The last thing we did today was to take a food basket to Esdras' house. Esdra lives with his grandmother. His mother is very mentally ill and lives in the street. I wasn't sure where Esdras house was and thought I was going to freak out when we turned to go into his house and I realized I had been there before.
The whole situation flashed back to me. In 2009 I was walking through Los Pinos and it started to rain, so we ducked into this very same house to get out of the rain. The lady inside was very kind and welcoming. As we left she pulled me back and talked to me. She told me in that she needed a church to go to. I invited her to come to Iglesia En Transformación and waited the following Sundays, looking for her. I thought she never came.
As I entered her home I was bursting with joy and amazement. If we were bringing a basket of food to her, she obviously had not only attended the church, but had also become an active member! I told the people who were walking with me that I had been there before in 2009 and invited her to join the church, but never knew that she did. Then as I turned the corner and saw who she was, I realized I have spent time with her since I moved here. She was in my women's group that met on Tuesday nights. She has been around as Esdras prepared to go to El Sembrador. I have known Doña Olivia as a member of the church, but I never realized she was the same person who told me she was looking for a new church when I ducked out of the rain and spent time in her home in 2009.
We hugged and talked about the last time I was in her house. She said she remembered. She said that she had told her grandson that she knew me, but he told her she was wrong. We laughed about the fact that we have actually know each other since 2009. God never fails to amaze me! What a cool way to end the team's visit.
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| Doña Olivia with Esdras and Bryon, plus 2 neighbor girls |
Two of them were going to take turns working in the kitchen each day, but the 2 men who worked the very first day loved it so much, they stayed there all week! It was a good example for the boys of the Breakfast Program and they said they had a really good time. They loved Marlin and Ana. They liked learning about the food. They even learned how to make tortillas today, which they were very proud of.
Each day the team brought a suitcase full of clothes to donate to the church. They unloaded, only to return the next day with it full again. We received lots of new clothes to pass out. We also were amazed at the way things seemed to multiply. The first day we told them we were going to buy toothbrushes for the kids. They said they had 3 boxes of toothbrushes, which was over 100, so not to buy any. The next day they brought us 6 boxes of toothbrushes. They said they had no idea how, but 3 more boxes had appeared.
Meylin has needed a new bathing suit. Hers is painfully tight. I shopped for a bathing suit for Meylin, but another member of the church said he already planned to buy her one. Amongst the used clothes they brought, this team happened to have a brand new bathing suit that fit Meylin PERFECTLY. And it is really cute! Awesome!!!!
They said even their money is multiplying. They found money they can't account for in their wallets.
In the meantime, things continue to disappear in the church. The team was sad for the kids, and prayed for them. We saw a lot of thievery and lying this week. I kept trying to say this was not typical, but when it happened day after day, I started to look silly. I have never seen this problem, especially at this level, before.
The team brought a lot of gifts. The kids would receive one, then hide it and go back for more. They lied and said they had never received one, when you could see the bulge of it in their pocket. It was sad. I have really never seen this happen before. Maybe one or two would try to trick us, but never this many kids lying so many times. It hurt my heart because I worried that maybe the team might not be able to love the kids as much if the kids kept lying and stealing, or trying to steal.
Now that I think of it, we don't normally have tons of fun things around for them to be greedy and lie about. I felt a little embarrassed, like a mother would. The kids didn't say "Please" and "Thank You" like I would have expected them to. Even when I reminded them day after day, they still didn't. It was disappointing in that aspect.
But they did say sweet things and treated the team well in other ways - other than lying and not saying "please" or "thank you". I do not mean to say that the kids were not great. Overall, they were. I just had never seen this side of them before so it hit me hard.
Last night the team invited me to have dinner with them! I was so excited and honored. The place where they are staying is completely amazing. It is probably the nicest home I have ever visited in my entire life, in a simple and comfortable way. The owners moved to the US and rent out the house. The groundskeeper invited me to bring friends to walk on the property, or bring my car and he will wash it, any time I want.
The team was happy to have me visit their house because they were able to communicate with the housekeeper about her great food and with the groundskeeper about some things they needed. They learned the housekeeper and the groundskeeper are married to each other and have a baby they will meet Saturday. I was able to get them really settled into the house. They all told me how much they appreciated my help at The Breakfast Program as well as at their home. Three mornings I went to the pool first, so I got there 1 & 1/2 hours later. They said, "We are so happy you are here! We needed you!" It was nice to be needed.
I learned that Walter is now in charge of the whole Plentiful Life Program. He will do a great job. He knows all about what we currently offer and has ideas for new things we can implement. I respect Walter's leadership abilities. He is fair and he offers wise counsel. He is good at seeing things from different points of view. He doesn't just take things at face value, he looks deeper.
Samuel and I are meeting about plans for the next semester of the sports program. Swimming will be over in 2 weeks. I'm sad about that. I absolutely love the swimming program and believe it has been a huge blessing to the kids. It has been a blessing to me! I will not miss waking up early, but I will miss every other part of the swimming program. So far I am hearing about starting a cycling team. The coach will be a man who has raced in the Tour de France and Coast to Coast race, here in Honduras. They are planning to buy 10 bikes and teach 10 kids to ride, then train them to race. Sounds amazing!
The week is over. I had a cold all week with a sore throat. Yesterday and today I lost my voice! Yes, the translator lost her voice. I thanked God over and over that I felt strong, even though I sounded horrible.
Yesterday, as the team was asking for pictures with me, I thought back to my first visit to Honduras and how much I loved getting to know our translators. They were a special part of my team's visit. I also tried to think about what Jairo would have shared with the team if he were here. I shared with the team some local news. For example, today's front page headlines were about dangerous gangs in Los Pinos who are trafficking women as prostitutes. Yesterday and today we delivered food baskets to families in Los Pinos.
Here are a few photos. I will have more in a few weeks. The team is going to send me the photos they took on a disc or memory card, since I don't have a camera.
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| Wednesday we went to a used clothing store and bought a new jacket for Christian. He had no jacket. The next day it was 57 degrees and WINDY |
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| Haircuts |
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| Smiles! |
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| Milagro, dressed for the cold |
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| We visited Ana's house with a food basket. This is Jired, David and Samuel with Ana and Isabella |
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| The team brought US a special gift! |
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| It is a plaque to thank us for serving God and the kids |
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| We are grateful for the team from Ohio |
