Honduras Doors 4

Our team arrived back to St. Louis a bit late last night, but safely. It was a wonderful week, so let's roll the credits... Team members Angie, Becky, Dan, Darlene, Donna, Doris, Jim, Kelley, Matt, Marsha, Marta, Mike, Natalie, Ralph, Ron, Ron, Shanna, Sue, Tom. Different skills, backgrounds, ages, personalities. Different routes to get onto the team. One mission. Director Gotta repeat Marsha's name again for being our ace organizer and leader. Preparing for this trip is a year-long process. Support crew Special shout out to Bonnie and Lori, who are hereby named honorary team members. And to our designated prayer partners. (Thanks, Julie!) And too many others to name back home who gave support emotionally, prayerfully, and/or financially. Transpor tation Rico and Reuben, the Honduran van drivers who steered us through many dangers, toils, and snares on the road. Producer Pastor Jeremy, who's responsible for initiating these trips through St. John's Lutheran Church.

Last night our team gathered for a final devotional time together. It ended with a celebration of sorts. Not a balloons and cake party, but a celebration of gifts put to use this past week. At the start of the week, each of us had been given the name of a secret "prayer target," a fellow team member to pray for. As the week went on, we could find out more about our prayer target's unique strengths. We could pray about special concerns he or she might have during the week's various tasks, or offer prayers of thanks for his or her talents. Last night was revelation time. We celebrated what each of us had brought to this mission. Gifts abounded. Not tangible presents wrapped in boxes, but acknowledgement of personality traits, experiences, skills, and character all wrapped together in this one team for this short time. In one of His parables, Jesus spoke of middle managers (well , stewards is the usual translation) who were given gifts of talents (an appropriate trans

Honduras does have mountains, as we know from our long van rides. We've not only heard or read about them. We've seen them. They are beautiful backdrops to some not-so-beautiful sights in the foreground. Last night's devotion focused on mountain top experiences. During that devotional time, the team shared some thoughts: + Seeing pictures and hearing stories about previous mission trips had been interesting. But the experience of being here is more than interesting. It's powerful. The term life-changing is sometimes used. + There were many and various "aha" moments during the week-- those moments that moved us or gave insight and meaning to our service at Ministerios Puerta Abierta. + The team's "newbies" now understand why the rest of us wanted to return again. + We accomplished more than we thought would be possible. Sharing the work together helped to keep us going. (Honduran helpers played a big role too.) + Team members, both new and r

Communication challenges exist everywhere, and they abound for us in Honduras. We have so little Spanish. They have so little English. Fortunately, there are folks like Penny, and infrequent visitor Rodney, who will speed up the process by translating any conversation that requires more than Good morning or How are you? And we do need to have those more complicated conversations when working together with the Hondurans. No doubt they politely stifle their laughter when we try to pronounce their names or repeat certain words. We politely do the same when they try to say wheelbarr ow or other semi-technical words. Or else we all smile together. Somehow it works out. Team members are able to help children and adults with medication, food, and clothing at feeding stations. Honduran laborers and Americans work side by side to finish what had to get done in the trenches for septic system improvements. Children draw pictures for us to express what they can't say in words. Hugs help too,

Today's title may bring back memories. Lots of early childhood teachers have made use of that sing-song little ditty: Clean up, clean up, Everybody, everywhere. Clean up, clean up, Everybody do your share! The children here, both younger and older, apparently share in cleaning up throughout the day. We commonly see them sweeping porches or classrooms, cleaning windows, or helping with other tasks. Children being children, the adult staff must need to train them, although we haven't heard that old ditty on these grounds, either in Spanish or English. Ministerios Puerta Abierta provides more for these children than just food, clothing, and housing. This mission wants to do more than be an enabling organization, more than a charity that merely leads children to an adulthood of no hope: a type of "servant class." Teaching responsibility to the children is one step up to a hope and a future. We know, as the prophet Jeremiah wrote, that God ultimately gives a hope a

"Why don't they...?" That's a question we all ask ourselves when running into Honduran customs and practices. Why don't they mow their grass to look like our suburban lawns? Or drive less aggressively? Or follow our construction codes? Or do something about their tap water? Or the astonishing rate of early pregnancy? Surely we could help them better their ways, couldn't we? Maybe. Maybe not. (Arrogance check. There are probably immigrants and foreign tourists who are right now wondering why we aren't doing things the right way in the USA.) To one of those concerns about Honduras. Yesterday we may have helped the ODM orphanage take one step toward good drinking water out of the tap. Team members arrived at 6:00 a.m. to work on several concrete projects, one of which was a pad for future placement of water purification equipment. One member spoke what the rest of us were thinking: "I'm glad to know I was a part of making that happen!" Open

Gratifaction? You're right, of course. Gratifaction is not a real word. It should be. It may be the best noun to use when answering the question, "So, do you enjoy your time in Honduras?" Enjoy? Well, yes. The children are fun, engaging, polite, enjoyable. The food is lovingly prepared, delicious, nutritious, enjoyable. Traveling to a different culture can be adventurous, educational, enjoyable. Team fellowship is uplifting, supportive, enjoyable. But an honest answer to the "Is it fun?" question must consider other realities. Such as: learning the horrific backgrounds that led these children to be at Open Door Ministries. Seeing the conditions, the children, and moms at the hospital and the feeding stations. Wearing damp shirts throughout the day. Sore muscles. Changing plans on the fly. Feeling that you could've done more to help with more time. Gratifaction is better. Gratifaction is a blend of gratitude + satisfaction, and it may be the simplest exp

The team has been in Tocoa now for 24 hours, having arrived in time for Sunday morning worship with the children and staff of Ministerios Puerta Abierta. Even those of us who know little Spanish can follow along (sorta) with the singing and the message. It helped that some children acted out the Biblical story of the ten men healed of their leprosy by Jesus. (Shout out to Dan and Tom for agreeing on the spot to play the role of priests who declared--mostly nonverbally, in this version of the story--that the men were healed.) Only one of the men returned to that Jesus. The other nine were so, so ready to get on with their lives. Our team is so ready to move on. Yesterday was good. No one was injured by climbing a tree with the children, or by playing soccer ("football" here, of course), or by playing party games at the mission's s celebration of October birthdays, or by hosting tropical birds on their shoulders. We explored the grounds of the orphanage and enjoyed seeing

For the fourth year, and fifth time, St. John's has now sent a mission team to Open Door Ministries (ODM). Nineteen of us--some men, some women, some new to this, some for the second, third, or fourth time--find ourselves this morning in the city of La Ceiba, roughly half way to our ultimate ODM destination  of Tocoa. Traveling to Tocoa is always worth a few comments. This overnight rest stop in La Ceiba was planned. However, barely getting the entire team through check in and security in time to get onto the plane in St. Louis was not planned. (Rumor has it that the pilot was the one who ordered the gate reopened for the last seven team members.) It was not planned that some team members were required to check in their personal luggage in St. Louis. (But the plan now is for that luggage to be delivered to Tocoa later today.) In addition, many of the large suitcases carrying supplies to be used and donated this week, which we did check in per plan, have not yet been flown from Mi

It's October. The fourth year of mission trips from St. John's Lutheran Church in Arnold, Missouri, USA to Open Door Ministries in Tocoa, Honduras launches this month. Preparations are nearly complete. Team members and others have been busy doing what needed doing for months already. This is the place for a blog launching on October 15th with news of the mission team's arrival... and whatever blessing happen afterward . Till then, please pray for the final collecting and packing of supplies and for the team's smooth, safe travel by air and land. Thanks in advance!