More details about Arizona

So it’s been a few days since my last post, and a lot has happened here! I’ll start with what we were able to accomplish in Arizona.

Our team was able to finish 7 concrete floors and an entire house!!! It is so amazing to me to think about the poverty these people lived and know that we were able to leave them a little better off. In order to make the floors for these families, the men had to haul A LOT of sand and concrete up a huge hill!! It was so steep and made mostly of dried mud and sand, so it had very little traction! They would come back down after a load and be literally drenched in sweat. It looked excruciating!! The family that received the house consists of a mother and four children. She told us that the father had left her and the kids with nothing - not even a home. Most likely she rented one that was probably very small and incredibly lacking. Along with some hired help (the men on average are paid $6/day for their work), our guys were able to build this mother a two-room house with cind

er block walls, a roof, and a concrete floor. She told us it was more than she could have ever dreamed of. Most of the houses in Arizona are made of earth (similar to Campamento) or thin tree branches lined up and nailed together, but with thatched roofs. Nicer houses have tin roofs, a concrete floor, or even cinder block walls. We were also able to do some work on the church there, which as I mentioned before has a new pastor, Mario. We installed a false ceiling (to help with the heat) and painted the interior. While on the subject, please be praying for Mario and his wife, Lesli. While were there, she was taken to the hospital for what they believe is a kidney infection. We’re praying now for a swift recovery.

Every morning the ladies ran a Vacation Bible School which had around 80 kids in attendance. We started the morning with a few songs such as “We Want to See Jesus Lifted High,” “I‘m Trading My Sorrows,” and “I’m in the Lord’s Army” as well as others (of course all in Spanish). Then Dina (remember Pablo’s wife from Teguc) would teach them a Bible story. Finally we would do a small craft. All-in-all it would last around an hour, and Michelle told us it was probably the highlight of their year. I got to know a couple of the kids, and it was very sad when we had to leave. One boy, Roni, told me he didn’t want me to go, and that I had to come back. I was in tears as I told him I’d try.

Aside from the Bible school, Amy and I visited an old woman, Maria (left), who lives far up the hill. She’s in h

er 70s, which is very old for a Honduran, and lives alone with her husband, Angel, which is also unusual for them not to have family taking care of them. Nevertheless, there they were. She invited Amy into her home on Wednesday, and they sat and talked for at least 30 minutes. Amy told me later that she couldn’t understand much of what Maria said because of how fast and slurred her speech was. But she did tell Amy that she had to come back and visit her the next day. So Amy invited me along. Let me tell you, Amy was right about her speech!! I missed more than half of what she said, so we’d just smile and nod as she chatted. She told us that she had never had Gringos in her home before and that it was such a pleasure to meet us. She called us the companions of her heart! It was so sweet of her, and very genuine. She seemed so amazed that we would take the time to be with her, that she couldn’t stop talking about how glad it made her. We probably spent an hour and a half with her that day. Before we left, she agreed to go down the hill so she could go to a church service with us. Afterwards, she told us we would have to come back the next day and that she would make tortillas for us. We smiled nervously and said goodbye. On Friday we went up to visit just in time to help her make the tortillas. She started with a bowl-full of corn, ground it up, put oil in it, and flattened them. It was cool, because she let us help her! So she cooked them up, and then told us we would eat lunch with her! We chuckled and said, trying to get out of it, that lunch was already being prepared for us down the hill. She smiled and said, “Ok, but you’ll still eat lunch with me.” Then she placed a tablecloth down, pulled out her finest bowls, and poured us a type of chicken broth with some sparse onions and a tiny chicken leg in it. To the side was a plate of the fresh tortillas. It smelled so good, but we were so nervous!! We knew what a sacrifice it was for her to feed us this, so how could we refuse. We prayed in English before eating that God would protect us, and nourish us with this food. Never has that prayer meant more to me! So we ate! And it was quite good! After eating, it was time for us to go, so we said very sad goodbyes and told her that we hoped to see her again, here on Earth or in Heaven. Walking away was heart-braking!

Friday we said goodbye to all of our new friends and brothers and sisters, and then we took off for San Pedro Sula, our final destination here in Honduras. I’ll have to blog about our departure tomorrow because it is late, and past my bedtime!

Goodnight all! And I’ll try to get pics up soon!

Love you,

Allie