A New House with a Tear Soaked Floor

Tears and sweat covered the floor. A woman stood next to me crying out to Jesus. Heads were bowed and hands were either holding each other or lifted high. We had just finished building a house. This is normally a time when the only tears shown are ones of joy. Today was much different.
Today Jen, Jess, the boys and I headed out to help the Mi Esperanza board build a house. The site we built on had a large extended family who all live in the same compound. It was quite the hike to get there from where we were able to park! The Mi Esperanza women were great to work with and we had the house mostly finished in just under 4 hours. We all were slightly patting ourselves on the back for how quickly and nicely we had done it.
It was one of the hottest days I've built in. As the last few pieces of the house were being nailed up, Jess and I sat inside the house to get away from the sun. I was visiting with a few Honduran boys when we heard yelling all in Spanish outside. Jess asked me what was going on and I, not paying too much attention, thought the women must just be excited that the house is done. As I listened in more I quickly realized it was angry yelling and men were yelling too. I looked outside to see 4 men dressed pretty nice accompanied by 2 police men.
The men said that their boss owned all of that land and they should not have built there. The family had papers of their ownership of the land but sadly, in Honduras, sometimes those papers mean nothing. Especially when the men seemed to be from money where they could afford a lawyer. The yelling went on for quite some time and we decided it best to hurry and get out of the way.
I stayed inside and the mother of the family came in sobbing. Jess and I hugged her and tried to console her as best we could. I looked over to see one of her sons who was probably about 13 years old hiding his head in his shirt crying. I went over and held him as he wept. He had worked so hard with us all day on the house. He was soaked with sweat from how hard he worked and now he was soaked with tears.
As yelling still went on outside, we gathered the family to pray inside as we always do after a build. Luvin prayed and did so quickly so that we could leave the family to figure out the property issue. I was humbled at what came after his quick prayer. One of the Honduran women was praying at the same time as Luvin. After Luvin was done she went on. It was the most heart felt prayer I have ever heard in my life. It was completely in Spanish so I couldn't understand much but I could sense God with us. With almost every word she spoke a tear fell to the floor. She gave thanks to God and praised him over and over again. When most would be asking for more of God, she praised Him for what they had and we all felt Him near.
It was humbling to realize as we wanted to leave them to figure things out, they put their trust in God to figure it out. God is in control, siempre (always).
Spoken in the woman's prayer today over and over.. "Gracias a Dios! Jesus es Senor!"
('Thank you God! Jesus is Lord!')



This is some of the walk to the house


The beginning of building


Isn't she precious!?


Some of the famliy

Talonga and Reina

At Amber's building there is a couple named Talonga and Reina. They are from the streets and both drug and alcohol addicts. In order to live at Amber's building they had to get clean. They did and then became 'house parents' to the others when they would come to stay. They both have such good hearts and I have come to have a soft spot in my heart for both of them.
Reina is 32 years old, HIV positive and pregnant now. She is for sure a hard worker at the building and helps out with anything she can.
Talonga is 26 years old and HIV positive as well. To look at him you would think he was AT LEAST 46. The hard life he's had has definitely worn on his fragile body.
In the few weeks that I've been here I have seen Reina and Talonga at some pretty low points. The first week when the group was still here we got to the building to find out that Talonga had been drinking again and was not allowed to live there. When Reina showed up that we realized she too had been drinking. It was so hard to see her like that especially when I had seen so much hope in them before.
They promised to stay clean and were let back in on the condition that if it happened again they would be out for good.
About 2 weeks ago we went to the building and Darwin told us that they both were kicked out. He had heard from the others that they had been doing cocaine. When he asked them Reina denied it but Talonga said he had.
Reina came over to us with tears streaming down her face and asked David for money for a hotel. I know it took everything inside of him to have to tell her no. I stood there hugging her and Jess talked to her. Jess told her that she had done many dumb things in her life too and she needed to just keep relying on God. He will provide her every need. She went on for a minute in English and before David even translated Reina was nodding her head in agreement. We watched as she gathered her small plastic bag of belongings and had to leave. I knew what was done was what had to be done but there was a big part of me that wanted to just go grab them and tell them to come home with us.
A few nights later we went to the building to see both Talonga and Reina there. Reina ran up to hug us with the biggest smile on her face. She told us that she had been telling the truth all along and she was allowed to live there again. She kept pointing up and praising God for His faithfulness. I loved seeing her giving all the credit to the One her guided her through those dark, scary nights.
I never got the whole story on why Talonga was let back in but after seeing him that night it didn't really matter to me. He sat outside the building with his knees tucked to his chest. David and I went over and sat next to him and told him how happy we were for him. Talongaa is a quiet reserved man in the first place but this night he seemed extremely humbled to me. He started telling us about how he had been studying a few passages in the Bible. One being the story of the prodigal son. I think this story really hit home with him after using drugs again and then being shown the grace to be let back in the building. As he spoke tears filled my eyes. He talked about wanting to be the change in his area. He told us how he wanted his baby to grow up seeing him as a servent of God and not an alcoholic. He went on and on and I could have sat there forever listening. He only speaks Spanish and I couldn't understand everything he said but what I could touched me and how he spoke about it humbled me.

