The week in review

 Today being Wednesday, I thought I would catch to some of the things that have happened while we are in Honduras. On Friday night a new curfew was imposed requiring everyone to be in their own homes by 8 pm. That put a damper on anything we might have planned to do in the later evenings, but it has all worked out fairly well as we crowd our activities into the day and early evening hours. Friday was mostly getting settled into the household routine here with Cori and the kids. Saturday was a lot of little things as we played, worked and found ways to help Cori at home. Nate and I attended a men’s meeting Saturday night prior to which we helped get things ready for the song service the fooling morning. There were thirty men in attendance. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the men speak as they responded to questions Pastor Matt Goins posed to the group. It is a mature group of well-founded men that Matt has cultivated in this ministry. 

Sunday morning, we attended church here and had to sit in the overflow section because the church was packed – much to the surprise of the pastor. We were not sure how the Hondurans would respond to the newly imposed restrictions, but obviously, they wanted to be in church. For a few minutes after church, we went to the children’s home to look at the chicks the house parents had ordered. There was a great deal of concern about the losses they were seeing. We offered our suggestions, and they were partly heeded. We ordered our lunch from a nearby restaurant and enjoyed it thoroughly. It was fun to see the process carried out in Spanish via texting. We could not dine indoors because of COVID restrictions, but the food arrived hot and delicious. 

Monday morning Mama and I visited the Goins’ house to look at their dog. The poor dog was suffering from mites or mange and we offered suggestions for homeopathic remedies to give the dog some relief. When Mama and I got back home, Victoria and Cori mixed the required concoction and we sent it back with Victoria and Savanna. That night was a team meeting to discuss what the options were for the service Wednesday (tonight). Should we move the time up? Should we cancel the service and revert to an online service? I believe the decision was made to move the time up but to not run the busses in order to ensure the drivers did not get caught out after the 8 pm curfew fell. The bus routes here are very long and the return of passengers to their homes takes a couple hours.

Yesterday, Tuesday, I pulled some old wrought iron pieces out of an area where they have been stored and assembled them into shelving for Nate to use in his shop. They actually turned out quite well. That afternoon we went to the mall and while there we got the call that our bag had arrived back in San Pedro Sula. Nate picked me up at the mall and after we had delivered clothing to a local church, we went to retrieve the bad. It was not a straightforward process. Just getting access to the airport was the challenge. I had to force my way into a line of passengers trying to get into the airport for their flight. Then Nate had to wait outside as I went to the ticket counter and ask for my bag. I could see the bag from where I stood but getting someone to help me access it took another few minutes. When I was given the bag, it had a lock threaded through the main zipper pulls, so I could not readily open it to check the contents. I met Nate outside and he figured out that the keys for the lock were probably in one of the pockets on the outside of the bag. We stopped to open the bag and remove the sausage we have packed for the flight Thursday. It was surprisingly cold, but we have not yet checked to see if it is still edible. It appears that all the contents were still in the bag so we did not lose anything but the sausage. 

Once Nate and I were back at the house, we rearranged the shelving in the shop and set it up to his liking. Late yesterday evening, we started a campfire and roasted a Honduran version of s’mores. Instead of graham crackers and melted chocolate, we used a shortbread cookie that is coated on one side with chocolate. Mama and Victoria said they were very good. I did not try any. We spent several hours at the fire singing songs, praying and just relaxing. The Goins, who were out for a walk were invited in and they spent about an hour with us. It was a great evening.

Tonight is church. Thursday starts the Come Away conference. The curfew will require all of the local attendees to stay overnight at the surgical center and the children’s homes. 

That should be fun.