We made it home

A few minutes behind but all is well.

Safe on the ground

In Miami.

San Pedro Sula Airport

Tired but.....

Checked in

We are checked in at San Pedro Sula and ready to return.  The bus ride was smooth.  The fish was good and the airport is relatively quiet.  Will check in again at Miami. 

We miss the kids.  :(

Saturday!

One of the hardest things to do sometimes is describe a mission trip to others who are not here.  Today was filled with many small activities:

• Finishing the painting of the flags
• Saturday morning program with about 70 kids - Complete with songs, Bible story about Jesus cooking fish after His resurrection, water balloons and a pinata (supplied by the U.S. Soto Cano base liasons)
• A trip to Comoyagua
• A heavy thunderstorm
• Making pizza's and dessert for the kids
• A prayer of thanksgiving for healing for Katie (Doris' grand-daughter) with candles
• Singing and dancing with the kids

All of these events may seem pretty straight-forward and simple yet it was the final day of our trip. The children are asking us to stay.  Some would love to come back with us.  The emotions of the last day are hard for both the children and the group.  The great comfort comes to us again in God's Word - His assurance that we are all one family and even though we may be separated here for a while, eternity waits for us.  Jesus is preparing His kingdom for all of us.  We have learned this week that we can TRUST that message because God has proven Himself faithful throughout the history of the world.

So we get ready to return home to Florida tomorrow.  We have seen a group of people who need to know more about their Savior.  We have seen a country that is very poor and struggles with educating and feeding their citizens.  We have played each day with children who do not get to live in their family homes but come together here to be a new family.  The needs for them are great and we have seen that the Lord has given us the ability to help them.   

Pray for them.  Support them.  Visit them here.  Share the Gospel so that this country and ours will live out the love given to them in the mercy of Jesus Christ.  Thanks for spending the week with us.  

(If you would like to receive email updates from the Children of Love Foundation, please send us a note at childrenoflove@stlukes-oviedo.org.)

Every morning the coffee brews in the outdoor kitchen as the sun melts the clouds from the top of the mountains surrounding La Paz. We gather prayers and songs with the children before breakfast and a round of hugs for everyone, often we get extras.  No VBS today, but the children were busy with chores and preparing for tomorrow night's program.  The flags are still being painted on the front of the building, tomorrow morning they should be finished.  Some impromptu games and activities deepened our relationships with the children as well as each other.
The novices were taken to the mountain banana/coffee plantation.  The ride was full of switch backs and turns.   As we gained altitude, the jackets came out. Lots of bananas on their stocks were loaded into the back of the pickup truck to take back to the foundation.  They were hung along the sides of our dining pavilion.  After prayers and songs, we were treated to a wonderful BBQ chicken dinner by the staff.  The children cleared the table when we finished. Devotions continued with our focus on Trust. We need to trust in times of tribulation as well as times of favor.  Plans for tomorrow and ways to touch the lives of these precious children were discussed as well as the VBS schedule and events.

Today was another great day here in La Paz.  The day started with the children praying and singing for us.  Then came the great tasting eggs and tortillas.  Day 3 of VBS was about Jesus dying on the cross and then being raised for our sins.  There were about 70 children that attended VBS.  We were able to sing several songs for the kids at St. Lukes.  The craft today was a cross that the children were able to make for each other.  They were so excited to get the cross gifts from all of the wonderful children at St. Lukes.  For games we played tug of war (which is always a hit) and then water balloon toss.  The water balloon toss may be the happiest we have seen them during the VBS games.  English class was a great hit and Tia Millie and others did a great job teaching the kids how to say the parts of the body in English.  They cut out traces of their body and labelled each part. Audrey then had adult bible study for the women of La Paz.  As usually it was a big hit and they were so appreciative.

We played baseball with all of the children and had a wonderful time teaching them how to hit.  It was so impressive to see how well they listen and how good they are at a sport they do not usually play. Tonights devotion was about always trusting God.  The key theme was to have child like faith with God.  One of the most amazing things we have experienced here is how the children (with the love and help of Mama) completely trust  God.  They are so loving and caring towards us and everyone they meet. Please keep us in your prayers as we give the children as much love as possible and continue to help them trust one another.  This is truly an experience of a lifetime.  God bless and always trust in the Lord.

Today was yet another beautiful day in La Paz! We started the day with prayer, song, and pancakes with the     Foundation kids before another fifty kids arrived for Day 2 of Vacation Bible School. Today's story was the arrest and trial of Jesus where the kids learned to trust God no matter what! For games, the kids (and their tios and tias) had sack races, which became an instant favorite. The craft today was a small foam airplane and coloring sheets. It is amazing how long these kids will sit still and quietly color their pictures! This afternoon, we had another English class, this time based on Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham (Huevos Verdes on Jamon). The kids can now count from zero to fifteen without any problems and they remember their colors from yesterday! After English class, we played with the kids until dinner, which was yummy quesadillas, squash, beets, and carrots. There was a small game of basketball, some hide-and-seek, and computer games after dinner until we sang and prayed before bed.

