Soy en Honduras, ahora!

What an amazing day. Joel and Marc picked me up from the airport in Tegucigalpa! Yes, I am finally here. We left the airport, got Popeye's Chicken and went right to work. A number of things changed, so options were limited.

As we pulled into a small block, we were met by the nursing portion of our group. I stepped onto their bus and was greeted by cheers and hugs. I was so happy to see everyone. We intended to spend the day unloading rice meals for the village. This also means that I did not miss the playground building activity. SCORE!

We started off playing with the village children. They are so sweet and would melt your heart. I met Maria. She was very loquacious, but looked confused that we could not understand her. I met Roberto (10). His aunt was very proud as she told us that he spoke English very well. He attended a vocational school. He became our junior translator when we couldn't understand the three year olds. Everyone fell in love with Juan Diego. He was probably two or three years old. He wanted to play with everything we hands out. At one point his hands we so full, he chose to stick his half eaten lolipop to his shirt to receive a super ball from Krissy.

After playing for two hours, the crates arrived and we immediately began working. We unloaded 600,000 rice meals to for the village. As we worked, more and more people showed up. We sang, we unloaded, we sweated. I really don't think a shower is going to do much good. It was fun and hard at the same time. Even the children wanted to play their part. It was hard to tell them that portions were too hard or heavy for them. In the end, they were allowed
To throw out the packing scraps as we worked. They organized and took pride in their work.

After dinner each night, we have devotion. We sing together, a brief message is delivered and we share our days' experience. Builders, painters, nurses and packers all shared there vastly different activities, but echoed the same sentiment. There is no good reason for the quality of living to be so low in Honduras. This is stepping out for us, but it is the norm for them. We prayed that this experience, though short, resonates with us for the rest of our lives.

After devotion, I sat in as Rhiannon interview and young man named Nathan. He recently moved here to improve the lives of those living in the dump. He spoke of families, but specifically of children born there and never knowing anything else. He has interviewed a couple of them and they don't see that there living is not normal. Yet, the thing that bothers Nathan most is going out there and being so overwhelmed by the situation that you feel there is no way to begin to make an impact.

As I pray and as I act, I hope that I am able to stay focused and humble about what living for god truly means. I bet most of you didn't expect this curve ball at the end of the day!

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of my brethren, ye have done it unto me." - Matthew 25:40