Team 2 Construction Progress

Construction progress?

Before y'all get on the plane this morning, Team 1 was just wondering how the construction is coming along...

Showtime!

It is now Tuesday night. We have done all the building we will do, we’ve had our last great meal from Rosa, we’ve distributed all the small gifts we brought, we’ve seen the kids for the last time, and we’re almost out of time for group fellowship. I’ve really enjoyed building new friendships and have especially liked being around my old youth minister and basketball coach again. Interacting with Jonathan and John respectively in a setting like this was something I didn’t think I’d ever get to do again. Right now I really just want to enjoy this final time with the team (instead of updating the blog) but I know I’ll want to record some memories while they are still fresh in my mind. I’m going to list items and anyone can ask for more or the story.

• Everyone whistling/humming the song by Rabito from the performance in El Carrizo
• Showtime, Rebar, and Ray Mysterio
• Oie’s simple but great devotions
• Poor Gringo Espanol
• That’s what she said
• Being given the responsibility to drive as one of the youngest on the trip
• Witnessing so many kind acts (a card for Ginger, prayers for Gerardo and Susan, the kids doing nice things for each other, and many other small acts of kindness)
• Playing Honduran vs. gringo futbol
• Jonathan’s microphone
• Greg’s Maxi Bodega voice
• Alexi’s artful assistance to Pastor Juan Manuel tuning Concha’s guitar
• Geoff riding his chopper down the streets of Limon de la Circa
• The brothers Clary
• Jose speaking Inglese to Hondurans and Spanish to us because we made him switch so much
• Sarah receiving eye drops for conjunctivitis that Ben and Jose invented
• The fact that Jose couldn’t tell which two team members were ministers (in a good way)
• Mark slicing block while straddling the highest point of the wall
• Lin being stopped by Alexi after laying block over the doorway
• Jess and her 9 packs of Cheetos

Chase

El Carrizo, Saturday and Sunday

On Saturday night, we visited El Carrizo. This past weekend they had a three night "evangelistic campaign." It was so wonderful to see our old friends. Oie has a great video of a special performance the kids did. An excerpted picture is with this entry. As you may notice, the service was held outside, with about 200 people in attendance, representing 3 different churches.

I saw Erika, a 14 year old who lives a couple of houses away from the church. Marcos (Clary) and I went to her house before the service and met one of her older sisters and her father, Juan Mesa. Erika's family lives in a mud hut, and they raise pigs. Erika has a piglet of her own. Her older sister was wearing a Georgia Bulldogs t-shirt (a big shout out to Hee-Haw and Pastor Juan).

It was wonderful to see Erika again. She is the fifth child of eight children. Her mother died last summer. She was a deeply sad child when I saw her in August but happier Saturday. She had been unable to go to school for a couple of years, but she did complete her sixth grade education. She showed me a picture (during the very long service of about 2.5 hours) that she keeps in her Bible of when she graduated from primary school. Fortunately by the grace of God she started colegio today (Monday)! Colegio is a combination of our middle school and high school. Today, Chuck Nichols and Pastor Antonio Mejia of Iglesia Bautista were there to see 12 kids from El Carrizo start colegio. This is the beginning of their school year.

At the evangelistic campaign on Saturday night, Erika's older sister Karen, who is 18, accepted Jesus Christ (Jesu Cristo) as her Lord and Savior.

Erika has a lot of responsibility for a girl her age (in addition to caring for her piglet). When I am in El Carrizo, very often either her or her sister Rita, who is 16, take care of "Ana", who is about a year old. (Rita could not write her name last February - Erika wrote it for her.) I believe Ana is their niece, but I haven't confirmed, given my limited Spanish. :-) The desire to know more Spanish burns in us when we are here.

Yesterday (Sunday), six of us visited El Carrizo again while five went to the beach near Cedeno (big shout out to Jeremias and a prayer for his Maria). Erika was busy cooking tortillas on a wood fire when I got there, and after she walked around the village with us, she was busy cooking tortillas when we left.

Eduardo, Yuneth proudly showed me a necklace you sent with a big butterfly in the middle. It took a while because of the language barrier for me to understand what the necklace meant to her - she kept saying "Eduardo con Carlito" - which I finally understood to mean Eduardo sent this by Carlito. She said it with a faraway look in her eye, as if she were imagining you in El Carrizo. She loved it Eduardo, and I am sure she loved everything you sent.

