More unity! Our second day began with a good and hearty breakfast cooked up by our fabulous cook at the mission house. We then loaded up the vehicles and headed out for our first trip to Ciudad España.
We all continue to be awestruck by the beauty of the landscape of Honduras.
As we were pulling up to the church, our small convoy nearly ran headlong into the school bus that was taking the children home from their shortened day of testing.
We were greeted by Pastor Daniel, who introduced us to the men who we would be working with on the acoustic project for the sanctuary, and after a short prayer and some pleasantries, we jumped right in on assembling the noise absorbing panels that we will be hanging in the sanctuary. It was truly a joy to be working side by side, united with our brothers in Christ, and we were amazed how much more easily communication barriers can come down when working together on a common goal. So, side-by-side we worked for the remainder of the morning, enjoying each other’s company and knocking out those panels until some crucial materials ran out.
Chase’s Account:
Unity does not begin to amount the relationships that sprouted on in our first day of work. Volunteers from the church in Ciudad España were ecstatic to begin work on their project. It is their project. Our diverse team ventured out here with a plan and a love for God’s service, and these people knew that they could leave God’s legacy through their tough work. Their deep faith drove them to work diligently to complete this project for the betterment of their society. Their dedication epitomizes how God expects us to serve in our community and communities around us.
To begin our project today, we applied glue onto thin wooden boards in order to attach the sound panels to erect hefty sheets to hang on the walls. With little help, I began my glue outlines and started attaching panels. Junior – a silent and hardworking young native – immediately took interest in the work that I was beginning. Despite the language barrier, he approached me with hand gestures to indicate his intent to try applying glue and laying panels with me. I was taken aback by his enthusiasm as he began spreading glue. Throughout the rest of the morning, we not only grew into a well-oiled machine, but we grew spiritually and relationally without any means of conversation. God was truly alive in that sanctuary as the unknown became known and the differences commenced to unite us.
While the majority of us were working on the panels, Michelle and Lisa were busy preparing for their workshop on anxiety, healthy relationships, and parenting that they presented to 60 women from the church and the community this afternoon. Despite the heat, heavy rains, and intermittent electricity during the workshop, the crowded room of participants was eager to hear the helpful workshop. A lesson we can learn from their example is “don’t sweat the small stuff” – and it really is small stuff!
When it became apparent that we were at a standstill for the day on the acoustic project, we started considering our next moves, and God provided us with a most enjoyable next move. Many of the women attending the workshop are either the primary or sole caregiver for their children and brought their children along. The 28 children were corralled into what became an extremely warm and stuffy classroom. We had been a little disappointed that the children were leaving as we were arriving this morning, so this turn of events afforded us the opportunity to get in some play time! We released the children from the classroom and took them out to the playground where our mission coordinator Emi, with her Masters degree in education, showed us how truly talented she is as an educator as she immediately had the children engaged in a game that both taught them our names, and showered us with their affection. Just as we were starting what was sure to be a riveting display of jump rope, it started to rain. We quickly gathered the crowd and brought them into the sanctuary to continue our playtime there, and Emi continued to amaze as she transitioned from one game to the next…from Pato, pato, ganso (duck, duck, goose) to Simon dice (Simon says) to freeze tag and the list goes on. All the while, the storm gained strength, and we were treated to a good old fashioned gully washer complete with loss of power to the church, just about the time the workshop was breaking up.
We were very thankful for a largely uneventful return to the mission house in what would have truly been a challenging drive for any of us, but was expertly performed by our drivers.
During our devotion time this evening, there was some great discussion about all of the goings on of the day, and a great deal of appreciation for all of our support people and their sincere and intense dedication to their jobs and to our God.
We are all looking forward to what God has in store for us tomorrow!
