Over Spring Break we took our 2nd annual family mission trip to Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras with a group from Southside. This year Scott's brother Mike went along as well, so that was neat to share it with family. While we were there, Scott went out to one of the villages with the medical brigade as usual and the kids and I, along with the Cloers and the Brewingtons, went around to all the schools with the DESEO team to help with that program. At each school the DESEO team led the kids in songs and prayer, and performed a skit based on The Parable of the Weeds. Then they went to the individual classrooms and we split up among them to help them do some crafts based on the Bible story that we had brought along. One thing we brought was a color by number page with a picture of wheat among the weeds and the other was making a decorative pencil with a stalk of wheat attached to the end. We also brought some classroom pencil sharpeners along to leave at various schools. At a few schools we didn't do the crafts and instead just visited with the kids at recess and sat in on their DESEO lessons on nutrition and hygiene. It was so interesting to see all the different schools and it was a lot of fun interacting with the kids. Since the DESEO program is just in the mornings, in the afternoons we accompanied the DESEO team members on some home visits with kids who were in the Upward basketball league. The people were generally very welcoming and nice, but we mostly just sat or stood aside and let the DESEO team members do the majority of the talking. But I think it was definitely a good experience to see how people there live and to show them that we care enough to come to their country. For our fun day on Friday we went out to the bird sanctuary near the town of Copan Ruinas. It was a beautiful little place and we saw lots of pretty birds. We even got to hold some at the end of the tour! After a catered picnic in the park we all piled in a tuk-tuk and went to Copan Ruinas to shop for souvenirs and get some ice cream at a cute little coffee shop called Welch's. After a hot, bumpy bus ride back that made me car sick and put me out of commission for the rest of the night, we got up early Saturday to make the drive back to San Pedro Sula to catch our flight. Just like last year, the trip was not without its challenges, but we felt that it was productive in providing healthcare to the people, teaching the good news to the next generation, and encouraging the church at Bario Belen.
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| obligatory late night stop at Bucees on our drive down to Houston |
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| waiting for our flight out of Houston early Saturday morning |
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| Judson and Tobin on the bus from the airport to Santa Rosa |
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| beautiful scenery on our bus ride |
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| every day after helping with DESEO we ate our lunch in the courtyard at the hotel |
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| more of the lunch bunch |
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| we were able to squeeze in several quick swims after lunch before it was time to go on the home visits |
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| Jud enjoying the refreshing (cold!) water |
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| all the kids assembled in the courtyard at one of the schools |
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| Our kids playing on the seesaws recess. You don't see too many see saws at parks at home for some reason. |
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| the DESEO team performing the skit on the parable of the weeds |
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| some of our kids helped lead singing at a few of the schools |
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| We brought along these paper glasses that you can color and shared them with the kids at one of the schools during recess |
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| cupcake Judson |
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| a few schools didn't have a courtyard so the DESEO team just did their thing in the yard or whatever space was available |
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| the girls enjoyed climbing this tree. . . |
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| while the boys found some sticks to fight with |
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| the DESEO team and some of our kids leading singing |
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| At the home of a church member after doing some home visits |
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| walking back to catch the bus after some home visits |
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| waiting on the bus |
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| playing a game they learned called Ninja |
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| a few shots from the medical brigade |
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| Scott celebrated his 39th birthday while we were there, so I had Donna get him a cake to share with the group at Weekends pizza |
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| Donna, Scott, and Phil |
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| parrots |
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| macaw |
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| toucan |
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| All of us took turns holding a bird at the end of the tour |
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| if you turned your wrist a certain way, the bird would spread its wings |
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| crammed in on the tuk-tuk |
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| dyed chicks for sale in Copan Ruinas |
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| enjoying some ice cream at Welch's coffee shop |
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