Something practical - Sponsor a child

While the team were out in Honduras, we got to know more about the Manuelito Project and the staff and kids that it supported.

As well as letting the young people know that they were loved by spending time with them, and running a holiday club for them (with games, craft and amateur dramatics), we wanted to continue that contact once we got back to the UK.

So, quite a lot of the team have decided that we would sponsor one of more of the kids for a small amount each month (£22).  It can also include writing letters/cards, which can then be posted or sent when a team goes out from St Peter's, plus hopefully in the near future, the option to send emails, and hear back from the child as well.

We were able to let them know before we came back, and the looks of joy and happiness on their faces was a reward in itself, as the kids don't always think they are worth it, and encouragement like this is always good. Also, in spanish, the nearest word the Manuelito Project has to "sponsor" is "padre de dios" which means "God parent".

You can also sponsor a child who is trying to go to the A.F.E. school (near the waste tip) as well, and it will help them immensely as well.

Each child needs 10 sponsors in order to be full supported (and most now have 1), as both Projects currently have to rely on regular donations for financial support.

Please click on the links below to find out more:

Sponsor a child at A.F.E.
Sponsor a child at Manuelito project (UK)
Sponsor a child at Manuelito project (US)

Video - Child of the streets

On the last evening we were there, the children and the staff gave us an evening of testimonies and dances, which was great. One of them was called "Child of the streets" and you can see a version of it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNoAmi_Bgi0

Photos - the clinic building at Manuelito Project

Here are some photos of the new building (to house a clinic) at the Manuelito Project, which was helped to be built by members of the St Peter's team on their first visit here in 2011!

It's not complete, due to some delays, but we hope it will be soon.

The building from the outside

A space (to be partitioned) which may be for the Clinic

A toilet and shower

A room which may be used as a dormitory for visiting teams

Another room

Photos - something to start you off

Thanks for popping back, and here are some photos from the trip, with more to added soon.

Ellie from the team has also created a great video which we hope to link/ add to soon.

Enjoy.

Our trusty steed for the time we were out there, driven by the capable Carlos

Getting ready for our Pirates Holiday Club

 A very British evening (complete with music and Beef stew w/ dumplings)

Blocks of Sugar, made from sugar cane sap

Day 12 - back home in the UK

Well, the team has made it back safe and sound to the UK, apart from the planned trip of two members to Mexico.

It was a long flight back from Houston, and I think we could all do with some sleep, though we were been advised to eat some food and not sleep (too much) until the evening.

I think we had all been misisng some things while in Honduras, and the following has been a great help for some of us in overcoming the jetlag

yes, that is tea made in the british tea ceremony of kettle -> teapot -> in cup with milk.

I am sure there will be more added here, and you may have already seen some photos posted on facebook and our twitter account as well.

Hope to see some of you on sunday morning (10.30am @ St Peter's) for our Honduras-themed service, where the team will be talking about their experiences and showing a video put together by one of the team.

Day 10 - The Last Day

Today we went to a local tourist destination called the "Valley of the Angels." This involved walking around lots of similar shops that sold lots of similar boxes and definitely-genuine football shirts.
There were also machetes, which we decided not to buy on advice that we may get put into a Honduran prison cell for the night if our luggage were to be searched.

There were also gifts for the mentally ill: a wide array of dead frogs that had been dried out and nailed into positions to look like humans. I decided to buy coffee rather than pay money for a dead reptile playing a xylophone.

In the evening we watched the kids give us a goodbye performance, which involved some dancing and singing. Then a few kids gave some emotional goodbye speeches which made us all want to stay for longer.

However, we decided that we probably should leave seeing as we've booked the tickets and all.

We went outside for a bonfire where we roasted (set fire to) marshmallows and the team were all given thank you cards. Except Pippa (who got hers on friday).

The trip has been amazing, but a part of me is looking forward to being on the right - as in 'correct' side of the road. (Dylan)

Our flight tomorrow is at 11.40 in the morning our time (or so I've been told) and we will be arriving at Heathrow early Friday morning. Thank you everyone for reading the blog and supporting us and the home financially and through prayer. Keep checking the blog and Twitter over the coming days as we should be posting some reflections and also some details about how to support the home and children through sponsorship!!! I will also try and put as many pictures up on both as soon as we get a more reliable Internet connection! Much love, Sam

Word from Dunc

Driving up to the dump yesterday with the team from St.Peter's was one of those experiences that will remain with me for a very long time.  As we wound our way up the dusty track that leads to the plateau where the trucks dump their loads of rotting rubbish, we found a place to park the bus and began to distribute food and water to the adults and children who are trying to eek out and existence earning 50p a day from recycling rubbish.

