Friday!

Last day of work, I think I can speak for the team that while we are all exhausted physically and mentally, we are kind of sad to see it end. We accomplished much good again today. Steve and Bob tried their hands at medical while Eric, Zach, and Matt joined the construction crew. The medical team was greeted in Santiago with open arms by a community that was for the most part very healthy. Things today were much less chaotic as the community had prepared much for our arrival, including "private" exam rooms for the doctors and translators to use. A few cases that hit hard, but for the most part everyone was very healthy. With a more relaxed feeling to the day, the doctors took some time to really get to know the people they saw. A highlight of mine today was speaking with some of the young boys that I saw. An 11 yr old boy said when he grew up he wanted to learn English, come to the United States, and marry a beautiful woman. Another young 12 year old boy told me he wanted to be a lawyer. When I told him all things are possible with hard work and that he should try his best with his studies, he told me had to go because he wanted to get back to studying! The building team accomplished much today as well. Still at 6 de Mayo, they worked on adding another layer to a wall that surrounds the nutrition and education center in the community. They were also able to help fix a door and poor a concrete floor surrounding an area utilized by the woman for washing. This area is frequently hard hit with floods. As a result, the woman would often have to wash and do other tasks standing in inches of muddy water. With this concrete floor, it is their hope even if the flood waters do come they will still have some place dry and clean to work. As always, they also had time to bond with the community members too!

Tomorow morning we head off to Copan for a little rest and relaxation. While the hard work of our trip may be over, continue to keep us in your thoughts as we take a little time to rest our bodies and minds! See you all soon!


Colleen for the team

Bringing in the peaceable kingdom

San Jose del Cayo and Seis de Mayo

Today was a very good day, but a very hard day. Both teams, the medical team and the construction team had our longest days, not returning until almost 6:00 pm.
The medical team had already run out of some of our key meds the day before, as we're seeing far more people than we had planned on seeing each day. But, Thursday was no exception either, and the team with the Proyecto MAMA staff were able to see all of the people, but a few MAMA staff will have to return back to the colony next week to give the deworming tablets. The med team told many stories in our evening sharing time about patients they met and problems they are facing - bringing to our team the hard realities of the poverty of this country.
The construction team went out to Seis de Mayo where we worked at the Proyecto MAMA site where they have a tutoring school - helping children after school with their homework, teaching them how to use computers,etc. We have several projects to complete here - pour a walk way with wheel chair access from the road into the entrance of the school; raise an entrance door about one concrete block; pour concrete caps on walls in front of the school, tyingin the wall with the fencing on top; pouring 5 more columns out front of the school - part of the front wall; and pouring another walkway and pad from the school to the washing area and bathrooms at the side of the building. This is a 2 day project, and we'll have to really hustle to get it finished. We had Matt with us today, as well as Pastor Juan and one of his community members - "Rico" (Ricoberto). So, by the end of the first day, we had all of the sidewalk poured and Dave was still doing the final finish at 5:30 or so.
But, at the end of the day, looking back on it - we had a really super day with everyone chipping in wherever they were needed. And yes, we're still making volcanoes here.

The team for the most part has been very healthy, with only an occasional need for a Cipro - for "just in case....."

Thanks to all for your prayers and concerns - we have all been greatly blessed by our friends here and our experiences. We hope and pray that the work being done here will help people to know each other better and to be able to live peacefully with each other.

Thanks to God,

DRE Proyecto MAMA team -Bob

The medical clinic was at Nueva Inversion today. The highlight of the day was seeing Milton and his mom. He looks great and is a happy boy. His mom showed me pictures of their stay in the States. I wanted to ask her about her stay and her experiences, but the language barrier continues to be a frustration for me.
Since the internet room closes soon here are some words to describe our day:
many, many children. pouring rain on a tin roof. a hundred people inside the building. crying, talking. noise. chaos. running out of meds. turning people away.gave out 500 doses of deworming.
Lamentations 3: 19-26, 31-33
Terri for the team

Martes (Tuesday)

Hola!
Today the medical team was at the Mealer (sorry, last night's spelling was incorrect) community while the Muy Debil Construction Team was at Gracias a Dios once again. The medical team saw 180 people and gave out over 200 deworming pills as well as around 40 eyeglasses. It was very stuffy in the school in the morning, but luckily an afternoon rain helped cool things off. This community is in the midst of building a fairly good sized church, but have run out of funds and still need a considerable amount. A few team members visited Jorge, who has Muscular Dystrophy and is now in a wheelchair. His mother is a single mom of four kids who started building a house, but is not finished and is living with her brother next door. This family could really use prayers and our group is going to discuss possible options tomorrow night, I believe. Also please pray for the pastor's son, who is most likely sick, but we do not know with what. Zach, who was manning the eyeglasses station had a very interesting character. He was around 75 years old and wore a cowboy hat. After lunch he engaged me in conversation and left me a little bewildered as I tried (and thought I succeeded) in telling him I didn't know very much Spanish and had more trouble listening than speaking. Luckily Jen was walking by and managed to tell him what was up. Later at the eyeglass station, he spent about 10 minutes with Zach trying to find the right strength until Jen came over and asked him if he could read. He said no. We eventually found a very old (70's, perhaps) pair of women's prescription glasses which made him very excited that he could see. Tomorrow we will be somewhere, but I forgot to ask where, sorry.

