Day Four (Tuesday, July 8)

We just finished evening devotions. The key question of the night was, What is our mission here all about? We have come here to pour concrete and lead a vacation Bible school program, but that, we agreed, is not our mission. One person said our mission is to bring people hope. She was right. The villagers have what is in many ways a desperate life. Basic medical and economic opportunities are scarce. We come and they are reminded that they are not alone in this world and that people, who can help, care about them.

Someone else said our mission is to build relationships with God, with the mission team, and with the villagers. He was right. The concrete and week-long VBS is secondary to building those relationships. Many on this team have been here before and they are reunited in mission with friends here in Honduras. They truly care about each other. Those of us who are new to this village are forging relationships as well. Those relationships are what this mission is about.I suspect it will take some time for us to process what this trip is all about. For now, we simply pour concrete, do VBS, and get to know the villagers. There is great need here. We will figure out the rest later.

I was searching for a metaphor to describe what this place is like and think I found one. Life here is what I imagine life was like on the U.S. prairie in the late 1800s. We have entered the Spanish speaking version of the Little House on the Prairie series. Rustic and self-contained. Homes are all hand-made with sticks and mud. Food is animals or crops grown in or around the village. Clothing is often homemade (although I did see one person with a Buckeyes shirt on today). No electricity, no running water. Roads in the village are all dirt, have ruts and are covered with trash, manure, rocks and standing water. Bathrooms are outhouses, stoves are wood burning, mothers nurse their babies openly, and small children run around barely clothed. Travel is mostly by foot or horseback. Pigs and chickens and dogs run wild. Animals go in and out of houses. Kids are largely unsupervised and are put to work for the family's gain early in life. School is a one-room school house. We have entered prairie living in the modern age.

There are modern additions. Cars and trucks with good suspension systems travel the roads as well. A few well-to-do people have cell phones. A few well-to-do people have generators that power appliances and televisions.The ranch is the exception to prairie living. I am, after all, able to send you this email.

Please pray for Day Five (Wed). I will be meeting with Antonio the Christian leader of this village. He and I and a few others will be going to visit a woman who is dying of throat cancer. According to our village contact, there are no medical options available for her here and our ministry will be to pray for her and speak to her about her faith. Tomorrow, we will also continue to pour concrete and do VBS with the children. I must tell you about the impressive, dedicated and faith-filled teacher, Anna. Another time. Time for bed.

I am glad I am here and serving. I also look forward to returning home to you.