(warning: extremely long post)a little background: Our friends, Joe & Denise Hess, have spent time in Honduras over the last few years. They planned 2 weeks in January 2011 that they would be in Honduras hosting two different work teams. These work teams would finish a house that had been started in September 2010 and build a second one. The houses were built on the side of a mountain in the village of La Canada. The first house was for a family of 3 and the second for a single man named Tino. We traveled to be there the second week. Our group consisted of: Joe, Denise, Ethan, & Elisa Hess; Dave, Michelle, Brendan, Bailey, & Dane Swearingen; Seth & Alison (daughter) Hawbaker, Harvey, Josh, & Jonathon Reiff, Andrew Peters, Rick & Sharon Gross, Charity Mohler, and our family. The following is a "short" journal of our trip. We flew out of Miami, FL with a straight through, ~2 hour trip to San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
We left for Florida on January 20th. The plan was to head to Mom & Dad Riffey's in Lakeland, FL and stop off for a few hours. We also wanted to leave some FL items and our freezer/fridge food with them. We had not counted on leaving in a snow storm, but that is exactly what we did. We had planned to leave about 6pm, but due to weather we headed out about 3pm. We thought the roads were okay until we began to see semis jack-knifed and several cars in the ditch. It was a long, prayer-filled haul, but we finally reached clear roads when we entered Tennessee. We praise God for bringing us through safely. We arrived at Mom & Dad's about breakfast time. Dad and Ken headed to McDonald's to get us a little breakfast. It was so good to be out of the car. It was warm, but rainy. We did get to walk around the park a little to stretch out the kinks. We ate a late lunch with Mom and Dad at one of their favorite Lakeland restaurants. It happened to be Chinese, but it still felt like our last "American" meal for the next week. Briana's fortune cookie fortune was noteworthy, "You are about to find out how fortunate you are." I praise God that they did see how most of the people in this world live. I pray that this will impact them the rest of their lives.
We headed to Miami, FL about 3pm. We enjoyed driving through the orange groves and sugar cane fields in central FL. We arrived at our hotel which was located right beside the airport and discovered that though we were still in the US it felt like another country already. It was an old hotel but it served the purpose. We were leaving our van there for the next week and were so blessed and thankful to find a parking spot right in front of the hotel. I rearranged some suitcases putting in 6 lbs. of peanut butter. Denise had called and said they had used almost 5 lbs. of peanut butter the first week, "did we have any room to pack some in?" Ken bought it and we packed it. We had traveled through the night so we went to bed early and arose early to eat breakfast and head to the airport. Saturday morning at the Miami, FL airport was extremely busy. We were able to figure it all out and get checked in and through security in about 1 1/2 hours. I was thankful we got to the airport early.
Finally, after getting through check-in, luggage drop-off, and security -- we made it! I can finally relax after a stressful morning and read a book. FYI: I do not like checking in & going through security. It makes me nervous.
Loading up the truck. Joe was good at piling it in and tying it down.
This is the home we stayed in. Yes, all 22 of us with 2 working baths. Obviously, it was different from home, but all in all we got along really well. There is one other inhabited house within the fence. Two sweet families live in it with 3 sweet, sweet children!
We attended church on Sunday morning at the Pilgrim Mennonite church. It was preached mostly in Spanish, but the minister graciously gave us the Bible book and chapter he was reading from. Even though we could not understand, it was still good to be there.
Our first dinner together. Saturday evening we were served Spanish rice, beans, tortillas, salsa, guacamole, and fruit (oranges & pineapple). It all tasted good.
The children enjoyed their new mode of transportation. Brett told me several times his favorite part of being in Honduras was no car seats. I rode in the back one time and decided it would not be my preferred method of transportation. The roads are very rough so you can imagine the bumping we did in the back.
The men went on a Sunday afternoon drive and discovered this family. The man was reading his Bible.
Coffee plants growing under the banana trees. It was coffee picking season so we saw lots of picked coffee and had the privilege of seeing one family processing their beans.
On Sunday evening we had dinner with David & Sara Yoder, one of the Mennonite couples. She was not daunted by the 22 of us. We enjoyed being in their home with their 2 biological daughters and 9 (i think) foster/adoptive children.
From David & Sara's, we drove to the Mennonite Children's Home where they were having an English singing. It was very enjoyable and the singing was beautiful.
