Sunday, June 29, 2008

We are in Tela!

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!

Friday, June 27, 2008

We have arrived at Copan

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?

 

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Another day, another update

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.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

More pictures - June 25


1-One of our translators helping us teach English.


2-The kids in the class room.


3-The old children's class room.


4-At recess, the kids just love playing with us. It doesn't matter that we don't speak english.


5-Hey Jenny! Here's Pedro.


6-Girls hard at work.


7-Planting trees with Junior High Schoolersr and the Honduran Army.


8-See how safe your little girls are. We even have the Honduran army keeping them safe.


9-The entire group that planted trees. Yes, those are real guns!.


10-Girls and their guns!.

Why did Noah go to the Emergency Room?

It occurred to me that maybe someone is wondering why Noah went to ER...

Well, what happen was he was teaching a class. Then the recess bell rang, so he left with the kids to play.

He needed his water bottle (you get pretty thirsty around here!) and the classroom door was locked.

So he tried to retrieve it by reaching through a half open window and, in his words: "I didn't have as much finesse as I needed"

Anyway, he broke the glass and the shards cut his chin. He was taken to ER by Annie's parents and got four stitches and some two prescriptions (antibiotics and pain reliever). The bummer is all the instructions are written in Spanish, but we are figuring it out.

If you are wondering what the bill was: $54 American.

We are all thankful (me especially) that it wasn't more serious. As it stands, it makes for a great story.

Take care all. Keep praying for safety. Also pray for health too. Several kids are getting the "sickie ickies" as we call it. They aren't too sick, and it usually lasts only about 24 hours. What's amazing is that their spirits are always great, even when not feeling well.

Gregg

Another long day….

Hello to all Parents! This is Gregg Boer with an updated.
Things are going amazingly well. We have just completed three long days and have one more day (un día más) to go of this grueling routine. Today was by far the biggest day. It sort of went like this:
·         Breakfast at 7:00am
·         In the bus at 7:40am
·         At the school from 8:00am
o   8:00am – 8:45am – Teaching English
o   8:45am – 9:30am – Craft time
o   9:30am – 10:00am – Recess with the kids
·         On the bus at 10:00am
·         In the market at 10:30am
·         Shopping from 10:30am to 11:30am
·         Lunch at noon
·         On the bus at 12:30pm
·         At the job site from 1:00pm to 3:15pm
o   Mixing cement by hand on the ground and moving by bucket
o   Pick-axing hard-dirt to scoop into wheelbarrows to use as fill dirt
·         On the bus at 3:15pm, drive to the forest
·         Plant 160 trees with the Junior High school children and the Honduras Army! Big men with guns there to protect us from gangs.
·         On the bus at 5:00pm, back to where we are staying at 5:30pm.
·         Eat at 6:00pm
·         The Honduran youth group shows up at 7:00pm and play volleyball, ping-pong, soccer, and communicate through broken English, Spanish and lots of hand-guestures.
That should give you an idea of how busy things have been for the kids.
Now, I would like to see things from a parent’s perspective.  Any parent who has sent their kid on this trip should be very, very proud of their child (or children, in case of the Hudson’s). These kids have been amazing. Even with the language barrier they jumped right in and made friends with the local high school-ers. Lifelong friendships are being formed.
They dive right in and help with the class-room activities, they have never complained once about all the work they are doing (at it is HARD work). In fact the only complaint is that there isn’t enough work for all of them! They have risen to every challenge and have done it with a smile. These kids are awesome. (I’m not just saying that because I’m a parent to one of the kids)
I’m serious, I cannot say this enough. You parents should be very, very proud!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Honduras Days 3 & 4

