Goodbye Honduras for now...

It is hard to believe that our week here is over. We will fly back to DFW tomorrow and return to Seminole on Tuesday.

I hope you enjoy reading the posts from the team members.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

From Kendyl

This has been a week of chances to learn about God and myself. Something that really stood out to me was how at home we want things and think that we need other things, however the truth is that we are not in need of anything. I have really enjoyed playing with the other kids, often they do not have the chance to play because they have to work in the fields or carry water or take care of their younger brothers and sisters. I understand how good we have it, such as cars, the families walk to town just to sale things they have made, their walk would be like us waling to Midland or Lubbock.

I have learned that we are so lucky to have God in our lives and everything that he gives and blesses us with.

Thank you for helping us be able to come to Honduras and for your prayers.

Love,
Kendyl Annett Waller

From Whitney

In the amount of time I’ve been here in Honduras, I’ve learned and experienced more than I ever even considered to acknowledge in the states. Seeing these villages, all malnourished, without water, a bathroom (much less a toilet), any electricity, or any kind of floor other than the dirt we walk on everywhere else, is incredibly humbling. I can complain about the smallest thing, but these people are so less fortunate than we are and don’t complain a bit. I didn’t want to drink as much water as I usually do so I wouldn’t have to “use the trench”, while they don’t even have the option of hardly any water at all. Come to an environment we’ve been the past few days, and it’ll make you think twice before complaining. You won’t realize how spoiled you are until you see this different world. On the other hand, I have never seen any scenery as beautiful as I have here. You really can look out and know there is a God because nothing else can explain its beauty.
It was interesting to not be able to communicate with the Chorti like I would have liked. I could ask them their name, age, favorite color, and if they wanted a dog, flower, butterfly, or machete balloon; that was about the extent of it. We had a couple translators, thankfully, to convey our stories and testimonies though. Most of the villages absolutely loved our “American” singing and would ask us to keep going, even though they had no idea what we were saying, which was cute. They enjoyed the stories and actually listened to them, especially when Jase would act out the part of Goliath and pick some small child to pick on as David. They’re all such precious people.
I really hope that we’ve spoken to them in some way; that they feel a higher calling and a want for more purpose in life than just “day to day”. They can’t even worry about the future because they have too much to overcome in the single day they’re living on. Please pray for these people, these villages, this country.

From Todd

This has been a very eye opening experience for me and I’m sure for all of the others on this trip. We have gone to different villages each day and have done a worship service, balloons, and video for each of them. It has been amazing to see the conditions that these people live in and the hope in Jesus that several seem to have. It has been a wonderful trip and I have learned a lot about these people and about myself. Tomorrow is the trip to the airport… yikes. The drivers here really aren’t concerned with others safety, so it’ll be an experience!

From Sarah

This is the most beautiful place that I have ever been. There are so many different types of flowers, there are mountains, and there is water everywhere! Without being down here I do not know if one can even imagine how beautiful it is. One thing I do know is down here they do not have snooze buttons on these chickens!!! I am so glad I came though. I have been blessed to work with so many wonderful people. In the Chorti villages we have been visiting this week we have seen both the work of God and Satan. Some villages just have this feel of darkness. There is a lack of leadership in a positive way and these people just have no hope. While in other village you can just feel that they are on the verge of a great encounter with God. One village we went into (Rio Amarillo Copan) about 15 young boys met us at the gate and ran with the truck all the way into the village. They were so excited because the “gringos” we coming! When it came time to take our stuff from the trucks to the school, they wanted to carry all of it for us. They were so helpful. One lady that was 74 years old just latched on to me, she kept asking me if I would one day come again. She was just the sweetest! My heart just broke for the last village we went to. No longer are any of their children going to school because the Honduran government will not let the teacher teach there because she was educated in Guatemala. If the children were to go to school it would be over a 40mile hike out of the mountains each day. We just hiked down one mountain and I cannot imagine having to walk that far. This trip has shown me just how precious education is, whether it is learning how to read and write, something like agriculture, or spiritual education. We are so blessed to have the knowledge that we do. If anyone ever has the opportunity to go and see the things we have seen and love others (to anywhere, not just Honduras) take it. Also remember that wherever you are, you are there for a specific purpose. Be available.
Sarah Thompson

