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Here
is a summary of the highlights of our trip. It was ten days long, and so
much more happened than I can describe. Eye-opening experiences,
life-transforming attitudes, and just the touch of Christian hearts
across the language barrier are some of the things that happened, but
are difficult, or too personal to describe. God is so magnificent, and
is easily able to work in the lives of all of our team, the Honduran
workers, and the other people that we came in contact with, all at the
same time, and in amazing ways.
We
got into Honduras at about noon. Michael’s flight arrived about 45
minutes later. The team was now complete and we were off. We stopped off
at a tree house restaurant in San Pedro Sula for lunch, which was a
good, different-culture start to the week. La Entrada is a two-hour bus
ride away, and is merged in our memories with open bus windows that let
in all of the smells and feeling of the Honduran air. The coffee
plantations, banana trees everywhere, the Honduran people busy with
their everyday tasks, the smoke from cooking fires, and the green, green
rolling hills were so familiar and welcome.
What
a great feeling to get to La Entrada and see the progress that has been
made on the camp since the last time we were there. That was two years
ago, and the roof is now on the dining room/assembly hall, plus the
kitchen is well on its way to being tiled. It was a breathtaking moment
when we drove up the road and into the camp for the first time this year
and saw the new roof on the dining hall!! It is so beautiful! This week
we worked on putting stucco on the inside of the dining hall, getting
electricity to it, and building a stage at one end of the room. We also
prepped the floor in the kitchen for the guy to begin putting the tile
in. Oh yeah, and we put a sidewalk across the front of the building.
Again
this year, we had a VBS for the local kids each weekday afternoon. They
were on break from school while we were there, so it was actually a
vacation Bible school! Many of the kids came every day, and
listened with bright eyes and open hearts. Kathy is so good at using the
resources that she finds at the camp, plus the stuff that she brought
with her, to make a lesson and a craft each day. She brought a CD player
and some CDs for the kids to sing along with. After the first day of VBS,
Bree and Ben worked up a couple of songs to sing for the kids, and after
that, they traded off singing and playing guitar for a music time each
day. Live music is so magical, and Bree and Ben sounded so good
together, especially considering the fact that they had only practiced
for one day! Rossy helped a couple of days by reading the Bible story
to the kids. She did a great job, and was able to ask questions and
interact with the kids a lot easier than we could! The kids loved her!
Second Wind gave three concerts during the week at three different
churches. The first one was in La Entrada on Tuesday night. We performed
about ½ hour of music, including two songs that Bree sang in Spanish.
Then their pastor gave a short talk. He was a very intense speaker, and
we could almost understand him!
On
Friday night we drove to a nearby town named Santa Rosa. On the way
there, the “teens” in the back of the bus played a silly game with their
cameras, which produced numerous….ummm…delightful photos. At Santa Rosa
we ate what Mauricio calls, “the best pizza in Honduras,” and it really
was amazing and delicious! Afterwards we were scheduled to give a
concert at a local church at 7 pm, and we didn’t even finish eating
until 7:15! Then we still had to drive around and find the church, then
try to get the bus down an incredibly narrow road to where the church
was! Mauricio successfully got the bus down the road without scraping it
on pole nor building. The church members were all happily waiting for
us, and were a great audience! They laughed and cheered, and especially
loved the songs that Ben and Bree did in Spanish. When they did “Puedo
Imaginarme” (“I Can Only Imagine”) some folks were singing along, and I
could see tears in the eyes of a man in the front row. It was a magical
evening that words can’t even begin to describe.
Our
third concert was Saturday night at a church in La Entrada. They had a
worship time before we got there, and the loud music greeted us as we
arrived. By the time we performed this concert, we were more comfortable
with talking to the audience, and Josue, one of the JPC volunteers from
San Pedro Sula who was in La Entrada for the evening, translated for us.
Mauricio spoke after our concert, and it was such a spiritual experience
to listen as he spoke in Spanish, and to try and let the meaning soak
in. Afterwards, we drove over to the camp for a dedication ceremony for
the dining hall. Josue performed a song on guitar. He has a great voice,
and the song was very touching and Spirit-filled. The party was capped
off with cake, ice cream, and fireworks.
It is
Norm’s custom to do something fun the last day of the trip, and this
year we went up into the rainforest. We stayed at the Jungle River
Lodge, and went rafting and on a canopy zip line tour. After working all
week as a team, it was wonderful to enjoy one another’s company in fun
activities. It rained all afternoon, and was a perfect time to relax and
play cards. It rained and rained into the night, and if it had gotten
any more humid, we wouldn’t have been able to breathe—the perfect
rainforest experience.
The
last day was our day of traveling home. We were a little sad, but in a
contented way that wasn’t too painful. Two days earlier we had already
gone through the hardest part of saying goodbye, which is the farewells
to our Honduran friends in La Entrada. We still had to say goodbye to
Mauricio and Ana, but it was with the hope that we’ll return to see them
again.
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