My prayer is that Erika will be able to stay in school in spite of her adult responsibilities. I saw Oie, Benjamin, Chuck N., Carlitos, Jose, Carter, and JB surrounded by kids in El Carrizo Sunday, and they know and love many, many children like Erika, as do many of you. It is our Hope and prayer that the children will get an education and improve life for themselves and their families, and they will one day be able to give others Hope in El Carrizo and beyond! As Oie said tonight at our devotional time (attended by Pastor Mejia and his wife Claudia), it is this Hope that gives us the energy to Love, and our Faith is that God's Love through our loving actions makes a difference. La Fe, La Esperanza, El Amor. Faith, Hope, Love.

Gregorio

Photo of the Day Contest - Pastor Juan VS JB

Monday Reflection

It doesn't matter how many mission trips I've been on or how prepared I think I am, travelling with a team of fellow believers to serve in the name of Christ is a profound, moving experience. Couple this with immersion in a different culture whose people who speak an unfamiliar language, and it becomes disorienting and exciting all at once. To say that being here elicits mixed emotions is a dramatic understatement.

There is joy and satisfaction in building a house for someone like Concha, a sweet lady who plays her guitar and sings for us while we work. There is also sadness in not being able to meet all of the needs of her and her grandchildren. There's a disconnect because of the language barrier (I have trouble ordering a cheeseburger without help) yet relationships form that are built on more than words, like when a little girl I've never met before smiles at me and takes my hand. I miss my family, but still I feel a sense of belonging as I live out the particular call I sense from God to be right here, right now.

In the familiarity of my home and job and family, it's relatively easy to avoid the challenge of moving outside of my comfort zone. But it's the disorientation and reorientation that make experiences like this so hard to describe and so wonderful. Like a potter reshaping clay, God can use my disorientation to reorient me more perfectly to him. That is the beautifully difficult reality of experiencing God on mission, and that's why I keep coming back for more.

Carter

Carter is an Angel - from Saturday

Past Present and Future

I have enjoyed reconnecting with former youth and college students Jessica Brickell, Chase Helms, and Greg and Mark Clary. Seeing how important mission action is to them today is a pleasure. It also brings back so many wonderful memories while also making me feel old. Greg was in college, Mark a junior in high school and Jessica and Chase not even close to youth age when I joined the the FBC staff in 1988. I took these two pictures Friday at the work site. I only have one question now. Who can lay blocks the quickest? Jessica or Sterling?

PS I miss Jeremy being down here. Also, here's a shout out to Anne, Josh and Allie. Love you!

Saturday- February 6th

Greetings from Choleteca! We've had another great day of construction and playing with the kids. A couple of moments that were special to me that I'd like to share... When we returned from lunch to the construction site, Concha, the lady who's home we are building was there. When we got out of the van she had the biggest smile on her face... so happy that her new home is taking shape. She gave all of us hugs and smiles and said lots of "gracias." Later she played her guitar for the kids (probably 20 or 25 of them). The only words of her songs that I understood were "gracias Jesu Christo" (thank you Jesus). Very powerful moment seeing her so happy.

Another fun thing about today was interacting with and watching my two new friends Victor and Marcos. They are both 13 years old. They are the age where they really want to help out with construction but are still too small to do too much. Someone gave Victor some work gloves to wear since he was moving cement blocks. It was really neat to see him immediately give one of his new gloves to his buddy Marcos. They both helped us move blocks with one glove on each... both very proud to be helping out with the older guys. Later while Victor, Marcos and I were taking a rest in a shady spot, Victor looks at me and says... " me... you... Marcos... amigos." We bumped fists and nodded and smiled. They are indeed special boys.

Tonight, we are going to El Carrizo where the team has worshiped and done construction in the past. The non rookies are very much looking forward to seeing some of their friends there from trips past.

That's about it for me. It's about time to enjoy another excellent dinner prepared by Rosa.


God Bless,

Mark Clary

We finished house 1!!!!

After the dedication ceremony today, Pastor Juan and Oie posed proudly out front.....

Victor...and Victory!

Hola, amigos. Day 3 in Honduras and Day 2 on the worksite in Limon de la Cerca. Another beautiful day with sunny skies and nearly 100 degree temperatures, and we were blessed with a fairly consistent breeze throughout the morning that made working conditions more bearable. After maneuvering around cows, horses and chickens on the way to the worksite, we settled into a fairly good ryhthm and made a lot of progress laying block. We put up both windows and by the end of the day we reached the tops of them (and the doors) with our block. Feeling accomplished, we rather conveniently ran out of mescla, ending our "work" day.

