Sunday, February 7, 2010
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 6, 2010
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
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
Friday, February 5, 2010
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
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
Thursday, February 4, 2010
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
Jess
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