The Things You do for Love

This morning Jen and I woke up at 4:40 to go get the brothers and take them to breakfast before school. They were beyond excited to see us at their house that morning. Waking up was a killer but seeing their faces and knowing they were going another day not hungry made it more than worth it!
Once we got them to school poor little Antonio realized in all the excitement this morning he forgot his back pack. He was sobbing! So we spent a few minutes comforting him until we realized, he was this upset because he had the left over pizza in it that was supposed to be his lunch. It broke my heart to see such a little boy have to worry about when and where his next meal would come from. Thankfully we had some breakfast leftovers in the truck with us and he was able to take that and off he went!
After we got back Jen and I snuck in about 20-30 minute naps and we were off again! We took Jenn Hines to the airport for her to head back to the states for 2 weeks. After lots of running around and long talks about the brothers we went and bought them some rice, beans and eggs along with a a big thing of fried chicken and fries for dinner tonight and took it over and got to hang out with them a bit. You would think after getting up so early for them this morning we would be bound for bed but chasing those cute brown faces around for a bit was way better! Its funny the way God will guide you and give you strength in the most simple form when you are serving and loving for Him. And now we are home and ready to hit the sack! Please keep those precious boys in your prayers!

Those Sweet Brothers

The brothers are weighing heavy on my heart right now. Today as we were out running errands Jen got a call from a teacher at their school that they boys had come with no lunch for 2 days now. Which means they probably were not getting much food at home either.
We went and picked up pizzas and took them over to them. They were thrilled! My heart was excited to be with them and broken for them all at once. Their dad had gone off to work a few hours away from here for a few days and left the boys and their mom with 100 limps. 100 limps is the equivalent of 5 American dollars. Can you imagine trying to feed 7 boys and yourself for at least a week on five dollars!?
Jen asked Francisco if they had been eating. He told her they had but not much. When she asked him what they had eaten the boys told us raw cabbage and tomatoes. For over two days they have had nothing but small portions of cabbage and tomatoes once a day.
I loved getting to spend some extra time with them this evening eating pizza and helping with homework but I wish the circumstances that brought us there were not so. My heart breaks for these little ones.


Francisco and Miguel




Jen with Antonio and Francisco


Homework time

Jessica's Birthday- January 11

Today was Jessica's birthday so we all went out to an absolutely beautiful waterfall a few hours from here, Pulapanzak. We started out suprising her with a pretty rockin' breakfast buffet that we all ate wayyyy too much at. Then, Jess and I both love the outside so we rode the whole way in the bed of the truck and got some pretty nice farmer's tans by the time we got there.

Once we got there David told us we needed a guide if we were going to go into the waterfall so we went for it. He pulled me back at one point to explain how intense this little adventure would be and he knew the other girls wouldn't go if they knew. I was beyond pumped for it though!
This waterfall was seriously breathtaking. Pictures just do not do it justice. I was in complete awe of God's beautiful creation.




