Hammock selfie

Dennis & Alexis setting the rafters

Keith setting the rafters

Foot washing service

Back home

We made it back home Monday night around 10:30 PM for the Raleigh group and closer to 3:00 AM EST for Alexis' return to California.  We had a great trip but it is good to be home. 

Home also means a faster Internet connection so here are additional photos from throughout the week.

Sunday Worship and reflection on relationships

We worshiped with others in the community of Brisas del Sur on Sunday.  Dennis offered a message of thanksgiving, reflecting on the blessings that have come to all of us from the relationships we have built this week and over the past 15-16 years for some of us.  Tom sang a powerful rendition of Amazing Grace in English and Spanish and truly blessed our worship experience.

As we reflect on this trip, the most important theme for all of us has been relationships.  We have strengthened our relationships among each other and built relationships with new brothers and sisters in Christ in Honduras.  We serve an amazing God, who finds ways to teach us the meaning of service, compassion for others, thoughtfulness and awareness of the needs of others, and who presents opportunities for us to be the hands and feet of His love for others if we search for it daily.

We will return to our families and homes tomorrow, challenged to continue to serve others and maintain relationships in ways that honor the blessings we have received and that lift up others to do God's will.

Home dedication

Our last work day was Saturday.  We finished installing the roof, then held a worship service with the family and Honduran workers following Jesus' example of washing his disciple's feet.  We offered a dedication for their new home and enjoyed a time of fellowship, photos, and best wishes as we said adios. 

Suzanne and Alexis leading Bible stories with the Children

Randall and Ron on the Roof

Santa Biblia

We presented a Bible to the family for the dedication of their new home.

Bible Stories

This is the view from the scaffolding on the house, looking down on Suzanne and Alexis as they lead a Bible story lesson and coloring with the kids.

Group Photo at Mount Horeb

Group photo at the top of the rock dome at the entrance to Mount Horeb camp.

The Family - Daniel & Deysi

Daniel (far left) and his wife Deysi (3rd from right)

Daniel's parents Pastor Inocente & Guadalupe,

David's sister and nephew

Not pictured:  daughter Daniela

Mixing concrete

John, Suzanne, and Alexis mixing sand, rock, cement, and water to make the concrete floor.

Work Day #4 - Almost done

Work day #4, Friday.  We installed the roof channels in the morning then mixed and poured concrete for the entire floor today.  It was hard, dusty, bent over work but all pitched in and completed the job.  We are ahead of schedule so only have to put the sheets of tin on the roof tomorrow.  

Work Day #3 Update

Thursday was our 3rd work day. The kids are in school so our focus is on the house construction until they arrive back in their homes later in the afternoon.  We started by setting up scaffolding inside the house.  Because all homes we build are done to the same dimensions, we know the routine and were able to setup and continue laying block.  We finished the 11th and 12th full courses by lunch and then finished the gables by 3:00 PM.  That completed all of our block work.  The next 2 days will be used to lay the concrete floor and install the roof.

Through Ron's initiative, we setup a large circle for lunch to include all North American and Honduran workers sitting together.  Maida provide the translation and allowed us to get to know each other better.

We had a wonderful surprise visit from Jose, our former van driver and brother in Christ, whom we have known and worked with for many years.  He left the mission camp a couple of years ago to be able to work closer to his family.  We shared a lot of stories and hugs and really appreciated the blessing of seeing him again. 

Work Day #2 Update

Day 2 (Wednesday) went well.  We finished the 10th course of block, reaching the top of the doors and windows.  Our Honduran mescla (cement) mixers are the best and they have kept up with us every day.  As we get to know them better we have discovered some amazing connections.  Their names are Jose, Ricardo, Olman, and Wilfredo.  Jeremy was talking to Olman about American football and soccer when Olman said he lives in Santa Marta.  We built the church in Santa Marta and as they talked they realized that we had played soccer together when Olman was a teenager in Santa Marta in 2008.  Jose and Ricardo (father & son) also live in Santa Marta.  Pastor Inocito, the father of the man for whom we are building a house is now the pastor in Monharas, where the first full FBC team build Sunday School rooms in 2005.

