Mission's Monday - Honduras Part 2

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday schedules were this:

Monday

9:00 am Visit Hospital to pass out goody bags to all the children. (Hardest part of the trip every year.)

11:00 am Go back to house to eat lunch.

12:00 pm Head to Cataluna for VBS/Women's Ministry.

6:00 pm Night service at Cataluna

8:30 pm Head back to house for dinner/reflection time

Tuesday

9:00 am Visit nursing home to fellowship and pass out cards that our children's ministry @ First Irving made for them.

11:00 am Go back to house to eat lunch.

12:00 pm Head to Cataluna for VBS/Women's Ministry.

6:00 pm Night service at Cataluna

8:30 pm Head back to house for dinner/reflection time

Wednesday

7:00 am Head to Cataluna

8:00 am Start flouride treatments on 200 children.

12:00 pm Break for lunch

2:00 pm VBS/Women's Ministry

6:00 pm Evening Service in Cataluna

8:00 pm Say goodbye to all the families we fell in love with.

You can see that our schedules are packed. We leave the house early and don't get back home for dinner until late. But it's amazing how the Lord sustains our bodies. We always have an abundance of strength to make it through. It really is an amazing testimony to how God works through His people. I could never do this with my own strength.

Today, I'm going to write about The Women's Ministry.

This year, like last year, I helped Michelle with the Women's ministry. This is a new thing we've done only in the past 2 years. In the villages, like Cataluna, the men all leave early for work and the women stay back with the kids and tend to their home. So it just made sense that while the kids went the VBS, the women would have something to do. So we started a women's Bible study and it has been the most amazing thing. One of the team members teach a Bible study and then they do a craft that correlates to the story. And they love it.

The coolest thing is when later in the evening they will invite us into their homes and we will see the crafts they had made that week displayed on one of their shelves. They treasure them and it is always so humbling to see these paper crafts displayed so beautifully in their home that is most likely made of cardboard or wood crates. Oh, the things I think I "need" in this world and in my home to make me happy. It is very convicting.

This was on Monday as Courtney was giving the study for the day.


The craft for Monday was we gave them a picture frame that they were able to decorate. I was demonstrating the craft because we used a picture of Ella as the example.


The neatest thing about this craft was that my friend Julie of Jules and Albie photography was on the trip. She took the MOST AMAZING pictures that so perfectly portrays the trip. What we did was, Julie took individual portraits of all the women (which they have probably never had)and we got them printed at a one hour photo place and then the next day handed them out for them to put in the frame they had decorated. It was one of the most precious moments to see the looks on the women's faces when we passed out their pictures. Julie is so talented and each picture is so incredibly beautiful.




This is sweet Pat who has been on the trip for the past few years. She dedicated herself to holding up the craft demonstration each day for the entire time they were making them. It was really cute.


I was going to do "Flat Stanley" with Ella, but this was the only pic I took. But I like this shot because it shows the view out the window of the home we did all of our women's ministry in this year.


Group shot with their frames.


On the way to Cataluna Monday morning, we passed a horrible car accident where a car had flipped off the side of the mountain. When we arrived for our women's ministry we found out that it was this women's cousin. She found out while we were there that he had passed away. I was so thankful we were there to help comfort her. This is sweet Michelle praying with her.


This was the craft for the next day.




Most of the pictures I am using today were taking by the incredibly talented Julie! She gave me permission to use them. But you should definitely head over to her site to see many more talented pictures. She has an amazing way to capture a person and this gift was shown more evidently than ever in her shots of the sweet children and women in Honduras.


This was the craft for the last day. They made salvation bracelets. The idea is like the color bead salvation bracelets that kids make, but in a trendier way for women.


I love how Julie captured these moments.




This lady's name is Catalina. She graciously opened her home up for us to use for our Women's Ministry. It is one room with cinder block walls. Her story is really neat...


Communion Baptist (the church we partner with) since we came last year built her this new home. This was her home last year. This was her yard. And her house, which was basically made up of blue tarps, is to her right. It brought me to tears when we pulled up to Cataluna Sunday night and to my surprise I saw that they had built her a new home! One of the many reasons why we love Communion so much. What they do for the people of Honduras is endless.


This is her precious daughter. I took this picture last year and it's still one of my favorites. I can not tell you how much I LOVE this family.


This is her house from the outside. We are waiting for all of our women to arrive.


This lady's name is Roxanna! WE LOVE HER. Her brother is the pastor of Communion Baptist and Roxanna is always one of our group's translators. Words can not describe how amazing she is. I just stand back and watch her work with the women and children and am in awe. She inspires me to love people more.


Final group picture! If you think about it, please pray for these women. They have a tough life. Their husbands are not around much. Only a few are of their husbands are Christians. And they deal with abuse on all kinds of levels! There is nothing easy about their life, yet they are so joyful and their faces are so beautiful.


These 4 women accepted Christ during our Tuesday evening service!


This is an example of the crafts displayed in one of the women's homes. So precious! You can see the frame with her picture in it and the wall hanging they painted. And they even had the children's crafts on the shelf.


Thanks for reading!! I know it was A LOT. But I hope you enjoyed it. We have just as much responsibility to pray for these people as we do in going, which is something we can all do today.

Next week, I'll probably talk about the baby ministry. It's so cute!!