Mom goes to Honduras - Day 6

Halfway point of the trip and I was REALLY missing Josh. With all the stress of the weekend, part of me wanted to go home. I knew there were still important things to do, and I didn't want to miss out on what God had in store, but emotionally, I was done. I asked God to sustain me and help me to savor each moment in Honduras, rather than wishing them away.

The schools were back in session after their spring break, so we headed out to do 2 outreach programs. We had planned some songs (in Spanish) with puppets, a puppet skit about how we are all special to God, a silly skit about how going to church doesn't make you a Christian, a review of the beaded bracelets where each color represents an aspect of the salvation story, and a salvation prayer. We also planned at each school to spend some time with the kids afterward, handing out candy, supplies, and balloon animals.

The first school we visited was a primary school, and the kids were adorable. There were probably about 80 of them, and they all brought their chairs out in to the courtyard. (The Honduran schools I visited were all laid out similarly; classrooms surrounding a large central courtyard.) It was hard to know if any kids in particular prayed the salvation prayer at the end, as some of what we had prepared was over their heads. We handed out bracelets and toothbrushes, and they gave us hugs. I missed Josh fiercely with each little one that I hugged.

The next school was a few blocks away, and so we hauled all of our supplies, including the PVC-pipe puppet stage down the streets to the intermediate school. I was frustrated at this school - 300 - 400 kids in the courtyard with little to no supervision. Students in Honduras generally attend a 3 hour school day in either the morning or afternoon. We arrived about 30 minutes before the end of their session, and it was the first day back after break. It appeared to me that the teachers just let them out. It was very hard to hold their attention, and many kids kept trying to come up behind the puppet stage where we were, rather than staying in their places. They were basically milling around the courtyard, somewhat paying attention, while we ministered. The bell rang in the middle of the salvation message, and it was mayhem. However, about 15 kids stayed up front, even as their classmates were running off, to pray the salvation prayer. That made it all worth it! We were able to hand out notebooks there, but not much else.

Stopped at a mall for lunch, and were able to bless Soyla with a new printer - one that was super ink efficient, since she regularly sends out mailings to 700 people and can run through printer ink in a week.

We had dropped 3 of our team members off up on the mountain to do some construction work, and left 3 at the house. After lunch, we headed back up the mountain to pick up our teammates, and stopped back in la colonia Australia to see the home of Jorge and Yesi, our Honduran hosts. Their home was so important to them, and you could see the pride in Jorge's face as he spoke of the improvements he was hoping to make. It was a blessing to see the inside of a typical mountain village home. Driving through on the bus, it was hard to imagine what the homes looked like inside. We definitely take our creature comforts for granted here in the States.

I continued feeling healthy, although tired and emotional. Was starting to lose focus a bit, and prayed that God would help me persevere.