Wednesday, October 3 - No Brigade, Free Day and Miscellaneous Honduras Photos

On Wednesday, mid-week of our time in Honduras, we did not have Brigade and it was basically a free day.  Some people chose to stay at the Mission House and rest up and/or help out with things needing to be done there and some were fighting illness and fatigue so it was helpful to have a rest day.  

Others on the team had the opportunity to visit Rancho de Ebenezer (The Ebenezer Ranch)!

 (Thank-you, Pastor Matt and Jenny, for these photos from your time at the ranch!)

Rancho Ebenezer’s lively 90-acre campus serves as home to abandoned, orphaned and displaced children from birth to 18 years of age. We provide caring homes, a vital bilingual education and vocational training to our young at-risk population.  Here, children experience a loving family life under the guidance of attentive caregivers and mentor house parents who look to their physical and spiritual needs daily, teaching them to trust Jesus Christ with their lives.

To learn more about the Ranch and WGO's ministry to the children of Honduras, click HERE: http://www.wgoreach.org/2-Children-70.htm

Coffee is grown on The Ranch and is sold as a means to raise money for its various programs and all that it strives to accomplish for Honduran children.  Everyone who visited The Ranch really enjoyed their time and they even had the opportunity to meet and play with several of the children who live there!

The rest of us went to Cristo del Picacho National Park ~ Christ of the Peak or the Giant Jesus, as I like to call it!  It is also referred to as El Picacho (The Peak).  The statue of Jesus stands at the highest point, about 3000 feet above sea level and looks over the entire city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

 

Luke 24:50-51

The Ascension of Jesus

When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

After we visited the "Giant Jesus" and ate our lunch outside in the park, we went SHOPPING!!!  Yeah!!  We went to an area called The Valley of Angels and it is "touristy", perfect for first-time Honduras-goes!

This boy followed us around trying to sell us his "treats", which there was no way we'd be able to eat.  But he was so sweet looking, so at the end of our shopping excursion, as he was standing at the doorway of our bus (no kidding) I asked him for a photo and then I gave him what was left of my Honduran money.  It really didn't amount to very much, especially in US dollars, but it was something.

Okay, ... next post, we're back to the Heart of our Mission in Honduras!!

Tuesday, October 2 - Brigade Day Two, Part Two

This was the line outside the church at lunchtime.  It was really warm outside and the people huddled closely together to try be be in the shady area(s).

Ben was in "Dental" on Tuesday (day two) and while I didn't get a LOT of descriptive information from him, I did have the opportunity to snap a few photos of him! 






This young girl was having an extraction. 



It warmed my heart to see this ... and I secretly hoped for my own day in "Dental".



Here we are having our lunch break!  Each day a simple lunch was packed for us: two sandwich choices - peanut butter and jelly or chicken salad OR peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese (the choices alternated by day) in addition to apples, bananas, chips and/or cookies and juice.  It was a very satisfying meal when we got to that time of day.



Here's Pastor Matt and his wife, Jenny!  Matt was in "children's" with Brian and I and Jenny was assigned to Evangelism.  I even had the opportunity to get a few photos of her station and pray while she prayed with those at her station.





It's always nice to see Ben laugh ... whatever it is they were saying, it was obviously very funny!  


And there's Paul and Nancy ~ also enjoying their lunchbreak!



Here's our Brigade Manager and Missionary to Honduras, Jon Hovestol, along with our Brigade Team Leader/Trainer, Mike Loomer.  Would you believe that these two men have known each other and have been great friends since Kindergarten?!?  WOW!  How cool it is to see how God connected these two so far back and to now see the way they are serving Him together in Honduras!  Awesome!!



I even had the opportunity to "goof-off" a bit with the church workers from Rios de Agua Viva.  They all seem so young but what a blessing that the youth in that area are fervently serving the LORD!!

This guy in the front of the photo on top was quite a character and was the cause of my ending up with about twenty photos of nearly the same thing!  The photo below had to be taken three times before he wasn't doing something goofy and/or trying to be in it!!  It was a pretty hilarious time ... mind you, I couldn't communicate with them and they couldn't communicate with me ... but guess what?  We got along perfectly!


At the end of Day Two Brigade, we had a "closing time" to recap the work that was done and to hand off the follow-up responsibility to the Pastor of Rios de Agua Viva church.  The physical care that was provided to the Honduran people that came to the Brigades was important and the efforts in providing that care were well spent, however, the main focus of the Brigade was, and always is, to lead people to hope, mercy and grace found in Jesus Christ.  When these people accept Jesus as their Savior, it is SO IMPORTANT to follow-up with them, be there for them and help them to grow in their faith.  That responsibility belongs to the pastor of the church and also the church workers.  