Throughout the day, we attracted more and more children from the neighborhood. Some were familiar faces from the day before, and others were new curious kids. We entertained each other with frisbees, tennis balls and bubbles. To see and hear the children scream with delight as they chased the bubbles--and the designated bubble blower--was memorable. Shrieks of "Yo! Yo!" (Me! Me!) were let out each time we dipped the bubble wand back into the bottle. The kids fought to see who got to blow the wand or catch the next wave of bubbles.

Two other highlights (setting aside Rosa's delicious dinner of pork chops, mashed potatoes and green beens which was followed by Gerardo's birthday cake):

-Victor is a young neighborhood boy (probably around 11 or 12 years old) who was eager to help build from the moment we arrived this morning. We gave him some gloves and he hauled block, chisled cut block and helped however he could. At the end of the day, as we were leaving the worksite, we wanted to show him our appreciation. He (and the other kids) knew we had some tennis balls in the van, so JB made it clear that we'd hook up Victor with a ball as we drove away for the day. With 20 or more kids in the area, we had to try to be discrete. His proud grin was a sign that he knew what we were up to, and he was happy to get the ball without much fanfare. When he did receive it right before we drove away, he knew he had earned it.

-Despite best intentions, the other kids saw Victor's ball and knew there were more tennis balls in the van, and many lingered at the van's sliding door as we loaded in and drove away, hoping we'd toss some more out before leaving. One boy who we saw on and off all day, Franklin, started chasing after the van, his bare feet kicking up dust, dirt and pebbles and he tried to catch up. He managed fairly well, as the road conditions limited our speed, and to reward his determination we quickly tossed one more tennis ball out the back window of the van before heading towards the main roads. Looking out the back window of the van, you could see Victor--probably out of breath--standing still, turning, and holding the tennis ball up in the air with one hand, triumphantly looking back at the other children who hadn't bothered to follow us, as if to say "Victory!"

Dios te ama, Victor. Buenas noches. --Geoff

Did you break one?

We had a great first day at the worksite. After a quick breakfast, we spent the morning laying the first few courses (or learning how to do so, for the other rookies and myself). The veterans were very patient with us, and by lunchtime we all felt fairly confident about our task. No soccer today, Team 1, but we did have great interactions with the kids. One of the future tenants of this house, a 14 year-old named Jeffrey, helped mix the mescla (mortar). One of our members, Jose, was a huge help with the communication barrier (reminiscent of David Guzman) and made some great connections with those on the site. After a productive day, we came back to the house to clean up and eat Rosa's spaghetti. The rookies each shared something that had surprised us so far, including the amount of work a bunch of non-masons could do in a day. We're looking forward to a good night's sleep and another successful day tomorrow!

Jess

The rookies were awesome

The rookies are off to a great start!!!

Message From Team 2

Oie left me a voice mail last night saying the internet was down at the bunkhouse. The trip down was smooth, and they can't wait to get started this morning. They hope to have internet up today so they can post updates tonight.

UPDATE: evidently Team 1 is responsible for the loss of internet service. Once again, Team 2 has to spend most of the first day cleaning the mess Team 1 left behind ;p

Team Two departed Wed morning, Feb 3

Team Two arrived at the airport around 5:15 AM Tuesday morning and departed on their journey to Honduras. Jonathan and Mark will leave from Charlotte and meet the rest of the team in Miami. The veterans are anxious to meet old friends and the six newcomers are ready for the excitement of this faith journey to begin.

Team Two: John Baldwin, Jose Boyer, Jessica Brickell, Lin Carter, Greg Clary, Mark Clary, Jonathan Eidson, Chase Helms, Geoff Krouse, Oie Osterkamp, and Ben Yerxa.

p.s. Feliz Cumpleaños Kristen

Team One returned Tuesday night

Team One returned to Raleigh, and Kristen to Cincinnati, on Tuesday night around 11:00 PM. Many thanks to our spouses and to Tom and Keith for the warm welcome home. We look forward to sharing our stories with you in the days and weeks to come.

Dennis

Days 8 and 9

Greetings from Tegucigalpa. We are about to eat breakfast this morning before heading to the airport to fly home to Raleigh. Please make sure the ice and snow are melted by 10:30 tonight. No exciting events to report from yesterday and that is good on travel days to and from Choluteca. We chilled at the house, sat out by the pool and watched The Bernie Mac Show in Spanish. We made David stand by the TV and interpret ... just kidding. Words cannot express the debt of gratitude we owe to David. David not only had to process the same storm of emotions and processing that we all experienced as rookies, but he was in the middle of all our emotional exchanges as we had joyful reunions, delivered messages and special gifts, dealt with perplexing problems, and said tearful goodbyes. In other words he performed above and beyond the call of duty. We asked much and he gave much with a willing spirit.

