Great start to the day! The roads from Tegucigalpa were good! Since the rainy season just started, the road up to the school from the highway is still washed out and our drivers are incredible in their ability to maneuver the rocks and ravines.

We started off again with some programming from the kids. Those little first graders were so cute singing Screen Shot 2016-07-01 at 10.41.25 AMtheir song in their native clothing. The school really promotes the beauty of Honduras, and what a great place to live with lots of rich history. Many of the songs that the grades sang were about Honduras. Then it was our turn. We were told they wanted to learn about our cowboys and Native Americans, and American sports. We picked baseball for our sport, and had power point presentations up on the big screen to help us. Tom did a fabulous job talking about cowboys, while Duncan followed up with some facts about Native Americans. Cheryl ended with a brief summary of baseball inviting them to play a game later in the day.

We split up into three groups and each one taught one of 4th, 5th, or 6th graders. The whole team has been super flexible as we have changed our lesson plans to better fit the age and English level of each class. We have three lesson plans covering classroom objects with a bingo game activity, an occupation unit with a game using fly swatters, and a food unit using a menu in English and some cut-out food pictures. We have supplemented with some energetic songs of “Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes” and a “Days of the Week” Screen Shot 2016-07-01 at 10.41.37 AMsong to the tune of the Adams Family. They love the games and songs!
Our sandwich lunch was the norm, and the team was able to debrief about the presentations and classes. Some of the best times are when we are all together around a table or in the bus sharing stories and laughs. The teenagers have provided an immense amount of humor! Jill prepared a list of fun questions for us all to ponder and share answers to pass all the bus time. She also brought these fun little paper folding puzzles that have turned into a little friendly competition.

After lunch we taught a group of high schoolers. We were all able to be in one class with a 1:2 ratio Screen Shot 2016-07-01 at 10.41.50 AMof teachers to students. This was probably my favorite part of the day. They were just so eager to learn and participate in the activities and practice pronunciation.

Next we split up and some went behind the school to play some whiffle ball while the others stayed to work. Our work assignment was to move a whole lot dirt and rocks from where they are setting the footings for a new classroom across the playground to fill in where other dirt has washed out during the last set of storms. Several of the kids came to help and were very hard workers, albeit a little scary wielding Screen Shot 2016-07-01 at 10.40.43 AMshovels around!

Back at the mission house we ate with our Georgia friends again. There was some really good Chinese food with ice cream for dessert! Libby did a great job at devotions as we talked about hardships we’ve overcome and how we grew out of those experiences. We then related that to doing God’s will even when it seems harder than doing our own will.

Praying for God’s continued blessings on our team and the school as we share God’s love and build relationships.