Day 3 - Monday March 21st

(Note from Libby:  I spoke with Doug briefly Tuesday morning.  He told me the lost crate arrived and that Pastor Nelson is picking it up from the airport today.  It has a 3rd water system in it and they are trying to decide if they have time to install a 3rd system.  Pray that they will hear God's voice in this matter.)

MONDAY

The air was cool and clean when we woke up. They told me we had a huge thunderstorm during the night.  I didn't hear a thing.  I had mentally prepared myself for uncomfortably hot weather this week so I was pleasantly surprised when the  temperature stayed below 75 degrees Fahrenheit all day.

We had a delicious breakfast of oatmeal, fresh fruit and toasted egg/cheese/ham sandwiches. The ice cold pineapple juice was my favorite part of the meal.

We finished packing up our supplies and loaded the van.  We arrived at the Casa de Diamante Aid church/school compound mid-morning and jumped right in.  Several of the church members were waiting with the pastor.

The young men carried the 290 gallon tank down from the second floor storeroom to place it in the kitchen area only to discover it would not go through the door!  So, we decided to place it in the courtyard area just outside the fellowship hall/dining room. Spencer went to work teaching the pastor, Hernan (think a shortened version of Hernando), Jonathan, Raul, Joshua, and Senora Ventura.

They eagerly followed his careful instructions and spent the rest of the day practicing the steps to setup, operate, clean and maintain the WaterStep M-100 chlorine generator.

Meanwhile, Kasey, Susana, and Doug pulled out teaching supplies. 

The crowd of curious children grew quickly when the games started.  We taught simple lessons on personal hygiene interspersed with skits and activities.

Some 40 children (it was difficult to count them all) between the ages of 2 and 14 learned about germs, bacteria, hand-washing, hookworms, and why flies are bad. 

Doug went into town with Pastor Nelson to purchase a battery, a battery charger, and lunch for the team.  A simple errand in a third-world country can take significantly longer than you might think. We sat in traffic for 90 minutes and were at the battery store for nearly 2 hours.  Lunch of pupusas, pork, fried green bananas and wings took the better part of another hour so the "quick" errand took almost 5 hours.

The chlorine generator worked flawlessly and rapidly generated enough chlorine gas to purify the full 290 gallons of water. While we waited the required 2 hours for the chlorine to work its magic, the Honduran volunteers all passed their final process examination under Spencer's watchful eye.

At 5:15 p.m. we gathered around the tank and had a little ceremony dedicating the system to God's glory. Small plastic cups were passed around and everyone drank the agua purificada (purified water) with no fear of getting sick.

Even though it rained off and on all day, it did not dampen our spirits. What a joy it was to see Pastor Hernan's excitement and the enthusiasm of the church members over the prospect of delivering safe drinking water to the poorest of the poor in their community. Many families cannot afford to purchase bottled water and so they suffer from ailments ranging from dysentery and diarrhea to dehydration and skin disorders.

It will be warmer tomorrow. We will return to the same location again to teach the children some more and make sure the new system is functioning perfectly.  If time permits, we may visit the site of our next installation.

Both the electricity and the water were on when we arrived back at Cofradia tonight. You learn to enjoy the small pleasures of modern conveniences here! We enjoyed another excellent meal prepared by Letsbi and her assistants.

It is time for sleep.

Day 2 - Sunday 3/20/16

From Doug-

Tired.  Up early with the birds and roosters.  We had a breakfast of pancakes, syrup, honey, watermelon & cantaloupe.  Next, we inventoried leftover supplies from last year and made a shopping list of additional items to be purchased.  Honduras is beautiful! 

At 10:00 a.m., we left for church  and worshiped with Iglesia Amistad Cristiana in downtown Tegucigalpa. We received a warm welcome from all. 

Today they are celebrating National Father's Day (yesterday) and Palm Sunday.  Spencer and I were recognized along with all the other fathers.

After the service we ent out to eat at Popeye's chicken with Pastors Nelson & Letsbi, Nellet, Cesar, Dr. Jorge, Ivonne, Jorge Luis Jr., Rosa, Karen and the 4 of us.  Dr. Jorge's mother is suffering from some physical ailments as well as dementia so while he went to be with her.  

While he was visiting her, we went shopping for teaching supplies and groceries (Letsbi will be preparing 3 meals a day for us all week long - YUM!) 

The Super WalMart in the mall is remarkable like a WalMart with one notable exception. There is at least on WalMart employee on every single aisle! In some departments there are 3 or more employees eagerly assisting customers and passing out samples.  Yes, there were long lines at the registers for check out. Some things are universal.

