Today, our first full day in Honduras, we enjoyed a retreat to prepare ourselves spiritually for the week ahead.  We worked on strengthening our relationship with Christ, which is what being a Christian is all about.  God willing, today will make us better disciples and brighter lights of God’s love when we go out to work in the community tomorrow.

Fr Paschal, Fr Richard and Br Gabriel

Len, Mary and Franklin with Br Diego

 Tomorrow there will be two construction teams and one team that will work here at the Friary with their programs.  The first construction team will be putting a roof on a house for a lady, Dona Olga, whose house our missionaries have worked on in the past (digging ditches to keep her house from flooding).  The other team will be hand mixing cement for the slab for a house being built for a gentleman, Noe, who was shot many years ago in gang violence and is now confined to a wheelchair.  Some years ago, one of our former parishioners, Dr John Kelley, performed spinal surgery on him so that he could sit up.  Now, he needs a house with a solid foundation so he can maneuver his wheelchair well.  It will be a blessing for use to help each of these people out and, perhaps even more, to get to know them as we do.

Honduras is a beautiful place when you gaze out at the mountains that surround this valley.  But, it is also so very poor due to a lack of industry and crime.  Fr. Paschal explained to me that there is a lot of gang activity, and if somebody starts a business, he likely will be forced to pay for “protection” by one gang or another.  Many people figure it isn’t even worth trying as a result.   No wonder people flee to the United States!  We have an incredible country, and we should be eternally grateful to live in such a free and stable society.  We also need to remember that others are not nearly as fortunate (at least financially) as we are.  Coming to Honduras is an excellent way to learn that first hand!

Finally, I just wanted to let everyone know that the roosters started crowing at about 4am today.  I admire their enthusiasm!!

Matthew and the Mission Team