First the guide took us on the trail that any one can go on along side of the waterfall. Which was somewhat of a slippery fun hike in itself. Then we got to a point where he told us we shouldn't have the camera out anymore. He wrapped it up it a big trash bag to keep it 'safe'. Then he guided us down a slippery, misty, rocky path that some were struggling to just get through that. Then we got to the fun part. Up and down slippery boulders, rocks, logs, pools of water up to our chests, rushing water, and we hadn't even reached the actual waterfall yet.
We got to the first cave and we took a minute to regroup and catch our breath. The guide pulled out my camera at this point to try to get in a few more pics and then he wrapped it back up and stuck it in a high dry spot in the cave to come back for. Next came the REALLY fun part. We had to go through water up and down from our feet to our chest climbing rocks all while the first 'mini' waterfall rushed don on us. When you get to the point he group all has to stay holding hands so the water doesn't push you down. We formed our chain with the guide first then Jess then Jenn Hines then me then David and last Jen Wright. We got just a few steps into it and Jen and David let go and the guide went back for them. The three of us made it to the next cave and waited to see what was happening. Finally David and the guide came swimming into the cave and said Jen was staying back at the last cave.
At this point Jenn Hines realized she was claustrophobic and could not go any farther. We stood in the cave with the waterfall rushing and splashing in right beside us. The guide told us he needed to go in first and see if it was safe to take us. And now Jess realized she was terrified and could not go any farther either. The guide came back in and said he would take us one at a time. It was down to just David and I now and we were all in!
He took me out half way first to see if I was ok with it and I still was but I made David go the whole way with the guide first. After just a bit the guide came back for me and we were off! Water was rushing down all over me as me climbed up and down in and out of rocks and caves. In his broken English the guide would yell out to me "head down! breath through mouth! big step!". We finally made it back behind the falls and it was awesome! He then guided us through a tiny hole that led into a huge cave. It was awesome! We regrouped for a minute in the cave and then it was time to do it all over again in reverse!
We picked up Jess and Jenn in the one cave along the way back and then finally made it back to the other Jen. Oh yes, and back through the first set of slippery pools of rocks.

All of us right when we got there

This is the last spot you can go without a guide

And here we are in the first cave

David and I with our guide, Louis after making it all the way through!

After all that fun and crazziness was said and done Jess and I moved on to the next adventure of the day.. zip lining across the waterfall! Zip lining is something I have been dying to do for a long time so to do it in Honduras over the waterfall there!? I was beyond excited! And it was just as great as I imagined it to be!

Getting in some practice!


Our faces in this one crack me up. This is when we saw the cliff drop off.


Off I go!


Woo! Go Jess! And she even poses for the camera too!


My turn!


We made it!!

We ended the day by eating at a little village lakeside restaurant on the way back. It was another beautiful view!!

The brothers

The brothers are a family of now 8 little boys that the missionaries here work with. Five of them came to live at Casa de Esperanza a few years back and that's how they first got connected with them. They now live with their parents but Jen and David are still very much the support of their famly. They are a big part of the reason I keep coming back. You seriously cannot help but just love these boys. Each one has something special about them that just grabs your heart.
Jen and David had worked hard at fundraising enough support this year to send all of them (minus the 2 babies of course) to bilingual school. They absolutley love it too and are so smart!


When I first got down here I am pretty sure that was one of my first questions to Jen. "Can we go see the brothers?". She told me for Christmas they wanted to visit some family that live about 4 hours away. The dad, Chilo, said he had plenty of money to get them there and back but David and Jen said for Christmas they'd drive them out there but made it clear they had to fund their own way home. They would have our team here at that time and would not be able to pick them up. Chilo and Maria assured them that that was fine. They were supposed to return home on January 4 and the boys needed to be back to school on the 5th.
The 4th came and went and no sign of them. A few more days passed and still they weren't here. They had called a few times and calls kept getting missed and then were in and out of service areas up in the mountains. Something that has been a big struggle for Jen and David is getting Chilo to take care of his family. He needs to be the support and provide for them. It's hard to use tough love when it comes to the well being of these sweet boys though. They finally kept calling asking to be picked up and after a few days of letting it sit and the boys missing a week of school, Jen and David decided to go get them.
So Sunday morning we got in the truck at about 7 am and started the long drive. I know it was tough for them to keep enabling the parents like this but I know we all were beyond excited to see their little sweet faces! They took a bus down from the mountain where they were staying to meet us. The bus pulled by and they were all hanging out the window waving. I seriously could hardly contain my excitement. We jumped out to help them unload their stuff but really I think I was jumping out more to give them each a squeeze! Little Antonio yelled out 'Caity!!' when I went to pick him up and Frncisco gave me that sweet smile he has and best hug anyone could want. All seemed right with the world and I was thrilled to get to see them all again.
We took them back to their house where they all seemed to be ready for some much needed naps. The boys are back going to school this week and I am looking forward to getting to see them some more in the rest of my time here.

Here are a few of the brothers from previous trips..

