It all started out great and with much excitement. Seven pastors and 5 "gringos" headed from Nicaragua to Honduras for a week of evangelizing. A small microbus pulls up that can hold 10 people comfortably if they are small and short. Looking around at the five we were neither small or short. Thirteen of us pile in and pack like sardines in the seats that had been baking in the sun for the past hour. We had 400 km to go this day and would be crossing in to new territory for me. It all started fun , well at least the first hour and a half that is. Then My butt went numb followed shortly by the complete lower half of my body. Keep in mind most folks here are short so the seats are much closer together which leaves little room for long legs. The local pastors that were traveling with us quickly realized we passed time by being completely silly and cracking jokes with each other. We have a no mercy rule on trips and if you are sensitive you won't last long.

  The scenery was breath taking. The mountains and volcanoes were a treat to see. Trying to teach my friends how to say the names of the volcanoes was even more of a treat. Arriving at the border we had some time to stretch our legs and regain feeling in our lower appendages. Shortly after getting out we realized how difficult travel would be. There was an issue with the paperwork on the recently purchased microbus that took about three hours and someone riding a motorcycle from Managua to the border to get straight. Some may have seen it as an obstacle but I thought it was a blessing. It gave us one on one time with the pastors. It gave us time to laugh and get to know the people we would be spending the next week with (sometimes in very close quarters).

We make it to Chuluteca about an hour before service. Just in time to eat and change clothes. Pastor Jorge and his family were so good to us. The currency exchange is different there and that took some help from him to figure out the price of things. I have the Cordoba math down now but take that 7.5 cent difference in to account and I am lost. Service that night was great and dinner afterwords was just as good. We tied hammocks and inflated mattresses in the church for sleeping or just laid on the concrete floor. Either way we were beat and going to sleep good regardless. The next morning came shower time. This was new to some. There was a concrete water storage tub that had a bucket floating in it. This isn't new to me so I knew to get the bucket and pour it over my head for a shower all while standing OUTSIDE the concrete water holder. My friends on the other hand got confused. One actually jumped in to the clean water and decided to take a swim. This was funny to the locals and to me as well. He didn't realize that the next person would now be bathing in his dirty bath water. It actually became quite the joke as the week went on. Later after breakfast we secured transportation to our next stop. Tegulcigalpa a 200 km trip

  The microbus we secured for this ride was pretty nice. A/c and everything( Well at least for the first 20 minutes then it got cut off after we paid our passage).  This ride was fun we all got to laughing and joking again sometimes even bringing strangers in to the mix of our shenanigans. We arrived at Pastor Rene's church and lunch was waiting for us. His church was constructed out of repurposed pallets and other wood. This would also serve as our living quarters for the night. The fellas started asking about the bathroom and as I pointed to the outhouse you could see the oh wow look on their faces. This would also be where we showered (with the bowl of water like the last church but instead of a concrete tub it was just a blue barrel of water). The nights service was awesome the praise and worship was outstanding my buddy Earl brought a great message and the prayer after was inspiring. After service we ate and figured out sleeping arrangements. Someone had let us borrow mattresses so no no one had to sleep on the floor. I tied my hammock but quickly realized that I would be sleeping in the shape of a U because I didn't have the room to properly tie it up. I got about an hours worth of sleep before tapping out and giving up. I laid there like a drawing of the Sesame street alphabet game for another hour. I got up and got my bowl bath and readied my bags for that days journey. We ate and then toated all of the baggage about a half mile to the road to wait for the bus.