On our way up to the dump I was talking with Jimmy who decided to come up to the dump with us.  Jimmy is 13 and has been attending the AFE School for the last 8 years with his little brother Jimmy.  Both boys have to work on the dump at weekends and after school in order to support their mum and keep food on the table.

Jimmy (photo left) and I were talking about what happened the day before when a group of armed men drove up to the dump and open fire at a group of people.  Two people died instantly and two are now seriously ill in hospital.  Jimmy told me how one of the bullets whizzed just an inch away from his leg and lodged itself in the rubbish.

He was lucky to be alive as one the older boys that usually works with him was only 15 and was killed in the shooting.  He was obviously in a state of alert and was sticking very close to us.

Life for these children is often defined by poverty, violence, abuse, hunger and hard work.  Enjoying what many of us have experienced of childhood is not an option for these children.  Their life expectancy is not that great and even worse for girls who always seem to suffer the most.

In countries like Honduras nearly 25% of all pregnant women are aged 10-14 years and 400 of those girls die each year as a result of being pregnant so young.

It is hard to understand how a child can cope with all that is thrown at them but they manage to smile and still hope rises in their hearts.

The team from St.Peter's have sown a lot into so many hearts during this trip and I have seen how this has made hope rise in so many lives.

Thank you team for coming to serve and love those who many turn away from.

Dunc Dyason

Day 9

Today we woke up early to make our way to AFE, the school near the rubbish dump. It was definitely one of our most challenging days so far. When we arrived Pastor Jonny, the founder and manager of AFE gave us a tour. He joked at how he would keep it short to just 3 hours but this was no joke... we were able to see some of the kids in their classes from crèche through to 11th grade. It was cool to hear their dreams and hopes for the future. We were also able to have some time playing with the children in their break time which involved pushing them on swings.

After this it was on to the dump. A few of us were already feeling sick due to heat stroke and were apprehensive at the thought of the dump, however, powered on through anyway. As soon as we got up the hill we were oberwhelmed by the stench and surrounded by people, cows, dogs and vultures all searching through the rubbish. We aimed to share out as much food as possible whilst we were up there and so split into teams for the children, women and men. With over 1000 people working and living at the dump, this was a near impossible task and each of us were bombarded by crowds of people grabbing food. This was an overwhelming experience for many and was difficult to deal with, but we were able to pray for and feed some people.

Unfortunately we weren't able to stay at the dump for very long as we were in a rush to get back to start cooking our English meal for the home! For this we were making beef stew with dumplings and roast potatos, and for desert trifle...yum! This all went really well despite the lack of time and the kids were all asking for seconds. With some English music from DJ Dunc and street dancing from some of the children we all had an enjpyable evening.

Its been a long day and we're all tired now but excited for a relaxing day of shopping tomorrow!

Lots of love,

Lois and Ruth

Messages to home;

Ruth : Hi mum and dad, all is gooing well and the weather is amazing! Food is honduran but really nice. Hope all is well at home and can't wait to see you soon x

Ellie : Still not ill and haven't fainted yet!

B & B : Today was surprising between AFE and the dump, on like heaven and the other like the other place. Going to AFE has really helped us to see why we have come to Honduras as well as going to Derby. Hope everyone at home is enjoying keeping up to date with our blog and we also appreciate everyones prayers.

Lorna : Looking forward to seeing you all, going to miss it here and definitely need to come back soon! God's doing amazing work and can't wait to share it all with you when I'm home. Make sure the sun's shining for when we get back. Love you all!

Day 8

Hello all!
Today was our final day of holiday club, fittingly we shared a story named 'the last goodbye' - about Jesus' breakfast on the beach with his disciples.
We then played games, crab football went down a treat with the older ones, meanwhile the younger ones shouted 'corre', (run), much to our confusion. We were too hot to walk let alone run. However, we gave in to their demands and had some relays!
This morning was spent either studying, napping, or shopping for food for our English dinner tomorrow night. Rumour has it the market was quite an experience - a drunken man came up to Charlotte and began to rub her arm, definitely a little too close for comfort, he insisted he had aloe vera to cure her of her freckles! However, the ingredients for stew, dumplings and trifle were all bought - lets hope the stew is a little more tasty than the cottage pie of two years ago - although our ingredients do keep disappearing into our dinner.
This evening we were all forced to reflect a little after two of the children from the home - Eva and Bryan - shared their testimonies. As Mauricio said 'I cannot understand how these children can go outside and play and laugh, when you know all that they have been through.'
However, to hear Eva talk about God having a plan for her life was incredible, she said to us, 'I tell you my story not to make you cry but so that you know what God has done in my life.' Manuelito has broken the cycle of poverty in her life. If she had stayed on the streets it is unlikely she would be alive today.
We were also able to pray for the staff, to be reminded of all they have given up to serve God, by serving these children, is an inspiration. To support the work of this project, the staff and the children, please not only pray, but also consider sponsoring a child - it takes 10 sponsors to cover the cost of looking after one child for a month! For more information please follow this link. http://www.streetkidsdirect.org.uk/index.php/get-involved/child-sponsorship