Back at Cofradia tonight, Spencer and I worked on the original water chlorinator we installed back in September, 2013.  One of the parts - the chlorine gas outlet connector - had deteriorated and broken.  It is back in working order and we will test it tomorrow.

It's time for bed. 

I'm tired…and excited about our first full day of work tomorrow.

The Water Team is in Honduras!

Though the team is small in number, they are hoping to make a big difference while they are in Honduras this week.  I'm adding what Doug emailed to me.  Thanks for keeping them in your prayers! - Libby

Day 1 - Saturday 3/19/16

Sunday, March 20, 2016

10:33 AM

My day started when a knock on my bedroom door roused me from a deep sleep. "Daddy?" came my daughter, Rebecca's voice in the dark.  "Are you awake?"  It was 3:50 a.m. and I silently berated myself for not properly setting my alarm clock. I had planned to get up at 3:15 with plenty time to shave and get dressed before my friend Rob Schiffman arrived to pick me up at 3:45.  Thank you, Rob, for being so prompt and reliable.  I didn’t even wake up when you rang the doorbell!  Fortunately, I was completely packed and just had to throw my clothes on while Rob lugged my suitcase and 3 heavy crates to his car.  By the time I made it to the back door he was ready to roll.  There was zero traffic, of course, at that time of the morning and we made it to the airport before the appointed meeting time of 4:15 a.m.  Thanks again Rob for your help.  I know you would like to have traveled with us but family responsibilities come first.   We already miss you, but we know you are where you need to be this week.

Spencer and Kasey showed up at the airport right as scheduled (apparently, their skills in alarm clock setting far exceed mine). People were already cued up 8-deep at all five United Airlines counters when we picked a line.  I had flashbacks of the challenges we faced in January with checking in a large group of 30+ travelers. My apprehension was short lived and unnecessary.  We were checked in, through security and sitting at the departure gate all before the in-terminal Starbucks opened at 5:00 a.m.  The flight to Houston and walk to the next concourse to catch our flight to Honduras were uneventful.  There was some confusion when we boarded the plane, however, when we discovered the airline had issued multiple boarding passes for the same seats!  The friendly, efficient flight attendant took our boarding passes and quickly reassigned me and Kasey to seats in the exit aisle where I had a glorious amount of legroom for which I gladly agreed to "assist others in the event of an emergency."

I thoroughly enjoyed talking to and getting to know Kasey on both flights.  She is a delightful young lady with a remarkable testimony of how God changed at the age of 19 and completely redirected her life.  I never cease to be amazed had how far in advance God works to prepare people for his purposes. When Kasey gave her life to Christ, decided to major in Spanish and attend Belmont University, Luke 9:2 Ministries had not yet even considered providing water purification systems or health and hygiene instruction.  And, now, here we are - with just the right people at just the right time.  Way to go God!  Thank for the reminder you've got things under control.

The landing at the Tegucigalpa was a little bumpy.  I'll leave it at that.  We had an opportunity to practice patience when we had to wait 45 minutes on the runway for a gate to become available so we could disembark. One of our crates of supplies did not arrive.  We made arrangements for the airline to contact us when it finds its way to Honduras - hopefully sooner  rather than later.  What a delight it was to see Pastor Nelson's smiling face waiting for us when we exited customs into the crowded airport lobby.  My first thought was, "Where is the rest of him?"  I was not aware that he had lost 40+ pounds since this time last year. He looks great! I discovered his secret an hour later as we talked over lunch - a grilled chicken salad.  He has cut his carbohydrate intake SIGNIFICANTLY - not an easy feet when you consider the typical Honduran diet.  He eats mostly salads and fresh vegetables.  You could call it his version of the "Daniel" diet.

Another delight waiting for us was a Kasey's friend, Susanna Gonzalez.  They met some time ago when Kasey worked in Honduras with another mission team.  Susanna served as an interpreter for that team and she an Kasey became fast friends.  What a joy it was to see their happy reunion! They are like sisters and have been inseparable since your arrival.  I am so gratefully for the way this worked out.  I must admit I was concerned when I heard from Katherine Ramos that she was not going to be able to join us this week.  Katherine is a veteran of this trips whose fluent Spanish and love for children made her the perfect leader of our plans to conduct health and hygiene classes for children.  I was confident Kasey could shoulder the load (with my bumbling assistance), but Susanna's presence and last-minute availability are already proving to be invaluable.  

After our relaxing, mid-afternoon "lunch" in a food court at the Cascades Mall in Tegucigalpa, Nelson drove us up to the church camp in Cofradia about 45 minutes from the city. 

