Today was our last day on the work site and it started like so many other days.
After the cows passed, we made our way to the work site to try and finish up as much as we could. Most of the day involved getting the trusses up for the roof and leveling the dirt inside the building in order to lay the cement floor.
Unfortunately because of our setbacks with electricity, rain, broken cars and a raging river, we weren't able to finish the building. That's OK, though, because we didn't come to build a building, we came to do the will of God. Sure it would have been nice to finish the building, but God was working throughout our trip and he doesn't need us to finish a building.
Even though we didn't have VBS today, a lot of the children from Balfate still came to hang out anyway. We ended up playing soccer with a bunch of the kids and had a great time. Nobody kept score but it's a good chance the Hondurans would have owned the day.
We ended our time in Balfate with a small church service. We worshiped God through music, heard Pastor Santos share from the word and spent time in prayer. A large group from the church prayed over us. Even though we couldn't understand what they were saying, it was a very special moment to hear our brothers and sisters lifting us up before the God whom we all serve. After they prayed for us we all gathered together outside the new church building and prayed for the church, the building and those who would come to know Christ because of them.
God is so good which he has shown time and time again over the past eight days. He has been working so mightily that we're not even fully aware of how he's changed and shaped us. There are fewer blessings greater than the opportunity to serve others while being shaped and molded more into the people we were created to be. This has been a tremendous experience, once we won't soon forget.
We'll be spending the next two days together as a team, enjoying each other's company and processing our experience together. Thank you so much for your prayers but if we could ask you to keep it up just a little longer, we would greatly appreciate it. Please pray for our time together and that God would begin to show us how he wants us to change because of our time in Honduras.
This will be our last post for the trip. Thank you for your prayer and support. See you back home.
Graciously, today was far less exciting than yesterday.
We continued working on the church in the morning. It's amazing to look at the building and realize that six days ago there wasn't anything there. Joseph, who is an elder in the church, keeps telling us how excited he is that we are building God's house. Very often we take our church buildings for granted; it's refreshing to see Joseph's excitement. When completed, God's people in Balfate will have a place of their own to gather; God will have a permanent home in the community. It's special to be a part of that.
We have been on the work site for almost a week. Even though we have been mixing cement every day, we're still having trouble figuring it out. It's not just that a cement mixer would make the work easier, it's that it would save us a lot of embarrassment.
Even though there weren't any rivers, lunch today was more than exciting. Instead of eating all together, we split up and we're lunch guests of members of the church. It was great to spend time in the homes of some of our brothers and sisters. For the most part the food was good but it was much more satisfying to build relationships with those we have been working alongside for the past week.
Today was our last day for VBS and we saved the best for last. We drove around Balfate and some of the neighboring areas to pick up as many kids as we could find. We sang more songs, made another craft, hung out with the puppets again and sent all the kids home with a goodie bag. It was a lot of fun to spend time with the kids and show them some of Jesus' love by simply smiling and spending time with them.
Overall it was a great day. The weather was great except for a little sunny rain in the afternoon. We're ready for our last day at the work site on Wednesday and praying to get as much finished on the church as we can. We have felt your prayers this week and would ask that you keep them up for just a few more days. Thank you so much for your support and prayers.
P.S. Check out the video of our river crossing yesterday.
This is Scott. I don't even know how to begin to explain the day we had today in Honduras. I'll just start at the beginning.
Every morning here I wake up and leave before the rest of our group with one of our guides, Leslie. This morning was no different but as we were pulling out of the parking lot of our hotel we heard a loud pop and then the truck would not turn. All four bolts had broken off the steering box and the truck was stuck.
God is so very gracious. The last bolt could have easily popped off going around a corner on a dirt road sending the truck into a tree. Buck used the image of a guardian angel holding the last bolt in place until we finally made it back to the hotel. It was disappointing that the bolt broke, but it couldn't have happened at a better place.
So before 7:00 we were already down one vehicle. Our other guide, Mike, stayed back with the truck to wait for the mechanic and I took the van and head to our work site in Balfate with the rest of the team. The hour long trip to Balfate was uneventful other than having to squeeze three more people into the van than it was designed to hold.
Once we got to the work site things were going well. Our Honduran brothers were working on some more of the advanced needs while we began to fill the church in with dirt. Lots and lots of dirt.
Things were going really well in the morning but then it started to rain. And not just a light rain, but a fairly torrential downpour. The rain turned all of the dirt we had shoveled into red, wet clay that caked to our shoes like mud made from paprika.
Even though the rain mostly halted work on the building, we were still able to run VBS for the children. There were a lot of kids today and we had a great day singing songs, watching puppets and making a craft.