Small world.  God's world.

Work Day #1 progress

As mentioned earlier, we were delayed in starting work on Day 1 because the block weren't delivered.  Once they arrived, however, we unloaded the truck and carried the block to the back yard where the house is being built.  Given our perspective from last year when all the block were stacked across the street, down a rocky road, across two barbed wire fences, then we had to walk up stone steps, through a narrow passageway and into the house... this week is a breeze.

We finished 5 courses by the end of the day, which is our normal pace.

Internet connectivity is not a strong point in remote villages in southern Honduras so I am unable to post many/any pictures.  We have taken plenty though and will add those later.

Setting the corner posts

Work day #1 (Tuesday).  When we arrived the foundation was ready, ground was level, and shade trees were plentiful.  We began by setting and leveling the corner posts, which are used to hold the line that provides vertical and horizontal alignment as the walls go up.

The only thing we were missing was about 800 cinder block.  Normally the block are pre-delivered and ready for us.  So instead, we had about a 3 hour wait the first morning before we could start laying block.  Nonetheless, we were able to catch up and complete what we needed to do on day 1. All is well and we are enjoying working with our Honduran friends. 

New things every trip

We have been to Honduras many times but every year offers something new.  Firsts for this year:

• First time we have arrived at the work site and the block was not delivered.  We had a 3 hour break but used that opportunity to visit with the family and still finished on schedule on day 1.
• First time we have installed plastic conduit pipes for electrical wiring in the home.  
• First dog we have seen that looks like an indoor pet.
• First cat that walked away from food.
• First time we have seen a lawn mower being used.
• First time we have seen crews picking up trash along the highway.
• First time we have seen the renovated highway from Tegucigalpa to Choluteca, complete with pedestrian bridge overpasses, turnout lanes for bus stops, signs that say don't burn things on the highway (protesters are ignoring those warnings).

Meeting the Family

Our mission project this year is to build a home in the Brisas del Sur barrio in Choluteca.  This is the main city in the southern part of Honduras so we are very familiar with this area.  

The family we are serving is:

Husband and father Daniel, wife and mother Deysi, and two year old daughter Daniela.

First Things First

John Baldwin initiated the tradition of placing a cross on the worksite. This year’s cross is especially beautiful.

Arrived at Mount Horeb

We arrived at Mount Horeb the mission camp in Pavanna, Choluteca, Honduras Monday evening.  The flight on Delta through ATL went smoothly.  The pilot gave us his plan for calmly and enjoyably landing in the Tegucigalpa airport, despite its reputation as one of the most difficult airports in which to land in the world.  The flight attendants were familiar as they seem to do this route year after year, along with us.   

Departure from RDU on Monday morning

Although they were not able to travel this year, prior year team members, Bob, Steve, Kristen Ellis Morris, and Rachael Wilson accompanied us to the airport to offer prayers for safe travel as we departed.

Commissioning service

FBC Raleigh held a commissioning service for the team.  (photo coming)

20th and 15th Anniversary Celebration

2019 is the 20th anniversary of Bob Kimball's first trip to Honduras in January 1999, as part of NC Baptists on Missions disaster relief work following Hurricane Mitch in the Fall of 1998.  Bob and Jeremy Petty went together to Cedano in 2004.  This is the 15th anniversary of the first full team from FBC, who served in Monharas, Honduras in 2005.  

Team members, spouses, and friends from across those 20 years celebrated on the weekend prior to this year's trip.

  

Honduras Mission Team 2019

We have another group traveling to Honduras in 2019. The team this year started with 12 but a couple of folks had to stay back to take care of other concerns.

Jeremy Petty

Dennis Ellis

Keith Lewis

Tom Childrey

John Baldwin

Joel Brown

Suzanne Sanford

Ron McCollum

Alexis Dobbs

Randall Burnette

Not traveling this year, but here in spirit are Bob Kimball and Steve Brown.