From Micah

This has been an incredible experience for me and I hope it has been the same for the others! We have gone to different villages and it is amazing to see these people who have absolutely nothing have all their hope in the Lord. I have learned more about Spanish here than I have in 2 and 1/2 years of school! I do not know if that is my own fault or the school’s fault but either way this has been great for me! The Lord has shown me so much and I have learned new things that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. I cannot wait to get back and share this experience with everyone!

From Mason

This week has really opened my eyes to the importance of family. Sunday, on the way down the mountain, we stopped in a little community of about twenty people. Mrs. Collins told us that they were all family. Brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, grandparents, grandchildren: all living together. Mrs. Collins explained that everyone had a job and did that job everyday. Whether is was walking two miles up and down the mountain to farm, or washing clothes, everyone did their part. She also said that they all got along. That really hit home for me. Sometimes we take for granted our family. We know that they are there and we don’t think twice about them. For these people, family is all they have. They all work together to try and make a living, and we have the nerve to complain and fuss because mom told us to take out the trash. We should be happy to help out our family. With my sister leaving for college, I regret not spending as much time as I could have with her. I hope and pray that in the very, very near future, we could cherish the very little time we will get to be together. I praise God for opening my eyes and showing me that family is everything.

From Lee

This week has been an awesome experience for me. First to see how truly blessed we really are and also to have the opportunity to share our testimony and the love of God with others. I know now that even in my worst days when nothing is going my way I have nothing to complain about because I don’t have to worry about where I get my next meal or where I will sleep that night. The people here work day to day just trying to make enough money to eat their next meal and still praise the Lord. I’m sure that even though I have touched people through my testimony and things I have said, God has blessed my life just as much if not more. I came here not really knowing what to expect but God has completely blown away any expectations I had.

From Jase

What a week!!!! First of all I want to say thank you for all of the prayers that have been lifted up for the team, if it were not for prayer warriors, trips like this would not have the impact that the team has had, so thank you for praying.

As a church you should be very proud of how each and every team member caught the vision of sharing the love and hope of Christ with the Chorti of Honduras and answered the call. Each of the team members were placed into settings and situations that required a total reliance on God, and allowed Him to work thru them. It is impossible for us to explain what took place, however we will do our best to share.

I am so proud of this team, if you do not know when we begin the planning of this trip Billy and Mary Collins asked if the team would attempt something that had never done before. Not knowing what would happen, the team was ready and willing to do whatever was asked of them. As parents, friend and a church the team that you sent to Copan Ruinas, Honduras, accomplished the task that they were asked to do and they did it well. Thank you again for your support, through the words of encouragement left on the BLOG, financial support and again the prayer support that you provided. The arm of FBC Seminole that reached out did well. We are excited to return home to do our best to share how God was at work in the lives of villagers and within our own lives.

HE is able!

In His Grip,
Jase

From Chad

This week has been a really neat experience for me, and the rest of the team. We have experienced new smells, sights, tastes, feelings, and sounds. In the villages we saw TRUE poverty. People living in stick homes with wooden floors. It has really opened my eyes and helped me realize exactly how good we have it back in the states. We made balloons for the children, played (or at least tried to) soccer, sang, gave testimonies, and told bible stories. Some of them really enjoyed our company and listened to our messages with open ears, but others just used us for our soccer balls and balloons. Every village had its ups and downs spiritually, but we were all happy to at least get to plant a seed in their hearts’. Tomorrow we leave for the airport, and hopefully we make it there safely. The drivers here have NO concern for their lives or the people around them. I think I’ve counted 8 times where I either feared for my life, or someone else’s. They’re crazy. My definition of a “bad” driver has changed, so hopefully I won’t get too mad when somebody cuts me off. At least they aren’t speeding around a blind corner with 30 people in the back of their truck. At one point I think I counted 24 people in a single cab, short bed Toyota pick up. We ourselves fit 17 in Billy’s Land Cruiser at one point. It was a real eye opener, and I hope to come back someday and see how our messages have changed the villagers and their children. Pray for safe travel, and we will see y’all on Tuesday!

