Construí mi primera casa

I don't know who it was, but two people lied about snoring. We'll get to the bottom of it soon. Between the snoring and a sore back I did not get a great night of sleep. However, part of the sleep deprivation may be a result of my excitement in anticipation of a morning run and work for the day.

Josue, Clark and I began our one mile run at about 6am. The hills here were brutal. I don't think I will master them this year, but I have years to work on it. Josue was beat, but Debbie was so proud of him. I was happy to get my first dose of endorfinas Honduras!

Today our group had the choice of three service projects:

1. Visit the dump and supporting school
2. Build a house for Giovanni (friend of Luis)
3. Build a house for the family of a paraplegic teen.

I chose project 3. I know it is going to be a hard day, but I am happy to be fatigued for this cause.

We arrived on site and went right to work. Before construction began, we had to demolish an existing home. Next, we cleared the existing slab and prepared to build the new home. However, there was slight delay. The plots were owned by sisters disputing the right to build. Joel acted as mediator and translator. With Marc on the phone, the situation was resolved and construction began.

After awhile, Heidi identified the teen boys watching as gang members. They were waiting for us to leave materials unattended so they could steal them. Our teens acted as guards. The boys were not aggressive, but they were patient. Honduran boys their age are not expected to accomplish more than this. Every so often the wind blew the strong smell of marijuana over the site. This is how the average teen spends a school day. Repeatedly, older men would stumble through the area drunk or high as children walk home from school.

We were joined by the team that visited the dump at 1pm.  All of the children were released from school, so play began. The kids were excited and sometimes hostile. They were sneaky about collecting multiple balloons, coloring pages and candy. Soon we began playing games with them. I have posted a few of my favorite videos below:

It was exciting to build my first house. I didn't do a lot, but working was enough for me. We never got to meet the girl that was paralyzed. I was fine with this because she is not an exhibit and I doubt I would be able to handle it.  Her family is shown here:

We ended construction abruptly.  Once Joel blessed the house,  we headed straight to dinner. Food was great, as usual. During devotion, I sat next to Terry (Intern Christine's dad) and he sang so beautifully. Though I didn't know the words, it was quite easy to harmonize with him. The message was delivered Wes (Murray State Ministry leader). Though the second part of his message didn't make a lot of sense to me, the first part hit home.  An explanation follows:

I continue to struggle with God and the suffering if the innocent. Yet, I know I love God and he loves me. Wes talked about various characters and their journey to the wilderness. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Daniel, John the Baptist, Paul... Even Jesus was in the wilderness after being baptized. All of them spent time in the wilderness. This is where God taught them to be strong. "The wilderness is the King's school." Wes concluded this point by saying, "Some of us are in a wilderness that we did not choose." That floored me. It didn't resolve my issues, but it gave me a bit to chew on.

"Then Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." - Matthew 4:1