Driving Honduras To The U.S. – 8 Days, 3,901 Miles

On Monday, September 6th Mike and I are jumping in the car and starting on a long drive that will end in Sacramento, CA. We don’t think we’ll have good communication while on the trip. But, if we can we will blog along the way to share the adventure. At least you can count on a video when we are done.


3,901 miles, 8 days, 4 countries, 2 people, 1 dog

We have a very conservative schedule, with lots of room for rest stops and flat tires. While we have planned each day, we may (and likely will) deviate from this schedule.

So that you can join us in the planning and praying phase here is what we have planned out:

Day #1 – September 6 – 206 miles

La Ceiba, Honduras to Copan Ruins, Honduras

Day #2 – September 7 – 249 miles - Honduras/Guatemala boarder crossing

Copan Ruins, Honduras to Hehuetenango, Guatemala

Day #3 – September 8 – 570 miles - Guatemala/Mexico boarder crossing

Hehuetenango, Guatemala to Veracruz, Mexico

Day #4 – September 9 – 509 miles

Veracruz, Mexico to San Lois Potosi, Mexico

Day #5 – September 10 – 387 miles

San Lois Potosi, Mexico to Monclova, Mexico

Day #6 – September 11 – 593 miles – Mexico/U.S. boarder crossing
Monclova, Mexico to Ft. Stockton, Texas

Day #7 – September 12 – 651 miles

Ft. Stockton, Texas to Phoenix, Arizona

Day #8 – September 13 – 736 miles

Phoenix, Arizona to Sacramento, California

Getting Ready to Leave

Seems like that's what's been on the forefront of our minds lately. Ministry work still has been going strong - English class, Kids Club, Clinic - and in the midst of that we are trying to get our lives ready to leave Honduras for 6 months. This is almost as difficult as it was leaving the States - but we didn't have to plan on returning to the States, but we will be returning here. Here's what that looks like:

1. Renew the lease contract on our house
2. Certification for our dog to leave country and enter the U.S.
3. Pay for additional year on our P.O. Box
4. Copies of all our documents
5. Obtain original title for our car so we can cross the borders
6. Packing up things we aren't going to use
7. Re-organize all our ministry supplies/medications we are leaving
8. New tires for the car
9. Turning off cable/internet
10. Getting our trees trimmed
11. throwing away TONS of "stuff"
12. Getting car insurance while we are in the States
13. Finding a place to stay both in California and Arizona
14. Final orthodontic appointment for Madison
15. Renewing Registration for the car
16. Cleaning out pantry
17. Cleaning out refrigerator
18. putting dust sheets over EVERYTHING in the house
19. Packing to leave
20. more to come....

I think my gardener and I had different ideas on what "trimming" a tree meant...


Shelves made my my team mate, John - now all the supplies are organized, labeled, and ready to go!

Last clinic / family arrived

Today was our last clinic day for 6 months. It's kind of weird with where we have come from. I started with one suitcase size full of whatever meds or supplies I could put, and took the bus to get there - to what we have now - 6 boxes of meds, 2 huge containers of supplies, 1 box just of dressing supplies, and tons of education and teaching materials, 2 folding tables, one privacy screen, and a truck to carry it all in! We've come a long way baby :-) And HUGE thanks to John and Kathy who jumped right in to clinic today! We were a little short staffed as the McCann's are out of town, so John took over in pharmacy, and Kathy helped Madison in intake! Thanks so much you guys!

Me asking a little boy if his ears hurt.


Today Mike's sister, Jeri, arrived to be with us for our last week in Honduras for this year. She has come to visit, see our ministry in action (came to the clinic today), and to just hang out! She will be flying back with Madison, so Madison doesn't have to take the long drive back with us! How awesome is that! So blessed we are that Jeri wanted to do this! We love her for her sweet heart! :-)

What DID you do in Honduras for two years?

Our first term as missionaries in Honduras comes to an end on September 6th. With the help of our teammates, prayer partners, financial supporters and supporting churches so much was accomplished. This video answers the question: So what DID you do in Honduras for the past two years?

Watch this 2 minute and 38 second video to find out:

Armenia Bonito Property Update - Fall 2010

Here is an update of the two acre ministry center we are constructing in Armenia Bonito, located in La Ceiba, Honduras. This facility will contain a high school, church, medical clinic and a multi-use building.

Watch this 3 minute and 20 second video to see the progress on the property:

A New House For Maria

In the summer of 2010 we built a new home for a single mother and her six kids. This family from Armenia Bonito previously lived in a small house made of scrap wood and a rusty tin roof.

