Paint the day away

 Today everyone was up and at it again early to have another productive day. We made it up to the worksite and jumped right in with finishing up building and started painting. We plugged away until it was time for lunch.

After lunch we loaded up the tin to start on the roofs while a few headed out to deliver more bags to families. We wanted to end early at the worksite but the motivation was there and everyone just kept going. We also lucked out and missed out on rain showers that parted to miss us. By the end of the day, house one painting is done and the roof is on. House 2 is all but done with painting and ready to raise the roof. House 3 is done with siding and next to paint.

We came back to the school and ate more yummy food followed by vanilla cake with tres leches filling and decorated to honor “Super Gabe” with a picture of a shower head for restoring water as it still is much appreciated by all especially after long work days like today.

After Junta and cake, everyone scattered to play soccer with kids and just relax. Tomorrow will be a quieter day building beds, and staying at the school. Keep the comments coming as Anne and Theresa get asked frequently how many comments we have for that day!!!

Progress, Progress, Progress

 

More hard work was done today, all houses have exterior siding and all but one have the interior siding completed.  The roof trusses are up on one house and we have started on the second. Kids were perfecting their hammering skills as well as their Spanish speaking. 

There were many children and some adults around the worksite today and it was nice to see work being done, but also time taken to form new friendships.  There were a lot of laughs and games being played, as well as a little swing dancing (Derek).

We delivered the first sets of gift bags to homes, and were greeted with overwhelming gratitude and kindness.  Several people expressed how much Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras means to the school, the community, and the families that we are lucky enough to meet and serve.

We had another delicious set of meals today.  We are spoiled by Marta and Heydi, who work all day to make sure we have plenty of delicious Honduras meals. We also were excited to open some wonderful letters of support from our 5^th graders, thank you so much!

Included in our new friends are the giant pigeons who frequent the women’s dormitory.  We are hopeful they find a new place to visit…like maybe the men’s dormitory.

We read the blog comments to the group tonight after junta.  We had so many laughs during our meeting, and it was the best way to end the night reading the words from loved ones!  Please keep reading and commenting, it truly gives joy!  Some of the students wanted to write messages back to you, enjoy.

Miyah:  Thanks Mom for all the prayers and support!  Tell Marcus he might have some new sisters because there are 3 girls that I think I can fit in my suitcase.  Give Milo many treats, the dogs here make me miss him more and more. Love you

David: Good to hear all is going well.  Thank you for all the prayers. The weather hasn’t been too bad.  I definitely don’t miss the snow. Keep me posted on the rabbit situation. Everybody loved your guys’ comments so keep them coming. And Tessah, you can have the Pringles.  I love you all very much! Love, David

Jenna:  Trevor says he misses the boys a lot and he misses everyone else. He wants dad to tell him if he missed anything big (as in fire calls).  Sami, I’m glad you didn’t run anyone over.  Jason and Justin’s responses are expected and I love you and Jerry K. Mom, I miss you and your snuggles.  Bob, I can’t wait to come home and get a big hug. Be ready because I’m going to jump in your arms. Love, Jenna

Zayne: Good to hear from you all, love and miss you!  This has been an experience I’ve never had, it is so rewarding and the best days.  I’ve made some new friends and wish you could meet them.  Also, got Quade’s letter he wrote me and yes, he is my favorite ‘sister’.  Love, Zayne

And Then A Hero Comes Along..

 Today, Gabe is the most popular person on the team, by far.  For those of you seasoned enough to remember, it was an episode of MacGyver as he made do with the tools we could find to restore water to the school. Our team shares the school grounds with the Populorum, who live here full time to pursue their studies.

The day was busy as the whole group was anxious to get to work after our travel day delays.

All 3 houses are framed and 1 ½ houses are sided! We are adjusting to small hiccups and pushing though.  We have also packed almost all of the donation bags which we hope to start delivering tomorrow.

I am proud to tell you what a great group of students we have this year. They have been working hard and looking for opportunities to help wherever they can. They are kind, compassionate to all those they meet and eager to interact with the children here.

Tonight we will enjoy a SHOWER, a delicious meal of beef tacos, and then meet for mass and junta.  Thank you all for your continued support, we hope to hear from some of you soon!

We're Back!

 Tuesday, March 21st

After a very long day, Honduras has welcome to us back with open arms.We are excited, and very ready for a good night's rest.

We awakened at 3 AM in Omaha and sailed through check in and security much quicker than anticipated. Our luck continued in Houston when we arrived a few minutes ahead of schedule and were easily able to make our connecting flight. That is where the ease of travel ended for us. After boarding a delayed flight, we made it to Comayaga with a little turbulence and a whole lot of baggage. We had advised students that patience is key when arriving, but 3 and a 1/2 hours later ( And minus one bag, temporarily) we were ready to get to our destination.

A couple of hours on the bus gave us a glimpse of what we will be encountering in the next 9 days. We arrived late due to the delay at the airport and quickly unpacked what we could. There were also many hugs waiting for us. We kicked off our food experience with Honduran enchiladas, which were enjoyed by pretty much all!

Our last hiccup of the day was learning that the water tank is out of order… so thanks to all back home for packing those wet wipes! We hope to have running water back soon.

We had a wonderful junta meeting, it was great starting to get to know one another.

Due to our wild travel day, we will catch up with photos tomorrow.

We look forward to a busy day tomorrow after a good night's sleep. Much love to all back home, we feel your love and prayers!

Travel Update

 It appears that our team has arrived in Honduras. From here on out, I will be turning the blog over to our team. Please be patient as they will be getting camp set up throughout the rest of today as well as sorting out materials that need to be sorted out. I am just as excited as the rest of you are about hearing about our missioners trip. For now, this is Matt Schilling, turning the blog over to our mission team.

Update From Houston

 The team landed just after 8:30 AM this morning in Houston. They have a very short layover departing Houston an estimate at 9:45 this morning. The team should arrive in Honduras just before noon central time. I will update is I found out the team has landed. Continued prayers for a successful mission trip for our team. 

Flight Morning (It’s EARLY)

 Good morning all. Our teams flight to Houston left about five minutes early this morning at approximately 6:15 AM. It appears they will arrive in Houston around 20 minutes prior to what the originally scheduled arrival time was. I will keep you updated with any new information as they arrive in Houston and subsequently depart for Honduras.