Honduras
Honduras
Mission
2010
Google Earth
On the way to Honduras
Pastor Jonathan, Deanna, Shelly, Mark, Glen, Troy, Beth
Honduras is always lush
and green. One website I
saw said that the country
is in perpetual spring.
Temperature in the
mountains ranged from
25-30 C
Pastor Mario met us at the airport in San Pedro Sula, the largest city in
Honduras, about 2 hours drive from Siguatepeque.
On the drive from the
airport we saw many
different crops and
plantations, including
sugar cane, pineapple, and
bananas.
This bridge collapsed in last year’s 7.1 magnitude earthquake.
Notice the section laying in the river.
After a two hour drive into the mountains, we arrived at our
village just outside Siguatepeque called Villa Alicia.
Iglesia Bautista Unidad.
The church was started by
American missionaries and
built by mission teams.
The church building is
above, and the education
building to the right.
With Alfredo back
at the house with
my Honduran
family... Alfredo
goes to an English
school and so we
could communicate
with the help of a
dictionary and lots
of hand motions.
Every house has at least
one gecko – they keep the
house free from insects.
Beans are a staple of
Honduran food. We ate
them whole, crushed,
mashed, and boiled into a
paste. Sometimes they
were served on soft
tortillas with cheese
sprinkled on top.
We also enjoyed other
foods like this chicken dish
and fried plantain.
A youth musical
team practices for
Sunday worship
Many houses had
hedges with lots of
these beautiful
flowers
Many homes had fruit and
other trees in their yards,
like aloe, lime, papya,
mango, and bananas.
These homes were fairly
typcial in Honduras. The
one above is made from
adobe bricks, the one on
the left from cement
blocks faced with
concrete. These building
materials are modest but
durable.
A coffee farmer from the church explains coffee to Pastor
Jonathan. Even a small plot of land can yield remarkable
results, but the plants require special attention when they
are young.
We arrived at this local
swimming hole called
“Three Mayors” after an
hour-long walk. After
watching the young people
for a while, we joined
them in jumping off the
cliff.
The red lines mark the
work we will do to expand
this children’s playing area
– extending the retaining
wall and adding rock and
fill on the lower side.
The red line marks the work on the lower side of the
play area – a rock retaining wall with fill
Digging out the hill to
prepare for the
concrete forms…
Our first attempts at mixing concrete.
The Hondurans do this well and soon
showed us a better way.
Beth cleans leaves and
debris from the wall to
prepare for work on the
upper section
Work progresses on the retaining wall…
Work begins on the lower wall
We arrived at the beginning of the rainy
season. Most afternoons it rained – hard. So we
sanded pews in the church in the afternoon.
More work on the upper section of the retaining wall
Work continues on the lower section. The red
lines mark the course of the wall
I wish I would have counted
how many trips I made with
the wheelbarrow – many.
Some loads had to be wheeled down
from up the hill
Friendly contests made the
work go a little easier
Of course, we had
to try it out for
ourselves…
After the soccer game…
Along the way, we
had many chances
to get to know
our Honduran
hosts, aided by
limited Spanish,
hand signs, and a
dictionary.
A last minute project –
digging the roots out of
some underground
piping
Removing a tree to
help stop root
problems in the pipes
Moving a concrete water tank – a “pila” -
down the hill to outside the church kitchen
Pastor Jonathan reminded us that missions works
involves dealing with contradictions. Many Hondurans
are poor and earn only $7-10 per day… And yet we saw
this new French restaurant…
…Mansions exist beside
shacks
…Land in this “residential” – a gated
community - is extremely expensive
even by North American standards.
We spent a day with the church at this beach
in Puerto Cortez. The water was very nice and
the children spent most of the day swimming.
Several of the team got sunburned. I picked
up an infection from a scrape on my ankle.
Pastor Jonathan explains a passage of
scripture to John Paul
Vendors combed the beach. Church members
line up for snow cones.
The church threw a birthday party for
Pastor Jonathan
On the way to the airport to go home
we stopped to see this beautiful
waterfall, Pulhapanzak.
Back in Moncton