The Brigade Manager, Miguel, spoke on behalf of all of us and our team leaders also spoke, thanking Pastor Carlos for the opportunity to work with them, letting him and his church know that they will be in our prayers and we look forward to working with them again one day and especially celebrating with them when we all get to heaven.

Pastor Carlos was presented with seven discipleship booklets to assist him and his church workers with the follow-up that they will be very busy with.  In addition to the booklets, he was also given a brand new soccer ball for his congregation!  Soccer is a really BIG sport in Honduras so it will be great for their recreational enjoyment, however, this is no ordinary soccer ball!  This ball has on it all the colors from the Gospel bracelet so it can and should be used to TEACH others about Jesus in a visual and tangible way. 




















When Pastor Carlos was given the ball he bounced it off his head and the crowd went wild!!!  Can you believe I actually got the photo of this??  It was a great moment!! 

Adios, Rios de Agua Viva!  Hasta Luego!

Hebrews 6:10-11 ~God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 

Tuesday, October 2 - Brigade Day Two, Part One

We awoke rested and fresh for a new day on Brigade, Day Two at Rios de Agua Viva!  Brian and Kimberly were assigned to Children’s Ministry and Ben was assigned to Dental. And this is a tough post, friends, ... I think I took at least 200 photos this day and while I'd like to share ALL OF THEM with you here, I do actually want you to continue reading my posts so I'll be kind and include only those that give you the best view of the ministry we were a part of.

As people are filtered into the building, they are told that the children are invited to join us in a special area designated for them where there will be singing, stories and styling of hair ... all for the children!  Children are brought over in groups and they are introduced to both the Honduran and North American "leaders" (that's us!).  

Every child is given a beaded bracelet right away and we actually put the bracelet right on their wrist for them; it's a great way to make a personal connection to each child.

Cristian is one of the Honduran "leaders"/translators and he is really great ~ he has a tremendous way with the children.  

He really knows how to have a good time with them and he is great about including everyone, big and small! 

There is dancing and singing ... woo hoo!! 

At one point, Brian decided to be really silly and came up behind Cristian and was talking with his hands as if he were Cristian's and then Cristian built on that and played along ... the kids thought this was hilarious!!

Watch here to see some of the F-U-N we had with the children!

                                       

After the singing and silliness, we share the Gospel Story with the children ... 

When Pastor Matt shared with the children, he asked if anyone could curl their tongue!

This little girl could do it!!

This little boy really gave it his best shot!!

To reiterate to those of you who missed the earlier post about the Gospel bracelet and its meaning, here you go:

The Meaning of the Gospel Bracelet:

1) Green Bead - GARDEN of Eden; beautiful, perfect place God made for the first people on earth, Adam and Eve

2) Black Bead - SIN; Satan deceived them and they disobeyed God

3) Red Heart Bead - LOVE of God; Poured out for all people, the blood of Jesus who died on the cross for the sin of all mankind

4) White Bead - PURE/FORGIVENESS; Cleansed of the filth of our sin when we accept the precious gift that Jesus gave us when He died for us

5) Gold Bead - ETERNAL LIFE; Heaven with streets of gold, the place prepared for us who accept and believe that Jesus IS our Savior

Several of us took turns telling the story with the various groups of children.  We had a "helper" who would hold the color cards for us and we also had a Honduran translator so that the children would understand what we were telling them.

When I neared the end of the story and spoke about the significance of the gold bead and compared it to the streets of gold that are in heaven, I told the children that God has a giant mansion in heaven and that He prepares a place for each of us there so that we can live with Him when we die.  I then asked the children if they wanted to live their someday and that if they believed everything that I told them about Jesus then they could tell God in prayer, ask for forgiveness of ALL their sins and secure a spot for themselves in God's great big house!!

"Dear God, I am not a perfect person. I make mistakes everyday. That makes me a sinner. I do not want to go to hell when I die; I want to live with You in heaven. Please forgive me for ALL my sins. I believe that You sent Jesus to die for my sins and I want to accept Him as my LORD and Savior. Please, come to me and make me clean. Please show me how to live the way that You want me to ... Your way.  In Jesus name, AMEN"

The next thing we do is separate the boys and the girls into two lines ...

... then each child is checked for lice.  This was done by the Honduran worker who acted as "translator".  She would then mark each child's hand with either a "Star" or a "Smiley Face".  