With much love to all our cold friends in England.
X

Day 7 - Church and giant Jesus

Today (Sunday) we went to the the capital, Tegucigalpa, to celebrate the 47th anniversary of Pastor Jorge Pinto's Church, Amor y Vida. Pastor Pinto is the founder of Manuelito and so we and all the kids from the project took two buses on the hour and a half journey to be there.

Church started at about 10.30, but it seemed to be only us until about 11 (I'm not going to worry about being 5 minutes late to church ever again). We watched some lovely dancers with flags and tambourines who wore lots of silk clothing and worshiped as best we could (not much singing, lots of clapping). We introduced ourselves and Rosalie did a small talk about stepping out and about the future of the St Peters/Amor y Vida/Manuelito partnership and we tried to sing light of the world in Spanish. Maybe we will try it at Church when we we're back...

After Church we quickly ran out to the buses and took a trip up a huge hill overlooking Tegucigalpa which has a large statue of Jesus, similar to Rio De Janeiro, on top. We ordered 35 pepperoni pizzas which greeted us at the top which filled us and all the kids up to the brim! Duncan said it was nice to hear the kids say that they were full.

After a couple of hours in the park around giant Jesus we headed back to Manuelito via a trip to a supermarket. We were told it was a more expensive supermarket as it was stocked with a lot of American food and upon entry was clearly very popular with American missionaries. We stocked up on lucky charms, pop tarts and Dylan bought 12 cans of root beer (despite the fact he had never tried it before and has now decided he doesn't like).

It's been a long, hot and tiring day and I think we are all looking forward to bed.

Day 6 - Womens event

Sorry for the delay in this blog, the internet has been down for a day!

So Saturday was the day of the womens event. We woke up at the usual time of around 6 to find a 'small tarantula' in the sink. After a few screams, one of the older boys from the home came to rescue us. Apparently it was venomous...so he used some kitchen tongs to remove it. After the initial shock we continued with our breakfast and ran through the itinerary for the day.

The plan for the morning was to make sandwiches, this seemed like a colossal task and so we were worried when we didn't begin making them until half 11! Despite the delay, we made 192 sandwiches in just under an hour and were all ready for the day ahead.

Soon we were off. when on the bus it took us a while to get off as we kept forgetting things and people but we got there in the end with plenty of time to spare. The afternoon started with some Spanish worship and some dancing put on by some of the youth. This followed with an introduction from Rosalie followed by testimonies from Beth, about chosing love and not fear and from Charlotte about forgiveness, all of which were received well from the Church of around 90 women. The talks were not only encouraging for the Hondurans but also the rest of the team that were there. After this we had a small break and handed out the sandwiches we'd made in the morning with some soda.

The church were all grateful for the snack and were ready to return to some teaching. We began part 2 with singing to them, 2 songs in English and 1 in Spanish. Alejandra then spoke about the women's worth - more precious than silver. This followed by some time in ministry and handing out the gifts we had prepared for the women. All seemed to enjoy themselves as we were shown through the 90 hugs each of us got before leaving the building.

Some final thank yous and dancing was done and we were back on the bus for a quick change over at the home before a bonfire tonight with the kids. Only the youth half of the group decided to join in the bonfire as the others were tired. The bonfire was an evangelical event put on by the church which involved fire, worship and what seemed like a very motivational talk (in Spanish).

We were glad to get home and in bed after a long day!

Hope all is well at home and I hope it's starting to warm up in preparation for our return.

Lots of love,

Lois x

Day 5!

Hello all...
Today was a fairly relaxing day! We started the morning off by playing rounders in the kids PE lesson, whilst a few of the girls sorted out the gift bags for the women's event in Talanga tomorrow.

After,  we had a team meeting where we did some worship, prayer and also read through the script for the story we were going to be doing at the kids club in the afternoon. Todays story was about Peter betraying Jesus.

After eating lunch we had some chill out time before heading over to the dining room for the kids club. They enjoyed playing 'Bulldog' outside and also decorating spinning tops.

In the evening some of us played some basketball and had a go at beating a pinyata as it was Carols birthday today (along with some of the kids here)!

