Honduras Day 4: We all get our hands dirty

Well, for those of you who thought we were on a cushy vacation...if it were true, today it ended.

We started our day at the construction site for the new orphanage. They asked us to prepare part of the courtyard area for grass planting. It was hot, we were sweaty. But, we made good progress. When the time came for us to head to the orphanage we had accomplished quite a bit. Just because you only see me in the picture doesn't mean I'm the only one who worked. But it is my blog after all.

We were told that if we were being paid laborers, we would get $15 per DAY. It made us appreciate greatly our real jobs!

After lunch we returned to the kids...much more weary, but still excited to see them. They had school today so we spent quite a bit of time helping them do their homework. Well, some of us did. Others had the privilege of washing clothes...by hand. It was backbreaking work, and made Lori, Dana and Sami empathize greatly with Sister Edith who doesn't often have this much help.

After homework was completed, it was time for the next

lesson that Douglas had prepared. This one included finger painting for the young ones, and watercolors for the older kids. Everyone had fun (well there were some tears, but what can you expect when you are herding cats?) and most kids ended up with paint on them somewhere. I guess they should have taken their baths after the lesson. Oh well, we can blame that one on Douglas.

Tomorrow is our last day with the kids. It's hard to believe that our time has gone by so fast. We have a few tricks left up our sleeves, but you'll have to wait to see what they are.

Honduras Day 3: Waterlogged

The day began with a double dose of language barrier. We decided to attend the Catholic mass with

the kids from San Jose Orphanage. For those of us raised Baptist, it was quite unfamiliar...oh, and they spoke in Spanish as well! The church was filled with icons familiar to the Catholic religion. The service was a little over an hour long, and we could tell when the kids had hit their limit sitting still and quiet. At one point, Sister Edith had 4-year-old Jonathan by the ear trying to keep him quiet. Little Maria Jose, sitting next to him, grabbed his other ear, which only ticked him off more. I'm not sure who won the battle.

Next up was a field trip to the hot springs with the kids. Most of us decided to walk with the kids. After all, it was just a 30-minute hike...Honduran time...really it was more like 60 minutes uphill most of the way. (For the record, the cars went a different direction...at the end of the afternoon they needed us to walk up the steeper hills so the cars could make it...which means it was uphill both ways. Go figure.)

We were quite surprised by how nice it was. We expected a dammed river, but there were three pools of varying hotness. To get all of us in the gate cost around $25. About $1 per person. Too bad they rarely have the money to come because it was clearly quite a treat for the kids.

They had a ball, which means we had a ball. It was fun for us to watch them just be kids, to throw them in the pool like we would our own (when they were much younger...now they'd throw me in). They loved playing with us, splashing us, and getting us to jump in with them. After an hour and a half we were tuckered. They weren't. So we watched them swim a while longer.

Germaphobes probably should never visit these pools. The "pool rules" we have in the US are a little more lax here in Honduras. For example, the kids ate their lunch in the pool (so much for that 30-minute rule), they drank their orange juice in the pool, when Sister Edith's hands were sticky from cutting melon or oranges, she'd just wash them in the pool. No one cared. It just was what it was. A couple of times we thought we might need Tony  Snook because some teen boys (not in the orphanage) kept climbing higher and higher into the trees to jump into the waist high water (note: Tony is always saving someone's life).

On the way back we all (including the kids) were too tired to walk, so the kids took the "bus." The truck belongs to a friend of the orphanage who came with us for the afternoon. No...there were no car seats!

Tomorrow begins our work projects in the morning and continued lessons with the kids in the afternoon.

Honduras Day 2: We finally meet the kids...

Today we journeyed from Tegucigalpa to La Paz. Like Salem, La Paz means peace. It is a peaceful little town. We are at the base of some mountains so it is hilly. The terrain reminded us of eastern Oregon.

The Guest House

After settling in to the Guest House, a home owned by Ene, a woman with a heart for missions, we finally got to meet the kids. It is an oasis in the middle of a desert when it comes to homes we've seen.

From the moment we met them, it was clear that they hunger for positive male interaction. Nicol had me sit next to her while introductions were made. Personal space wasn’t an issue. There wasn’t any. She was looking up and smiling, laying across my lap…all while yelling her answers to other kids’ questions.

