Highlights of Honduras

It's simply impossible to summarize the experience from our trip to the House of Hope.  There are so many moments that I cannot express adequately, so the following pictures will have to suffice. Thanks to each of you that supported us in prayer while we were gone. We are glad we went, and glad to be home safely.

Below are the 3 highschool guys at the airport in Houston, waiting on our outbound flight. On the left are Rustin and John, returning to Honduras for the 2nd year. Collin, on the right, is on his first trip to the House of Hope. In total, there were 12 of us that traveled.

Below is just a fun shot from the mall (yes, mall) in La Ceiba. I didn't know we owned a sporting goods store! After landing in San Pedro Sula, we took a 3 hour van ride to La Ceiba to spend the night. The stop at a mall was our last bit of modern civilization for a while. We ate at Applebees, listened to their 80s radio music and reminisced about all things 80s. (He-Man, Garbage Pail Kids, UnderRoos...you get the picture)

This is the 18 passenger plane we took from La Ceiba to Puerto Lempira. It was much nicer than the one I remembered from 2 years ago, but still not much fun if you don't like prop planes. After about a 90 minute flight, we landed on a dirt runway with armed guards that meet the plane. Drugs are very prevalent in this area. In fact, it's known as Cocaine Coast because of the drug smuggling. Hence, the guards.

Below is a group picture of all of the children. Katrina, standing in the green, is telling them to sing "Jesus Loves Me" for a video camera. They sang it in English, Spanish, then Moskito. We tried desperately to upload the video to an email and send back to our church, but to no avail. Our hope was that it could be played in Children's Church that Sunday while we were gone. However, internet in Puerto Lempira is spotty as best, and while the local "internet cafe" had DSL, we were unsuccessful in getting the email to send.

Collin is mesmerizing the children with a magic trick of disappearing coins. They couldn't get enough of it! I was kind of surprised that the pieces to this trick survived the trip and didn't end up in a child's pocket.

Watch the video below to see Collin entertaining the children with his juggling skills.

The next group of pictures are the construction project that the men worked on. At the landing strip (it's hard to call it an airport), there was a dilapidated building. Katrina petitioned the Mayor and was able get the City to let her turn it into a store for the paralyzed divers. One of Puerto Lempira's industries is lobster-diving, and most of the local divers do not wear protective scuba gear. When they come up from the floor of the ocean to fast, many of them become paralyzed. They then lose their ability to produce income and must turn to handicrafts to try and support their family. The building that our team began enclosing and re-roofing will house a "souvenir shop" of sorts for travelers to purchase handmade items like jewelry and purses. They will also sell snacks. Our men installed a new tin roof, enclosed the walls, and ran plumbing lines for bathrooms and showers. One of the paralyzed divers will live at this store as well. In Honduras, if you leave anything - I mean anything - unattended, it will sprout legs and walk off. So this structure will also become a residence.

The picture below is Katrina standing in Jose's house, at the table he uses for making jewelry. Jose will be one of the men that will stay at the new store. His current house is not much larger that what you see in this picture. Just a tiny room with room for his wheelchair and his table. Jose is very excited about this project. He sends money that he earns to his son that is in college in Nicaragua, and knows that his potential for earning more income will increase when the new store is open.

Here I am sifting rice with 2 of the girls. Rice is a staple of almost every meal, and icky things have to be sifted out of it before cooking. Apparently, mice like to play in the bags of rice...

Carol is holding a hydrocephalus baby. If I recall correctly, the mother is on the Milk Program that Katrina runs. There are over a hundred mothers on this program that come to the House of Hope at scheduled intervals to get milk. They are not healthy enough themselves to produce milk, so the powdered formula literally saves lives of these babies. They do not believe that this baby has brain damage, so that is great.

Our "Sisters in Service" (a group of women at our church) send money to the Milk Program every year. The picture below is Larry presenting a substantial sum to Katrina for the program. She was overjoyed!

And below is Charlotte supervising a game of "memory." It started out organized but quickly became mass confusion. They had fun, and Charlotte tried her best to keep the game going smoothly. I'm pretty sure we did NOT end up with all the pieces going back into the box. Oh well! This picture is taken in the kitchen area of the guest house. Over the past couple of years, the guest house was constructed by our group and other groups to house the volunteers. Before it was completed, we would sleep in the dorm with the kids at the main house. Let me tell you, it is a whole new world having your own bed in a separate house! The guest house has 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths and sleeps up to 18 in bunk beds.

Below, Sharon is cleaning teeth in the newly constructed dental clinic on site. Dr. Tom Brian, who founded "Send Hope" (the non-profit that supports the House of Hope,) frequents the clinic several times a year to offer his dental services. Since Sharon is a hygienist, she had made arrangements to spend some time in this manner as well. What a great thing!

