Report from Honduras

We just returned from seven weeks in Honduras. We worked with Barry and Penny Compton with Open Door Ministries again. We had a wonderful and busy time. During our stay, we participated in medical clinics, evangelistic outreaches, feeding station, clothing distribution, construction work at the girl’s home and the orphanage, filling in for the house moms and much more.
We lived at the Casitas most of the seven weeks of our stay. There are five boys and five girls at the Casitas. Three of the boys and three of the girls were there the previous two times we were in Honduras. We were kind of surprised they remembered us.

Elida, the Tia at the girl’s casita, gave us her room. So, we moved in and became part of the casita crew. The kids get up at 6:00 am and go non-stop all day. We were continually amazed by the amount of energy the kids have. We played basketball, soccer, and just goofed off a lot outside. I also did manicures and pedicures for the girls several times. Juanita, who is 4, had never had her nails painted before. So after every nail she showed it to me and asked, “Esta bien?” After an hour, she was still coming up to me and asking, “Esta bien?” Seriously cute! We sang songs and read Bible stories at night. We made it all the way through the Old Testament and through the birth of Jesus. The kids loved the stories. Some nights we would read four stories.

Taylor cooked a meal for the kids. He cooked for the girls one night and the boys the next night. They loved it! He made chicken parmesan and pasta for the girls and a pan-seared bar-b-que chicken with onion, green pepper and pineapple for the boys with homemade mac and cheese. Is your mouth watering? The kids and Tias all acted like we were treating them like royalty. It was precious to watch their eyes light up as they enjoyed a meal they had never had before.

Jimmy was Mr. Fix-It and I was Dr. DeAnna. The Tias, Lillian and Elida, both took advantage of having a man around to fix things for them. ☺ So, Jimmy did quite a bit of plumbing work and other repair work for the Casitas. I bandaged numerous cuts and scrapes. Most of them didn’t need bandaging, but after one of the kids really needs first-aid, the others all would look for a cut, scrape or something that would need a bandaid. Taylor was the big brother for the kids. They absolutely loved him!!

We also gave the Tias some time off. This was an adventure! We decided the girls were more ornery than the boys! We did have a great time during our entire stay with the kids. We were showered with hugs and kisses every day. I miss that so much already!! One of the girls, Yami, was really quiet and didn’t warm up to us for the first couple of weeks. We would give her hugs and talk to her, but she just kind of looked at us. After the second week, though, she was almost constantly in one of our laps. One day, she came up to me and gave me a hug and kiss and then laid down in my lap and went to sleep. All of the kids at the Casitas have been abandoned and abused. To see them laughing, playing, giving and receiving appropriate affection, and singing was amazing especially considering all they have experienced in their short lives!

One day while we were at Casa Grande, we found out that one of the babies, Kaylita, had a very contagious virus. Her mom, Kayla, was really worried. She didn’t know what would happen or how it would affect Kaylita. Another lady and I prayed for Kaylita and Kayla. Afterward, I just encouraged Kayla to trust God and continue to pray for healing. Two days later, I was back at Casa Grande. Kayla ran up to me and gave me a hug and told me that Kaylita was completely healed. Praise God! Not only did this miracle touch Kaylita, it also really spoke to Kayla about God’s love and greatness.

Another girl from Casa Grande, Karla, is the mom of two little boys – Carlito and Jonathan. She is 15 and was abandoned by her mom when she was a baby. As a teenager, she lived in the park in the center of Tocoa. Until she came to Casa Grande a year ago, she had lived a life of being abandoned, abused and without any understanding of love. We connected immediately when we met. I had several conversations with her and had the opportunity to pray with her a few times. One Sunday night, she asked another girl to interpret for her because she wanted to tell me something and wanted to make sure I understood. She told me that she has felt so much love from me, Jimmy and Taylor, and explained that she had never felt that much love before.

We brought a new girl to Casa Grande about half-way through our stay. Merlina is 13 and seven months pregnant. Her mom prostituted her out for food. Merlina’s “husband” decided he didn’t want her any more after she was pregnant when he couldn’t get any money for her. We went with Penny to pick her up from the government child services agency. She was scared to death. She is from a very remote part of the country. We went to the mall for lunch after we picked her up. Merlina had never been to a mall before. She just looked around and was in shock at all she was seeing. Then came the escalator. She didn’t know what to do at the escalator, so we showed her how to get on and off. I watched Merlina that day and made sure she felt safe and as comfortable as possible. She spoke maybe five words the whole day. During the short time she has been at Casa Grande, we saw a huge transformation in Merlina. She absolutely lights up the room now, laughing, smiling, and talking. We were able to take Merlina with us and a team to Las Palmas for ministry. She held babies and handed out toys to the kids. What a beautiful transformation.

