YPC Honduras 2011: 11/10/11 La Paradita and Cerro Azul, Honduras

11/10/11

Friends,

Yesterday's report from our Honduras Mission Team is a little longer than

usual but definitely worth the read!

-David Pierce

Wonderful Wednesday might be the team's mantra today! Lots of sun. 80

degrees with a slight breeze. The day started with Clair, Laura, Mark,

Brinna and Jeanne going at 6 AM to hand-milk cows at the dairy farm just

outside of Trinidad! This is not an experience that any of us expected to

have! The mayor said they might be hired if they did this for a week!

The building team again worked in Cerro Azul. We finished several

projects today. The floor and eco-stove was completed in Juan's casa.

The door and window frame construction commenced but will not keep him and

his mother from moving in on Friday. The cement construction was

completed on Alejandro's casa. On Thursday we will begin installing the

steel that will hold the corrugated steel roof. We are told this will be

a two day process. The steel beams were sanded and painted; readied for

installation.

A special treat for the day was the visit by Chippy's ice cream truck! He

had enough ice cream for all the community! It was quite good!

One of the most significant transformational moments was to witness the

pride of a little seven year old girl named Jennifer. She was given a

pair of glasses to help improve her vision. The prescription is not

perfect, but a significant improvement. Gloria has the proper

prescription and can get the proper lenses. We report this because we

have witnessed this shy, shoulder slumped, (legally blind) clingy little

girl transformed into a proud, shoulders back confident person. She

even put on her prettiest dress for the day. The gift of sight is truly a

blessing. We are already planning ideas for the next trip! We also

presented a widow with an ax, machete, shovel and pot of her own! Her

things had been taken from her by her in-laws when her husband recently

died. She was somewhat overwhelmed that people would care for her when she

no longer had a husband in her house. She had expected to lose her home and has now been reassured by Gloria, the mayor, and the whole community that she will not! What an example of love and care this is for the community to see that in our eyes

she still has worth and value.

On the medical side...we returned to another pueblo that we have served in

2 prior years. Once again we were delivered in four wheel drive trucks.

La Paradita is the community with the 90 year old woman, Paula, who has

red hair. She made a big deal out of the fact that no one told her we

were coming or she would have made something for us...when we were there 3

years ago! Paula is fairly healthy for her age and comes, we think, for

the touch and love that we show to her. Today she received her first pair

of glasses! She actually was quite funny and unsure if she really wanted

to see a picture of herself in the digital camera! We have served in this

community 3 times and made some significant connections with them. Many

recognize us and know that we love them. One woman in this community took

us to her nice casa in the past so that we did not have to use the

bathrooms in the outhouses. She wanted to know today why we had not

stopped by her home, as she had been expecting us! In this community we

are often told "vaya con Dios" (go with God) in response to our Bendeciones y Amor. There are more large families in this community than prior pueblos. They come in together with their beautiful children to see us, many in groups of seven or more. The

parents love the attention given to their children. We continue to see

some asthma, allergies, fungus and a few other infections. The vision

team has fitted many with prescription glasses and Gloria says that our team, with its actual testing methods, has done more than any other prior vision teams. We

totally believe that we are where God wants us to be. In the book of

Ephesians Paul says, "That you may know this love that surpasses knowledge

- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." We

are! Continue to pray. We will see you all soon. Bendeciones! Vaya con

Dios.

-The Honduras Mission Team

These Vaqueros milk 30 cows in 3 hours...