Bittersweet Goodbye...

I apologize for not posting on the blog last night. I have been staying up until 2 in the morning every night working on the blog and the pictures and I really just needed some rest last night. Anyways, yesterday and today have been really emotional days for the team, for the school, for the honduran leaders, and for myself. Yesterday we went to the school for our last visit there. The men jumped right into the construction on the corner property. The Happy Hands School is planning on expanding one grade every year and they are going to be needing more space. So, the guys from our team have been working all week on clearing the property next to the school for preparation to build. They have done such a great job and have worked so hard despite the terrible heat everyday. The Hondurans continually thank them for their work. After the whole school watched the slideshow that Janie and I created of all the pictures of our team at the school (which the kids had a blast watching), it was time to say goodbye to the amazing children and teachers that we have had the priviledge to meet and work with. The kids gave us all big hugs and kisses, it was so sweet. Saying goodby to the boy, Emerson, that I have written about in previous posts and that I have particularly bonded with was probably one of the most heartbreaking things I have had to do. I explained to him that we were all going back to America on the airplane and that it was the last time I was going to be able to see him for a long time. He just looked up at me with his big brown eyes and said, "Don't worry, I can go on the airplane with you to America!" And he was completely serious. It broke my heart into a million pieces. I wish I could take them all home with me! After the kids left, the team and the teachers gathered to say goodbye. There is one particular teacher, Wendy, who has had cancer in her leg. She cannot afford the medicine she was taking for it, so she had to stop taking it. Wendy is basically slowly dying. Although it is a very sad situation, you would not believe the kind of strength and unconditional faith that is in this woman. It is truly amazing. The entire room of people gathered around Wendy, laid hands on her, and prayed over her. Everyone was crying at this point. It was a very powerful time, and I know for a fact that the Holy Spirit was in the room...I could just feel it. The whole team has completely fell in love with and been touched by all the teachers and children at the Happy Hands School. It has been an amazing blessing to work with them and get to know them. After the school we went to Andy's house for lunch and for disscusion on the future plans of the ministry in Honduras. We then went to visit the grocery store for about only 15 minutes and traveled back to Christy's house where the workshops were to be held that night. Ray and Bo were the last ones to teach. Ray taught on the difference between a "servent" and a "leader". He did a wonderful job of really breaking it down simply for the Honduran's to truly understand what he was trying to get across. Bo taught about the difference between the presense of God and the presense of the Devil. Bo is the pastor for the deaf ministry at Parkwood Baptist Church. As always, Bo did an amazing job and his teaching ended up being most of the Honduran's favorite.

Today (June 26th) started off with breakfast at 7:30 and out the door at 8 to go to the House Visits. Both of the house visits were students from Happy Hands School's houses. The first house visit was at a little girl's house who is currently in 3rd grade I believe. She lives with her mom, her little sister, her grandparents, and two other people in a TINY shack type house in bad neighborhood not far from the school. She is such a sweet girl, but she has a lot of problems in her life. She has frequent seizures (her mom said at least a few everyday) that are pretty severe. Actually, she had a seizure while we were there. It was so sad, she started shaking uncontrollably and her mom just stood there calmly and held her until it stopped. =/ They have barely any money, they only get water once every month, their somewhat of a shower is in a small shack next to the house, they have to clean their clothes by scrubbing them individually on a concrete surface and hang drying them outside, when they have to use the restroom they simply do their buisness in a small bucket...but you know what is so amazing to me about these people? They have nothing, but yet they have it all. This little girl and her family have so many problems and so many challenges that us Americans never in our lives would have to face problems even 1/8 as bad as these people do, but they are some of the most loving, sweet, and God fearing people I have ever seen. It was truly a blessing to be able to visit that family. The next family was a little boy named Kenneth who is in 4th grade at the Happy Hands school. He thought it was so cool that him and Kenneth, a man on our team, have the same name! His house was actually very nice compared to most of the houses here. He was so proud to show us everything in his house =] I can tell he is going to be a leader some day. He is very outgoing, confident, and intelligent. He volunteered to pray before we left his house. He is so precious. We then went back to Christy's house to eat lunch, change and head to the nearby mall for a couple hours. It is amazing to see how incredibly poor these people are and what terrible conditions they live in and then walk into a huge two story mall like that. It was definately a 180 degrees difference. After the mall trip was over, the team, the honduran leaders, Christy, and Andy headed to Christy's house to sit around the living room and talk about the week we have been here. The Honduran team shared with us that they all enjoyed and learned SO much from all the workshop teachings that our team has done every night. They explained how much they learned from us and how blessed they feel for us to have been in Honduras and to teach them more about God. The team also shared one by one how we feel about this experience. It was an emotional and spiritually pure time. We all then piled in the van to go to Viva Honduras, a beautiful restaurant near the house. It was wonderful! The Hondurans honored Bo with giving him a present from them with all their signatures and a sweet message on the back. They also gave everyone on the team a cute bookmark! How nice of them! After dinner, we all went back to Christy's house to watch a slideshow of all that we have accomplished throughout the entire week we have been here and to say our final goodbyes. I think I speak for the entire team when I say that the people we met here have completely touched our hearts and our souls. ...It makes me cry knowing that this will be my final posting in Honduras. I will never forget the many memories and truly AMAZING people that we have had the priviledge of meeting throughout this entire week. I know in my heart that our group was meant to be here and that God is looking down right now and smiling. I know without a shadow of a doubt that this experience has changed the lives of many forever...and I hope and pray that those of you who have followed along on our journey have been touched also. I am so completely heartbroken to leave but at the same time I am so excited to go home and to tell everyone how mindblowingly GREAT IS OUR GOD! I want people to know how truly amazing God is and how he has worked in the lives of everyone involved in this mission trip. The bible tells us to proclaim the good news! So, as our journey comes to an end, I want to challenge you with one thing. Take our story, and tell the world. Tell them how truly amazing God is and how he has worked in the lives of everyone involved in this mission trip. Be the light of the world. You can let God use you to change not just you, not just your family, not just your friends, but the whole world. God told us in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. He didn't say we can do some things but not other things, he said we can do ALL things through Him. So, go and change the world! =]

