July 2009

July 2009
Here in Honduras, July is typically one that it is very difficult to get a flight - in or out of the country. Most every flight in a typical July is filled with mission groups and others coming to be a part of helping this nation. The reason that the people keep coming back year after year is that most of the folks here appreciate the work and efforts of the visitors from the USA. There are amazing friendships developed between the villagers and the mission teams from the USA. Personally, July 2009 was going to be an amazing month. I had scheduled teams from the 28th of June all the way to the last of the teams departing on August 9. My teams were coming from all over the USA and all of us had planned to make July 2009 an amazing month of work for our Master. Through the month there would have been close to 250 people coming and going - every week from 50 to 85 people would have been here working, building, feeding, teaching, comforting, and serving. We planned to build something like 60 houses, one and maybe 2 school buildings, a small but much needed foot bridge, work on the Santa Katerina feeding center / church plant, feed more than 4,000 families, treat more than 1500 in med/ dental clinics, teach the gospel to many many people.Most of this didn't happen - obviously something jumped in the way and stopped the plan in it's tracks.Everybody following this blog knows that there is a governmental crisis here and that has sent most folks from the USA and the mission groups that come here scrambling for cover. Bringing people here right now just was not a prudent thing so - I cancelled all of the July groups and had to send the end of June group home early. Needless to say, I am not alone. I was in the airport today and there was not another "gringo" there - not one. The lines for the airlines were empty and nobody is coming or going to Honduras this July.I gotta tell you this is a real problem for many of the mountain villages where we work. I was in Nueva Oriental on Saturday and talked to many many of the people that live there and are friends with many Americans. They are so sad that nobody is coming. The community still needs the 30 to 40 houses that the teams would have built there. They still need the food that is desperatly short in many many of the homes there. Nueva Oriental still needs the medical and dental clinics and the people that would normally come to share the gospel. They will really miss the new school building and the bridge that our teams would have built. It is truly sad that a poliitcal mess can do this to the people that the governments are set up to serve.Makes me so sad!Be a blessing to somebody today!Marc