14 missionaries will be going to serve the poor. Please help sponsor them and keep them in your prayers. Financial donations can be sent to Mary Our Queen, 6260 The Corners Parkway, Norcross, GA 30092. Please write in the memo line of your check "Honduras Mission". Thank you and God bless.

Friday, July 9, 2010

A reflection from the work team

Dear Friends,

This is from the work team....


The work team with the members who live in the house

We painted the inside and outside Cecilio's house which is a family of at least six living in the house. It was cinder block walls with basically four rooms; three bedrooms (one for the boys, one for the girls, and one for the parents) and a living area. The kitchen (which is a fire place) is outside of the house.

Jesus at the front gate of the family's house


Cecilio with two of his sons

The family moved all the furniture in all the rooms to the center of the room to allow us to paint and they basically lived outside while we painted.


The family's belonging in the middle of the room


The house that we painted with a primer coat

The father worked nights and slept on the floor of the front porch while we painted. They never complained or showed any irritation at our disrupting their life for three days straight.

Jesus full of adventure with his brother

The mother went about her normal routine of caring for her children and cooking, acting as if our questions on colors for walls and details were just a normal part of life.

John painting the pink wall

In fact, I think they actually enjoyed our presence, especially their 5 year old boy. He liked to try to help, even though this meant we had to stop him from painting the refrigerator.

Jesus with his pet rat on his head

While most of us could not communicate very well with them in Spanish, it was clear by the gleam in their eyes and their attempts at English that having color on their gray cinder block walls meant a great deal to them.

John painting

I think each member of our work crew tried to interact in some way with the family, and each of us came away blessed with the limited relationship we were able to develop.

John with Jesus with the AIF team behind

Certainly their patience and endurance in bearing inconveniences were something for us to each marvel at and hopefully learn from.

Jesus with his brother

Some of us commented that we really should learn more Spanish to increase our ability to interact and understand our Honduran friends.

Thank you to all who supported us and made our trip a reality.


The house with its final coat