Speed Bumps and Zip Lines

Yesterday was a long drive from San Pedro Sula to Copan. 3.5 hours of traffic and speed bumps made for restless sleep during the drive. We arrived at the Copan Ruins, which was part of the Mayan dynasty. The pyramids were pretty cool, and our guide, Fidel, was hilarious. We drove to our hotel, which was a small paradise in this impoverished country. We rested and swam before enjoying a delicious dinner and shopping. Our talented waitresses carried food and drinks on their heads. Sunday morning, the majority of us loaded up in the back of a small pickup truck and headed toward the hills to go zip lining. There wasn't quite room for all of us on the truck, so 3 rode in a tri-wheeled cab. After two hours of zigzagging over the trees, we all made it to the end safely. We then headed up the road to Macaw Mountain, which was a bird rescue for the exotic birds of Central America. After 3 team members had their t-shirts punctured while holding some of these exotic birds, we headed back to town for a quick lunch and another long and bumpy ride back to San Pedro Sula. We went back to Pastor Juan's neighborhood where they showered us with gifts and lots of picture taking. A downpour sent us back to our hotel to prepare for our last dinner at Power Chicken. Most of us ate way too much. Then back to the hotel for a ceremonial, communal deworming pill. What's worse, the aftertaste of the pill or the worms? We had an incredible week, but we are ready to come home. Hasta mañana, Rodger, for the team

Day 5

We can't believe this was our last day to serve. It went so fast and I tried to savor the moments of the sweet smiles of the people and their kind hearts. The construction and medical crew all went to Pastor Juan's community today. We set of the medical clinic in the old church above Pastor Juan's home. We saw 268 people today which is a record. But it did not seem like that much. It is so organized to keep the flow going smoothly. The Hondurans are such beautiful people with the big brown eyes and warm hearts. It amazes me how all the children interact and look after one another. There may be 15 children or more in the one room clinic and they are so kind to one another. There were so many people with cough and fevers in this community which needed treatment with antibiotics. Tanya and I were a good team. Whenever either of us were not sure what to do, we bounced it off eachother to be sure. They called us nurses "doctors" and right away we started calling Dinora (one of our interpreters & lead host)doctor because she had much advice for the Honduran way of doing things. I am amazed at the things we take for granted advil, eye drops, cough medicine, etc are in much demand. Also basic common sense that we should drink a lot of liquids to avoid getting dehydrated. When we would ask people how much they actually drank all day, it ranged from 1 to 4 glasses per day. Know wonder they had headaches, felt week & dizzy! Dehydrated. I am glad that we were able to help them even in just teaching. The construction crew finished a house for a young couple with 2 kids. The house they had been living in was next door & falling down. They finished the windows & doors. They really appreciated all the help our team provided. Pastor Juan prayed a blessing for the new home and family. After they finished they joined the medical team for lunch. We had Arora's delicious lunch. When the day was done Pastor Juan led us all down along the river to the poorest section to meet the boy that Phil & I sponsor and the girl that the Young adult SS class sponsor but they were at school. We met their mother and all their siblings. There are 7 children altogether. It was heart breaking to see the living conditions. No one knows poverty until they see it first hand. I have never seen it this bad. At first glance it looked like the ceiling had been charred by fire but then realized this was from cooking on concrete floor. One wooden bed for all in a 2 room shack. I feel like nothing really matters except loving one another and reaching out to those who need us. It is an experience that will not be forgotten and continues to mold and change our lives. Laura & Phil for the team :D

Smiles and Sign Language

Today started off a little rough, about half the group woke not feeling great. Luckily we were able to load up on medication and work our way through the day. The construction crew went back to Pastor Juan's village to build a house for one of the locals. The sun was hot down on the ground, I can't imagine how hot it must have been for the team members that worked on the roof. To build this house we finished setting the cement floor, put up the roof, and put up siding. The easiest way for us to communicate with the locals was through smiles and hand gestures. At the clinic, we treated a record of 265 people in about 6 hours. For many, this was the first time they had medical attention, so they were nervous. A simple smile was able to help calm some of their nerves. Tomorrow is our last day in the field, pray that we will have another successful day :) - Ami and Taylor for the team.

Sweat, cows and matadors

Today the guys painted a new building. The boys played soccer and Rodger and Bob had a competition to see who could get more friends using bubbles, candy and cameras. They finished painting the school as well. Rodger and Bob enjoyed playing matador with the kids, chasing them all over the place. It was the hottest day of the week so far so not only the boys sweat painting, but the ladies were as well. Today was very hot and the church the clinic was in did not have much of a breeze coming through. It was a challenge but over 200 people were helped. The drive home was pretty exciting as we had to drive through a herd of cattle. The herd split in half and walked on either side of the van. Ask Diana what she meant by hasta mañana, wanna banana. Jake and Kylee, for the team

Bamboo and soccer

Today was a busy day at the medical clinic. We traveled half an hour to a very small village. The school we worked in had a sign that announced that we were coming. The school was a small one room hut made from bamboo stalks. This made the day a little more bearable because air could come through the stalks. We saw over 250 people, a very high number for the beginning of the week. The people were so happy just to get common everyday medicine that is available to us. It's such a blessing to them. The children love to see new people. They stick around us even after they have gotten their medication just to hear us in our attempts at Spanish. For the most part it is easy to communicate with them. They understand why we are here and want the help we are giving. It is such a joy and blessing to be able to help these people. After the medicine was handed out to everyone,we played with the kids, soccer and bubbles. Then we painted the girls nails and they kept coming back because they found a better color so they ended up with about five layers of different colored polish on. The kids are sad when we leave and follow the van waving "adios!" It's such a great feeling to know you impacted their lives even if it was just for a day. The construction crew painted the school and Phil helped mix cement. Some of us like Caleb and pastor Juan, brought wheelbarrows of dirt and sand. Most of the guys played soccer with the children. After we were done with the school we went to the mama missions house to take a tour. While we were there we rested in hammocks and Phil apparently "saw" monkeys. We want back to the hotel and ate awesome food. Becca and Caleb, for the team

