One word to describe my experience... well i have M-A-N-Y!!! but if i had to only choose one i would say "EYE OPENING"...
First impression when i got off the plane... "OH MY HEAVENS WHAT HAVE WE SIGNED UP FOR?"
The experience was different than I imagined only in one way… I was VERY surprised to see a lot of the men of the community not helping out… For example: While working on Ebbetie’s house, there were like five guys with watches, cell phones and necklaces wearing nice clothes just hanging out on the porch while our men (Rick, Kevin and Alex) were working nonstop. I would have thought they would have offered to help, especially seeing two women (Amanda and I) in the hot sun working as well. This I found very different!
Where I saw the Lord was EVERYWHERE we went!!! Especially in little Morgan! God only knows how she is capable of doing what she does every day! I think I had, at minimum, ten break downs while I was there, NO REALY, BREAK DOWNS!!! Not from the lack of water, air conditioning, transportation, or from my feet and legs swelling to the size of an elephant or other things we have been spoiled with, but by seeing the amount of NEED that is in Puerto Lempira. I saw the Lord all thru Morgan and what she is doing to assist in Honduras! If I can live to be 1% of the Christian woman she is than I feel I have done well! Morgan is by far one of the most giving, understanding, caring, loving, patient, trustworthy, living for God woman I have ever had the absolute pleasure of meeting! When I asked her how she does it… she always answered, “Thru God, God will provide”! Morgan is one of the most special people I have ever met and I feel honored to have spent time with her and helping her with her mission. I pray that I get to come back VERY soon! I feel as though I’m a better person now just from knowing her!
My favorite part of the trip? Hmmmm? That is def a tuff question… The orphanage, House of Hope was Amazing in so many ways! I honestly could have set up camp and lived there! To know that most of these children would have no chance if it were not for the House of Hope just broke my heart! When I took their pics with my polaroid camera and they got to keep the pics right then… that was AMAZING to see their little faces all lit up! And the Princess Party! Getting all the little girls ready with hair, makeup, glitter and nails, then picking them up so they could see their selves in the mirror… INCREDIBLE!!! Their little faces jus LIT up like Christmas trees and it was like they couldn’t believe they were looking at themselves! Eating with Oscar, his wife and four children who sacrificed two of their chickens for us was such an honor… and to know that their seven year old was the one who actually killed the chickens was amazing! Their children were so well behaved and the family was so kind to us! I could not get over how TALENTED Oscar is!!! To know he built all his furniture his self… incredible… and to know that they made you a table for your fridge to sit on and then carried it approximately 2 ½ miles to deliver it to you! AMAZING!!! I also loved meeting little Crystal! The way she latched on to that little doll that sang Jesus Loves Me in English was such a moving experience! I’m def sending her one on the next shipment. Meeting Alex, Laura, Arlee and their other three boys was amazing as well! Such a selfless family to give up such lucrative careers in the States to move to Honduras in order to try and make a difference! But most of all my favorite part of the trip was seeing your eyes light up when you saw your big brother! There is nothing stronger than family and that is something you def have! That boy would walk to the ends of this earth for you and his little niece Grace! To see the love that two people share is just incredible and again, I feel so honored to have been a part of it! I could go on and on and on with all my favorite parts of the trip, Meeting PaPa K and driving around in his “Mercedes” with Kevin crunched in the back while looking for his land that he had NO IDEA where it all was… the first day walking the entire COUNTRY seeing all the different houses, people, stores. Seeing how different everything is from the States and how TRULY BLESSED we are and how much we take for granted!!! Seeing all the children giggle when we walked by and said Hola to them… oh let me stop… this is going to be 25 pages long! OVERALL I LOVED EVERYTHING about this experience and will treasure it for the rest of my life… I am def forever changed!
Hmm… what was hard for me to see or do… at first the living conditions were very hard for me to get use to but then I realized that that is all they are used to so it’s not that bad for them. I mean if you don’t know any different…. It was very difficult to see the amount of Narks they had there and no way to stop them! Very difficult to see so many young women giving birth to children they cannot provide for, for one reason or another. It was a little difficult for me to meet Mel and have him welcome me with open arms knowing that he is in prison for murder. But the Lord says you seek him and he will forgive you and I feel that Mel is a prime example of that! He was so educated and so kind. He really could have made something out of his life if only he had had the opportunity. The hardest thing for me to see was the young 12 year old little girl who had a three month old baby due to being raped by two men! I guess this is where my non-Christian ways come into play because I just don’t understand how you could forgive something like that! She was a CHILD!!! But she is an AMAZING Mother and a remarkable young lady. I admire her strength so much! It was very hard to visit the House of Hope and NOT want to take every one of those children home! Three in particular! I would have given my right leg for! And Thelma, to know that she is of age and could make it on her own here in the States and be very successful because she is SO smart and talented but she chooses to stay in order to take care of her four sister… one of which is completely disabled… meeting her was when I had one of my major break downs! This poor child was just so full of life and love! You couldn’t help but to fall in love with her! It was hard to see the pain in PaPa K’s eyes about the loss of his beloved son! You could tell that the loss has affected him deeply! I pray that he finds peace by honoring his son and helping other in Honduras!
The Lord def taught me and showed me that even though I am a good person I def need to be living more for the LORD and not for me! I need to be in a church family and hearing the Lords words! I need to rely on the Lord more and pray a LOT more often! I need to surround myself with more Christian people and put my talents to work! I plan to rally like I’ve never rallied before to get school uniforms to the children of Puerto Lempira who require only that in order to attend school… I plan to flood Puerto Lempira with “Brown” Barbie dolls being that all they have are white Barbie’s… this is jus not right! Lol… and I also plan on doing some sort of silent action maybe in the beginning of next year in order to raise money for Morgan’s cause and orphanage!