The men headed off to work on Monday morning. The 5-7 year old boys also went several days. I don't think they really worked unless you call getting extremely dirty work. They had dug out for the houses so there were mounds of dry, dusty dirt to play in. Needless to say, the boys enjoyed it immensely.
The women and girls riding along as we did "women's" work. It took a lot of food to feed 22 people at every meal. Here we are heading to the grocery to get lunch for the men and other grocery items. The grocery store was fairly American, but was still very interesting. The employee standing by the fresh chicken case ready to dole out chicken to her customers began to wonder why we kept coming back to stare.
Ethan & Brett (Guatemalan-Honduras buds)
Teresa (Santiago's daughter) graciously lent her kitchen to us for lunches. This would be her counter space. It was very clean and well taken care of.
Teresa's oven!
Some of Teresa's families livestock. Do you think they had trouble with the pig going under the fence?
The house built in September was for Santiago, his wife, and 8 year old son. This must have been his 2nd marriage because the hill was filled with his children and grandchildren.
Tino helping the men build his house. He has a club foot, but was still able to get around and help. He carried 80 lb bags of concrete on his shoulder up a steep incline to be used in his house. The men would come home in the evening talking about Tino being thrilled with the way his house was shaping up!
Okay, so now you see why the children were extremely dirty!
Michelle visiting with Dave while he laid block for Tino's porch.
Josh, Ken, and Joe (in the background) getting the roof ready for the tin sheets.
Honduras is well supplied with colorful animals.
Yes, the herds of cattle come down the same road you drive on. The girls sitting in the back of the pick-up were up close and personal with these cattle.
Denise introduced us the to the Granita. I would call it a iced coffee. It was a much needed treat some days!
Two boys heading down the road on their horse.
There was lots of concrete that needed mixed by hand. This afternoon the girls, Charity & Alison, pitched in and tried to keep the men supplied with fresh concrete.
A fun pic Michelle took.
This is equivalent to our washing machine. They then hang the clothes, tablecloths, etc on the fence and sometimes on a clothes line.
the outhouse
Elisa enjoying the tiny dog. The children had given away glow sticks. This little dog was glad for his glow stick collar.
This is where Santiago and his family lived before September.
After September, they moved into this one.
Briana helping her dad mortar around the roof support.
In the afternoon, Teresa's daughter, Ana, & Teresa's sister in law served the men coffee along with Fritas de Harina (similar to a pancake but sweeter). They were so gracious.
Ken getting ready to dig the sewer line from Tino's to the sewer pit. Tino was trying to explain to Ken where he wanted it to go. Denise is trying to translate for them.
Michelle carrying cinder blocks to Dave so he can help finish the sewer pit.
Yes, this is a lemon. We were all impressed with its size. It is used for juice.
Ken & Charity working on the sewer line.
This is the kitchen we cooked meals in for the 22 of us. This morning we had pancakes, sausage, & bacon.
our pantry
We visited an elderly lady, Concha, on Wednesday morning. We were going to try to replace the boards around her oven, but thankfully Rick suggested he could do it later in the week. She wanted tin put up around it and we were not sure how to work with tin. This house was built by Clayton Brubaker, Aaron Sink, & Ethan Wagoner a few years ago. She has kept it so neat and tidy. She was very sweet. One of my favorite memories is listening to Denise read to her from her Bible in Spanish.
Concha
Concha's neighbor
the market
Liliana was our neighbor for the week. She loved to come in and play with the children. Briana thought she was so sweet.
The final job: setting the sewer lid!
2 new houses on the hill
Dane & Elisa discussing who know what!
Friday afternoon we had a dedication service. The afternoon was precious. Praise God for what He allowed us to build physically, emotionally, & spiritually on this hillside. We ask for His presence to be in this village in a very real and distinct way.
It was a misty, rainy afternoon. The porch was filled and overflowing with family & villagers.
We had taken a few clothes and shoes to hand out. What a blessing it was to be able to see others enjoying them!
a happy neighbor
Jonathon reading to the boys one last time before most of us depart on Saturday morning.
Lord, help us to never forget what we have witnessed. Help us to never forget to keep praying for these people who live in La Canada. Thank you for allowing us to be your hands and feet in this village. May Your Name be praised here and there!
