Round 2!

It is OFFICIAL! I have put down my deposit and I will be heading back to Honduras in January on a mission trip with Camp Cho-Yeh. I am so excited, and although this is still 6 months away, I am super stoked at this chance to go back down. I was SO impacted last winter when I went, and I know that it will be an incredible experience again.

This is still a ways off, but I will be using this blog again as a way to document this journey from start to finish! As I asked last year, please keep this trip in your prayers from the get-go!

HONDURAS- Round TWO!

Getting the Campers Involved

It's time to start thinking about Honduras again! I know, it's only July and the trip is in January, isn't it kinda early? NOPE! The fundraising has already begun! This summer, every week the campers are told about Honduras and are able to contribute to the efforts by donating a couple dollars out of the Trading Post Accounts their parents have set up for them to use to buy snacks and stuff for the week. So far, we have raised over $3000. A single house costs $2000 to build, so we have already raised the money for one family's house! WHOOP!

In the next couple of weeks I will be able to sign back up and pay my deposit to journey down to Honduras again in January and I am SO excited! I was blessed so greatly by this trip last year, and I am excited to have the chance to go down there again!

Please keep this trip, the fundraising, and all of those who are interested and thinking about going in your prayers! Prayer turned out to be SUCH a huge part of the trip last year, and I know it will be crucial again this year!

The little piece of precious that stole my heart -- Sara

Throughout my week in Honduras, there was one little girl that has absolutely captured and stolen my heart -- Sara.

Sara is an orphan that I got the pleasure of loving this week. Listen to these 2 stories, and you will understand exactly why she made an impact on my life in the way she did.

On Tuesday (our first day at the orphanage) I was playing with bubbles with the 4 years and younger group of kids. All of the kids were interacting with each other and loving the bubbles and attention except this one girl. She was kinda sitting off to the side by herself. She looked to be about 2 and a half, and after saying "hola" and sitting next to this sweet child, she allowed me to pick her up and walk around with her while playing with the other kids. After a few minutes you could tell she was getting sleepy and her eyes were getting heavy, and before I knew it she was asleep in my arms. I sat down and was holding her close, and was watching all of the other kids smile and laugh. A lady who works at the orphanage came up to me and whispered in my ear "This is only the second time in Sara's entire life that she has fallen asleep in somebody's arms". Hello waterworks. I got super emotional just holding this little one, and was overcome with the thought that it could have easily been any of us who were in her shoes. I held Sara even closer and tighter than before, and was super sad when it was time for her to eat dinner and time for us to get back on the bus. I reluctantly gave her a big hug and a kiss on the forehead with a promise that I would be back on Thursday to play with her.



Wednesday and Thursday morning I could not get her sweet little face out of my head!! Finally on Thursday afternoon we were back at the orphanage, and as soon as I could get out of that truck I was on the lookout for my little Sara. It didn't take long for me to see her, and she recognized me immediately (I was kinda worried because she was so tired when I had held her the first time). She started running (the cute little 2 year old run/waddle) and about halfway to me she faceplanted. I was expecting waterworks, but nope! She stood right up and ran into my arms. I picked her up and spun her around laughing and tickling her until we were both too dizzy and out of breath from laughing so hard. The same lady who came up to me on Tuesday came back up to me in somewhat of a hurry. She questioned me "Did Sara run at you?" I explained that she had kinda fallen, but she was okay, and you would not believe what she told me: "Sara's legs are bowed and her feet are bent outwards. She has never taken a step in her life and the doctor's said she wouldn't be able to until she gets leg-braces". WHAT? This girl who had never walked in her life had RAN into my arms. I held Sara close as I began to cry. I didn't understand what had happened, but all I knew was this was one special little girl. I spent the next 4 hours with Sara attached to me. She would walk if I held her hands and held her upright, and she loved to be held and cuddled with. Sara loves playing games and squishy dodgeballs. Fruit snacks are her favorite, and she gets impatient when having to sit still too long. She loves music and dancing. She likes to be tickled and loves giggling. She is like me in the aspect that she will laugh so much that she will forget to breathe! I would hold her and then put her upside down, and she enjoyed getting to touch the ground with her hands.

Sara stole my heart this week. She is so precious and full of life. Sara taught me a lot about happiness and love this week, this is one little girl I will NEVER forget! I cannot wait to go back next year and get to hold her in my arms again! Until then, please be praying for little Sara, a long with all of the other precious kids in the orphanage. I miss them all, especially my Sara, SO much!!

"We are going under that?" - Honduras Mission Trip Day 6

FRIDAY - Day 6 (January 13th)

Today is the last day in Honduras :(. We woke up and had a delicious AMERICAN breakfast of cereal (except we didn't trust the milk... it had chunks all in it...). We had our devotional and then packed up and loaded the trucks/buses to leave CEI. While waiting for our driver we got to play our last games of Gaga Ball in Honduras. We are all excited to see if Gaga ball still exists when we come back next year!

