June 1

Today is our last full day here in Honduras. We will spend the day talking about going home and debriefing from our trip. It has certainly been a busy time here, full of learning, growth, successes, generosity, humbling experiences, new friendships, and eye-opening encounters. It will be wonderful to be home with those we love; it will be sad to leave this beautiful country and the gracious hosts we have had here.

Yesterday, we enjoyed a much-needed day of rest. In the morning, we went to church with the Alvarado family, which was a really neat experience. It was such a blessing to worship with the family of God in an entirely different part of the world. After the group service, we went to Sunday school with Carlos. This was also a really neat experience, because, despite the different situations we live in, our different nationalities and languages and cultures and economic circumstances, we found that we related with the questions that we had a delicious lunch of seafood soup, tortillas, rice, and watermelon. After a time of discussion and worship with the team, each of us took some time alone to rest and reflect. We came back together for some soccer and simply hanging out before dinner. Then, we began trip reports and went to bed.

This morning and this afternoon, we will do an overall team report and pack things up. We are also looking forward to having coffee with Danny and Ruth Castro.

Tomorrow, we will leave around 3:30 AM tomorrow morning to head for the airport in San Pedro Sula J. Please pray for our reflection time today and our preparation to head home. Pray that we would be present as we spend these last two days together and that we would come home well-rested and ready to continue the rest of our summer, wherever that may be. We ask also that you pray for a safe journey, energy and patience when we are tired, and successful connections on flights tomorrow. As always, we thank you for your prayer and support.

-sarah

P.S. (I had not posted Karisa Martin´s blog for last Sunday. Please check it out below under the title May 24)

May 30

Hello to all who have been trying to follow our blog! Finally, we have computer access and are able to speak with all of you whom we love so dearly, appreciate SO much, and miss a lot!

This has been an exciting week, as you will see in the posts below. I have tried to post them in the order that they would have been posted, had we had internet access, so you will actually need to read them backwards, if this makes any sense.

Currently, we are at the house of a fellow Messiah college student who lives here in Honduras. The generosity we are receiving is once again astounding. It is wonderful to be in a home after 12 days in hotels and we feel as though we can finally catch our breath after a very busy week.

This weekend, we will visit with a few friends here in El Progreso and work on final team documents, reports, and any other last details for the trip. We are looking forward to this time of reflection and rest.

Again, thank you for your support, prayers, and love. Having you behind us means the world.

This morning, we talked about 1 John 3: 16 ¨This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.¨ What an incredible thing, the way our Lord has laid down his life for us! As I think of the ways in which I am willing to give, it is always material, or time, or perhaps even dying for someone. But would I be willing not to die for others but to live for them, to lay down my life so that it is not something I control but that I let God lead? God did not just give up glory or power or reputation in Jesus - He allowed someone He loved to die. That is a sacrifice I wouldn´t know how to make. That is a love that is truly overwhelming.

As I look back on this trip, I can feel nothing but graditude for those who have laid down their lives for the team and for the ways my fellow team members have demonstrated absolute selflessness. It has been amazing to witness love in action here.

May you be filled with peace today and know our love from a distance!

-sarah

May 28

Terremoto!

“This is an earthquake! This is really an earthquake! Sarah and Karisa - get in the doorway!” I said this at about 2:25 this morning as we were shaken awake from a sound sleep. I pulled our outside door open which led out to a courtyard type area and the three us walked on wobbly legs out to its center. Danny and Coto came out and soon the rest of our group joined us. We witnessed Honduras’ strongest earthquake in recent history.

After sitting outside for almost two hours we went back to bed for some more sleep. I should take a step backward and say that because of our progress on our installation, we had to cancel the day and a half we were going to spend in Laguna de la Capa. We were really sorry to have to do this, but it was very important to have our system installed, running, and tested before we were to be back in El Progreso on Friday.

