Stonebriar Photos

This is the wall of rain that came for us on the work site one day. It was so amazing to watch it move toward us.

Some of our strong guys bringing in the tools.

I love this shot of Layne through the sand sifter.

Greg finally cut his hair!!!!!! I like it so much better all shaved up. He was a little sad to see the long locks go away. But he's happy now because less hair is much cooler in our warm temperatures.

Our digging crew.

Playing around on the work site. We were supposed to be taking a sad picture, which Sarah and I did very well. Justin, however, thought we were taking a male model picture.

I love this picture. The waterfall was running so fast. It was actually a little scary to go back behind it.
I was actually able to go to the waterfall with this group. No more strange allergic reactions for me. Greg, though, was at home sick. So, only three of our four little family members were available for this pic.
Sarah and I at the work site.
And THIS is our almost completed ramp. This team decided they were going to lay concrete on this ramp before they left and they practically completed the entire thing. It was amazing to watch them work so hard. And it paid off!
Since I won't be there for the true finished product we had to take our last "family" picture on the almost finished ramp. It's still so exciting to be standing on the ramp that people in the community will use to get into the hospital. Yay God!!!!

Last week in Honduras

It’s hard for me to believe that I only have one week left in Honduras. I’m excited to go home but I’m so sad to leave. Leaving Greg, Sarah, Justin, and all the wonderful people I’ve met through Providence World Ministries will be extremely difficult. I take comfort in the fact that Greg and I are already talking about returning for a visit in the next year or two. We have had many discussions about partnering with Providence World Ministries in their child sponsorship program. There’s still much to think about but we’re excited at the possibility of sponsoring an orphan here.

The students we are ministering to right now are from Chuck Swindoll’s church, Stonebriar, in Dallas. As I mentioned in a previous post, this is a lower level trip, which means no student leaders or student roles. I have been in charge of planning all of our meals and shopping trips. It’s such a big job and I have so much respect for the student food crews from our precious trips. I’m not too sad that I’ll be leaving that role in a week. ☺

The transition from our last group to this one was difficult for me because I grew very close to the students on our last trip. As this week comes to a close though, I’m starting to develop some great relationships with this group. Many of the girls have been through or are going through some tough situations and I am once again thankful for all of the difficult things I’ve experienced in my life that I can relate back to now. God truly does work all things for the good of those who love Him.

I'll be back in the States on Friday night and I'm excited to get the use of my phone back. I can't wait to talk to people again!! I hope everyone's summer is going well and as always, thank you so much for your continued support and prayers.

***I will post some pictures when I'm at a better internet connection.***

Another trip ends...

This weekend we are sending home the students from Faithbridge United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas. These past two weeks have been absolutely amazing!!! This trip was great because only a few of the students have ever been on a Leadertreks mission trip before, or any mission trip for that matter. As a result, we were able to see some huge growth in these students’ lives over the course of the trip.

I had the pleasure of working closely with the food, cleaning, and water teams on this trip. All seven of the students I oversaw were awesome and I had so much fun feeding into them and watching them grow in their leadership abilities and confidence.

The rest of the team did such an amazing job in each of their roles: work site leaders, ministry/sports camp leaders, worship leaders, and our FABULOUS student leaders. Every student really stepped out of their comfort zone this trip and took huge risks. Greg and I were very blessed to see each student open up more each day and take ownership over his or her individual roles as the trip progressed.

All in all, it was a great two weeks and I’m very sad to see these students leave. They worked hard, had great attitudes, and finished their mission strong. Saturday we are welcoming a new group of students from Stonebriar – a new church partner for Leadertreks. It’s a lower level trip, which means there are no student leaders, no individual team leaders, and the Leadertreks staff has a more prominent leading role. I’m excited to have a more prominent role instead of just an advisor to the student leaders. It should be an interesting trip for me to end on.

I’m heading home two weeks from Friday, which I’m very excited about. I’m also excited because I just found out that my Mom is coming to Chicago to spend my birthday with me!!!!! I’m glad that I won’t be alone since Greg will still be in Honduras. So many great things to look forward to!!!! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. Our summer is going so well and we are extremely thankful to God for this opportunity to serve Him in Honduras.

Honduras Photos

Here's some photos from our time in Honduras so far. It's amazingly beautiful and fun here!!! Check it out...

Here's Alfredo, our missionary partner here, giving a tour to Greg's first trip.
Working hard to break up the dirt for the eventual ramps...
This is the view from our work site. How beautiful is that!!!!!
Three of my FAVORITE people at the infamous waterfall!!!
We are having such an amazing summer together.
God has truly blessed Greg and I with the best interns ever!
The kids here are amazing! They are so full of love. This is one of the pastor's sons playing with Greg.
Our second team (my first) from Bent Tree Bible Fellowship was awesome! They worked so hard, even in a HUGE rainstorm...
This most recent trip has also been awesome! See the post above for more information. My good friend Niki has been here which has been so much fun.
Here's me with my food team. They're the best!!!
And another view of what I get to experience every day. The Honduran sky is awe inspiring!

Second Week

This past Friday morning, my first team went home to Texas. It was sad to see them go but it was nice to relax a little with just Greg, Justin, and Sarah. Our last week was great but difficult as well. We ran into some snags with our work project and were unable to pour any concrete on the ramps. But a lot of work was still done. We also put on a Vacation Bible School for the kids in the neighborhood near La Providencia (Alfredo's orphanage location). The kids were amazingly fun to play with. I loved running around with my group of 6-8 year olds playing duck-duck-goose until I thought I might pass out.

One of our student leaders threw his back out on Monday morning which provided some interesting moments. He was thankfully feeling much better by the time they left so his plane ride home wouldn't be awful. Praise God that we are working at one of the best hospitals in the country. Even small scrapes are getting the best treatment possible.

We had a ton of fun with our last trip and are currently in the process of getting to know our new group of students. They are also from Texas but from a different church. And as an added bonus, my friend Niki is one of the adult leaders so I get to have some fun times with her.

We're hoping for more regular internet access but you never know with power outages and all that. I hope everyone's summer is amazing!!!

My first week

We finished our first work week with the last team and had an amazing weekend relaxing and spending time together. Let me first tell you about our work project and our team’s progress.

We are working with Providence World Ministries (www.providenceworldministries.org) to establish an orphanage in Honduras that will rival most orphanages around the world. Our missionary partner, Alfredo, has been working on his vision to create the most efficient and well-run orphanage system in the world. He and his partners are hoping to create “best practices” when it comes to caring for orphans and widows around the world and then sharing that with anyone who wants it. It’s such an honor to be working with him on such a small part of a huge goal.

One element of Alfredo’s orphanage is a hospital, and not just any hospital, but currently the second more high-tech hospital in all of Honduras. When they re-open (they are currently closed for a couple of interior renovations) and begin using telemedicine (video conferencing during surgeries and medical procedures with doctors in other countries) they will become the #1 hospital in the country. Part of the construction that still needs to be done is two wheelchair ramps, one on each side of the hospital. Greg’s first team began the process of preparing the ground for ramps, and our current team has done amazing work getting the walls built for the ramps as well as leveling out the ground for concrete. It’s been amazing to watch the students work their hearts out, even in the pouring rain. We are hoping to pour concrete by Wednesday on the ramps.

On the weekend we were able to take a nice little break from the work site to play games, relax, and go to one of the most beautiful waterfalls ever! But we didn’t just look at the waterfall…we actually climbed down to the bottom and then went behind the waterfall itself. It was AMAZING! I can’t believe that I get to do it two more times!!!