We had a team join us for a week in July. We put in ceiling tiles in the kitchen and bathroom at Casa Grande. This greatly helped with the heat in these rooms. Thank you team!! Our team brought several donations for the Comptons, Casa Grande, the Casitas, and for the river people in La Ceiba. We walked through a community of extremely impoverished people along the river in La Ceiba. We distributed clothes, shoes, toys and Bibles.

The Comptons had not had time off in over a year. So, our team took them for a few vacation days to Roatan. We covered all of their expenses and spent a few days ministering to them. Later, Barry told us they appreciated that time so much and, in tears, he said it was such a blessing for his family to be able to just relax for a few days.

CVM purchased floor and shower tiles for bathrooms in some new staff housing at the Casitas. A team from Florida came and helped us lay the tile for the bathrooms and did some finishing work on the two apartments. These will be used for long-term volunteers.

We visited the feeding station several times. Jimmy helped a team install a stove and do some painting. We distributed food and played with the kids. We always enjoy going to the feeding station. We saw several kids that were at the kids club we facilitated last year.

We went to Badalancho, a village in the mountains, our first week in Honduras. The village is a 5 ½ hour hike up a mountain and across 5 rivers. Two days before we were to leave, Taylor had an accident with a machete and had a very deep cut on his leg. The doctor put in several stitches, but said he could not go to the mountain because of muscle damage from the cut and the water has staff in it, which he felt was too risky. So, Taylor stayed behind at Casa Grande while we went up the mountain. The hike up the mountain was treacherous and extremely difficult. There is absolutely no way I could have made the hike. I was invited to ride in the back of the supply truck with the cooks and our food. We got out several times to climb hills that were too steep for us to ride in the truck, but I was able to ride up most of the way. Thank God for his provision!! While we were in Badalancho, we worked with the Comptons and a team from North Carolina to do a medical and dental clinic. We saw over 450 patients during the 2 ½ days we were there. Some of the patients walked seven hours to get to the clinic. There is no medical care in this area. I was the pharmacy tech for the clinic. We gave medication for infections, parasites, pain, coughs, and many other needs. The dentist pulled over 250 teeth! Jimmy was a dental assistant and saw a lot of things that I’m sure he will never forget!!! He learned how to give shots and pull teeth, but most of the time held the flashlight and spit bag. One of the evenings, we showed the Jesus film, sang a song, and prayed for people. Each person who came to the clinic was also blessed with clothes, shoes, and toys for kids.

We were able to go to a new place of ministry in Las Palmas. Las Palmas is a very impoverished village remotely located in the middle of palm trees. The people in this village do not have cars, there is not electricity, and they only recently received a well to pump in water, however there is not running water in the homes. The people bathe in the river and walk to the one well pump to get water to cook with and drink. In our first visit to Las Palmas, the ladies from our team, Penny, three girls from Casa Grande, the teacher for the girls at Casa Grande and some people from her church, visited homes, did children’s church, and distributed clothing. As we walked through the village to invite people to the church, we split up into several groups. My group was invited into one of the homes. We were offered bags of beans and a small barrel to sit on. As I was sitting on a bag of beans, I was watching the lady of the house removing dried corn from the cob. I asked her if it was for tortillas and she said yes. We sat and talked for several minutes. We participated in the children’s church program. I was able to sing a song with the kids. Then, we distributed clothes to over 100 kids and several adults. It was crazy! The people were very polite, but we were swarmed! They were so appreciative for the clothing. As we were getting into the van to leave, a lady came running up the van with a bowl. She handed it to me and inside was a stack of fresh tortillas. They were amazing, but more than that, she sacrificed to give us tortillas.

Our second trip to Las Palmas was in our last week. We brought three different girls from Casa Grande, including Merlina, the teacher, the Comptons, and a team from Florida. Before we left, I put together a couple bags of medical supplies. I grabbed several first aid type items, parasite treatment, pain relievers and antibiotics. Penny, me and one other person were the only ones who knew we had medical supplies. As we walked in groups to each house, the teacher and I went to a house by ourselves. We were talking to the man and I heard him say “infermo”. So, I told him that after the drama presentation, we would do medical treatment and we could help him. The team did their drama, we passed out toys to the kids, clothes for some of the babies, and drinks for everyone. While all of this was happening, the teacher found me and told me the man was there for medical treatment. Penny and I looked at his foot and determined he had a serious infection in his toes. He was in extreme pain. We cleaned them, medicated them, gave him some pain reliever and antibiotics, as well as gauze and other supplies he needed to continue care. Without treatment, he was just days away from losing his foot. The man was so grateful for the help. God put us in the right place at the right time.