Saturday, June 21, 2008: A Dios

Adios de Honduras! Adios is one of the handful of Spanish words that every member of our team knows and uses frequently. Adiós, of course, is Spanish for "goodbye". Literally translated, the word is the contraction of "a" (to) and "Dios" (God), from the old Spanish phrase "A Dios vais" ("You're going to God", meaning to the Kingdom of Heaven). As we say goodbye to Honduras on this our last evening, it strikes me that there could be no more meaningful phrase.

Adios to Honduras. To God we show our love, by sharing ourselves with the people of Quimistan. To God we give our thanks, for protecting us and giving us this opportunity. To God we dedicate our work here. To God we give the glory. A Dios!

Blessings,
Beth Eberhard

Friday, June 20, 2008: Dear Children of SAPC

Dear children in the three and four-year-old Sunday School Class at South Aiken Pres,
I understand you have been talking about the mission of building houses. Mr. Bunch told me that you have been saving your offerings since Christmas to buy cement blocks to build houses in Honduras. You raised $50! I want to tell you what your gift has meant to a family here.
You have helped Miriam’s family. There are eight children that live in the house with her and her husband. They live in one room that is probably smaller than your bedroom. There is a dirt floor, and chickens run in and out of the house all day because there are no doors, just sheets covering the doorway. The children have no beds. The roof leaks and they all get wet when it rains. There is no bathroom, no tv, no air conditioning, and no furniture except for one small bed. The kitchen is outdoors
In Honduras, their money is called Limpera instead of dollars. A cement block costs eight Limpera. Your $50 bought more than 100 cement blocks. That’s enough to build a whole wall for their new house. Their new house will have a real floor, strong walls, and a roof that doesn’t leak. It will have a bathroom, two bedrooms, and an indoor kitchen and sitting area. Best of all, because of your gift and those of others who also gave money, Miriam’s family will know that you love them enough to give them a house and hope for a better life. They will know that God is using His children to help them.
When you go to bed tonight, look around your room and pretend it is Miriam’s house. Then imagine that some people you don’t even know love you enough to build you a house. Then you will know how God uses kids like you to show His love to all His children.
Gracias from Miriam’s family!
Blessings,
Beth Eberhard

P.S.

Do you know Donald Josey and Mike Lambert? They had a contest to see how many blocks they could hold on their stomachs. Donald won, with eight blocks!

Thursday, June 19, 2008: poverty and hope

Today our work was of a different sort. Arturo started us off with a talk about the poverty in the area of Santa Clara, a village about half an hour down the highway. We then piled into two trucks and headed down the road. Our first stop was to deliver the tote bags filled with school supplies to a school that Sister Martha was instrumental in founding. To get to this school, we had to walk across a suspension bridge that looked like something out of Indiana Jones. This was the only way over to the village.

After walking a ways down a winding path, we arrived at the school. Sister Martha had started this school because many of the children can’t make the long trip to the nearest school. It has only been in existence for 2 ½ months, but had 30 students in grades 1-6. Four posts and a metal roof, an old blue tarp for one wall, simple desks, and a small blackboard on an easel were all that made up this school, but it is already making a difference in this small village. Unfortunately for us, the students were on a one week vacation while we were there, so we were unable to actually hand out the tote bags to them. Many of the children were off in the woods gathering firewood, but while we were there several students did wander in, so we were able to take a few photos of the children with the totes.

Back across the bridge and into the trucks we went for a half hour ride to the small village of Santa Clara, population about 500. Arturo and his wife Suyapa live here, dedicating their lives to trying to make a difference in the lives of the villagers. Suyapa has started a preschool, another wall-less, floorless shelter where anywhere from 2-15 toddlers come for food, games, and loving care.

In the field below the preschool was a brick-making business that Arturo had started to provide jobs for the local rough necks. The business itself is quite interesting. The men dig mud out of a hole, then mix it with sand. The mixture is then put in wooden brick molds, dried, then fired in a kiln for 18 hours. Each brick sells for about 3 limpera (15 cents). The work is hard, but provides some income and pride to the young men who have stuck with it.

