Welcome Home

Team 2 arrived home to cold weather and warm welcomes from family and friends.

Day 6 Add-on

Random shots from the last day.



The tennis balls that we throw out to the kids. It was quite a sight watching Chase run around throwing tennis balls all over the soccer field as a lot of children follow him in a quite excited fashion



Ed poses with Jeremy at the work site.











Chase exhausted after playing soccer in the Honduran noon day sun. Another American victory with significant Honduran help was secured in a 2-0 win. The Honduran goalie really was the difference.






We say good-bye to the children of Colonidas Unidas.











A group of girls at El Corrizzo. They were especially happy to see JD, Eddie and Jeremy as it had been some time since the girls had seen them.









A group photo after the soccer game at El Corrizzo. This was the back breaker for the Americans despite the best attempt of the Honduran goalie the game was lost 3-2. Overall, it was a fantastic amazing day.

Day 6 - The Celebration

Hello All,

This is the last day of our project. The house was so close to being finished as we got up and got to work. Chase and Eddie are our roofing specialists as they work with Pastor G on the final sections of the roof.


Mayron, the new owner and resident of the house we built with our Honduran brothers stands in his newly created home. It is a sense of accomplishment that fills us and all of those that assisted on this effort. This was a unique situation as we were able to start and fully complete building a home for a family in need. This has meant so much to all of us. The emotion was palpable in the room as the Pastor of the local church dedicated the house. We can only hope that have a warm and comfortable home for years to come that will be a blessing to Mayron, his wife and their four month old daughter.


Here is a group picture of all of those that built this house. A tight group of friends was created as we did the very physical labor it took to put this project together.


Off the beaten path photo of the night. Ed Tucker stopped by the work site to say hello. Even though he wasn't supposed to be there at all. :-)


We walk away from the site and our newly formed friendships strong in the knowledge that we have accomplished the goal that we set out to do and helped both this family and the community of Colonias Unidas in the best way we could. The children of this community lit up our days with their smiles, laughter and their presence. The entire trip was a blessing on a level that I have a hard time describing. The closest I can get is the term "God wink". A wink that lasted for six wonderful days.

Tomorrow, we come home to our loved ones. We are excited to be going home, to be near those that mean the most to us. We will miss Honduras but it will remain in our hearts along with the names of those that have touched us in such profound and immeasureable ways.

Day 5 - The Goal Is In Sight

So several things happened all at once today. Some guys worked on the house, some worked on the finishing the side walk between the main church and the brand new Sunday school classrooms. Sean went with the Greens and helped deliver blankets and stuffed animals to the local pediatric ward here in Choluteca. This was a very emotional moment. The conditions inside that hospital were, in a word, deplorable. The people there are working hard but simply do not have the resources to keep up with the situation. The smiles and thank you from the children and their families was truly a blessing.




We have been working side by side with the Honduran workers for 5 days now. Today is when the relationships that have been building really clicked into place. As the progress on the house has been made the camraderie has built as well. It has been a fantastic development to hear the work site covered with laughter like a North Carolina field covered in wild flowers during late May.




A moment for reflection at the end of the day of the many blessings that we have been given. The house is so close to being finished. The roof and the floor are the final pieces to this puzzle. We can see the accomplishment almost here and can savor the moment when the project is completed and this family will have a safe and comfortable place to call home.


OK, so this picture is a bit off the beaten path. However, it's an important one. Something that we do everyday is to use this tray and fill up the cups with water or gatorade and bring it around to each worker. This helps build a relationship as we show our gratitude for their hard work. I believe Team 1 was the originator of this idea for that we are thankful.

Tomorrow.. our time in Honduras is close to an end. The project comes to a close. Tears and laughter to follow.

Day 4 - A Deep Breath is taken

The first thing that all you should know is that on Saturday we finished the Sunday School building! A truly great accomplishment that showed great teamwork and collaboration between Team 1 and Team 2. Chase and Eddie did the final roof work while the rest of the team worked on the house. So the building is done and the joy is ready to begin. The day started out in a truly blessed fashion. We went to the worship service and were serenaded with some amazing songs from adults and children alike. Royce joined the band again on stage to play the drums. The picture here shows all of the children singing to the congregation including a song that Bob and our translator Egla taught the children to sing in English.


The first class for the new Sunday school included Sean, Royce, Ginger Green and Elga helping the group do the "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" song en Espanol. The classes were awesome as there was lots of laughter, singing, dancing and generally everyone having a great time. The Sunday school teachers were very young (in their early 20's) people that have gotten very involved in their church and in the children's lives.

Here the Pastor of the church and the congregation stop and say a prayer on the newly completed Sunday School building. This was a truly magical moment as the students repeated the prayer and one could really feel all of the positive energy flowing through the building and every person there.


Later the team relaxes on the shores of the Gulf of Fonseca. This was a nice getaway as we played and floated in the ocean. It was a stunning view as we could see the shores of El Salvador on our right, the Island of Honduras straight ahead and Nicaragua on our left.

Tomorrow, we are back to the house as we work towards completing it before we leave.

Team 2

Why Team 2 gets to hear Van Halen . . .

Go ahead and JUMP!



Jerm - make sure someone gets a rope out this week!

Day 3 - The Walls rise higher

Today was an amazing day from the beginning to the end. We got started back at the job site with an opening day prayer. The prayer was given by Pastor G who is the site foreman, a wonderful pastor and a real task master as the leader of the job. Part of the beauty of this morning is putting up the cross right above the work site. The rest of the morning was chucking up block as we worked in the blazing sun towards accomplishing our goal.




