Honduras 2009 :: Community Baptist Church

We're back!

2009-07-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-07-15T05:36:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-07-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-07-14T04:08:00.001-07:00

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.

Day 3 on the site...

2009-07-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

Today started again under cool skies… we did a bit of work on the site then stopped for a hearty breakfast… There was quite a bit of help on the site today so the sisters made sure to prepare sufficient food for everyone…

Just as we got back to work on the site and the breakfast dishes began to get washed a random downpour stopped just about all work… we all took shelter under whatever roof we could get under to wait out the storm.

The time to start VBS came and went and many children came down to the area in the pouring rain waiting for the program to start. We ended up finding a nice covered porch in the neighborhood that would house the kids.

Again 80 little ones joined us for a fun time of song, dance, bible verses, and crafts… They praise God with everything they’ve got… it is so cute to watch and take in.

Back on the site the trusses went up one by one and more dirt got moved one bucket at a time to fill in low spots around the church.

Noon came and under full sun we had a delicious fried fish lunch

Once we were full there was more work to be done around the church… Some continued with the never ending septic tank

Half the roof got nailed down onto the trusses

Somehow a few just stood around pretending to look important…

Brother Uriel did however give us the thumbs up for a day’s good work…

We hit the road for the hotel feeling great about the day’s accomplishments.

After a time of rest and cleaning up, we all met in the lobby to go for dinner.

They actually feed us very well down here. Tonight we had gringas which are like chicken quesadillas with no cheese… everyone was happy with the meal

Well almost everyone…

We got to go for ice cream tonight which was a cool treat on a hot humid night. The team is enjoying each others company and delighting in what God is doing at the church and within our hearts…

Day two on the site

2009-07-11T15:14:00.000-07:00

We started the day off with more great devotion and jumped in the vans for the site. Upon arrival we all began to work on the site in the hot morning sun.

The septic tank has come along but was still only half way to 12 feet.

We took a quick pause to eat some fritas – fried pancake discs topped with syrup… they were great! The sisters in the kitchen work so hard to feed us – along with the workers there has to be 75 people to feed twice a day…

Of course dish duty is no small task after each meal either…

Work continued on the site as some of us began to prepare for VBS… The puppet stage is a tricky task each year… this time was no different…
VBS was awesome, about 80 kids came for songs, games, and a bible story brought by the puppets. The laughter and joy in their eyes blesses us so much…
After the story and some prayer time we did a craft to help them remember the details of the story… even the older boys got into the craft which was so cool to see…
Today was a special day as many who have served with Pastor Tino, the regional pastor over the 30 churches in this area, pooled their money to buy him a truck. He devotes a lot of time to the leaders all over the area. He helps them to develop strong Christ loving congregations and via motorcycle, always in the heat and often in the pouring rain. Pastor Rob, Deanne and Allan sat him down and told him of the gift – he was truly overjoyed and greatful to God and his brothers and sisters in Christ…
In the afternoon Pastor Humberto was en route to come for Pastor Rob when he got stopped in Planes. There was a peaceful demonstration that caused the road to be closed.
But as we all know God’s work can’t be stopped so Rob walked through the blockade and met Humberto on the other side…
Back at the site we saw much progress as the heat of the afternoon wore on us. The pulpet got buit as the floor was leveled.

The horizontal support columns got framed with wood and poured to dry overnight…
And septic tank got deeper...

close but still not 12 feet...

It’s so great to work side by side with our Honduran brothers and sisters… Language seems to be no barrier for the relationships we are sharing… Glory to God it was a good day!

Chris S. did get sick last night and had to stay back... please pray that it will pass and that God would settle his stomach.

First Day on the Job...

2009-07-10T15:57:00.000-07:00

Today was a glorious day! We started with devotion in the meeting room at the hotel. Mike taught us the importance of addressing our Honduran brothers and sisters as Bendecidos “blessed ones”. This makes perfect sense as the congregation down here holds firm to the words of Paul in Ephesians 3:1 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

We began to work on the church building under cool cloudy skies… even with the haze above us the temperature was still quite warm… Task number one was to build a septic tank around the back of the church. 10 feet square and 12 feet deep… the fill from the area needed to be moved into the church to raise the level of the floor… this took many shovels full and lots of wheelbarrow trips. We rested and had a breakfast of beans, eggs, and fresh handmade tortillas.

As the morning progressed the final layer of blocks went across the top of the church building. The blocks got to thier palce via block lines by our hands. Next, the columns went up around the parameter. These wooden columns needed to be filled with lots of mezcla (cement), which was mixed by hand of course, and carried by bucket line to get the cement where it needed to be.

We took another break for lunch then got back at it.

The sun appeared after lunch making the area HOT, but that didn't stop the shoveling and transferring of dirt which continued all afternoon...

One by one all of the support columns were filled with cement and the team looked on at the building with triumph in our hearts for the work God is doing.

After a hard days work some went swimming in the pool back at the hotel before dinner… everyone is well and we are looking forward to another productive day tomorrow and the start of VBS for the kids…

Travel to Larida

2009-07-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

We all woke up feeling great today…glad to have a good nights rest after a long day of flying. We gathered for breakfast and a logistics meeting before we loaded up the vans and trucks and hit the road. Tomorrow is our first day on the job site.
Today we traveled from El Progresso which is close to the airport, out to La Ceiba to meet Robin from signs of love and pick up Becca who has been staying with her. We all joined for a meal at Pizza Hut!

The salad bar and pizza were a welcome meal and it was great to see Robin and her new husband Jeff.We got back on the road for another couple hours drive out to Tacoa where we will be staying for the rest of the week. The hotel is nice, pretty standard rooms but comfortable for sleeping. After sorting the mountain of luggage we quickly changed and headed out for Larida for a service at the new church site.

We were pretty surprised to see the local church got a head start on the job… quite a head start… Not to worry there is still lots of work to do over the next few days.

Pastor Tino, the regional pastor, along with Pastor Noé, Pastor Andres, and Pastor Rob spoke on the value of being together and how Christ’s love unites us even though we don’t all speak the same language.

It was an emotional time. We returned to the hotel to change for dinner… We are leaving soon for rotisserie chicken… should be great… Everyone is doing well… Please continue to pray for God’s favor as he has guided us this far…

We made it!

2009-07-07T23:35:00.000-07:00

We arrived close to midnight safely in San Pedro Sula. After a quick load up in the vans we drove into El Progresso where we will be staying the night. Everyone is safe and sound and the city is calm and peaceful.

Praise be to God for our safe travel!

Houston...

2009-07-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

We made it to Houston for a plane change... We take off in an hour for Honduras...

A PRAYER REQUEST: We hear there may be a curfew imposed when we arrive... if that is the case we wont be able to leave the airport till morning... this would not be fun... Please pray that the trip from the airport to the hotel tonight is quick and easy so we can get a good night's rest...

On our way!

2009-07-07T10:56:00.000-07:00

we are at Ontario International Airport waiting for our flight to Houston... spirits are high and everyone is anxious to get to Honduras!

Craft Preparation Day

2009-06-29T09:54:00.001-07:00

Saturday most of the team got together for our craft preparation. There was plenty of helping hands and we enjoyed each others company as we built all the craft pieces for the VBS in Honduras. Can you believe we leave a week from tomorrow...

The Team

2009-06-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

Our team has been assembled and we have been meeting for months. We leave for Honduras on July 7th... Please pray for God's blessing on our trip!