Just when we thought we had seen the worst poverty there was to see, we pulled up in front of a shack that blew us away. The walls had been adobe, wattle and daub style, but had broken down and been replaced with tarps and anything else the owner could find. Arturo brought some granola bars to the two young children who were there (Thanks to Ann Prather, for the forethought to pack so many!). The little boy, wearing only a dirty tee shirt, had such a smile on his face when Arturo gave them the food that it literally went from ear to ear. According to Arturo, many of these children don’t do well in school because they are hungry, not because they have missed breakfast that day, but because they haven’t eaten for a couple of days.

There can be no ending for this narrative, because poverty is never-ending. The Bible tells us the poor will always be with us. However, the hope for the future lies in these children, through good health care, education, and love. Arturo and Suyapa are on the right track.

Blessings,
Beth Eberhard

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

A quick report on the building progress, and then on to the real business in Quimistan: The footers are finished at house #2 and we are ready to start building the walls. At House #1, we got the stones in place, smashing only a few fingers in the process, and the footers are almost halfway done.

Before working on the house, we made a trip to the Honduras Independence Bilingual School, where the children performed a show for us. Afterwards, we interacted with the children so that they could practice their English on us and they could hear our American accents. Hopefully, we didn’t throw them off track with our “ya’lls!” One of the songs they sang for us was “We Are The World.” While I’m not a big Michael Jackson fan, this song brought me to tears because the lyrics, sang by these precious children, are right on target. At the risk of breaking all kinds of copywrite laws, I am reprinting the words below.

We Are The World
By Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie

There comes a time

When we hear a certain call

When the world must come together as one

There are people dying

And it's time to lend a hand to life

The greatest gift of all

We can't go on

Pretending day by day

That someone, somewhere will soon make a change

We are all a part of God's great big family

And the truth, you know love is all we need

[Chorus] We are the world

We are the children

We are the ones who make a brighter day

So let's start giving

There's a choice we're making

We're saving our own lives

It's true we'll make a better day

Just you and me

Send them your heart

So they'll know that someone cares

And their lives will be stronger and free

As God has shown us by turning stone to bread

So we all must lend a helping hand

[Chorus] We are the world

We are the children

We are the ones who make a brighter day

So let's start giving

There's a choice we're making

We're saving our own lives

It's true we'll make a better day

Just you and me

When you're down and out

There seems no hope at all

But if you just believe

There's no way we can fall

Well, well, well, well, let us realize

That a change will only come

When we stand together as one

[Chorus] We are the world

We are the children

We are the ones who make a brighter day

So let's start giving

There's a choice we're making

We're saving our own lives

It's true we'll make a better day

Just you and me

Enough said.

Blessings, Beth Eberhard

Tuesday, June 17, 2008: Progress

Another day of hard work in the hot sun, but progress is being made. At site #1, La Casa de Muchos Muchachos, we finally finished leveling the site and today we started digging the trenches. Although the ground is rocky and hard, it is not as bad as the ground of the house they did last year, so they tell me. The rocks were delivered today, so possibly tomorrow we will be ready to put the rocks in their place around the trenches. Progress on the second house was evident as well. The stones were placed in the trenches and concrete was poured in and around the stones.

Most gratifying to me personally was progress I saw in one of the children. Franklin, a boy of 11, was not in school yesterday. When we asked why, his mother said (as best as we could understand) that he wasn’t learning how to read or write so his mother thought school was a waste of time for him. Yesterday, I played a game of addition flash cards with his younger sister and him. He had trouble with the simplest of facts, so when our time was done, I left the cards with him. This afternoon, I took out the cards again and played the game. This time, he knew quite a few of the addition facts that he had struggled with yesterday. He had been studying! He is still far below what he should know, but progress is progress!

The evening ended with dinner at Gordida’s restaurant and an “Un-talent” show by the team members. Although I thought Eric should have won for his rendition of fingernail clipping, the judges said that Sarah, Christa, Marycruz, and Cecelia’s group had the most “un-talent” for their song and dance routine. Progress in all areas today: on the work site, with “our” children, and in our relationships with each other and the Hondurans.

