Pictures of the trip have been uploaded.  View them here.

Greetings from Honduras!
We had a very full and exciting day yesterday! We began with a drive down to a beautiful waterfall which was well worth the bumpy ride it took to get there.  We then headed over to a fish restaurant for a true Honduran experience- a fish lunch complete with the head of the fish!  We were told that we could even enjoy the fins and those who partook said it was salty and crunchy (though no one gave a try at eating the eyes)!  We then headed back to Buena Vista for our last day of VBS, where the children were told the story of Calvary and then given salvation bracelets to remind them of the sacrifice Christ made for their sins.  Many children followed along with the invitation to accept Christ into their hearts for the first time, praise God! 

Right after this we headed into the new church building for the dedication service.  It was especially moving to sing praises to our King with our Honduran brothers and sisters and watch the key of the new building being handed over to the pastor of the church.  We all participated in the Salvation play in which Taylor received high regard for his acting skills! An invitation was again made to receive Christ and the service was closed with much thanksgiving to God for His provision and to all of the workers who participated in this project, both the Hondurans and us gringos!  All in all, it was a wonderful day in which God once again reminded us of His faithfulness!

Hello again from Honduras!
We put the finishing touches on the church building today.  Since we were so close to finishing, we were able to leave a little later from Siguatepeque this morning.  The drive between here and the work site is beautiful.  It is also exciting.  The country is very mountainous, and the highway is a two lane paved road.  There are many different kinds of vehicles on the highway, from motorcycles to tractor trailers, all traveling at different speeds.  Because of this, there is much passing, but because the road twists through the mountains, the passing is sometimes precarious.  We are blessed to be riding with drivers experienced in the ways of the Honduran highway.  When we get closer to Buena Vista where we are working, we turn onto a dirt road.  Buena Vista means “good view”, and to get to the “good view” we drive up the side of a mountain on a very rough dirt road.  We are surrounded on the drive by banana and coffee plants, as well as all kinds of trees, birds, and butterflies. 

This afternoon we conducted the second VBS lessons and games.  The children are eager to participate, and they seem to understand the message behind the stories they are hearing.  We all had fun playing games after the lesson. 

Tomorrow will be our last day of VBS, and the dedication service for the church building will be in the late afternoon.  Please continue to pray that the seeds that we are planting will grow!

In Christ,
The Team

Buenos dias from Honduras!  The team really thanks you for all your prayers.  Tuesday morning we continued to work on the church building, and we were able to put all of the roof structure in place.  With the help of the Hondurans, our team is making great progress on the church; even as a small group, we are actually ahead of schedule.  The pastor’s wife brought us baleadas (tortillas, beans & cheese) to eat.  They were really good. 

After lunch we started the VBS.  We started by singing songs in Spanish.  Then we read them the story about Noah’s ark and used the flannelgraph.  We did a memory verse, and then had crafts time.  We helped them make Noah’s ark with paper plates and yarn, and they decorated them with animal stickers.  At the end we did some outside activities including soccer and the parachute game.  We had close to 100 children come on the first day!   

As we were packing up the vehicles for the ride home, we saw a rainbow, just like the one God sent to Noah after the flood.  It was a beautiful sight and a great reminder of God’s faithfulness to us.  We’re all doing well and we’re all really enjoying our time together with the Hondurans. 

In His service,
The Team.

Buenas tardes NewLife!  Today was our first day of REAL work, and we sure worked hard.  The walls are up!  We praise God for no injuries, good weather (yes, the sun is VERY hot), wonderful Honduran co-workers, and good teamwork.  Honduras is beautiful, and so are the Hondurans.  The children are curious and sweet.  Several even helped.  We may have around 100 children for our first day of VBS tomorrow, after a morning of more hard work.  Pray for us!  We are very tired, but happy to be here and part of what the Lord is doing. 

Hello everyone,

We have had an eventful day here in Siguatepeque.  After turning in early last night, we awoke to the sounds of roosters crowing, dogs barking, and birds singing.  The weather here is quite cool at night – like fall in New England.  We gathered for morning devotions before going out for a tasty breakfast.  We attended church, went shopping for groceries, and then went out for lunch.  So far, the food has been the highlight!  Eggs, beans, fried plantain, grilled chicken and beef, and fresh fruit have all been on the menu.  We spent this afternoon preparing our VBS lessons and materials.  Our work will start in earnest tomorrow.  This evening, we will have a meal of baleadas, tortillas filled with beans and cream and lightly fried.  We leave at 7:00 tomorrow morning to begin building.  (As long as everything and everyone is ready – that still remains to be seen!)

Thank you for your support!

Just a quick note to say that we arrived intact with all of our luggage.  All are well and what we may lack in numbers is more than made up for in enthusiasm.  Although it is only 7:30 pm here our bodies say it is 9:30 so everyone is going to bed early; they don’t seem to realize or maybe they just don’t care but the 2 hour time difference will still be there in the morning  so they will all wake up way too early tomorrow.  

July 1st, 2008: NewLife Christian Fellowship officially unveiled a new web site devoted to the upcoming short-term missions trip to Honduras this August. This site will be primarily used to keep church members and non-members alike informed of our trip. It will also be an outlet for all team members, to share their stories, pictures, and their experiences of how God has used the trip to transform them.

So be sure to bookmark this site, and check back often for updates, or subscribe to our RSS feed.

Our first of two pre-trip training sessions with John MacKay was held on June 21st. Here are a few quick snippets of advice given during the meeting:

• Leave SELF and PITY behind.
• Although the “wrapper” on the outside may vary, we are all clay pots on the inside.
• Be prepared to serve, not to be served.
• Expect inconvenience and discomfort.
• Bring the strongest DEET you can find (yikes!), strong sunscreen, and a hat. Our biggest health risk is dehydration and heat exhaustion.
• The children who come for the VBS will be fun. Expect anywhere from 30-300!