Susie asked me to let everyone know that they are in Tela. They don't have Internet access at the hotel, so they haven't been able to post or send email. Susie found a wifi network with her iPhone while they were having lunch and was able to get a short message out to me. We won't likely hear anything else until they reach Huston tomorrow.

Jack

Hola, Amigos! Wow! What a week! It's hard to imagine the emotional rollercoaster that this week has been. From the worshipping from the heart and the sharing, loving right-in-God's-arms highs to the utter nothingness of the peoples' possessions, and from the absolutely Godliness of the faith and generosity of these amigos, to the sad, sad plight of the ones who have little access to health and welfare assistance.

To have a house here is a blessing, but one room with open doors and windows and no furniture, personal space or posessions to put in it seems spartan. And children everywhere. Smiling, shy, beautiful, scrubbed, hopeful, wide-eyed faces that steal your heart away. My instinct is to gather as many as I can fit in armfulls and hug them. If anything will bring you back to San Jose it will be the memory of those beautiful faces.

Tonight we had spindown and my stone in the circle was Hope. As long as we remember that Jesus has sent us and we are His hands, we feel hope, Amen. We met with the Health committee and they said "Thank you" and we said "No, Thank YOU"!

See you soon,

Sam

This morning we did the community cleanup. Finally! My Mom's been talking about it for at least a week. Now she's talking about the Tayla or at least what we'll do there. Anyways, the community cleanup went muy muy bien (very, very, very well). The entire place looks cleaner! I got bitten by at least 10 bugs, so I had to quit, unfortunately. At lunch we had noodles. They were so good, I had 3 helpings! We later found out they cooked the noodles in chicken broth (hint, hint, church cooks). The kindergarten was the best behaved bible group we ever had! Everything went smoothly. Some of the things we did were sing and sign Jesus Loves Me, read a couple of books, and even a puppet show! There were about 30 kids there and a couple of parents too. The teacher was very appreciative, and the bathroom we started on Monday, the community construction workers have almost finished - amazing.

Good night,

Bo Lenhardt :-)

Hi Everyone back home,

What a terrific day we had!!! As usual we were up early for breakfast and hurrried up the mountain to the school----had to be there by 8:00 AM. We set up stations in the play-yard. One station was for teaching about bacteria & the proper way to wash hands, another was placing fake bacteria on their hands---viewed it with UV light--then had them wash their hands to rid the bacteria---viewed their hands with UV again---surprisingly most of them were successful with hand-washing. Susie & others had students looking at bugs & bacteria via microscopes. Genevieve and others demonstrated how water becomes contaminated and how to prevent such. The kids were really interested. The children here have very little but they are typical kids; boys teasing girls, running playing tag, girls telling secrets. Our children have it so nice---they have no--- idea how these littles ones hike a gutted,dirt road far up a mountain to get to school. They look much nicer attending school then our kids: they wear uniforms, which generally are neat and clean. They are respectful and helpful. Before we left the school six children---three girls and three boys in native dress performed dances of Honduras. A long hike back in the hot, hot sun for lunch.

After lunch we hiked to the Community Center for elementary children's Bible study/ministry. The building is hot as blazes and nearly 200 children of different ages came; mothers with babies and most of us.

They learned the Ten Commandments with finger/hand signing-----they did great. Then we had them make bookmarks for their Bibles---they loved that---what a job that was!!! Next we had them do Ten Commandment puzzles. We only had 60 Bibles to give this group---we tried to give to family groups, but we had no idea if they were family or not. At the end 80 children were lined up out on the road hoping to get a Bible. We had a raffle for the last seven Bibles. We gave 57 Bibles to teenagers the day before and on Monday gave almost as many to adults. Seeing all these children anxious to do whatever we had for them to do, was heart warming.

I know as a fact that I have never sweat so much in my life---water poured down my face like many steady streams/a flowing brook. Our clothes get soaked. Oddly enough, even though the natives feel that it is hot---they perspire very little and seem to tolerate the greater than 100 degrees in the center with no problem. The kids are active and happy---never complain of the heat or how many miles they walk/run. They gather around us in flocks; smile and wave as we walk by their tiny, plain homes. We see them sweeping the dirt in front of the houses. They love candy just as our kids do---get a little money and go to a tiny store to buy candy---they ask for "shicken". At last I bought a Pepsi yesterday.

This evening we were invited to a prayer meeting at a woman's house---Esther----she is one of our cooks. You would not believe the terrain we hiked--it is so exhausting, but we made it----saw a coral snake on the way---Bo was excited.

The house was so small yet it was packed ----they permitted women and children in the tiny room along with the men who were leaders and our interpreter. It was a very moving service---they were so thankful to God for us and all we have done for them. They read several Bible verses. prayed and sang songs. They sing with such gusto especially the little children. They are wonderful people/children of God.

We are now back, enjoying the most beautiful starry sky---sweating again. Must go----the bugs are attracted to the light of the computer and driving me nuts.

Keep us in your prayers as we do you. This is a wonderful, successful mission.

God Bless!!!

Carole

Hola amigos in Pittsburgh. I bet you wish you were here. I clock the roosters each morning...seems to differ by how wet or dry they are??? On wet nights (we're talking thunderous rain), they have squawked as early as 12:30 am, and definitely by 2:30 am, but on dry nights, they usually give us until 3:00 am each morning. Then we are treated to a scene not unlike 101 Dalmations, with the dogs howling across vast distances...only it's with roosters, hundreds, across these mountains...an incredible and unbelieveable sound (especially when using the outdoors bathrooms in the middle of the night, and one squawks right behind you!) It is a wonderful experience, really, to hear, and they make all kinds of sounds, with a rare "cock-a-doodle-doo" thrown in. Their sounds continue until the sun is up....and by then the pigeons roosting outside our door and the birds are chiming in, as well as village dogs, goats, and whatever else is wandering around.

