Monday, July 18
Today was a great day for VBS! God blessed us with a beautiful morning this morning. For breakfast we had french toast, omelets, fruit, and orange juice (YUMMY!!). After breakfast we said our goodbyes to the Choluteca team of 24. They will have the great honor of riding 3 hours west of Teguce. While in Choluteca they will conduct a VBS, set up a medical clinic, and distribute food and clothes. Good luck team, and God’s speed.
After they left, we went to the chapel for devotional. Today Tyler Steffy from Dayton, PA presented the devo. This is Ty’s fifth year on a TORCH trip. He began by telling us how Honduras has taught him to be more thankful for what he has. When you are here you become more thankful for the little things. Ty gave us examples like “We throw our clothes out because they are out of fashion, but the poor throw them away because their clothes are worn by washing them on rocks.” “They are poor and humble, we are rich and proud.” These are great points and Ty gave them to us because he wants us to be content with what we have. These people have little and want little, but we have a lot and want more. Ty did an amazing job with his lesson, I wish you all could have been here. Thank you Ty.
Today, the remaining members of our team split into two groups. A construction group of 20 went with Joe (a fulltime missionary) to Nuevo Oriental. The remainder, which was the VBS crew, went to the Special Needs orphanage. While the construction crew gathered the equipment, the VBS team made about 250 peanut butter and honey sandwiches and lemonade. After both teams were finished gathering the needed supplies, we went our separate ways.
The construction team went to Nuevo Oriental. There the team built a house, painted a house, and painted two classrooms in a school that had been built on a previous trip. The VBS team left for the Special Needs orphanage at around 9:30. Everyone was anxious to go to the orphanage. When we got there everyone was quick to grab toys, stuffed animals, and bubbles so they could interact with the children. We were there for about 15 minutes when Mark Herrera decided to sing some fun songs. We started out by singing the potato chip song. The kids loved it. Mark was hilarious, he over exaggerated every movement. We did four or five different songs, and every TORCH member participated, it was so awesome to see the joy in the eyes of the children. Who knew that acting crazy could bring so much joy to people. Afterward, different individuals took children outside around the playground. It is so beautiful there, and the children are amazing. We played with the children for about one and ½ hours, then we made our way to the Valley of Angels for VBS.
The ride to the Valley was so long. We got stuck in a traffic jam in down town Teguce, that was interesting, but “welcome to Honduras”. We finally arrived in the Valley about 15 minutes late. The children were waiting on us when we got there, so we had to put our game faces on immediately. While the VBS team got ready to do there skits, the others played with the kids. When they were ready, Esperanza, Wendy, and I did some VBS songs. That was interesting. Wendy and Esperanza know Spanish, but I do not have a clue. I did my best anyway. The kids didn’t know a lot of the songs, so Esperanza got Mark Herrera and Neil Hillis to do the fun songs we did at the Special Needs Orphanage. Neil is the funniest guy ever and when you put him and Mark together, well let’s just say we were brave today. The children, once again loved it. After our performance, the actors were ready to go. They did an amazing job. The kids really loved it, and participated in it. Great job guys!! When the skits were finished, we lined the children up so they could get there sandwiches and drinks. We finished just in time for it to start raining, again.
We arrived back at the Mission House at about 4:30. During this time some people wrote in their journals, played soccer, and napped. The construction team got back at about 6 and we went straight to supper. Tonight’s supper was delicious. We had chips, rice, beans, and beef tips, it was great. When supper was finished, we went to the chapel for devotional. Steve Baker from South Carolina did the devo tonight. Steve gave his testimony tonight. He is a wonderful guy and has been through a lot of struggles. He grew up in the Church and has a great family, but he was somewhat rebellious. After a few years of his rebellion he went on a mission trip to Australia that changed his life. Now he is faithful and lets God lead his life. He told us this so we would trust God and let Him control our lives. He ended by singing a song, which was called I Surrender. It was so beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes.
We ended the night like every night with Where did you see Jesus?
Jesus was seen in Pat, Ken, and Mr. Hoss today while they built a house. They made sure every nail was perfect. We have a new saying this year “No Junk for Jesus”, they made sure the house was not junk.
Jesus was seen in Aly today at the Special Needs Orphanage. Aly found one little boy and focused on him the whole time. She was amazing with this little boy.
Jesus was seen in Katie Haab. Katie is always enthusiastic about everything she does. She is such and inspiration to all of us here.
Jesus was seen in Taft today at the Special Needs Orphanage. Taft fed one of the kids because the child was physically unable to feed himself. Taft’s patience was greatly admired.
Thank you all for reading the blogs, we all really appreciate the prayers. God Bless you and until next time…
Brandy B