We went to Mojiman with great anticipation this morning because today was the day we would have our system up and running. Fueled by some great lemonade made by one of the teachers at the school, but especially by the light at the end of a two year long tunnel, Grant, Billy, Tim, and Dan got everything up and running by 5:30 this evening. Sarah, Karisa, and I frantically translated manuals and instructions in preparation for the Friday training session because ones we worked on at home had to be edited due to some changes in the system.

It was a good day. We had hoped to be able to send updates out, but there is no internet right now in Morazan because of the earthquake. We are thankful for our friends here that have been working along side of us, some taking time away from their farms, to help make clean water accessible. I hope our last few days aren’t quite so exciting, but that they will be filled with a sense of gratitude in our hearts for the wonderful opportunities we have had here. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. Please pray for us as we travel back to El Progreso and for our final days here.

blessings,

Ariela

May 29

Friday we left Mojimán amidst a flurry of emotions, at least for me. We were able to fully complete the system on Thursday and on Friday we made some finishing touches, did some final training with the teachers, ran some tests on the system, and left in the early afternoon. The tests confirmed that the system was working about as well as we expected with few surprises. The training also went well and the teachers there were able to tell us how to operate the system and demonstrate it for us afterwards. For the engineers, we wished we could have had some more time to work there. Of course we always see something more that we wish we could improve. But I am confident that we are leaving it in good hands with Don Miguel (a member of the water committee at Mojimán who has been an enormous help and put in a lot of work to get the system and house for it set up) and Carmen (a representative from World Vision who has a wonderful heart and has helped us immensely in organizing and helping training etc. run smoothly). Having the system up and running is a dream come true for me. As it is in many ways out of my hands now, I pray it will be a blessing to the community.

We also had the wonderful experience of witnessing the Arbor Day celebration at the school. Deforestation is a major environmental problem in Honduras especially with the amount of burning that occurs on the mountainsides to clear land. But there have been a lot of efforts to change that and Arbor Day is a part of the push. During the ceremony, our team was recognized and thanked for our work. Don Ismael (a community leader) gave a small speech thanking us on behalf of the town and the various groups we have been working with and Ariela was asked to come up and say a few words. She gave our thanks to people for their friendship and work and thanks to God for the completion of the system and the teachers at the school and our hope for continued growth in the town and in the kids at the school. It was humbling to be thanked in such a way.

Leaving Mojimán was bittersweet for me. I’m not sure when I will see the people we met and the friends that we made again. It began to hit me that as I have graduated that I may not be able to return. Yet I know that it is not the end. I have great hope because of the students taking over the project during the next couple of years and the interest and ability of the people caring for the system here in Honduras. Don Ismael was reflecting on how much has changed in the community over the past several years and it is a blessing that God has given us the opportunity to be a part of those changes for the better in this community.

We are now at the house of a good friend from Messiah, Carlos Alvarado and his family who have been very kind and generous to us. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. It has only been through your support that we have been able to serve here and you are part of the success of this trip. Thank you, take care, and God bless!

~Dan

May 27

Today was another exciting day of teaching classes about water purification, giving instructions in system operations, and watching the progression of the “caseta”. Classroom instruction is going really well—the kids seem to grasp the concept of “microbios” (microorganisms) in their water and seem to enjoy the various activities we have, including creating a book of the water cycle and looking through microscopes.

The teachers at the school hosted us for lunch—delicious soup, rice, watermelon and tortillas—and afterwards, Billy and Dan taught a session on how the water purification system will function. All who attended seemed very interested and engaged; there were many questions and a lot of explanations of operations, which made for an exciting discussion. Also exciting was the fact that the roof was put on the building that will house the water system and we have high hopes for the installment.

Please pray that things continue to proceed smoothly and that we would be filled with energy for our last days in Mojimán. Thank you as always for your continued love and support. We miss you all and we will see you soon!

Again, thank you for your support! ¡Dios le bendiga! God bless!

-sarah

May 26

We were up early again today and headed back to Mojimán to once again do our water purification skit. We spent the morning going through the different purification lessons with the third and fourth grade classes.