Today, we ate breakfast quickly, and rushed on the rocky village road to get to the school early (by 7:45 am), so that we could set up 4 stations, 2 with Henry the Hand for handwashing techniques, and 2 with microscopes to see germs. We "ran" many grades today, first, second, third, seventh, eighth, and ninth grades, with grades three, four, and five scheduled for tomorrow. The older students saw photos of bacteria, with teaching from our wonderful minister Medardo, who doubles as interpreter, teacher, custodian, and driver, who is passionate about cleanliness due to the swine flu pandemic here (over 1,000 cases) which their government is doing nothing about. We had teams of 4 at each table, with our wonderful Honduran teen interpreters helping, as usual, with everything.

We worked until noon, then had a program from a few students, celebrating their culture through dance. Can't wait to show you all the pictures of this week. After lunch, a walk back (I call this the Health Spa...walking up and down rocky dirt roads in sweltering heat, sweating profusely all day long...checked on the scale, and I have lost 4 pounds so far!!!), we had a great lunch, a beef soup with bananas, yucca, and carrots, with lime juice squeezed into the sauce. A quick lunch, then a race back to do the next program at the local community center, where we were conducting a bible lesson (10 commandments with hand signs for each, a puzzle game of the 10 commandments, a bookmark craft, and a bible for all).

A joy: Sharing art, a universal language, with the students, first coloring books, then liquid acrylics on paper to train for the mural, and then, after questioning the principal for interest and desire, a wall mural on an outside wall of the school, depicting a rainforest scene with animals. I brought over enough supplies to paint the entire length of the building with many scenes from a book called "The Umbrella" by Jan Brett, which the interpreters are translating now, to be presented tomorrow for the school's library. The second grade teacher loves art, and is excited to take on the project which we started. I was able to draw one mural (14 feet by 10 feet) and with the help of Bo, and 3 of our 5 teen interpreters, make a good start on the drawing...always surrounded by crowds of curious students.

A sadness: passing skeleton dogs on the streets, and around every building, with heads down, eyes averted, searching endlessly for food on the ground... They often meet with harsh words, kicks, or stones, and I have never seen anyone show kindness or pet a dog yet... they breed unwanted and unloved...so different from many dogs in our country.

Carole will tell you about the incredible afternoon!

See you Sunday night, Barry and Rebecca!

Love to you all,

Andrea

• Lesson number one learned in San Jose: Don't play cards with children who will play better than you. I just lost seven times in a row to a girl who had only seen the card game played once, yes once.
• Lesson number two learned: Don't take out your camera unless you want to be trampled by a stampede of children. (Don't underestimate them; they can be just as frightening as a real stampede.) "Take my picture! Genny, take my picture! Can I take the picture? Let me do it!" You also have to show them the picture after you take it or else you'll be stalked until you show them.
• Number three: Taking showers in the rain is possibly better than the ones you take behind doors.
• Number four: The people here are the nicest strangers you'll ever meet. Their smiles are as frequent as the rain.
• Number five: I'm debating telling every modeling agency in the world that if they're looking for a person who is drop-dead gorgeous, knows how to work a pout, and has got attitude and facial expressions that will strike them blind, they should go straight to San Jose.

This place is beautiful and so are the people that spend their lives here.

No te creo!

Genevieve

Today my daughter, Genevieve, and I are in charge of sharing the news of our Honduras mission activities. Yesterday, Monday, several of us took the long, rocky road to the school - just a short distance past the center of the village. We were greeted by the principal - Melida Argentina Lopez - a gracious, dedicated woman who has been in charge of this school of 380 students - grades 1-9 - since 2005. We arrived during recess, and there were students running and playing everywhere in their navy blue and white uniforms. We discussed how best to set up our educational activities - all focused on the importance of keeping clean and drinking clean water. We plan to practice handwashing, demonstrate how germs can be spread, and talk about the good and bad practices that affect water quality. We'll also be setting up microscopes - some with prepared slides and others for observing known objects from their everyday life. Andrea worked out the details of painting a wall mural with some of the students, depicting the plants and animals of a rain forest. The principal could not have been more accommodating, even going so far as to give us a set of keys to the school grounds and to her office, so we can set up in advance and keep donated supplies and equipment in her office. As we walked amongst the students, all of whom were friendly and polite, we recognized many of the children who join us for fun and games at the Clinic. There is something so special about that spark of recognition and the big smiles after just a few days here. On our return, we stopped to see the progress of the new bathrooms at the kindergarten building. The teacher came out to ask if there were any way we could come to visit her students. This morning is our only free time, and she rearranged her entire schedule to make this possible. We'll read stories and do our handwashing demonstration, leaving her lesson plans and soaps for the students.

Today is also the day for painting the walls and columns of the Clinic, but as I write I can hardly hear myself think as the rain drums like thunder on the roof. This is the rainy season, so important for the growth of their crops. They dealt with a draught in May - hard to even imagine - that set back the plant growth. I am certain that draught is over now! The Honduran people that we have met - both children and adults - have a way of making us feel so welcome. There are no doubt many reasons for their kindness and friendliness, but after observing them at their Church services and at our adult bible study yesterday, I would say they are truly filled with faith and are living out their faith in their treatment of us and in their treatment of each other. It is very impressive, especially in light of the difficulties of everyday life here. It makes me want to re-examine not only my way of life, but the depth of my own faith. God bless you all and keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Diane

P.S. To all of our family - we send our love. You seem so far away, and yet still so close.