Final day of work

We completed our work on the job site, dental/medical and VBS on Friday. We completed all three of the metal school buildings and got the frame up for the fourth. We completed the bathrooms and did some other concrete work.

We completed the work around two and then took pictures with the kids and the Maranatha crew on the jobsite. Some of our group took donations and bought some clothes and shoes for the kids hanging around with us all week. They we so happy because for them it was like christmas and birthday wrapped into one!

Our dental / medical team had a good final day with over 50 patients treated. The dental chair didn't make it though--it will remain here. Not even duct tape could save it.

Our vbs team had over 300 children for their last day! It was an amazing finish. We had four of our volunteers decide to help out with that ministry on Friday and they were definitely needed.

When we returned and had dinner, the principal from the school came and thanked us and presented each of us with a gift of a Honduran flag. It was very special and they stayed to have dinner.

We had a great worship again and completed the week.

Ray and Ely Don were late to the bus this morning, so they had to reenact a skit from the bible. We choose Balaam and his Donkey. Ray got to be the donkey.

We are conducting the church service tomorrow. Our vbs group taught the entire team two songs for us to present, hand motions and all. A great way to end the day!
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Dedication day

We finished the back wall and completed all the block on the school today that we are scheduled to complete! The team did a great job. We will help with a few other items tomorrow and clean up early.

We completed the music room today and had a dedication of the room. We are dedicating it to Rachael's mother and had a nice service.

The vbs group had a great day as well and had over 200 kids. The medical team had an interesting day. Dr dewar has been sick and had to take some time today to feel better. They still saw 70 patients. However during the next to the next to last patient, the dental chair broke! Doc had to finish the surgery on his knees! They taped the chair up and had the last surgery. We will send some duct tape tomorrow to fix it.

Claudell is leading us out in a game of Mafia again tonight.
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Dwindling numbers

We have had a number of folks get sick this week. Today we had two more get sick from the heat in addition to the three at the start of the day. However they are all better and should all be back tomorrow.

Our vbs crew had over 200 children and had a great day. Our medical team is dealing with some sicknesses of their own but had another good day and saw over 70 patients.

The construction crew completed all of the interior walls and one of the school buildings. We are almost done with another building and have the roof on the third. We got 6 courses on the back and are on target to finish by Friday.

We are having a traditional Honduran dance group at the hotel for a little cultural experience tonight.

We had an interesting experience today. The government has decided to privatize the schools and have the cities pay the teachers. All of the mayors were meeting in our hotel today and the teachers decided to strike here! Some of our team had to walk back mid day because the roads were blocked! We had a lot of military around as well. No issues, but interesting nonetheless!
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Tuesday's report

We had a great day today. We finished the front wall and got four courses on the back. The second interior wall has 12 courses and they might finish tomorrow.

We have one of the one day schools completed and the other one will be done tomorrow. We are making good progress on the third.

Our dental and medical team had another good day and saw 60 patients. They are getting more organized as the week goes on.

Our vbs team had 180 kids today! They are still getting their volunteers organized, but are doing well.

We have been having great worships this year in the evening. We have all been very blessed each night.
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Day 3 and a miracle machine

We had a good day for all three teams. We got seven courses on the front wall--leaving us three courses short of finishing. We have to get that done in about an hour to finish the entire building. We made good progress on the interior walls and are close to completing one building. We should complete two of them tomorrow and get all three done this week.

The dental and medical group had a great day. They got a generator which made their work MUCH easier. They did 6 teeth cleanings today and 6 surgeries. They saw 60 patients today and really had good help from the translators. One of the other groups here at the same time had some people helping out which was a blessing.

Our Childrens Ministry team began their program. They had 18 volunteers which was the most we have had and they are mostly youth. They got there and only had 4 participants! So the volunteers went out and rounded up 150 kids and they had a great program!

One of our team members taught a program in the school regarding drug abuse. He had great response and will be speaking all week.

Claudell is leading us in a game of Mafia tonight which is always amusing!
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Day two and a close call

We had a very action packed day at the job site. We got another five courses on the gable end and almost completed one of the interior walls. The metal school buildings are taking shape. We have the roof and half the sheeting on one and have the trusses and walls done on the other two.

David Spencer gave us a thrill today. He was stepping down a wooden ladder and the third step gave way. Luckily his brother Dale was there and caught him in midair. Only a couple of scrapes so he was very lucky. Now we are going to throw everything at Dale because he has proven he can catch everything!

The medical/dental team had their first day as well. They have some challenges with the amperage and the equipment doesn't work very well. We are hoping to get a generator for tomorrow.