To Family and Friends:
Days 1-4 have come to a close. New relationships are being built. Old ones have been renewed.
El Iglesia de Eben Ezer de la ciudad de Siguatepeque (The Church of Ebenezer in the city of Siguatepeque) and their youth have been extremely welcoming to our group.
Day 3 was filled with temporary goodbyes from the church youth group campers and leaders, a walk through the city’s market (fruits, vegetables, and clothing), Brady’s official 1st birthday party, and a wonderful prayer-group experience at Heber Alvarez’s (Annie Boomsma’s father) church.
Day 4 was our first workday at Pastor Hugo’s new home, first food basket distributions, and our first day at the private Christian school at the church. We were divided into six classroom groups and most of our time was spent enjoying the children’s smiles - the laughter that came from teaching each other Spanish and English was/is astounding.
Showing God’s love through pure service is humbling for all of us.
Thank you so much for your prayers.
May God be praised in all we do.
Sincerely,
               Daniel H. Dovinh
p.s. 24/7

More Pictures - June 24


After the first visit to the emergency room


Boys from the school


Handing out food to a family living in the mountains


Making friends with the students


Moving dirt and mixing cement at the job site


Our transportation to just about anywhere


Playing soccer during recese - 2


Playing soccer during recess


Playing with the kids


Rashell with kids from the school


Yup a real oxen drawn cart!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Pictures for the blog - June 22

Below are some pictures from the past couple of days:


A group game. Tossing people!


At the retreat


Checking out the job site


Don't let them know we took this picture!


Friends at the reteat-1


Friends at the retreat-2


Friends at the retreat-3


Friends at the retreat-4


Friends at the retreat-5


Heber. Annie's Dad and our Host


Jorge, our Camp Director


Pinata Time


Playing volleyball


Resting after a 4 hour hike


Visiting Annie's home church


What is Austin eating!

The resolution has been downgraded for viewing on the blog.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

All is well in Honduras

Greetings from Honduras,
 
We were able to quickly leave camp to email all of you to let you know that we did arrive in Honduras with no trouble at all. We drove 3 hours to the camp and arrived at the camp at about 9pm. We were greeting with cheers and whistling and that transitioned into a worship service. All of our students were paired up with other Honduran students for sleeping arrangements. I was amazed at how quickly our students embraced the Honduran young people and are all attempting to speak Spanish with them. We did not get to bed until about midnight last night and we started hiking this morning at around 7:30am. The hiking was quite extreme packed with crossing rivers, climbing up steep cliffs using ropes and at the end a  lunch that never tasted so good! All of our students and leaders are doing fine and are feeling good, though many are in need of a nap they still are incredibly engaged and willing to participate. Tomorrow will be our last day of intense camp and we will have some time to relax, go to church, go walk around downtown Siguatepeque, get situated for our classes this week and head to the seminary where we will be staying Monday-Thursday.

Tomorrow we should be emailing pictures!!!
 
Quote from student:
 
To see all of these teenagers so happy and filled with joy taught me I do not need the stuff I think I need to find joy.
 
 
Grace & Peace
 
Rick, Pedro & Rashell
 

Monday, June 16, 2008

See you at the airport :) [Honduras Flight Schedule]

