Hola Family and Church Family and Friends!!

Rain Rain Go Away!!! It has rained every day we have been here and Thank God!! The only way we could get clean was to shower in the rain. Since the water at the Clinic was not working we had to improvise someway. Today all of our prayers were answered, it did not rain and the water was working. Madardo (not sure of the spelling) was the miracle worker for getting the Clinic water working!

Enough about the Water but of course, that is what our mission is about "Sweet Water". Let me get on to how our day went today. A crew of us worked at the kindergarten getting the ground dug and preparing it for a bathroom addition to the Kdg building. The remainder of the crew went to visit the school and make all the arrangements for our education part of the trip, teaching the students about cleanliness and clean water. It was a very busy morning and by lunch time we were all HOT and exhausted!! We had more work to do though after lunch. All but Hurst, John, Sam, Gus and Airon made our way up "Heart Attack" hill to the community center. There Carole, Mike and Josie presented a fairth service and participation to the adults of the community. We were very happy to have a turnout of 40. Actually, we praised God for the turnout. They are such polite and caring people and take their faith seriously. We gave them all bibles to take home. They really love getting the bibles. To end the program we sang their favorite song, "Alabare" It was great to see the Joy on their faces, while they sang.

While we were at the Community Center, "The Guys" worked with the contractor, Felix, on the kindergarten bulding. In all ways, it was a very busy and gratifying day. I thank God that I have this opportunity to "Pay Forward". If you read the Upper Room Meditation for June, you will know what I am talking about.

To all that went on the Mission Trip 2 years ago, the Community Center has not cooled off!!!! , MACANUDO 2007 Team!!!

To all families and friends, God Bless you and we all send our love.

P.S. Kuriger Family, at least I do not have to see the kitchen for 10 days and I know you tried your best!! Love ya Always, Mom AKA Gram.

Hola Everyone,

We are having a great time here and the people are wonderful. Yesterday was marked by torrential downpours and since it was our second day without water we were actually pretty happy about the rain. Nearly all of us put on our bathing suits, grabbed some soap and took a shower in the water that was pouring off the tin roof of the clinic. What fun that was! It was like being a kid again.

Today we are breaking ground on the new bathroom for the kindergarten here. This morning we met the contractor at the kindergarten and decided on the plans. Originally we were planning on rebuilding the existing out house and fitting them with proper flush toilets and a sink. Some of the tear down work was supposed to be done by the local contractor prior to our arrival but when we got here we found that this instruction had been lost in translation. This turned out to be a blessing because when we met with the kindergarten teacher she asked if the bathroom could be attached to the school building because she is not able to look after the kids when they leave the school building to use the outhouse and this has always concerned her. Of course we were happy to oblige and asked if she would like a door opened into the school building so that the kids would not have to go outside to get to the bathroom. She was very pleased with this idea and gave Alisa a hug. We then gathered our tools and began working. If not for the miscommunication the kids would have a better outhouse but it would still be an outhouse. You can't tell me God isn't at work here. How wonderful to be able to provide this to the community! We will have pictures of the construction when we get back. Everyone there can be proud of what your support in prayers and donations has provided to these people.

That's all for now, love to all back home and to Diane & Chris, I miss you.

Love, Hurst/Dad

As I sit here right now, the only word that comes to mind is AMAZING! We have been here since Friday afternoon and all is well with the team. We are safe, eating well and blessed. The faith of our host village, San Jose, is apparent in many ways and denominations. It is truly a blessing to have been called to participate in this mission and we are looking forward to the week ahead. We will be doing some construction on the outdoor toilets at the kindergarten, painting the medical clinic and spreading the Word through bible studies for various age groups. It seems strange to be sending this via blog from such a remote area (solar energy and satellite) but we want you to know that your support of this mission is reaping benefits. I cannot wait to share everything upon our return though I am excited about everything that is yet to happen in the week ahead. The weather has been nice as far as I am concerned...it has been 80-85 degrees and overcast daily and seems to rain on the mountain nightly. Daylight is 5:30 am and it is dark at 7:00 pm. We have already attended several services and the faith we have observed is incredible...we are learning from the Hondurans, as I anticipated.

God bless and keep us in your prayers,

John

We had a fun day yesterday with a lot of down time where we could play with the local children. It amazes me how we can be sitting on the porch for 5 min and suddenly have 15 kids grouped around us waiting for something to happen. We painted with them yesterday and even got them to sing along with us as we practiced a few songs. The best activity was after dinner when one of the girls asked if I would play with her. We sat down and I was trying to remember the words to a clapping game when Andrea came over and got us started on "Waliata" (I have no idea how to spell that!). The kids thought this was hilarious and we continued with Mary Mac, A Sailor Went to Sea, etc. Then we moved into songs like the Chicken Dance, Hokey Pokey and the Bunny Hop. It was so much fun and the kids just laughed and laughed. It was hard to stop when it was time to go to church.

We attended a service at Gladys' church last night that was very moving. It's wonderful to see such dedicated, passionate people who pour their whole heart and soul into serving God. They asked us to sing 3 songs which they seemed to really enjoy even though we really only had 2 ready. I guess it's not the qulaity of the singing, but the intention of the singers that makes the difference. One of the bible readings was Psalm 23 which really spoke to me. "The Lord is my Sheperd, I shall not want..." Even here where we don't have running water or air conditioning, the Lord provides for our wants. He sent us a wonderful rain storm to cool and cleanse us yesterday. I felt like a new person after that, both physically and spiritually clean. What a blessing for us all.

This morning we are off to a service at the Catholic church, then we are going to work on getting our bible study and educational materials ready for the week's work. I can't wait to see what else the day brings.

God Bless

Susie :^)

P.S. Hola, Genevieve and Felicity!

Hello everyone. This is Mike. As Hurst said yeseterday, we all arrived safely. We collected our bags, met our interpreters, piled into the back of three pickups and headed up the mountain. The ride was a steep, bumpy and long as we returnees remembered, but we all got here in one piece.

After getting settled, we ate dinner and were in bed by about 8:00 PM, our time (two hours behind your time.)

Today, we all walked to town to explore. We went to the kindergarten and it looks like we'll be able to do the needed plumbing work. Hurst and Sam think we can replace the old poorly functioning toilets with new ones. They are sorely needed.

The kids, as before, are everywhere and we attract them like magnets. They are a joy to be around. Yesterday, Andrea went through picture books with them and, today, they drew pictures and painted.

Our only problem is the clinic didn't have water for awhile. It's Saturday evening and we do now, but before that we relied on the rain. It's rained hard twice and the cisterns fill easily. This afternoon it poured and some of us took advantage of it by showering under the cold water rolling off the roof.

It was great fun.

Tonight we go to church at the small church across the street. We've practiced two songs to sing to them and we sound pretty good.

We are all well and excited to begin completing the mission tasks we came here to do.

We love hearing from all of you.

We are here

Hurst signed in under Alisa letting everyone know we are in San Jose safe and sound but have no phone access. Trip went without incident.

Gotta run.

Blessings,
H

Two Weeks and counting!

Hello friends and family! At this time, in fourteen days, our team will be finishing up lunch in the village, getting to know new friends and for a few of us, reuniting with old ones. A year of planning is coming to fruition. Everything it getting kicked into high gear! Education and ministry are in a flury of activity and we need your prayers. Our final class/meeting will be this Sunday, we have our packing party and send off dinner next Friday and our send off/commissioning service will be on June 14th. Thank you for all for your support. Daily updates to this blog will be starting on June 19th for 10 days. Enjoy! Have a great day.