I watched Christianna be the first person on the team get up in front of 100 people in another country giving her testimony how Jesus has affected her life. Her first words were “living life without Jesus is pointless.” As they say here: “Gloria Jesus.”
Dani and Iosif
Sweet little Claudia loves getting her picture taken
We’ve got a break now before supper, which is smelling quite yummy by the way, so I thought I’d take a moment to blog. It’s been a busy day and I’m getting a cold, but it’s been great so far. We did a mini VBS and I loved going around with the camera to let the kiddos see themselves in the flipped-around screen. There were six sweet little girls from a children’s home who came to the VBS. Two of them ran and gave hugs to us as we walked in the door. Mr Matt received the most hugs I think : )
One girl, Claudia, smiles all the time and loves getting her picture taken. She’s adorable. After the VBS we drove up a crazy hill riding in the back of a pickup truck to a big group of kids who come everyday to the building to eat. It’s part of the Open Eyes ministry to feed them and make sure they at least get one good meal each day. I sat next to two hyper little boys named Dani and Iosif and it was even better than at the VBS when Wes started the Bible story and all us extra adults dropped down on all fours and started baaing. lol. The kids loved it, Dani and Iosif laughed especially hard at us! Who knew being a sheep would be so much fun. Susie had a really good time with it!
We didn’t get to stay too long, but long enough to do the Bible story, serve them lunch, and get to know a few names and tell them “Jesus te ama” (Jesus loves you) The kiddos chased us down the road as we left. I wish we were able to be with the same kids more than once, but at least the girls at the group home we saw again.
After lunch we went to visit the children’s wing at the hospital, which was heartbreaking. We prayed over one girl and her grandmother, Evolith if I remember correctly. The girl was 11 months old but tiny because she has a chromosome disease and the doctor’s didn’t expect her to live past 6 months. The grandmother was a believer and told us she was blessed to have Evolith for a few months more already. It was a blessing to see her faith. We handed out stuffed animals, Bibles, tracts, and prayed with everyone in the children’s wing.
Then we went and bought pillows at the “Gold Plaza” of Comoyagua, which we took to Pastor Robert’s children’s home and the little girls were so excited to get them. It was a sweet time there, though I so wish I knew more to say to them. I wish Eddie Baker was right in his thinking that Romanian and Spanish were the same (he didn’t realize the typo at the top of the handbook page with phrases in Romanian and Spanish that it was just the same words with “Say it in Romanian” at the top instead of Spanish because the booklet wasn’t complete. lol) But I know we are shining for Jesus here, through our translators help we are sharing the Gospel, and also through the smiles and hugs and stuffed animals. Maiklet has lots of friends here 🙂 It’s been an awesome first day and it’s not even over yet. Until next time I have a chance to blog…
-CB
OK, after staring at this screen for a few minutes with a blank mind on how to start this, I am just going to give up on being subtle. Today was my first day ever on any kind of mission trip, and let me say that going in to this with not many expectations probably prepared me more than going with them. This morning we held a mini VBS in a church near where we are staying (which by the way, is amazing, it’s beautiful), the VBS was very fun. To hear all the laughs and smiles on children’s made the morning worth it. But Wes also shared the Gospel after we put on a little skit of the ‘lost sheep’. As great as the smiles and laughter are, the main reason we are here is not to make people ‘happy’ with candy or toys, but to share the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, which through Him is the only was we can be truly happy. After we put on the VBS, we went to a school and helped feed them lunch and again shared the Gospel and put on the skit of the ‘lost sheep’. I was the lost sheep, when I get back if you would like I can show you my mischievous ‘baa’. Just kidding. We then went to a hospital, which broke my heart. To see all the children whether they were sick or just injured or if they had been that way since birth, it really made me grateful of everything we have back home. I prayed over a girl named “Elizabeth”, which was a blessing to me. We then visited a children’s home for a little while and interacted with the kids there. All the little girls are so sweet, I just want to take them home with me. We have a church service tonight, where I will be sharing my testimony. Please continue to keep the whole trip in your prayers.
