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~
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