Monday, June 22, 2015

Honduras - Arrival and Day 2

This past week our family took a trip to Honduras. The Schreckhises were having their annual youth camp and invited my dad to preach it. We were over the moon, excited about this trip. Excited to visit a new country, see the work of God there, and meet the Schreckhise family! 

We had to wake up at 2 am the morning we were flying out. It was exhausting! We did a lot of sleeping on the bus and in the airport...

Boarding our non-stop flight to San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Like I said - we did a lot of sleeping! 
I had lots of stuff to listen to on the flight, which was only a couple hours long. It seemed like just a few minutes and before we knew it we were landing, meeting part of the Schreckhise family, and stepping outside to take our first breaths of the oh-so-muggy Honduran air. 
Nicole, me, Allana, and Austin
The van was air-conditioned - something we were grateful for many times throughout our trip - but these Hondurans are used to the heat. :D 
A blurry picture, but these are fields of pineapple! So interesting! 
Looking down from the upstairs of the Schreckhise home
Josiah and Austin hitting it off
Nicole playing Guess Who with Charity and Lydia
Shortly after arriving, we went into the dining room to visit. Charity grabbed her sticker book out of the bookshelf and showered Nicole and I with them. I considered it a very sweet welcoming gesture! 
Me, my stickers, and Charity - aka Miss Eyelashes
"Lets do one with funny faces!"
Charity, me, and Lydia

The sounds of the jungle...they are so interesting. The house is not air conditioned so the windows to the house are open 24/7. We fell asleep to the noise of trees rustling, tree branches breaking every now and then, lizards making their clicking noises (sounds like someone knocking on the window!) crickets chirping, birds screeching, and most importantly: the fan going!!! Thank God for fans and moving air!

[After getting home Thursday night, I laid down to go sleep in my bed. A couple minutes passed and something just felt "off". All of a sudden my ears started pounding and it was like the silence of my house assaulted me. I ended up searching "cabin noise" which sounds like a fan going. Every night since then, I haven't been able to fall asleep without it. Honduran nights sound so soothing.]

I woke up the next morning and looked out the window - I was pretty sure I saw some kind of fruit hanging from the tree outside.

Look a little closer...and sure enough! Mangoes! 

A coconut tree, also in the backyard
 After breakfast Charity took me outside to the stream behind the house. She said we were going fishing. Here she is holding her tackle box. 

Me, Charity, and Lydia
These girls are adorable and sweet, sweet, sweet! 
Lydia and some mangoes that fell to the ground off their tree
Austin taming the jungle! :D

Like I said, we were in Honduras mainly for the youth camp. We went to the campgrounds in the afternoon to drop our suitcases off and get our beds set up.

They have a beautiful campground - several dorm rooms for the guys and several for the girls, nice bathrooms, a sanctuary, a large grassy area surrounding the whole camp. It is perfect!!
One of the girls dorms
The church bus from the Ceiba church
We went back to the house to pick up more stuff and in the process of things, ended up getting to hear some new songs that Bro. Schreckhise had written. We are sorely in need of one-God, Apostolic, Holy Ghost Spanish songs and Bro. Schreckhise has written a ton! Last year when my parents visited the Schreckhises, they came back with probably about 30 new songs. It was an exciting thing for us! We now sing those songs in our church and they have been a huge blessing. 
 They have these things in Honduras called Baleadas. A flour tortilla with beans, cheese, meat, egg, cream, or whatever you choose. 

They are very good! 

We stopped at a grocery store in the city. I'd seen bag milk before, but never bag chocolate milk! It make me chuckle. 

This bus is advertising alcohol, and the brand of it is "Salva Vida". "Life Saving" - what a shame!! 
The sanctuary at the campground
Sheep walking around the camp 

Feeding the sheep!

The ladies preparing dinner for the campers
Taquitos
Making tortillas
Francis' very veryyyyy curly hair! It only reaches her shoulders normally, but when stretched all the way out it reaches the middle of her back! Woah. 
The guys playing ball
Francis is the Schreckhise's adopted daughter. Her uncle is a shoe maker and she brought a bunch of them to sell at camp. Talk about a unique souvenir! Nicole bought a pair and they are so comfortable!

Nicole and I sat down in our room at the camp the first day. We were chatting about how nice it was in Honduras, how it wasn't really that unbearably hot, and that we could live here if we had to...
I think the devil was listening and thought he'd play a nice joke on us. The following two days of camp were so.hot. It's gross, but it's the truth - we sweated constantly. There was no reprieve. I never actually broke down and cried in frustration, but came close several times. If you've never been in this situation, you can't understand. It is miserable, but you can't give in to it or you'll go crazy. You literally have to "keep calm and carry on". 
The ladies of the Olanchito church serving dinner
The start of the first service
Bro. Schreckhise led, Allana played the piano, and Sarah sang. This family can SING. Their harmony is absolutely beautiful. 
The first service
The ten lepers
This is just the first two days of our trip. I realize some people may not find all these pictures to be very interesting, but I have whittled the amount down as much as I can. There were too many precious moments-- moments I never want to forget! I blog for you all as much as I blog for my own memories. Therefore, this will a multiple-parter. I'm thinking around 7 posts so stay tuned for more! We had an incredible time in Honduras - the Schreckhise family is doing an absolutely incredible work for God. I am excited about getting to share some of it with you all.

~Bethany~


7 comments:

Unknown said...

Really enjoyed this post!! So thankful that no matter where you go in this world there is sure to be an Apostolic church!! Also, loved those sleeping pics!lol

Jennifer Connell said...

I love it and am looking forward to more! As for the near emotional breakdown due to the heat and constant sweating, I have been there! When we were in the jungle it was SO hot and there was one night we couldn't take showers after church cause the water stopped working. I wanted to cry. But I didn't! ha! I love seeing pics of foreign missions camps and such... thanks for sharing!

Allana said...

Hmm....I feel like I have seen these people before somewhere. ...and that last name, MAN, it gives me a feeling of deja'vu (or however you spell that). That was soo fun! I can't wait for the rest of the posts and pictures! So many fun memories!! I hope we can do it again soon...when it's not so hot (for ya'll!).

Laurel, Arkansas said...

Enjoyed this post! Idk how yall withstood that heat. I dont think I couldve done that with a smile on my face.

You dont know me, but I read your blog all the time. Lord Bless You.

Mary Frances said...

AW ALLANA!!! SARAH!!! YAAAAAAY!!! CaN'T Wait to hear more about my friends!!!

Unknown said...

Hurry and post more!! Love love love all the pics!

The Wakefields: Missionaries to Mexico said...

Amanda - Thank you!

Jen - I'm glad someone can relate with me on the heat!! The heat did NOT diminish the AWESOME experience we had, but boyyyyyyyyy did it make things INTERESTING. Maybe a test of our character. HAHA! THANK YOU for commenting!

Allana - Yes! So many great memories! Thank you for having us! Can't wait to see you next month :)

Laurel, AR - Oh, I don't think we ALWAYS had a smile on our face :D But it was something we just had to accept. Thank you for reading and commenting!

Cherie - Thanks!



THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR THE AWESOME FEEDBACK!!! We really enjoyed reading all these comments!

~Bethany~

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