Lipscomb Engineering Mission Trips 2009

Pictures from Guatemala

2009-05-23T16:05:00.001-07:00

Trip Perspective from the Honduran Team

2009-05-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

Kelsey’s Perspective

Before I left, I knew that this trip would be significantly different than the others I had been on. Our purpose: to build latrines for mountain communities. The design process had been full of uncomfortable research into the world of waste and of course, full of “potty humor”. Being the only Spanish-speaker, I had invested a lot of time in preparing the instructions, signs, and manual for the latrines. Speaking Spanish to mountain people in Honduras is very similar to speaking English to hill-billys in the States: difficult. As time wore on, I became accustomed to this dialect just as I became accustomed to being the only female.
The people of Honduras have genuineness in their expressions of gratitude, curiosity, and pleasure. As we worked together on the sites (I spent more time in Las Delicias), I enjoyed how they responded in helping us: they were always willing to learn more about our project and help in making the latrine construction go as smoothly as possible. Part of this process included some hard labor on their end; several trees were chopped down and formed into 2X4s and boards to line the latrine. This work was down with a chainsaw to amazing accuracy. In the end, I was grateful for the acceptance our latrine designs received and the grace and gratitude the communities showed for our work.

Greg’s Perspective

This trip has been a wonderful experience with many great stories to be told. We had a lot of fun and a great learning experience working with the communities in Las Delicias and Agua Caliente. To be able to work side by side with the people from those communities was extremely gratifying and humbling. Although we were not able to complete the projects, we were very productive with our time and made the most of our time there. We did leave the area with two new, working latrines, which was very exciting for me. Overall, I had an awesome trip.

Dan’s Perspective:

As a freshman on this trip, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. However, from the stories of the upper classmen and from my own aspirations I was expecting something profound that I could see God clearly in. I’ve actually wanted to be missionary since I was 12 or so, and although I had never had the chance till this week, I had heard many stories from friends and family about the opportunities and chances to see God that resulted from their trips. I’ve always hungered for God, and this past year has seen development in my spiritual life that has brought me far beyond the points I once limited myself too. I’ve opened myself to God, and so in many ways this trip was more of an extension of that continual striving then an awakening of it. Although the trip wasn’t life-changing for me, I enjoyed it immensely, because, for the first time, it allowed me to help other people in a significant way—a major call in our faith. I hope to have many more opportunities like this one and if God wills (his will always comes first over my aspirations) I would love to come every year. I’ve always thought life would be pointless if I couldn’t do something to help other people through my work. Because of this I’m not expecting to be happy in the American job field if I am only working for money, success, or so many other false aspirations. I’ve NEVER wanted too. It became clear to me quite early that the only things that would fulfill me would be something where I could continually build and/or discover, and be a blessing to others. This trip was all of that, and I thank you so much for it!

Rick’s Perspective:

This trip was my third mission trip but the first time that I truly opened my eyes to the world. I was truly humbled by this experience. Kyle, a hard worker for Predisan, challenged us to view our “mission trip” as a time to prepare us for our own missions at home. His words echoed in my ears throughout the week and made me realize that I can make a difference in this world. This trip has shown me (like my past mission trips) just how blessed I am. I know that God has given me much and much is expected. This trip has made me want to listen to God’s plan for my life and not just listen to my own self-centered thoughts. This trip has also given me a greater appreciation for my family and friends. The Honduran culture is much slower paced and more family oriented than our American culture. They have their priorities straight. They also may have fewer ways to take care of their illnesses, but I am willing to bet that they do not have nearly as many problems with stress. This is because they can distinguish what matters and what is trivial much better than Americans. This year’s mission trip has challenged me to truly be a light to the world whether I am at home or in a foreign country.

Luke’s Perspective

With this trip being my first, I was not really sure what to expect. I came in with an open mind and as much flexibility as I could muster. I ended up needing both of those. Working during this trip was great. Our group worked side by side with the local people to create some beautiful latrines, if such a thing exists. One of my favorite memories came from working with a few locals to dig a footer. While digging, we discovered and busted a water line that quickly filled our new hole. After a little while of frustrations I was able to remember two simple Spanish words: “Mas aqua” meaning “more water.” Our coworker laughed and repeated the phrase. Throughout the trip, communicating with the Hondurans was a challenge and such a blessing when we were able to do it successfully. I have thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the trip and am looking forward to next year.

Jamin’s Perspective

I’m not really sure what all has been written already, but I’m one of the last ones to write, so maybe I’ll still be able to offer a unique post from our trip. As many of you know, one of my strongest passions is Astronomy. Some of my favorite nights are those spent in the countryside looking at stars and marveling at God’s creation. Imagine my excitement when we arrived at Cedeco for the week and we were miles from any light source or electricity. The Heavens were able to shine to their full extent without being inhibited by mankind’s nocturnal side. Granted, we only had one clear night; the rest were cloudy or rainy. But that one night was enough to make an impact on the few of us who stayed up to watch the sky. Familiar constellations were hard to recognize against the thousands of other stars we never get to see in the States, and the rising Milky Way was easily confused with the beginnings of dawn.
Traveling to Honduras is like traveling to another world. You can never know what to expect, and the language barrier only further complicates your connection with the people there. But that night under the stars was a humbling experience, and it truly served to bring us and the Honduran people together as one body in my eyes. Despite speaking different languages and entirely different ways of life, we are still the same people under the same stars and heavens, glorifying the same God who created it all. Language should never keep us from worshiping and serving God together. I’m thankful that He opened my mind to realize how similar we all are under his love and care.

Mark’s Perspective

I was not really sure what to expect coming to Honduras since this was my first time. I had a few stereotypes in the back of my mind from hearing others who had been on previous trips. It was almost overwhelming seeing everything when I got here; I had never seen anything like it before. Everybody was extremely busy while having a sense of calmness about them at the same time. We were very well accepted regardless of most of us not speaking any Spanish. Everyone we ran into seemed to be very excited and happy to help us and serve us on anything we needed. The language barrier was a lot more challenging to overcome than I thought it would be. I quickly picked up on a few common Spanish words, but other than that I could barely communicate with other people. I would sometimes forget that the people there did not speak English until I got a very blank look on their face when I spoke to them. I would then try to say it again in Spanish only to remember that I did not know how to speak Spanish. Regardless of this ineptness, the people were very patient and understanding with all of us. Overall the trip was a really good experience for me, and I am glad that I went on it. It really opened my eyes to a part of the world that I had not seen before.

Perspective de Jordan

So this was my first real experience in Central America (been to a few tourist areas on a family vacation in elementary school). The flight into Tegucigalpa lived up to all its expectations. It’s comparable to the best roller coaster I have ever been on without that camera to capture the look on everyone’s face when look out the window and see the guy on a hill waving and notice he is missing exactly 4 teeth. The first order of business was to get a thermal image made to ensure that we were not running a fever indignant of the H1N1 virus. Luckily, I was able to decipher the correct boxes to check on the symptom questionnaire and was granted passage into Honduras.

This trip really reopened my eyes to the fact that the body of Christ exist all around the world; something that it is so easy to forget. Probably the most useful skill that I did not possess on this trip would be knowledge of Spanish. Trying to think a different language, I occasionally attempted to communicate verbally instead of through hand motions only to realize I was speaking French and that probably did less good than English (funny related story: while discussing the similarity in the currency symbol for the Honduran Lempira and British Pound, Luke proceeded to ask Kyle, “How many French people lived in Honduras?” to which Kyle attempted to respond to while the perplexed look on his face was trying to reason why that question had just been asked.) The people were amazing in the mountains where we were working, willing to help out in whatever way possible. It is amazing to see God at work in the heart of people around the world. I feel like the concept of composting latrines was well received although it was hard for some of the people to get past the idea that there was no water involved. While it is amazing to see how just basic engineering task can make such a difference in a community, the cultural impact is so much more significant that I had perceived. It would be easy to bring all of our technology to this country, but it would not be appropriate or accepted into the culture. Appropriation of technology for countries like Honduras is most definitely a greater task than the engineering itself.

God is great!

The Week in Review--Guatemala Team

2009-05-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

Friday/Day 3
Sam and his concrete company mixed a bunch of concrete and we made the frames for the spring box. Katie got made fun of as she used the hand saw pitifully. We prepped the ram pump site. All the community came out and dug trenches for the pipe. It has to be known, that when they dug trenches, they DUG TRENCHES. They had a ridiculous distance to cover through walls of wilderness yet if we blinked they moved several yards. They grow those Guatemalan men strong! Heidi, DeeDee and Nathan set up all the components for the filter. It rained really hard in the afternoon and Katie, John, and Stephen got caught in the rain at the ram pump and went slip-n-sliding on the mud. Go to pictures for more details. Jon, Nathan, Kevin, Alex, and Sam poured the pila platform at the clinic and got caught in the rain too. We were all a good looking group after that.

Saturday/ Day 4
Laid pipe. Lots and lots of pipe. Glued and laid pipe. Kris and Stephen worked on site A all day long. They poured the wall for site A, which didn’t look like it would hold at first but luckily through the rain it dried and held. John, Nathan, and Steve built the retaining wall for the ram pump. Nathan and Steve seemed to have several clones on the trip as they helped out with everything and seemed to be everywhere at once. Kevin was a great advisor as he helped us work out kinks and think through the layout of our design. We played the Jesus film in Ketchi at night and they LOVED it. Jon and Kevin left right before dinner to go back home a little early. Sad times, they were missed. Although we did have more room at the dinner table…

Sunday/ Day five
Pipe touch up. We filled the filters with sand, the very sand we filtered through a make shift filter…without any help from the super Guatemalan men. We built the dam at site A. We were challenged (asked) to play soccer with the Guatemalan elite team. We thought it was going to be a friendly low-key game, yet when we got to the field a mile up a mountain we realized that they were serious about their soccer or futbol. The “kids” we thought we were going to play were actually hardcore futbol players who had been training since they were little. Their matching uniforms should have told us we should be scared. Alex made two goals however, and Sam was the jam at being goalie. They gave us two Guatemalans to make it more even, but we still got our butts kicked, and all the villagers crowded around the field to watch it. Fun times. We played another video, the Hope Story for them…once again, a big hit. The Guatemalans packed that school room out.

Monday/Day 6
The end was in sight as the Guatemalan missions team worked hard to finish their project. The spring box was finished and we filled the top of the spring box, although we did not put it on the spring box yet. Some of the pipe wasn’t low enough, so we had to reroute some of the pipe so that gravity could do work. That meant the Guatemalans had to dig some more trenches and watch some of their already dug trenches go unused.  But they were such servants and hard workers even through the language barrier. We spent time trouble-shooting the whole system to see where water would flow and not flow. The Guatemalans laid pipe AND glued it themselves all the way to tank B, at the far end of the galaxy. We were able to pipe water to tank B which we never thought was possible. Thank God! We replayed the Jesus film because it was such a hit. They kept asking for another movie and Steve said we didn’t have any others, but they told him to replay the Jesus film again. So we did.

Tuesday/Day 7
We troubleshot the ram pump the whole morning and rerouted some more pipe until it worked great. We decided to abandon the filters and we did some final touches. DeeDee and Dr. Patterson finished up at the pila by the road on the other side of the grid and installed the facets. Katie got to jump in the 4200 L tanks and clean the debri out. We were done by mid afternoon when DeeDee organized craft time for the kids and other villagers as Kris, Steve, and K-Pat took the water committee on a tour and explained the system to them. They explained how to work the ram pump and maintenance issues. Back at the school the rest of the team blew bubbles which entertained the kids for at least an hour. They never tired of head butting and punching the bubbles. Katie and Sam got to see one of the Guatemalans ring the neck of one of their chickens which was going to be cooked soon thereafter for our parting dinner. The dinner they made for us was quite a sacrifice on their part, however it didn’t compare to Cata’s cooking. Heidi went through all of our pictures and composed an awesome slide show. We showed the Guatemalans the pictures that had been taken of them during the trip on the projector. The kids screamed every time they recognized one of themselves. Pretty righteous.

Wednesday/Day 8
We woke up at 4:30 in the morning. Some of the guys woke up to Dr. Patterson kicking their air mattresses. Luckily the girls woke each other up with a softer touch. It was raining as we had to carry all of our luggage and supplies down the mountain/cliff. We had to get it all down the mountain by 6 to catch the chicken bus. Thankfully some villagers showed up with their marvelous muscles and got our supplies/luggage down. Alex threw up on the chicken bus.  He’s okay now, but we all felt really bad for him. John kept Katie and Stephen really warm on the bus as we were all packed in like sardines. A memorable ride. Nathan rubbed Alex’s back while he barfed. It was really sweet. We got back to the hotel pasado del san fransisco. (?) We had a quick breakfast and hot shower (which felt amazing) and then headed off to the Shampoo Shamay and we hiked through a neat cave. Then we rode in the back of a truck to one of the seven naturals of the world, Semuc Champey. We swam in the crystal clear blue pools fed by a huge waterfall. We all got seconds on cokes at lunch/dinner there, and had an amazing time relaxing after a hard week. We got back late and sang songs, prayed, and reflected on what God has done through us, to us, and what He has shown us through each other and others throughout the trip.

Thursday Update--Guatemala Team

2009-05-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

This blog was written last night, but it was not until today (Friday) that we got internet access!! All is well!