Pills and Painting

Well today was cool. The construction crew arrived at the project only to find that the project was all ready done! So we ended up painting the entire school! It was really cool though because we expected it to just be us 6 guys painting the entire school, but the entire community came with whatever they could find. One lady had half a soda bottle, a little boy had an old cookie tin. However they did not have any paintbrushes. So whenever we places our brush down to take a swig of water, we would turn around and it would be gone. But it was really nice because the job got done in one day! And entire school painted inside and out in just 5 hours! Then when we were returning to the van to go home our driver told us to help one of the workers push his car to jump the clutch. So we pushed his car, uphill, and got it started. About 50 yards down the road he stalled and so we walked over and started to push again,uphill. Rodger yelled " en el nombre de Jesus", the car sputtered and he got it going again and we finally left. We ended up going to the clinic to help the ladies at the clinic, sort off. We just played soccer with the kids until the finished. The clinic was set up in a school. We setup in three different rooms. The first was for deworming, vitamins, glasses, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and taking blood pressure. Next was the nurses station were the Laura and Tanya saw all the patients. Finally there was the pharmacy where the medicine was distributed. We treated many different illnesses with the simple medications we had. We treated a lot children. A few of us played soccer with the kids and painted the girls nails, even a few of the moms' nails. A few of the little boys had fun teaching us a few Spanish words. They would point to something tell us the word and repeat it. They seemed to have lots of fun teaching us! We were able to treat 200 people! Tim and Amanda, for the team

Sad and happy

Today we started out by going to an orphanage. It was sad to see the children that don't have parents because they were abandoned. The kids there were friendly but were hungry for attention. All they really wanted was love. They didn't really care about what we brought them; they just wanted a hug and to play soccer. After that we went to an all girls orphanage. The girls there were either kicked out or ran away from home. All they wanted was attention as well. When we finished with the girls we went to Pastor Juan's church. Pastor Juan and his congregation were so nice and happy to see us. The style of worship was really different than our church's. Whenever they prayed everyone stood up and said their own prayers aloud. This was really cool to me. Also when they sang they sang for at least one hour. That's a lot of singing. After church was over the congregation took us out to Power Chicken. BEST PLACE ON PLANET EARTH. If u want a successful business open one in the USA. That is how our day went. It was really good. Adios. Caleb, for the Team

Team and 32 Suitcases Arrived Safely!

We landed in Honduras safely, and after a brief investigation through customs, we successfully managed to make it to Villa Nuria. Sorting through 32 suitcases weighing 50lbs each was no easy task. What a blessing it was to see all that we were able to bring in donations for the people we will encounter this week. We sorted through all the medications, grouped them for each clinic day, and even mixed up and bottled skin cream. It was a hot afternoon, and the pool felt wonderful! We are all tired, but definitely not hungry. Aurora provided us with a deliciously authentic Honduran meal of chicken, rice, tortillas, and salad. Still in good spirits after a long day of travel and preparation for a busy week, we're ready to take on the adventure ahead. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we begin our ministry in San Pedro Sula. Serving Him, Tanya, for the team

New Adventure for Deep Run West- May 18-27, 2013

A group is ready and packed for San Pedro Sula and the Gracias a Dios community--this time the team is from Deep Run West. There are 16 of us, organized by group leaders Laura and Phil Heacock (their second trip). The core of the group is 8 young adults, a dedicated, hardworking, passionate bunch that are eager to help and learn in Honduras. I can't wait to see how their eyes will be opened and how God will bless their willingness to serve, show love to the poor and make new friends in Honduras. The youth worked very hard on fundraising, collecting donations and everyone's favorite task, packing pills! In addition to the youth, the chief entertainment will be Pastor Rodger Schmell:-) Looking forward to fun times with many laughs between our tasks of sharing medicine and construction skills with smiles and tears. We are looking forward to worshipping in Pastor Juan's new church, Iglesia Principe de Paz, with the loving congregation there. In addition to the medical clinics each day, there are two construction projects- a classroom for computer classes at El Cipres and a new home for a needy family in the Gracias a Dios community. ........................... Prayer points for our trip: 1) Travel safety and good health (the cipro is packed too) 2)Team unity and everyone feeling comfortable in their tasks 3)Healing and no pain for Dinora who needs surgery for gall stones, but is too busy helping us to address 4)Enough medicine to provide for needs we encounter 5)Wisdom for the two nurses, Laura and Tanya 6) Construction projects to go well 7)Blessings to flow from Rodger's preaching at Pastor Juan's church this Sunday evening.......Look for blog updates starting on Saturday...............Gracias for all the support, prayers and donations- DRW Team: Laura and Phil Heacock, Rodger and Diana Schmell, Cindy Kramer, Tanya Wambold, Tim,Caleb and Kylee Schmell, Taylor Britt,Amanda and Jake Wismer, Becca Warnke, Ami Dansereau, Bob Moyer and Barb Rice