Village of Las Brisas

I am posting about Friday and Saturday at the same time. It is raining right now so the internet is slower than usual which is extremely slow as compared to the states. The pictures take a long time to load so I will load as many as I can in the time that I have. I will try again tomorrow.

We left this morning for the village of Las Brisas. Today was the most strenuous day of hiking that we have had. We drove for over an hour on rough, rough, rough (did I mention, rough) roads then we hiked up and up and up a mountain. We met in their Kindergarten building which is one room made out of sticks. The older school is down the mountain. The school had a teacher who is from Honduras but she had received her education in Guatemala so the Honduran government will not allow her to teach so now, those children do not go to school at all. Please pray that Las Brisas will get a new teacher soon.

The village was very welcoming. Billy and Mary told us that Las Brisas does not get many visitors so they were excited when the Gringos arrived. The services were very similar to the other ones. The students do a great job singing and one man borrowed Todd's guitar and sang 2 songs. Mary taught the children "My God is so Great" in Spanish. Edgaurdo preached. Mason told the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and Lee gave his testimony. After Mason told the story, Mary asked several questions of the people about the story. Most of the questions were answered by a man in the back of the room. At this village, the men came inside and did not stand outside and look through the windows. It was so refreshing that they were not too "macho" to learn about God.

After the service, we gave the village soccer balls, crayons, and coloring sheets of Bible stories to the village leader. We played soccer and made lots and lots of balloons . They will stand there and wait for you to make as many balloons as we can make or until we run out.

We want to ask you to pray for Billy and Mary. They work so hard all day long. By 7:00 in the morning, there is usually someone on their porch needing help with medical needs, water, and many other things. They go into the village, give people rides to and from as they go (we had 17 people in the landcruiser today), and they get phone calls all the time of more needs. And, they always have a smile on their face. Please lift them up!

I am going to try to add some more pictures now - I only have a few more minutes. Tomorrow morning we get to go back to the first village, Huertona for a worship service. We are excited to get to back there. Then, in the afternoon we will visit the Bird Park which is known as the most beautiful place in town. We will have a special dinner and closing time with Billy and Mary. If I don't get back on, I promise to post the rest of the pictures on Monday evening when we are in Dallas.

Mayan Ruins & Ag Center

On Friday, we moved our stuff back to the hotel, toured the Mayan Ruins, and had a worship service at the Ag Center.

The tour of the Ruins was so interesting. The history of it is amazing but the spiritual aspect of it is what we really wanted the students to understand. The Chorti Indians are descendants of the Mayans so it provides a better understanding of the depth of their spiritual beliefs.

The Mayans believed in many Gods and in an underworld. The Mayan king was really viewed as a God also. The king had ultimate power. I am trying to post pictures but it is raining right now so the internet is extremely slow and I have to add them one at a time so if I don't get them all added today, I will try again tomorrow.

The Ag Center is an educational project to teach families how to farm so they can provide food for generations. The people come to the center and stay for a week. They have half of a day of bible training and half of a day agricultural training each day.

They learn how to plant hedgerows to keep their soil from washing away. The hedgerows also provide food for the goats. Once their hedgerows are in place and they are taking care of them, they qualify to have some goats. The goats will provide milk for their family and fertilizer for their crops. It is all a cycle.

The Ag Center also teaches and provides a safer oven for their homes. Eighty percent of the health problems in the villages are a result of poor water and smoke inhalation. The adobe ovens normally in their homes do not have an exhaust. All of the smoke circulates in their homes and is so unhealthy. There is a picture of an oven (on the slideshow) that has an exhaust and provides healthier living conditions (there will be a picture when I get them all loaded).