Greetings from Guatemala!!!!
We are all alive and well. No one is injured.  Yesterday we had a warm welcome from the community. All the kids were watching at us and laughing at us right from the start. We had a ¼ mile trek up the mountain which we had to carry our suitcases and equipment. All of us were out of breath after a few steps up the muddy slopes due to the high elevation (at least that’s our excuse). The Guatemalan men on their “water committee” came and carried two of our bags at a time and had us all amazed and embarrassed. They are a lot smaller than us, but as we found out they are stronger than us. There is quite a language barrier as we have to go through Spanish to Ketchi. They cooked us lunch and killed two of their chickens to feed us. We were very grateful and honored because they share so readily with us. Later they wanted to share their music with us, so a few of the villagers played the Marimbas and drums. Then a few of us danced (mainly because DeeDee pulled us up out of our seats) and some of the women danced with us as well. Laughter is universal, especially when Americans try to dance. Jon Lee, however, whipped out some sweet swing dancing moves and impressed us all. We also had introductions and went around and said our names. We prayed together, and they read some passages out of their Ketchi Bible. It was evident even with the language barrier that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Afterwards we did some surveying and ran across a couple issues. Our water site near the school could not be found, so we had to move down the hill a little bit. Nothing a couple of engineers couldn’t figure out. In the evening the men in the village invited us to join in one of their religious ceremonies where they would ask God to bless our work. They lit candles and read the passage of the woman at the well out of their Ketchi Bible. They burned incense and placed the candles around the spring source and prayed about the work we would be doing the next day. We all felt very privileged to witness such a ceremony.
5/14/09
We all had an early day today, breakfast was at 6:30. Promptly afterwards we broke up into teams and went to work. At one source, “site A”, we were able to get the ram pump working, and John did a great job with that! Meanwhile, Steven and his many helpers started on the spring box for the spring near the school. By mid morning we had a nice crowd of Guatemalans watching us crazy gringos trying to split 4 by 4’s. After lunch we flagged out a path for the pipes that will carry the water from site A to a couple level areas where we will put the filters and clean water tanks later on this week. The flags are for the Guatemalans tomorrow to go through the hillside and clear away the bushes and trees to make it easier for us to bury the pipes. Alex and Sam did a great job mixing cement and made a platform for one of the three pillas. The pillas will be used for washing clothes and dishes. Kris and a Guatemalan mixed a nice cement base at the spring near the school, and finished just as it started to rain. The first spring box was finished off, and piping was put in at the school site. Kevin was determined to get a temporary rain water catchment pipe attached to the roof of the school, and with the combined powers of John, Dr. Patterson, and Katie, they were able to get a pvc pipe attached to the edge of the roof right as the afternoon thunderstorm rolled in. The rain was a nice reason to stop our work and soon thereafter some of the guys went and showered in a waterfall down the mountain. Cata and DeeDee cooked us an amazing spaghetti dinner which we all wolfed down. I never knew spaghetti could taste so good. We’ve started to learn a few words in Ketchi thanks to Cata and Heidi. Heidi was able to get them to count to ten in English, and they tried to get Nathan and Heidi to count to ten in Ketchi but it was a lot harder for them to make the Ketchi language sounds. Mateosh means thank you, Shanshakeel means Buenos Dias, Ha means water and Sa means delicious. (The spelling is wrong but that’s what it sounds like.) Sam said Sa Ha and all the villagers laughed at him…I don’t know if it was due to his poor pronunciation or the joke. The kids are so fun, they love having their pictures taken but then they will hunt you down to look at their photograph afterwards. They think it’s hilarious to see themselves on the camera. Around 7:30 pm Jon and Christian came back from their day trip of visiting the nearby villages and seeing their needs. They were trying to get a feel for other nearby communities that could possibly need help in the future. We played some cards and made plans for the next day. We are all excited to sleep, even though we are sleeping on concrete floors. It’s only the beginning of the trip but we got a lot of work done today and hopefully tomorrow will go as smoothly and productive. Yay! <3

Honduras Mission

2009-05-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! Our group made it to Honduras safely and we are now in Catacamas at the Predisan Headquarters located there. Flights were smooth and our group had no difficulty getting through customs at the Tegucigalpa airport. Once we were through the health and immigration checkpoints we met our first Predisan representative, the guide Flavio, who led us to the van. Since then we've been driving farther west toward our rural building sites and the base camp CEDECO. Once we arrive there later this evening we will be using it as our our camp and commuting to the the latrine work sites. Before we arrived at the Predisan building we spent the night at a hotel a few miles from Catacamas, where we took our first Honduran showers and ate dinner. There we met a group of nursing students from Oklahoma who had been visiting the same areas we will soon visit, and we had a wonderful evening sharing stories and learning about each other. God's family is too large to grasp at times, but it's wonderful realizing just how much he is doing through others that we may never see. He is the grand designer after all and I hope that our trip can be used powerfully for him here in Honduras.

~Dan Midgett

Honduras or bust...

2009-05-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

Glad to hear that the Guatemalan team made it safely there today. We plan to start our trek early morning to Honduras with a Continental flight out at 6:05AM. We hope to be in Catacamas, our stop for the night, by sunset. Hopefully we will be able to blog tomorrow from there. Just a reminder, no news is good news on both engineering trips. We are both going to be in remote locations where electricity is scarce, much less a starbucks hotspot! In the unlikely event of an emergency, we have contact information for everyone, and will inform you as soon as possible.

I am looking forward to leading my 7th Lipscomb engineering mission team. We covet your prayers for a safe, effective, and rewarding trip.

David Fann

Team Arrives in Guatemala!

2009-05-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

Hola familia y amigos!

We are pleased to let you know that the whole Guatemala Engineering Mission team has arrived safely in Coban, Guatemala for the evening. It has been a long day of travel, and we are ready to head to our comfy beds at the hotel. We are just an hour and a half drive from our final destination, Benitzul Ulpan, and we will head there early tomorrow morning. Thanks for all of your prayers for our safety thus far,and we ask that you continue to keep our travel safety and our physical health in your prayers. We are very eager to enter the community which we will be serving for the next week or so. While we do hope to provide clean water for them, we more importantly hope that Christ shines through us and our actions. Please continue to keep this in your prayers, as well. We are not sure whether we will be able to get an internet connection in the mountains... but if so, we will certainly be posting more throughout the coming week. If not, please remember that no news is good news. Thank you so much for your love and support…

Dios te bendiga

A Little Bad News from Honduras...

2008-05-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

A lot of smog! Sorry family, friends, and loved ones, our flight out of Tegucigalpa has been cancelled due to excess haze conditions today. We have scheduled a flight for tomorrow, same time and flight, but twenty-four hours later. We love you all and are trying to get home! Please pass the word along to other friends and family! Hope to see you soon.

16 de Mayo (We come home tomorrow!)

2008-05-16T12:35:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

This is Greg and JD again. The past few days have been very productive. The computer team completed the lab, so far the team has surveyed 6 fields and are surveying 3 more today. Yesterday we went through the jungle on a scouting trip to find a new place for a swinging bridge for next year and found a very promising location and took lots of data(we were only a mile from Nicaragua). We met with the villagers, who gave us lots of good information and bought us some watermelon( which Jarrod said is the kind of thing that you give up a good night of diarrhea for). the radio team finished their project by setting up their last base station at the mission lazarus office in choluteca. We also met with the village carpenter who gave a gift from his homemade lathe. While the Guatemala team has been sleeping the day away in Antigua we have been working hard up to the last minute and are tired and ready to come home. We will be leaving mission lazarus at 8:00 am our time tomorrow and fly from teguc at 1:45 pm. Its been a great trip and we cant wait to come home and see everyone.

Love,

Everyone

Rescue or Assault?????

2008-05-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

2008-05-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

2008-05-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

Guatemala Project Complete!

2008-05-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! This is Nathan letting you know that the Guatemala team completed the water system in La Nueva Florida last night and has returned to the Clinica Ezell. We've had a great few days since our last post and everything's gone better than we could've hoped. We had a few complications with the tank and pump but they all resolved without too much stress. We turned on the water lines to the homes yesterday and went to each person's home to check the faucets. When the people heard the water coming out of their faucet to their own home, they became so happy and gave glory to God. It was great to see their expressions and hear what they had to say. Even though we often couldn't understand what they were saying, we could tell it was from the heart.
On Monday night we began showing movies to the villagers. We showed "The Gospel According to Matthew" and "Jonah" (Veggie Tales). It seemed that the entire village came out to watch and we even counted over seventy people on the last night.
When we finally had to leave, we did so with heavy hearts. We've grown close to many of the villagers here and they were so thankful for all that we had done for them.
Today, we traveled back to the clinic and spent some time designing new portable dental chairs for Health Talents. We then took a break and went out to a nearby farm where we enjoyed fresh pineapple, learned some about cacao and the origins of chocolate, and met some friendly parrots. Overall, we've had a wonderful trip and look forward to seeing you all again.

05-14-08

2008-05-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

Buenos dias,
This morning a small group went out to survey our 6th field(this post should get much more interesting, stay tuned). The group of students from Abliene will begin planting legumes on the fields which are around an acre or two a piece and Jared wanted an idea of their size and shape...
But that´s not all we accomplished before lunch, as Jon Fauss, Greg, and Kelsey went to the Administration building to finish the orfans´computer lab. Now, all Missions Lazarus needs is a new internet connection and the kids will be able to research for projects, play educational games, and do school work.....
We also had the chance to assit in the water project again today. We installed about 120 meter of PVC up in the mountains. ACU will finish the project later this week or next week. It was a great experience to work with the Honduran forman trying to communicate as we progressed in installing pipe. I am always amazed at how much you can get done with very little communcation by words. These families will soon have water for the first time....what a project to help with....God is awesome!!

Mr. Pettit and Mrs. Pettit climbed the mountain to place a ground rod for Elora II early this morning. She is grounded and sounds good. We are happy the last two storms did not damage the radio as we had to wait for the rod. Mrs. Pettit is now the official mountain climber for the radio team as she has made it up(and down) three times. Good for her! Only one snake seen.

After lunch, we all went to the Missions Lazarus school in San Marcos and then divided into a radio team and a performance team. The radio team finished up their work there (looks great!) while the performance group acted out David and Goliat again. This time, Goliat (played by Jaiman) really frightened the kids and by the end, 2 were in tears. Fortunately, the tears vanished as we spent some time playing in the schoolyard before distributing coloring books and pencils and saying good-bye. Our whole team was so grateful Mrs. Whitney put the program together for us. She has worked so hard directing everything and coordinating.

05-13-08 Honduras

2008-05-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hola from San Marcos!
Today a group went up to the top of the mountain where the coffee plantation is to lay some pipe. The pipe runs from a spring and will bring water to about 30 familys who live further down. This is the begining of a water project that will be finished by a group from Abiliene Christian University next week. It´s a joint effort between the locals and students. The families who will be getting water have helped dig a trench and are also helping lay the pipe. The view from the top was beautiful, however the rocky trip up took it´s toll. Thankfully everyone made it back safe and sound.
Another group traveled to Duyura today to perform for children at the school run by Mission Lazarus. Thanks to the incredible efforts led by Mrs. Whitney, we acted the David and Goliath story which many of the children were unfamiliar with. Mission Lazarus has only estblished a church and school in this community this past year. The trip to the school was no small task either. An hour and a half´s drive on dirt roads finally brought us to the small village nestled in the valley. Los niños were esctatic to see us and we played "Pato, pato, ganzo" better known in the states as "duck, duck, goose" for quite a while. I (Kelsey) played David in the skit and defeated Goliat as played by Greg. It was Iris´s big moment to see the excitement on the children´s faces. (Her work on the teachers´seminar on Friday, not previously mentioned, was also a huge success and the response has been very profound.) At the end, we handed out unos libros (some books) to the kids for them to color and some small rulers. We look forward to tomorrow´s performance in San Marcos.
Dr. Gregory has faired well and even played "pato, pato, ganzo" with us today. The team is still adjusting to the Honduras experience and appreciate all prayers for well-being. As the food is excellent and the climate incredible, we are grateful for our condition as we continue to pray for our counterpart in Guatemala.

Dios les bendiga (God bless you),
Tiffany and Kelsey

Happy Late Mother´s Day from Honduras

2008-05-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

Hey this is JD. Our Mother´s day messages would not work yesterday. We got lucky and today it works!. So, Happy Mothers Day!
Funny Story. We went to church yesterday in the village of San Marcos. The service was in spanish so we sort of had to guess when they wanted us to stand up or sit down. During the sermon, the preacher asked for all the mothers to stand up to be recognized. There were a lot of mothers there, so to Sam and Heidi, it looked like the preached was asking everyone to stand. By the time we realized what was going on, Sam was being recognized as a mother (Sam wanted everyone to know that Heidi is NOT with child).
Yesterday we were able to take a break from our hard work. We all took a trip to the pacific ocean and ate some great seafood. After lunch we joined some local pigs for a walk on the beach. We all enjoyed our day of rest.
We were all back to work on Monday. The radio team went to Jarrod´s house and did some work on his cell phone antenna. A small group too a trip to the other end of the ranch to scope out a small water project that we will be working on for the rest of the week. We got a chance to see his beautiful coffee plantation located far off the beaten path. We also had a meeting with Jarrod to finalize some plans for the bridge. If all goes according to plan, we should be able to complete the bridge next year. Another group is surveying a couple of fields as we speak so Mission Lazarus can make plans for some farming projects.
Again, I hope all the mothers had a great Sunday.

Dear Mom,

Happy Mother’s Day! I hope you have a great day. I wish I could be there to spend time with you today. I love you so much.

Love, Kara

P.S Tell Dad and Jesse I said Hi.

Dear Mom,

Happy Mother’s Day! I know that it has been hard not having Matt and I at home, but you can be sure that we think of you often. I can’t wait to tell you of my experience in Honduras. Be assured that a card is on the way. I love you. God bless.

Love, Nathan

Dear Mary Ann,

Happy Mother’s Day! Thanks for being a great grand friend to my children and grand children.

I Love You,

Dick

Dear Amy, Stephany and Lilli,

Thanks for being a great mom to Cale, Natalie, Grant, Meg, Courtney, Claire and Trey. Happy Mother’s Day. On to Disney!

Love,

Dick

Hey mom, I’m safe and sound. Have a GREAT Mother’s Day!! Love, Jon

Hey Mom,

Have a wonderful Mother’s Day, relax and enjoy it knowing that I am thinking of you. Have a great day. Love You.