To top it all off, Sarah,  Ellie,  Dylan and Pippa had a go at driving Duncans car down the homes driveway!

Ps. Happy Birthday Dad! Ellie x

Blog en espanol!

Estar en Honduras me hace sentir como si estuviera en mi pais, Mexico.  A final de cuentas, somos Latinoamericanos y compartimos muchas cosas; cultura, idioma, clima, comida, etc. Asi como tambien compartimos el tener a tantos ninos en la calle que han sido abandonados o que han escapado y preferido vivir ahi porque es mejor que estar en una casa donde son muy maltratados…

Siempre he tenido un Corazon especial hacia los ninos latinoamericanos, y estar aqui y ver a todos los ninos de Manuelito, me inyecta mas ganas de siempre hacer algo por ellos. Admiro mucho lo que hacen aqui, tendria que escribir una lista MUY larga de todo ello!  Son realmente un ejemplo a seguir. Solo creanme que aqui en Manuelito existe y se puede ver un VERDADERO AMOR por el nino de la calle.

Hoy en nuestro 5o dia aqui y nos estamos derritiendo! Pero no nos quejamos, y mucho menos ahora que nos enteramos que en Maidenhead estan a 4 grados C!!!

Manana tenemos el evento tan esperado con las mujeres de Talanga. Hoy vi al Pastor que las esta invitando y no sabe si tendremos a 75, 100, 150, 200 o mas! Tenemos preparados 222 regalos para ellas, si llegan mas de este numero, espero que se multipliquen de forma sobrenatural! Jaja!! Ya les platicare… 

Quiero tambien compartirles lo bien que me hace sentir el ver a mis otros compatriotas, los ingleses, amar tanto a toda esta gente hondurena. Los britanicos ayudan mucho y son caritativos, pero su ayuda se ve mas hacia Africa y otros paises Asiaticos. Personalmente, casi no me ha tocado verla hacia Latinomerica por lo que me siento privilegiada de ser parte de este equipo.

Alejandra

Thanks for reading the blog

This is just a quick post to say thank you to everyone who is reading the blog and our tweets, and also coming back to read again and comment. We have recorded 193 pageviews for Thursday, and 976 in the last 7 days, which we think is amazing, as there is probably more unrecorded, and we have gone international with visitors from Australia, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Jersey, Spain and USA,

This is a real encouragement to the team, as it helps us to know that you are interested in what we are doing, and also that it is worth us adding new posts and tweets as well.

We are sorry to not be able to add new photos (which we are taking), but at present 1 image would take up 1 day's worth of data, and when the Manuelito home reaches its limit for the month, no more internet for the rest of that month. We are working on uploading via another way, so will see what we can do, or else there will just have to be a flood when we get back to the UK.

thanks,

The team

Day 4 - a guys perspective

To give you an idea of our time here, I will let you know that the team are in dormitories with bunk beds, and the guys (Sam, Dunc, Dyl and Ben) are in one room, while the girls are split between two. All the guys got the bed they wanted, and ear plugs have obviously only been deployed due to the night chorus from outside, rather then the noises from inside!

As has been mentioned before, we were lucky enough to see all the school children (from the Manuelito home and the poorer kids from the nearby town Talanga), be able to spend their points that they had accumulated in the last month for doing positive things, on clothing, toys, sweets and other items. It was touching to see a young boy come out proudly displaying the toy cars he had got, as while they were for an younger child, they may have the first proper toys he had ever had.

We also found out that we had been able to give in the donated clothes at the right time, as they were able to be included in this month's choice, especially the boys clothing, as they find it hard to get enough boys clothes as so many more. All the football tops went very quickly, so lots of new Arsenal and Chelsea fans!

In Honduras, the most popular sport is football, and they watch and know lots about Spanish and English football, with the spanish team Barcelona being the most popular. Baseball is the second most popular.

At the holiday club, it was great to hang out with the kids and see them really enjoy us put this club on for them, so much so that they would get involved and be really concentrating as they enjoy the stories and the creative craft. There is nothing like having about 50 kids who have been cheering loudly for last few minutes suddenly fall silent for 30 minutes as they add colour to a picture (including butterflies, boats, fish and bees) that they can then keep and have on their bunk bed wall, to bring home how much this means to them. Also, one of the older boys wanted to do the closing prayer for the club, which was great as well.

In the evening, while the ladies were preparing for the pamper evening, Dyl, Sam and Ben played American football and normal football/soccer with some of the younger boys, and you know that you are really out of your comfort zone when you are being lightly tackled and wrestled on the ground by four boys you barely know the name of, and are still really enjoying it and seeing them really enjoy it as well.