After lunch we picked up a couple of necessary pipe connections at the hardware store in Morazán and spent much of the afternoon and early evening digging. We needed to dig a 40-foot trench about 1½ feet deep in order to lay the pipe to carry water from the town source to our system. Though there was an incredible amount of rock, we did manage to make it. We are now one step closer to the completed water ozonization system at the school.

-Grant

Monday, May 25

Today was our busiest day in Honduras yet! After a 6:30 breakfast, we hopped in Land Rover we ride around in and headed to Mojimán. The schoolyard where we’re installing the water system was bustling with activity.

To describe the day, I have to give you an image of the school. Estimate the area of a football field, but surrounded by a concrete wall topped with barbed wire. As you come through the gate, you see a large stage to the front. To the left and the right are the class buildings—about four large classes on each side. When we arrived this morning, the schoolchildren were busy tidying up the courtyard—sweeping the concrete walkways, putting water down to keep dust (it is a rock/dirt courtyard) from stirring up, and making sure everything was ready for the day. The kids are beautiful in their school uniforms—the girls with white collared shirts and blue knee-length skirts and the boys with their white collared shirts and trousers. It was really neat to see the students taking such ownership of their school and also showing such devotion to learning. We noticed that the older students were sitting in pairs with younger students and the two were reading to one another.

For a while, we simply ambled about the courtyard, preparing for later presentations and talking with some of the friends we have made here so far. I (Sarah) tried to learn how to make tortillas by hand, which is much harder than it looks!

We were pleased to see that the work on the “caseta” (little house or small building) that will hold the water system was coming along very well. The building that will hold the system is made of concrete and is approximately six feet by eight feet inside. [By the end of the day today, it was rising above the wall and hopefully, tomorrow the floor will be poured and possibly the roof will go on!]

After introduction from our host, Danny Castro, we performed a short skit teaching the importance of water purification. Billy plays the hero, “Capitan Agua”, who saves two girls (Karisa and Sarah) from the villains who dwell in dirty water: Doctor Quimicos (Dan), Barnabus Basura (Grant) and Martin Microbios (Tim and a sock puppet). The kids seemed to enjoy the play, and we enjoyed ourselves as well.

After our skits, we broke up into groups and went into the first and second grade classrooms to do various activities to teach the kids the importance of using clean water. In all, we taught approximately ninety boys and girls today, and their energy—though exhausting—was encouraging.

Karisa shows two boys photos from the groups’ visit to Honduras last May. The kids really enjoyed pointing out their friends in the pictures, as well as pointing to photos of the norteamericanos who have returned to Mojimán.

After a delicious lunch [despite the weight we lose in water every day from sweating, we more than make up for it in consumption of incredible food and drinks at every meal…we will all be returning ten pounds heavier, for sure], we had the opportunity to speak with four representatives from World Vision. The meeting was a huge encouragement and answer to prayer! Please keep us in your prayers this week as we continue to speak with World Vision and establish a more concrete direction for the future of The Collaboratory’s work in Honduras.

Another incredible blessing today was the training session that we held this afternoon. Karisa and Ariela presented various techniques for water purification, and the audience—members of the community in Mojimán—responded with interest. Billy also presented information on how the water purification system will work and this truly captured the attention of those assembled. It is exciting to see community members talk amongst one another about the possibility of having clean, affordable, accessible water for the children at the school and also the community as a whole. All were eager to hear more and expressed their gratitude and excitement to see the system installed.

We left Mojimán and drove into a beautiful sunset, a spectacular ending to what truly was a blessed day. Each of us thanks all of you for your continued prayer and support. Our team is in good health, good spirits, and good hope.

This evening, we had a time of worship and reflection. We’re full of gratitude for the friendships we’ve built here and the hospitality we’ve been shown.

Please keep us in your prayers as we spend our second—and final—week here in Honduras. We ask for continued unity and team moral, as well as greater clarity in communication as we try to work across cultures. As always, you are in our thoughts and our prayers as well. May you be filled with overwhelming love and peace and gratefulness! ¡Dios le bendiga! God bless!