 This day would take us 600 km to Colon Honduras. I almost could not contain my joy when I saw the big bus pull up and saw it was a tour bus and would have A/C the whole ride and reclining seats. I wanted to sleep something fierce let me tell ya. My joy however was short lived. Once I sat down and realized how little leg room I actually had (remember I am in a country of short people). It turns out I was not the only tired person on the bus as the guy in front of me went in to full lounge position and nearly broke my knees. All of that aside I did actually get some rest. Oh and the A/C got cut off on this ride after paying passage as well. Four hours down and it was rest stop time. After picking on my friends for not paying to use the bathroom like they were supposed to there was a moment of bliss. As we got in line to get a cold drink and a snack a familiar sight struck my eye. Now when I am home I drink water. here I drink water or juice. I have not drank soda in a long time but let me tell you what the Mt. Dew I saw sitting in that cooler looked like an angel from above to me. I wanted to jump the counter and do a grab and gulp but the dude with the big shotgun caused me to rethink that strategy. I eargerly waited my turn and then pounced. I bought two on the spot. The first met an early demise and lasted all of about 5 seconds. The second one was sipped on and enjoyed. I even shared the joy that an Ice cold Mt. Dew can bring with my pastor friends who are now Mt. Dew junkies. we got back on the bus all jacked up on Mt. Dew and continued on our way. 5 hours later we get to Colon. The pastor pulls up and loads half the mission team in his truck and takes off. 20 Minutes later he returns for the rest of us. His wife had lunch waiting and man the fresh tortillas were off the chain. I saw an opportunity to share with my gringo friends something that was shared with me early on in my life as a missionary in Nica. A little red pepper on a bush caught my eyes and I searched for a willing participant/victim. Daniel was my first target. He said he liked spicy so I figured why not show him what spicy was. The first bite you could see the change. He went from slightly sunburnt to pale white then back to blood red in the face in about 20 seconds. He searched franticly for water as I just laughed an evil laugh. I quickly refocused on my hunt for victim two. This time it was Brad. He will eat anything you tell him taste good. I may have stretched the truth on the taste but did warn him it was a "little hot". As the flames shot out of every hole on his face just like a Saturday morning cartoon i couldn't hold my laughter. ( For the record I ate one as well but didn't chew so it didn't hurt as bad).
  Service that night was awesome as well even thought the translator struggled. Daniel delivered and awesome word and seemed to have recovered from Chillipeppergate earlier that day. The service was jam packed and this church was alive. There were so many needs that were asked to be prayed for. we laughed cried and danced. It was a special night. As we made our way back to the pastors houe we were given another gift. we all had real mattresses and even better than that we a had a toilet with a door and a stand up shower. It's the little things like that that we all appreciated that night. The next day we had a chidrens service at the church full of games and skits. There was a session of Pastor musical chairs and they actually played harder than the kids did. It was such a joy to see all of the smiling faces. Afterwords we went down to the river for a swim. the water was so clear and cool. It was such a relief from the heat of the day. That night it was Davids turn to bring the message. he did a wonderful job despite some rowdy children that we had gotten jacked up on candy earlier that night and having the same translator who struggled as the night before. The prayer time was one of the strongest the whole trip. They served us dinner after and then we hopped back on the bus for an hour ride back to the pastors house.

We had reached the half way point in our trip. Early the next morning we make our way back to Teguligalpa 600km by bus. This time I got a good seat and it was a comfortable ride. We made it back to Pastor Rene's church but hit a snag that turned out to be a blessing as it almost always does. No translator means no preaching by Gringos. It was my night and I was a little dissapointed until they said Denis was preaching. I love hearing this man preach. Not just because he is my best friends here but because the man is anointed. After service it was back to sleeping U style but at this point I was so beat I could have slept any where in any shape. 

  We made our way back to Chuluteca the next morning and back to the first church we visited. Tonight was my night. I got the grand prize of translators. I had a professor of English partnering with me. She was awesome. it was a joy to work with her and bring the word and know it was all being translated correctly. This was our last service and we ended on a good note. people were moved and relationships restored.

The next morning bright and early we got all packed up and headed out. It was back to Nicaragua for us. My friends were excited but sad because they would be returning home the next day. For the rest of us it would be back to work and life as normal. The ride started out great. although we were tired we were still upbeat. About 15km in to the ride however we noticed an issue. The micro bus was overheating. This went on for every 5-10 km we would ride then stop ride then stop. My friends were getting nervous and it showed. The pastors however hardly reacted. The thing was many were getting caught up in the problem instead of looking at the blessings that were happening every time we would stop. Every stop the pastors came together as one to remedy the issue. One other thing happened. We needed water every stop so we would have to go to the nearest house and ask for water. Not only did we get help every time we got prayed for every time. One of the stops some children were playing near the road and stopped to watch us when we had another overheating issue. These children took our drink bottles and an empty jug we had and ran down to the river to get us water. For there trouble we paid them with some dum dum suckers and gave them a few dollars. It should be an interesting story for them to tell their friends. The day the dirty smelly gringos and Nicaraguans broke down in front of there house.

