Used Motor Oil

Greetings from Honduras!

We did something yesterday that most of us never could have imagined.  After hauling timber probably 100 yards or more up a steep mountain (over many trips), we painted each and every board with very black used motor oil.  If you have ever been to a place where they change your oil, you’ll know exactly what we smelled, and smelled like, all day!       

Putting on a second coat of motor oil

You can see the old house to the left

So, why, you may ask, did we do that?  Honduras has a terrible termite problem, and coating wood with used motor oil helps protect it from their attack.  I seriously doubt this sort of thing would pass EPA standards in the U.S., but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do here in Honduras.

We used the wood today to build frames for the mud that we are using to build the walls of a house for a terribly tragic family – a widow and her three children, all of whom are mute and mentally disabled (probably due to malnutrition).  They live in a structure that is falling down around them, but soon they will have a new place to call home!

Sarah, Paul and Jasmine getting dirt to make mud

Some local Honduran men helping

We give great thanks to God for all of those who provided us with the financial support to make this trip and to help buy the building materials for this family!  (Don’t worry, Brother Dismis was able to get the used motor oil for free.)  Thank you all so very, very much!