Oh thou fount of every blessing

Things are going very well down here in Honduras. We are blessed and God continues to send us everything we need. We have all of the typical things going on that every trip experiences when they first arrive. A bus broke down (Elroy, the one and only!) and we have had a flat tire, and we have only been here a day!!! The weather has been beautiful and all of our "pre-trip" plans are going exactly the way we hoped. Sickness has already struck the group (2 so far) and we are dealing with that along with the other tasks at hand. Welcome to Honduras! But all in all the start of the trip has been picture perfect.

Our last 3 team members fly in today. All 3 are from the Memphis area. 2 are interpretors and the other is a long time Torch vet. We will have 62 once they arrive this afternoon. Our team is a wonderful mix of rookies and vets. The different groups have mixed and bonded really well and it has been a blast being with Ken Ellis. Ken has been coming down here even longer than I have (his first trip down here was in 1980!). He is an awesome guy and I love being around him. They will be leaving in a couple of days to head back to Atlanta, Georgia, and we are going to miss them.

Everyone is pitching in and doing a great job. Buses are leaving on time, devos are starting on time. People are volunteering for the different work details without any prompting. They are even going to bed on time! What is this world coming too? Rumors of this is going to get out, I am pretty sure of it. This could tarnish our reputation for sure........but, I am not complaining! And, besides, we are only on the second day of the trip. A lot can happen in the next 8 or 9 days.......

We are going to be working in a lot of different places during the next few days. It is exciting to be able to spead out and work in different communities. We have already worked in Santa Ana and Mololoa. We have plans to work in Nueve Oriental and Valle de Angeles in the next couple of days. We are hoping to go to Dadasko, the Special Needs Orphanage, and the Blind School too.

This morning it is raining up on the mountain but Randy Kluge called and said it is sunny down below. Regardless, it is a beautiful day and we are glad to be here. Right now we are sorting food for 250 families that will be given away tomorrow (Wendesday). Flour and beans are everywhere right now, you can only imagine the fun we are having! From here we leave for Hospital Esquela and Hospital San Philippe to visit. The construction teams left early this morning to try to knock out 2 more houses today and a group is working at the feeding center (the Manna Project).

We just missed seeing Cary Hadley and Keith Boyer's group from Florida. They left to go home a day or two ago. The worked up in Union es Forsa (Bob) where they have focused their work for the past 4 or 5 years. They built an amazing 33 houses this year along with several visitation teams and work with the Manna Project (the feeding kitchen at Mololoa). Wish I we could have seen them but sometimes things don't always line up just right. Oh well, maybe next year.

In the next week or so Dudley Chancey and Johnny Markum come in with a large group from Oklahoma and Tennessee. I hope to make arrangements to meet up with their group for some combined devos while we are all down here. These guys have been coming down here for a long time as well. Both are good frinds of mine and I am thankful of the work that they are doing too. Great guys.

It is evident that a lot of work is going on down here in Honduras. Praise God that so many have given up part of their summer to come down here to work. Diane Adams, a long time Torcher, commented that every year that she comes down here she sees more and more improvement to the country. And she is right. This is not the same place it was 10 - 15 years ago. Honduras still has a long way to go but they are making baby steps every year. The people are still as eager as ever to study the Bible and learn about God and Jesus. The churches down here are holding steady and working hard. There is a lot to be excited about here. With so many groups coming down here each year more and more work is getting done.

We send all of you blessings from Honduras. Altough we miss you we are very glad to be here. Our next update will come late tonight. Stay tuned and don't forget to write! We love notes and emails! Hasta luego mi amigos! Dios te bendiga!

TR