We took about a half hour bus ride to a natural park (called some long name that I can't pronounce or even take a stab at spelling) where we took a zip line tour. It consisted of 10 zip lines. The first 8 weren't all that exciting, they were only 20 feet off the ground and you couldn't see much. The 9th one you could see the streams that fed into a HUGE waterfall. Then on the very last one we got to zipline over the 120 foot waterfall. To the right was the top of the waterfall, and it was rushing right next to you! Absolutely breathtaking!

After the zip lines, we ditched our harnesses and went on a "cave tour". Essentially, we went hiking UNDERNEATH the waterfall. The water was beating down on our heads as we journeyed beneath it's beauty. We got to go into some natural "caves" underneath the waterfall to take refuge from the water (it comes down HARD!). After hiking through the waterfall, we got to go cliff jumping! We all leaped off of a 60 foot rock and plunged into the pools of water that are caused from the waterfall runoffs. It was such a thrill! It's funny because ziplines and cliff jumping aren't things that I would typically be super excited about doing, but it was a BLAST! (It probably helped because my second family was surrounding me and we were doing it together). It was amazing!

We then ate lunch at the park where we had fried chicken and french fries. YUM!!!

We had a fairly long bus ride to San Pedro Sula where we went to a native market. It was SO crowded, and essentially isles and isles of the same basic thing. It was still kinda fun to haggle with the Honduran market-people! I ended up buying a "Jesus fish" as we call them in the states with the words "Jesus es mi mejor amigo" on the bottom (Jesus is my best friend).

After the market we went to a VERY nice Bed and Breakfast where we are staying for tonight. For dinner we had some delicious marinated chicken, mashed potatoes, rice, and rolls! For the first time all week we have hot water for showers, and an actual bed. There is also wifi here so we are able to communicate with friends and family back in the states. The game plan for tonight is just hanging out and reflecting on the week.

We leave tomorrow to head back to the states. It's been an amazing week and I KNOW it is going to take me some time to reflect on everything I have learned! It is an experience I know I will never forget. I have definitely fell in love with a nation this week and it's beautiful people -- I know I am going to miss it!!

"This is unreal!" - Honduras Mission Trip Day 5

THURSDAY - Day 5 (January 12th)

We woke up to a breakfast of toast, eggs, beans, and.... yep, you guessed it! Peanut Butter Crackers as a substitute! We had our devotional and then loaded into the trucks to head to the worksite.

We stopped at the house that I was apart of building first to dedicate the house to the family. Seeing everybody together was so special, and the family was SO thankful. It was very hard to leave and say goodbyes to that sweet family.

We then road an hour in the back of a truck to a new site named Conchias. The road trip was unbelievable! The views were breathtaking, and multiple times we made the truck driver stop so we could take in the immense beauty of the mountains. It was unreal!

The truck eventually stopped, and we were all kinda confused. We saw the huge stack of lumber that was intended to be used for this new house that we had taken on building, but we didn't see the foundation that we were supposed to be building on top of. When we asked where it was, we were told to look up the mountain... Yep! 1/4 of a mile straight uphill! The trucks couldn't make it up there, and there was no power up there to cut the wood, so we had to carry all of the wood up the mountain. After finally getting it all up there, we were able to get all of the sides up for the house, so that the next group would only have to worry about the roof.

We made sandwiches there before heading off to the orphanage. It was another sweet day filled with playing with the precious children. (As I mentioned before, a little girl by the name of Sara STOLE my heart, but she is getting a blog post to herself). It was so hard to leave the orphanage and say goodbye to those beautiful and loving children!

We went back to CEI to shower and have dinner before we headed to another church service. We were told dinner was hamburgers, so naturally we all got VERY excited. We quickly realized that it was "seasoned" and baked with relish and cream inside, so it wasn't as good as we were all hoping for. Not to worry, there was plenty of peanut butter crackers going around!

At church tonight there was lots of singing, and Garret (Cho-Yeh's summer camp director) was asked to preach on the spot. The family we built our house for was at church so it was special to get to sing and praise Our King with them! It was neat to sing songs declaring the same praise to the same King in two different languages. That is something I don't think I will EVER forget! Absolutely beautiful.

We spent tonight talking about our days, looking at pictures, and then going through all of the clothes we bought and making an enormous pile of clothes to donate to families and children here in Honduras.

Today was an absolutely beautiful day, and it seems unreal that we only have one more full day left in this gorgeous nation!

"Open The Window!!!" - Honduras Mission Trip Day 4

WEDNESDAY - Day 4 (January 11th)

Today we woke up to a typical breakfast of beans and eggs (aka -- CRACKERS!). After devotional we went to the worksite where we got to paint the house that we had finished yesterday. We painted it a bright blue, the shade that I absolutely love! Painting the house was an interesting experience because we didn't have any ladders, so we used homemade ladders (kinda sketch, but they never broke!), and created our own "ladders" by stacking benches, cinderblocks, and wood to give us the boosts we needed. The kids of the family were so helpful in holding paint for us, or just being somebody to talk with as we painted. They also LOVED to paint, and were great at painting the lower parts that would've required us to squat or bend over for long periods of time. When we were finished, the house looked GREAT!