Greg

Mom (Louise Gregory),
Hope you are having a great Mother’s Day. Our trip is great so far: people, food, and scenic beauty! Hope to see you soon after my return.
Love,
Richard

Mommy-To-Be (Kathryn Gregory),
Hey sweetie! Bought you a Mother’s Day card and forgot to set it out for you. It’s the thought that counts right? Have a great day and say hello to Max for me.
Love,
Richard

Hey Mom and Nana,
I hope you’re having a great mother’s day. Things are going very well here as I’m sure you’ve been reading. I love you both.
Tiffany

Mom (Amy Rucker)
Have a wonderful Sunday and mother’s day! Maybe you should take a nap for me since I won’t get to. Say hi to dad, Caleb, SB, and Caitlin for me, and keep checking the blog. I love you guys!
Thinking of you,
Jamin

Momma,
Happy Mothers day! I hope your trip was enjoyable and everyone is okay. If you have caught the traveling bug, maybe you can come to Honduras next year. It is really nice here and I’m doing fine, and I’ll see you soon.
Love,
JD

Hi Mom,
I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day. Thanks so much for your years of caring for and raising me. I know you still worry when I’m off running around and I pray God gives you peace. Say hello to Dad, Cameron, Alicia, and Camille for me. I’m looking forward to seeing you soon!
Love,
Alexander

Dear Linda,
Happy Mother’s Day from Honduras. I miss you a lot and wish you were here. Thanks for your understanding and your love to sacrifice a part of your Mother’s Day so I can be here on the mission trip. This is a very mountainous and beautiful part of Honduras and reminds me of the summers we enjoyed in Colorado. May God bless you while I am away and I can’t wait to see you again.
Love,
Fred

Mom~
Te amo muchisimo. (I love you so much.) Thank you for everything you do, all the prayers, encouragement, and support. I can’t wait to see you and everyone soon and spend the rest of the summer together. Gracias por todo. Dios le bendiga (God bless you)
Con todo mi amor,
Kelsey

Cedeco Composting Toilet Trip

2008-05-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

Hey guys. We had a very successful trip to Cedeco (Predisan) to reengineer the composting toilets and the system which the engineers had been installed two years ago. The boxes were too heavy to move and some of the major metal parts of the boxes were corroding. Our goal was lighten the boxes and protect the metal against corrosion. We also planned to replace any metal which had been corroded. We accomplished this goal as well as some extra parts to the project which were requested once we arrived on site. We were able to work very closely with Don Albino (the caretaker of Cedeco) to improve the overall proposed process. Since he is very invested in the success of the process we hope to attain usable compost in 2010. This may seem far off, but it can take that long to obtain a viable product from the composting toilets. He was extremely instrumental in helping us streamline the entire process to make it easier on him, as well as any other Predisan staff, in maintaining and working through the process.

We had no major injuries during the project, except for Rick who had several run-ins with fireants (no worries he is fine, but was itchy). We arrived in Tegus. on tuesday and went on up to Catacamas which is roughly 3-4 hour drive. There we stayed the night and drove to Cedeco on Wednesday (another 3ish hour drive). We arrived there in time for lunch. We were oriented to the site and Don Albino showed us some work he had already done toward the project´s goal. This was very exciting since it showed us that he was already invested in the overall success of the project. We worked that afternoon and through the day on Thursday. By dinner on Thursday we had finished the major work on the project! That left Friday morning for Dr. Dudley and Sheena to work with Don Albino on training him in the use and maintenance of the toilets as well as the composting process, especially that which pertained specifically to the toilets (sorry we kinda got wordy). Anyway that was an awesome success and we are extremely hopeful that Don Albino will carry through and contact us through Kyle (Predisan Operations Director) with any questions he has. This will allow us to continue to assist in the project even if it is from afar. We left after lunch Friday and arrived back at Catacamas. Saturday we went to Teguc. to meet with our driver from Mission Lazarus at the airport. From there we also added Mr. Pettit (just arrived from the US) but lost Dr. Dudley (who went home). We went on to Mission Lazarus in Choluteca another three hours. We joined the rest of the Honduras team and have been helping them with their projects.

-Sam & Heidi

p.s. we miss Doña Dora´s cooking, but the food here is still good.

Happy Mother´s Day from Guatemala

2008-05-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone back home, Bert here with an update from the Guatemala team! We are here at the Ezell Clinic. Progress back in the village is going along at a very quick pace, much faster than I expected. Almost all of the pipe has been laid. We have to buy a few adapters and whatnot before we can get all the pipe 100% done and laid. The pump and tanks are coming along well also. I haven´t had my hands on that stuff so I can´t say for sure, but I can say that it looks really cool! The main tank is concrete and is now holding water, and the other two tanks at the top of the hill are sitting pretty on a big concrete slab. The masons down here are really good at what they do and are really fast. We´ve been working really hard since the last update and hope to finish up really soon with the main project so we can start working on some of the side projects that we might get to do. Anyways...

Happy Mother´s Day to all the moms out there missing their kids! Below we´re all going to write personal messages, but since I´m making the first post I´ll say Mom sorry I can´t be there on Mother´s Day this year, but I´m safe and doing well. I don´t get cell phone service out in the village so that´s why I´ve been out of touch lately. I miss you guys and I hope you are all doing well! I´ll talk to you later! Love, Bert
(Now for everyone else!)

Hi Mom! First of all, just know that I´m doing great and am in perfect health, so don´t worry about me! Secondly, I love you so much! A very Happy Mother´s Day to you! Thank you for showing me Jesus, being a prayer warrior with me, and helping me to seek a greater portion of the Holy Spirit. You have always been the greatest example of a Godly woman, you most definitely fulfill the criteria of the noble woman in Proverbs. So here´s a big fat electronic hug for you! To everyone else who did not give birth to me, I love you all bunches and my prayers are with you. The Lord is so gracious and this trip is absolutely beautiful.
All my love, Rachel Ogar

Hey Mommy!! Happy Mother´s Day! I miss you lots and lots! I hope everything is going great! We are back at the clinic now for tonight and part of tomorrow. We have finished most of our project already and hope to finish it by Tuesday. It is beautiful where we are! I can´t wait to show you pictures! We went to a water park today which was so much fun! Tomorrow (Sunday) we are going to the church across the street and then we get to visit our old bridge sites! I am so excited to see the kids! It will be hard to leave them though. We are getting closer to the kids in the village we are working at now which is so much fun! We play duck duck goose and london bridges with them quite a bit! I can´t wait to see you in about a week! I hope you have a wonderful Mother´s Day! I love you so much!!
Love, Rachael Swift

Hey mommy!! I hope that you have a very wonderful mothers day! I wish that I could be there to wish you it in person, or better yet, that you guys could come here! It is incredibly beautiful in the village that we are working in. Pictures probably will do it no justice. We are making good time and getting a lot accomplished. We got to experience a guatemalan waterpark today which was very fun! I think we went down every slide, some twice. The water felt wonderful after the only shower we have being a shower bag we hang outside! haha I really don´t mind ´roughing´ it though, its been a great experience! Well, I miss you both very very much and can´t wait to see you! Happy Mother´s Day and I love you both tons!
love, Rebecca Swift

Banana Cream Pie!!!
DQ

Wow. So it seems that everything I have to say has already been said in the last several messages but I´ll go on and say some of it again anyway. I´ve had a blast here in Guatemala! Everything´s gone really well so far and we´ve still got another week to go. I can hardly imagine what else could be in store for us. The scenery has been truly amazing and the people of La Nueva Florida have been extremely hospitable hosts. I´ve really had a great time and feel that I´m drawing closer to God with every day which is the most important part. To my mom I just want to say happy Mother´s Day and that I hope everything´s going well. I really miss you all and can´t wait to share the many pictures and stories. Nathan Sindorf

Well, it has been a very productive trip to this point. We are well on our way to being able to start testing the water system. We have had a bit of a problem with diverting water to our new pump but we believe we have a solution. The partnership with the villagers has been wonderful and the spirit of servanthood we have seen in them is a wonderful reflection of our Lord. They can also work us into the ground!!! Happy Mother´s day to all of the mothers. A special Mother´s day wish to you, Carolyn.

Kerry

Happy Mothers Day Mom!!! And Happy Soon To Be Mother Mother´s Day to My BEAUTIFUL Sister Erica!!! Hold in there Erica I want to be there when the twins are born!!! I Miss you guys a TON and Love you Bunches!! The project is going well, things are moving along fairly quickly which has been a blessing!! The chickens have already started burying our pipes for us, I thought that was nice of them to do that!! I keep thinking of you and your rooster kitchen here, cause here roosters live in the kitchen!!! I have taken Lots of Pictures of them for you!!! You would love it here, it is so beautiful!!! Oh yea, by way I am in Heaven because we are actually living in a coffee farm!! For those of you who don´t know me I am a Coffee Fend! I can´t wait to see you!! Love you bunches!!

Dana

Mama Savage,
Happy Mothers Day! Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement. You have lived a life that makes these experinces possible. Your quite sacrifices do not go unnoticed. Things are going very well by God´s blessing. This has been a great trip so far, we are only half way through and we have all kinds of stories to tell, as usual. Today was very rewarding because the solar panels and the pump were going in, and then we spent most of the rest of the day riding and relaxing. Our trip back to the Clinc tonight has been great. It is giving us a chance to recharge, regroup and to wash some clothes (you taught me well but the skill is not needed, Dana takes care of me here too!). We love all of you guys and cant wait to see you again! As a word of encouragement to everyone, know that God is alive and active in our world and that his people are around every corner on every dirt road...

James

its about to rain!!!

2008-05-10T16:06:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone JD and Greg here. Everything is going great we radio team has successfully put up two more towers and fixed a cell phone service problem. The bridge team is making excellent progress towards the design of the new bridge that will be put in place next may. We also have done siome surveying to help jarrod find out how big some plantation fields are. Dr. Gregory >Tried to save a drowing orphan boy from a falling boulder and sprained his ankle when diving into the sand. But he is making a great recovery and will be back on his feet in a couple of days. Doug Kimbro our Geotech guys departed today he has been very helpful so thank you Doug. happy mothers day to all moms out there.

Cedeco team is back!

2008-05-10T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hi All
This is Sheena writing to say that with God´s helping hand we have made it back to the rest of the team at Mission Lazarus. Needless to say, I was very happy to get here :)
Our project in the mountains turned out to be more than was expected - everything went extremely well with construction and it was VERY well receieved by both Kyle and the caretaker of Cedeco. We had a successful class to explain the process and care of the composting toilet and ´Don Albino´ was super enthusiastic about it. Kyle has asked us about designing a version of the toilets to be mass produced in the area.

My team says Hello, Kris misses Dee Dee!
I hope everything is well in the states we miss you so very much. Happy Mother´s day Mom!

Sandra is on her way home!!

God Bless
Sheena
(Kris Rick and Sam and Heidi)

Good afternoon from San Marcos!

2008-05-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon from San Marcos! We had a great day today working on the radio receiver. Everything is up and running correctly, and we can even transmit back to Mission Lazarus. The bridge project, however, has taken a different turn than we thought. Yesterday we designed a new type of bridge after seeing the site and talking to Jarrod that we could complete before leaving next Friday. Unfortunately, the design called for a large number of concrete pipes, and Honduras only has four in the entire country! But we will be able to more efficiently design a bridge and allow Jarrod time to raise funds for the project. Overall, it is a better scenario than we originally thought, and things are looking good for next spring. In the meantime, Jarrod has several other projects to keep us busy, including surveying of a number of fields on the ranch.
Today, as mentioned before, was incredible. The entire team trekked up the nearby mountain that is the location of the brand new radio. Two burros (donkeys) helped carry most of the gear up, while a few of us took turns carrying a five gallon jug of water that was completely empty when we left the mountain. Mrs. Whitney and Mr. Peugeot rode on unos caballos (Mr. Peugeot's horse was named Tortuga (turtle) and we deemed that an appropriate title). Mr. Whitney braved the trek up the hill amazingly and was hardly out of breath at the top (we were very impressed!). We spent the whole day on the mountain working on the radio tower. It was a great success at the price of a few toasted necks. Over the next few days, the radio team will install more radios in vehicles and other locations around the ranch, while the bridge team will begin surveying. The computer lab was also set up successfully, and is only missing a few parts that Dr. Pettit will hopefully bring on Saturday.

Hoping all is well at home and the other mission groups are having great success as well! As previously mentioned, our access to the internet is sparce (still better than the other groups) and we will try to update as frequently as possible. We will certainly try to write before the weekend is over. Keep posted for the next blog!

MISSION LAZARUS UPDATE Wednesday May 7, 2008

2008-05-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

After splitting with the Predisan team, Chad asked who wanted to drive to Mission Lazarus. Dr. Gregory more than willingly jumped at the chance to drive the SUV, although within a few miles of the airport, it promptly broke down on him. We replaced the vehicle after an hour of waiting and commenced our trip. Dr. Gregory and Dr. Gilliam can now be considered officially initiated according to Honduran standards. We all were quite happy to safely arrive at the ranch. The ranch itself is very nice and being on a mountain, we have a fantastic breeze. Good luck in the blazing sun, Guatemala team! We slept in cabins (on beds with blankets and pillows) and took hot showers before retiring last night. We awoke much earlier than we expected and had a terrific breakfast of french toast in a shelter overlooking the property. What a sight! It is really spectacular. Today we are familiarizing ourselves with the ranch and we will really dig in tomorrow with the erection of the radio towers and computer lab. Currently, we are blogging from San Marcos and hope to update our conditions as often as possible. We will continually pray for the other teams and look forward to reuniting with the Predisan group and Mr. Pettit (that´s another story) on Saturday.

Much love and many blessings
Kelsey and Mrs. Pettit

Guatemala: Day 2

2008-05-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

It's a beautiful day here in Guatemala! The sun is shining and the temperature is pleasant. We had a lovely desayuno (breakfast) consisting of huevos (eggs), pan (bread), cafe (coffee), and plantanos (plantains). Muy delicioso! We will be heading out to check out the bridges that have been built in past years to make sure they are holding up, literally, and then we're off to La Florida to start working! We are all doing great and send out our love to our friends and family back home. Also, please note that because we are heading out to La Florida from Clinica Ezell, you may not hear from us for quite some time - but no news is good news!

In Him,
Rachel Ogar

Guatemala Mission Team First Day down!!