This next series of pictures are from our day traveling to the Islands. We took a boat to three different islands to deliver notebook paper and school supplies to the children. These children received notebook paper from our group the past 2 years in a row, and this outing has fast become one of the highlights of each trip to Honduras. Katrina told us that the school children will write on the paper in pencil, then erase everything and reuse the paper over and over again. Once they run out of paper, it's gone. Pondering this really puts things into perspective! Back home, we will waste a sheet of paper so quickly. These children let nothing go to waste. (Their culture is much better stewards of the environment than we are.)

As we were approaching the island, the children would come running to meet us at the shore. Katrina had broadcast on the radio the day before so that they would be expecting us. School was recessed for the event, and the whole village came out to see us. Of course, everyone knew Katrina. She's a legend everywhere she goes.

They formed lines while our boys passed out notebooks. The teachers received bags with supplies in it like markers, crayons, pens, and glue.

This is a typical residence. You can see Collin and John in the front handing out the notebooks. The lady that lived here was ill, and had been for quite some time. Sharon shared that she had met the lady last year on this same trip to the islands and she was still gravely ill.

I'm wearing a rain poncho - it POURED on us for much of the time. I was grateful for the poncho, but felt a little bit ridiculous at the same time. I think the kids thought it was frivolous.

At the next island, we delivered the supplies and then were treated to coconuts. The video below is amazing... watch how quickly the boy climbs to the top of the tree!

The teacher whipped out his machete (a tool everyone has) to chop holes in the coconut so that we could drink the milk. Young coconuts are yellow - You don't get the brown ones that we are used to seeing until they mature. The milk from the young coconuts tastes very unique, almost like cola. It has a sweet fizz to it and kind of "pops" in your mouth.

The one I'm drinking is an older coconut, and the milk is not fizzy.

On our boat trip back to Puerto Lempira, we stopped at the home of James and Paula Anthony. They are missionaries with Global Outreach International. While we visited with them, some of our group found a swimming hole to cool off in!

Ok, in the video below, you'll see how COOL these little "touch-me-nots" were. They grow on the ground and the second you touch them, they shrivel up. We had more fun playing with them!

Upon returning back to the House of Hope, Rustin had a birthday surprise waiting on him. In honor of his 18th birthday, the children decided to crack eggs on his head and cover him with sawdust, then pelt him with water balloons. Nice, eh?   Remind me NEVER to celebrate my birthday in Honduras!

He was such a good sport about it though, we rewarded him nicely with a rather large piece of cake. Good job, Rustin! You were a much better sport than I would have been! (By the way Rustin, I have a nice video of the egging if you want it!)

Our time drew to a close on Wednesday evening. We left for the airport about 5am Thursday. In years past, some of the children have made their way down to the airport to see us off. So we were all a little disappointed that they didn't make it this time. Had I known that, I would have taken some extra time Wednesday night to say goodbye.  Little Edius was my special angel on this trip. I regret not being able to say goodbye properly. 

A little story about this guy... During the trip, I learned that a friend of ours had passed away. Erin is my age, and had bravely battled cancer for 17 months. She passed away on Monday during our trip, leaving behind her husband Jon and 4 beautiful children.  The news hit me pretty hard, and I felt lonely being away from family during this time. Our cemetery handled the arrangements, and that made it more difficult to not be there to help with those details.  On one evening I was feeling sad about Erin. I sat down on the concrete step and just couldn't hold the tears back anymore.  And get this...little Edius came running across the yard and skidded to a stop, landing in my lap. He took one look at my tears, wiped them away and kissed my cheek. There was no verbal communication, only the tenderness expressed in his touch.

How incredibly amazing... I set out on a mission to serve and give to others. And yet somehow, this little impish-grinning, toothy smiling, muddy little 6 year old touched my heart with his kindness.

I guess I was the one who really received the gift.

We're back!

We returned from the House of Hope in Puerta Lempira, Honduras, late Friday night.

Thank you for your prayers while we were gone!  We had no major mis-haps and found the trip full of blessings over and over again.

God has a special place in his heart for these children, and I feel honored to have been with them for a week. They are so precious. Everytime I would find myself getting tired or frustrated or overwhelmed, I would remind myself of how God is especially fond of these little ones. That thought somehow would give me the boost to keep on keeping on.

I did bring back a Honduran illness, however... so I've been down for a couple of days. But below is a picture of what I would have rather brought home with me. Isn't his smile cute???  This is Edius. I have no idea how to spell his name, I'm just spelling it phonetically. Two years ago we called him Pedro!  (Katrina, if you read this, please post a comment as to how to spell his name!Thanks!)

