Home Sweet Home

Although we had a great week in Honduras it's always nice to be home. It took a while for us to get here. Our 50 team members were headed to 10 different states spanning from Pennsylvania to Washington. We left the Mission House really early on  Saturday and by Sunday we all made it home safe and sound.

The week spent in Honduras was challenging and rewarding on many different levels. We were confronted by physical and spiritual poverty, but we also witnessed the faithfulness of God who provided healing of the body, mind and spirit of many people. We heard the concerns of many Hondurans related to the political crisis in the country and we engaged in prayer for peace and protection. We did not experience any protests or conflicts along the way, but we will continue to pray for Honduras from all across the United States.

Thank you for supporting us in prayer throughout the week. We know it was a great help because God showed us mercy all along the way.

If you think you would like to join us in Honduras next year,  please contact Fred Steinbach at fredsteinbach@comcast.net.

Bendiciones!

If it's Thursday it means that we are at our new Serve Team sites. Both halves of our team set up shop at new locations in different parts of the city. New friends were discovered, and new relationships were developed as we served alongside our Honduran brothers and sisters in Christ.

The schedule for Thursday and Friday is pretty much the same as our first two days of serving on Monday and Tuesday, but we are all getting to serve in new ways by working in different areas of the clinics we set up. The people we see are all very grateful for the care they are receiving. The children are a particular joy and they are very open to hearing the story of Jesus. In the evangelism station we have seen some amazing responses to God's love.

Friday promises to be a busy day, so forgive us if we don't get a blog posted. We are all looking forward to the traditional pizza dinner at the Mission House on Friday evening before we head back to the States on Saturday. We can't wait to tell you our stories in person!

Bendiciones!

Wednesday,
FUN day!
Wednesday is our day to rest, sort of. For those who choose, go up to the ranch to see the kids. About 40 loaded on the bus and drove through town, hopped on the main highway, pulled a Uie, and drove up a bumpy dirt road to Ebenezer Academy. After a brief overview of what goes on at the ranch we hike down to the school where the kids are out on the play ground. Its a wonderful sight seeing our young people racing around with the little ones. Tag, swings, slides, and a very rousing game of futball (soccer). For those that sponsor a child its a time to catch up on what the kids have been up to. We also learn a great deal about coffee. They are starting to harvest for the 2018 year. For other its a trip to the Valley of the Angels. SHOPPING!!!!! Treasures and trinkets are found, coffee sipped, and this year some thing warm to wear.

Tuesday

Day 2! We head back to the same church to minister to more neighbors.  A brief time of worship and prayer to call the Holy Spirit down to guide us.  Its always amazing to see how many have the same issues here.  We are so lucky to be able to change our habits and have fresh water to keep our health.Today we were able to paint another home and install 2 water filtration systems. Its a radical idea to have clean water to drink. Many only drink sodas, gatorade, or kool aid type drinks. No wonder that diabetes, rotten teeth, and many other health problems are prevalent.  
Evangelism is one of the main things we work on here. Its rewarding and very emotionally draining. Please keep up with your prayers for the whole team, we all are doing God's work in all departments.  Well some more wonderful stories at the debriefing, praise reports of choosing Christ, and personal growth and learning. Well a day of rest and fun tomorrow, but we'll tell you about that later.
Also please pray that we all stay healthy, lots of sickness out there and we've all been up close and personal.  Good night all!

Monday, Monday,

Just love that day!!  Up at 5ish to be ready to start at 6. Devotions and prayer to get the Spirit moving in our hearts. A great breakfast to nourish our bodies, coffee to start the engines and brain function. A bus ride that rivals any thing the amusement parks have, not to worry folks our divers are experts! A brief stop to pick up translators and Drs. For some this is a reunion of friends, and some new faces. Every one jumps in to get optical ready, dentistry up and tools out, pressure cuffs and meds. We have a time of prayer with the church volunteers and then its " Lets get to Work".  Many come from long distance by foot to see a medical, optical, or dentist Dr.  Kids have a fun time with the children's ministry. The gospel story is told that matches their new His story bracelets. Team A had a crew paint a room in a house. Looked very nice and bright in a off white.  After a very eventful day we load up and bus back to the hacienda. Well traffic is the same every where, a lot of it. Construction is every where here too!  Team B was stuck in a traffic jam that took them 2 hours to make it back. Threw the schedule off just a bit. A time of debriefing after dinner to tell stories of the day, things to pray for, and a shift in where we are assigned tomorrow so we all get to experience a different job.
Sleep tight, its too cold for the bed bugs to bite!

Good Sunday,
A windy night sent us to sleep or kept us up.  Had a brief devotional and breakfast, then loaded up the buses. We stopped at Plaza de Spana before church. Group photo op. and some shopping too. Off to our respective churches. Warm reception, hugs, and wonderful worship.  Lunch out family style.  Got back to the house and loaded up the trucks to take all the equipment for our serve teams. While the able bodied loaded trucks, others gathered and counted and bagged pills. With lots of help it gets done real fast. A time of fellowship and games, quiet time or a short nap. Dinner, briefing for tomorrow, and for most of us to bed for a early start and a very busy day! God bless and keep up the prayers.

We Made It!!!
After long hours of travel the team has made it to the mission house. Meeting up with old friends and meeting new ones. We are getting ready for what God has in store for us. Its going to be a fantastic week of growth, challenge, and comedy!

We are packed and ready to go! Saturday the team packed trunks full of all kinds of medicine, canes, shampoo and other supplies that we will put to use in Honduras. Sunday we held our last team meeting to go over some final details and now it's time to go.

Besides our contingent from Illinois we have team members coming from Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. We are truly a national team! We are looking forward to coming together in Tegucigalpa on Saturday. We have team members flying through Houston, Atlanta and Miami to get to Honduras.

Please keep us in your prayers! We are seeking God's blessing on our travel. We are really hoping to have everyone and all our luggage arrive on time next Saturday.  We are also praying for good health leading up to our trip and while we are there. And, most importantly, we are praying for God to accomplish His purposes in and through us through this great adventure.