Short-term Mission Teams - Summer Of 2009

In the Summer of 2009 our ministry in La Ceiba, Honduras was greatly benefited by the presence of six visiting short-term mission teams. Over 70 missionaries in all descended upon Armenia Bonito and helped the people in that poor community. Our ministry, our team, our family and the people of Honduras were benefited by the selfless work of these individuals.

Take a look at this 2 minute and 9 second video of the great work done by mission teams this summer:

Mission Team to La Ceiba, Honduras - 8/22-29, 2009

August 22 - 29, 2009 a team of 18 short-term missionaries worked with us here in La Ceiba, Honduras. The missionaries were from Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.

Watch this 3 minute and 20 second video to see all the great things they did:

4th day with Redeemer

Today was the fourth full day of ministry work with Redeemer. We had a full day of our mobile medical clinic where Dr. Harold and I saw just over 50 patients. Pretty intense, with many people needing a lot of care. But Dr. Harold handled it like he was an old pro! What a blessing to be able to see more people - all in all about 108 people in clinic and home visits! A blessing indeed for the people of Armenia Bonito. Construction on the church continues to go well. Most of the structure for the roof is up, and tomorrow hopefully the tin will go up. A HUGE blessing to this little church and a lot of hard work for the team. In the afternoon - those who were not directly involved in the clinic took another trip to the river with many kids from the village. A GREAT treat for the kids! Tomorrow finishes out their ministry work with a morning of construction and one more trip out to the river :-) The afternoon will be a trip to the souvenir shop, dinner out, home to pack, then an early night to bed as the morning on Saturday will come VERY early! This team has been incredible! A blessing to those in Armenia Bonito, and a HUGE blessing to us! We have felt very loved by all! It was our 2-year anniversary of being out of the States in ministry work. We were surprised with a huge cake, and some of our favorite brew :-) What a blessing, and we felt very loved! Thanks all around!

New York team and update

Our New York team had their first full day of construction and working with kids. It was a tough day indeed! Very hot, with a few members feeling a bit down because of dehydration. It's one thing hearing about the heat, the humidity, and the work, and a whole other thing to actually experience it! Tomorrow we are having another work / construction day, but at the same time we are putting on a medical clinic. We will be having 2 this week, so please pray for our team, and my energy level as medical clinics are very tiring, and to have 2 this week will really tax me.

Madison continues to enjoy her new school. Her new friend, Rudy, is a sweet girl and they get along great! She's doing well in her classes and enjoys all her teachers. A HUGE answer to prayer!

Mission Team to La Ceiba, Honduras - 8/15-22, 2009

August 15 - 22, 2009 a team of 8 short-term missionaries worked with us here in La Ceiba, Honduras. The missionaries were from Rincon Mountain Presbyterian Church of Tucson, Arizona and Covenant Presbyterian Church of Paso Robles, California.

Watch this 2 minute 43 second video to see what they did:

Update

It's hard, sometimes, to remember that we have a "normal" life outside of ministry work. During the summer, as you all know, we are inundated with teams from the U.S. However, in the midst of all that the life of the Pettengill's still goes on.

Our team has been working hard doing construction out in the village. Today they had a treat and took a number of the kids out to the river. A great time was had by all. Tomorrow is their last full day which will be filled with more construction, our free medical clinic, and spending more time with folks out in Armenia Bonito.

Fun news for Madison. Today her class held elections for officers. Madison was unanimously elected as President. She is looking forward to this responsibility, and can't wait to get started!

Madison ready for school. She has two school uniform options - pants or a skirt.

First Day of Construction, etc.

Today our team was out in the village working on construction. They also got to spend some quality time with folks out there, and tons of time with the kids! They had a blast getting dirty, playing, and just being amongst the folks!

Madison's first day at her new school went over REALLY well! Pictures tomorrow (camera is currently occupied). She seems to already have made a new friend, likes all her teachers, and is looking forward to going back tomorrow! Let's pray that trend keeps up :-).

Our Next Short-Term Mission Team Is Here

We just picked up our next short-term mission from the airport. This is a team of eight missionaries. The missionaries come from Rincon Mountain Presbyterian Church of Tucson, Arizona and Covenant Presbyterian Church of Paso Robles, California.

They are all very excited about working. We can’t wait for them to get out there to show love to the Hondurans. Check back frequently for videos and pictures.

Mission Team to La Ceiba, Honduras - 7/31-8/12, 2009

July 31 - August 12, 2009 a team of 11 short-term missionaries worked with us here in La Ceiba, Honduras. The missionaries were from Soaring Oaks Presbyterian Church of Elk Grove, California and Faith Presbyterian Church of Sonoma, California.

Watch this 3 minute and 11 second video to see them at work:

Last Day

Mindy and I teaching the Advanced Level English class

Tom with his student during English class


Today was the last day with our team. We finished with construction, then recessed, then on to teaching an afternoon English Class. The team finished exhausted yet fulfilled. It's incredible in such a short amount of time how much they have grown fond with many of the kids and adults out in Armenia Bonito. We are praying for the opportunity for them to return next year to meet some of the same people again, and develop deeper relationships with them.

The final day - final picture - sure looks like they have a lot more energy, doesn't it?! Maybe they should stay!

Building A New House For Marcos And Jolie

Marcos and Jolie had lived with their daughter and 11 other people in a small four bedroom home in Armenia Bonito. Our short-term mission teams built them a new house this summer. Thanks to the following churches for playing such a big part in changing the lives of this family:

Houston Lake Presbyterian Church in Warner Robins, Georgia
Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church in Douglasville, Georgia
Sovereign Grace Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina
Soaring Oaks Presbyterian Church of Elk Grove, California
Faith Presbyterian Church of Sonoma, California

Watch this 3 minute 45 second video to see the house being built:

Vitamin Distribution

On August 7, 2009 our mission team held a vitamin distribution in Armenia Bonito. We distributed 3000 vitamins to 100 people. Each person received an evangelism tract and a nutrition sheet.

Watch this two minute video to see the happy healthy people:

Toilets To Tortillas

Today our team of short-term missionaries worked on the septic tank for two different houses. Each house in Armenia Bonito has its own septic tank, and somebody has to build them…why not us?

The ingenuity and craftsmanship that goes into digging and creating a 25 year septic tank for a household is amazing. Our team did a great job.

For lunch we ate with a local family. They made us homemade baleadas. They also allowed our ladies to take a stab at making homemade tortillas over fire oven.

After lunch we took 15 kids to the river and played for two hours.

Putting the cement cap on the septic tank


Our ladies making tortillas

Pictures of our day

Pastor with Oneida

Tom assisting with leveling the floor

Bethany smoothing the floor

Amanda hauling blocks

Mindy doing work!

Day 1 construction

Please come back this afternoon/evening for pictures.

Today our team from Soaring Oaks Presbyterian Church - our home church - will be finishing up the construction on the house that was started 2 teams ago. It will be such a blessing to finish up this house. It will be the first day of their challenge in this climate and a full day entrenched in the culture. After a little rest, they will then be giving the gospel presentation through a Wordless Book. Please pray for understanding, and strength as today will be challenging indeed.

Josh Bolton

We have been so blessed to have Josh Bolton serve as an intern with us here in La Ceiba for the past 8 months. Josh did such a wonderful job. He loved on the people of La Ceiba and work incredibly hard. We are sad to say that today Josh is returning to the U.S. Thank you Josh of possessing the heart of a servant.

Enjoy this 3 minute video celebrating Josh’s service in La Ceiba: