2018 Gran Comission Video Memory

House Dedication

We completed the home and had a dedication ceremony on Friday afternoon.  With the generosity of the team we also bought a new mattress with sheets and pillows, table, chairs and filled their pantry with food.  It was a beautiful ceremony and we provided pizza and pop for the community celebrating with this young family

The Lord gives the right answer

Proverbs 16:1
We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives us the right answer.


Tuesday was the day to pour the concrete floor in the home for Jose and Kelin. I love the process of smoothing out the concrete with a trowel and doing the “shimy” with the 2x2 wood. In every home that we have built I have been a part of this process and I was really looking forward to helping. I picked up a trowel but quickly realized that the local construction team would be doing the floor, not the missionaries. I can’t lie. I was disappointed. But God knew the plan he had for me was the right one. I spent the afternoon “moving rocks” with little Angel and his plastic truck. We played ball and drove cars around in the dirt. I got to talk to Kelin about her family.  God put me in a place to experience relationship, being present and experiencing pure joy!

Almost a finished home

A majority of the exterior and interior walls are in place.  While the rest of the walls go up, color is being added. A house is becoming a home.  Items like a mattress, chairs, and a table were purchased for the family so it will be more than a shell.  It will be a home. It is our prayer and desire that this home will be a home of the Lord, that this family will be transformed by the sacrifice of many that they can never repay.  The build is really a symbolic modeling of God’s gift of grace to all mankind.  God has given his grace selflessly to us, even though we are all sinners and can never do enough to earn it or repay for it.  We pray that this home becomes a light that shines brightly for all to see the glory of God and that one light, becomes two, becomes four, becomes eight, and so on. Pastor Giovanny and others from the church have been spending moments with The family this week helping them walk through this process.  Last night we got to finish our day with BBQ dinner at Pastor Giovanni’s House, Honduran style. It was a beautiful night.

The floor is complete -Day 3

During the morning the team completed filling, leveling, and tamping the foundation of the new floor.  Ray and the local team completed the tin work above the rafters to complete the roof and add shade to the project.  We toured Las Brias visiting Anna the home owner from our 2016 trip.  She was excited to see familiar faces and meet some of the new team members.  After lunch the team mixed and transported 14 batches of concrete (all mixed by hand) to complete the new floor

Touring and Construction

Julie with Kelyne, Angel, Anna and Daniel 

On Monday morning we toured the CDI (Child Drvelopment Center) in Limon and saw the amazing advancements in the past 12 months.  The technology center is making steady progress. Vocational classes on sewing and cooking will begin first followed by welding and hospitality service training.  Two new Tilapia tanks have been added to the center. Each tank holds 5500 fish that mature from 3gm fingerlings to 450 gm adults in 4 months.  Luis Fernando showed off with thanks, the desk and chairs purchased as part of the Big Give this year. This gift has made a significant improvement in the 2 classrooms.
In the afternoon we returned to the construction site to move fill dirt /rock inside the foundation in preparation for pouting concrete tomorrow.

What now?

In this place I see God all around me. Everywhere I look God’s hand is at work. I still wonder though, what is in this trip for me? I don’t mean that in a selfish way but anyone who has been on mission before knows that God has far more for the missionary then the mission. I mean you can’t expect to fill someone else if you yourself are not overflowing. That overflow has to be sustained and that is what God does when you go on mission. I am not saying that I am not getting satisfaction doing the project and seeing my son work so hard for a family that is so poor. I’m saying as bad a time I had getting to a place to not back out of this trip, I am expecting miracles!!!!!! Where are you miracle???

Structural footings and foundation

Today was a very hard day of work on the site. Raising the structural beams, digging the foundation, and mixing and pouring lots of concrete in very hot weather.  We had help from the volunteers and construction team supporting the project and except for some minor scrapes from the barbed wire everyone was safe.

Meet Jose, Kelyne and Angel

Jose, Kelyne and Angel will be helping us build their home this week in Las Brias. Jose is 26 and works as a cattle hand and earns $30/week. Kelyne who is 20, stays at home and takes care of 2 year old Angel.  They both have family in Las Brias to help out and support the young couple.

Different

Each trip on mission is different from any others. Different people, different experiences, and different opportunities. For me this trip is the most different. All the other ones I was in alignment with what the Lord wanted to accomplish in me or with the time I was given. The week leading up to this trip I REALLY just wanted to back out. It was a horrible week and I was so ANGRY at the Lord. Not sure even as I sit here this morning on mission that all the anger is gone. It really makes me sad that I can’t and couldn’t understand why God has allowed or even wanted the situation. God is sovereign but it sure feels like the devil is having his way without hope. I guess that I am even sitting here blogging is a miracle of God’s grace????????

Back in Choluteca

The Team has safely arrived back in Choluteca.  The road from Tegucigalpa has been fully repaired and was an amazing drive thru the beautiful mountain pass.  Driving habits are still very honduran, but the road was great.  We have settled into the mission house and had dinner with our hosts and transportation team including Frank, Emily, Walter, Francisco, and Eduardo.   Tomorrow we will meet the family we will be building a home for in Las Brias.

Week Away

One week away from stepping into the light and glory of a wonderful God. Laying here listening to Casting Crowns wondering what he has in store for my son and myself. Each one is different but this is with my youngest son. He is tender hearted and I have been trying to teach him that you can be fierce and tender hearted. I pray that God solidifies this message in his heart. Maybe that is the theme of this mission “Fierce in Christ name”.