A Day of Contrast

Our day started with a wonderful breakfast at Villa Nuria. The fresh fruit was wonderful, personally I "hate" plantains. Other people on the team really like them. Yuk . Then we travelled to the Teen INFA house with Pastor Juan and Rolando serenading us. The teen girls were awesome. Some of them we even recognized from previous years. Rolando and Pastor Juan shared with the girls thier stories while Liz translated. She did really well. Colleen brought bead bracelets to make, and the girls just kept coming through the line getting more beads. They were making the bracelets for Kathy and Liz. It was so sweet. Verne and Joyce brought journals and pens for the girls. They really loved them. The girls entertained us with singing and hand motions. The Honduran people are very spiritually gifted people. They really get into God. It's so cool. Then we went to Power Chicken not to be confused with pollo loco, loosely translated crazy chicken. Lots of chicken references, really not sure what that is about. Anyway the food was excellent, again yum. Can't speak for everyone but the food is worth the trip. Just saying. Getting serious now, we went to the Childrens INFA house. We were armed with tissues and gifts. It was so sad, we went into the nursery and Colleen honed in on a premi baby that made us all so sad. His neck was contracted to the right, and he could not be fed while being held, Barb and Colleen tried, but were unsuccessful. He needed to have his bottle propped. Joyce figured that out. The director said the ratio of staff to infant was about 14 to 1. Remind me never to complain about patient ratios again. They also are in desperate need of diapers and formula. Then we handed out crayons and coloring pages to the older kids. Barb was ambushed for the silly bands. Next back to the hotel for a quick mandatory dip-even Joyce went in in her clothing!
Forgot to tell you about the young boy who climbed up on Kathy's lap and was hugging and kissing her. The kids are so affectionate and lovable. After our quick dip, Guastavo kept us on schedule, to Gracios A Dios for an awesome church service. Barb and Verne were ambassadors from Deep Run and Swamp churches, and were called to the altar during the service. This was a surprise to them both, but they rose to the occasion and both shared from the heart. Pastor Juan referred to Bob as his brother, and how much he valued his relation with him. Pastor Juan's sermon on character was very moving. We were then presented with t-shirts from the children we sponsor for school. Wendell and Brandon posed for pics with the boys, the kids really gravitate to the young people in the group. It's neat. We finished the evening with, you guessed it FOOD. Again it was great. Then back to hotel and devotions and getting ready for tomorrow. Please pray for us as we start our week.
Miss you all xoxo Sandy Gemmell Aka mamaloo