First impression when i got off the plane... "OH MY HEAVENS WHAT HAVE WE SIGNED UP FOR?"
The experience was different than I imagined only in one way… I was VERY surprised to see a lot of the men of the community not helping out… For example: While working on Ebbetie’s house, there were like five guys with watches, cell phones and necklaces wearing nice clothes just hanging out on the porch while our men (Rick, Kevin and Alex) were working nonstop. I would have thought they would have offered to help, especially seeing two women (Amanda and I) in the hot sun working as well. This I found very different!
Where I saw the Lord was EVERYWHERE we went!!! Especially in little Morgan! God only knows how she is capable of doing what she does every day! I think I had, at minimum, ten break downs while I was there, NO REALY, BREAK DOWNS!!! Not from the lack of water, air conditioning, transportation, or from my feet and legs swelling to the size of an elephant or other things we have been spoiled with, but by seeing the amount of NEED that is in Puerto Lempira. I saw the Lord all thru Morgan and what she is doing to assist in Honduras! If I can live to be 1% of the Christian woman she is than I feel I have done well! Morgan is by far one of the most giving, understanding, caring, loving, patient, trustworthy, living for God woman I have ever had the absolute pleasure of meeting! When I asked her how she does it… she always answered, “Thru God, God will provide”! Morgan is one of the most special people I have ever met and I feel honored to have spent time with her and helping her with her mission. I pray that I get to come back VERY soon! I feel as though I’m a better person now just from knowing her!
My favorite part of the trip? Hmmmm? That is def a tuff question… The orphanage, House of Hope was Amazing in so many ways! I honestly could have set up camp and lived there! To know that most of these children would have no chance if it were not for the House of Hope just broke my heart! When I took their pics with my polaroid camera and they got to keep the pics right then… that was AMAZING to see their little faces all lit up! And the Princess Party! Getting all the little girls ready with hair, makeup, glitter and nails, then picking them up so they could see their selves in the mirror… INCREDIBLE!!! Their little faces jus LIT up like Christmas trees and it was like they couldn’t believe they were looking at themselves! Eating with Oscar, his wife and four children who sacrificed two of their chickens for us was such an honor… and to know that their seven year old was the one who actually killed the chickens was amazing! Their children were so well behaved and the family was so kind to us! I could not get over how TALENTED Oscar is!!! To know he built all his furniture his self… incredible… and to know that they made you a table for your fridge to sit on and then carried it approximately 2 ½ miles to deliver it to you! AMAZING!!! I also loved meeting little Crystal! The way she latched on to that little doll that sang Jesus Loves Me in English was such a moving experience! I’m def sending her one on the next shipment. Meeting Alex, Laura, Arlee and their other three boys was amazing as well! Such a selfless family to give up such lucrative careers in the States to move to Honduras in order to try and make a difference! But most of all my favorite part of the trip was seeing your eyes light up when you saw your big brother! There is nothing stronger than family and that is something you def have! That boy would walk to the ends of this earth for you and his little niece Grace! To see the love that two people share is just incredible and again, I feel so honored to have been a part of it! I could go on and on and on with all my favorite parts of the trip, Meeting PaPa K and driving around in his “Mercedes” with Kevin crunched in the back while looking for his land that he had NO IDEA where it all was… the first day walking the entire COUNTRY seeing all the different houses, people, stores. Seeing how different everything is from the States and how TRULY BLESSED we are and how much we take for granted!!! Seeing all the children giggle when we walked by and said Hola to them… oh let me stop… this is going to be 25 pages long! OVERALL I LOVED EVERYTHING about this experience and will treasure it for the rest of my life… I am def forever changed!
Hmm… what was hard for me to see or do… at first the living conditions were very hard for me to get use to but then I realized that that is all they are used to so it’s not that bad for them. I mean if you don’t know any different…. It was very difficult to see the amount of Narks they had there and no way to stop them! Very difficult to see so many young women giving birth to children they cannot provide for, for one reason or another. It was a little difficult for me to meet Mel and have him welcome me with open arms knowing that he is in prison for murder. But the Lord says you seek him and he will forgive you and I feel that Mel is a prime example of that! He was so educated and so kind. He really could have made something out of his life if only he had had the opportunity. The hardest thing for me to see was the young 12 year old little girl who had a three month old baby due to being raped by two men! I guess this is where my non-Christian ways come into play because I just don’t understand how you could forgive something like that! She was a CHILD!!! But she is an AMAZING Mother and a remarkable young lady. I admire her strength so much! It was very hard to visit the House of Hope and NOT want to take every one of those children home! Three in particular! I would have given my right leg for! And Thelma, to know that she is of age and could make it on her own here in the States and be very successful because she is SO smart and talented but she chooses to stay in order to take care of her four sister… one of which is completely disabled… meeting her was when I had one of my major break downs! This poor child was just so full of life and love! You couldn’t help but to fall in love with her! It was hard to see the pain in PaPa K’s eyes about the loss of his beloved son! You could tell that the loss has affected him deeply! I pray that he finds peace by honoring his son and helping other in Honduras!
The Lord def taught me and showed me that even though I am a good person I def need to be living more for the LORD and not for me! I need to be in a church family and hearing the Lords words! I need to rely on the Lord more and pray a LOT more often! I need to surround myself with more Christian people and put my talents to work! I plan to rally like I’ve never rallied before to get school uniforms to the children of Puerto Lempira who require only that in order to attend school… I plan to flood Puerto Lempira with “Brown” Barbie dolls being that all they have are white Barbie’s… this is jus not right! Lol… and I also plan on doing some sort of silent action maybe in the beginning of next year in order to raise money for Morgan’s cause and orphanage!
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