I will write about the trip when I'm feeling better. But for now, I thought I'd post a couple of pictures. Below is Rick and Umana, one of the girls we met 2 years ago. She has grown, and is doing very well!

Below is Collin, with Tiersa, Edius (my favorite little guy) and his brother Arnold. Collin is showing them a magic trick with disappearing coins.

I am working on my write-up of the trip, but am still decompressing from it. Had to jump right into work mode today with two funerals, plus all the catchup work to do. Hopefully, I'll have a full report online in the next week.

If you are on facebook, you can see all of the pictures uploaded to my page there. I'll put some short video clips up as well on my facebook site.   http://www.facebook.com/kristenbrown123

House of Hope video

Here is a short video on the project Rick and I are involved with. (I have a small role in the video.) We traveled to Honduras over the summer and experienced something life-changing. The purpose of this video was to introduce the idea of a "Slim Christmas" to our church. We are being challenged to match what we spend on gifts for each other and give that much to the House of Hope for Christmas. Take a minute to watch it! In a few weeks at our Christmas Eve service, we will show a longer video with more detail. I can't wait to see that video. Christmas is not our birthday, it is Jesus' birthday. http://www.trietschmedia.org/mabank/ Note: This link is temporary. I'm not sure how long it will be available.

Movie making

It was "lights, camera, action!" yesterday for us. As you can see, that's our son Taylor under the spotlight in the above picture. Trietsch United Methodist Church in Flower Mound offered to help produce a video for our church highlighting the Honduras mission and the House of Hope. They have an awesome media crew and a very professional studio at their church. Several of us that have been to the House of Hope participated in an interview session on camera for the video. It was rather overwhelming at first. The camera was big and the lights bright. And the room was cold! I was shaking, part from the cold, and part from the nerves. We each had about 10 minutes of "conversation" footage. Once we got to talking with the person conducting the interview, the camera and lights seemed to fade away. For me, once I got to sharing, I felt the renewed "high" that I felt when I was there. All of the children's faces were in my minds eye, and my heart ached more than ever for their needs. The video will weave together our footage from the trip in June, still camera shots from other trips taken, and the interview clips from those that have been there. We are tying this all together to promote our Miracle Christmas Offering at our church. "Christmas is not your birthday" is the theme, and we have accepted the challenge that for every dollar we spend on Christmas this year, we will invest that much in the Christmas Offering for the House of Hope. It's a pretty big challenge. But we're excited about it.

Natalie, my new "adopted" neice!

Craig and Carolyn are sponsoring Natalie through World Vision. Isn't she cute? Natalie lives in Guatemala with her family. She doesn't go to school, but hopefully that can change soon. She helps around the house with her 2 brothers, and her parents struggle to make ends meet. Natalie likes to play ball games, and seems to be in "satisfactory" health. I'm really excited that C&C are involved with World Vision. I know they will be so thrilled when they get to exchange some correspondance with Natalie. To know that what they are doing has an impact on this little girl...far, far away... that's pretty cool. When we were in Honduras, one of the villages we visited had dismissed school for the day. The teachers were meeting with World Vision to receive some assistance. It was neat to witness a group like that actually DOING what they say they do. www.worldvision.org - Check them out.

My Doggie is Sick and Honduras Stuff

Roxie is not well. Here she is in my car going to the Doctor.

At Christmas time, she was not well either. The good Doctor John, at Morton's Small Animal Clinic, took X-rays and diagnosed her with back problems. Her little spinal disks were bowed out, causing the pain.

Some anti-inflammatory and an attempt at restricting her leaping onto the bed was the medicine. She got better.

But over the weekend, she started exhibiting symptoms again: No appetite, whimpering, shaking from pain, hiding in my closet, etc.

I took her back to the Doctor this morning. More X-rays and even a complete workup on her blood didn't really show anything alarming. At least we ruled out alot of diseases. He thinks she just needs to take it easy, do the course of anti-inflammatory drugs again, and hope for the best. If she doesn't get better, he recommends a Specialist to look at her spine.

Yikes. That sounds expensive to me.

Roxie, if you're reading this.... Please get better soon!

Honduras Update:

Yesterday, while Roxie hid in my closet in pain, I went with some friends to Allen. We joined some other fellow House of Hope friends in loading a Container shipment bound for Honduras.

Several times a year, a truck like this takes off from Allen. It goes to the coast and is shipped via boat to Honduras. It takes a couple of months to get there. I'm not really sure what happens once it gets there, but it eventually finds the way to the House of Hope.