Chris losing energy very quickly.

After introductions we just played for a while. It’s been a long time since I had three early elementary boys climbing on me at the same time. I was swinging them around, lifting them up, giving piggy-back rides, chasing…you name it. Missions to orphanages is for younger, more energetic people!

The current orphanage from the courtyard.

The orphanage itself is in sad shape. Imagine a courtyard with a square building built around it. Everything is open and accessible, but everything is falling apart. Sister Edith runs the orphanage. She is a quiet (ex-nun) lady who clearly loves the children. She has some, but not enough, help. Orphan Outreach is raising funds to help pay for a nanny to give her a break.

After a while we left to tour the new orphanage, which is scheduled to be completed on October 30. It was a stark difference. Every room has been thoughtfully laid out. It is still a courtyard centered building, but it is huge in comparison. The whole space is about the size of a football field, with room for 32 children.

In La Paz, people only get water every 5-11 days. And power outages are apparently pretty frequent. At the new location, they were able to drill a well and build a water tower cistern to make sure that water is available 365 days a year. They will even have enough to sell water to some of the surrounding neighbors to help pay for orphanage expenses.

We returned to the current location and Douglas taught our first lesson to the kids. He did a great job, teaching them that Jesus came to find everyone, not just some people. We attempted a few songs, but the language barrier made that challenging. Our activities were hackey-sack and hopscotch.

It was a great day. The kids are awesome…energetic and fun loving. One thing that is true no matter where you go…kids love to laugh, giggle, chase, and climb.

Honduras Day 1: Tegucigalpa

We arrived in Tegucigalpa at 11:30 am local time. The "scary" flight that everyone has warned us about was overrated. Our seat belts might have worked a little over time, but it was hardly noticeable.

After working our way through customs and baggage, we met up with Austin, our in-country Team Leader. He's worked with Orphan Outreach for about four years. Austin took us (with our driver, Willy) to lunch at a nearby restaurant.

Next came an exciting drive through Tegucigalpa to the Hotel MacArthur, our home away from home for the night.
If you never had the "privilege" to navigate the streets of a developing country, you are missing out. One word describes it all...chaos.

Our hotel is located near the old downtown area, where some streets were so narrow that we weren't sure the van would pass parked cars, pedestrians and motorcyclists without someone being hurt.

Later, after checking in, we left to head to a national park at the top of the city. We passed the US Ambassador's residence on our way.

At the top of the mountain we walked through the beautiful park on our way to overlook the city, which has a population of more than one million in the metro area.

There, Austin oriented us to the week ahead, and we prayed over the city beneath a huge statue of Jesus.

Tomorrow morning we head toward La Paz, which is about 90 minutes away.

After being up for too many hours to count, we are glad to have a night of rest.

Honduras Day 0: The Adventure Begins...

We're off to La Paz, Honduras to spend a week with 15 kids who live in the San Jose Orphanage. They range in age from two to 12-years-old. You can find their pictures at www.orphanoutreach.com if you'd like to see them.

They are getting ready to move. Up to this point they have lived in a less than acceptable home. Not too long ago, the mayor of La Paz donated land and someone from the United States donated the money to build a new facility.

We'll have the privilege of helping with some of the final projects at the new place, teaching them about Jesus, and playing, hugging and generally making them smile.

Tonight we fly out of Portland International Airport at 11:47pm. After a four hour layover in Houston, we'll head out on our final leg to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. We arrive tomorrow about 11:30 am, and will meet our in-country coordinator Austin and our interpreters. They are as excited to host us, as we are to be hosted.

Allow me to introduce our Orphan Outreach team (from left to right)
Lori Schilling, REACH Coordinator at Corban University (and Chris' editor)
Ashli Dehm, High School Student at Trinity Lutheran (and Sami's daughter)
Douglas Bonham, 5th/6th Grade Teacher at Bethany Charter School
Sami Dehm, mostly stay-at-home mom (and Lori's sister-in-law)
Chris Voigt, Worship Pastor at Dayspring Fellowship
Dana Copenhaver, Secretary at Burns High School (and Chris' mom)
Alexi Voigt, Chemeketa Student (and Chris' 18-Year-Old Daughter)

Pray for travel safety, sleep on the plane and chemistry as a team. Some of us just met at dinner tonight.