Our devotion tonight was about trusting our families and building trust with other people. The Foundation kids are a family, and they willingly welcomed us Americanos into their family. They trust us completely. It's getting harder and harder for the kids to say goodnight to us because they know we leave in a few days and they don't want to say goodbye. We really don't want to either! Continue to keep us in your prayers as we share Jesus with the children of La Paz! Hasta manana!

What a great day!  Today was our first day of Vacation Bible School.  We had about 100 kids today!  It was amazing seeing all of these kids so excited to learn about God!  To start Bible school today, we were able to skype with the children at St. Lukes!  It was such a great experience to be able to communicate with them!  Today, we taught the kids the song, "Lord I Lift Your Name on High."  Hopefully we will be able to video tape them singing it to show the kids at St. Lukes!  Our theme for Bible school this week is trust.  We talked about Lazarus today.  We made hearts out of jello (we had a few broken hearts) and played a great game of tug-a-war.  The kids beat the Americans!  Rematch tomorrow :-)

We also started our first day of English class with the kids today.  We are using Dr. Suess to help the kids learn English.  Today the kids worked on their color words and numbers using colored gold fish.  They loved it.

Tonight, we had a barber shop at the foundation.  Tio Josh had the trimmer and cut a lot of the boys hair along with Tio Steve and Tio Matt!  Look for pictures of their new looks!  We also started a project on painting a mural on the front wall of the foundation.  We will post pictures when it is finished.

Today was another great day at the foundation.  We are looking forward to another day at VBS.  It is amazing to see the kids so eager to learn more about Jesus!

What a day! After a big breakfast, we went to deliver infant clothing at the maternity ward of the local hospital. We then met the children at the La Paz correctional facility. We were able to sing to the women and pass out small packets of necessities. The women were extremely receptive to the gospel message! We feel ready for VBS tomorrow and cannot wait to share it with you! God is truly at work in La Paz. :)

Monday morning

It was a beautiful night for sleeping in La Paz.  We were tired and slept well.  Breakfast was sausage, eggs, beans and tortillas.  Putting our plan together for this morning and will try to live broadcast in a bit.   We will be around town so it will probably be slow.  Later.

Trust in the Lord

The theme for VBS this week is trust.  We were led in prayer this morning at St. Luke's and trusted in a whole bunch of people to bring us here, get our luggage here, .....  But all those could have failed somewhere along the way.  The Lord is the only one who is completely trustworthy and we know that He has something in store for us here this week.

Our flights went smoothly.  No problems with customs (though the line was a bit slow).  They let all of our baggage through.  Our bus was waiting for us and Tecca and Rolando loaded the bus in a downpour with extremely strong winds.  The bus driver did a great job on wet roads.  We stopped for a coconut milk (freshly chopped end with a straw stuck in it!) - for just $0.50.

The arrival is always the best.  Signs to welcome us.  Children who have waited for the return of their baptismal sponsor or just a friendly face.  They entertained us with some of their favorite songs as well as the traditional God Bless America.  We were fed a delicious meal with fresh beets from the garden.  We prayed and sang before the children headed to bed.  (And Doris even said we could sleep in tomorrow!  Maybe until 8!)

Pray for the town of La Paz to see the love of Jesus this week so that they may learn to trust the God who gave His one and only Son to come to this earth for us.  Talk to you tomorrow!

A few pictures are posted.

Safe and Sound

We arrived at the foundation about 7:30 to a whole bunch of smiling
children.   After the opening show and some dinner, we are going to try to
wind down.

Pictures in a bit.

Leaving the U.S.

Our flight to San Pedro Sula is on time and we will be boarding shortly.   Other than one spilled cup of coffee, an uneventful day.  We are thankful for that.  Our next post will be from La Paz about 7 p.m. tonight.

Checked In

We have made it through check in with our 19 bags.  Security was a breeze and we are waiting for the flight!   We will check back in from Miami.

VBS Mission Trip - June 10 2012

The bags are packed and we are ready to go!

The Lord has blessed St. Luke's with a terrific team of 12 individuals ready to share the love of Jesus in La Paz, Honduras.

During the week, we will have four Vacation Bible Study times with groups of about 100 children from around La Paz. We will lead Bible studies for groups of 25-50 ladies from the community. We will walk the town of La Paz to share the love of Jesus. We will fix, repair and build around the property for the Children of Love Foundation. We will play, hug, talk, sing and pray with the children who live at the Foundation. 

Please pray for our trip and members: Doris P, Leah S, Erica B, Audrey R, Matt B, Jeremy D, Natalie D, Josh Z, Barbara S, Millie B, Becky L and Steve L. Our flight leaves Sunday morning, June 10 and we will arrive home on Sunday night, June 17.

Tune in to live broadcasts, pictures and more via this blog or the Children of Love website at http://childrenoflove.org