to direct the boulder back into the wheel barrow.  The guys learned a lot from Alexa with this one experience of a one hundred plus pound boulder.  Scott A. shared how they come somewhere new and learn a new way to do things from Alexa.  She was an amazing teacher and leader.  She led by example as she worked right beside the guys throughout the morning until she felt like they could do it themselves.  They proved how very well they could do this task and without grumbling or complaining.  They did it with joy in their hearts.  Funny story after watching all this unfold they flew by me with the boulder and I shouted, "Stop boys I want a picture of this amazing task."  They shouted back, " No Mrs. Ginger we cannot stop now, we got our momentum up and going."  You simply just had to be there to experience all of this unfold.  I am so proud of each of you young men. What examples you set for all of us by preserving even when it looks like it could not happen.  You guys definitely ROCK!

Pastor Brian Helps With the Stable

Please know rocks are still being moved.  But Pastor Carlos is ready to place the four corner poles.  So Pastor Brian came up at just the right time to assist these guys into their next project on the stables. This entailed bringing mescal from the mixer up the hill to the corner of the ministry campus where they had been working all morning.  Pastor Carlos started bringing the poles up one by one as the gentlemen brought the wheel barrow full of mescal.  They proceeded to place the poles in the holes which the four gentlemen, Ron and Pastor Brian helped dig.  This was all for two of God's creations which brings us much joy and laughter every day.  This is where when we have our massive thunderstorms they will have a place called home where they will be safe and where they will be fed on a daily basis.  We rescued Carolina from a neglected situation and got Titone as well months later.  God has truly blessed us with these two gifts and I want to say thank you Ron, Chase, Justin A, Scott A, Harrison, Pastor Brian and Carlton who helped with one load of wheel barrow mescal for all you did for something which needed to get done but we have not had the time to do it.

Mt. Horeb Had a Hydrantion Specialist

Charity took very good care of her teammates but failed to take care of herself.  So first part of the day Charity hydrated everyone.  This entailed going from one project to another one.  She started at the mixer crew, moved over to the porch crew and then up the hill to the stable crew.  By the time Charity made her rounds it was time for her to start over again.  She did a phenomenal job until she needed to stop.  But as always throughout this whole week, her team players came forward and took care of hydrating everyone else.  Toni stepped up and did a couple of rounds of hydration for Charity.  Abby, Charity's daughter and her best bud, Allison helped out as well.  Once Charity got hydrated she was up and running again with vengeance.  Thank you Charity for taking this job duty with the upmost responsibility .  Actually this is the most important job duty in this ministry.  Because if you were to get sick from dehydration it is an experience which could ruin your mission trip experience.

More Cleaning on Day One

As I removed myself from the moving of rocks and adventured out to see what else was going on I saw yet another new project unfolding.  Pastor Brian, John Scott, Abby, Allison, Logan, Hannah Kate and Taylor were moving a piece of metal roofing left over from a project back in February.  Once again this was something which needed to get done and there is not enough time in our day.  Then Pastor Brian, Logan, Hannah Kate and Taylor came across a massive fire ant nest.  So they got busy preparing a gate around it to keep others from walking right into this huge mess.  Every job is very important today, every job!

Abby shared one evening during devotions how we are showing God in our mission work and showing the light.  This small task could have been disastrous for whoever would have come upon it.  We are showing God's love for others in all we do on Mt. Horeb our first day of our mission trip.

Honduran Dorm Porch

As the rocks were being moved, the mescal being mixed, the grounds being cleaned and the water was being delivered the floor was going down.  Everyone was on board with this as well except for the four gentlemen and Ron moving the rocks.  So as well as mixing the mescal the young people delivered it in buckets and helped spread it out.  Prior to all this they had to put water on the floor to prep it for the mescal which was coming.  Everyone pitched in on this project as well. This project was a planned project to start with for all our returnees.  So I know they were very grateful for all hands on deck helping them get their assigned project to completion.  By the end of the day they had completed a third of the floor.  Great job New Hope Baptist Church Youth along with your Honduran helpers.  You all also made an amazing team together.

All this I have shared thus far has been day one of their mission trip.  Please note they have not even begun the home for Santos and her children.  Wow what an amazing accomplishment.

Is this why they came to Honduras?  Well for half the team the floor was going to be their project for the week.  But for all our new friends helping with the floor this is not why they came to Honduras.  Did they complain? NO.  Were they very tired at day end?  I believe that is a yes!  Were they joyfully tired at the end of their day?  Oh yes, God had used each one on this team today to further His Kingdom here at Mt. Horeb.  Now our Honduran brothers and sisters are getting closer to coming out for a church retreat than before.  Thank you all for being flexible and content in what God had for you to do on your first day in Honduras.