Blessings,
Beth Eberhard

Monday, June 16, 2008

For those of you who may have doubted the wisdom of sending so many youth on this trip, doubt no more. They have proven themselves over and over again. Today was a hard work day, leveling the ground at La Casa de Los Muchachos with pickaxes and shovels, and lugging huge rocks to put in the trenches at the second site. There are no work shirkers here. As a matter of fact, we adults often have had to insist that the kids take a break and leave some work for the rest of us. They have wielded pickaxes, bent wire for rebar, and lugged rocks heavier than themselves (especially Marycruz). They have become dirtier in an hour than most teenagers get in a year, and have sweated buckets. They have endured the heat, the lack of fast food, and a dearth of appliances and electronics with absolutely no complaining. Their enthusiasm and energy have boosted us adults when we have run down.

They have interacted with the children at Agape as well as at the work sites with friendship and laughter. The language barrier has been no barrier for them. Actually, their command of Spanish has been immensely helpful to the team. Even those who don’t speak Spanish as well have had no problem communicating with the children, who latch onto our kids and want them to stay forever.

They have bonded with each other deeply. Although Rebecca and Sarah were strangers at first, they are strangers no longer, fitting in as if they were the missing pieces to our puzzle. The kids are considerate of each other’s feelings, laugh and tease and play, and have accepted the crazy idiosyncrasies of us all without being judgmental.

In sum, the teenagers on this team have added energy, enthusiasm, and excitement to this trip. Their conduct at work and at play has exemplified our Christian ideals. Parents, you should be proud of your children. I know I am.

Blessings,
Beth Eberhard

Father's Day, June 15, 2008

Sunday: Father’s Day. Many of us were separated from our fathers, but we were not separated from our Father. Since Sunday morning is reserved for the children’s Sunday School, and Sunday evening for worship, we spent the morning touring the houses that the Honduras Agape Foundation has built. In many cases, the old house was still in use as an extra room, so it was interesting to see the old and the new side by side. The contrast was stark: on one side a hovel, on the other a home.

In the afternoon, we all went over to the field by the high school for Sports and Games Day. Children, teens, and adults mixed as they played Twister, egg relays, and water balloon volleyball. After the games, they got down to the serious business of soccer. The Hondurans treat soccer as they do religion: fervently. Collin, Eric, and Mike joined in the game, while Donald tried to find a uniform big enough for him.

While the guys played, the rest of us enjoyed playing with the children. The seed pods of a locust tree provided much entertainment as swords, building blocks, and pokers. Giggles, tickles, hugs, and laughter provided the cement for the day’s labor.

In the evening we headed over to the Agape church for their evening worship service. Marycruz served admirably as translator, a job even an adult would find difficult at best. Her understanding of both languages and composure in front of the congregation has made her an invaluable member of this team. After the sermon, the service took a different turn as a healing took place. When it became a little too intense, we quietly left, as did most of the congregation. While this form of worship is hard for us to understand, we do understand that God works in different ways for different people. And so our day started with long distance wishes for our fathers, and ended with worship and celebration of our Father. Not a bad way to spend a day.

June 14, 2008

This morning we started at two sites, but ended up spending most of the time at only one. After arriving at the site of the second house, we passed out tennis balls to the children and gave the girl whose birthday was yesterday a Beanie Baby doll as a gift. Just as we started to work, we were told that we all needed to go to the first house, La Casa de Muchos Muchachos, because construction at the second house had to wait for materials to be delivered “manana.”

Soon we were hard at work leveling the ground at the first house. We thought we were making good progress until we realized that the trench we thought they were digging turned out to be the depth the whole site needed to be: at least another 18 inches. Each wheelbarrow load had to be taken to the dirt pile. It wasn’t long before the kids had made a game of it, taking a running start down the hill and then up the ramp to the top of the pile, the onlookers yelling out their scores. One of the little boys, a three-year-old boy wearing only a tee shirt, delighted in waiting at the top for a ride in the empty wheelbarrow back down. This little guy later picked up a shovel and did his share of shoveling dirt. Some of the rest of the ten children who lived here came down to visit. One little girl carried her little brother, who was about two years old. The little boy had a cleft palate, with his upper lip and nose split and his front teeth twisted around at a grotesque angle. His older brother appeared to have also had a cleft palate, but his had been surgically repaired, leaving only a scar on his lip.

