Mark 1:3 “a voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.”

PART 1

The upper left photo gives us the motivation in why we are called to do the work we are doing in Honduras. This small cook stove cooks for 380 plus students. The new school is Roberto Sosa. The first team to arrive and break ground in land and in hearts is Pennsylvania Ave UMC Team #18 led by Al Erickson. This team like the teams that will follow will have the back breaking work in breaking new ground to build a 2 classroom with one kitchen building. They broke ground with the persons that work at this school as well as guards and all those who are near. Starting a new school is very difficult because it is like exploring new territory. This school is 30 plus yrs old and has never had any renovations done to it as seen in the second photo. The job for this team was to finish digging the hole by hand and then mix concrete for the footers. On top of this they built rebar cages for the supporting columns in the walls that needed to be tied to the footers as well as to build rebar for the footers. The rebar was tied and cut by hand. No matter how hard the job was and no matter how young or old this team was they found a way to Praise the Lord throughout the week. They knew they were the ones preparing a way for teams to come and for change to come upon the children and adults.

PART 2

Building rebar ladders for the footers.

Placing the rebar ladders in the hole

Preparing the footers.

Mixing concrete for the footers.

Pouring the footers by buckets.

The construction phase in Honduras is very different than how we build in the States. Everything is done by hand. Finding rebar already welded is not heard of here. As well as concrete trucks; they exist but for a big price. So the teams have to mix the concrete the traditional way. I knew that this team had the foundation to build but they also had the hard part of getting everything in line for the following teams to come. Many of the team members took turns in building rebar ladders for the footers. They had to be cut to length and tied with wire by hand. All the ladders then had to be connected by tie wire to the columns that were in place as seen in the 3^rd photo. Finally when it came time to pour concrete it was all hands on deck. Pouring concrete was the hardest part of the entire project. It was all mixed by hand and then moved by buckets to the hole. This team mixed and poured 18yds of concrete for the footers and column bases. Thank God that we had an even blended group of young youth on team to lug the buckets of cement. I must admit even the older team members gave the young ones a run for their money. “The missionary’s secret is truly being able to say, I am His and He is accomplishing His work and His purposes through me.” Like I tell our teams, you can serve God by shoveling, preaching, listening, or through many other ways but be All in for His service.

PART 3

One of the highlights for the team is being able to meet their sponsored child/children. Sometimes I must admit I take for granted the time we spend with these children because we are with them all the time. The teams help me to keep in perspective the amount of love, dedication and resources that is needed to keep each child in school. They also allow me to reflect and feel the emotions that are running through their minds when they get to spend some time with their sponsored child. I can only imagine in receiving a packet in the mail with a photo of your sponsored child and learning a little more about him or her. Then having the opportunity in a life time to come and meet your child. For some of our team members they have made it a yearly thing to come and learn more and grow the relationship with their sponsored child. Many team members have said, “These children are like being a part of my family.” In John 17:6 it starts out by saying, “They were Yours, You gave them to me…” Jesus must have felt the same feelings when receiving his disciples for the first time and then having the opportunity to grow with them in a relationship. Just like a sponsor with their sponsored child. Jesus has given us the example of relationship building even across the miles.

PART 4

Marvin who works for the ministry is showing us what the heart of the mission is in the top left photo. Every team has the heart of Christ to show His love to the children and adults. This team demonstrated this kind of love in various ways. In the second photo Al Erickson with the team served Chinese rice with bread to all 100 plus children that we have at our Saturday Youth group. This is a huge blessing for the children especially when many of the children who come to our program haven’t eaten since the day before. (usually it is only one meal) The team also took the time to face paint all the children who wanted to become a cat, lion, butterfly, etc.

Who can ever walk away and say they didn’t see or play soccer. The children (boys and girls) are born with soccer ball. As seen in the 4^th photo on the right; our youth group playing with the youth from team18. During the 10 days or for some teams 11 days it is amazing how much they get to see, experience and do. Some have jokingly have called it BBM boot camp. The last photo is the entire team showing their dirty muscles and also showing they survived. However they call it we know that each team member has gone away that much more changed for Jesus. John 7:38 “He who believes in me… out of his heart will flow….” They come as believers but leave with rivers of Living Water flowing from their hearts.