We went to Florida for a week this summer. I knew we'd have a rental car so I was smart enough to bring my GPS to help us get around. On one of the days we were driving from Orlando to Lakeland to drop our son off at music camp, about a 45-minute drive.

Even with my GPS giving directions, I was tense as we drove.  We were talking about the church we

had just visited, trying to drive safely in multi-lane traffic and taking in all of the sights. Do you know that Disney World has Mickey ears at their power substation? How cool is that? What attention to detail. On top of it all, we were hungry and looking for a place to each lunch, (eventually found Cracker Barrel...southern fried chicken...mmm good).

There was just too much input to process. Since I'd never been there, everything was new. There were no landmarks I recognized to let me know we were on the right track (yeah, even my GPS has been known to be wrong).

Fast forward four days. It was time to return to Lakeland to pick up our son. Same trip, but this time, totally relaxed. I knew where we were going. I recognized the signs and sights we had previously seen. I had a passing familiarity with our surroundings.

We who follow Christ, have the privilege and responsibility of leading people toward Jesus. Whether we do it from a stage or not, the challenge is the same.

But we can't lead people to places we've never been.

If we don't spend time in the presence of God, how will we help other people find him?

Joshua loved to spend time in the presence of God. Exodus 33 tells us that when Moses left the tent where he met with God, Joshua would linger in the tent. Just him and the afterglow of the Living God who had just been there.

And look at how he led. A whole nation owes him a debt of gratitude because he led them into the Promised Land.

What kind of leader will you be, one who stumbles along, hoping to miraculously run into God? Or, one who has staked out the route ahead of time, able to enjoy the journey with the people God has entrusted to your leadership?

Building the Temple

Shortly after God adopted Israel as His own by bringing them out of slavery in Egypt, He gave them the plans to build an earthly Tabernacle, a Tent of Meeting. It was the place where His presence dwelt and where the Israelites could come to sacrifice and meet with Him. It was quite an extravagant "Tent," which you can read about in the Old Testament book of Exodus.

Until the reign of King David, the Tabernacle was in use as God's home.After making his own home in Jerusalem, David desired to build a more permanent structure for God to dwell on earth. But because his life was littered with war and bloodshed, God promised David that his son, Solomon, would build the Temple instead.

Because of his love for God, and desire to be a part of establishing the Temple, David gave much of his personal treasure to fund the future Temple. 1 Chronicles 22 says that David gave 100,000 talents of gold, a million talents of silver and too much bronze, iron, timber and stone to count.

One talent was about 75 pounds, which means that David donated 7.5 million pounds of gold. At today's market value, he donated more than $150 billion dollars in gold and silver.

After David died, Solomon began  the task of building the Temple. It tells us in 2 Chronicles 2 that 80,000 people worked in the rock quarry shaping the stone (for both his house and the Temple), and another 70,000 bore the burdens (i.e., they carried the finished stone to the Temple sight). Out of respect for God, none of the stone work was done on the Temple mount.

They spent seven years building the Temple.

All of this is background for what happened next. When the Temple was finally complete, they threw a big dedication party.

2 Chronicles 7:1-2 says, "When Solomon finished praying, a bolt of lightning out of heaven struck the Whole-Burnt-Offering and sacrifices and the Glory of God filled The Temple. The Glory was so dense that the priests couldn't get in - God so filled The Temple that there was no room for the priests!"

Did you catch that? The Glory of God was so thick that the priests couldn't get in the Temple.

Fast forward to today...to you. If you believe in Jesus, the Temple is now located in your heart. What does your Temple look like? How much of your time, resources and blood, sweat and tears do you spend making sure the Temple is the most beautiful place for God to reside?

The good news is that He will clean it up, we just have to dedicate our lives to allowing Him to do His good work. The bad news is that a battle is being actively waged to keep your Temple broken and bruised. Even this week I've felt the onslaught of the enemy seeking to widen cracks, cave in the roof and board up the windows to keep the Light out.

If we want a thick Glory of God, we must actively pursue righteousness, actively renew and restore our spirits. It's a lot of work, but well worth the effort. Once you've seen the Glory of God, nothing else satisfies.

What would your life look like if you lived that way?