This will be our home base for the week.  Letsbi, Pastor Nelson's wife, will serve as our hostess and shuttle drive all week.  She was already here when we arrived and working on her famous spaghetti supper; in the dark. Yes, that's right.  The sun had set and darkness descended quickly as it does when you are near the equator.  The electricity was off, so Letsbi was cooking by candlelight with the help of her every faithful assistants, Rosa and Karen.

We dined by candlelight with a chorus of night sounds and worships songs. The local church congregation meets in the building adjacent to the dining hall. Their acapella voices (remember the power was off) were raised in worship and floated down the hill to our ears.  Just as we finished, the power came back on so we had electric light to finish unpacking, make our beds and settle in for the evening after a very long day. The temperature dropped steadily through the night and, by morning, I was glad for my light-weight blanket.

Packed and Unpacked

I finished packing and weighing my suitcase Thursday night in time to get to bed by 9:00 p.m.  Why so early?  We had to be at Crievewood Baptist Church by 3:00 a.m. on Friday. I woke up at 2:15, finished packing my bag and my carry-on with the necessary items for our trip to Honduras with Luke 9:2 Ministries.  Doug packed our car, and we headed to the church.  It was raining, with a winter storm warning in the forecast.  Team members and volunteers packed the luggage into the bus and van. The rest of the team packed into the church bus for a quick ride to the airport.

All 29 of us packed into the Delta line to get our bags checked.  The Delta agents were helpful and processed us and our luggage quickly - or so I thought.  Doug and I, along with other team members, proceeded through security and to our gate.  It’s amazing how many people are at the airport at 5:00 on a Friday morning!

After a stop at Wendy’s for coffee and a biscuit, we began boarding the plane for our 5:30 departure. Outside it was still raining.

As we packed into the plane and settled our belongings, I realized not all of our team members were on the plane.  In fact, we were missing 7 members!  We found out, via text messages, that our “missing” members were the ones who stayed at the Delta counter to get our crates checked in - a process that took WAY longer than it should have.  Because of this delay, they were stuck in the security line.  Even after they were moved up in the line because of their departure time, they were still delayed.

Though our team members were told the plane would be held for them, apparently the gate agents did not get that message.  The agents allowed stand-by passengers to board the plane, went through the safety procedures, and closed the door of the plane.  It was 5:30, and our 7 missing colleagues were not on board!

Then, to our surprise, they opened the door and allowed our missing team members on, along with an additional stand-by passenger.  Since we had new passengers on board, the flight attendants had to go through the safety procedures again.  We thought we were ready to go.  But the captain came over the intercom to say they mistakenly let too many folks on the plane. There were not enough seats.  We had to reopen the doors to let two people get off, one of whom was a member of our team who had a ticket for that flight!

Meanwhile, time was ticking, and the weather is deteriorating - fast.  As we finally pulled away from the gate, the captain informed us we would have to be de-iced before takeoff.  We taxied to the de-icing location and waited (with engines and air conditioning off) as the bucket-truck with the firehose applied the solution to our plane.  Good to go, right?  Nope.  We sat there, and the captain came back on the intercom, announced that the first solution did not work, so they were going to try a stronger formula.  He was confident we would still be able to take off.  Out the window, with the aid of the lights from the de-icing truck, I could see that the rain was beginning to mix with what looked like snow, though it was hard to tell.  By this time it was 6:30, a full hour after we should have departed.

At this point, people on the plan had disregarded the “turn off your electronic devices” notice and text messages and internet searches were flying as they tried to make alternate arrangements for the connecting flights they were missing out of Atlanta.  The flight attendants attempted to serve us drinks, but since the flight was only supposed to be 40 minutes long, they had only orange juice and water to offer…and no ice.  Does anybody else see the irony in that?

After announcing we would have to de-ice a 3^rd time, the pilot finally said we were going back to the gate and that the airport had been closed due to the snow now accumulating on the runways.  Our team gathered together inside the terminal at the departure gate only to learn that none of the airlines could get our entire team to Honduras before Tuesday afternoon.  Our trip was cancelled.

Our bags and crates were pulled OFF the airplane, and we picked them up in baggage claim.  By now, I was “packed” full of emotion.  I was sad for the people of Honduras that we would not be able to serve in the clinics.  I was disappointed that we would not get to see our Honduran hosts - Pastor Nelson, his wife Letsbi, and their family - and all of the interpreters we have worked with for the last several years.  I was also frustrated that I wouldn’t get to spend a week with my team members - some old friends and some I had just met.  I guess I was especially disappointed for Katie and Lexey since it was to be their first time to fly on a plane and to travel out of the country.