Later in the evening, Sam, Dyl and Ben (with some technical help from Dunc) organised a movie night for the children, complete with sweet popcorn from UK (which the children had never tasted) and watched 'The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!/ Band of Misfits' in spanish with english subtitles. The kids really enjoyed it and we had a good time, and got back just before the rain started (it was started to become brown again, so was needed)

Hope you enjoyed reading this, and come back soon for the next installment.

The Guys (Ben, Dyl, Dunc and Sam)

Day 4 - Pamper evening!

Hello viewers of our amazing blog... Well, today has been another scorcher, in more ways than one.  Not quite a lie in - up at 4.45 again (although most people managed to sleep til 6) to the most beautiful pink & misty sunrise.  We're so fortunate that although it's been meltingly hot during the day, it gradually cools overnight to revive us.

We prepared the house for the pamper evening this morning, and were then told that the children from the school would be receiving their monthly 'positive discipline' points, which they were then able to spend in the 'shop'.  This was a big deal for the children - they had all built up their points through good behaviour, manners, taking care of their clothes, respecting each other, taking care in their appearance and doing their chores.  Each one reappeared at the door clutching their gifts and Helga took a photo of them.  We were moved almost to tears when one of the older boys told us that he had got two gifts for his mum...wow.

This afternoon was another brilliant 'Pirate Holiday Club' with a much overacted story of how Jesus calmed the storm on the lake. Alejandra managed to persuade some of the kids to sing 'Wide & Deep' in English to everyone which was brilliant.

We then split into the older & younger groups where the older children were taught how to play Benchball, with great success - impressive to see the teamwork and how the older kids helped the younger ones.  We went outside and created our own version of Duck Duck Goose, 'Pirate Pirate Treasure', played by squirting water on each persons head as they went around the circle - inspired by Naomi, we were all soaked by the end, thankfully as it was boiling out on the field.

The most incredible part of the afternoon was also the most unexpected - today's 'craft' activity was to stick coloured stickers onto a sheet with different animals - the 14 year old boys sat perfectly happily for half an hour doing this activity....wow!  It's such a humbling experience being here.  We have all said how brilliant it is that they all enjoy the activities, no complaints or boredom.

This evening was our much anticipated and prayed for 'Pamper' evening for all the women who work here.  We decorated the living room with posters in English & Spanish ...'Jesus loves You'; 'God Bless You'; 'We are sisters in Christ' and draped many of the wonderful scarves that had been donated over the chairs, around windows and over tables to create a calming atmosphere with rose scented candles and worship music in the background.

We sang to them in Spanish - 'Vine adorate' and thanked them for their generosity of time, love and care towards us, and in their work here.  We then washed and massaged their feet and hands and prayed for them.  At the end we gave them each a bag of 'goodies' which we had put together with all the wonderful gifts donated by everyone at home.

With Alejandra's professional colour training, we had taken time to match all the items and then give them specifically to certain people if we felt 'called' to do so...the results were only possible through divine intervention - one lady was in tears saying the verse on her bookmark was written for her, another had earrings which she'd lost previously.

Many others were in tears of joy opening their bags, trying on their scarves and smelling the scents of their lotions.  We also noticed that some of them started to do each others hair.  Brilliant - it even led to us washing each others feet - even Ben's(!) afterwards.

Right now there is a storm with 'proper' rain...hopefully the air will have cleared a bit and tomorrow might be a little less hot.

Good night and God bless,
love Carlotta aka Charlotte

Day 3 - Happy birthday to Ben!

Today we were more upbeat after a better night of sleep, laying in until half 5 (...) and enjoyed a morning group session outside. This was followed by a filling breakfast of yummy pancakes and watermelon!

After this, we sent the students to study for around 2 hours whilst the rest of the team itemised the donations we brought to give to the home, this was 4 full suitcases of clothes alone!! And painted the boat for the holiday club. We were living the high life for lunch as we enjoyed a good 6oz steak with salad!

Following this began the holiday club where we shared the story of Peter walking on water, this lead to Lorna further explainig the story and encouraging the kids in their spiritual journeys. We then split in to two groups, the older kids group lead by Sam and Naomi, played dodgeball indoors. After what seemed a simple game, in translation became very complicated. Despite this, it's a new game they can play for life!! Meanwhile, the younger kids (10 and under) enjoyed water games, target games and captains coming. This was outside on what the Hondurans referred to as a hot day and what we referred to a 'flippin' hot day'. Despite this, it was overall a very fun day as the kids get very stuck in. After 40 minutes, we were glad to hear it was snack time and we all congrigated in the dining hall for drinks and crafts. We came to an end with the song 'wide and long and high and deep' with verses in both Spanish and English.