2008-05-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been quit the adventure for the first day!! It was an early morning start to a long eventful day. Two 2 hour plane rides, delay for 3 hours, a 3 hour truck/van ride and we have finally made it to the Ezell Clinic at about 9 :40 tonight. Our day went all too smoothly when we arrived in the Guatemala City airport, even comments of ¨this is too easy¨ were said as we pulled our luggage off the conveyor belt onto carts and met up with our two fearless drivers Alex and Danny. We loaded up the van and truck and as we pulled out of the new and improved parking garage in Guatemala city the van top with luggage managed to hit a light/sign which came crashing down and which happen to lead to a 3 hour wait for authorities to arrive and bills to be paid. No worries no one was hurt we all relaxed in the ¨new¨ garage as we waited for things to be finalized and we headed on our way. Unfortunately this put us in Guatemala City rush hour (5 :00pm) and in a city of 4 million you don´t get too far which put a damper on time. We reconvened at a McDonald's where we all inhaled burgers and fries and set out for the Ezell Clinic a 2 hour drive through back roads. But we have arrived safely and we are all in good spirits and have had great company to greet us!! I have to say I am looking forward to a nice bed tonight, a shower in the morning, and a hot breakfast to start the day off right along with some fabulous coffee!! The plan is to go to the two bridge sites from previous mission trips and then head out to the camp site for our water pump project which is a few hours out from here. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers we have a lot to do in the next few weeks!!! Thank you all for the support!!!

Sincerely,

Dana Savage

Annual Ritual

2008-05-06T00:13:00.000-07:00

I rarely sleep the night before we leave. As trip coordinator for the last 5 years, even if I'm done packing (which is rare), I lay in bed wondering what I have might have forgotten about. I always have a sense of peace when I get on the plane, because I know that there is nothing more I can do...we are on our way!

For those who may not be familiar with our engineering mission program, I invite you to read blogs from the previous years below. This year we are working with three mission sites: Mission Lazarus and Predisan, both based in Honduras, and Health Talents based in Guatemala.

Due to the locations where we are going to be, some teams may get to post more often than others, so don't worry if you don't hear from your loved one's team for a few days.

Flight Information

Guatemala Team:

1 1877V 06MAY T BNAMIA HK11 610A 915A /E

2 983V 06MAY T MIAGUA HK11 1245P 125P /E

3 2128V 17MAY J GUAMIA HK11 230P 700P /E

4 410V 17MAY J MIABNA HK11 1030P 1145P /E

Honduras Team:

1 1877W 06MAY T BNAMIA HK22 610A 915A /E

2 953W 06MAY T MIATGU HK22 1215P 1235P /E

3 954W 17MAY J TGUMIA HK22 145P 600P /E

4 410W 17MAY J MIABNA HK22 1030P 1145P /E

(2 members coming back early will have same flight information, but come back on Sunday the 11th.)

Pictures from survey trip from January. If you haven’t seen these, check out http://picasaweb.google.com/david.h.fann

David Fann

Finished Project Pictures

2007-06-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to add a few pictures of the finished bridge and water project to let you know how well everything went.

Bridge at a distance

Bridge up close

Working Water Project

Goliath at one of the schools

Bridge Contest

"The Most Modern Airport in Central America"

2007-05-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

We're in the international airport in Guatemala City, a few moments away from lining up for a security check. We departed the Porta Hotel Antigua this morning around eight a.m., with a fairly smooth (as in traffic, not roadway conditions) trip Guatemala City. We're aimed for Atlanta with the expectation of a few hours of waiting there before departing for Nashville sometime this evening. Several of us are feeling a final bout of the "Mayan Resistance", including myself, but we are for the most part in good health. It's been an exhausting and enlightening week, and while we will miss the community we've become a part of in Concepcion, we are glad to be heading back to the States. To the readers, see you all soon.
---Jesse "El Mico de Fuego" Garrison

De Fuego...

2007-05-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

Today we finished the bridge. We thought we were going to have a little bit of difficulty with the fencing around the side of the bridge because it was too tall, but we were able to trim it down to size and in the end it proved to be better than what we were going to do in the first place. It is funny, our bridge has come just in time. There was a very large thunder storm last night and it washed out the temporary bamboo bridge that the people were using to get across the river, so if we hadn't built ours the people wouldn't have had a way to get across.

Also there was a group that went to the schools. They did a David and Goliath skit with the kids and it went over very well. Greg as Goliath scared the kids :) And Nathan Harless as David sang as he "played" his harp. All in all it was a good trip and at the end they were able to play with the kids awhile in the courtyard. Which was the best part because they got to interact with the kids on a personal level.

The water project group was really excited because in the big storm last night filled the 600 gallon tank that they had put at the sight. It actually overflowed the tank because the overflow valve was not in place yet. And they filled up the filter and ran some water through it. It will take about a month for this type of filter to purify water to our "standards". The kids helped filter the sand by using the screen and jumping up and down singing songs.

At the afternoon devo at the Bridge site David Fann brought a message about how we are "Hermanos en Christo" Brothers in Christ and David Collao did a great job leading the children in VBS songs.

Today was a lot more laid back than most. We were able to spend a lot of time with the kids. We've taught them tic tac toe and how to throw a frisbee. They've given us names like "miko de fuego" (Little monkey of fire) AKA Jesse or King Kong AKA Dr. Gwinn.

Tomorrow we look forward to the Bridge Dedication with the community, going to the school, finishing the water project, and going back to the Old Bridge site to visit all of our friends from last year.

Buenos Noches,

Amy & Matt

Adventures in the Jungle

2007-05-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Guatemala!
Today we finally got to sleep in until 8:15 (our normal bugle call is 6:00). We got dressed up in our Sunday clothes and walked across the street to a church. Carlos gave the sermon and most of the service was in Spanish which was very interesting. We sang two songs with both English and Spanish verses and were greeted individually by all the church-goers. Later in the afternoon we went back to the worksite and continued to make progress. The bridge is coming along quite well, the process of welding, scrubbing, and painting the panels is so efficient they are put on the bridge the second they are dry.

The water team has been making good progress as well. Friday was a big day when we poured the concrete for the first filter, hung the gutters, and moved the tank down the river to the house. We will pour the concrete for the second filter tomorrow. Diego first carried three huge loads of gravel and sand and Manuel and his brother mixed the concrete on the ground. This was no Quikcrete that we had used at school and was quite a site to see!

I have had quite a time getting to know Diego’s family (the house of which we are installing the water system). Manuel and I have worked hard together as well as shared many laughs even though we don’t always understand each other. He jokes about a crooked cut I made in the wood constantly as well as our adventures with the tank. Today he was at the bridge site where others showed him how to weld and use power tools.

The kids have also been quite a pleasant surprise. There are about six kids at the water house who I have connected with and learned all their names. A new game was created when they learned the words ‘excuse me.’ Now the kids will walk up to you and say excuse me and motion for you to move over. They have also learned other English words such as good morning, thank you, hello, and tickle. My gloves are usually taken out of my back pocket and I have to chase them down to retrieve them, although they know when I need to work and will give them to me right away when I ask. Today one of the kids (Nicolas) returned my glove to me and motioned for me to put my hand in, and when I looked down I realized he had put a baby chick in it! All the kids got a good laugh out of that one. Every day I now look forward to walking to the water house where I will be greeted by all the kids with “Hello, good morning. Excuse me!”

Tomorrow starts another big day as teams are returning to the bridge site, water site, and back to the schools.
Adios for now,
Nathan Harless

Diego cutting wood with his machete.

Me with the kids at the water house.

The water team installing the gutter on the house.

Mother's Day Greetings from Guatemala

2007-05-13T17:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers, wives, and grandmothers of the Lipscomb 2007 Engineering Missions team. We love and care for you and hope that you are having a joyous Mother’s Day. We miss you and wish that we could be there to share the day with you. Please know that today, especially today, you are in our thoughts and prayers as we remember the love that you have given to us and the many sacrifices that you have made for us. Feliz Días de las Madres.

Dear Linda, love you lots and miss you even more than usual on this special day. I hope you have a great Mother’s Day and be sure to say hi for me to the kids and grandkids. Wish you were here to enjoy the experience with me. See you soon. Fred

Mom, I hope that you got your Mother’s day present in the mail. I am sorry I couldn’t spend Mother’s Day with you, but we are really doing good works here. I am sure, knowing you, that you are worrying but everything is going great here. Talk to you soon. Tell Dad and Rachel I said hi! Love you lots, Amy.

Amy, Stephany and Lilli – thanks for being such great moms. There is no more important work. Mary Ann, thanks for loving my children, children-in-laws and grandchildren. I love you all. Dick

Happy Mother’s Day to Carolyn and all the other mothers among our friends who are following our progress through this blog. Kerry

Mom,
I hope your Mother’s Day has been a good one! Dad and the girls better be cooking you dinner tonight ;-) I can’t wait to see you, we’re getting close!! Thanks for being the best mom ever, I miss you so much!
(Happy Mother’s Day to both my Grammys and to Aunt Julie and Auntsie Beth too! I love you all!!)
Sheena

Hola from Guatemala,
We are doing well. The bridge and water filtering system The teacher seminar went well. They want me to do another one next year. We will see.

Love to all and Happy Mother’s
Day. Mom Iris

Momma Lucas – Happy Mother’s Day from Guatemala! Love You, I hope the bush made it back okay to Oklahoma and the card made it in the mail. Gracias por todos!
-Matt

Hey Mom!! Happy Mother’s Day! Feliz dia de las Madres! Send Grandmommy my wishes that she may have a great day! Hope everything is going well in Ky. My love to all, Kelsey

Hola Ma! Esto tiene que ser en Ingles y Espaniol… I want you to know that I keep you in my mind and even more whenever I’m facing difficulties. I’m a great admirer of you and Grandma, I think I would never had become the little I am without you and I thank God for you. Love.
-David Collao

Hey mommy! Just wanted to say happy mother’s day. I love you. Tell grandma and mamaw for me too again I love you
- Greg

Happy Mother’s Day! Kochira ha mada Guatemala ni imasuga, nanntoka gennki ni yatte imasu. Sochira ha ikaga osugoshi deshouka. Yoi haha no hi wo osugoshi kudasai.
-Kohei

Happy Mothers Day mom! Love you and don’t worry my Malaria hasn’t gotten out of hand yet. Can’t wait to be home for the summer
-Aaron J

Hey Mom!
I’m still alive and well, and not rooming with Aaron. Love you lots and Happy Mothers Day!! I hope you can get the cable grease out of my shirts! (just kidding)
Love,
Jon

Dear Mom, If I don’t make it home, it’s because I’ve been poisoned by a tree frog. I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day. Love, Alan

Happy Mothers Day!!! Everything is going well here. We went to church this morning and just finished lunch. I hope your day is wonderful. Adios. Love Kirk

Hi Mom! We’re all doing fine and having fun working and stuff. I haven’t seen any poisonous snakes, but tell Tabitha that if I see one I’ll bring it home for her. Have an awesome Mother’s Day. Love, Paul.

Hey Momma! I hope you are having a happy Mother’s Day. I don’t have malaria or parasites yet so everything is going well. We have all been working really hard since we got here, and we should finish our 9th bridge of the week this afternoon. Love, JD

Hey Mom! I’m still alive for the most part and everything is going well here. I hope you got your card; I’ll see if I can get a boa constrictor back into the States as a Mother’s Day present. Hope you, Dad, and Grandma have had a great week; hopefully I’ll be able to drive home Friday night. Love, Jesse.

Mom…? Is that you? I just wanted to wish you a happy Mother’s Day. Things are well here and I have not suffered much body damage. I love you and I will be keeping you in my prayers. Love, Britt

Hello to the two most important moms in my life. To my mom for bringing me into the world and caring for me each and every day to be the man I am now. And to Anne, the mom of my beautiful wife Anne-Geri'. I appreciate and love you both so much. Happy Mother's Day!
David

Hi Mom! I hope you are having a great Mother’s Day. Things are going well, and we’re half way done. I’ll see you guys soon. I love you. Love, Kara

Hi Elizabeth! I hope you got all of the messages I sent you! Happy Mother’s day from Chicacao, Guatemala. I love you, -Fort P.S. Tell Mama G and Granny for me.

Hi Mom! I didn’t forget this year, haha. I just wanted to wish you a happy Mother’s day. Please give everyone a hug and a kiss for me. Love, Nathan T.

Hey Mom, It is quite an incredible experience here. I have gotten to know a Guatemalan family pretty well and have many stories. I have used most of the items you packed for me. Thank you and happy Mother’s Day! Love, Nathan H.

Hey Mommy!! Happy Mother’s Day! I hope you are having a wonderful day and I can’t wait to see you in a few days! : ) I love you and Daddy ssssoooo much! Miss you! Love, Rachael

Hey mommy!  I just wanted to wish you a very wonderful Mother’s Day. I wish that I could be there with you to wish you it in person! I miss you and daddy very, very much! I love you both! Happy Mother’s Day! Love, Rebecca

Hello Mom! I hope you are having a wonderful Mother’s Day. One of the reasons I’m here in Guatemala is your example of faith and love of God. I’m so thankful for that. I hope everything is great back home and tell everybody hello for me. See you in a few days! Love,
Alexander

Here's a picture that only a mother could love....

Watching People Loving It

2007-05-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

Just a while ago I was trying to think what to write in here since it's my turn to blog and I'll start by describing the images I'm seeing right now. Some people are talking, some are watching pictures of the day in their cameras, some are reading american magazines, some are playing cards... they are doing different things and I can tell they are loving it. And believe me, I know they love it since the moment they wake up(or since the moment Master Fann wakes them up) until time to go to bed comes.

Some of the projects are almost finished and others are still half way there. Even though some days there are not many things to do, everybody finds some activity to spend their time. Name it cutting wood or singing with the kids. Playing some silly game with the little locals or hanging panels. Some things need to be done and some are done "just for pleasure", but they are also important.

Today in the morning, the seminar for teachers was held and it was directed by Iris, who did a woderful job. The teachers learned so much, had a great time, and were so thakful and pleased that asked for another seminar to be held again in the future. Some of them even offered to help organize it and give information about the education system in Guatemala to make the seminar more productive. In the afternoon, people kept up the hard work of the morning. Also, by petition of Don Jesus, some students and a couple of teachers visited a water tank system to try to figure out why it is not working properly. All the information obtained will be analyzed by the fluid mechanics geeks and a suggestion will be made. At the end of the day half of the bridge was in place, some more panels had been done, more wood had been cut, and more blessing from God had been enjoyed.