The VBS team spent the day organizing and working with their volunteers. They start tomorrow.

We are having a good evening playing uno.
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And a child shall lead them.......

We had a great Sabbath day. We went to the Los Colinas church where the medical and VBS are conducting their work during the week. It is the week of prayer for the youth so the children conducted the entire service. A nine year old girl preached the sermon and did a fantastic job! We were calling her the femaile J-Fiah.

After lunch, the majority of the group went to the beach for an excursion. The rest of us stayed back, took a walk and relaxed.

We had a very nice worship and then played our traditional mission trip game, Uno. A lot of the newcomers had a baptism by fire and lost big!
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Day one in the books

We just returned from the jobsite and had a successful day. It was very hot but there was a nice breeze all day.

We had a slow start which is expected for the first day at a new site and with a lot of first time missionaries. Once the teams got rolling, they made great progress in the afternoon.

We were just short of completing four courses on the end wall. We completed seven courses on the classroom wall. The one day school team got the latest start because we were waiting on the Maranatha crew to complete some items with the other group. They got half done with the framing.

We had a special treat today with a performance by the schools band! They came by in the afternoon and performed two songs for us. It was very much appreciated and the principal expressed her thanks for what the group was doing at the school.

The medical and vbs team spent the day organizing and shopping for supplies.

I have include some pictures from my phone.
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Safely in Honduras--for the most part

Well, we have made it in and are on the bus now. We had a good flight in.

However, one of our team members, Danielle Hinds had an issue with her passport and had to remain in Houston. She has gotten her passport fixed and will fly in tomorrow. Her husband will wait for her in Honduras

We also had three bags left behind because the plane was too full. Those bags will arrive tomorrow as well. So, it may have been providential that she had an issue so that they could stay to get the bags!

Everyone else made it and we are on our four hour ride to the hotel. We have food, water and an air conditioned bus! Everyone will be wishing for the AC once we hit the jobsite tomorrow.
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Honduras Mission Trip Information

It is hard to believe it, but we are about to leave on our annual mission trip this week. This year, we are traveling to Choluteca, Honduras to help build a school complex. The school campus will center around one large 80’ x 144’ school building with offices, ten classrooms and a gymnasium. In additional to the central building, the school will have 30 other free-standing classrooms. We are the last of six volunteer groups that will participate in building the campus.

Our group consists of 47 volunteers. Each person had to pay their own way or receive donors to sponsor their trip. We have a core group from Houston, with additional friends and family from Pennsylvania, Atlanta, Tennessee, North Carolina, Denver and Washington.

When putting together our final trip information, I did some research on the composition of our group. I had always known that once people go on a trip, that the majority of them are hooked and go on future trips. This year’s statistics bear that out. Of our 47 missionaries this year, 30 of them are repeat volunteers with 17 attending their first trip. The breakdown is as follows:

First trip – 17 volunteers
Second trip – 4 volunteers
Third trip – 8 volunteers
Fourth trip – 4 volunteers
Fifth trip – 5 volunteers
Sixth trip - 1 volunteer
Seventh trip – 4 volunteers
Eighth trip – 2 volunteers
Ninth trip – 1 volunteer
Eleventh trip - 1 volunteer

Our group leaves on March 10 and will return to the US on March 21st. God willing, we will complete the block construction on the school and complete three or four of the stand alone school buildings during our stay there.

We will do our best to post on a daily basis. Feel free to leave comments for any group members you wish to communicate with and we will do our best to get the message to them. Please keep the group in your prayers as well.

Our team is listed below.

Barbara Battistone
Bobby Battistone
Joshua Bourgeois
Ron Dethlefs
Ed Dewar
Billy Gager
Nathalia Gager
Nicole George
Esther Gottfried
Eric Griffin
Mayra Griffin
Ryan Hambley
Greg Hatch
Rachael Hatch
Linval Henry
Jean Henry
Sara Hernandez
Andrew Hinds
Danielle Hinds
Richard Kay
Robert Mathador
Geneva McCallum
Ezequiel Perez
Robin Pimentel
Samantha Pimentel
Stephen Pimentel
Twyla Luke
Walter Grant
Gricelda Ramia
Eliel Reeves
Maurice Reid
Lovely Samson-Lagazo
Michael Lagazo
Ely Don Lagazo
Renata Santos
Renee Gonzalez
Ernie Schirra Jr.
Neale Shields
Thelma Slater
Danae Spencer
David Spencer Jr.
Dale Spencer
Jacqueline Tavares
Claudell Wilson
Gino Wolff
Ray Wolff Jr.
Roxie Wolff