Finally it was time for team meeting followed by a free relaxing evening.

Please continue to pray for the work we are doing and specifically for the pamper evening we are running for the female staff members tomorrow evening.

In terms of the confusing title, Duncan bought some flapjacks and pretended it was Ben's birthday.

Lots of love,

Lois and Ruth xxx



Messages to home;

Ruth - 'Shout out to ma peeps Hannah and Mark, all is going well mum and dad and not too home sick but still missing you! Hope your all good. Thank you for all the scarfs Grandma.'  

B&B - 'Feeling healthy and happy and just about recovred from jetlag! Blown away by what we see God doing already in Honduras!'

Pippa- 'Hi mum and dad, I hope your having a good Easter! Mum I know you'll be worrying, but we're all happy and healthy and getting on and uninjured, no problemos! Give Spot a cuddle from me. Sam, hope you're not working too hard, missing you (and you mum and dad, awks love you) and see you all soon :) keep safe!! xxx'

Ellie - 'Hey guys, don't worry, I'm not feling sick and I actually enjoyed our landing in Teguc!'

Day 2 - the pirates have landed!

Hello fellow fans. Our first night in Honduras was OK, however we went to bed early which meant that we woke up early, for some people at 3:00am! I know you all want to know what we have been eating so here is the low down:

Breakfast: sausages, eggy bread, scrambled egg, watermelon
Luch: spicy rice and beef
Dinner: Tacos and chicken

Om nom nom. We had our first day of the pirate themed holiday club today. We looked at the bible story where Jesus meets Peter and catches loads of fish and about how we can follow Jesus and be fishers of men. We were quite nervous about the language beeing a barrier but with the help of Captain Jack Loco (Captain Crazy Jack a.k.a Duncan) and our wonderful Alejandra we managed fine and the kids had a great time! During the rest of the afternoon some of us wih exams coming up did some work (please pray for exams!) We then followed up the evening with a Veggie Tales Pirate film which we watched outside underneath the stars on a big screen.

We are all very tired but at the same time very excited to be here serving God. He's got big plans for us and the project and its really specail being able to be here witnessing God's work. I am especially looking forward to the club tomorrow as I am getting to do the talk! Please continue to pray for us and that we feel renewed, refreshed and revived with energy each day! It's amazing to see how God is with us on this trip and how he is bringing it all together! In traditional pirate talk; Argghhhmen!

P.s please comment so we know how you are all keeping in Maidenhead!

(Lorna)

Day 1 - We are here!

Hello all! We are in Honduras! !

After an early morning and breakfast in the housten hotel we got the bus to the airport and were ready to fly. Had a good flight to Tegucigalpa and went for lunch at popeyes chicken place. After that we picked up Naomi from AFE (shes practically Honduran now).

Finally, after a 2 hour drive we arrived at Manuelito.  We are all extremely tired, jet lag! But after playing with kids for a bit and having a quick meeting we are all ready to go to bed. Night! - dont worry mummies and daddies we are here safely! (Written by Sarah and Ellie)

Ps. Happy Birthday Grandad from Sarah and Ruth x

Lornas Corner
Hey y'all. We are here in the Manuelito home. So awesome to see all the kids again especially as some of them recognised us! Special shout out to the Young clan back in M-head. Missing you all lots. And Courtney Im now a pro at basketball by playing with the kids. Miss you too. Keep us all in your prayers! God is doing awesome things. A to the men!

Day 1 - Travel and Texas

We are here, all safe and sound, well fed, and in a surprisingly comfortable hotel!

We took off from Heathrow at 11.46 (that's right! A massive 6 minutes late thanks to business class not having the correct TV headsets) and embarked on a tedious 10 hour journey to Houston. Lucky for us, we were able to watch a selection of films and TV that repeated themselves every couple of hours, including a documentary about ancient  Polynesians and Rise of the Guardians. After a very smooth flight we hit a pocket of heavy turbulence as we came to land and my picturesque vision of sun, cowboy hats and tumbleweed was shattered as we were met by rain. Lots and lots of rain.

We arrived at the hotel as the sun decided to pop out again with only one thing on our mind. FOOD! We booked in and were immediately told that our options were limited as due to it being easter Sunday, everywhere was closed. Having said this the receptionist handed us some takeaway menus which we piled into. Half an hour later, thanks to some excellent order taking by Lois we were ready! Unfortunately the takeaway place wasn't and upon calling them we discovered that they were closed.
Take two, we opt for pizza. Another half hour of deliberating and we pick up the phone...closed!