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

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Honduras Overview

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

Friday June 20, 2008
4:00am BE AT THE AIRPORT
6:00am Depart from Seattle’s Seatac Airport - Continental  Airlines 223
12:07pm Arrive in Houston
12:50pm Depart from Houston Intl Airport
2:53pm Arrive in Honduras (re-routed into San-Pedro-Sula international airport)
4-4:30pm Bus picks us up, and start traveling to Siguatepeque
3:45-7:30pm Travel to Siquatepeque Dinner on the way at Chicharones
7:00pm Arrive at camp
8:00pm Camp Activities
9:00pm Reflection & Prayer
10:00pm Go to bed
Saturday June 21, 2008
6:00am Rise & Shine, Shower, and personal devotions
7:00am Breakfast at Camp
8:00pm Camp Activities
12:00PM Lunch
1:00pm Awana
5:00pm Dinner
6:00pm Camp Activities
9:00pm Reflection & Prayer
10:00pm Bed time
Sunday June 22, 2008
9:00am Rise & Shine, Shower, and personal devotions
7:00am Breakfast at Camp
9:00am Sunday School
10:00am Church
12:00PM Lunch
2:00pm Town
5:30pm Church Service
7:00pm Dinner at Del Corral
9:00pm Arrive at Seminary and get settled (reflection & prayer)
10:00pm Bed time
Monday June 23, 2008
6:00am Rise & Shine, Shower, and personal devotions
7:00am Breakfast at Seminary
8:00-10:00am Working at the Gamaliel school with the children on English and art.
10:00-12:00pm Service project at pastor Hugo’s house and at Eben-Ezer church, painting and gardening
12:00pm Lunch
1 :00-4:00pm Activities with local children, bringing clothing and food to small villages
5:00-7:00pm Dinner
7:00-9:00pm Activities with Eben-Ezer youth group
9:00pm Reflection & Prayer
10:00pm Bed Time
Tuesday June 24, 2008
6:00am Rise & Shine, Shower, and personal devotions
7:00am Breakfast at Seminary
8:00-10:00am Working at the Gamaliel school with the children on English and art.
10:00-12:00pm Service project at pastor Hugo’s house and at Eben-Ezer church, painting and gardening
12:00pm Lunch
1 :00-4:00pm Activities with local children, bringing clothing and food to small villages
5:00-7:00pm Dinner
7:00-9:00pm Activities with Eben-Ezer youth group
9:00pm Reflection & Prayer
10:00pm Bed Time
Wednesday June 25, 2008
6:00am Rise & Shine, Shower, and personal devotions
7:00am Breakfast at Seminary
8:00-10:00am Working at the Gamaliel school with the children on English and art.
10:00-12:00pm Service project at pastor Hugo’s house and at Eben-Ezer church, painting and gardening
12:00pm Lunch
1:00-4:00pm Activities with local children, bringing clothing and food to small villages
5:00-7:00pm Dinner
7:00-9:00pm Activities with Eben-Ezer youth group
9:00pm Reflection & Prayer
10:00pm Bed Time
Thursday June 26, 2008
6:00am Rise & Shine, Shower, and personal devotions
7:00am Breakfast at Seminary
8:00-10:00am Working at the Gamaliel school with the children on English and art.
10:00-12:00pm Service project at pastor Hugo’s house and at Eben-Ezer church, painting and gardening
12:00pm Lunch
1:00-4:00pm Activities with local children, bringing clothing and food to small villages
5:00-7:00pm Dinner
7:00-9:00pm Activities with Eben-Ezer youth group
9:00pm Reflection & Prayer
10:00pm Bed Time
Friday June 27, 2008
5:00am Depart from Seminary
9:00am Arrive at the Copan Ruins
9:30-11:45am Tour of Mayan Ruins
11:45-1:30pm Lunch at the Mary Restaurant
1:30-4:00pm Museum
4:00-5:30 Shopping & Site Seeing in Copan
5:30-6:00pm Get situated at the Posada Copan Hotel
6:00-7:30pm Dinner at the Marry Restaurant
7:30pm Return to Hotel
8:00pm Reflection & Prayer
Saturday June 28, 2008
6:00am Breakfast
7:00am Depart for Tela
12:00pm Lunch at Tb Jaime
1:00pm Check in at Telamar
2:00-6:00pm Pool/Beach
6:00-7:00pm Dinner back at Villas
7:00-9:00pm Pool/Beach
9:00-10:00 Reflection & Prayer
Sunday June 29, 2008
8:30-9:30am Swimming at the beach
9:30-9:45am Breakfast
10:30-11:00am Loading, and back to Siguatepeque
1:00-2:30pm Lunch at La Naturaleza
4:00pm Arrive at Seminary
4:15-5:l5pm Dinner at Seminar
5:30pm Attend Eben-Ezer Church service, last chance to connect with the members
9:00-10:00 Reflection & Prayer
10:00pm Bed Time
Monday June 30, 2008
7:00am Breakfast
8:00am Travel To Tegucigaipa
10:00am Checking at the airport
12:28pm Depart from Tegucigalpa Airport
4:27pm Arrive at Houston Intl airport
7:25pm Depart from Houston
10:02pm Arrive in Seattle WA - Continental  Airlines 1888
Flight Status - http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/travel/flightStatus/results.aspx?FLN=1888&FLD=6/30/2008

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

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Honduras Photos Archive

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