We went to El Patio last night and feasted. Mike and Ginger have been excellent hosts. After our end of trip debriefing we discovered we were under attack by the insects. First, the ants ate our french toast ... well, they got in the bread that was to be our french toast. Then, Mike, Steve, David, and Joel were attacked by the Honduran air force (mosquitos) in the little bunkhouse. This morning a nice sized scorpion appeared. David, our entomologist, showed another amazing talent as he told us all about the scorpion, took lots of pictures and translated for the scorpion. Who knew? Bob, threw the scorpion over the back wall. Martha got mad at Bob making a stomping motion on the ground. She obviously did not want to see the scorpion again.

So this is our last dispatch from Honduras. We give a prayer of thanksgiving for your prayers, financial and other support, blog comments, and for keeping things going at home so that we can come here and serve our Lord. You will never know how much those gifts mean in our lives and in the lives of those with whom we work, serve and love while we are here. Felipe, Iris and Jasmine have a new home, and the children of Limon de la Cerca know that they have a God who loves them, because of what you have done. Gracias!

In His Name,

Team 1

2nd placeholder for photos...

More photos to come...

Day 7 - A Day of Worship

Wow! The last two days have flown by and we are exhausted. Here are the highlights:

1. Finished the house yesterday and had the dedication ceremony with Felipe, Iris, Jasmine, and the workers.
2. Gave the kids tennis balls and said our goodbyes.
3. Visited Roca de Salvacion and Altos de Santa Marta. Saw old friends and had great visits!
4. Walked from the house to the downtown market. More machetes and soccer shirts purchased.
5. Had Rosa's chicken and rice with Joel's awesome guacamole.
6. Tremendous devotional time. This week's devotionals have been powerful, bonding, spiritual growth experiences. Lots of tears, laughter, sharing, singing, rejoicing.
7. Cooked our own breakfast: eggs, bacon, banana pancakes, Honduran coffee.
8. Attended worship service and Sunday School at Iglesia Bautista Nazaret, the southern Honduran Baptist mother church. This church has started 60 other churches. Powerful worship including Kristen singing "Sanctuary", Bob and Kristen singing "Amazing Grace" and Bob inviting himself to play guitar with the Praise and Worship band. We were reminded in the sermon (as David translated for us) that Christian joy does not mean the absence of problems; but joy is instead the victory of faith in the midst of troubles. Had a remarkable discussion and lesson with just Pastor Eduardo and the North Americanos during the Sunday School time. Hard to explain what happened after Sunday School but it was an amazing time in which the children, elderly, deaf, and youth participated, visitors were welcomed, Felipe spoke in gratitude for what we and his church had done for him and his family, visitors. An amazing and new experience in the "FBC" of downtown Choluteca, a huge church in beauty, spirit, worship and mission.
9. Quick lunch at Wendy's followed by trip to visit Monharas and Cedeno. Bob delivered your package, Jeremy, after getting us lost looking for both churches.
10. Return to El Carrizo. Senors Paulinos and their families in the compound on the hill. Joyous reunions and amazing late afternoon worship service with the Pastor, Claudia, the church and kids. They had baptized 12 youth in the river this morning. A true time of homecoming and celebration. Joel has a letter for you Chuck from Kaylee. We all agreed that for those of us who served there last year El Carrizo is our home away from home in Honduras. Bob and David were welcomed, embraced, moved and an integral part of the time of fellowship and worship.
11. In less than 24 hours we witnessed the Eucharist at Saturday Mass in the Cathedral, worshipped in a large, metropolitan, relatively affluent, but highly spiritual and mission oriented church, and worshiped in joy with our friends and now family in El Carrizo. Our God was very, very good to us today!!!! We have never felt more connected to Christ's worldwide Church than today.
12. Dinner at El Torrito complete with calf fries.
13. Another great devotional in which we discussed the Second Coming, our love for the people of El Carrizo, our processing of our experiences this week, future plans for our Baptist Men Honduran ministry, the remarkable spiritual and love bond of our group this week.
14. One last visit with Deysi.
15. Tomorrow morning we pack up and head for Tegucigalpa. We will leave Choluteca with the satisfaction of completing the work our Father set before us this week, having relearned how to follow His lead, making new bonds and strengthening old ones, being touched by and touching with the hands of Jesus, laughing hard, crying joyously, and thinking and feeling deeply. A perfect trip.