This is Antonio


This one is Francisco


This is Marvin

Team Day 10- January 5

Well here we are at the final day with all the team. There are a few left that will fly out tomorrow but for majority of the team left today.
We split up and the people who were not leaving headed out to the dump. I was in that group and I have never had to experience the dump like this before. They were burning the trash so the already horrid smell was intensified. We could barely see through all the smoke as we stepped outside. The wind was whipping it around so everywhere you looked you breathed it in or could not see. The dump always gets me. My heart always breaks there. But I think seeing the conditions this day made it even more real for me.
A few girls dished out the rice, beans and tortillas as a couple of us passed out bags of water. I enjoy doing the water the best. I am able to get out of the truck and give to people who aren't waiting in a line pushing towards the front. I get to pass them out and somewhat talk to people as they come by. If you would have asked me what I like to do best there a year ago, I would have said serving the beans or rice. I did that my first time and it kept me a 'safe distance' from the people. I served them without having to touch them. Coming here each time God has worked on my heart to not be so scared of the dirt. It is just that, dirt. And there are real people beaneth it all starving for more than just food. They are starving for love. So whether I sit in the truck passing out food or jump in he mix to hand out water I want to love them like Jesus does.
The rest of the team headed to Hospital Escuela again (some who didn't make the flights in to do it the first time around) to pass out more toys/ blankets and love on the kids. From what I heard, many were touched and they loved getting to serve in this country one last time before heading back home.
We took them to the airport and grabbed some lunch with them and then had to say our goodbyes! I think I heard every person on our team say when they were wanting to come back. I love seeing God at work in everyone's hearts here, including mine!

Team Day 9- January 4

Today we spent most of the day working at the house of the missionary friends I've been staying with. We did some painting, cleaning, built some shelves, dug holes and put in post for hammocks. It was nice to be able to just work around here after being so busy the past 2 days. I helped on the shelves so sadly I don't have any other pictures than of that.



In the middle of the day Christina Misch and Kate Zitello from the team sadly had to leave us a day early and head back for school. It was awesome getting to share in this trip with one of my great friends Christina and getting to know Kate better throughout the week! Miss and love you both!
Then we took the kids from Casa de Esperanza to KFC. Immediately Sisi grabbed me into the play place. After spending almost the whole time playing tag through the jungle gym with the kids the team had to say their goodbyes and we headed back to the house.

This picture was taken in the midst of a tickle fight


I love seeing these two together and their love for each other!



Once we got back to the house we watched the Ohio State game with some more missionary friends down here that are big OSU fans!

Team Day 8- January 3

Another build day!! Let me start this by telling you all that our entire team hurts! The whole week we have all been passing around some type of head cold/ congestion/ sore throat/ something! Whatever it is, it's definitely been making us all drag a bit. After building yesterday, I think I speak for everyone when I say.. we are sore!! Between the sickness and soreness we all knew it was going to be a rough day to try to build again. But hey, guess what!
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Phillipians 4:13

Today we went back to the Dump Community to build 2 houses. This community is definitely becoming another favorite place of mine in Honduras. With the team split in 2 we all had to make sure we were all pulling our part. With my fear of heights and a barbwired fence around where we were building, I even helped a little doing the roof today! Our two teams totally rocked this build today with the power of Christ. I know God was definitely carrying us all through it.
There was a little boy in this community named Andres who helped us build in June. He quickly became a favorite of mine that trip and when we came back to do the carnival he remembered me right away. His brother Kevin helped on my site and he too quickly became a favorite. They are such sweet boys and so eager to help and work. Not to mention they are amazing at it! They can pound a nail in in just 3 hits!

When we couldn't reach any higher, Kevin was eager to get on our shoulders to help!


This is Andres and Kevin

Each time i go to the Dump Community I give Andres the bandana I'm wearing. This day was no different and Lauren Flick gave hers away too! We love these kids!


As soon as we got back we head up the mountain to have devotions under the Jesus Statue, "El Picacho". You can see the whole city from it. I love devtions here!

Team Day 7 - January 2

Today was a build day. Typically we build houses that are pretty basic one room structures with one door and one or two windows. That is the layout we know and the layout that we have to supplies to do. Today however a small church in a village asked us to come build one of those houses to use as their church building. Size wise the new building would be a bit smaller than what they had but after we got there to see it we understood why they wanted it regardless.


First we attended their church services that morning and one of the girls from the team, Rachel Tharnish, translated for us. I am continually amazed at the faith and passion some of the people here have in God. Seeing the people and children of that village in church that morning definitely reminded me of that once agin!



