Day One In Honduras

Well, we have had some trouble getting our blog site up but we finally did it and boy do I have a lot to share with you. The first day was a travel day and man did it come early.  We all woke up around 3:30 and headed to the airport and promptly met our group at 4:46.  (We were told we would be left if we were even a minute late).  I saw lots of eager faces ready to embark on our journey.  Most of us not having a clue what were were in for and what God had planned for us there.  With passports in hand we each received a plastic tub of medicines to take as 1 of our 2 bags to check on the plane and by 6:30 we were off for Houston.  As we waited for our flight the anticipation of our journey built.  I found our group is very diverse some very qualified with many degrees but most just being obedient to the call to serve.  Some had been on missions trips before but many had not. As we moved through the airports that day we got many questions from passers by wondering why we were all wearing those Heart to Honduras shirts.   

As we flew from Houston to San Pedro Sula South (one of only two commercial airports there) many prayers were being offered up to prepare our hearts for this week of service.  But none quite as much as when the turbulence began about an hour and a half into the flight.  We were warned of some upcoming turbulence and not 5 minutes after that warning the plane encountered turbulence like I have never experienced.  The plane shook and rocked and dropped quickly.  I thought that the air masks were going to fall at any time.  But God was faithful and obviously had big plans for us in Honduras.     In fact not 10 minutes after the turbulence the ride was as smooth as I have ever felt.  It felt like we were floating once we passed the storm.  Sometimes I think God likes to show us his power to remind us of how big he is, how little we are, and how much we depend on him.  

For those of you who don't know, like me before I pulled out the map, Honduras is south of Mexico in Central America.  It is to the East of Guatemala and Belize and above Nicaragua.  It is a gorgeous tropical country with rolling hills and many fields of coffee plants, sugar cane, banana and pineapple.  But it is also the second poorest country in the world.  We found out that the average daily income is about 3-5 dollars a day.  (If you are like me, we spend that on our way to work everyday at Starbucks!)  Population is 7.5 million and currency is the Lempira.   

Ok, so we arrive safely in Honduras at San Pedro Sula, flawlessly get through customs (which is a big answer to prayer) and board our vans for the drive.   It started to sprinkle just a little as we headed out.  It was about a 2 hour drive from the airport to our little village of Pena Blanca.  We found out that the driving is extremely aggressive with passing even on the shoulder with pedestrians and animals everywhere.  It was like driving as fast as you can through the colorado mountains with donkeys, dogs and pedestrians everywhere! There is no speed limit once you get out of town and only speed bumps to slow you down in town.  All this as the rain began to pour.  Again we arrived safely at our hotel and I must say I was very pleasantly surprised.  The hotel grounds are gorgeous!  It's hard to imagine that we are here to work and not vacation.  There are blooming ginger plants and tropical flowers everywhere.  Our rooms have hot water, warm beds, an AC unit and even a TV!  What more could you ask for.  First nights dinner and all the meals have been delicious with plantains and fruit with every meal.  The dining hall could not have be more beautiful or clean if it was in the states.  We had our different group meetings and began to plan our days.  The medical team had about 25,000 vitamins and Aspirin that needed to be divided and placed in baggies so many of us stayed up to work on that but we got it knocked out fairly quickly, had our group devotions by pastor Julie Clay and were off to bed.   Breakfast would come early tomorrow at 7:00 am and we were in for a big day the next day. I think many of us prayed that first night for the rain to stop so our construction crews could get to work.     Mike Brown