Watch this 3 minute video to see Maria's new house:

Overview of La Ceiba, Honduras

You can get a great understanding of our ministry by watching this 2 minute & 20 second video:

Three Day Medical Clinic In Honduras

August 10-12, 2010 we hosted a medical clinic in the poor community of Armenia Bonito. With the help of Trinity Presbyterian Church of Harrisburg, PA we treated 258 patients. The clinic was complete with a laboratory, sonogram, health education and hearing tests. Each patient received a professional consultation, medicine, prayer and evangelism, all in Spanish.

Watch this 2 minute and 41 second video to see the clinic:

Trinity Presbyterian - August 2010

August 7 - August 14, 2010 we hosted a short-term mission team from Trinity Presbyterian Church of Harrisburg, PA. The team put on three medical clinics in Armenia Bonito and treated 258 patients. They also did construction on a house and a ministry center, taught English and organized Kids Club.

Watch this 2 minute and 25 second video to see their great work:

New Roof and 100 patients

Today the team was able to put the concrete roof on one of the buildings at our ministry center. This building needs to be very secure as it will house the security guard, and supplies that we will keep out there. We don't want anyone to be able to just cut through the roof and climb right in - so we have been prepping this roof for almost two weeks, and today was the day - roof complete! The team was digging, sifting, shoveling, and hauling cement up to others who were on the roof - all in 95 degree heat, and 89% humidity! Whew!!!

Today we saw 100 patients in clinic. What a huge blessing to this community! In the three days the team did clinics, we served over 258 patients! Incredible job and along with medicine, prayers and evangelism was happening all over the place! Awesome indeed!

Day 1 of 3 - Clinic in Aremenia Bonito

Today we had our first of 3 medical clinics this week. We had 4 provider stations, and were able to see 78 patients today! What a huge blessing - we saw everything from an abscess the size of a baseball, we did an ultrasound on a pregnant mommy and she got to see, for the first time, her new baby girl, and many other things. We also have the blessing of having an audiologist on this team. She has been able to see many people, assess them for hearing aides, and a team will be following up for the people to get their hearing aid at a later date.



Madison has been a huge help as well - she is one of the main interpreters for one of the doctors. Her Spanish has improved so much, and she is finding the confidence to use it.

Welcome!

It's our last team. We have docs, nurses, med students, lots of meds, and an audiologist! On top of that we have lots of folks who are ready to take on whatever thrown at them. This team is going to be doing 3 medical clinics this week, our normal English class, Kids Club, trip to the river, and construction! Wow! Going to be a full busy week, but it already looks like they are ready to take it on! We shall see what the week brings!

Wow! Now that's pretty cool!

So - cooking has become such fun for me! I've been creating all sorts of new dishes, baking new fun things...making some disasters which never make it to the plate - you know - that kind of thing. Well...I guess my oven just couldn't keep up with me. About a month ago I noticed a black "spot" on the lower element in my oven. This brought back memories of when this happened to our oven in The States. We just replaced it and moved on. However, here it's not quite so easy. Can't just call the Sears man, have him come over, and fix things right up. So - I'll just say it - I chose to ignore it. Now, give me SOME credit - I let Mike know, and our team mate John know. This was my back-up plan. I'm good with medicine - good with cooking - not so good with electrical items. I've replaced a toilet, laid tile, put together all sorts of things - but electrical items - no way. Well - the other day when I was making all my goodies (see post below), the element decided it had had enough! I peeked in my oven to discover that half of the element was not working. Okay - that was a weird sight indeed! Then, while cooking dinner (thankfully it had JUST finished), Madison called me in to say...um mom...there are SPARKS IN THE OVEN!!!!!! I opened it up to see - sure enough - sparks were coming from the element, as it was eating it's way to the remaining portion of the element. It turned off the oven and called on my resources - Mike and John. Within a few short hours, John had found the part number on the element needed, went to 4 different stores, came over and replaced my element - just in time for dinner! Thank you John! And just for fun, I had to take a picture of what remained of the element

So - my cooking killed the heating element! Never thought I would see the day - maybe I should keep a spare on hand from now on :-) You have to admit - that's pretty impressive!!!

What's Cookin'

As many of you probably know by now, when I have time off - for me that means cooking. I love to find new things to make, try, keep, or throw out. Only the ones that I like and my family like make it into my cook book. Made three things today:

English Muffins:



And what best to go with English Muffins?! Eggs Benedict of course:



Using my own lemons from my yard (no, that is NOT a grapefruit) to make the hollandaise sauce:



And finally - was challenged by my friend Jeff to make home made Pop-Tarts - so, I made mango butter (from scratch), strawberry jam, and chocolate pop tarts with frosting:



I wonder what tomorrow will bring?! :-)