Dr Tom Brian, founder of the House of Hope, has devoted years to this project. He has a huge storage building behind his house where supplies are collected. He tirelessly works to arrange the details on loading it up and sending it off. Mattresses, medical supplies, exam tables, bicycles, office supplies, plumbing supplies, building material, baby clothes, diapers and formula were some of the things I saw being loaded up.

This particular excursion was extremely enlightening for me. The address for donations to the House of Hope is in Allen, and I've heard about the big container shipments leaving from this location.... but to see it with my own eyes was exciting!

Most exciting, however, was visiting with others who have been to serve at the HofH. Several people have been numerous times... we swapped stories and asked questions about particular children. It wasn't uncommon for our conversations to start off like this: "Were the twins there when you were there?" or "Isn't that Chalma a hoot?" or "Let me tell you about little Rodrigo and how he's grown!"

Sharing a common bond with strangers is heart-warming. Here we were, on a 100+ degree day, practically melting undr the sun. Many of us strangers to each other, and yet there was no separation, because we have a common love and a common goal.

And that's pretty cool. Even on the hottest day of the year.

Sweet faces

Last night Rick and I hosted some friends for dinner. We had the opportunity to show our Honduras pictures and share our experiences.

The pictures above are just a few of the sweet faces we fell in love with. What is so amazing is how happy these children are. They laughed and played and hugged the entire time we were there. And they bickered with each other, argued and were consequently disciplined. It was one big family, with all of it's positives and negatives.

Now that I've had some time to process all of the emotions associated with the trip, I have some regrets. Mainly, I wish I had been more physically open with the children. They were so needy of physical affection. There wasn't a moment that went by when they weren't grabbing at my hand or wanting to be held or hugged or something. And some of the little girls LOVED to brush our hair. Just like normal little girls.

I had hesitations. I tried to indulge them, but still remained pretty reserved with the "touchy-feely" part of loving on the children. Sure, they bathed, but there were not clean by the standards we are accustomed to. And some of them were being treated for lice. That was scary.

So allowing the girls to brush my hair was something that I had to draw the line at. But now, in retrospect, I regret being as restrained as I was. So what if I had gotten dirtier than I already was? So what if I had gotten lice (horrors!) It's treatable.

Am I not called to love these little children in a language that they can understand? And since I couldn't speak their Moskito language... that leaves the universal language of physical touch.

I've often thought about how Jesus would be with these children. They are so dear and precious to God, and I think Jesus would get "down and dirty" with them loving them in their language. He wouldn't care about broken fingernails or sweaty, stinky residue...

I did my best, with what I knew at the time. And it changed my life. And now, I want more. I want to go back and give more of myself.

To be available. I guess that's one thing I'm learning. When I say YES to serving, I might put myself in uncomfortable situations. Sometimes REAL uncomfortable situations. But I come out the other side with a new perspective, a changed heart, and a desire to do it again.

Two monkeys?

Yesterday was Rick's birthday!

The above picture was at Katrina's house in Honduras. She has several monkey's that live in the trees outside her home. They are friendly little guys, and we all had a blast holding them and watching them play.

That excursion proved to be one of the highlights of the trip - We were pretty emotionally stressed, and getting out to "monkey" around was just what the doctor ordered!

Happy Birthday, honey. I love you!

Left part of our heart behind...

We've returned. I needed a few days before writing anything, and to be honest, still need a few more.

People ask "How was your trip? Did you have a good time?"

Oh... please don't ask that unless you really want to know! A few words to describe it:

Horrible

Disturbing

Uncomfortable

Frightening

Hopeful

Perspective-shifting

Loving

Life-changing

Rewarding

Faith inspiring

God was there. He dwells in the most remote places, and is closest to those we think are the most forsaken.

I want to go back.

House of Hope

Yesterday evening, we had our last "team meeting" before 10 of us head out to the "House of Hope" in Puerto Lempera, Honduras.

This is an orphanage that our church supports. This particular trip involves 4 Senior High Youth (Taylor is going!) and 6 adults (Rick and myself included.) We'll be focusing on continued construction for a building that will house volunteers that go regularly to help out. Until that house is complete, volunteers stay in the orphanage, with the children. (see picture) I'm sure it adds a strain to the children's routine...and the workers. So it will be good to have this completed.

We'll also be spending lots of time with the children (about 30 of them currently) and shower them with love and physical affection. Many of these children have physical deformities due to malnutrition.

I am anxious about going for two reasons:
1. I'll be out of my comfort zone - physically! Conditions will be uncomfortable, as running water is limited and electicity is not something you can count on. The HEAT and HUMIDITY is said to be very difficult as well.
2. Emotional strain - I can only imagine the emotions we'll be dealing with as we embrace these children. Children who are so innocent, and yet have so many difficulties to overcome.

Website is www.send-hope.org if you want to check it out.