The happenings in Trujillo……

Yippikayay!

Well, obviously we were on the south end of a north bound train here, but it’s a realistic picture of a little town known as Trujillo.  I have to say that I thought of my dad when I saw this scene and I was reminded of some times in my childhood that I spent either chasing one or many wayward cattle! 

The trip to Trujillo began with one of the most memorable bus rides of my 33 years of life.  I truly believe the man who drove our bus has a unique calling from the Lord.  This man is responsible for more prayers on the roads of Honduras than any other person behind the wheel.  If you haven’t spoken to Jesus in a while….you will when you ride with this guy!  I have never been on a bus (much like a greyhound) that passes other vehicles on the road.  Seriously…hills, curves and bridges mean nothing to this brother when it comes to passing cars.  He made me pray….ALOT!  For those who wonder…this is Grant – writing for now.

Our first acquaintance on this trip was a little guy by the name of Jose.  When we first jumped on the bus and sat down I noticed this little guy behind me.  Of course, I said hola!  I also spoke to his grandmother who was sitting right beside him.  She immediately let me know “he speaks some English.”  He asked me for my name in English, and that began a conversation that would reveal an interesting circumstance.  As we traveled along, we communicated (mostly in espanol) what we were doing, where we were going and various other small-talk about our lives.  All was normal, until I mentioned that we were from Mississippi!  Upon the mention of the word Mississippi, the lady shockingly exclaimed that her son lived in Jackson, Mississippi. No way!  Certainly this woman was surprised, as were we, to hear that such random people could have something in common like this.  We talked about my job at Holmes Community College and the work her son does in Mississippi as well.   Before our trip was over, she reached for her cell phone and the next thing I know she handed me the phone.  A voice in English came across and I could tell she was so excited to be connecting two strangers who were worlds apart but travel the same streets of home.  We will certainly have a new friend when we return home, and it will be nice for Jose, Sr. to hear about his son, mom and grandmother on a bus ride to Trujillo, Honduras!

I am sure Hope will be more detailed about the people and events of Trujillo, but I wanted to bring everyone into the new update with an introduction.  God Bless You All….and thanks for caring about us so much.  gs

                

There is just so much to say that I am not sure where to start!  There is one thing for sure and that is…..our time in Trujillo was absolutely amazing.  Grant says that I can never just give the “meat and potato’s” of a story; I always give way too much detail.  I will admit that this update is probably going to be very long, but I hope that you will be blessed and receive a better understanding of those that we desire to serve.

The coolest thing about being in Trujillo was getting to meet the people that God has brought together to serve this precious place.  In my previous Trujillo post, I told you of our meeting both Andy and Brian in the grocery store in La Ceiba.  Well, once in Trujillo, we were able to meet their families and other missionaries who are there to serve the Lord. 

 We were welcomed into the home of Ken, Beth and Tyrece Nauss who are from Canada.  We were unable to meet Beth as she was in the States during our visit, but we hope to return soon.  They followed the Lord’s direction earlier this year to Trujillo to serve other missionaries.  Their call was to buy and open a large home for missionaries who may need a place to stay for work, rest or pleasure purposes and that is exactly what has happened.  They allowed us to stay in a beautiful casita while there and enjoy their beautiful home and its grounds.  Their home/ministry is called “Casa Nuema,” meaning Breath of Fresh Air House and that is certainly what it is. 

 Andy and his family with Rio Negro Missions are also staying at Casa Nuema for now.  They are in the in- between stages of having a home-base in Trujillo and seeking God’s direction as to where He wants them to be.  Andy, Lori, Andrew and Ethan are an exceptional family and are full of energy…ALL the time!  They are a very driven, hard working family who love the Lord and have a heart to serve God’s people.

  Macki and Tess McDonald are a mother/daughter duo who are also being blessed by Casa Nuema.  They moved to Trujillo to serve the Lord by serving those less fortunate than they are.  They have purchased a home, but repairs had left them homeless until they met Ken and Beth.  GLORY!  How good is our God!  Both of these ladies have such a sweet spirit and a heart for people, it is exciting to see what the Lord will do with and through them. 

To see how the Lord brought all of these families together was so beautiful.  Even though they are all from different cities, countries, backgrounds, beliefs and denominations, they have come together to serve the Lord and His people.  Serving His people is exactly what this entire crew is doing and many are being blessed by these servants who have chosen to be the hands and feet of Jesus. 

