1st Church blog

We left Copan at about 9am and arrived in Progresso at about noon. We all ate at Wendy's (Burgers! Fries!) and then went to a big sovenior shop. After that we headed off to Tela and arrived at about 4pm. The kids unpacked and immediately went out to the beach and swam in the Carribean Seal, body surfing on the sweet waves. It was a great treat after spending so long on the bus! After that it was swimming in the bool, playing volleyball in the pool, hitting the waterslide, eating spaghetti (made by Annie's parents), playing cards, swimming contests like treading water the longest (Sarah Vander Giessen pwn'd all of  us), eating the leftover spaghetti, playing cards, watching movies, and it ended with us visiting a karaoke place (all in Spanish) .... then they turned on the dance music and we all went on the dance floor and danced like a bunch of white people! Then off to bed...

Today (Sunday) we all slept it (FINALLY), and then more of the same. More waves, more swimming, some naps, more eating. Sarah Vander Giessen was proposed to by an Honduran guy. You know, stuff like that.

Tomorrow we head back. This will likely be our last blog post, unless we can catch some wireless at an airport.

It's been an amazing trip, the kids are tired but are getting more refreshed. Can't want to come home!

We started the day at 4:30am, and the bus took off at 5:30am for the 5 hour drive to Copan where the Mayan ruins are. It was a long ride and more than a few kids got car sick. We started our tour at around 10:45am and finished it at around 2:00pm.

The kids were pretty hungry by that time and we started to head off to the restaurant. We had the choice of walking or taking a taxi. We opted for the taxi for 10L (50 cents). The taxi was a three wheeled golf-cart scooter sort of thing. 3 sat in the back, one sat in the front. the taxi driver dropped a bunch of us off at the wrong place. They took off and there we sat (I was one of them in the group) at the wrong place, no taxi, just enough spanish speaking to figure out tthat we didn't know what to do!

Eventually the taxi came back, and we were taken to the correct location. Yes, we had to pay again. Our theory is that they did it on purpose. Oh well.

After that, some of the kids went to the local market in town, and another group took a horse-back tour of the mountains above the Mayan ruins (for $15 American).

Tonight, its supper, and relaxing to Spanish cable television.

I wish I could upload pictures, but I'm not able to from this internet cafe. At least they have an English keyboard so I can capitalize things this time!

More later. Miss you all!

BTW, did you know the Mayan's thought that a big flat forehead, large nose, cross-eyes, and sharp green teeth were a sign of beauty?

hey folks. today i'm updating you from an internet cafe here in town. the reason you will not see me type any capital letters is because i'm typing on a spanish keyboard and i keep messing up when hitting the shift key ... it is in a slightly different place.

we said goodbye to the kids at the school today. it was our last day teaching. it was hard to leave, because we've grown to love the kids. it was also hard to leave because some of the epic kids had 5 or 6 children hanging on them saying "no! no!". we went to the job sites today again.

with one job, we were able to finish paving the drive, building a retaining wall, and filling in the dirt behind the retaining wall. we also dug a drainage ditch. now remember, all that digging was in hard-pan. all the fill dirt, used to be hard-pan until the kids pick-axed it up.

with another job, we were able to build a house for someone ... in two days. how did we do that, you may ask ... well, you start with a basic frame of four poles on each corner and a rough outline of a roof. then you slap sheet metal on the sides and on the top. dirt floor, no electricity, but now you have a house. the couple that is going to live in the house was living in a mud-house that was caving in on one side, so they were only living on one side of the house. now they can stay dry, so that is great!

the kids are all in downtown siquatepeque today shopping again. tonight we pack and go to the mayan ruins, then two days at tela, then drive to the airport.

tonight we'll be saying goodbye to the youth group here in honduras. i'm sure that will be hard for many of the kids. i think some of the honduran girls fancy some of our boys :-)

anyway that's all for now. not sure when we can make the next update, but will continue to try as we get access to the internet.

love from honduras.

Below are some pictures from the past couple of days:

The resolution has been downgraded for viewing on the blog.

Friday, June 20, Leave for Honduras
[Get to airport at 4am for check-in at Continental  Airlines]
Flight CO223 

Monday, June 30, Return from Honduras
[Arrive back in Seattle 10:02pm]
Flight CO1888
Flight Status - http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/travel/flightStatus/results.aspx?FLN=1888&FLD=6/30/2008

From June 20-30, we will be joining 18 fellow students and 8 adult leaders for a mission trip to Honduras, in Central America.   The majority of our time will be spent with a local youth group, getting to know them and ministering to others alongside of them.

We are all starting to get excited about this opportunity. Annie, our youth pastor Rick Boomsma’s wife, is from Honduras. We will be working with and ministering to people who have connections with or live near her family. This not only makes the cross-cultural experience so much better, but also will help to keep costs down for the entire group.

Here are the stated goals for our trip:

1. To build friendships with Honduran people, hoping that these encounters might grow into long-term relationships.
2. To be a blessing to all as we work with our hands, build, and teach.
3. To build authentic community and relationships amongst our students and leaders.
4. To learn about and experience Honduran culture.

Please pray for our team as we prepare for the trip.

Itinerary EPIC Honduras June 20 - 30, 2008

Honduras Photos Archive

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