~Brianna Faith~

P.S. I will be posting more information on Wendy's condition and on the children of Happy Hands school and what you can do to help! As always, if you ever have any questions, concerns, comments, etc. you can e-mail me anytime on my personal email: green_eyed_girl_5@yahoo.com. I check it a million times a day and I promise that I will get back to you on anything you need. Thank you for all the prayers and support! GOD BLESS!

Well Deserved Day off

Well, since our team has been working so hard for the past 4 days we have been here, we were excited to just have somewhat of a free day today. We got to sleep in today with the breakfast being at 7:30 (I'm sure my mom will laught at me saying that when she reads this haha) After we all scarfed down some oatmeal to give us energy, everyone piled in the van and headed to the Picacho Park for sightseeing. The car ride was probably about 20 something minutes up the mountain and I was scared to DEATH that we were going to fall over the side but Andy did a good job of getting us there safely. The park was BEAUTIFUL and since we were high up on the mountain, it was the perfect temperature outside. We all had fun and took some great pictures! After about an hour at the park, we then made our way to the Valley of Angels shopping area! YAYYY! Everyone found some great souvenirs in all the little stores along the streets. We had such a good time and were finding so many great buys that a couple of us lost track of time (not me of course haha). The next event on our agenda was to eat at a small restaurant in town. So, we were all in the van...talking, laughing, looking at all our souvenirs, when all of a sudden we heard and felt a big BANG BANG BANG sound coming from the back of the van. I freaked out and immediately thought our van was being shot at or something! After I calmed down and after Ray stopped laughing at me, we told Andy to stop the van to see what was wrong. No we weren't shot at, it was a flat tire. You would think that with us already being behind schedule and then finding out that we have a flat tire on the side of the road in the middle of the mountains that it would be chaos. Nope, we all teamed together and kept smiles on our faces the whole time. While the guys were fixing the flat tire, I decided that I was going to go to the bathroom in the woods. Well little to my knowledge, there were men working all in the woods behind me that got a little more of a view than they should! When I saw them I immediately ran back up to the van where I got laughed at when I told them what happened. Eliza and I eventually found a safe spot and all was well haha. After the tire was fixed we rushed to the restaurant, ate quickly, went back to Christy's house for about 15 minutes, and drove over to the Undion Christian Church. Tonight it was Betty, Glenda, and Eddie's turn to teach. Betty's teaching was called "Daily walks with God." Glenda taught on realationships with other people and Eddie taught on the difference between the old and new testament. All of them did a great job and I think that our team is really speaking and changing lives in these people. The same with them changing our lives also. Hopefully there are many more blessings to come from this experience.
goodnight