Back at CEI we had a lunch of tilapia (fish), rice and vegetables. We had a BUNCH of kids show up for day camp, and I spun a jump rope for a group of about 15 girls for most of the time. We would teach them the old songs that we used to jump rope to when we were younger which was a hit! Moises (one guy who works at CEI and only speaks Spanish) helped 10 children accept Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior! SO exciting!

After the kids left, we ran through showers and dinner (spam and beans -- YUCK!) in order to make it to a church service in a village 45 minutes away. The church service was so much fun, and it was neat to see how the kids were such an integral part of the service. They weren't told to shush, or be quiet, and there was never anything separate for them in order to allow the parents "real worship". They were being kids and worshipping God in the process -- so sweet! Before we left we were hugged by every single person in the church. It was so genuine and FUN!

Throughout the past few days, the bus rides for me have always been interesting. I never felt all too great when I would finally get off the bus, and tonight when we fit 32 people on one bus in the dark, it was no exception. About 30 minutes into the bus ride, I could tell I wasn't going to make it another 15 minutes. I ended up having to stick my head out the window to get enough air on me, and still felt miserable. By the time we got to camp I ditched the bus and just sat there for a good half hour before I felt okay enough to walk down to the cabin and roll into bed. It was miserable!

Except for getting bus-sick, today was a GREAT day! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

"Howdy Y'all! Gig'em Ags!" - Honduras Mission Trip Day 3

TUESDAY - Day 3 (January 10th)

Today we woke up to an "American" breakfast that was really yummy! Pancakes with peanut butter, mmmmm delicious! We also had watermelon and eggs too. After we had time for a personal devotional, we headed off to the job site.

The kids at the site are SO helpful! They are always willing to grab a hammer and drive in some nails, or carry lumber, or hold nails for us, or climb onto the rafters of the roof to help pull up metal to nail in. I loved to compare this situation to what it would resemble in America. In the states, children would be told to stay out of the workers way and not be a bother. These children were in no way a bother, but rather so helpful! We toured the family's old house which is one foot away from their new house, and were shocked to see the one room "house" they were living in. The dad of the family was SO thankful and grateful, he started crying in gratitude and embraced each one of us in a huge hug. His family wasn't going to move into the new house until members from the church came out to bless the home. We finished the house today, and so had some time to just play with the kids. The children knew that we were trying hard to pick up Spanish, and so they wanted to learn some English too. And what happens when a bunch of Aggies are teaching kids English? They learn to say "Howdy y'all!" and "Gig'em Ags!" So cute!

We drove back to CEI and had a lunch of peanut butter sandwiches, chips, and bananas. SO yummy!

Today was the first day that we went to the orphanage in the afternoon. We were at a very nice private orphanage (in comparison to the state orphanages), that was opened three generations ago by an American family. The orphanage is now being run by the original founders granddaughter. They have children from a few weeks to 17 years old. One cool thing that they do is that they pay for their kids education through college (Education is free until 6th grade, then it costs the equivalent of $100 USD) on the condition that after graduation from university, they come back and work for the orphanage for 5 years. The system works really well, because then everybody who works at the orphanage has a genuine love for the kids and is very understanding and compassionate. The orphanage is very well kept, the children are well fed and look healthy, and they even have pet monkeys and dogs (unheard of in Honduras).

When we got there we got to play with the kids for the first bit. I was helping one girl go across the monkey bars when all of a sudden she started giggling and laughing uncontrollably. I looked up to see that a monkey was perched on the monkey bars where Rosa was hanging (or where I was holding her up), and the monkey had her ponytail in its mouth! I quickly pryed her hair out of the monkey's mouth (Rosa still laughing) and ran away from the monkey bars. Everybody from Cho-Yeh saw this happening, and quickly informed me that the monkey was eyeing me. I started walking further away from the monkey bars, and the monkey was watching me. All of a sudden the monkey jumped off the monkey bars (irony -- monkey... monkey bars...) and started chasing me. Literally. CHASING me around the playground!! Geeeesh.

We performed our Lifehouse Skit here too for the older children, and it went really well! At the end of the afternoon, I was playing with some of the 3 years and under children at the bubbles station, when I found this sweet little girl kinda sitting by herself. I picked her up and played with her a while. Her name was Sara and there will be an entire blog post devoted just to this little piece of sunshine that stole my heart!

After the orphanage we drove to a lake and watched the sun set behind the mountains. Beautiful!!

Dinner was chicken and mashed potatoes -- SCORE! I was able to eat safely all three meals today!

We then experienced another round of cold showers, devotionals and worship before quickly falling into our beds and fast asleep. What a gorgeous and fulfilling day in this country that is stealing my heart!!