Honduras Mission Part 6

There were additional projects that needed to be done around the Ranch and our team really wanted to try to accomplish as many that were on the "to-do" list as we could.  

There was an older, rotting out "fire-escape" that needed to be re-done in addition to a screened-in porch, which needed to be re-screened.  Several on the team spent a lot of time working on this and didn't stop until it was complete.  

They re-built the frame ...

They had to remove all the old screening on the porch.  This was a great need that the team was really happy to be able to fulfill!

There were also several bunk beds in team rooms that need the top bunk lowered a bit as they were too close to the ceiling.  

The guys had to basically take the beds completely apart to drill new holes and reassemble. 

That's the spirit, Paul ... really taking your work seriously!!

This is typically what the room looks like - each room has three bunk beds.  This is one of the rooms that needed the beds re-done.  Way to go, Team, for taking care of this task!

A few of our team members even had to "Push-Start" a vehicle for somebody who had stopped by the Ranch.  We certainly have some "handy" team members!!

On a "let's take a break" side-note, for lunch one day after our morning work projects, we were taken to a nearby local restaurant.  

This woman, co-owner, made us baleadas - mmm, mmm, mmm,  

- with fresh homemade tortillas! 

Here are Ashley and Shelia - our Team Coordinators/Hosts and they are good friends with the owners of this restaurant and they do what they can to provide them business. 

Our team was excited to have this experience!

Most of us were pretty excited about the ice-cold Coca Cola!

Ahh, ... it's the little things! 

The baleadas were filled with refried beans, scrambled egg and melted fresh cheese.  

They were really quite delicious! 

Molly especially was pleased with the food we had in Honduras! 

Baleadas are a new food on our list of FAVORITES!!

Honduras Mission - Part 5

Our two Ranch workdays ... I am not kidding you ... seemed to be physically harder on the team (including me) than the two days in the community!  How can that be??

For these two days, we worked on projects in and around the buildings and grounds that were needing to be done.  

Becky and I got the fantastic job of SORTING & ORGANIZING all of the supplies that we brought with us and then inventory-ing the items onto a log and into their appropriate locations.  For people like US (ahem), this is a GREATLY delegated responsibility!!!

Here is Becky helping to organize the school supplies that we donated.

This is the clothing closet and all of the donations are sorted by gender and size.  We were blessed to bring quite a lot of clothing with us so this took us some time.  

Ranch famlies are allotted a certain number of items per child that is in their care.  Families will choose a designated day/time and then come to the Clothing Closet and hopefully take care of all the childrens' needs at one time.  Sometimes, though, they have to wait until a specific item is donated.  Beyond the specific allocation, older children (I believe 10 and up) can make purchases with money that is earned from their daily jobs. 

Several ladies also helped me with the task of sorting, organizing and preparing the family care packages that we brought for the community families.

Another task several team members had was related to gardening.  A few on the team were eager to do this and really took to the task with great fervor!

They rearranged, transplanted, pruned ... way to go, Leah, Peter and Margaret!!

Others on the team worked on cleaning the gutters on several of the houses ...

... making various repairs ...

... oh, and painting inside of houses and offices ...

My husband is an excellent painter!!

For part of our work day, Brynn got the lovely joy of following this little darling around ...

... she is the daughter of Ashley and Sheila, the Serve Team Directors / Hosts.  Brynn thought it was just "the best" to be able to hang out with someone smaller than her! 

These two little guys decided they needed to HELP Jen with the gardening because they were certain of how it should be done!! 

The gardening was HARD WORK ... let me tell you!  

Those Honduran weeds are quite stubborn! 

This gardening project was done for one of the Ranch families.  The woman who lives here takes great pride and joy in her gardens but she was recently ill and had a surgery so she was unable to do it herself.  We were happy to help!! 

...despite how we felt the next day!! 

After all, that's what Extra Strength Tylenol is for!! 

This is Abby and she lives in this house as well.  She brought out her bunny rabbit, Maximus, which immediately caught Brynn's attention! 