~Brianna Faith~

We all have a purpose

French toast and juicy mangos were on the menu for breakfast at 7:00 am this morning. After breakfast everyone loaded into the van to go to the Happy Hands School/New Life Deaf Church (combined into one building). As soon as we got there, the principal and another teacher were explaining to the entire school about germs and keeping their hands clean. It was very interesting to watch and it amazed me that all the kids stood in line and paid attention the entire time! (That would never happen in America). The day continued the same as yesterday, with the women teaching and the men working on the construction. The men did such an awesome job and even though they worked very hard yesterday, I think they really out did themselves today. When I went outside to take some pictures of them, I climbed up on the huge pile of dirt and they warned me not to go any further. I asked why not, it's just dirt? I later saw that there were used needles (I believe for heroine) laying all over the dirt. The other night I woke up Glenda because I heard two gunshots, a car pulling away, and later on some whistles (probably the police) right outside my window! These two events show what a corrupt country Honduras is. If you look beyond the beautiful trees and flowers, delicious and colorful food, and wonderful people, there is a lot about Honduras that needs improvement...and God. The women went back to the classes that they were in yesterday. Glenda and I were with the kindergarteners again and I cannot put into words how much these children mean to me already. I wish I could just take them all home with me. Xiomara (the teacher) and I split the kids up into groups; one with me and one with her. So I got the opportunity to work with the kids by myself. I showed them all how to write their names and they were so excited. We did some other crafts and every 2 seconds they were all wanting to show me what they did so that i could tell them they did a good job haha. Then my class and Xiomara's class went to play time. The kids LOVEE my camera haha. The whole play time they just wanted to take pictures. I showed them how to do it only one time and after that they could turn the camera on, take the picture, and press the button to look at it. It was so much fun! One little boy, Emerson, was attached to my hip the entire day. He called me his novia (girlfriend) haha! He is constantly giving me hugs and showing me how incredibly smart he is. I love him :) Xiomara and I have gotten pretty close and I love working with her, she's awesome! Afterlunch (which was SOO good) Anny, Manuel's wife, shared her testimony. She is one of my favorite people I have met here; she is always so happy and lively. The kids lined up for the bus to go home and all the children in my class gave me a huge hug! :) I feel like they are my own kids haha. Glenda, Betty, Bo, Kenneth, Ray, Eddie, and I got dropped off to walk to a nearby store to get some drinks and snacks. Betty asked me how to say "I want a small coke" in Spanish. So I told her "Yo quiedo uno coka pequeno." I almost fell on the floor laughing at her when she tried to say it to the woman! She's trying though, so you've got to give her some credit. Then we all walked back to Christy's house for some down time. At about 3:15 everyone left to go to the Union Christian Church that we were at yesterday. We were all so dissapointed that there were no crafts for us to do today! Luckily Pat had some card games that we could play, which was fun. Then Nathan and Kevin gave their prepared teaching on "When a Christian loses their Enthusiasm." They were both very prepared with a power point and were great at answering any questions the Hondurans had. With dinner ending a little after 6:00, Louise and Richard gave their teaching on different religions. They had so many visuals such as drawings and posters that it made it easy to really pay attention to what they were saying. Both presentations turned out to be wonderful! After everything was over and it was time to go home, Ray, Eliza, Kenneth, and I went to go take some pictures down the street because I saw earlier that there was a great view of the valley and all the colorful houses. When I walked up to the spot and looked out, it literally took my breath away. The lights coming from thousands and thousands of little houses on the valley was overwhelmingly beautiful. As I stood there taking pictures, the scene reminded me of little stars in the night sky. There are so many stars in the universe, all different shapes, different sizes, different locations, different brightness. There is one element that they all share...and it is that no matter how dull or bright, no matter how big or small, they are all a part of the wonderful creation of the universe and they all have a position in it. This plays the same way with us. Every person is different. We communicate different, we look different, we act different, and sometimes we might not shine as much as another person, but we are all a part of God's creation and we all have a wonderful purpose.

goodnight,
~Brianna Faith~

June 22nd Hard Work!