This were the news of the day by your co-server and server.

-David Collao

How do you like our first half of the bridge? I love it!

Another Day Another Panel

2007-05-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

Aaron here with another central American update. The best news for the day is that we really like bridges, closely followed by guacamole. After careful consideration and much review, it was in fact a great day. The main objective for the day was to begin putting bridge panels out over the raging river. The puente panel putting process was discussed well into the night last night to determine how to best approach the process of mounting the panels. Our main concern was the timing of putting the panels on the cable and the ability of our panel making and painting crews to keep up with the pace. We were fairly confident that the crews could almost match the pace of the putting the panels on the cable. This morning we organized the crews to place the panels, and began manufacturing handrail connectors. The bridge team was short on people at first, and many Guatemalans came to help us place panels onto the cables. It was great to see them helping out hand in hand. We then pulled panels across the river and began to accumulate a bridge. Our big bridge grew and grew until there was half a puente (that's bridge, or so I have been told). We then ran out of dried, painted panels, and proceeded to fix any odd gaps in the bridge. There are still some issues that need to be worked out with getting the panels to line up squarely and straightly. On another topic there was some concern over whether David Stephens was going to make it through the day with an acceptable amount of fluid left in his digestive tract. Don't worry Donna we've got some medication that will clear David right up. We have been given some avocados which if we play our cards right, will be turned into that sweet nectar we call Guacamole. We love Guacamole only second to Jesus (not the Jesus who gave us the avocados) and Bridges.

Patterson giving it the ol sniff test

The who installed the bridge sideways? picture ( I forgot to rotate the picture)

It's a twin thing...

2007-05-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

Jon here again, with a little more time to give you an idea of what went on today. Right now the team is in the mess hall after a delicious dinner of shreaded beef and chicken burritos. Nathan Harless and I joked saying Baja Burrito had come. The food here has been superb.
Today I wrote about how a team went into La Fortuna, I think Iris will write about that soon. At the bridge site today after lunch we spent a little bit of time repairing our tent that we put up yesterday. It is now fit for a three ring circus! We now have a place we can retreat to if there should be a sudden cloud burst. Panel production continued and painting was started up. This year it seems we have applied lessons learned from last year and the painting has been more productive.
Speaking of lessons learned, the method of pulling cable across the river was improved by using a sturdier cradle for the wire. Also, the actual pulling went faster due to the shorter span. All four cables are up and the walkway cables sag has been set. The handrail cables are stretched, but not set yet. This will come tomorrow with the instalation of small turnbuckles.
The local help here has been great. There is one man who was waiting for us at the site this morning as well as Manual, the teenager who lives in the water project house. There is no job that is beneath the Guatemalans. A local named Jesus (pronounced "Hey-zues" in espanol) watches us diligently and is always there to lend a hand when needed. He helped us pull all four cables across and wraped up the rope for Dr. Gilliam.
Here's a funny story; Yesterday Jesse and I helped the water team out with moving the collection tank acroass the river to Diego and Manual's house. Manual attached a rope to "El Tanke" and wanted to float it across the river. Nathan thought it would fill up with dirty water and sink. So he explained in English his opinion, and Manual smiled and said "Si." Then he would explain to Nathan in Spanish his idea, and Nathan would shrug his shoulders and agree. So Manual started pushing the tank into the river only to have Nathan stop him and the process start all over. What a sight!! This went on for 10 minutes until finally after much deliberation with hand motions and broken Spanish we opted to float the tank down the river. We got the tank to the house safely.

Its been a great time so far. Here are some more pictures that I took:

The Cable Cradle 2.0. Last year we used wood. This was much better.

After Lunch we got the second walkway cable set and the handrail cables stretched.

El Tanke en el rio (Not pictured: a worried Nathan)

Weekend Update with Jon Hester

2007-05-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone back home! I'm just going to write a quick note to update you on el puente (bridge.)

This morning the Renovation Team disbanded into the group that went to the school in La Fortuna (sp?) lead by Iris Whitney and Amy translating. From what I saw when the construction crew returned to the clinic for lunch, it went well.

Right now there are two walkway cables on the bridge one of which has been set to the desired sag. We didn't even have to touch the turnbuckle to tension the cable!

Everyone is in high spirits and are working together well.

I gotta go the trucks are leaving!
Here's a picture for you Hatchell!

Second Day

2007-05-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

Well, we're finished with day no. 2 and much has been accomplished. Today was the big day for the bridge renevation team. The main problem with the bridge was that the cables on the upstream side of the bridge had been stretched out due to being clipped by a tree that had floated downriver. This caused the bridge tilt down on one side. However, the team encountered a problem with retensioning the cables. The turnbuckles had already been turned as far as they could go last year, when the bridge was built. To fix the problem, we first had to transfer the load of the bridge from one of the turnbuckles to another cheater turnbuckle/cable. Then the old turnbuckle was taken out and replaced by a shorter turnbuckle that would allow more room to adjust the tension in the cables. We then transferred the weight to the new turnbuckle. This process was done for each of the turnbuckles on the far bank from the village. Before and after each of these transitions the team prayed to ask/thank God for safety and to keep the bridge out of the river. The final step was to recut the end piece of the decking to make it fit into the smaller space. We received several visitors throughout day, including several people who wanted to pass across the bridge. Some of these we had to turn away, but others we helped to get across. Several kids also kept us company and played games with Amy and Rebekah and the rest of the team as we could find time. For some of us, one of the best parts of the day was when Dr. Gilliam brought back a sack of fresh bread and muffins from Juana, the local baker. It was amazing. The other teams are continuing to make progress with their projects. The water team is ready for their big day tomorrow and the bridge construction team is continuing to prep the bridge site and put together materials for construction. At the end of the day, we all came back, cleaned up, ate dinner, and sang songs together for a while. One of the Guatemalan preachers led us in some of the Spanish praise songs. Finally when we are ready to go to bed, sunburned, with sore muscles, and tired minds, we look back at the work of the day and see how much good is being done for the people and for the glory of God. It is a wonderful site to see how thankful the people are for what they have and how willing they are to help. Thank God for helping the renevation team with their project and continue to pray for the other teams, that their projects will go as well as the renevation.

Paul Wright

Last Year's Bridge Retensioned

2007-05-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

Well, we just got back from a great day at last years bridge. Due to the hard work of Kirk, JD, and Paul, we were able to get most of the cables made up under a shelter at the clinic during a massive rainstorm last night. That meant that we could hit the ground running this morning. Things went so well that we had re-tensioned the bridge and had it open to traffic by 3:00 this afternoon. The only thing left is to take the slack out of the handrail cable.

I can't say enough about how well our team has worked together! Kirk, Amy, JD, Paul, and Rebecca have done a great job. They have also been very patient with the four old codgers who were standing around spouting opinions about what to do next! (i.e. Fred, Kerry, Dick, and Fort)

Thanks for all of your prayers,

-Fort Gwinn

Lunch time

2007-05-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all of our friends back home!
I just took a second out of lunch to drop you all a quick note and update you on our second day on the job. Everything is going just as well as planned and we are making amazing progress in all areas. Today is a big day for the renovation team; they are adding tension to the cables in last years bridge and replacing the existing turnbuckles. They have already switched the turnbuckles and will finish with the tensioning after lunch. Amy was telling me how excited she was that all the steps of the process are working out perfectly (knock on wood); it looks like they planned very well!
The water team has been working all morning to build the filter box and prepare the location for the filter. The gutters will be going up shortly and concrete mixing will follow.
As for our construction team, we are working on preparing the foundations and setting up to assemble bridge sections. It has been a productive morning all around.
Dr Gwinn thought that I should enlighten you with the highlight of my yesterday. While we were assembling some turnbuckles I was sitting on the ground in the drive at the clinic. While I was working I felt some pricklies and thought there must be some bugs under my behind, so I took a little scoot forward. Turns out I was sitting in a pile of dust-size metal shavings! Let's just say I was a little uncomfortable for the rest of the day. :-)
I just can't express the joy that the children here bring to us every day. Yesterday we had an amazing devo (led by David) and sharing the experience with all of the locals who came out was wonderful. The children are always so excited to see us and never get bored watching us work and calling out to us. Yesterday a couple of them got ahold of one of our two way radios and had a ball talking to Jon and David. All of the local villagers are so eager to set up and help us, they have been working right alongside our team and I know how much they will appreciate the bridge and filter both. It is so encouraging to watch their enthusiasm when David reads scripture or delivers a message or story. Their hearts are so open to the Lord and accepting of our team. It is truly a blessing to work hand in hand with these people and I wish you all were here to experience it.

Love from Guatemala,
Sheena T

PS Mary Ann, your cookies are WONDERFUL (as always!). We have certainly been enjoying the snack ;-)

First Full Day

2007-05-09T23:20:00.001-07:00

Today we had our first full day of work here in Guatemala. Breakfast came early at 6:30, but it was a great meal of beans and tortillas. Afterwards we spent several hours organizing our tools as well as preparing some of our materials for later use. Then, little by little our teams made their way to their work sites. I’m on the water team so I’ll give you our story. We were the first to arrive at the new bridge site and we made our way through the village across the river and arrived at our project home. We made some more measurements and explained what we wanted to do to Diego. He is the father of the family who lives in the home. He was very excited about what we wanted to do and he quickly moved to cut away some of the plants and trees that were in our way. Also, to create space for the water tank that will hold the rainwater, we needed to move around 50 or 60 cinder blocks. It was a remarkable moment when we joined together with Diego and his sons to move the cinder blocks. Everyone was working together despite being separated by language and we were able to unite towards a common goal. A remarkable thing happened as well. One of the other villagers named Jesus was very interested in getting a water filter for himself. So now we will (hopefully) build two water filters and maybe even a second water collection system. God is certainly providing work for us and I’m sure we’ll be capable instruments for his work. Later in the day we had a devo with the villagers and David gave a lesson in Spanish to at least 50 of the villagers who had come to hear. It was very moving experience. We worked on our projects for the rest of the afternoon until rain began to threaten. When we made it back to the clinic it wasn’t but 5 minutes before it began pouring. It rained really hard for almost an hour and a half. I was completely soaked from head to the inside of my boots! Today was really great though. I’m sure that tomorrow will be just as good as we continue to work. I hope everybody back home is doing well and we’ll be writing more later!
- Alex Briski

First Day

2007-05-09T12:25:00.001-07:00

Today we began our journey to Guatemala as we met at 3:30 in the morning for the bus ride to the airport. The airport process went very smoothly and none of our baggage was lost! Then we took the short plane ride to Atlanta and then the longer one to Guatemala City. A bunch of our team members had the opportunity to get their shoes shined as we waited for our bus to arrive! Then we took the 2 ½ hour bus ride to the clinic.
The rooms here are, as last year, extremely nice. The girls are split up into 2 rooms of 3 girls each where the rooms consist of a small kitchen and a bathroom. The main complex is where the boys are staying and they are very lucky to have filtered water now. It will be a big advantage to not have to brush their teeth with bottled water! Dinner here was wonderful as usual. We had meat, pasta, tortillas, chips, salsa, guacamole, and fresh lemonade. Overall, the accommodations here are great!
After unpacking the bus, we all left to go see where we will be working these next few days. We first visited the new bridge site where the Guatemalans had already built the concrete platforms. We crossed the river on a bridge they had built temporarily. Then we traveled through a small village where we arrived at the next project. This project is to build a water filter for one household of 8. We made some measurements, talked to some of the people there, and headed towards our old bridge site.
Once we arrived at the old bridge, we walked across the bridge and noticed a new concrete wall they had built from the church to the bridge. It looked much different then we had seen it last, but it looked very nice. Some of the kids from last year came running over to greet us. Surprisingly they could still tell Rachael and Rebecca apart! This was very special. It was then getting dark so we headed back to the clinic. We ended the night in a small devotional and meeting. It was a good beginning to a wonderful trip!

Rebecca and Rachael Swift

Packing done...

2007-05-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it is 7:30PM, and it is less than 9 hours before we are to be at the airport. (4AM Ugh!) We had a great packing party, breaking down components to build a 100 ft bridge in 50 lb increments...not to mention a water catchment filtration system and lots of school supplies and demonstrations. Needless to say, most of the heavy materials we are buying in Guatemala.

Our flight information is as follows:
Tuesday, May 8th, 2007
Delta Airlines Flight 1635 Leaves Nashville 6AM Arrives Atlanta 8:03AM
Delta Airlines Flight 311 Leaves Atlanta 10:22AM, arrives Guatemala City 12:00 PM

Friday, May 18th, 2007
Delta Airlines Flight 310 Leaves Guatemala City 1:10PM, arrives Atlanta 6:41PM
Delta Airlines Flight 1293 Leaves Atlanta 9:48PM, arrives Nashville 9:56PM

Check back often, since I will try to get a different team member to post a paragraph or two every day. Of course when it rains, Health Talents has no internet service...something about satellites and clouds causing problems. So remember that no news is good news. Feel free to leave a comment yourself as well.

Chief Cat-herder and fearless leader,
David Fann

Yet More Pics

2006-05-16T18:05:00.000-07:00

A day we will always remember

2006-05-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a day.

Monday came bright and early as we knew we had a lot of work to do before the bridge dedication ceremony at 3:30. So two teams left at 6:15 to install the bridge sections that would connect with each foundation and to tension and secure the handrail cables. These steps had to be completed early so that we could install the safety fence, paint the bridge, and do a few touch-up jobs that needed to be done.

Tensioning the handrail cables was a snap and installing the transition sections took a little longer than expected but was "no problemo." But the safety fence was a huge task that took much longer than expected. The fence is a woven wire fence that is similar to our chain link fences but using smaller wires. It came in a roll that could not be unrolled without all the wires becoming tangled together. We spent two hours or so just untangling the wires from each other before we could even begin installation. Once untangled the fence was stretched with a come-along and connected to the bridge deck and the handrail cable. Then the bridge was painted and the fencing and painting really made it look great.