And, of course, Molly asked if we could get a bunny rabbit!  

Sometimes, it is appropriate to thank the LORD for allergies!  :=)

The girls enjoyed their bunny moments and made a new friend in Abby.  She wasn't in school that day because she wasn't feeling well.  Abby, we hope that you have recovered and are feeling good again - thank-you for sharing some Maximus moments with us!!

God bless you from Wisconsin! 

If you're keeping up with us, we're glad ... we hope that you are finding these posts enjoyable and we hope that you are able to see the joy in our service unto the LORD.  Many of you are a part of that ... and we thank you!!!

... Ranch work projects to be continued ...

Honduras Mission - Part 4

On our second community work day our group arrived at the home that we would work at and this is what we saw!!  Are they not just the cutest??

This is the view from the family's home ... could you get used to this??

Again, we sought out to prepare the inside of the home by painting the walls with the CAL (white wash) to help seal the walls and deter bugs from moving in. 

This home had two rooms ... both of which we worked on and prepared for a cement floor. 

Even the children helped!  All muscles were needed!

We were really impressed to see how even the younger team members and family members wanted to be involved and really worked hard to get the job done!

Teammate Dave worked SUPER HARD and we're really sorry that we did not get any photos of him hoisting 90 lb bags of cement mix over his shoulders.  We know it was difficult because of all the grunting and groaning!!  LOL, Dave!!

Here's me shoveling cement for what only added up to about five minutes!  That is hard work and I'm obviously older than the last time I did this!

It was a great team effort to get the floors done even though our work group was a bit smaller than the previous day!

Team Leader Brian ... doesn't he look good??  

We were very happy to have him as he was quite useful for the higher, hard to reach areas.

But this boy didn't wait around for any "tall people" ... he actually rigged this (see below) HIMSELF!  It was quite special when members of the family wanted to help out however possible ... even the smaller members.

Here's teammate Jen taking her turn at applying CAL.  Nice job, Jen!!

Here's Brynn ... and my future son-in-law, Aldo ... shamefully, his name is the only one I can remember of the children who live in this home.  But, I guess it is important to remember the name of a future son-in-law!  He and Brynn hit it off and spent the day hanging out and working together.

Aren't they sweet??

You can't see it too well from this picture (below), but try to imagine, will you ???

 The DANGER ... the INSANITY ... the HILARITY!!  (is that a word?)  This ladder is not at all OSHA standard as it is straddling two precariously placed bricks and secured by the hands of the elderly Honduran man and my fragile pregnant team member ... sorry, Brittaney ... I was sweating pretty good as I painted the CAL on as quickly as I could while I hoped NOT to drop any on Brittaney ... 

... every time I moved to a new spot, the elderly Honduran set the ladder for me again and used small rocks or nooks in the ground to secure the ladder.  Each time, I thought ... "oh, I am so dead" ... but guess what??  I'm still here!!  All is well, ... ALL SURVIVED!

And it was certainly an ADVENTURE in painting!!

At lunch time we all shared our meal together.  

Sharing ALWAYS feels nice!

At one point during the day, probably when I needed a little break, I pulled out handful of the Gospel Bracelets and began giving them to the children.  As I placed each one on, I explained as best I could in my limited Spanish that Jesus loves them and died for their sins.

Ahh ... setting the finishing touches ... just like frosting a cake!

The project was completed!!

AMEN for the family!  AMEN for the team!

We cleaned up ...

... and before we said our good-bye's, teammate Shirley presented them with our big bag of gifts and explained to them the Evangecube, one of their gifts.  They were told that they could also then share the Gospel with others by using the Evangecube.  

It was a very tiring ... but VERY BLESSED day!!

Thank-you, LORD!!!

A difference was made in the lives of the lives of your Honduran children!!  We pray that your blessings unto them continue.

We packed ourselves into the trucks ... and headed back to the Ranch.

I leave this post and you ... with this photo ... 

... it just makes me GIGGLE!!

This is teammate Trent ... and his new friend, ... 

a cute, little, fluffy Honduran princess!!