I have more pictures and videos of the work site and VBS but the good WiFi has stopped working and all I have to work with is the bad WiFi and it takes too long to upload stuff. And I haven't even told you about the most insane part of the day.
During the day Mike had returned with the repaired truck so we switched vehicles back. I left before the rest of the team with Leslie, two of our Honduran sisters, Paige and Kim. We left early to do some shopping for some items that we needed. Things ride back was going well until we saw this.
With so much rain during the day, it had washed out this portion of the road. We were pretty much stuck with a lot of people. Leslie called Mike and we waited an hour for the rest of the group to join us. Once we were all together we decided to wait for the river to go down before trying to cross.
While we were waiting to cross, we saw some pretty amazing things. The people gathered around the river, on both sides, really banded together in order to help each other out. People were directing cars who were trying to pass. There was one truck with four-wheel drive that was just going back and forth, towing cars across the river.
We even got in on the communal spirit when some cars got stuck in the river. Jon, Buck, Tim, Brian and I hopped in the river at different points to help push cars through the river.
After waiting two hours, we decided that it was time to cross. Mike was driving the van and it made it through without any problems. I was driving a 4x4 truck so I needed to two Buck's car, a Toyota Yaris. We made it through the river (I have great video but can't wait an hour for it to upload) and safely to the other side.
Almost safely, though.
The Yaris' radiator was a casualty of the river crossing. The Yaris leaked all of its coolant but we were able to get it to a gas station where it will hopefully stay until we can get it fixed tomorrow.
Tommy, who has come down 7 or 8 times, couldn't remember having a day like we did today in Honduras. It was rather eventful and could have been frustrating. Everyone had a good attitude, though, and we all have some great stories to take home with us.
Today really helped us see God's hand on this trip.
I am terrified to think what could have happened had the truck broken down somewhere else.
Even though the weather has set us back, it's important to remember that with or without rain, we couldn't lay a single brick for the church building without God.
It was awesome to see people from different backgrounds and nations and communities banding together to help each other out. The river was our common enemy and we worked together to slay it.
Simply making it across the river without any harm was amazing. God is so good. A broken radiator is much better than a broken bone.
God has been with us this trip and we know it's in part because of your prayers. So, as always, please continue to pray for us and know that your prayers over the past week were definitely cashed in today.
At home Sunday is usually a day of rest, but after getting our church on last night in La Ceiba, we were back at the work site this morning. There was still plenty of work to be done on the church but we were slowed because the electricity was off for most of the day. In the morning the team continued to tie rebar, sift sand for mortar and help with those who were putting up blocks.
Unfortunately we weren't able to do VBS today but we'll be back at it tomorrow. However, our guides, Mike and Leslie, have a 3-year-old son named Jeremy. Jeremy has been with us for the entire trip and our team loves spending time with him. He is such a sweet-tempered boy and he's so much fun to be around.
There was a thunderstorm during lunch which really cooled down the work site; it was a total blessing. We were able to get some good work done in the afternoon. The walls were completed enough for us to begin pouring concrete to form the building's pillars. It was a great way to end the day and to get one step closer to the finished product.
We've only got three more days on the work site and we're excited to see what God is going to continue to do. Some of the team are still wrestling with colds and stomach issues, so if you could pray for continued health and protection that would be great.
Day four was long and I need to get to bed. We did VBS this morning.
We also continued work on the church building and it's actually looking like a building.
When we got back to hotel there was a crazy thunderstorm.
We also went to church in La Ceiba this evening. The group sang a song in front of the church and Scott share a short sermon at the request of Humberto. It was a good day and we are blessed. We finished off the night with a lightning storm.
This morning as we left at 6:20, one of our guides, Leslie, said that the sun was already out and that it was going to be very hot. She was right.
Today we were back at the work site looking to make use of the ditches we dug on Thursday. The ditches were for the footings of the church building and they needed to be filled with cement. Before we could fill the ditches with cement, though, we needed to mix cement. In the United States cement mixers are used to mix cement. In Honduras shovels and hands are used to mix cement.
Mixing cement obviously leads to pouring cement. So when it came time to pour the cement we formed lines like firemen and went to work.
A lot of water is needed to mix cement and the dribbler of a faucet at the work site wasn't getting it done. So Jon and Tim had an adventure of their own getting water from the river. They ended up very wet.
Today was also very exciting because we started VBS with the kids in Belfate. There was some singing, dancing puppets, a Bible story and a craft.
Overall it was a very good day. Some team members are struggling with heat a little bit, but for the most part everyone is doing well. As always, we covet your prayers for continued health, strength, encouragement, God's will to be done and anything that God knows we need. Tomorrow we're back at the work site and we'll be moving a lot of bricks like these.
