La Aguatilla church has these members attend in celebration of our first service, called El Culto, in Honduras.

Day 9:

Today was one of the hardest days on record. We went to the work site for breakfast and hung out with our Hondurans brothers and sisters and played games with all the children. We had a small game of soccer with some of the guys, a couple of us took out a guitar and jammed some some worship songs with them. We held a church service/dedication in the new church building and there didn't seem to be a dry eye in the crowd. They sang some songs for us, we sang King of Glory for them, and we sang Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord in both English and Spanish simultaneously. Pastor Gerardo and Pastor Herman gave the sermon and we cried some more. After that we ate some lunch (spaghetti!) and then we took a short drive to the community pool in the mountains where we and the Hondurans hung out, celebrated a few birthdays with some cake and soda and said some sorrowful goodbyes. The mood was very somber and the ride home without our friends was quiet and reflective. Some of actually felt physically sick after having such a emotional day. The Hondurans kept telling us that even though they may never see us again, they look forward to spending time with us again in Heaven. We will never forget them. They will remain in our hearts and prayers forever.


Day 10 : We drove to get some souvenirs in Progresso, Honduras. We ate some Pizza Hut, and then drove to our resort where we have been relaxing ever since. We are so blessed to have this time of rest and reflection. Everyone is healthy and processing the wonderful and intense week and a half that we have experienced. Thank you so much for praying for us, we look forward to seeing you all soon!!!

Here are some of our favorite pictures from the past few days...

Day 8:
Today we finished the concrete floor in the church! It was amazing to see how fast we were able to pour all the concrete, and to witness the amazing skill of our Honduran brothers as they smoothed it and dyed it a beautiful earthy rust red color. (Tommy says that the technical term is dusting). We finished at the work site today before 2:30! Tomorrow we will go back to the work site, take a group picture in front of the finished church, have some lunch (spaghetti!) and visit the local pool and fellowship with our new-found friends for the final time. We are having mixed emotions at this point. It is so wonderful to see a church where there was not one before. It is rewarding to reflect on the fact that people will be able to worship in the church we built for years to come. However, it is sad to think that we will be apart from our Honduran brothers and sisters soon.

Day 7:

This morning, during our devotions, our host missionary Mike talked about how Christ reached out to people who were on the fringes of society and spent much of His time with them. He challenged us to do the same both here in Honduras, and when we return to the United States. We got to the job site, moved yet even more dirt into the church for the floor, and had the incredible opportunity to eat lunch at the houses of several members of the church we are building. We went to the Hondurans houses in pairs and gave them coffee mugs with our picture on the front and a verse in Spanish on the back. We filled the mugs with candy and cookies for the children in the families. During VBS, our puppet show was about the story of the good Samaritan in modern times at the border of the United States and Mexico. We had even more children participate than in the previous two days, and we were able to give them not only a cool craft (a bracelet made of pipe cleaners and beads) but a toothbrush and a goody-bag filled with some fun school supplies and some toys. We also gave them candy and cookies, and they were more than overjoyed! The church is completely finished except for cemement floor that we will pour tomorow, and the wrought iron bars we will put on the windows. We bought some chairs today that will be used in the future church. The money for the chairs was from a generous donation from Hope International Baptist Church. We are so happy to see the chuch nearly finished, but we are also sad because our progress also means that we will be leaving soon. We are looking forward to the very first service the church we are building that will be held on Wednesday!

Day 6:

It was amazing how much we got done in such a short amount of time today. Once again, we had so much fun doing VBS. The kids loved the craft! We sang and danced and put on another award-winning puppet show. We moved even more dirt into the church for the floor, we put up the roof and then we watched the World Cup! The Honduras were glued to the T.V. (which we brought outside and propped

up on a stump) and everyone was elated when Spain won. We left the work site early to get cleaned up for church. When we got there, the Hondurans barely recognized us because we were not covered in mud. During service, our group sang Prince of Peace and we think we did a pretty decent job. Michael Stevens gave the sermon and we were all extemely touched by his sincere words. (We are thinking about putting his message on Youtube.) The children came in and sang us a song, and it was wonderful. It was difficult to leave after church because of all of the love the Hondurans were pouring out onto us. Everyone kept asking to take pictures with us, and we received countless hugs. It was great!

Day 5:

(Let us first apologize for the random pictures that are in our last blog. We are still having some minor technical difficulties.)

Last night after we wrote our blog, we ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It was great!