Hungry, and on the verge of giving up, Charlotte discovered that just across the road was a 24 hour diner! We scuttled across the road (at the designated crossing to avoid Jaywalking) and into the neon glow of Hot Biscuit: 24 hour Restaurant.

I'm now writing this blog post with a full belly of deep fried fish, deep fried crab, deep fried shrimp, deep fried corn stuff (hushpuppies) and of course, deep fried French fries.

We are up early tomorrow morning and will post the next blog from Honduras. The Twitter page is also much more regularly updated (and you don't need an account yourself to view it).

Please pray for our travel tomorrow, as well as for energy for all of us and thank God for how good this hotel is and how safe he has been keeping us!

The Trip - Off we go!

Assuming all is going as planned (which it will be), the team is now meeting (probably a bit tired from early morning and losing an hour as clocks go forward), and setting off on our trip to Honduras to visit The Manuelito Home.

More news when we can get to a computer or get a mobile signal, and can give you an update!

Over to you - Any Questions about Honduras?

Ok, so we have been asking you a few questions to see what you might already know about Honduras, and we think you have been doing quite well.

So why don't we turn the tables, and let you ask the questions about Honduras and those who live there, and we will ask them on your behalf to those who we meet there.

If you have a question that you want to ask one of the team or someone who lives in Honduras, then add it as a blog comment or as a tweet on twitter with #2013honduras, and we will see if you we can get an answer for you, and add it as a tweet and as part of a post.

Mind you, we will filter the questions for appropriateness, but we are sure you quite sensible anyway!

Honduras Quiz part 6 -the answers!

Well done for keeping on coming back, and here are the answers you have been waiting for:

1. Belize
2. Bottle nose dolphins
3. depths
4. silver
5. 80%
6. Maya
7. 1821
8. 8,000,000
9. Orchid
10. 11

So how did you do?

When the team going to Honduras did it, some of us only got 2 and a few got up to 7, so we reckon it's quite difficult!

Honduras Trip - How can I pray?

Please start by...
Thanking God for his provision of money and team members, and for the way in which he has been working on the planning of this trip.

Pray for the team:
Lorna, Lois, Pippa, Ruth, Sarah, Ben and Beth, Duncan, Ellie, Charlotte, Carol, Alejandra, Rosalie, Sam, Dylan.

Please also pray for:

• Flights on 31st March/1st April and 11/12th April.
• For health and safety for all.
• For the events planned - children’s holiday club and women’s event especially.
• For energy for the whole trip.
• For our communication in Spanish.
• For family and friends in the UK.
• That we know God's love for ourselves as we seek to share it.

Thnak you for your prayers

Honduras Quiz part 5 - last questions

Last two questions, and the answers tomorrow

10. What is the national flower of Honduras?

• Peace Lily
• Orchid
• Amaryllis
• Bird of Paradise

9. In Britain we have 426 motor vehicles per 1000 people. How many are there per 1000 people in Honduras?

• 11
• 28
• 42
• 73

Hope you have been enjoying guessing or finding out the right answers (which you can still add as a tweet on twitter with #2013honduras), and we will reveal the answers tomorrow.

Honduras Quiz part 4 - How are you doing?

just a couple more! Last ones tomorrow

7. Once part of the Spanish Empire, when did Honduras become an independent nation?

• 1795
• 1821
• 1850
• 1878

8. What is the approximate population of Honduras?

• 5,000,000
• 8,000,000
• 11,500,000
• 19,000,000

Have fun guessing or finding out the right answers (which you can add as a tweet on twitter with #2013honduras, ), and we will reveal the answers (and last few quiz questions) by the end of this week.

Honduras Quiz part 3 - Can you tell what it is yet?

Ok, you might have noticed a pattern! Here are another two to tax your knowledge

5. Honduras has three distinct topological regions – two narrow coastal strips and an interior mountainous region. Approximately what percentage of the country's area is in the central mountains?

• 20%
• 40%
• 60%
• 80%

6. In Western Honduras, there is the archaeological site of Copan. Which pre-Spanish civilisation had its' capital city there between 500 and 900 AD?

• Maya
• Olmec
• Aztec
• Teotihuacan

Have fun guessing or finding out the right answers (which you can add as a comment or as a tweet on twitter with #2013honduras), and we will reveal the answers (and a few more quiz questions) later in the week.

Gift from St Peter's 9.30am service - A Thank you

Thank you to the members of the 9.30am morning service, which meets on the 1st sunday of each month at St Peter's church.

They have given at total of £126.26 before gift-aid, which will be given to The Manuelito Children's home when we go out to Honduras in a few days time.

Honduras Quiz part 2 - what do you think?

Here are some more questions, can you guess these?

