Monday, April 03, 2017 before breakfast
It’s Monday and the missioners are wondering how the time is
going by so fast. We have a lot yet to accomplish but are ready to jump back
into completing our projects. Today we will begin painting on house one and a
crew will wrap up construction on house two. We hope to begin delivering the
gift bags. The missioners are excited to share all the donations donated by you
all. Another crew will stay at the school and will bounce between building bunk
beds and visiting classrooms. They’ll be teaching some songs in English and
Spanish. “He’s got the whole world in his hands” and “Pan de Vida” (Bread of
Life).
Sunday morning dawned bright and beautiful and we started
off with a wonderful Mass outside in the school compound. We were reminded that
Christ unites us as one Body, together as a mission community, and with all of
you back home and with our Honduran brothers and sisters. Deacon Murphy pointed
out to us again that Jesus indeed has the power to raise us up as he did for
Lazarus. He raised up the poor and the sick in his time and commissions us to
raise each other up and to be the hands and feet that help raise up the poor we
encounter here. Jesus also raises us up when we reach out raise others up. We
certainly have experienced this from the many Honduran children and adults we
have met.
We have asked a lot of our missioners in both work and many
new experiences. They were ready for a day off and there were tired people and
some queasy stomachs. All missioners felt good enough to go on our excursion.
We made our pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Suyapa. Our mother Mary
is a great source of strength and comfort to the poor and downtrodden as well
as to ourselves. We had a chance to offer our prayers to her intercession.
The trip to the village of Valley of the Angels allowed us
to see some of the beautiful Honduran countryside. We had a nice lunch of pizza
before heading out to do some shopping. They did a good job of supporting the
Honduran economy. However, it was noted that a lot of purchases were gifts for
family members and there are some very unique gifts coming back to Iowa.
Back at the compound many extended our Sunday rest with a
siesta. Our nightly “Junta” gathering allowed us to process our experience and to
share our thoughts and feelings with each other. Afterwards the student
missioners had the character building experience of doing their laundry by hand
the Honduran way. Many of them wrapped up the evening by helping the youth who
live here with their English.
Some words from Mac:
Carolyn Bickford, and Dick Seivert set the stage for us to be here. There are countless resources at our deposal
because of many years of work. Thank you
to all that came before us. We are
humbled to follow in your footsteps.
Marta, our Honduran go-to for everything connection, Frank Seivert our “boots
on the ground”, and all of the Gehlen people that support this Mission; I give
a big thank you. Thanks to all that
support this Mission in prayer, financially, and in any way shape or form.
We will continue to do our best to keep your kids safe, do
the work of our Creator, and be to the Hondurans what God calls us to be. It is with the love of God that sustains us
here. Please continue to pray for us!
I am truly humbled.
Mac
Lauren Promes
BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT to my oldest sister Kenzie!
Wish I could be there with you but you will see me in 4 more days and cant wait
to see and hug everyone!!
Allison King
Happy Birthday mom! Hope you have a great day. Don’t go out to eat until I come back. The people here are awesome but, I can’t wait to come back home. Please bring me sweatpants, t-shirt and sweatshirt on Friday. Thanks! Love you all!
Kate Tom
Happy Monday! I am sitting outside at 6:30 in the morning
watching as kids are coming in the gate to go to school. It is amazing to me to
watch the excitement of these young ones to be here; especially this early in
the morning.
We have a busy week ahead of us with finishing the two
homes, building bunk beads, teaching in the schools, and delivering all of the
care bags to the 31 families that are really poor. We are going to start
delivering the bags today. It is like Christmas in April. I am excited to go a
long and open the bags with them!
Hey Kuemper, please pray for the forest fire that is
currently going on to be extinguished. This is not a normal thing for this
area. Water is sparse to fight it with. Families are starting to lose their
homes. It is awful. Please also pray that those families that have lost their homes
will be able to find shelter.
Mom, please give big hugs and kisses to my babies. I miss
them so much. I hug a lot of kids here, but nothing is like holding my babies
at home. Have a good time with them. Please tell dad that he doesn’t have to
worry I have touched a tool yet. LOL!
Love to all,
Kate
Jessie Eischeid
Hi family – miss you! But - am having an incredible
experience here. Brandi and I are heading out this morning with some others to
deliver bags of items to families in the area. The mission adults and students
are so great to work with and the Hondurans couldn’t be more welcoming. No
worries, I even have coffee every morning so that helps me be a nice person and
I am actually enjoying the hot weather, the evenings are cooler and comfortable.
Love you always!!
Hi to my fellow Americans, family and friends from down here
in Honduras. What a experience this has
been, and what a eye opener. It has been
rewarding and heart wrenching at the same time, we are so fortunate in what we
have in the USA. People here are
friendly and appreciative of what we do, but we definitely stand out in a
crowd. Miss you all, wish you could be here to see it, and to my family and
especially Karen te amo
Mike Schulte
We took a trip to the Valley of the Angels today. The arid air and smell of cedar, reminded me
of an old tourist town in Colorado or the Black Hills. Things are going well, the homes are square
and plumb. The first house has the roof and is totally framed. We are hoping to be at the same point by end
of day tomorrow with the second home. The kids are learning a lot and are very
interested in doing the work. This is a
good crew. The lack of infrastructure in
this area is tough to comprehend, and is something that we can take for
granted. Joanie, missing you a lot, but
you would be proud of Katelyn, she’s doing well. Mitchel, I think you would have a good time
working here, the boys here like digging-in and seeing the fruits of their
labor. Amy, miss you and hope you have a
great birthday Wednesday, in case I don’t speak to you by then. Luke, you too would have a good time playing
soccer and basketball with these kids, they are very friendly! See you later.
Things are going very well.
Enjoying the Kuemper Mission Honduras Team – they are a great group of people to work,
play and pray with. Work is going well and the team is doing a fantastic job of
building relationships with the Honduran people. The weather has been fantastic warm and sunny
each day with a little breeze. See you
soon.
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