Saying Goodbye is Never Easy

This week we had a blast with the short term mission team from Roopeville, Georgia.  Having met them last summer, we picked up right where we left off and never missed a beat.  Anna and the youth pastor, Chris Altman, were up to their old pranks and rest of the team made it feel like we were back home with southern friends again.  Just hearing their accents when they speak was refreshing to us! 

The team let our youth group pair up with them while they delivered rice and beans and prayed for the families as we distributed care packages to the youth in the homes.  The packages were filled with shampoo, toothbrushes/toothpaste, deoderant, feminine products, etc., all items donated by rChurch members and the church matched the donations too.  Uphill, in the heat, through tiny foot paths into small shacks called homes is where we spent the better part of a day, our youth will reap the rewards of a changed heart for a very long time.

My mom and her husband came to visit and got to see firsthand the ministries that we are a part of here in Roatan, Honduras.  It was so great to see them in the trenches and to hear their response to the life we have chosen to live through the grace of God.  We spent some time at the beach and pool of course and the kids got some much needed grandma and grandpa time.  While we were sad to see them go, we had a wonderful visit!

When we dropped off my mom and Gary, we prepared to pick up our friends, Craig Vance and his 16-year-old daugher Taylor, visiting from our neck of the woods.  So great to see them!  Craig will be here for the next week and then he and Anna will return to Texas while Taylor stays for another couple of weeks to do service work here in Roatan.  So thankful to Ray Koehne for donating his Continental miles and the ticket to give Anna a visit to the states for a couple of weeks.  She is so excited and has planned to spend a few nights with several different friends and family while there.

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Family

It has been an absolute whilrwind around here!

The last two weeks for us have comprised of spending most of our time in la colonia with the short term mission teams.  It has been crazy busy and we are enjoying every minute of it!  Well, the heat is a bit much, but at least we are surrounded by water to cool off with!

The team from Talapoosa, GA was awesome last week.  They had VBS, discipleship classes, soccer and baseball sports camps, delivered rice and beans to homes and so much more simply by setting a good example for other youth in la colonia.  This team is amazing in that they really bond with many of the youth and plan to skype with one of the lw4r interns to check on the youth and continue to keep up with all that is going on here with us and the kids in la colonia.  We sure do miss 'em!

One of the young adults from this team actually just announced to his church that he would like to serve in music ministry for his career!  Trey and I plan to help get him back to Roatan to help out before school starts again in the fall. 

Take care and God bless!

Connie

Fourth of July in Roatan, Honduras

On Saturday, after we picked up the team from Talapoosa, GA we got them settled in at the SonRise Mission Inn in Sandy Bay, grabbed some lunch and headed for church set-up.  Sunday we had church and take-down then an afternoon of swimming and hanging out as we prepared for the week ahead. 

As far as Fourth of July celebrations, we opted out  because we were gearing up for Monday and decided to stay at home and swim with the kids instead of venturing out.  There are a few gringo establishments that actually had some fire works and celebrations, small compared to what we are used to in the states, but still patriotic. The power actually went out at about 7:30pm and thank God it came back on in about an hour or so because it was a very hot and still night. 

Here are a few shots of children's church and the take-down side of all that goes into a church without a permanent home.  It is amazing that all of the equipment fits into a small enclosed trailer, it is like a jigsaw puzzle getting everything inside it.  We also started a toddler classroom about two months ago and it is going really well; this enables the children's church to really blossom and pay attention to the lesson.  Good stuff.

Take Care and God Bless,

Connie and Fam

Dropping off and Picking up...

So, every Saturday for the next few weeks we will continue to drop off one short term mission team and pick up another one.  It can be fun to go to the airport because you never know who you might see and get to catch up with.   It is also quite a sight to see our little pick-up loaded down with luggage as well as the lw4r truck all loaded down and then a van and another SUV busting at the seems with people.  We will definitely have to get a shot of that and post it so that all can truly appreciate it.

The team that we dropped off was from Jacksonville, Florida and consisted of 26 people.  It was a huge team for a short term mission trip but with a big team they can have a big impact.   They did VBS, soccer camp, added two rooms onto a house, laid water lines and ministered to the people of the colonia.  Because they had plenty of helpers and were pretty organized, we mainly helped move people from place to place and joined in on the activities.  These next few weeks will be a little crazier with smaller teams but so fun and rewarding.   

The team that arrived today is from Talapoosa, Georgia; 12 people total.  We had the opportunity to get to know them last summer when we helped out with VBS and sports camp.  They are just an amazing group of young adults and leaders, I definitely want to expose my kids to them every chance we get.  It is not often enough that you see first and second year college students that follow the Lord and choose to give back year after year; we pray that our kids will be the examples to others in the same way.  So, instead of using their money to go on some vacation, they have willfully chosen to help the needy children in Roatan, Honduras by doing VBS, soccer and baseball camp, running water lines and so much more just through leading by example.  The kids in the colonia actually remember them and call them by name because they have returned year after year; very cool stuff. 

This should be an exciting week and we look forward to sharing with you!

In the pictures above: Anna is with Aylisa, a girl from the colonia that she met last summer (see 7-6-09 blog); Wiley is in the window of the open-air church; and Anna and Eduardo are running around the house that the team added onto.

Take care and God bless,
Connie and Family