New Friends in Honduras

We are home now and glad to have had safe and uneventful trips to Indiana. We left many old and new friends back in Honduras whom we look forward to seeing again someday. Here's just a few of the people we met: 

-- volunteering at Solidaridad


Millie and Nancy volunteer with Solidaridad, but Millie works for UNO / Group Terra, a gas station chain in Honduras that has donated old vinyl advertising banners that are repurposed into children's back packs.

Sherry Moyner and her family moved from Lewisburg, PA. Sherry helps empower women with knitting and crocheting skills so the women of Izopo can sell their wares.

Edmundo is a Boy Scout leader who has been volunteering with Solidaridad for 2 1/2 years bringing his older scouts to teach crafts to children. This year the scouts taught origami. They also work with Walmart in Tegucigalpa with food matching. For every item donated Walmart donates a like item, which is distributed to families in Izopo.

Claudia and Osman have been working with Solidaridad 3 years and 2 years respectively. They teach bible lessons and songs to children while their mothers participate in adult lessons (knitting, gardening, parenting, etc.)

Irena and her sister Larissa are new to Solidaridad. Irena is an executive in a group that works with ''international cooperation.'' Like our North Central team, they came to watch Solidaridad in action.

Hanging out at Baxter Institute:

Carol Bailey, a missionary from Ft Worth, Texas comes to Honduras once a year and along with an interpreter visits with people in mountain villages and shares Jesus love for them. Carol also spends a significant amount of time taking Jesus to Russia and Ukraine.

  Jay Abel's, former missionary in Argentina, spends at least two weeks a year in Honduran mountains preaching Jesus. Together at times and separately at times, Carol and Jay work in eight individual churches northwest of Tegucigalpa.

Students at Baxter Institute:

Fior from Dominican Republic.
Yader Sanchez from Nicaragua
Ruben Diaz, from Honduras. This semester all are studying Theology, Hebrew, English and Pastoral Letters. We met several times with Baxter students to play games, to sing and to practice English.

These are just a few of the people we met. With some we will continue friendships through Facebook, but for others, especially those without access to a computer or to Internet, we'll see them next year. In fact that's why we took so many photos and why we recorded names; so we can remember the relationships not as a ministry or admission effort, but as special friendships created- and through His power- united in Christ.

Blessings,
Leslie Kenney

Making progress in Izopo.

Maynor Garcia of Solidaridad

On Monday night we met with Maynor Garcia from Solidaridad. It is an international volunteer organization that helps with health crises such as we see in Izopo. It also supports long term sustainable community building. Since North Central church has had a long history with families in Izopo we are interested in exploring the possibilities of combining our efforts together with Solidaridad in order to bring a better quality of life to the families we love so much. We are very excited about what God is doing!

Please click here to find out more about Solidaridad/

On Tuesday we continued with VBS and health clinics and delivered six computers to Izopo Elementary School and on Wednesday we hooked up the computers. We also split into groups and visited several homes within walking distance of the school building. Some of us were already familiar with the extent of poverty, but some of us experienced it for the first time. And yet each family was gracious to us allowing us into their homes to take pictures, to ask about their families and their lives. We spoke also of ours and left Izopo having made many new and special friends. 

Blessings,
Leslie Kenney

Sonia and baby Jenni, old stove causes respiratory problems.

Pig and puppy at Sonia's house.

Juana Maria, Estivy and Bairo in front of new Eco Stove provided by Solidaridad

Enjoying hula hoops in Izopo!

Izopo!!

Proud of potato!

Jeannie taught a packed room full of women how to use a tooth brush, how to make a toothbrush from a twig, and how to make paste from baking soda since store bought toothpaste can be costly and hard to come by. Tomorrow she will teach about physical hygiene. Phil translated and some of us distributed cups and water for practice with swishing and spitting, and handed out toothbrushes and tooth paste.

The Pauls lead VBS and others of us helped with the the eager mass of children. Between times we read books, blew bubbles, threw ball, and took photos (while recording each name), practiced our Spanish with young mothers (talking about our families, our home countries, etc.).

Blessings,
Leslie Kenney

Photos from Sunday

On the courtyard of La Vega church building.

Oscar tells us about the church in Santa Lucia.

Phil and Baxter student Eduardo.

Comments from the Honduras mission team.

On Sunday July 22, we were visitors at La Vega Church of Christ. Here are some comments by the team:
 "Though I couldn't understand everything, I really felt a part of worship."
"The flow of worship was very familiar, it was very much like the American Church of Christ."
 "I was really aware of the Spirit's movement through space and time. He was at North Central church and He was with believers around the world. I was aware that He was everywhere and every when."
 "It was so gracious of the church to do a dual language service for the benefit of 12 Americans."
"I sat next to a guy with a 'Honduras Hope' wrist band. I was so excited to hear that that group is involved in house building and in helping Hondurans."
"It was fantastic to see so many men eager to serve. And to learn that La Vega church is actively participating in building houses in Honduras."
"They made you feel at home right when you walk in.
"I felt very included as a very special guest, like they were expecting me. Everyone was hugging us and 'God blessing us'.''
"Leading English songs to a Honduran Spanish speaking crowd with only 12 English speakers was tough. Their song leader did a really great job. He had 200 people." (We were asked to lead some songs.)

In the afternoon we toured one of the oldest Catholic churches in Honduras. We learned from Oscar our guide some of the stories told about how it had gotten a "black Jesus." There are of course different legends, we have heard about three of them.

Michelle, 21, who has been translator for NCCOC short term missions since she was about 12, spoke to us at evening devotional about her experience as a Honduran with short term missions: "In the past it was about building houses and giving us things. But now I see a change in focus; that spending energy on people and hearing their stories impacts communities far longer than the things that don't last." she mentioned also that watching how NCCOC has maintained relationships over the years has impacted her and others.

Blessings,
Leslie Kenney

Mission team packs in a full day.

Saturday July 21. Our team intention is to learn, serve and to grow here in Honduras. To learn about the history of Honduras, Miguel Aguilar, professor at Baxter Institute, spoke to us about the history of Christian expnsion in Honduras. Additionally, we  toured the ''Ancient Hospital General and Palace de losMinisterios,'' a museum for ''national identity.'' We learned that Honduras has been a country, beginning with Mayan ancestors, of embattled peoples against colonial expansion and rules and that the country is still reeling from myriad social and political problems.
  
After the tour, while telling our tour guide about why we were in Honduras and about Breaking Chains, we learned that he had never heard of a homeless shelter. But we were very aware, in fact, it was our next destination.
  

At Breaking Chains, the homeless ministry overseen by Amber Foster, we visited those who have come for help and shelter. We learned their names and even some of their stories. We met Yolanda, Hennessey and Gustavo who sell chocolates on the street. We met Ricardo and his wife, their children and also grandmothers, all who live in the same one room. They are the door keepers who act as guard of Breaking Chains. We also met Anna whose job it is to clean the Breaking Chains building. We met her daughter and new baby whom she named 'Amber.' We learned from Amber Foster that her intentions for breaking chains of poverty and hopelessness is to help families move through rough waters of homelessness and especially encourages educating the children.
  
Oh, and we painted some bedrooms, too.

Blessings,
Leslie Kenney

Photos from the Honduras team!