Today began much like the others. We had devotions, went to the work site, had a wonderful breakfast, and began moving load after load of clay and dirt to pack for the church floor. The walls are now completely finished, and we will begin on the roof tomorrow! Today was the first day of VBS, and we had 65 children come to witness our amazing puppet show about Noah and his floating zoo. We sang songs and did a craft that was a dove made of construction paper, feathers, and googly eyes. Deanne describes the Honduran children as ¨shiny pennies¨ and we can´t think of a better comparison. They have glowing faces, big eager eyes, and were completely enthralled with our humble presentation. After lunch Kim shared her testimony and we and all of the Hondurans were all touched. The children begged Lauren, Brianna, Jen and Chris Nichols to go on a walk with them. They took us past the field where they play soccer, and through a small neighborhood where we saw turkeys, bananas, mangoes and many a confused spectator. At the end of the day, Yolanda asked the women of our group to pray for a Honduran sister who was hurting deeply from her past. We prayed over her in English and in Spanish, and we all cried with her. We were touched by her painful story and reassured her that we would keep her in our prayers and ask our friends in the United States to do the same. (That´s where you come in!) Please pray that God will heal her heart and protect her.

Two random and interesting facts that we feel led to share with you:

1) In Yoro, where we are staying, every year it rains fish. We´re not kidding, because we have asked almost everyone we´ve met. No one can explain it exactly, but you´ll have to ask us when we get back.

2) We met a Honduran who was born in Yoro, Honduras that has lived in Fontana, California. Again, we are completely serious. What a small world.

Tomorrow is Sunday and we will take a two hour break from working to watch the World Cup Finals! Soccer (Futbol) is big down here. We will also be going to church tomorrow night, which we are all very excited about!

Thank you again for your contined prayers!

Day 4:

Some glorious team member bought a coffee pot for our morning devotionals (and survival). At the work site, the Hondurans made pancakes for us! They were awesome. Our day was spent moving a lot of dirt and clay for the church floor. We ordered two more truck loads of dirt and made a lot of progress on the walls. All the while, one of our Honduran brothers welded the rafters for the church. Apparently the children had spread the news throughout the village that the Americans were around, because they seem to mulitiply by the day. The children are much less shy than when we first met them, and are apt to sit on our laps, beg us to take pictures of them, and include us in their games. At lunch, one of our Honduran brothers shared his moving testimony, and we sang ¨Glory to God¨in English (with a little Spanish mixed in) and tried to sound good (but we definitely didn´t sound as musical as our Honduran friends did when they sang to us yesterday). We are excited for VBS tomorrow, and anticipate many children to come and watch our puppet show and do the activities with us. Again, as we were about to finish for the day, it began to rain. We frantically moved the unopened bags of cement to shelter and cleaned up. Another great day!

Thank you so much to those who have been praying for us! Everyone is well and healthy. Thank you for your commments. We (your blog editors) have relayed the comments to the team.

Day 3:
We began the morning with an inspiring devotional and a challenging undertaking by our host missionary Mike. He read a passage to us (Luke 6:20-26) and asked us to apply it to the Hondurans we encounter. As we arrived to the work site, an authentic Honduran breakfast was ready for us! The Honduran women had begun preparing the food at 6 a.m.! At the beginning of the day, the walls were about three bricks high on each side. We moved what felt like 800 cinder blocks (25 lbs each!), painted the future rafters and became thoroughly acquainted with our Honduran brothers and sisters. We were impressed by a few of the Hondurans who spoke nearly perfect English. By the end of the day, the walls were each about fourteen blocks high! Not only that, but each team member definitely felt as though they had grown even closer to the Hondurans we have been working with. Some of us have grown especially close to the glowing children (they can be seen flocking behind their ¨favorite¨Americans) while others have worked and grown close to the women (helping them cook and clean and care for their children) and yet others have gained relationships with the men laying bricks, hauling cement and moving huge piles of dirt to make the floor of the future church. At lunch, Chris Nichols shared her heartfelt testimony. She said that she felt led by the Spirit to share. At the end of the day, as soon as we started cleaning up, it began to rain harder than it had since we landed in Honduras. Perfect timing!

After a thourough showering, we headed off to dinner at a local restaurant and had Honduran tacos (which were nothing like tacos in California. They looked and tasted like giant delicious taquitos!) and got to pray for, Pastor Tino, a regional Pastor who oversees 30 churches in Northern Honduras. He gave a short sermon about Mark chapter 2 and told us how with faith, unity and perseverance, we can accomplish great things. It was an awesome evening, but sadly, we had to say our goodbyes to Pastor Tino and his wife Lidia as they had other commitments at their home church to attend to. After another day of work, we all slept very well. (No more headaches! Thank you for the prayers!)