I think because I have been posting on the blog late at night it is coming up with the wrong dates but today is June 22nd! I just wanted to clear that up.
With breakfast starting at 7:00 am, today had an early start. Once again, Andy and Janie did an awesome job on cooking breakfast for everyone. We had Honduran pancakes and watermelon! The group left the house at 7:45 to go to the New Life Deaf Church/Happy Hands School (they are combined in the same building). The women split up into partners and helped in a certain classroom. Happy Hands School is an elementary school for deaf Honduran children. They have kids from pre-k to 4th grade. Glenda and I worked with the kindergarten and 1st graders. I LOVED it! The children were all so sweet and excited for our group to be there. I have my fingernails and toenails painted with a design on them, and all the kids thought it was so amazing haha. They also LOVED my camera. I don't think they have ever really seen a digital camera before so they all wanted me to take their picture and show it to them. It was so precious. Although many of the children are probably behind academically, they are so eager to learn and all of them are fairly well behaved. One of the little boys in kindergarten (who I really fell in love with) had never before practiced writing or even signed the entire alphabet. So, I wrote my name on a piece of paper during play time and told him to copy it. He amazed me by being able to write it perfectly the first time! He was so excited and wanted to keep learning more letters. You know what I think is so amazing about this little boy? That a child his age would rather learn how to write letters from the alphabet than play with the other children. I just thought that was so touching to observe. A few of the Happy Hands teachers are deaf but the majority of them are hearing. All the teachers are so nice but when a child acts up, they are very to the point and strict. The teacher in the classroom Glenda and I were in spoke Spanish, and since I can somewhat speak Spanish I was able to communicate with her! ALthough the classrooms were very beautifully decorated and clean, the only problem was that there is no air conditioning and no fans in the whole building. The teachers have to manually fan the children with pieces of paper to keep them cool! I learned today that the money that we have raised for the mission trip will cover the costs for over 5 fans for the school and any other resources they need! God is so great! While all the women were in the classrooms helping, the men laid concrete, tore down walls, and helped with construction all morning. They all worked very hard to the point where every one of them had their clothes soaked in sweat! So when lunch was ready, everyone jumped right in line. Lunch was amazing (as always). After lunch, a new addition to our team was introduced. His name is Eddie Cassle and he is from Texas. We are so happy to have him on our team and he is such a great guy! Larry and I picked on him because he has a mustache that makes him look like a cowboy haha! The children then packed up their backpacks and lined up for the bus to go home. Many of them gave me hugs and kisses. It made my heart melt :) After that the group went back to the houses and took a very much needed nap (and for the men, a very much needed shower)! The day continued with loading up in the van and going to Union Christian Church where we met up with other leaders from the New Life Deaf Church. The team worked very hard for about 2 hours straight creating learning tools for the Happy Hands School such as fake, laminated money to help them learn how to count money, making letters to help them learn the alphabet and how to spell words, and many other crafts. After the cutting, tracing, laminating and drawing was done: we ate soup and tortillas for dinner, which was very satisfying. Then Kenneth and Eliza gave their prepared teaching on tithing (All of the people on our team are split into partners or are by themself to teach on a specific subject each night). It was Kenneth's first time teaching in front of people, so he was nervous, but they both did a great job! Kevin also shared a short bible story using a lot of visuals to help explain. Tonight ended with Manuel giving the closing prayer. I love the way he prays. He always closes his eys and meditates, just for a couple seconds, and you can tell he is really listening to God. Many have told me in America that we are such good people for going to Honduras and that we are going to change so many lives...Now, I have 2 things wrong with that statement. 1) We aren't the good ones, it is all GOD. and 2) Although, yes, we hope to impact people's lives here in Honduras, I truly believe that WE are the ones who are being impacted by the beyond amazing people that we have met. :) Goodnight

~Brianna Faith~

What a fun day!

