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!
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