The Muy Debil Construction Team was unsure of whether they actually accomplished anything today when I asked them. The locals had almost finished the rest of the walls before breakfast so The MDCT helped finish the walls, put up the roof support, made a window, and made preparations for a door. Barry even taught a kid to play Candy Land. Tomorrow they will be at Gracias a Dios one final time to finish the door and other various things.

"All Quiet on the Western Front" were the words Steve could have used to describe the snoring of Bob last night. Steve hasn{t read the blog, but I'm sure he appreciated Jeanette's prayers and might need them the rest of the week. Is it the calm before the storm? Stay tuned to find out!

Also, the cooking from Aurora is excellent.

Contributed by Matt

Lunes (Monday)

Monday was a very excellent day for both teams. We were at Pastor Juan's village, Gracias a Dios, and the neighboring village, Santa Ana. The medical team saw 309 patients, handed out an estimated more than 309 deworming pills (350+ ?, we're not really sure, thanks Terri...), and 74 eyeglasses. The Muy Debil(Very Weak) Construction Team built approximately 3 walls or half a house, but the word was all of our crew plus the local helpers finished as many walls(1) in the entire morning as the locals finished (1) during lunch. (Great job, guys..). There was some soccer playing from the teens, and Eric received his first kiss!!!!!! (from a 10 year old..). Tomorrow the medical team is going to the Millar Community and The Muy Debil Construction team will hopefully be finishing the house. There were some difficult situations that the doctors saw. Please pray for healing in this community.

Updated by Matt

P.S.: UPDATE ON ROBERTO'S SNORING: Steve said last night had sounded like a 'perculator.' Should this be considered an upgrade from the animal noises of Saturday Night? We'll let Steve be the judge of that.

Sunday March 14th (late posting!)

We have been very busy, so just getting a chance to write for Sunday now!!

Sunday was a very busy day- a roller coaster of emotions from highs to lows. We started the morning out with learning of Bob´s snoring habits. According to Steve he "has no rhythm". More to update later as he becomes more tired with each day. Will he be an animal, or get some rhythm with time? Will Steve get any sleep? Stay posted!

After breakfast we met with Dinora before departing for the orphanage. She spoke to the group about what to expect for the day. Children had arrived at the orphanage for various reasons- living on the streets or even being abused by their family. Entering the orphanage, we were quickly greeted by many children. The director shared with us many things. They are unable to properly care for the children that have special needs there because the staff simply is not trained to do so. They have 40 people on staff, all of whom work 12 hour shifts 7 days a week and care for 125 children! The strong hearts they have! With Pastor Juan and Dinora leading, we sang many songs with the children as Pastor Juan played his guitar. A man of many gifts- he sings so beautifully. After some thoughtful words shared by others, we colored with the children. Beanies and candy were handed out, and then we went to spend time with the infants in the nursery.

Next on the itinerary for the day was a joyful celebration with Pastor Juan´s community for a delicious lunch. It was great to see many familiar faces with those we have grown so close to over the years. Barry continued his "games" Terri as he posted a picture of her on the large "Welcome" board at the front of the church. It would be hours later when we returned for church service that she would notice it, and had to wait to do anything about it until service was over!

From lunch, we went to the teen INFHA house where we visited with 99 girls. We made the time we spent with them very joyful. After Pastor Juan once more led them in beautiful song, both he and Rolando shared their stories with the girls, spreading hope to them that despite their difficult pasts there is still reason to hope for the future. Many of the girls performed dance routines for us to song, and even teached us some moves! As a side, Barry can not dance- it may seem more like flailing! Upon his suggestion, Rolando and Colleen then led the group in the "chicken dance" and then taught the girls the dance. It was lots of fun, and much laughing was shared. We then created meaningful bracelets with the girls and gave them journals, toys, and candy. Before leaving we shared some personal time with the girls, praying for them and hearing of their stories. The young boys of the group had much fun as the girls were very fond of them!

After a short break for dinner, we ended the night with attending Pastor Juan´s service. He speaks with such conviction and spirit. He spoke of a woman whom prayed for bread because she had nothing to eat. Later, a few boys approached her and gave her bread. She said it was thanks to God she had received such, but the boys laughed at her and said they had given her the bread, not God. She did not believe so, however, saying God had answered her prayers, and in such it was proof to her that He existed. Each day we face an empty cup, and Pastor Juan urges us we must fill this cup with faith.

A very busy day, but a great start to the week here. Keep us in your prayers and thoughts as we begin the work week!

Colleen for the group

Lo Siento

Sorry to all of our loyal followers for no "blogus" (a blog status update) last night. We had a late team meeting after a rousing church service at Pastor Juan's community (Ken would be jealous).

The Beginning

Our day began in the wee hours of the morning, driving through the rain to Newark Airport. Once we arrived, we had little difficulty going through customs and boarding our flight. As we took off there was a lot of turbulence due to the stormy weather. After a four and a half hour flight, we arrived in San Pedro Sula. Once we obtained our luggage, we loaded it onto a small truck and headed to the MAMA headquarters. There we unpacked the suitcases and repacked all the medications, toys, Bible, and other donations we would be handing out during the week. We then headed over to our hotel and settled in before heading to Power Chicken, where we enjoyed a smorgasbord of meats, rice, fried bananas, and yuca. Many of us are tired from the long day; however, we our looking forward to our day at the orphanage and time spent with Pastor Juan´s community tomorrow! Keep our group in your thoughts and prayers this week as we minister to many in Honduras!

Que Díos le bendiga!

Jen Gehman reporting on behalf of the DRE Honduras Group