Today started out early with everyone waking up around 7 and taking a shower. We can't consume any water here that isn't bottled water, so when we take a shower we need to have our mouths closed and when we brush our teeth, we need to use a bottle of water to rinse. Which is new to everyone but I think it is working out fine. Andy and his wife Janie cooked us omelets that were SO delicious! We also had some pineapple which was amazing!! The pineapples are so sweet and fresh here. After everyone helped clean up after breakfast, we left around 9:15 to go to the New Life Deaf Church. It was only about a short 10 or 15 minute drive to the church. As soon as we walked in the door everyone was so welcoming and friendly. Im guessing there were about a little over 30 people there that were not in our group. So they have a pretty good sized deaf community here. Melvin, the head preacher of the church gave a wonderful sermon based on the story in John 5. The people here use their facial expressions a lot when they are signing and they use a lot of visual examples to explain things better. Melvin used a toy car, a bucket, and a box during his sermon. Manuel and Larry also did a drama that was very funny and even used a big rock as a visual in their message. The church is also a school for the deaf called Happy Hands School. The church is held downstairs and the classrooms are upstairs. In Honduras the kids go to school during the summer because their "summer" is during Christmas time I believe. Anyway, after the service was over we had fellowship and ate hotdogs and then went back to the houses to quickly change and meet back at the church. Now, here is where the real fun part began! The American group and 6 Honduran deaf people from the church were split up into 5 separate groups with at least 1 Honduran in each group. LET THE GAMES BEGIN! Each group is given 400 Honduran dollars and a list of 21 things to accomplish. The things on the list were all crazy and random such as take a picture on the merry go round in the mall and buy an ice cream cone and give it to someone on the street. All the 21 things were to be done within the town that we are staying in. So with the list and the 400 dollars we all ran out of the church and scattered with our groups going to the first thing on our list. The object of the game was to get as many of the things on the list done, be cheap with our money, and be back at the church by 5:30. Which ever group got the most points and spent the least amount of money, wins! Sounds easy right? NOT AT ALL! We were running across town this way and that way and after about 30 minutes into the race, it started POURING down rain! My group was tough and we ran in the pouring down rain everywhere. I felt like I jumped into a pool with my clothes on! After 3 hours of running across town, we all met back at the church to see who spent the least amount of money. My group came in first place!! Larry's group came in second, Melvin's (the pastor of the deaf church) group came in third, Betty and Ray's group came in fourth, and Glenda's group came in last! Everyone had sooo much fun and I believe we really came together more as a whole group. The day came to an end with Melvin sharing his testimony to our team and having a meeting about the events going on tomorrow. In the morning the women are going to the Happy Hands School to help with the deaf children in the classrooms (which I am excited about because I want to become a teacher of the deaf) and the men are going to be doing some construction work for the church. So, tomorrow sounds like its going to have a powerful start! I hope that everyone who is following along on this blog is enjoying it and who knows, maybe it will change someone's life without us even knowing it! There are no limits to God's wonders. Like the bible says "We can move a mountain with just the faith of a mustard seed." Keep checking everyday for new updates and pictures!
buenos noches (goodnight) :)

~Brianna Faith~

wow what a day!

Today has been so exciting and fulfilling but also so exausting! The day started out at a wonderful 4 am at Parkwood Baptist Church where we said goodbye to our families, loaded the bus, said a prayer, and headed to the airport. So, you would think that since we arrived at the airport over 2 hours early that we shouldn't have anything to worry about right? WRONG! It was shoulder to shoulder packed with people. After waiting in a line that wrapped around the entire front of the airport for almost 3 hours and 15 people who graciously gave up their seat for us, it is only by the grace of God that we all were able to board that plane today! Even though it was stressful and confusing, everyone just kept "smiling and having fun" as Glenda puts it :) The day later continued with almost missing the connecting flight after running like crazy to the gate, havinng fun playing games on the touch tv screen on the flight, and arriving in Tegucigalpa, Honduras at around lunch time. The group was definately relieved that the place we were staying was just a short ride from the airport and that food would be waiting for our arrival! The women are staying at Christy's house and the men are staying at Andy's house just down the road. Both Christy and Andy have been more than a blessing to our group and we are so thankful for their hospitality and not to mention AMAZING cooking :) The day ended with an extremely powerful testimony from Larry Rivas, a deaf Honduran man who attends the New Life Deaf Church here in Honduras. This is the church that we are going to be working with throughout the week. Larry and his wife are such amazing people who are doing so much for the kingdom of God! I, personally, am beyond excited about what kind of wonderful things God has in store for this week and for the many hearts that I know will be changed through this experience. Well, considering that it is past 11, I think I will join myself with the other girls and get ready for some very much needed sleep! More pictures and posts will be comming soon! Keep us in your prayers!
:)
~Brianna Faith~

I'm leaving on Saturday !!! I'm so excited :o)

Well, the time has finally come and I'll be flying to Honduras on Saturday. Just 1 more day !!! I'm excited and ready.

I bought a camera, since I'm in charge of all media. This is my first very own camera and I love it! I'll be responsible for photos, video, and journaling the trip for the group. My heart is totally ready to reach out to the deaf community in Honduras.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the financial support that I've been blessed to receive. I couldn't have done this without your support.

Please pray for our group. We have 12 people total, 6 hearing & 6 deaf. About half are from our church, and others from surrounding areas. We've all been practicing Honduran sign language.

I can't wait !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!