We met Jenny, the 20 year old sister, who had a four month old baby. She surprised us by giving all the girls on our team gifts: rings, earrings, or fingernail polish. She seemed better off than the rest. Her baby was chubby and appeared in good health. Someone said they thought Jenny was sponsored by someone.

In the evening, we all dressed up and headed over to the Agape church for a youth group meeting. The kids played several games, including Musical Chairs and Pinata, heard the band play several songs, and then afterward went over to Shirley’s Restaurant for soft drinks and ice cream.

Observation of the Day: The difference between the life of a sponsored child and one who is not sponsored is night and day.

Blessings,
Beth Eberhard

June 13, 2008

Today the reason we are here became evident.
This morning we split into three groups. Tyler and Michael Lambert went to La Escuela de Jicaro, a one room school for 30 students in grades 1-6. Before today, they had no electricity. Today, florescent lights burned in the room for the first time.
The second group of five youths led by Bob Prather went to the house I will call La Casa de Muchos Muchachos, because ten children live here with their parents. The house has two rooms: a sleeping room with one bed (remember, ten kids!) and an outdoor kitchen with a roof but no walls. Our group started leveling ground to build them a new house today.
I went with the third group to a site where construction had started on a house for another family. We were digging trenches for the foundation. To say these people are dirt-poor is an understatement: they don’t even have dirt, only rocks and smaller rocks. Our job was to dig the small rocks out of the ground in the trenches, which will be filled later with large rocks and concrete added. In between working, we would play with the neighbor children. One of the girls was having her sixth birthday today. I would have guessed her to be around 3-4 years old.
In the afternoon, we went over to the Agape Church compound to play with the Compassion children, several of whom were sponsored by us. While we were there, they were served lunch: a small bowl of black beans, a fried egg, a corn tortilla, and a drink. For many of the children, this is their only real meal of the day. One girl was there with her young brother, who wasn’t sponsored by Compassion. She shared her meal with him.
The children and our youth played many games this afternoon: Duck, Duck, Goose, Elbow Tag, volleyball, and of course soccer. All the while, relationships were being forged. Many of these children are starved for affection because their parents have large families and are struggling to survive. Today, they were lathered with attention and love.
This evening, after our meal, we reflected on the day. Michael Norton said it all, “We can’t do everything, but we can do something.”

Blessings,
Beth Eberhard

We Have Arrived!

We arrived safely in Honduras around 3:00 pm (5:00 Aiken time). We are all settled in at Sister Martha's compound with everything we need. The accomodations are most excellent and the weather very similar to Aiken: hot! We do have wireless Internet at her house, so posting blogs should be easy. Thank you for your prayers. Things have been smooth sailing thus far!

JUNE MISSION TEAM DEPARTS

Just before 5:00 a.m. on June 12, eleven youth and adult missioners left South Aiken Presbyterian Church for Columbia Airport to begin their journey to Quimistan, Honduras. The team members are: Jeff Ray (team leader), Collin Ray, Bob Prather, Cecelia Newman, Mike Lambert, Donald Josey, Marycruz Figueroa, Barb Mahannah, Beth Eberhard, Christa Eberhard, and Eric Lambert. They will be joined in Atlanta by Rebecca Prather and Sarah Prather (coming in from San Antonio, TX, and also by J. Taylor Cummings (coming from Jackson, MS), bringing the total team size to 14.



Those of us remaining in the States send our thoughts and prayers with the team. We look forward to hearing from the team members about their activities during their 10-day stay.

I pray that all the team does and says during this trip will not only benefit the people of the Quimistan Valley, but will also glorify God, as they spread the love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

God bless and keep you all.

Tommy