Paint was still drying as the dedication ceremony began. Let me set the stage for you. A truck load of soldiers arrived early with submachine guns at the ready. They were our security guards. Wow. A sound system and loudspeaker was set up. A reporter from Chicacao Channel Seis (Channel Six) arrived early to interview the dignitaries from Chicutzan and La Cruz, the two villages who will use the bridge the most and to interview most of us too. Amy did a lot of translating for Channel Seis and may have a career in broadcasting if engineering, welding, drill press operator or her host of other talents don't work out. We took pictures early because we knew everyone there would want to walk on the bridge after the ceremony, and we would have to help limit the numbers on the bridge at any one time. Even as we were taking pictures, the people would applaud for us and show their appreciation for the work we had done. We took several pictures with the men from Chicutzan and La Cruz who helped us build the bridge. In every sense, this project was a partnership with them. A partnership in planning, in labor, in finances, and most especially in Christian spirit. They knew from the beginning that we were here to help because of our faith, and they wanted us to know that they were also believers in Jesus. All of us have had someone approach us just to say "gracias, mi hermano en Christo." So, as you say your for this group, please include Jose', Lorenzo, Omarr, Juana, Francisco, Manuel, and a host of others who have become very special friends of this group as we worked together.

The dedication ceremony (they call it the inauguration here) was attended by about 300 people. It began with a touching speech by Raphael, the head of the "Committee of Ten" which would be equivalent to our City Council. He was moved to tears as he spoke and expressed his appreciation to the group. Then Gilliam, that's me, was asked to respond, and he stole the great speech that Alan had used in church yesterday about building two bridges, one across a river and built on concrete foundations and a more important bridge that connected two groups of people and was built on the foundation of Christian love. Then Raphael announced the fireworks show, and we had a long and loud fireworks display. Presentations were made with Health Talents receiving three "diplomas" from the community for initiating this project. David Fann accepted a beautiful painting showing our team working on a partially constructed bridge. There was a prayer that was very moving and the Guatemalan people spoke their agreement with what was being said in the prayer almost continually much as we would do by saying Amen. At the finale' of the ceremony, ten young men from Chicutzan and La Cruz, who had been waiting on the other side of the river walked across the bridge to the applause of everyone there. Our applause was also due to the fact that there were only 10 of them. The bridge will eventually hold more, but the concrete poured since we arrived has not fully cured yet, and 10 was a good limit until that happens. After they walked over, the Committee of Ten walked across and once again every one applauded (we were applauding that it was not a committee of 20). The women were invited to walk across, and then the dam burst open as the children were invited to walk across. It seemed that 200 children were scrambling to be the first one across. We had to set up gatekeepers to limit the numbers at any one time. They walked, ran, hopped, skipped and jumped across. Several would go to the middle and just stand there. This went on for at least an hour and a half with several kids making 5, 10 or more trips. We have built a bridge for the adults of these two villages and a great amusement park ride for the children. They walked with Amy, Rachel, Rebecca, Heidi, Caleb, Aaron, and anyone else who would walk with them. We love these kids. As we try to become like Christ, these children will be our model for the qualities for which we should strive.

By the way, we all were asked for autographs by the kids today. That's a first for this bunch I expect.

Then we came home, had dinner, showers, a devotional and now bed. It was a day we will long remember. Thanks to all of you who have supported us with prayers, encouragement and financially. You have made this day one we will remember for the rest of our lives. God bless you all.

Federico Gilliam

More Pics

2006-05-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

Dana you’re so hot right now!

2006-05-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

James Savage here, and to start off, the rumors of my temporary demise are greatly exaggerated. The important thing is that I am back to 100%. I did have a 24-hour humility exercise involving the need for knee pads and an often disturbed reflecting pool. I will be glad to share all of the gory details at some future time to any one that cares. This being my third trip to Central America, I guess I have been beating the odds up till now.
Today has been yet another great day and another lesson in patience and rolling with the punches. Glory to God that all is going well. Using the process that was developed yesterday, we wasted no time getting the remaining sections of the bridge put in place. Things went very smoothly. We even set aside some time to do some creative cinematography.
As we passed one of the bridge sections across the bridge we wanted to get the perspective of the section on its journey. So I did the natural thing and volunteered my wife to strap herself to the panel and video tape as it went across. She wanted to, really… Well her stunt is what prompted the title of this blog, if you haven’t figured it out. Yet one of the many reasons I love that woman! Alright, well moving along, we got all the sections in. This thing actually looks like a bridge now!
The rest of the day was spent working on multiple little tasks, getting ready to do the final assembly of the bridge. These little things always seem to take more time than you would hope. That is fine because this gave some us much wanted time with the local community. We have really started to fall in love with the people of Chicutzan. They have truly partnered with us in the project. There is not a bit of work that takes place with out one of our Guatemalan amigos jumping in and helping out. We have also enjoyed getting to know the countless kids that seem to herd around the work site. This community has continuously shown us their gratitude and encouragement. I will let some one else tell you more if they have not already, but there is one lady here who seems to do nothing but bake for us all day long. Wow is it good!
OK back on track, There is just so much to tell and so little my “hunt and peck” typing can tell you. So we worked the longest day yet, and kept going until we were certain the rain was going to catch us. We got back right as a thunderstorm broke loose. To say that the rain was hard would be an understatement. We sat on the porch and watched an amazing light show for half an hour or so.
To round out the evening we all came in and Alan led us in thinking about the beauty of Christ. Words can not describe the lessons that are being learned on a moment by moment basis. God is teaching us more about himself, his kingdom, each other, and ourselves than is possible to absorb in a single week. Pray for us that we may not lose this blessing of experience due to our inability to see all that God is showing us.

Quick Pic from the Bridge

2006-05-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

We Are Pumped

2006-05-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

Engineering Mission Trips 2006

Today was another wonderful day. From a project perspective we made great progress. We completed almost half of the walkway across the bridge. We are actually able to walk out to near the center of the bridge over the river now. Before you get too worried, anyone working out there has on a complete safety harness and a safety strap which protects them from falling off the bridge. It is really neat to see a team of one husky LU engineering graduate (Kris) and a robust current LU student (Caleb) forming a team with a LU sophomore (Rebecca) to complete the installation of walkway panels on the bridge. Rachel also worked on a team made up of Caleb, Kirk and herself. James was back in action today with a critical responsibility for placing the panels on the bridge and appears to be rid of his stomach bug. Aaron is one more working machine. He has set a great example for all of us with his hard work. He and Jon Hester have been going above and beyond by helping the Guatemalans pour a huge slab of concrete under the bridge tower to better stablize it. This is really hard work. They have poured about nine or ten yards of concrete with a portable gasoline-powere mixer that produces a small wheelbarrow for each batch. For each batch, sand, gravel, cement and water are added to the mixer. When the mixer is finished the wet concrete is poured into the wheelbarrow. The concrete is then dumped into the slab forms a bucket full at a time. They have processed the equivalent of a concrete truck load of concrete this way. This is really hard work and Aaron and Jon have gone at it tenaciously.

We should easily complete the walkway so that test walks all the way across the river can be made tomorrow (Saturday). This has been a real production line with the cutting of steel, drilling of holes (200) into the steel, assembling the panels, welding the pieces together, carrying the panels to the bridge sight, mounting them on the walkway rails and secruing them. Oh, I forgot the painting step - a big one.

Becasue we had not seen the bridge site before we got here and because of some miscommunications concerning the bridge platforms that were built before we came, no one was absolutely certain that we could pull this off. This lack of certainty has tunred out to be one of our greatest blessings. Although we have had some great on-the-spot creative adaptations (mostly from the students) and a tremendous amount of hard work, we are all convinced that we could never have done this on our own. The power of God to give us innovative solutions to problems and the energy to carry them out has been evident to us all. And we all know that the prayers that you have lifted up have turned God's face toward us and that His glory will shine in this community for years to come. In our devo tonight, Iris said that she was sure that everyday for the rest of her life she will be pausing to thank God for the villagers here who will be crossing the bridge on that day.

We are all so pumped spiritullay that we can hardly hold it inside -- what am I talking about, we have no way of containing it. The joy that we are experiencing is beyond measure. we are worn out and we get up more fatigued everyday but we are energized by the Spirit in phenomenal ways.

Keep praying for us we really feel it.

One the old geezers on the trip,

Kerry

Grettings from Kirk

2006-05-12T19:33:00.000-07:00

After waking up and stumbling in to the mess hall for some eggs we started our day. I began my day by painting the bridge sections that were to be installed on the bridge. As always our group attracted a large crowd of the village children. The games of the day were 'slaps' and magic tricks with strings. These kids are incrediblely smart. They play so many games that kids in the USA play. Amazingly the kids can tell the Swift twins apart while many of us still count on our fifty-fifty chance.

After becoming a little light head from the paint I proceeded to take a new position on the bridge installing the bridge sections. Yes mom, we wore helmets and were tied off to the hand rail cables. We had a very effective system were the bridge sections were carried up the stairs on the low bank and passed over James Savage who guided them down a specialized ramp of rebar and angle iron. The sections slid on the the cables were 4 U bolts were attached on each corner from the bottom. Then the sections were pulled across the river with rope to the other side where they were locked in place. I wish I could descride it better but you will just have to wait and see the pictures. We worked our way out to the middle of the bridge over the water and that is when we had to call it a day.

Omar is a 18 year old man from the village that has been assisting us all week long. Today Caleb and I had a very interesting conversation with Omar. Us knowing very little spanish and using lots of hand motions found out that Omar is a paid soccer player. On monday we are invited to come play soccer at the school. I think we are going to have circles ran around us but it sounds fun.

Right now everyone is in a great mood. We are so tired and yet we are sitting around playing the game 'Taboo'. Everyones true colors are showing. It is great. This is all that I have to say tonight. Buenos Noches.

Kirk Pippin

este es el dia

2006-05-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

A song we sing here in Spanish goes like this: "Este es el dia que el Senor nos dio." It means "This is the day that the Lord has made." I am reminded of a man back home who follows this phrase with "We are rejoicing and being glad in it, aren't we?" Well, friends, we are. Today has been an amazing day. This afternoon we experienced our first (for some of us) Guatemalan rain storm. It was wonderful.

On the technical side, today we finished stringing the cables, made and painted several sections, put one section on the bridge, (I apologize if I have left something out) and came back because of the rain. Today went well.

James had a stomach bug today. We hope that he will be well tomorrow. Keep him in your prayers.

The village we are working in has amazing people. They have been eager to help. They are skilled, trustworthy, and patient with us. The children especially love to help. They are wonderful and readily obey their elders. They have been taught well.

Tonight at our devotional we shared reflections from today. One of the men who works here with Health Talents, Carlos, told us that because our group is actually doing what we promised (building a bridge) the people of the village have grown to trust us and the people of Health Talents. He said that we can and will have a great influence because of the way we are working together, all of us willing to help each other. The Guatemalans are constantly willing to help us, waiting to be given a task and stepping in without even being asked when help is needed. Today several of our group helped the Guatemalans as they mixed and poured concrete. Carlos said that this makes a huge difference to them because they highly value hard work. John 17:20-23 says:

20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

These are Jesus' words as he is praying. This week I have been praying that we would work as one so that people could see God. God is faithful, just as he always is, and is doing this. I pray that he would continue. Keep us in your prayers, as well as the people we are working with and for.

~Heidi

Look at the pretty ball bouncing

2006-05-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

Hello from Guatemala. Today is Wednesday (just in case this posts on a different day). This is the account of the school group. We went to a school about 40 minutes away this morning—“La Fortuna”. The school had about 150 kids and was in a mainly Mayan community. The interesting thing was that some of the older kids spoke Quiche, a Mayan dialect (which is so different from Spanish they could not understand us). The school building was just bamboo sticks that were tied together. They had dirt floors and tin roofs. To get to the school we had to drive down this dirt road that was very rocky and curvy. The teachers were very gracious and helped us keep all of the kid’s attention. Since the school building was not very accommodating, we did two demonstration sessions outside from the back of a truck. The children were so attentive and responsive. For some I think it could have been their first introduction to any type of science. We have about 7 demonstrations all focusing on types of forces—like gravity, pressure, and centripetal force. After the demonstrations we made wind mills with the kids out of pencils, tacks, and paper. We gave out the school supplies bags that we took and everyone was very gracious. The only downside was that after that the older kids started to kinda beg for a pen or a pencil or whatever or pretend they didn’t get a bag. The smaller children were very sweet, they just stayed sitting in their chairs and waited for us to pass out the bags. None of them asked for more or tried to convince us they didn’t already have a bag. I think it shows that begging is taught, and I hope that we didn’t reinforce that habit any more than we could help. Also we read the story of Noah and gave each child a coloring book with the story in it. Overall I think the day went well, I think one of the most important things to remember at the schools is to try not to be Americans that just give the children things. It is difficult because these kids were so poor and we wanted to help, but at the same time we don’t want to reinforce the attitude that we, as Americans, give the kids supplies and then immediately leave them. It is hard because there isn’t enough time to create real relationships with the kids, which I think would make it easier and more appropriate to give them gifts. A challenge is to realize that we cannot in one day fix their poverty or solve all their problems. Instead we need to trust and pray that God will provide for them or use their situation for his glory.
-Amy and Alan

Buenos Dias! Today is the first day I have not fallen into the river. The day went very well at the bridge despite a myriad of minor setbacks. We split up into teams, and the morning was filled the cutting of box beams, the building of a stand to hold the spool of ¾ cable during stringing, lots of welding of the bridge panels, rebar mesh making, and preparation of the concrete platforms for cable stringing. We had aimed to have the cables strung before noon today, but things always take longer than you expect with construction and especially with construction in Guatemala. Last night our devotional was focused on patience and being content to serve however you can, and today our team showed a great deal of that. The number of children at visiting our site during the day has grown to about 30. They get in the way sometimes, but they are so sweet and they keep us focused on the right things. We have started a trend of the game “slaps”, and today they demanded physics demonstrations from Allen.
Lunch came right when we were about to run the cable across the banks. Our Guatemala helpers did an outstanding job lifting the spool onto the stand and being patient with our indecisions and slow pace. With the school team back at lunch we worked much faster in the afternoon. We had had only one working drill for the past day, but today Rick got us a drill press and saved us. The fun began as we pulled the first cable across with a rope by hand. This process is harder than it sounds. It got out of control a little and the cable ended up resting on the bottom of the river! On our second try we achieved perfection. The rest of the day was spent shoveling a truckload of gravel for the base concrete addition; assembling, welding, and preparing the platforms, handrails and handrail supports; deciding what to do about estimating cable sag and adjusting the cables to the right pre load height; adjusting the first cable and transferring it from the come-along to the turnbuckle. We received the surprise at the end of the day that the cable probably has a nylon core instead of the steel we ordered. This comes as no surprise to us after our experiences with the platforms. We’ll do our best with what we have and leave the rest to God. A woman named Juana has brightened our days by bringing homemade breads and soups and bananas to us and we have really enjoyed being around the Guatemalans. It is now late and I can no longer think clearly. A happy Guatemalan Mother’s Day to our temporary Guatemalan mother Iris, and to all our moms back home!