We all got home as best we could.  Doug and I arrived home about 11:00 a.m.  The snow continued to fall (we eventually ended up with 7 inches).  We played outside, along with Rebecca and her boyfriend, and “packed” the snow into a snowman.  Eventually, we will unpack our suitcases…

Why did God emphatically stop our trip? (This was the fastest snow accumulation Nashville had recorded in 50 years).  I don’t know.  I don’t understand.  And maybe I’m a little angry.  But, God is still God.  And I trust him to do not only the best for me, but also for the people in Honduras. 

The board of Luke 9:2 Ministries will meet to decide what to do with the medicines we packed. Some have an expiration date and can’t wait until we might go later in the year or in 2017.  Tough decisions will have to be made.  Please keep the board members in your prayers.

So, this may be my only blog post for 2016.  Now, I just have to figure out what I will “pack” into this week since I won’t be in Honduras!

"Todo la puedo en Cristo que me fortalece. Filipenses 4-13"

This sign is hanging over the doorway of our room. How is your Spanish? Do you recognize 

the verse? Yes, Filipenses 4-13 is Philippians 4:13 and it holds true in any language. I can, 

indeed, do all things through Christ who strengthens me. How do I know? Because I'm not 

the one supplying the strength. He supplies the strength. I do the doing. When I forget and 

try to supply the strength, I end up exhausted and frustrated. When will I learn? It is good 

to be reminded. Through his strength, nothing is impossible.

 Guest Blogger: Doug Eaton, written March, 2015.

Travel, Shop & Eat

It feels like all we did today was travel, shop and eat.

Pastor Nelson was waiting for us faithfully at the crowded airport terminal in Tegucigalpa in the early afternoon. Zealous baggage handlers made quick work of hauling our eight pieces of baggage through the crowd, out to the parking lot, and into the mini-van.  We drove through chaotic city streets and made of total of five stops. 

Shopping here is always an interesting experience. After a filling lunch of "platos tipicos" (local favorite food) at Power Chicken, we started our search for the best prices on batteries, chargers and other miscellaneous plumbing supplies.  Pastor Nelson knows all the shortcuts and local shops where the prices aren't artificially inflated for the gringos. We found all we needed after stops at three different retailers and celebrated with a quick treat at Baskin Robbins.

 

About 5:30, we navigated our way out of rush hour traffic and headed up to Cofradia, the church camp located about an hour from the heart of the city.  Cofradia will be our home base for the week.

The trip up the mountainside was uneventful.  We pulled into the compound right at dark-thirty.  Pastora Letsbi, Pastor Nelson's wife, had supper waiting on as soon as we unloaded the vehicle.  She blessed us with homemade pork chops, french fries, cucumber/tomato salad, rice, and of course, corn tortillas.

A quick inspection confirmed that everything survived the trip in good condition. We spent some time sorting our supplies and made final preparations for our first day of work.

It's been a long day of travelling (roughly 1,800 miles), shopping (3 different hardware stores) and eating.  The alarm went off 20+ hours ago. Time for some sleep.

Guest Blogger: Doug Eaton

Aggressive Approach, Firm Landing

According to the captain, we are about 150 miles from Tegucigalpa and will begin our descent shortly. The weather  is partly cloudy and a pleasant 22 degrees Celsius or 72 degrees Fahrenheit.  In his words, the approach to the  city's airport runway will be "aggressive with a firm landing, but we want to make sure we get stopped in time."  If you've experienced it, you understand this is a remarkably tactful way of saying were going to come in fast, drop quickly, bank steeply a few hundred feet above the ground, and hit the runway hard with the brakes full on.  The surrounding hills and length of the relatively short landing strip present their share of challenges to even the most experienced pilot.

We are dropping down into a different way of  life and culture where we will work for the next seven days. Time has a whole different meaning in Honduras.  Everything moves at a slower pace than we are used to.

What does the week ahead hold for us? Will we hit the ground running. I wonder home many times we will swoop into a new community with our plans all laid out only to find out God has something completely different in store for us.

It happens every time. We come roaring in with all our lists and plans.  I'm not saying this is wrong.  We would be foolish to come unprepared. However, some of our enthusiastic momentum will come to a screeching halt within hours of our arrival.  It is inevitable.

Will we have the self-control and patience to slow down, relax and simply do what needs to be done. Will we recognize the obstacles and surprises as opportunities to be of even greater service than we could have possibly imagined?

I hope so.  This is my prayer.  Lord, give us the courage to approach your work aggressively and to be prepared for a firm landing.  Then, slow us down to your pace so we may see you…and join you there.

Guest Blogger: Doug Eaton