Another good day in Honduras! We just got back from a day in the Valle de Angeles where we finished up the house now belonging to Mr. Helberto! We plan to return tomorrow, Lord willing, to bring him some furniture donated by the Manchester church in Manchester, Connecticut and Bro. Michael St. Germaine. He, his wife Emma and their little girl, Natalie, have been with us off and on thru the week. Afterwards we enjoyed some sightseeing and shopping in the quaint shops in de Valle.
Our plans for tomorrow to finish up include visiting both the house sites and bringing the families some furniture... we are also hoping to get some work done on Carlos´house before we leave. I bet Ricky can knock that out in short order! They are such a sweet family and we are so fortunate to have them working with us in this ministry together! I´ll have to post some pictures of them when I get back. (note to self).
Everyone continues to do good... no one has gotten sick and everyone is having a great time... especially our firstimers! Paula and Sara Jo, Keith and Dale are just fine.
I´m looking forward to getting home (and putting my foot on US soil again) but we´ve got one more full day tomorrow and we´re excited about that.
I´m also pondering what I should do for the message for Sunday, maybe some of you can help. I´ve got a message on the Psalms... sort of an introductory lesson so to speak, but I´m wondering if I shouldn´t pre empt myself and just give a little report on our experience here this week... any thoughts... (well can´t find the question mark on this keyboard, sorry.)
till later...
Glad to hear all is well. God is truly good!! Hope y'all have a blessed day and we absolutely want to hear from you and any of the others willing to share their blessings of being with our brothers and sisters in Honduras. Vaya co Dios Amigos! Stacy
ReplyDeleteI will tell you, our group has been in Honduras since last
ReplyDeleteThursday, but really haven´t seen anything firsthand as far
violence is concerned, but we have seen a couple of protests, which looked peaceful. We have been staying in downtown Tegucigalpa and
apparently the government buildings, the Presidential Palace, etc. are
across town from us... so our work has been relatively unaffected. We´ve
been able to proceed with our mission of benevolence and building houses
outside of the city with no problem. Part of our group saw one group of
angry protesters on Monday night. The one thing I have noticed is that
the streets are much less trafficed and many businesses are closed earlier
than would normally be the case. There has been a curfew each evening and
we´ve been encouraged to be back at our hotel before it gets too late...
at least by 9.
We were eating breakfast Sunday morning getting ready to leave for church
when we saw on the news that the President had been arrested and hauled
out of town in his PJs. We heard military jets fly overhead two or maybe
three times, but that was it. The power flickered once, but came right
back on and the most annoying thing was that the Internet was down and all
of the American tv channels disappeared for the day. We couldn´t get much
outside news all day.
Our missionaries in Honduras recommended for us to stay in for the day, so
that is what we did. I was anxious about the whole situation, but there
didn´t appear to be any reason for concern. The city (on our end) was
very quiet... probably much more so than normal, though I´ve only been
here once before and Sundays may usually be pretty quiet.
There is much talk among the Hondurans about the situation. My perception
is that the people want to see Zalaya return. I´m pretty anxious about
what might happen on his return should Michelleti continue in his refusal
to back down. It does look like the rest of the gov´t is behind him, so I
don´t know what to expect. I´m looking forward to getting out tomorrow
before it comes to a head, but I am profoundly disappointed that this is
going to affect hundreds of missionary teams from the States who had
similiar trips planned over the next few weeks. There is no end to the
poverty here and there is so much need. I am sure that much of the aid
recieved from other countries, including the US, is NOT reaching those for
whom it is intended. Hundreds of missionary groups come down every year
from all sorts of denominations, building houses, helping the poor and
sharing Christ with a wonderful and happy people. It is saddening to
think of what might happen should this prevent such groups to continue...
or should it just frighten them away. Even with the improvements made in
Honduras over the last twenty years, the poverty among so many of the
people is heartbreaking. I´m told the unemployment rate is almost 50
percent and you wouldn´t believe some of the places we´ve seen.
We have been here working with a missionary we support in the Valle de
Angeles about 30 miles outside of Tegucigalpa. We have helped minister to
the needs of the community with food and by building two houses for two
families. We have also conducted a roving Vacation Bible School for over
150 children who have gathered in and around where we have been working.
I would love to be in touch when I get back... let me know how I might can
help. You can just e'mail me directly at this address.
God bless,
Jim Black