After the service was over it was time to get to work! First came demo time! I have to admit, it was pretty fun getting to take a hammer and pound down some walls! Thankfully though some of the Honduran men in the village took on the task of the roof! One of the men came falling down along with the roof! (yes, he was ok and was up working again after about 5 minutes.. those Hondurans amaze me!)
Then it was time to dig some holes and get building. With as big of a team as we had it seemed to be go pretty fast once all the demolition stuff was done. Typically with a group this size we'll split into 2 teams to build so it was nice to be able to have enough people to keep switching in and out. Plus.. getting to play with the kids in the villages is always one of my most favorite parts about building!



This is very rare to see in Honduras so I just had to get a picture of it. Three Honduras men holding their babies! Love this!


After the build we all loaded up on the bus to head out and David's car wouldn't start. So, they pushed it up a hill to get it jumped coming back down in reverse! This is Honduras!



We then headed straight to Amber's building to have church with the homeless there led by Amber's son Darwin. I have never been to a service with pimps, prostitutes, drunks and drug addicts. That's what this service was. And I firmly believe that that's where Jesus would be. I pray that God will continually work through Amber and Darwin to reach these people!

Team Day 6- January 1

Today we got to go hang out at the children's home, Casa de Esperanza. There is just something about those casa kids that grabs your heart and does not let go. We took them to a park down a hilly dirt path and brought them a picnic of chicken and fries.
As everyone ran around playing with the kids, I played a bit but mostly sat back. Casa de Esperanza is one of the things I most look forward to in Honduras so this was pretty abnormal for me to do. I'm not really sure exactly what it was or why but I was just feeling a bit down that day. As I sat around not really participating as much as I'd like or I normally do, one of the girls named Sisi came running over wanting to be pushed on the swing.
As I pushed and she laughed having a wonderful time, I started to come out of my funk remembering how much I love these kids. As Sisi swung up she leaned back and the swing flipped. She came down right on her head on a patch of rocks and hard dusty dirt. I quickly ran to scoop her up and held her head tight against me. She was screaming and crying. I pulled her back to look at it and a patch of hair had been completely stripped away and her head was starting to bleed. I felt so bad.
I ran us over to a bench to sit down as her little voice screamed out "MOMMY!! MOMMY!!" and tears flooded her face. As the team gathered to see what happened a girl asked Ashley Lauer, "Who is her mommy?". Ashley said, "No one, she just wants one. Right now she's calling Caity, Mommy". My heart broke even more.
Not once in my life have I ever had to want my 'Mommy' and she was not right there within minutes. I know even today, if I were to need my mom's comfort she is ALWAYS right there.
We carried Sisi back up to the orphanage. I took her inside and rinsed her off in the shower as she was still crying. I combed her hair and parted it on the other side so you couldn't see the spot. Sisi did not want to leave my side after that and I was happy to be there for her.
We had brought blank picture frames to decorate with the kids and then we took pictures with them to put inside. Sisi and I made them together and when she was done she started to make me a cut out butterfly and draw me a picture. It was of a house with a big bow on top of the door and sun shining outside. She wrote both our names inside the house and told me she wanted this to be our house to live in together someday. As you can imagaine, my heart was definitely grabbed pretty tight by her that day.



After that we took the kids over to the 'Junk Cross' nearby which is literally made out of old car parts. The Casa kids led us in worship songs as we sat under it.





After we got back that night the group was definitely tired but everyone decided we wanted to go down to Amber's building and feed again. It was really great to see how willing our team was to serve when it had been such a long day. We got down there and saw some familiar faces as well as a few new faces who were self proclaimed hippies and very cool to talk to.

While I was gone..

We celebrated New Years while I was down here this year. We were all exhausted and were probably not going to be staying up til midnight. So, I called home around 9 or 10 to wish my family a happy new year and my mom said "You need to call Beth, she's been trying and trying to get ahold of you". I quickly hung up with mom and called my sister.
When Beth answered she seemed fine. I asked "Is everything ok?". She said "YEAH! Guess what!?... I'M GOING TO THE CHAPEL AND WE'RE GONNA GET MARRIED!!!"
AHHHHH ... I'm pretty sure ALL of Honduras knew that night that my sister and Jordan were engaged. With all the excitement, there was a part of me sad I was not able to be there with them. I ran and got Michael Wallace and Christina Misch and we were able to celebrate for them a little all the way down here.
I am beyond excited for my sister!! Jordan has been a part of our family and like a brother to me for years so I am thrilled for him to 'officailly' be in the family!