On our first evening in Trujillo we were able to attend a youth church service.  Trujillo Christian Youth Group is a group of kids ages 12 to 24 that have been working as a group in Trujillo for over 8 years. The group is made up of a wide cross section of kids from street kids to former gang members. They have learned that God loves them and they worship him with real intensity!  It was amazing to see these kids loving on the Lord and at their own free will.  Grant was able to share a few words with the youth pastor and spend some time teaching new songs to the worship team.  This is definitely a place that VOH would like to plug into and help in anyway that we can.  God is doing some great things in this place and has much in store for His willing servants.

Our next outing was to a children’s home called Jardin de Angelitos (Garden of Little Angels).  At the current time, there are only four children in the home, but these four can be a handful.  The owner, director and house mom is Serena Lopez.  We were able to spend about an hour just talking with her about the children, needs, desires, future plans, and etc.  She is blessed with a really large home for the kids, but there are many repairs that need to be done.  They also need bunk beds, shelving, tables and many, many other things.  All of these children seemed to be filled with so much love.  They were excited to see us and just happy little children in general.  One of the coolest things is that ALL of these kids speak English and Spanish!  Serena is doing a great job of being a mom to these kids and it really shows. 

We were able to go out to a little village with Lori to check on baby Carlos.  Apparently baby Carlos was very sick at birth and needed an operation, however, the hospital sent him home anyway.  He was able to finally have the surgery and is now doing much better.  When we were there to check on him, he was moving his head alot and Lori says that he had grown so much.  Many praises to the Lord for His goodness with baby Carlos.  As you can see from the picture, this village consists of homes that are made from mud and thatched roofs.  They have no power or running water in this area, so the levels of disease and bacteria are really high.  Please pray for a full recovery for baby Carlos and pray that his family is able to give him all that he needs to survive.  Glory to God for these wonderful missionaries in Trujillo!

Now for “the rest of the story” from our time in Trujillo. 

    

Our new friends (Andy & Lori), took us to this fantastic place called MADE IN HONDURAS.  MIH is a group of 80 craftspeople who make their wares with the tourist trade in mind.  The artists are people who have no other way of making a living in Honduras.  They include people from barrios and villages near Trujillo and also indigenous people from the Mosquitia Region.  They support their families with the money they make from selling their crafts and the artist actually makes the ENTIRE profit from the sell.  After years of selling from suitcases in hotels, the group was given a beautiful building of their own to sell their products from.  This blessing has given these folks an avenue with endless possibilities.  Please visit their site for more information or to purchase items www.hondurastreasures.com

Much appreciation goes to Diane Karper for helping these folks to feed their families and make a living for themselves.  Diane and her husband, Scott, are missionaries with Christian Veterinary Mission in and around Trujillo.  While Scott, the vet, is working with the farmers, Diane is working with the wives and others who want to learn new craft skills.  Unfortunately, Scott and Diane were in the States when we visited Trujillo, so we weren’t able to meet them personally.  However, we have heard about and seen the good that they have done in this area for the Kingdom of God and it is glorious!  Our hope is to connect this ministry with the love and skills from the Caring Hearts Ministry in Ridgeland, MS.

Nothing like walking out the front door to find these two guys peering down at you!  We wanted to introduce you to some friends that we became very close to while on our trip to Trujillo.  YES, this is a REAL TARANTULA and a great little gecko.  You see, we have geckos in our apartment in La Ceiba and actually are quite fond of them because they eat other insects.  BUT, we aren’t in ANY manner fond of huge, fuzzy tarantulas.  I will say that there was much prayer going on when we were trying to catch this thing.  We just let our new missionary friend, Andy, handle this one.  It most definitely was a comical evening, so say the least.

God is doing some great things in Trujillo and we feel that there is a place for VOH to assist these existing ministries by providing short-term teams and resources.  We weren’t able to visit all of the places and/or people that we had planned as our schedule was pretty packed and groups were working and we couldn’t connect.  Specifically, the Little Hands & Big Hearts Ministry that I had mentioned in a previous post and the church and pastor of our missionary friend, Ken.  We hope to go back to Trujillo during mid July to see how VOH might assist these ministries.

We have been very busy with school and ministry opportunities and have a very busy schedule for our last 4 weeks here.  We will be in a wedding for our teacher and will be headed to do some prison ministry this weekend.  Stay tuned for the post about the wedding and the exciting things that God is doing with our teacher, the groom!