Caleb

ps - a note about pig lard

we spilt a cup of pig lard that we use to lubricate while we drill metal, so Steve sent for another cup. Yesterday Juana brought us sweet corn stew, and it was being
passed out at the same time that the pig lard was returned...in a cup...a very similar cup to the cups with sweet corn stew in them. Steve recieved the pig lard and promptly took a large swig from the glass thinking that it was corn stew! His face was priceless and his mouth will never be the same.

Delayed by Flakey Internet Connection

2006-05-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

Buenos Dias! Jon Hester here, or "Juan uno" as I was called in el esuella (school) today. Jon Fouss was called Juan dos by Carlos our indespensible translator. This morning I had the pleasure of being woken up by Mr. David Fann about fifteen minutes before the crack of dawn. After our breakfast of juevos (eggs) and plantains the crew divided into groups and set off to complete our respective tasks. Dr. Fauss, Dr. Bradshaw, Dana, Rebecca, and myself broke away from our groups at 8:30 for the trek to the town called Chicacao. We visited the school in Chicacao and conducted several science experiments in the rooms of three fourth grade classes. The children were well behaved and were eager to listen to everything we had to say. Dr. Alan Bradshaw was instrumental in our demonstrations and comic relief for the kids. His assistants were Rebecca, Amy, Iris, and Dana. Juan dos served as our photographer and Amy was la jefe (the boss) of our excursion into the town. Rebecca and I played supporting roles while Iris and Dana organized everything to perfection. The liquid nitrogen that we brought was a huge hit, unfortunately we only had enough for the first class. Apparently coffee thermoses from Brookstone aren't meant to contain liquid nitrogen. Good thing flexibility was an item on our packing list. We brought a pinwheel craft project which provided the opportunity for us to interact with the children. I think we all became fluent in international sign language, or sherades very quickly. We brought coloring books of the story of Noah for the classes under the condition that they had to earn them. The task was for the kids to read the book out loud and I'm pleased to tell you that each class earned their coloring books. Tomorrow another group is heading of for Lafortuna, or however you spell it, to continue God's work. I envy them, as being with the children was a blast, and there is still a lot of hard work to be accomplished tommorow. I'll let our esteemed alumnus Kris Hatchell tell you about the hard work that was done today. As for me, tengo muy sueno, so I'm headed to bed! Keep up the prayers, they're working just great!!

WOW!! What a day of work yesterday. God truly blessed us with wisdom, strength, patience and endurance yesterday. The night before last, we had a meeting to discuss yesterday's work. At that meeting I was very unsure of how much we would be able to get done. At the end of the day yesterday I could only say wow! For thoes techanical people reading this, yesterday we accomplished installing the rebar for the extra base support. The hammer drill worked well, expect when we hit rebar in the concret. This afternoon we will begin to pour the concret. We also got all the notches cut in the stairs for cable to ride in. Our first platform was also assembled yesterday. This may not seem like much to most, but I believe we are well on our way to having a bridge built!!! Praise GOD! We began our meeting this morning @ 5:30, so some of us are relativly tired, but we are slowly waking up for another day in His beauitful Creation. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we work today to install the cables. This I a large task, but by the blessing of God we will be done with that tonight! We love all of you at home! - Blessings, Kris Hatchell

Our First Day

2006-05-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

Our adventure began at 4:30 this morning. We all met at the airport and began organizing and preparing for our flight. Everything ran smoothly even with the rush to our adjoining flight from Houston to Guatemala City.
Soon after getting off of the plane, we could tell that it would be a rather hot and humid day. We gathered all of our belongings and arrived at a very colorful bus. The bus ride to the clinic was about a two and a half hour drive. We were able to stop about half way through at a gas station and were treated to a snack and drink of our choice.
The clinic is much nicer than anyone could have hoped. The girls and couples all have very nice small apartments with private bathrooms, a small kitchen, and even a small balcony! We were given fans to keep us cool as well. We unloaded all of our baggage and then headed to see our bridge site. Four or Five trucks transported us the ten minute drive over there. On the way we were able to experience and see some of their culture.
At the bridge site we were able to look at the platforms that had been made. There was a little difficulty getting over to the other side of the river, but we finally succeeded with the locals’ help. The villagers who live nearby were very curious of all that we were doing. The children would gather around us and ask us all kinds of questions. Even though we didn’t understand everything that was said, we were still able to make a connection. Before we left the site, all of the team and surrounding villagers gathered together to pray. Kris prayed in English while Carlos translated Kris’ prayer into Spanish for the villagers. Then we said our goodbyes and left for the clinic once again.
We were given a little time to wash up and apply bug spray and then headed back over to where we would be served dinner. It was a delicious dinner consisting of chicken, rice, squash, tortillas, and fruit juice. After we all finished eating we got together again and had a devotional. Caleb led the singing and Mr. Fann followed with a message. Now all that is left for tonight is some planning for another day tomorrow and lots of sleep!

Rebecca and Rachael Swift

I should Be asleep Right Now

2006-05-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy weekend...James and I hit the ground running early Friday morning and haven't seem to let up since...Finished packing and hope that everything I need is in that Suitcase! I am excited about the trip and looking forward to working with everyone and seeing this beautiful country! 3am will come early about 5 hours from now and I am sure many of us won't get a good night sleep between nerves and wondering "Did I Forget anything" and "Is my suitcase under the 50lb limit!" I am excited to see us all at the Airport bright Eyed and Bushy TAILED...And Dr. Bradshaw carrying a 4ft long level as a personal item...Don't think anyone will mess with him with his Mad ninja like skills and his Indiana Jones Hat! Look forward to hearing from you guys and keep praying that Gods work will be done through these wonderfully talented people who are going!

Dana Savage

Guatemala Pre- Trip Thougts

2006-05-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

It is Sunday Afternoon, the bags are loaded and packed onto the bus, and we are hoping nothing is left behind. Planning to build this bridge has taken a large amount of design work and preparation. Countless meetings and hours were spent researching tools, designs, and construction methods befeore any formal palns were made. With all that hard work behind us hopefully, all the materials should be waiting for us at the bridge site, and we can get right to work on Tuesday. Everyone is eagerly awaiting our trip tommorow morning. We leave familiar Nashville early tommorow and fly in to Guatamela sometime Mid-day, and hope to start working as soon as possible.

Aaron

Progress Report

2006-03-23T06:16:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

I just got off the radio with David Fann up at Cedeco. First and most importantly everyone is still safe and sound and working hard. The El Loro (repeater tower) team took off this morning to the tower site. Their estimate has always been no more than day to get everything up and running. Now we'll see. The water tower crew plans to swap out the tanks today and believe they will be finished with their project today. The environmentally sound human waste reclamation project (a.k.a. the toilet team) has been working hard. They're making good progress. They will probably still have quite a bit of work to do tomorrow, but with help from the other teams they believe they can wrap up tomorrow. The outreach group will also be making their second foray into the local schools. There is also a children's Bible class planned for tonight which will hopefully include a showing of a Veggie Tales movie.

Things for the three of us in Catacamas also progresses well. The computer classes are a big hit and in addition to the four scheduled classes, the Tallons are doing some special one-on-one sessions before and after the classes.

The end of the trip is rapidly approaching and soon the trek home will begin. Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

Fouss

Quick Update on El Loro

2006-03-22T09:36:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Just wanted to let every know the the parts arrived in Catacamas sometime after midnight last night. The Pettits left about eight this morning to head up to Cedeco with the parts.

I hope to have more info later today.

Fouss

Tuesday's Tale

2006-03-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

Greetings,

It's another surprisingly moderate day in Catacamas. The temperature is only in the upper 80s. The engineering squads all made it to Cedeco safely and are radioing back for some miscellaneous supplies. The word is the projects are off to a good start....well except for the repeater tower. We're still waiting on the airline to decide to get the rest of the parts here (like the battery and the tower itself). John Pettit and Roni left for Teguc a short while ago. The hope is the parts are on a truck they're going to meet. The parts will hopefully be back here tonight and in the mountains sometime tomorrow. Long live El Loro!!!

OK, I'll confess I may have some responsibilty for the parts being delayed. I was assigned the battery (which according the the airline scales weighed something like 74.8 lbs.) After lugging it all of maybe 20 feet up to the check in, I was really hoping for someway out of carrying it through Teguc's airport......

Fouss

Fouss's First Missive

2006-03-20T14:44:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

I'm apparently the official blogger for the week. So I just wanted to say Hi from Honduras and do a quick pre-apology for any grammar and spelling typos. I'm the computer teacher, my mom's the english teacher (seriously!) The crew took off for the mountains a little after 2:00 and should actually be there now. The Tallons and myself are staying behind in Catacamas. The Tallons have a busy week ahead giving some training seminars. They're schedule for four classes a day and have about 30 participants. I'm doing some database work on the applications we created for them last year as well as creating a new application. Bryan Bates will hopefully be lending me a much appreciated hand from the states.

As always your prayers are requested and appreciated. Lord willing I will be blogging again soon with some sort of progress report.

Jon Fouss

We have arrived!

2006-03-20T07:40:00.000-08:00

Bueños Dias. This is Amy and Matt, and the entire team saying hello from Predisan, Catacamas, Olancho, Honduras. We are all here safe and sound. We left yesterday at about 6 am from Nashville and arrived in Tegucigalpa at about 1 pm with 23 out of our 27 pieces of luggage. Unfortunately the airline decided the plane was full and some radio repeater ¨el loro¨ (the parrot) luggage didn´t get on the plane. Don´t worry though, the luggage should get here in time for the group to still complete the project, they will just have to do it at the end of the week instead of the beginning. After we arrived at Tegucigalpa we took a detour by BK, Burger King (el rey de hamburguesas) and then set out to Catacamas. To divert ourselves on the long bus ride we sang almost every song we knew. With ¨Burning Ring of Fire¨ being the song of choice of some of the group (we watched Walk the Line on the plane ride here). We arrived in Catacamas at around 7 pm and unloaded all out stuff and eat a lovely Honduran dinner complete with plantains, beef, rice, beans, and salad.

This morning we got up for breakfast at 7 am and came over here to Predisan to have a devotional with the Predisan staff. We sang some songs, every song we knew in spanish which was 2, and talked about their theme of the month, sincerity. Now the rest of the group is touring the facility of Predisan. We plan to organize all of the equipment after that and hope to set off for the mountains after lunch. Everything is going great, with the exception of the missing luggage. And to all the parents everyone is safe and healthy.

Please keep everything that we are doing in your prayers, especially the missing luggage, and we will see you all in a week with a thousand pictures and stories to share.

All Packed and Ready to Go!

2006-03-18T15:32:00.000-08:00

Just had our packing party today. Started off with great sandwiches from Jersy Mike's. We are now looking forward to beans and rice, and rice and beans, and maybe some beans with rice. Actually Rony, PrediSan's group leader, mixes it up pretty well for us northern folks!

We get started bright and early tomorrow morning, with the bus leaving Lipscomb at 4:15 AM! Our flight is at 6:15 for Houston. I doubt many will get much sleep tonight worrying about did we forget anything. I am looking forward to 6:16 tomorrow morning when all the planning is done and the trip begins.

My lesson learned

2005-06-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

The Thursday before we left to go to Honduras, I had the ‘opportunity’ to attend the graduation ceremony of my five year old niece from pre-school. The ceremony included a short presentation by the entire class which consisted of Bible verses and several songs. It was then followed by an actual graduation ceremony. They dressed these children in graduation attire, had them walk down the aisle as they called their names, and handed each one a diploma. And pretty much the whole time I was rubbing the temples of my forehead and saying to myself, “I can’t believe this is happening” over and over. That said I know that when it is my two year old nephew’s turn to graduate from preschool and when it is my three week old niece’s turn, I will be there to watch them do so and will probably be chanting, “I can’t believe this is happening”.

Anyway as part of the ceremony the class recited in the sing-song way children do Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And I wondered both at that time and as I traveled to Honduras that if we sometimes sort of gloss over this particular verse. It is a simple verse; one that we have probably all memorized. But, the implication of this simple scripture I think is sometimes lost to us. No where else in the Bible is a better example of the sheer power and the sheer size and greatness of our God. Think how large the earth is. And the earth is just a single planet in a solar system. And the solar system is just a single system inside a galaxy consisting of millions upon millions of systems. And the galaxy is a single galaxy inside the universe. And Genesis 1:1 tells us God created everything, which means that he is greater than the whole thing. It is incredible, and I think we all know that the earth and ourselves are actually very small, but it for many – including myself – it is really only from an academic standpoint that I know this. But it struck me as I left the United States for the first time and was truly a stranger in a foreign land - and particularly after our group separated from the larger group – how vast the world is. On the second day of programming when it approached lunch time, we walked over to the cafeteria and stood outside the kitchen window. And none of us knew how to ask for food. Four guys: one fixing to graduate in a semester, two who had just graduated, and their instructor thinking we are four fairly intelligent people and are unable to do something as trivial as ask for food. We did get to eat but it wasn’t anything we did but rather the ladies working there figuring it out. It was a very humbling experience, and it made me feel very, very small - very insignificant. And putting myself into the scope of the universe, I think I truly have an understanding of the vastness of the universe. And I almost despaired.