Lunch brought a wonderful moment where as we sat quietly eating our food and really being too tired to even converse. A couple of conversations did break out with some of the workers. It turns out that they play music and one of the them by the name of Saul loves to sing. Well a hidden talent on our team was revealed when Royce told us that he can play the drums. With a bit of encouragement the musicians made their way onto the stage and wonderful music was heard eminating from the church. No one could stop smiling.


The group takes a moment of rest at the end of a hard day of work. We cut our work day short by an hour or so as we ran out of liquid to drink.


Mayron, the person we are building the house for, pauses for a moment outside of the house. This, also, shows the progress for the day. We are two "courses" of blocks away from being able to work on the roof and floor. The team has really been pushing the work and getting as much done as time and the heat allows.


Finally, we made our way to the village of Santa Marta for a early evening game of football (soccer). It was a game full of laughter, action and the occassional goal. You know that you are playing soccer in Honduras when the field you are playing in has scattered cow patties and the game being interrupted by a chicken and her five chicks running directly into the action. After much running and attempting to keep with the locals the team with the Americans (and admittedly a few local ringers) pulled away in the final moments with a hard fought 5-4 victory.

Tomorrow, the team has the day off and we will be attending church in the AM and then spending most of the afternoon down at the beach. It will be a well deserved breather.

Day 2 - The House Begins

The day started out as we filtered out the sand for the Honduran mortar. The is the first step in a pretty lengthy process.




Our next step was to bless the first block as we started to work on the house. It was a very moving moment as the mother of the house we are building said the prayer.




Chase wields the block cutter in an expert fashion.






Sterling holds court towards the end of the day as the progress on the house is shown.

Day 1 - The Fixers

Day 1 opened on an interesting note. We arrived at the site only to discover that several things needed to be repaired and followed up on that were left from team 1. It was like parents returning early from a vacation only to find that their 16 year old had trashed the house. :-) :-) This first picture is Eddie fixing the corner of the building that was already falling apart.

We spent the rest of the day hauling cinderblocks, making Honduran mortar (which was a time consuming and very physical process) using that mortar to pour the floor and start bringing the cinderblocks to the site where we start building a house tomorrow. All of these things were good solid work day things towards accomplishing our physical goals. The spiritual part of our journey also had it's foundations started today. Our interaction with the Honduran workers and especially the children reaped it's own rewards in smiles and laughter. It was like being surrounded by some of the happiest people on earth without the Disney cover charge.

Tomorrow, we will finish the roof on the Sunday school and work towards building the house. The first a place of worship, learning and love. The second very much the same thing.




Royce shares the wonders of the IPhone with the locals

Feliz Cumpleanos Christina

aka, Happy Birthday Kristen!

 

 

Mission Accomplished

The roof may not be on yet, but one key objective of this year's Honduras mission is accomplished. The vanilla cabinet is restocked.

Muchas gracias,

Wake-up to Bob-O

and Van Halen!

 

Team 2 has landed!

Hello All,

We wanted to let you know that Team 2 has landed. The approach into the Tegucagalpa airport brought to mind the same run that the X-Wings took while attacking the Death Star in "Star Wars".

The rest of the trip was stress free and we are getting ready to eat dinner with the Green's in Choluteca. We are eager to get work underway tomorrow and expect a trip full of hard work, many smiles and numerous blessings.

Look back to this space for the many adventures to come.

Team 2

Tegucigalpa flight

The new-bees were still smiling as their flight from Miami headed to Teguc. We'll see what their report is after the landing.

Dennis

And Back Again

Team 2 departed from RDU this morning, anxious to mount their flag on the gringo goal.

The Road Home

Team One is on their way back home now, after an incredibly productive, sprit-filled, joyous trip.  They departed the mission house in Choluteca at 7:30 AM local time for the 2.5 hour drive back up the mountain to Tegucigalpa.  Their American Airlines flight arrives tonight at 10:35 PM.  If you come for the welcome home party, please bring a couple of "Dios Te Ama" tennis balls for Bob.  He may seem a little skittish, but he will appreciate the thought.

 

 

Hasta noche,

Dennis

 

The Beatutiful Game

The world of futball was rocked yesterday when the boys (more like old men) of Team One took the pitch early in the morning for their first match as a team. Team One battled the young men of the Huerto Getsemany squad to a 4-4 draw led by Tom Childrey with two gringo goals. Team One had Huerto Getsemany reeling from the outset when on the opening possession of the match, they lined up in a single back formation, Wiley quick snapped the ball to Tom, who handed off to Steve who rambled down the field for a touchdown leaving the bewildered Hondurans in his wake. For some reason the opening touchdown did not get counted in the official score. Team One is still seeking an explanation. Rumor has it that the governing board of FIFA met in emergency session last night to discuss Team One's shocking debut.

It must be noted that Team One's performance was aided by three unusual circumstances:

1) They outnumbered the Getsemany boys 10 to 6 for much of the game as Brian, one of the workers from Getsemany, Jose, and Pastor G all played with the Team One squad. Getsemany rallied when Wiley "Benedict Arnold" Jones, without announcing his intentions, defected to the other side in the middle of the second half.

2) Pastor G dominated the pitch scoring two goals for Team One.

3) Team One seemed to have no sense for the actual rules of the game, scoring one of their goals when at least three players were offsides and two were screening the goalie illegaly. This offset the injustice of disallowing the opening touchdown.

But it was still the beautiful game in spite of Team One's inexperience, not because of the diving save by Dudley, nor because of the dirt eaten by Keith, Bryan, and Mike Satterfield, nor the game led by Egla being played by the children of the church at the opposite end of the pitch; but because of the laughter, brotherhood, and love displayed by the two opposing teams as both teams celebrated each goal together, and followed the game with several hours of joyous teamwork on the Sunday School building; a beautiful, moving dedication ceremony; the distribution of gifts to the children and church; and some long, tearful goodbyes.