Day 6... fun day!

Hola!
Today we went to visit the Valley of Angels, which is a tourist attraction for shopping. We bought many different items and ate at a traditional Hondurian restaurant. Then we visited a park that has a huge Jesus statue in it. The statue is located at the top of one of the mountains in Honduras. From the mountain you could see the whole city of Tegucigalpa. It was a breath-taking moment when you looked over the edge to see the beauty of God's creation. Even though man had added to it, you could still see God's handy work in the mix. If only we could truly explain the wonder and the beauty of these mountains, unfortunately the only way you can truly understand is when you've been here yourself. We also visited a local Mexican restaurant and the food was interesting. To be honest we're missing some of the food at home, but over all the food has been good. This week has been absolutely amazing and an eye-opening experience. I really do wish I could explain the feeling of being here, but I can't. I hope in some way God has reached you through our blogs and has touched your life in some small way. Maybe you'll want to help more in missions or maybe you'll come yourself next time. Just remember to keep your hearts and minds open to God.
With love,
Bianca Passanisi

Mountianview Friday in Honduras

Salutations from Wes and Taylor!!!
First off these pictures are of (1st one) is of Sonya and her little amigo!! The (2nd one) is of Taylor and Izra, my little amigo!! Today we went to the second largest orphanage in Honduras. It is called Orphanage Emmanuel. We got there at about 11 AM this morning. We got to play with the kids on the playground that they have on campus! They have a very nice campus and the ages range from 5 to 18. Taylor hung out with a little boy who's name was Izra. Alot of them were crying when we left because they have no parents.

For lunch we had delicious fish, beans, rice, tater salad, and scrumptious chicken. After lunch we went on a tour through the campus. We saw lots of interesting things. There was a place where kids made bricks and they were sold for profits. There was a very interesting plant there. Everytime you touch the plant it would close up on itself. Whoa! We saw cattle, nasty pigs, chickens, and lots of land. The orphanage was 950 acres. It was very self-sufficient as the children took care of most everything. They were also taught very useful skills that would help them after they left the orphanage. They were taught from a variety of things such as: car maintenance, farming, and the girls learn useful tactics on how to take care of their houses and families!

Over all today was a great day and we all had a great time with the kids and learned alot! See ya'll on Sunday!!!!! Posted by Wes Menhinick and Taylor Smith!!!

Honduras Day Four

Hello ya´ll from Sonya and Rebecca!
Today was an amazing day! First we went to the church at the dump and gave out shoes and did balloons for the children. We also distributed food bags to families around the dump. We ate a Honduran meal that some of the church members prepared for us. The dump site was very eye opening. We all got to go as a team and some of us stayed on the bus and cried for them. We still have the smell in our noses(all Sonya!) Rebecca got to serve the meal to the people at the dump, their only hot meal of the week. It was very heartbreaking to give them one spoonful each of meatdish and rice and one tortilla and some kool aid in a sandwich bag. Rebecca prayed over the food asking God for it to multiply. Later on we went back to the church we went to the first night, for their prayer service. If the American church would pray like these people we could move many more mountains. We all went up to the front of the church and they prayed for each and everyone of us individually at the same time. They were all praying for us at the same time out loud and laying hands on us. They were getting on their hands and knees and touching our nasty feet and praying for us. Sonya says,"I thought it was a lizard crawling up my leg!" Pray for us tomorrow as we go to the second largest orphanage in Honduras. We miss you all! Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Sonya Cansler and Rebecca Whittington
(paid with a ginger ale to type by Taylor Smith=)

Day 3

Hey guys! Cortney here with an update from Honduras! Today we had a wonderful day. This morning we drove out to San Matias, which is a rural community in the mountains of Tegucigalpa. Our team was able to pass out shoes to the people, as well as do face painting, balloons, and play games. All of the people were very respectful and extremely grateful for all we brought to them. At around 1:15, all of the team left for lunch at an orphanage except three of us. Bianca, my dad, and I stayed back for a service in the church at San Matias. Bianca and I gave our testimonies and my dad presented the gospel to the people. The team had lunch at the orphanage where one of our translators was raised. Jessica, our translator, was so excited to see her brother who is still living there. The orphanage moms treated us to a bowl of chicken soup over rice. It was delicious. After the church service, the rest of our team came back and we began to give away more shoes. We also had the opportunity to give away around 75 food bags. Each of these bags would feed a family for 5 days. Finally, after everything had been distributed, we hung a pinata for the children to hit. George made a wonderful comparison. First he asked the children what this poor pinata had done to deserve it's beating. When they all replied "nothing," he told them that a man long ago was beaten and killed, even though he had done nothing wrong. Many of the children prayed the sinner's prayer with George. It was amazing to watch. As the bus drove out from the community, there were three children standing in their yard with a sign that read "Thank you very much" in English. Each one of us was humbled by the thankfulness of the people. We left San Matias in high spirits, completely content with our work there. Tonight our group went to dinner at a restaurant called El Patio, which was really good. We're having a wonderful time and are excited about the seeds we are planting here in Honduras. Hopefully we will get to do a blog every night but the computer has been down. Thanks for reading!!
P.S. No one is sick and the food is good!

ps.....

we miss you Adam!!

