We're back!

Unfortunately Internet access was not available at the resort while we were resting. We are now in Houston awaiting our Ontario connection. All are well - see you this weekend!

Last Day on the site...

We started out the day with devotions as usual. Today we talked about conforming to the patterns of the world. Sam urged us to stop and take in what God was trying to tell us on this trip and many admitted areas in their lives where the world and its patterns took precedence over God. It was a good message to savor as we approached our last day on the work site with our Honduran brothers and sisters. The women had corn flakes and pan dulce ready for us when we arrived.

We relaxed for a bit before we set up for our last day of VBS. All through the week there has been rain, lack of electricity and other frustrations while getting ready for VBS… today I found my iPod (with all the songs and puppet stories on it) dead… but just as He had done the whole week, God provided… Sam just happened to have an iPod charger with him and everything came off flawless…

More than 125 kids worshiped the Lord with all their might today…

You could see in their faces the fun they were having learning about our Savior…

Because it was the last day we gave each child a goodie bag filled with toys and a treat.

We all opened them together and it has to be one of the most beautiful sounds ever to hear them laugh and squeal over their treasures… it’s such a small token, yet they appreciate it so much…

It was sad to see them file out for the last time…

Back at the church the brothers prepared the lid for the septic tank. It consisted of palm branches, rebar and cement.

Today was special as we got to break into groups of three for lunch. Six families took each group to their home for a homemade meal. The houses ranged from stick shacks to beautifully tiled, modern construction homes. Everyone had a wonderful time conversing (or trying to) with our brothers and sisters and enjoying the meals they prepared for us.

After lunch we had a dedication service for the new church building. It was amazing to celebrate God in the house He helped us build over the last week.

Pastor Andrés made us aware of a dream he had over two years ago. Two nights in a row God woke him with a stirring for the community of Larida. God told him that one day a church would rise and that he was to lead it. He prayed and began to grow a home church in the area. Now a year later the congregation has their building and the community there will continue to reach out to the lost… it was a moving time.

Brother Uriel prayed for the church building as did Sam…

After a time of worship and celebratory cake, we departed with conflicted hearts; full of joy for what God had done and sadness because this would be the last time we see our brothers and sisters in Larida.

Day 5 on the site...

Today was a hot one… 99 degrees first thing in the morning! The churches exterior was basically complete so it was time to pour the interior floor.

This meant mezcla (cement) and lots of it. We mixed about 3 piles before breakfast.

Today we had traditional tacos. Refried beans, scrambled eggs topped with central American sour cream (mantequilla)

After a quick break for breakfast we got right back to cement mixing.

We all took a turn mixing as the others began to get exhausted.

And of course we moved the cement by bucket line...

The process of pouring the floor is pretty cool – they line to floor with 1X2 planks and run the cement in between them. It takes an unbelievable amount of cement to fill a floor like this so we mixed and mixed and mixed.

Meanwhile in the kitchen some helped the sisters make tortillas… lets see… 75 people, 3 tortillas each… 225 hand made tortillas just for one lunch…

I can’t even imagine how many cups of rice are in the pot…

We almost finished pouring the floor before lunch…

While we were busy pouring the floor the brothers finished building the outhouse, quite a luxury to have at a church.

The young brothers helped mix the top coat of cement by hand.

After the top coat went on smooth, dye crystals were spread over the surface to give the floor some decoration.

We are staying in the city of Tocoa. It is a pretty thriving little hub on the north coast.

Some went to the vegetable stand today to buy some goods for upcoming meals. With the fields just miles away it doesn’t get much fresher than this…

After some free time to chill we went for a nice dinner… it was a splendid and productive day…

Day 4 on the job...

Today started out great… Again, nice and cool under cloudy skies. The intermittent showers and cloud cover really help to make the work easier. The roof on the church needed to be finished today so we started by carrying all of the tin sheets over to the job site where the brothers began nailing them down.

We began a bucket line to finish emptying the septic tank. The dirt was carried over to the front of the church to bring up a low spot by the entrance.

The sisters again did a super job getting breakfast ready for us. The construction is often the focus of what we are doing but the task of organizing meals for all of us and cleaning up after is a huge job that our hermanas do with joy.

Today the guys had dish duty...

As VBS time neared kids from all over started trickling into the area. Many of them wearing their best dresses.

Today the Lord brought over 100 kids… They have begun to learn the songs we have taught them so the singing is getting progressively louder. Some said they could be heard all the way down the street.

Sister Wendy from the local church has stepped in to help lead the children. She is great at tying the biblical principal of the story into the bible verse and the craft… God was really moving today in VBS.

The kids enjoyed their craft and some time of prayer... we went well over an hour today and so many were blessed.

Back at the church we saw the pulpit floor get poured.

And the brothers began lining the septic tank with large rocks and cement.

We packed up for the day and headed over to Cuaca where we got to check out some improvements the church had made to their building. A few years ago a team from CBC came to construct this building. The recently added recessed lighting and fans. It’s a beautiful house of worship.

Pastors Sam, Noé, Tino, Humberto and Rob

We headed back to the hotel to clean up for a church service in Zamora. On the way we got to stop at Wendy’s for a burger and fries.

Although they are a bit longer than we are used to, the church services here are one of the highlights of the trip for most.

The worship is so powerful that many were moved to tears. We had been practicing a couple songs so they gave us to floor to worship also.

Rick Miller; the president of Missions Door had been with us so he brought the message. Pastor Tino finished with a time of worship. It was a very moving night…A great finish to another awesome day.