See you soon

In His love,

Groupo Uno

Day 6 - The Job is Finished and the Ruse is Up

Please know that our thoughts and prayers have been with you as you all ride out the winter weather in the U.S. Please also know that we have been doing all of our thinking and praying in shorts, t-shirts, flip flops, and sunglasses, as we look at the beautiful pictures of the snow in Raleigh. We really struggled to get the van cool this afternoon. Please remember our suffering for Jesus in your thoughts and prayers.

Today we finished Felipe and Iris's house. We finished the second half of the roof in about an hour, and then helped mix the cemento and wheelbarrow it into the house to finish the second half of the floor. Altogether, over the last two days it took about five total hours to finish the roof. and floors. In other words, the charade is over. In the past Team One has built the walls, doors and windows (jobs that have taken about 4.5 days of intense work), while Team Two has finished the roofs and floors. We had assumed that involved some roughly equivalent amount of work. NOT!!!! We had already come to this realization before our visit with Pastor Mejia from El Carrizo this evening. However, as we looked at last year's blog with Pastor Mejia a picture of Groupo Dos popped up. Pastor Mejia said, " That is the second team? They like to play. They say they play after work at 4:00, but somedays they quit work and play at 2:00!" Busted, guys! 4:00? The end of the work day? Are you serious? We're just getting our second wind at that point. Buckle up, guys and girls, you're bringing it up from the foundation to the roof this time. And if you really are serious, with eleven team members you can do it twice. But not if the whistle blows at 4:00. Show 'em how to do it, J.B.!

A lot of amazing things have happened today and we will write about those tomorrow. Right now after devotion, we are too drained to do it! However, the story of one Honduras miracle must be told. For centuries various Catholics have reported seeing visions of the Holy Mother Mary and other saints at certain locations. Mass pilgrimages have followed as others traveled hoping to relive the miracle in that place. On our first trip out to Limon de la Circa we noticed a huge mountainous rock standing alone in the middle of an otherwise flat field. Imagined our shock when later in the week the attached image appeared on the face of the rock. Quickly the site was named Monte Bobo. Today after a quiet dedication with the workers at Felipe and Iris's new casa, the whole nation of Honduras joined us in dedication of this miraculous new shrine. Choirs of schoolchildren sang Bobo's new song, "Buenos Dias, Honduras" which some are now proposing should replace the existing national anthem of this special country; grown men wept; some overwrought women were even seen throwing articles of personal clothing at the foot of the rock. Finally, the moment arrived. Bob spoke ... and spoke ... and spoke. He began by welcoming the Hondurans to their own country and told them it was about flippin' time they recognized how great he was. By the time Bob finished speaking after 3.76 hours, rumors began to spread that the Honduran Supreme Court was planning a secret session to order the military to break into the mission house in the middle of the night; kidnap Bob in his pajamas; and ship him to Belize. However, those rumors quickly dissipated due to the Honduran military's irrational fear of Vaseline. We will keep you posted on the potential developing international crisis.

Until tomorrow, when we worship the Lord who has brought us to this poor, beautiful, rugged land, we wish you peace in the beauty of the snow.

In His love,

Team 1

Arianna

Live at Santa Marta

We visited Altos de Santa Marta on Saturday afternoon. Alexis, the brick mason who worked with us when we built the santuary two years ago (and who is fixing Pastor Ancelmo's foundation) was working nearby and let us in the church. Bob offered to play guitar and welcome Alexis to his church. Alexis then pulled a sheet off a drum set on the stage. He said they were improving the church "little by little".

Dedication Service

Just the girls

Brown brothers soccer

Steve started out just covering the goal, but then couldn't resist a little mid-field intimidation. Joel followed in David's footsteps from the day before and dribbled the ball all the way downfield for a score. The legend lives on!

John and Javier

Joel and kids

Roof masters

Pouring the concrete floor

Saturday Mass

Joel commented on the beauty of knowing that all Christians celebrate communion the same way throughout the world.

Precious

Little Nixon

Kristen, David, and Naelli

Kids on Day 6

Crowd control

Tennis ball handout

Joel walking with kids

Joel, Medani, and the other kids walking back from the soccer game. Things were calm at first, but then the autograph line got a little exciting.

Dennis & Kristen on the roof

Deysi the hostess

Steve and Midani

This is Steve's very special amiga Midani. Ask him about her.

Team One photo at the start of work day 5

Mike and Ginger are starting a wall of team photos at the house in Choluteca. Ours will be the first.

Deysi calls Jeremias