Love...ALL OF US!!!

Day Two

Hola!
Today was very interesting, we went to a nursing home it was very different from the ones in America! We took them socks and shoes, washed their hands and sang songs for them. We also prayed for them that God would heal their pain! The people in the homes were homeless elderly who they took off the street! We also visited a Childrens Center where we made balloons for the kids and took them outside in their wheel chairs. We also took a piñata filled with candy for the children. All the children were limited physically and most confined to wheel chairs. We also had some delicious Hondurian food Beef and Chicken with fried plantains and goat cheese which was really good too. We are having lots of fun and miss everyone!!

Much Love
Bradley Daves

Day One!

Well, if you only knew what I went through to get to this computer right now! Yesterday was full of much excitement, and a first for all of us here. As we rode the infamous yellow school bus yesterday morning Gary, our leader, gave each of us a rubber band. He told us that we were going to be stretched, and that God would use our stretching and maybe even break us so that we would have to join other rubber bands with the other Christians here. We definately did some stretching yesterday, but it was all for the planting of seeds in Colonia.
I helped in the distribution of shoes, which was a very neat experience. Others made balloon animals, took pictures, and played games. Lets just say, the shoes were a hit, and eventually our whole team helped in this process of planting seeds in a way which we may not understand right now, but God will reveal his plan for those later.
Once we ended the distribution, we all gathered around with the Honduran church and ate lunch. We had peanut butter and jellies as well as ham and cheese. We all ate together as a family, and thats truly what we are.
After a good rest in the beautiful hotel it was a time for dinner (we really like to eat!). We ate at Camperos Chicken, which was delicious! We even had some chlorine tasting ice cream, but we´re still alive! Yes mom, there is a Bojangles here! After dinner we went to a prayer meeting at the church unlike anything I have ever been to! It started off with LOUD singing and LOUD music and even a lot of dancing! Many of us were asked to join in, and we really enjoyed coming together as one. The people of the church are some of the most welcoming, warm hearted people I have ever met! God really is at work in the church here, and it is visible on their faces.
We are all doing wonderful and smiling, and there is lots and lots of laughing going on! Continue to pray for Adam, as we still aren´t sure if he is going to make it, but we pray that God will make a way because we need our missing team member. Thanks for taking time to find out how we are doing, and I hope you all have a wonderful day ahead of you because I know we do!



Taylor Keener

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Today was a very productive day. The best part of today for me was the food distribution. Seeing the way that the food and clothing touched the lives of so many was very heart wrenching. The Lord was taken into the lives of three people by Pastor Luis. Seeing someone except the LORD as their savior made the entire trip worth while. This is my first mission trip and far from the last. I have found one of the callings and purposes for my life. I would like to extend the invitation for anyone who thinks that this may be one of the purposes for your life. There are so many things here to feel and see. I can not even begin to explain what we have seen the LORD do for the people of the villages that we visited.

Annette Stephenson

July 9th

Today, the medical team and carnival traveled to San Marcos, a beautiful city overlooking Lake Atitlan. At San Marcos, we encountered several more difficult cases, which are nothing more than opportunities for God to use our team to bless those we encounter. The optic team saw several severe cataracts which they were not able to treat today, but names were taken and their cases will followed up. We also had a patient, a woman in here 50s with a large abdominal mass. She was extremely poor, living alone, and therefore was not able to afford a trip to a hospital. Today, we were able to raise the money from within our team to pay for her and a deacon of the local church to travel together to the nearest hospital this Friday for an examination. In total, we treated a little less than 200 people today.

The construction team finished the walls and roofs of both houses. We are prepared to lay the slab tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we will be able to have the dedication ceremony for the finished homes in the afternoon.

Our ministry did not end when we returned back to San Juan for dinner. Several of the younger guys from our team spent about half an hour being catapults and carnival rides for dozens of the local children. It was a blessing to all of us to see how much they enjoyed just that little bit of playing and amazing to see how all of the people here are so appreciative of even the smallest gesture.

