Welcome to Honduras

We have a saying in Honduras when Murphy's law kicks in and all our well made plans unravel. "Welcome to Honduras." There are always a couple of days like that on every trip. Today was one of them. Many of you may remember the weight of the playground equipment our church purchased to put up at the Casa de Esperanza. After moving it four times I can assure you we do. We moved it so many times that the box ruptured and spilled its contents all over the ground like candy out of a broken pinata. That's probably why we failed to notice that are bag of screws and nuts was missing when we strained mightily one last time to put it all in the back of a truck this morning.

Our plan today was to spend some time at Casa and then travel up a mountain road to a small church near its peak in the afternoon. We arrived at Casa, took out all the boxes of playground parts, and began sorting them. Under Billy's careful instruction we laid out pieces of wood in the order they would be needed and labeled each section. Things were going smoothly and we were ready to begin putting everything together. Unfortunately we had no screws, no bolts, and no special connectors. That tiny important box was picked up along with several other boxes meant to go to a warehouse in tegucigalpa forty five minutes away. It was locked up and the only one with a key was Marc Tindall. He was at the dump and we were out of luck.

We were flexible and decided to go on up the mountain. Some of us were wary after a harrowing experience driving mountain trails at the first of the week. We climbed to a height of seven thousand feet. It was a spot, that on a clear day, would reveal the ocean. After dropping some things off at the church and and receiving the thanks of an extremely enthusiastic preacher we walked a trail to the mountains edge and looked out over the lush valley below.

Life is everywhere in honduras. The landscape is a canvas of many shades green dotted with vibrant reds and yellows. Plants grow on the plants and bright flowers erupt from their stems. A few of us walked a tiny dirt path to a secluded edge and sat on some rocks. We spent time in prayer and were encouraged.

When we returned to Casa the parts were there but time was short. We went to work, some of us playing with the children while others were drilling holes. Evening was coming quickly and Progress was slowly being made. We'd have to leave the rest for tomorrow if we could squeeze it in between a house build and ladies class at the church.