Let's Go to El Limonal

Finally Saturday came and the protesters took the day off.  So we could go to work and do what God had called us to do, build a home for Santos and family.  The team got busy loading the truck, making their sandwiches and Gatorade and water coolers.  They were so excited about heading out to their day ahead.  They were already a day behind but after what I was the first day working on Mt. Horeb this team has it.  They definitely got what it takes to get this done in a timely fashion.

Let's get on the road to El Limonal.  Let this new journey finally begin.

First Unload Truck

We arrived at El Limonal getting dropped off at the main road to head down a dirt path to the entrance to the village where the path took us to Santo's home.  The three vehicles road through a soccer field and met us at the entrance.  We proceeded to unload the kia and head to the project and we were more than grateful to do all of this because we were here to serve our Lord and provide Santo's and her family a home.  We were getting excited with every water cooler, Gatorade cooler and tools we carried we were getting closer to why we truly came to Honduras.

Everyone lined up took something and off they went.  They came back to help with yet another load of tools, shovels, boards, basically everything needed to build this home.  Everyone was grabbing something but the big something had not come off yet.  Pastor Brian and John Scott crawled under the bob wire fence to help with the next big task at hand.

Oh yes someone had to get the "tool box" through the bob wire fence and down the path to the project site.  Thank you John Scott and Pastor Brian for pulling it through.  But many thanks to Mason and Carlton who were the blessed ones to carry to the project site.  Christian took off behind them carrying the screen used for sifting the sand.  Everyone was working very hard to be able to get caught up from loosing a whole day of construction labor.  

One evening Chase shared a devotion about being a Christian is not a religion it is a people.  We need to aspire to live our life so others would want to be us.  Our light needs to shine. Well their first day their light shine fully.  They put all they had into this day and we give God all the praise and honor. Lets finally meet Santo and her beautiful family.

Prepping for First Block

All projects well most all projects the blocks have to be moved to the center of the foundation.  This veteran team saw the need and got right on it.  They formed a massive assembly line and knocked it out in no time.  While others were still busy carrying stuff from the Kia.

Pastor Brian orchestrated the dirt from the side road which was were it was dropped off at upon delivery.  They would load up a bucket of sand and place it in the wheel barrow until it was full and off someone went with their load.  There was also buckets being carried as well.  One thing I can say this group is use to carrying buckets of something rocks or mud a distance away so this was a piece of cake.  They had to take it to be sifted through the screen for making the mescal for the preparation of the first block.

The four corners were going up as well.  Everyone took a corner and started putting the iron rods into the ground for a secure foundation.  Each corner got placed securely and leveled very quickly.  It pays to know how to do this in advance.  This helped the process move along quickly.  Thank you Ron, John Scott, Mike, Tino and Pastor Carlos for getting this down so we could move toward our first block.

As the sand arrived Tino and Carlton were sifting away and making the pile ready to go to Mason and Christian and one Honduran volunteer.  These guys learned very quickly how to make mescal because they did not have a lot of  Honduran help this first day.  I hope this meant men had work to go to which is rare here for a lot of the men.   But no worries these boys were on it and helped make the batch and Christian was ready to deliver the first bucket for the first block.

Our block cutters were over the top.  John Scott and Ron kept the blocks going and coming.  They made an amazing team.  When Pastor Carlos needed a special block Ron could translate for John Scott the size he needed.  Also one day Ron had some extra help, a nearby neighbor and friend of Santo's who was 82 years old.  He was talking away to Ron but Ron did not quiet get all he was saying to him.  But he was always close by to put in his two cents worth to Ron and John Scott.  Great job gentlemen. Everything was coming together beautifully for the prayers over the first block.  Everyone's efforts were all from God's strength he provided for each one of them. God gave us all we needed the first day to get this day under control and move on to laying rows of blocks.

Santos and Her Family

It is my pleasure and honor to finally introduce all of you to Santo, mother of Marlen Raquel, Sendy Yosari, Javier and Marlen Raquel's little girl named Meybelin.  Javier and Meybelin are actually the very same age.  Santo and Marlen Raquel were pregnant at the same time.  What a beautiful gift from God.  Santo's husband died about a year ago due to a type of disease here where it was not curable.  So Mike and I saw a immediate for this family to get a home where they will be secure and safe each night and dry during rainy season.  Mike introduced the team and turned it over to Pastor Brian.  Pastor Brian apologized for being a day late for unseen circumstances which they did not have control over at all.  He let Santos know they were still praying for her and her family that they would get there and help her build her home to completion.  Santos thanked God first and the community for helping her get the foundation completed.  Then she thanked the North American team for being there to make this dream a reality.  God is good and His timing is always perfect.