27 Mayo 2015

Dotting the I’s and Crossing the T’s

The new day brought forth an urgency to complete the jobs assigned to our team, for the time draws near that we will return to the land of honeydew and we shall drink the milk of paradise… Before I get too emotional I would like to compile a few thoughts and comments on our daily activities.

The team took a brief side trip this morning to La Montanita to visit our friend Rosa and her children. Tenida was at school, but Karlos entertained us as always. Senor Hodo, a man on a mission, came bearing many Regalos (Gifts) of love. Two years ago when we began to work on Rosa’s house, he fell in love with the Rosa’s children… which is not a difficult thing to do here. He was not able to come last year when we built the bedroom on her house, but the connection was formed with this family that even a language barrier could not separate them. I am reminded of when Jesus commanded that we love the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind and strength and to love others as well. I have seen much love between my brothers and sisters with the people of Teo, Qumistand, Tejerias and the other communities that we have visited this year. Every time that I come to Honduras, I come with the hope of making a difference or sharing a blessing for someone, but as all ways, I am the one who is blessed. While at Rosa’s home, she brought out a photo that Michael Norton took while I was here last October. Rosa, me and the children… The smile on her face when she showed it to me caused my emotions to cascade over me like a waterfall; I just simply had to walk away… that is the kind of love that I am talking about, the love of God’s beautiful creation, because she was created in His image. These are my words, but I know that I speak for everyone here; they would agree that the love of Jesus has been poured out unto the people of this land.

Enough mushy stuff, time to keep the readers entertained with the witty and often confusing lingo of this author… We returned to Luz de Valle school around lunch time today to complete the Mayan Pit of Doom while Senor Jefe Chris the Scorpion King, Hodo, Officer Donnie and various others preformed some seriously needed repairs to the plumbing in the schools bathrooms. The Mook was once again sifted and tossed about, doused with a liberal democrat amount of agua, stirred and carried to the pit to be packed tightly in the joints of the bricks. From the ashes arose the Pit of honor to a towering level near that of Que Pasa height… 32” tall. Today was an interesting in the field of Mook, because I had multiple Mooking partner; first Que Pasa, but she had to retire because we did not have the wood to build scaffolding for her…  then Madster, Larry and Rosie, each took a turn Mooking with me, but soon they too fell away with exhaustion. The celebration began shortly before the first playing of Pink Floyds ‘Pulse’ album was finished; the Mayan Pit of Doom was completed! We gathered around the Pit to pay homage with a ceremonial Mayan dance of dedication while the sacrifice was being prepared… Whom shall we sacrifice?  Earlier this morning, some of our team had decided to sacrifice Juan Pablo Montoya, because we had hiked the trail of Doom in search of the legendary Chili El Diablo this morning. Much to our sadness and disappointment, there was no intestinal inferno peppers to be found… Amid our disappointment Pablo said, (rough translation) “Oh, you can buy those peppers in Qumistand.” His fate was sealed at that moment! We ventured back into the uncharted jungles of La Montanita to join up with those left behind… The Pit was filled with debris from the school, Pablo placed on a rack to be grilled… alas no one had a match to start the fire… By Grace he was saved.

We said our good byes to the school teachers and remaining students and traveled to Tijerias to walk along the road and hand out bags of beans and rice to the families that lived there… The food gave us a chance to share in our blessings as a team but more importantly it gave us the chance to share Love of Jesus and pass out Bible tracks written in Spanish. We returned to the compound to dine on chicken tortillas, to fellowship with one another and sing songs of praise. Daniela’s uncle brought in the café and honey order tonight so that we can savor the Honduran experience after we return home this weekend.

Marco Francisco