Missions Trip Part 2 - Our First School

Sunday morning we got up early and got ready to go to church (the M. family's church). It was a very interesting and new experience for us. For music, there were drums, electric guitar, electric bass, keyboard, and an electric violin. The singers had beautiful voices. And during the songs, there were dancers that were dressed in matching clothes who danced with flags to the praise songs. That was neat! The whole service lasted 4 hours, so we were ready for lunch when we came out! :-)

Right after a quick lunch we loaded up the bus that would take us to Choluteca. The 2 1/2 hour drive was very nice - I just love the mountainous view!!

Just before we arrived at the hotel it started pouring. When it stopped we unloaded all our things and brought our personal stuff to our rooms. Dad, Caleb and I shared a room that had three beds (that was nice!) and the other team members split up - 2-4 in each room. The hotel was pretty nice - the rooms had air conditioning (for which we were grateful) and our room also had a free pet gecko!! :-)

The next morning we again got up bright and early, had breakfast and devotions, and prepared our things for the first school. I was kind of nervous since I didn't totally know what to expect!

There were three or four pick up trucks that we loaded all our stuff into. The guys had to tie the ladders and pole to the back of one of the trucks, and Caleb and Juancho rode in the back of that truck, holding on to them. Riding in the back of a truck was a real adventure for Caleb, but it's something they do all the time in Honduras!

After 2-3 hours of driving on roads at least twice as bad as most gravel roads here, we finally arrived at our first school!! They had balloons and a welcome sign up, and all the children were waiting outside to greet us. Most had uniforms on, but there were some kids that came from the surrounding area that couldn't afford to buy uniforms (and therefore couldn't go to school).

The Solar Team started unloading right away, and the Fiesta Team had the children each grab a chair and bring it outside. We had them all sit down, and we led them in a couple songs (one in Spanish, and one in English), and also a fun action sentence (I . . . saw a man . . . who was strong . . . and danced like a monkey). That may sound silly to you, but the kids just loved it!! They had huge smiles on their faces, and they laughed whenever we "danced like a monkey."

The next thing we did was the Gospel bead bracelet. There are five colors (yellow, black, red, white and green) that help you explain the Gospel (the Garden of Eden, sin, the blood of Jesus, that makes you clean and white, so we can have eternal life). This whole first part of the fiesta the translators were doing a lot of the work, but Sharon C. and I helped teach the song in English, did the actions to the songs, and we also helped the children tie the knots on their bracelets. Oh, and I was the "official" team photographer/videographer, so I kept busy with that too. Another fun thing we did while the kids were in their seats was reading the story of Noah's Ark to them. Sharon read it and the girls translated. We read it a second time and had the kids hold up some animals and go through the ark. By the way, my sister Lydia colored all the animals for the kids and Sharon copied them and had them lamenated, then put on big popsicle sticks! Great job Lydia! :-)

After the sitting down time, we had the children split up into two groups - one to do the parachute games, and one to do the relay races. Gabriella and I did the parachute first, then we switched sides and did the relay races. The kids just LOVED throwing the balls up in the air, and even some of the adults enjoyed helping to throw the balls back on the parachute. :-)

It was quite hot out this whole time, but I put lots of 70SPF sunscreen on, along with a wide brimmed hat and we also of course drank from our water bottles. For lunch the hotel had packed us sandwiches and we also had cold Pepsi (ahhhh!).

During the lunch break the kids all brought their chairs to one of the classrooms where they colored their paper butterflies that we had given them, then used double-sided tape to attach a Popsicle stick and some colorful ribbons. After that Allen R. (who started SonLight Power) gave his speech to the children, then brought them inside for the dedication. Jay had raised the money for this school, so he dedicated it and the lights went on! Each school, besides lights in each classroom, also got a TV and VCR player, and two DVDs about Jesus. We also gave the teachers a huge bag full of supplies like scissors, markers, crayons, pencils and lots more. Each school was also able to keep the parachute and beach balls, and three new soccer balls. And each child was given a bag of school supplies, a tract, a pretty bead necklace, and the crafts they completed.

We left our first school weary and hot, but very happy that we were able to bless the children and share Jesus with them!

The Honduran dancers at the church


This was taken right after we arrived at the hotel

Caleb loved riding in the back of the pickup!

Here's the school all decorated for our arrival

The Honduran children were SO cute!

The Solar Team (with help from some locals) starts digging

Showing them how to do the bead bracelet

Dad and Caleb helping out

I love how the bright red sucker matches the lady's dress!

Reading the Noah story

Even the mothers liked to listen!

The Solar Team putting up the pole

The base of the pole - that's Mr. M. writing in the cement

I just love this picture - that girl is so adorable with that big smile on her face!

The parachute games

Dad with some of the children

The beautiful Honduran mountains

Jay with the head student, turning on the lights

Dad, Caleb and I with the children