Please pray for the Ag Center. It provides education to families and is an incredible avenue to share God’s love with people.

Every 2 weeks, a worship service is held in the Ag Center and we were able to be a part of one this week. Edguardo is so burdened for the youth and he brings in as many young people as he can for this service.

The room was full and everyone came inside and participated. They wanted us to sing and sing. They sang for us in Spanish. The man who lives at the Ag Center (German) borrowed Todd’s guitar and sang songs for us too. It was all such a blessing!

Many of the students gave their testimonies – Todd, Micah, Lee, Sarah, and Chad. I just sat in the back and cried. Some of the truths that they shared were:
*God has a plan for your future even when we don’t know what the future holds.
*Nothing should be placed before God in your life.
*There is such peace in knowing God.
*There is a difference in knowing about God and having a personal relationship with Him.
WOW – They really get it!

Mason told the story of David and Goliath. He did a fantastic job. Jase was Goliath and some of the little boys who were there played David. The kids loved it. It is such a joy to hear them laugh. The other day at one of the villages, Whitney said, “I am so glad laughter is understood in any language.”

When we arrived, we thought we were doing one testimony and one story. We did 5 testimonies, one story, and Jase was asked to talk to the youth at the end. The songs were in between the story and testimonies and we never knew if we were singing or if they were singing until the last minute. There was no order of service; no worship guide; there was not just a certain number of hymns and choruses; there was no time schedule but there was JOY, LOVE, LAUGHTER, SMILES, TEARS, GOD’S WORD, PRAISE, AND WORSHIP!

Village of Rio Amarillo

The children were waiting for us as we arrived at the village of Rio Amarillo. They were so excited that we were there. They wouldn’t even let us unload our own stuff. They just lined up and took everything inside the school for us. The children here will do one activity for as long as we will do it with them. They do not get tired of it and do not need to switch activities every few minutes like children in the states. Simple things like balloons are so exciting and intriguing to them. We played futbol; duck, duck, goose (pato, pato, gonzo); and made lots of balloon animals.

During the service tonight, Chad gave his testimony and Sarah told the story of Samson. It is just my favorite part to hear our students share. The children sang to us in Spanish – I don’t understand a word but the sound is just so precious.

Yesterday, I mentioned two Chorti men, Edguardo and Obando, who work with Billy and Mary. They both spoke this evening also. Please pray for these men as they minister also. It is very difficult to get men in these villages to accept Christ’s love. Being a Christian is not “macho” enough for the men. Edguardo and Obando have a great influence in the villages with the men.

We came back in to Billy and Mary’s house to spend the night. We had packed everything to stay but when the service was over, it had not rained so we drove out. It was the roughest road we had been on – it took over an hour to get there. The teacher lives in Copan and she walks in and out of the village every day to teach. She is 19 years old. She stayed this evening because we were coming. She had helped the children prepare songs to sing to us. Everytime I come here and see the schools, I say, “I will never complain about my classroom, again!” Of course, I seem to forget that sometimes. All of the team realizes how blessed we are to live in America.

I have posted some pictures of this village. The houses are made out of sticks and pieces of boards. We were able to go inside the village leader’s house. The entire house was smaller than our living room. I put some pictures on of the outside and one of the adobe oven inside.

Friday morning we are going to visit the Mayan Ruins and have a little time to shop. We will leave at 3:00 for the ag project for a worship service. Our team will help lead the service there just like we have in the villages. Lee will be giving his testimony and Mason will be telling a Bible story. Please pray for them.

Thank you for your prayers! We feel them daily as we have been provided safe travel and good health. We have not been in any big rains so we have been able to go to every village as planned. God is using the students as His instruments.

Village of Gotas

We visited the village of Gotus on Wednesday. It was a very different experience than the village of Huertona. We loved playing with the children and there were many more children in this village than the last. We played soccer which is their main sport – they are very good! We also made many balloons which the children and adults loved.