But then I remembered a second passage that graduating pre-school class recited: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” First of all, the world here is not the ground, plants, and trees. It’s the people God loves: the people that he created. And even though His creation turned from Him, He gave them a way of hope and salvation. And even though I may be small and insignificant in the scope of the physical world and the span of time, because God loves me I have significance. That is the lesson that has stuck with me from our trip to Honduras.

Fouss

Looking Back on our Trip

2005-06-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

This trip required alot of planning and work done by our amazing team of teachers, students and friends. It was awesome to see the solar lights come on for the first time in Cedeco, or to see Chris exclaim from the top of the biulding that the rafter project was finished. The things i remember most though are the interactions i had with the Honduran people. The things that were not planned. I loved breaking from work to play soccer with the village kids or see how many times Philipe and I could head the soccer ball back and forth with out it hitting the ground (I think we got eight). When I stepped on a nail i got to ride with a truck full of Hondurans to a nieghboring clinic. One man spoke a little english and with the little spanish i knew we carried on a ten minute conversation. On the plane ride back to Miami, Daniel and myself befriended a Honduran girl and with the extra two hour because of delays we taught each other card games, talked and i think i can say we made a friend. These are my favorite memories. Honduras is a beautiful contry with many beautiful people. I hope that I made a good impression on the Honduran people, and that maybe they will remember me too.

Kirk Pippin

Trip Thoughts

2005-06-03T06:41:00.000-07:00

All praise be to God for a safe and most successful trip! Admittedly, I had some doubts that the rafter project could be completed in the allotted time. Silly me! I should have known from the 2004 trip that these are the "can-do" kind of students who will find the ways and who have the drive to get things done. These traits, a gift from God, will always serve them well.

I found it interesting that with only a little stretch, one could attach Biblical connotations to all the mission's projects. The Computer Team provided PREDISAN with the means of updating their patient-service database. Records and archives likewise played an important part in the lives of God's ancient people (Ezra 6:1-2 and Esther 6:13).

The Solar Panel Team labored long and hard to light the little world of Felipe and Julia, and the smiling faces of their kids made it all worth it. God Himself saw the goodness of light (Gen. 1:4-18), and throughout His Word, light is equated with that which is pure and holy.

It's altogether possible that the Rafter Team, as they assembled and installed cupola panels, did so not realizing that they were validating the words of the teacher Solomon regarding a leaking roof and rotting rafters (Eccl. 10:18).

The school visits, too, had the Lord's approval, for it was His practice to bless children and to remind His disciples that children are the stuff of which the Kingdom iis made (Matt. 19:14).

The devotions were wonderful. I'm especially thankful to those who opened their hearts to us and allowed us to share their inner thoughts.

Thank you, Father, for a wonderful trip.

Lee

Reflections by Fort Gwinn

2005-06-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

How can I express what this trip meant to me? This trip was a sort of pilgrimage. As most all of you know, I was supposed to go to Predisan with last years group, but due to some unexpected health concerns I had to stay home. Lee Whitney went in my place to oversee the construction of the tower (Lee, I am continually amazed at the way God works through you).

So the trip this year had two purposes for me. First, to work with students and friends on the improvements to the CEDECO building and to support the installation of the solar panels. And secondly, to see, to touch, and to climb the water tower that was built last year.

While there, I discovered a third purpose for the trip...the people of Honduras. I was touched by their loving, generous spirit. The Christians in Las Delecias are filled with God's spirit and their beautiful children are a blessing from heaven.

God willing, I plan to visit CEDECO again.

The PrediSan Staff

2005-05-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

ALL IS WELL (note from Doris Clark)

2005-05-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

I am so impressed with how well David Fann works with the students and with the other professors. He really has everyone’s respect! Also he did a terrific job of preparing the students for the trip. They were focused for a learning experience and for a spiritual experience. Well done!

The other accompanying adults seem to have a very energizing experience as well.

We had some debriefing this morning as well as a planning session for next year! New ideas are cooking. Kyle Huhtanen and Marcio David Matamoros (PrediSan staff) have been terrific working with them.

The group has taken off to the maket at the moment and plan to be on the road to Tegu this afternoon.

God Bless and my love,

Doris Clark
PrediSan Assistant Director

Long Weekend in Cedeco

2005-05-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, Biagi here again, back from a long weekend in the mountains with the engineering team. We left Saturday morning and got back early yesterday to finish work on our project. Monday was a panicky-scramble to get everything done so we could be ready for our final meeting later today. It was great to spend our "Weekend Off" in the mountains with the rest of our team. The first thing we did when we got there was take out some of our pent up frustration by doing a little demolition work for the facility. It was great fun to do something other than sit still and type! The rest of the weekend was great, we got to spend time with the church there and play with the kids. It was a welcome change of pace. Today we are busy finishing up our work and business in Catacamas so we can begin our homeward journey this afternoon. We will spend Tuesday night in Tegucigalpa and are scheduled to be back to Nashville at9:30 Wednesday night. Hope to see you all soon!

In His name,
David

Mission good, weather merely annoying

2005-05-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

David Fann said that there may be some cause of concern amoung you, considering the storms in the area, so he wanted me to give you the weather update. It rained really hard in Catacamas (where the computer dudes are working), but Las Delicias (where the rest of the group is in the mountains) didn't even get any rain. The weather reports are showing that most of the storm has passed and it's looking like there will be scattered showers and clouds until Tuesday and possibly later. Most of the tropical storm broke on the mountains on the western side of the continent, so by the time it got to their area it was just some good hard rain.

In my experience, this is very common. So, be at peace. They are fine and dandy. Also, when David called from the satellite phone yesterday, he told me that the solar crew finished their project and are rejoicing in the outcome! Now they are helping the reinforcement crew with the Cedeco building. It is a much bigger project, so they probably need all hands on deck. The computer guys are going up there to visit them this weekend, but will be back at PrediSan to train the staff with their new database on Monday. Of course, someone from that crew will probably give more information than I just did. Wow, these guys may just have some time at the end of their trip to relax and enjoy Honduras!

It came from the mountains...

2005-05-19T08:29:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks, Biagi again. I had the opportunity this morning to talk with David Fann up in Cedeco via the radio. Fann said that the Solar Panel team had their Panels up and running and were already charging the battery. This means that the refrigerator is up and running too. All that remains is the rafter team's project which he said was going quite well. David also told me that they had celebrated Karla's birthday and that they are trying to get a cake up there to finalize the event. I let him know that several of you had expressed birthday wishes for Karla and he said he would pass them along. Everything else is going well, our projects here at Predisan are almost done and we are hoping to join the teams in Cedeco for the weekend. Well it's back to work, we will be in touch more later.

Again thanks for the support and God bless,

David

Now Blog This!

2005-05-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hey all, Biagi here at the Predisan clinic in the fabulous (if not heinously warm) Catacamas! After lunch yesterday we said farewell to the Engineering team as our comrades in Geek-dom rode into the hills to begin their various projects. We spent the rest of the day working on our projects, coming ever closer to our not so distant goal. It is amazing how quickly time has been passing. Yesterday, only the second day of our trip, I realized that today was Wednesday, and that our self imposed deadline was nigh! At dinner we came up with the tentative plan to try to have our software finished and ready to use by Thursday or Friday morning at the very latest. This would give us the rest of Friday to train the staff with the new tool. Since Predisan is closed over the weekend we are hoping to be able to make it out to lend a hand on the various projects the rest of the team is working on. Unfortunately we feel that it will be necessary for our paths to diverge again as we return to Catacamas on Monday, while the Engineers will stay to finish their projects. We are hoping to use Monday to make last minute adjustments and help the staff use the Debut software in their normal environment. So now that we have planned out our week, I look at where we are now, and where we need to be on Friday, and it kind of makes me freak out a little. I am confident, however, that regardless of how much coffee we have to consume, or how many times I will have to pull my face off of my drool-laden keyboard we will meet our deadline and emerge victorious!
On a completely unrelated note I can't describe how nice it is to do something you love in the Lord's service. Engineers and programmers don't often get the opportunity to use their talents for the greater glory of God, and it feels great. I wanted to thank you all for your support, both monetarily and in the time you have invested in your prayers, worries and actions to make this possible for us. Please continue to offer your prayers for our safety and the success of both our projects and our witness.

Thanks again for all the love and support; To God be the glory,

David

A note from the CS Team

2005-05-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

Hey, Bryan here for a quick update from the CS folks. Got here around 0815, got the KVM switch and server installed, then spent an interesting few minutes before 1000 copying the latest and greatest version of the code over from my laptop to the server. Met w/ Dr. Garcia this morning from about 1000 to 1100 to find out how things really work down here, show him what we had, tell him what we could change, and find out what needed to be changed. Some interface differences, some data differences, but nothing unexpected or too difficult to fix. He seemed very pleased with what we had so far and excited about what we were going to do, which is always good. My concern is that the person who enters all the data will need an interface that's *fast*, not necessarily look good. Fun part of UI design is not making things qool, but making them work seamlessly with what the user's expecting. Gonna meet with Dr. Madrid tomorrow, hopefully, but the rest of today will be spent coding and fixing things. Fouss and Biagi are working on Auto Thingy (yes, that *is* the real name), and Joe and I will be fixing and polishing Debut / Patient Tracker for the rest of the day. (and night, and however long the cafe con leche lasts) We four (Fouss, Biagi, myself, and Joe) will be here in Catacamas for the rest of the week, and hopefully will join the Engineers later, but we want to spend at least a day or two with the folks here using the system "in production" to make sure all the bugs are worked out. Bugfixing's hard enough, without having to do it remotely, and with a language barrier to boot.

In other news, the hotel is nice (about 500 meters from PrediSan), and the cafe (coffee) is most excellent. The only remaining question is how much the nice customs agents will let me take out of the country when I leave...

Day Two

2005-05-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Elizabeth here. I am the designated 'blogger' for today. I'm sitting here in the Predisan clinic. Well, since we landed yesterday.... We all loaded up into an old school bus to head to Catacamas, but we stopped at a Texaco on the way out of town for snacks and a potty break. The road to Catacamas was bumpy in places, smooth in others. The landscape was beautiful and gave us a glimpse into Honduran culture. We stopped (about an hour and a half later) at a little roadside cafe to 'refuel' and give our backsides a break. I personally used my limited spanish speaking skills to buy some yummy pineapple bread. Oh yeah, Kyle had some money ready for us at the airport. We got 376 Limpere (sp?) for $20. That means its almost 19 limpere per dollar. After the break we travelled on to Catacamas. Finally we arrived to Predisan, said hello to a fellow Lipscomb friend that is here with the medical maymester group, and then headed to the hotel. Rooms were assigned, a traditional Honduran meal was eaten, a short devo, and then bed! I think we were all mucho cansado (very tired). :)
This morning, we had pancakes, and then loaded up our stuff and walked over to Predisan from the hotel and are currently double checking our supplies before we head up to Las Delicias.
We appreciate your prayers. Keep them coming!
P.S. Hi Mom and Dad! :)

Arrived in Teguc!

2005-05-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

Well traveling is going well. We believe that all our luggage and materials are with us and have passed through security. We are on our way to Teguc and will be there shortly and hopefully come back in contact with our stuff. The plane trip from Nashville to Miami was smooth and the most of the team caught up on sleep. We grabbed a quick bite for lunch in the Miami airport and boarded the plane at about noon (EST). The team seems to be bonding well and we are enjoying many laughs together! We are all very excited about what God has in store for us. One awesome note I would like to mention to show God´s faithfulness is there have been many people interested in our trip. Flight attendants and other travelers have been intrigued about our project and I faithfully believe that we are being a testimony and witness for Christ. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we make our way up into the mountains. May God be gloried through our work for His Kingdom.

--- Kris Hatchel

Note from David Fann: Kris wrote this note on the plane...I just feverishly typed in an internet cafe while everyone is finishing loading the bus. All our bags arrived with us safely. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Aaaaaand.....they're OFF!

2005-05-16T05:19:00.000-07:00

Angie Fann here. I just spoke to my husband, David Fann, who is on the runway in Nashville (in the plane, of course, not actually on the runway, lol). They are about to take off without delay. All bags got checked in perfectly and in order (thanks, Carla) and all students and faculty are accounted for AS FAR AS WE KNOW. *wink*

There was a lot of energy and excitement as we watched them go through security and wave goodbyes. I called my husband from my car to wish him well once more, but I apparently timed it when his cell phone went off going under the security x-ray conveyer belt. Oops.

I will let you know how their connections go and will update as soon as I hear word from Honduras. David will probably email me or blog from the airport Internet Cafe.

I just hope he doesn't say it out loud...."I need to go blog." Our language has changed so, with technology, hasn't it? Adios. --Angie

It's Oh-Dark-Thirty in the morning...

2005-05-16T01:15:00.000-07:00

It's a little past one o'clock in the morning...which isn't so bad, except for the fact that the alarm is set for 4:15AM. Somehow, I doubt I'm the only one still awake.

Everything is packed, or at least everything I can remember. I am ready to get on the plane. I'll worry till then. I'll worry about airport security not allowing one of our bags on "Honestly, that is a charge controller for a solar powered system...don't worry about that timer, it doesn't do anything explosive, I promise!" I'll worry about someone oversleeping (most of all, myself). I'll worry about what things we forgot. I'll worry about things we need, that we haven't thought of. But once we are on the plane, the worrying will cease. Whatever we forgot, we'll deal with it in Honduras, can't do anything about it now. I will try to get some sleep now for the next couple of hours, but I know I'll be sleeping at about 30,000 ft tomorrow...make that today.

David Fann

Welcome to Lipscomb Engineering/CS Mission trip

2005-05-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

I'm about to head over to the packing party that starts at 2PM. We have to be at the airport at 5:30 tomorrow morning for our long day of travel. My plan is for everyone is to add their own thoughts to how the trip is going. Check back later for more details on our trip.

David Fann