A "star" meant the child did not have lice.  A "smiley face" meant the child did have lice.

A negative symbol was not used to determine whether or not a child had lice because we did not want anyone feeling bad.  These children are not oblivious; they know their circumstances, so we did not want to emphasize it more.

De-licing solution was used on the children with lice ... then they waited for ten minutes.

We could paint the fingernails of little girls while they waited ...

Then it was off to the hair-washing area!

During Brigades, mostly men are involved in the actual hair-washing and this is a very important area for men to participate because MANY, if not MOST Honduran fathers are absent in their child's life.  

It is so significant to these children to have this act of kindness, which is somewhat intimate in nature, performed by a man who treats them gently, ... looks into their eyes, ... is providing a service that is practically sacred as water is not a plentiful commodity for them, ... and then even hugs them.  Yes, folks, believe it or not, *HUGS* are not illegal in Honduras, even when given to and by strangers!!  

That gentle, sincere hug from a strange North American man may be the only one they ever receive!

OKAY!  They're just having way too much fun, aren't they?

Click on the video below to watch a clip of the hair-washing ... 

Here's what Brian had to say about the experience:

"I washed the hair of children and they would have BIG smiles after their hair was washed, especially the girls.  Some kids would just come over to us right away wanting to have their hair washed.  I did not know what or how to say very much to the kids so mostly I just smiled at them but after a while I realized that I could do more than just smile.  I began praying over each child as I washed their hair ... out loud, but gently ... they didn't know what I was saying, maybe not even what I was doing but it was very significant and I felt that they felt that too."

After hair-washing, the children came over to the hair-styling area!!

We combed out each child's hair and styled it too.  The boys were simple ... a little hair gel and a few spiffy-spikes and away they went, with a brand new comb!  They were easy to please!

On the girls we really had to use a lot of detangler; boy, oh boy, do they have the hair!!

We would ask them how they wanted their hair styled and we were happy to oblige the best that we could.  Some girls wanted braids and some just wanted a headband.   Some would want two ponytails and some only wanted one.  Some girls got what's called a "fish-tail" braid and I need to learn how to do this so I can style my daughters' hair like that!!  VERY FUN!

Once Rick started helping us do the hair, we decided we could definitely open a salon in Honduras ... "Styles by Ricardo~"  We are confident that all the girls would be lined up for miles just to have their hair done!!

I don't think we had one unhappy customer!  What a great feeling!!

But truly, ... the B-E-S-T part about serving in Children's Ministry ... is the CHILDREN!!!

They are so precious ... so friendly ... so lovable ... and we could look at them, take their photos, give them hi-5's, tickle and giggle, hug and hold ... and all we were was blessed, Blessed, BLESSED!!!

I was crazy about this little peanut from the moment I spotted her outside in the lines.  She was in the care of her older sister, who is probably no more than six years old.  She behaved just like a mother ... very attentive and nurturing.  I watched them for a long time, ... mostly because I couldn't wait to get my hands on the little sweet pea!  But I was very curious where their parents were; I never did find out.  

Oh my goodness!!  Isn't she just the cutest thing?!?

I finally did have my chance to snuggle her!  She didn't want to have her hair washed so I took hold of her while her sister had her hair done.  Isn't she beautiful?

(there was only one other one who stole my heart like this one, maybe just a bit more, but you'll read about her in a future post)

I actually held this little one for quite a while and I sang to her and rocked her and I'm pretty sure that she would have fallen asleep had I not been called to assist with the next group of kids ... 

...I know, right?  The nerve!

Don't they look SLICK?  ... and HAPPY too!!! 

Okay, so I have to tell you about this little spit-fire!  She was so adorable and we could tell just by looking at her that she had quite the personality.  Pastor Matt was in a squat getting to know some of the children and I just happened to be standing there with my camera (ready, as usual, of course!) and this little girl came running up behind him and jumped right onto his back and began rocking back and forth as if to say, "OK!  Let's get this show on the road!"  It was like she decided in an instant, "I like you and you're going to play with me!"

After she had her hair washed and styled, she was sure to find Matt again and they were able to play some more.  Pastor Matt will always have these photos to remember her ... I think that she will always remember Matt too; she will remember that special day when she was treated and felt like a princess and she met this man who she will always remember as her "prince"!

I believe that in one 8-hour day, we made memories with children that will last a lifetime and I'm not sure if it is the children or us who were blessed more, ... certainly WE were blessed ... and we only had "imaginary lice" for about 24 hours ... well, and the time that it took me to write this post!!   :o)

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." ~Matthew 19:14