We helped with the worship service. We sang songs, Whitney gave her testimony and Todd told the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They both did an amazing job! It is such a blessing to hear our students share the word of God.

The adults of this village are very resistant to the word of God. You could feel the oppression in the village. Edguardo and Obando are two Chorti men who work with Billy and Mary. They are both Christians and are very burdened for their people. They started the service and asked the adults to come inside the school. Only the children were inside at the time. They would not even respond to them. By the end of the service, several ladies were inside and just a few men. Many men, around 30, were standing outside looking inside the windows. Please pray for this village that God’s love will penetrate through the oppression.

We did not spend the night in this village as we had planned. It had not rained so the roads were still safe to drive back into town. We stayed the night at Billy and Mary’s house.

I have added some more pictures. The people and the land of Honduras are just beautiful! Today we will visit the village of Rio Amarillo.

Village of Huertona

Wow! What a great afternoon and evening we had in Huertona. I have so much to tell!

The children are absolutely beautiful! We have learned that no matter what language you speak, smiles and laughter are universal! We made balloon animals for the children and they just loved them.

The leader of the village, Regenaldo, showed us the village's goat and ag projects. He is very proud of the work that has been done. They raise goats to provide milk for the families. The goats are in a pen above the ground so their manure can be collected for fertilizer for their farming. The land they farm on is a very steep hill so they have learned how to plant hedgerows and terrace the land. This is my third trip to Honduras since 2003 and it is the most progressive farming I have seen in a village. They can provide food for their family!

We helped lead a worship service in the school in the evening. We sang some songs in English and the children sang some songs to us in Spanish. Micah gave his testimony and some of the men, including a teenage boy, gave their testimonies. Jase told the story of David and Goliath and encouraged all of us that we can defeat any giant in our life if we depend on God and know that our strength comes from Him. We showed the Jesus film with the help of a generator. The village has no electricity.

The school was packed - Jase counted over 80 people inside this small building - people were sitting on small benches and standing. The ones who couldn't fit inside the building, stood outside and looked through the windows. At home, would we sit on uncomfortable benches or stand for hours for a church service and not even know the ending time? We have so much to learn about true worship!

The students are just doing an awesome job. They are true servants and never hestitate when anything is needed. They never complain even about sleeping on a concrete floor and roosters crowing from 3:00 am on - Jase did mention wanting to make chicken soup around 4:00 am!

The scenery, as you can tell from the pictures, is just incredible! We serve a mighty God and He created such a beautiful world for us to enjoy.

Please continue to pray for the team. We are leaving this afternoon for another village. I have added pictures to the slide show and will add more tomorrow. Blessings to each of you!

Tuesday Morning

We are heading out to our first village in just a few minutes. Please pray that the people in the village will be open to the message we are sharing. Please also pray for our team's health and safety. We have been busy this morning preparing for our day. I have added a few pictures to the slideshow and will share much more tomorrow after our first village.

We are here!

We have arrived in Copan, Honduras!! We had a great trip to Dallas/Ft. Worth yesterday. We had a delicious dinner at Pappadeaux too - no one went away hungry. We woke up at 4:00 this morning so it has been a long day of travel and we are ready for bed. Please keep us in your prayers - we will spend the night in our first village tomorrow night. I hope to put some pictureson tomorrow before we leave for the village if there is time.

Honduras Mission Trip - Day One

The mission team was packed and ready to leave by about 2:30 Sunday afternoon. Family members and some of the church members were on the scene to see them off. Everyone double checked to make sure they had their Bible, passport, and insect repellent. Ten passengers packed into the church van to start their trip. The plans were to pick up Micah, then eat a really good "last" meal before leaving the country at 7:00 Monday morning.

Pray for their safe travel and ease of passage through customs. Once they are in the country, they still have quite a journey to Copan Ruinas, where they will stay at night. The days will be spent out in the villages ministering in various ways.