  We finally limped our way to the border and wouldn't you know we had the same issue getting back in to Nica as we had getting out of Nica. So the same man had to hop on his motorcycle and ride the two hours just to say yes it's ok that they pass. A phone call wouldn't do it he had to be there in person. At the next check point the micro bus got sprayed down and disinfected. We made our way across and we were off and all was good again. That was until we made it 15 km and over heated again. two stops later it was decided that it was time to tow the van the rest of the way. There is no AAA or roadside assistance here and you don't leave a vehicle on the road unless you don't want it anymore. We had some clothesline rope we weaved together and tied the van to the small truck that carried all the luggage. My friends were starting to freak out a little. I was good to go this kind of thing is normal to me now. They didn't understand that the slower we went the more time we had together. We were as safe as you can be on any road and really no need to worry. We did great for about an hour then hit Chinendega. They have speed bumps and that's all it took for the truck to rip the grill guard off of the micro bus. We were close to a pizza place and all week we talked about getting pizza so we cranked the bus back up and made it to the pizza place. While there we went in scramble mode to try and find a solution that would get my friends back quicker so they could rest before flying out. A brother from one of the church's volunteered to come and get the gringos and get them back to the office. I stayed behind to assist in getting the van back with the others. The brother brought us a tow bar to replace the rope we were using. It took about 30 minutes to tie the grill bar back on and secure the tow bar. We were off again. It was a long slow ride. We finally made it to the office at 2:30 am and worked quickly to get things settled down so we could get an hour of sleep before having to take the gringos to the airport at 4am. So to recap the day I was up at 4am we left Honduras at 9am for what was supposed to be a 6 hr trip that ended up taking 17 hrs but was filled with so many blessings. Never focus on the bad only on the good and you will find yourself a happier person with a much better attitude in life

From the moment I first visited this small little town about an hour south of Managua I instantly fell in love with its charm. I remember our first day here visiting the local park and meeting Mario one of the drunks at the park. I remember passing by the city dump on the way out to where the group of friends that I was with would be assisting a local pastor build his church. The numerous people out digging through the trash looking for plastic bottles or food to eat. It saddened my heart and gave me a desire to help in any way that I could. Some may find it strange that I find humor in the fact that there is always room for one more in a taxi not matter if there are already 8 large adults inside. Or when you have to help the cabbie push start his car and jump in before he takes off. I love that every meal has some form of rice and beans. 

  The love that is shown by the people here is unlike any I have ever seen. You are welcomed by a hug or handshake and always offered a bite to eat or a cup of coffee or water. Chairs are set out for you to sit and visit no matter when you show up. It is normal to see a family sitting out front at night talking and spending time together. It's just something you don't see stateside. 

It has been such a joy the past two weeks to be able to visit with so many friends i have made over the years. From the boys a Pajarita Azul to some of the children I used to see daily at the children's home. Friends in town at different stores and even having a Taco place hault business just to say helllo to me as I walked in. My heart was overcome with joy on so many occasions this trip. 

  By far one of the biggest joys was being able to attend a service at the church I in a small way helped build. I remember when it was just dirt and the church met under a tin roof covered shelter. Now it is complete other than a sound system. The church has service everynight in some capacity. It is called a mission camp and they go out in to the community at least once a week to meet with people and share God's word. I even had a chance to speak one night. Luckily I had Marvin to translate for me. My Spanish isn't quite good enough for preaching just yet.

There are so many things God is laying on my heart to do here. I am so thankful for those back home that support what I do and help with the projects we take on here. Since arriving in early May we have been able to assist in the building of two new houses for lady pastors here. We are taking on new projects daily it seems. God has been so awesome and faithful. All of the glory goes to him.