Currently, the mother of Iised, one of friends and helpers from Venezuela is in transit from Guatamala to meet us in San Pedro. We appreciate your continued prayers for her safe arrival later tonight and for the futher demonstration of the love of Christ in Guatamala.

An Awesome 4th Day

What a day! Our morning began with a walk up one of the many mountains and kayaking for those who decided to get up early. We were joined by the others at 7:30 to load up the luggage and head to breakfast where we enjoyed fried bananas, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, black beans, and the best cookies ever. After breakfast, the medical, photo, carnival, and optical teams set off to a Mayan village, while construction continued work on the widows' houses. The bus ride to the Mayan village was one that we will never forget! Sharp curves and drop offs had us all on the edge of our seats. Every team member recieved a wonderful blessing from being around the Mayan people. The medical team saw over 100 people, and the optical saw over 70. Photos were very popular in this paticular Mayan village. Many faces lit up after being handed their photo with a Bible verse on the back. The carnival team entertained the children by playing soccer as well as painting faces and fingernails. After our sack lunches, the "Happy Feet" team came back to Shalom and recieved an amazing blessing. They gave out hundreds of pairs of shoes, as well as washed hundreds of feet. This greatly touched the hearts of both the Guatemalan people and the "Happy Feet" team members. We ended the night with yet another wonderful devotion by Will Tate. Everyone on our team continues to draw closer and closer to each other, but especially to God.

Day 3 Guatemala

Wow! What a day! This morning began with Pastor Luis´ daily walk with some of the mission team members. They began the walk at 6 am. The members enjoyed a walk in San Pedro where they visited the Catholic Church. When returning, all the members met together at the hotel and walked to the buses where we loaded up to go to breakfast at the church in Shalom. We enjoyed a tasty meal that included pancakes, Arroz Con Leche (rice, milk, and sugar), and wonderful orange juice. After breakfast we began setting up each ministry in order to reach out to the families in Shalom. Our ministries included Carnival, Medical, Optomitry, Photo, and Construction. Carnival and Photo joined together and helped each other by rotating positions and enjoying time with the children. The Medical Team really reached out today and saw about 291 patients. The construction team also had a wonderful day by tearing down a worthless house and beginning reconstruction. They also began building 2 houses in Shalom which went over very well. They finished all but 2 layers on the first house. Their goal for tomorrow is to finish the layers and most of the roofing. After a long morning the whole team met back together in the church for lunch. Lunch consisted of soup, chicken salad sandwiches, lemonade, and cookies. At one o´clock everyone went back to their stations and began working hard again. The carnival team really enjoyed spending time at the local football (soccer) field and watching everyone play. A few of the team members set out in reach for the families by inviting them to church and handing out Bibles. Before time for supper Lamar and Daniel kept the children occupied by flipping them in the air. One of these ´´kids´´ included Mr. JR Roberts. He said he enjoyed that very much but did not want to do that often. After fun with the kids and finishing up the ministries for the day we all sat together in the church and had a wonderful spaghetti supper, but before we ate we sang the beautiful song ´´I Love You Lord´´. The meal was spaghetti, corn on the cob, rolls, watermelon, and lemonade. We finished supper and headed to the buses where we would take off for out hotel. After getting off the bumpy bus ride we walked to the hotel and began our devotional led by Will Tate. We can truly say this has been a long but wonderful first day of ministering in Guatemala. Buenos Nachos. God Bless Everyone!

By Danielle Welch and Karissa Seales

Crenshaw and Randolph Counties Arrive in Guatemala

Our mission team arrived in Guatemala City at 11:15 a.m.. Our flight went smoothly; however, we faced difficulties at the airport in Guatemala. Approximately forty pieces of luggage was left behind. Some of the luggage contains personal items and others contain medication and other supplies. We are hoping to retrieve our bags before we leave Guatemala City tomorrow morning.

Tonight we are staying in a compound provided for us by Impacto Ministries. Delmi and her "staff" have cooked two wonderful meals for us today, and will be traveling with us to Lake Atitlan to prepare our meals for the rest of the week.

After dinner tonight, we gathered in the compound for a devotional delievered by Pastor Luis. Pastor Luis read from 1 Peter: 2:9 and discussed how we as Americans like to be in what we feel is our comfort zone. By doing foreign ministries, we must realize that our TRUE comfort zone is with God no matter where we are or what we are doing.

We are looking forward to a wonderful week. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Brittany Ballard and Brittany Walker