Honduras Day Two

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Our day started off bright and early (no, really- the sun rises before 5 a.m. here!) and we had a filling breakfast before heading out to the foundation for the day's work.

They have started a new tradition of having a devotional with all the staff and volunteers before work starts, and for many, this was a highlight of the day.

At the end of the devotional Ricardo, the youth pastor, played a few songs for us to set the tone for the day. The last song he played was "God of this City" by Chris Tomlin and wow, it hit me like an arrow through the heart.

          "You're the God of this City 
           You're the King of these people 
           You're the Lord of this nation 
           You are 

           You're the Light in this darkness 
           You're the Hope to the hopeless 
           You're the Peace to the restless

           For greater things have yet to come 
           And greater things are still to be done in this City 
           Greater thing have yet to come 
           And greater things are still to be done in this City"

How true all of these words are, yet how hard it is to remember at times. 

After the devotional we headed off in separate directions. Our main projects for the week are: kids crafts, kitchen work, feeding in the streets, and house construction. I've asked other people to send a few lines about what they did today so you could here from them. 

Kids' Class- from Jenn Ganley 

"Today we helped the Kid's bible class with a craft. The class learned about how God is with them and we made sand art cross necklaces to remind them that God is always with them.
We received lots and lots of hugs!!"

Kitchen Workers- from Leah Pate

"Today the Hope for Honduras center was filled with the sounds of children and the smells from the kitchen. Today I was kitchen duty all day. Our kitchen crew fed about 550 today. 300 kids in the streets, 220 kids at the school and our team and the staff. The kitchen was filled with the songs of the kids and Krissy Jones singing and playing guitar. There was a cool breeze and laughter from the kitchen crew as we worked through our language barriers and tried to learn from each other. Very emotional at times but so glad to be here helping."

Feeding on the Streets- from Sheri Breaux

"Barefoot and hungry.  The  children come running to the  sound of a familiar voice.  It's Mario bringing  the daily pot of nourishment.  On the menu today was spaghetti an tortillas. As the children hold out their hand and sometimes plate or bowl, they are provided with a scoop of noodles on top of their tortilla. A daily vitamin, which none are pleased to have to take, is given to them as well.  A small face glances up with a tiny grin, lets me know that God has blessed me.  As the song we listen to this morning stated : there is still work to be done in This city.  

Today the kids received tortillas with spaghetti. The kids are supposed to have some kind of plate before they can receive their food, but Mario, the man in charge of distributing the food, has a hard time turning them away. This child had no plate, but was happy to use his hands as his plato. 

Along with their meal, all the kids receive a vitamin. Apparently there is one things language barriers cannot hide: all kids hate to take vitamins!

I want to challenge you to think about the last meal you ate. Were you as grateful for it as this boy, who has to use his hands for a plate, was for a small portion of spaghetti? We so take granted the blessings we have been given. 

House Construction- from Abby Walker

"We were warned that the house we would be building for a local family would be small and rudimentary compared to American standards, but when we walked through what can only be described as a shack that is currently serving as the family's home to the concrete foundation of their new home, I was hit with guilt. I talk about someday moving to a bigger and better house when we have children, when we already have a beautiful home that is approximately 20 times bigger than this house we are building for a family of five. 

We arrived to a slab of concrete. At lunch four walls were standing. At the end of the day, all walls were covered with cement board on the outside, the house had been attached to the foundation (sorry, don't know the technical term), and the roofing slats had gone up. While we worked, the two young boys and the mom who will be receiving the house watched us from their current house. Though they were silent, you could see the excitement in their eyes.  This house that will have no drywall on the insides is a piece of hope for them." 

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Most of us finished off the day sorting beans that will be part of lunch on Thursday. Many of us had never done this job before, so the ladies who work in the kitchen got a kick out of watching us decide if each and every little bean was worthy of the "bueno" pile or if it was doomed to the "malo" pile. Apparently we weren't moving quite fast enough (don't worry, we'll get better!), so a few of the ladies helped us at the end. I will say that we were wondering if this was some kind of initiation activity or a random episode of MTV's "Punked," because it sure did feel like we were a spectacle, sitting there and trying to figure out if the dents in the beans were too big or not. 

After bean sorting, we came back to the bed and breakfast to clean up, eat dinner, and wrap up for the evening. We have been spoiled to some delicious food while here and we're encouraging someone (anyone!) to make an authentic Honduran cookbook so we can enjoy the food when we return home. 

I think the wrap up sessions will become one of my favorite parts of the day. Even though we are around each other all day, sharing our thoughts and putting into words what we are feeling has no replacement. God is doing amazing work here. Many commented on the immense poverty we are seeing. We've probably all seen poverty before, but I know I haven't seen it on this scale before. These people are hungry, truly hungry. They are hungry for food, they are hungry for hope, and they are hungry for Christ.

Caden, the young 'un on our trip, made a simple but insightful comment this evening: "I think I get it now. We are the poor ones and they are the rich ones because they are so happy with so little."

Until tomorrow,

Abby