-Christianna
Yeah, I am already in the dog house. Rich actually put me in a real dog house and poor Ida is in their with me, because she is in charge of keeping me in line!!! Actually, it is in bedroom attached to the house, that the dogs sleep when it is not being used as a guest room. Please pray for us today as we do our first VBS and visit a hospital. Please pray that we reach people and touch people with new good news. Also,pray for Ida as she has to keep on watch on me,
In his service, Susie Grom.
Honduras is very interesting. I’m almost overwhelmed because of all the differences in culture, scenery, and even in the air I breathe. But don’t get me wrong, it’s a good thing. It’s nice to see the beauty of the world outside of Kentucky. As soon as we arrived I couldn’t stop looking around at the hills and mountains. I’m a little nervous with evangelism with an interpreter today, but I know that God has called me to do so, and I really look forward to it. Please continue praying for us.
So i realized one thing for sure…… Â I am way out of my comfort zone, but know that i am in the right spot! Â I am looking forward to seeing what God will do even thru my flaw filled efforts!
Today was a very long day but very eventful. We got through security fine and then went to eat at Burger King, then we went on a 2 hour bus ride to Comayagua from the capital. We then arrived at our not so typical mission-like house that is on a gated community (very safe!). We then settled in and then some of us decided to organize the totes of all the awesome stuff we brought with us (thank you everyone that donated and bought supplies for us). We then were ready for the week and very organized. For those of you that know me, this part was fun to me. I later found out that I will be going to a school on Wednesday and talking to a bilingual school about the differences in American (USA) schools verses Honduras schools. This will also hopefully open a door to share the gospel as well!! Hope everyone at home is doing well, thanks again for all the prayers. Headed to bed now for an exciting day tomorrow.
~Stephanie Vittitoe
I am starting to wonder if we are on a Mission Trip or vacation. The difference this year is we decided to make our travel days Mondays which is a non ministry day in Honduras and so the real work begins tomorrow. We will be leading a mini vbs and feeding children and the Open Eyes feeding ministry. Most of the team will then visit a local hospital to offer encouragement. I will be staying behind to work on my sermon preparation for tomorrow night.
We did have some excitement that woke a few from their slumber…
We had a flat on the van about 5 miles from the hacienda, but the little guys should apply for NASCAR seeing that they changed the tire on the bus in the middle of the street with a bottle jack and a rock, yes a rock!
About to head to the cabana that Matt, Collin, Isaiah, and I are staying in so we can get ready for an early start. Hope all is well on the home front.
Pastor Rich
Honduras is a beautiful country, as we drove from the airport at the capital we took pictures of the mountains and rolling landscapes. We also drove past several housing projects that reminded me of the gypsy villages in Romania. Actually a lot here has reminded me of Romania, that was the thought I had as we were on the plane and as I first sawthemountains in the distance. Amy says, ‘Honduras is the same, only different.’ It’s great to havethose little inside jokes with fellowmission team members, still living on two yearslater. I’m looking forward to this week with such a great group of people. Serving on this team is an honor,and Im looking forwardto diving in tomorrow. Nowit mightbe close to bed time, 3:30 this morningcame way too early. Buenos noches.
Well based on years past the area we are in is a Paradise. Not all of us can stay at the main house which is breathtaking. A few of us are suffering for the team by being isolated in a Cabana about a mile away. Well… Suffering may not be the right word for it, unless you call being in a private house with A/C suffering, though using it may be a mistake since it is in the 80s outside where we will be spending much of our day.
We will have orientation tonight and find out the official schedule for the week. We did learn that Lucilla, a translator from 2008 will be with us this week as will be Pamela, her sister, mother (though we will miss Fanny), and Hans, Pamela’s husband.
I am sure the rest of the team will be posting to the blog as well…Oh and maybe we shouldn’t mention the A/C, 🙂