3. On his 4^th voyage to the New World in 1502, Christopher Columbus reached the Bay Islands and landed on the cost of Honduras near the modern town of Trujillo. Honduras is supposedly named by him – what does it mean?

• Depths
• High mountains
• Green land
• Thanks to God

4. What valuable resource was a major factor in inducing the Spanish to form settlements in Honduras, where they subsequently ruled for around three centuries?

• Bananas
• Uranium
• Silver
• Lead

Have fun guessing or finding out the right answers (which you can add as a comment or as a tweet on twitter with #2013honduras), and we will reveal the answers (and some more quiz questions) later in the week.

Honduras Quiz part 1 - Do you know these?

Here are some quiz questions about Honduras, can you guess which is the right answer?

1. Which of these central American countries does not share a border with Honduras?

• Nicaragua
• Guatamala
• Belize
• El Salvador

2. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef is the second largest barrier reef in the world and has its southern end off the coast of Honduras (the Bay Islands) Divers there can see many interesting animals, including which of the following?

• Blue Whales
• Bottle nose dolphins
• Electric eels
• Piranhas

Have fun guessing or finding out the right answers (which you can add as a comment or as a tweet on twitter with #2013honduras), and we will reveal the answers (and some more quiz questions) later in the week.

Honduras team - Prayed for

During an exciting morning service (started by the members of Xplode and ID doing a prayer slm dunk), most of the team going to Honduras were able to come along and be prayed together by everyone present at the service, and then sent off (commissioned) to visit our friends at the manuelito Home in Honduras on behalf of the church.

You can see us in our T-shirts in the photo below

Honduras Trip - requests

The team leave for The Manuelito Children's Home in Honduras on Easter Sunday (one week's time!).

There are several things you may be able to help with:-

1. Are you able to give anyone a lift to the airport for 9.15am on Easter Day (31st March) - there are just a few of us who need transport.
2. Donate items of clothing in good condition for children from age 6 up to 18 year olds (including underwear)
3. Have any pretty silky scarves that you don't wear? We'd love to give them to the women who work at Manuelito - also small gift sized toiletries and jewellery you may have in your drawers that you never use.
4. Pray - definitely essential! A prayer card is available with things which would be particularly helpful for you to pray for

If you want any more information, please speak to Rosalie or another team member

A-Team Abseil - postponed

The Abseil has been postponed from saturday (23rd March) due to weather conditions, and will be rescheduled for later on to after Easter.

A-Team Abseil - coming up

Alex, Lesley and Mark our vicar will be doing their re-arranged abseil next Saturday (23rd March) as they abseil 418 feet down the tallest permanent abseil tower in the world. (The fourth member of the team, Simon, is doing his on 25th May)

All money raised will be split 50/50 between the OCP and the Manuelito Children's Home in Honduras, and you can still sponsor them at www.justgiving.com/A-Team-Abseil

At last count the sponsorship stands at £1,380 plus gift aid - they'd love to get to £2,000

Bunco Evening - Thank you

A Very Big Thank You to everyone who supported the Honduras Team's Bunco evening. We raised around £1600, all of which will go directly to the Manuelito children's home in Honduras.

Bunco Evening - We've done it

Still recovering from the Bunco evening we held on Saturday night in aid of Manuelito Proyectomanuelito!. It was a great evening though - so thanks to everyone who came and helped and supported us.

Bunco Evening - Coming up

Come along on the 2nd March at St Piran's School. Bunco is a really fun game, which involves lots of dice shaking, shouting and laughter. Come and have a great evening and support the Manuelito Childrens home in Honduras.

Tickets cost £12 and include taco bar (Mexican meal) with Silent Auction (offers for lots gratefully accepted!) For more info speak to Rosalie

Cake sale at River church - try one!

We will be having a cake sale at River church, Maidenhead after the morning service, which will be great.

This will be a great opportunity to taste the cakes of our great bakers on the team (which they don't like to boast about)

Honduras Charity Concert - raising the roof!

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who helped with the concert on Saturday - but especially of course to Lorna, who did an amazing job bringing it all together. It was a fantastic evening and wonderful to have so many people from so many different places coming together - and all to help raise money for Manuelito - awesome! :) We are not sure of the exact figure, but we believe we raised around £1500 altogether, which is incredible.

Team member Speaking - Duncan

We have just had Duncan (part of the Honduras Team and founder of Street Kids Direct) speaking about why he wanted to work with and help street kids in Guatamala and Honduras.

We think its really worth hearing, so you can go and listen to him on the St Peter's Church website at: Direct audio (mp3 file)
or visit www.real-life.org.uk/downloadableteac.htm (13th Jan 2013)