| Honduras July 17-27, 1998 |  |
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| Honduras July 17-27, 1998 | |
Ohio team: Elliot Kim, David Han, and Kay Hutton.
Preparing for such an endeavor was not easy. We spent many hours, days, even weeks together preparing for the work we planned on doing. We worked on memorizing the words to all the Spanish songs and the body worship, by watching the tape a million times. We worked on the skits many times, even performed them at church before we left. Finally we even practiced how we would run the activities with some of the team posing as "kids!".
Going on missions not only takes a lot of preparation, it takes money as well! For the 13 of us from St. John's, we needed about $17,000 to go. To raise our funds we held a bike-a-thon where around 25 people went up to Cape Cod for the day to bike about 30 miles. The other major fund-raiser was a Kim-Bap (like Korean sushi) rolling party where the team woke up at 4:00 in the morning so we could finish the 300 or so rolls that had to be made by 9:00!
The bike-a-thon at Cape Cod.
We went to meetings about once a week in the beginning, and then nearly every day near the end. We performed various team-building exercises, such as communicating without speaking, building something as a team without being allowed to talk, and solving other various problems. God humbled me in many ways by showing me how much more I need to depend on Him. Near the end, we had prepared much for the trip, but we still felt so inadequate. We had to leave the rest to God...how could he show His supernatural power if we could do everything ourselves?
David Han once said that all the preparation was the actual work of the mission trip and going on the trip was a celebration! This turned out to be very true for us.
We left around 4:30 in the morning to catch our 6 am flight to San Pedro Sula, connecting through Miami. I was so tired but yet excited for our journey was already underway. It wasn't until we were on the Airbus 300 headed for Miami that it hit me what we were really doing...we were going to Honduras! I never really processed the fact we would be thousands of miles away from home serving people in an environment that I had only read about and seen on TV...I couldn't believe it was really happening!
After a 1-hour layover in Miami, we were in a 727 bound for San Pedro Sula, the industrial capital of Honduras (Tegucigalpa is the national capital). When we reached the border of Honduras, it was unlike anything I had ever seen. The landscape consisted of mountains thousands of feet tall, dominated by palm trees, banana plants, and coconut trees.
We arrived at the mission center around two in the afternoon after a treacherous 2-hour drive through the mountains. The place was a cinder-block shell just recently completed, with a large room for the VBS and smaller rooms for us to stay in and run the dental clinic. Down a little way was the dining hall which would be usable in 2 days (they were just finishing the roof and starting the floor).
The missions center.
Right after noon with the sun directly overhead, it was about 85 degrees with 100 percent humidity...typical Honduran weather. After cleaning up the missions center to get it ready for VBS, we decided to take a look around a little. The first thing we noticed was a group of about ten children kicking around a ball...soccer was the national sport and the kids seemed to be born knowing how to play...and play well! The kids were so curious about us...a bunch of Asians coming from thousands of miles away. They loved trying to communicate with us, and we did the best we could to communicate back...bits of broken Spanish mixing in English and some charades!
It started getting dark early, around 6:30. There was no daylight savings time in Honduras and we were at the eastern edge of the time zone, so it felt like the days were 2 hours shorter in Honduras!
For our first dinner to Honduras we rode in the back of a pickup for what seemed to be an hour with dust blowing in our faces. We arrived in the city, San Pedro Sula, fully expecting to see real Honduran cuisine, when McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's signs flashed all around! I was disappointed to be eating American food at Pizza Hut...I don't really even like Pizza Hut's greasy food anyway! I was relieved however to see the Ohio team meet up with us there safely.
Andy, Jen, Heather, and Matt with some of the children.
For lunch we had our first taste of real Honduran food...tortillas with beans, rice, and chicken. Hondurans eat most of their food inside tortillas by wrapping all the ingredients inside and eating them like a burrito. We experienced an interesting blend of Asian culture, in the way we ate the Honduran food with chopsticks! Typically, Hondurans don't use any utensils when eating, but eating their food with chopsticks was like eating sushi with a fork! Their food was actually pretty good considering the conditions.
We busied ourselves the rest of the day preparing the place for VBS and the dental clinic. We mopped the floors, finished the electrical work, and set up the puppet stage. In order to put up one of the lights, Andy stood on the top of a rickety old ladder leaned precariously against the ceiling beams, and since it wasn't quite long enough, it was sitting on a stack of cinder blocks. We all had to hold the ladder to make sure it wouldn't fall over! The team-building exercises proved to be useful after all!
After dinner, we hung out in front of the center, watching the surrealistic lightning come from over the mountains. We started playing stupid human tricks...breaking thumbs, performing finger circuses, and watching Andy fall for a trick! Jean was supposedly teaching him how it was important to be able to understand a foreign language while on missions. She repeated an example for Andy to repeat to himself: "wah-tagik-ayam." Andy sat there repeating a so-called phrase in a foreign language, "wah-tagik-ayam" at least 20-30 times when he realized long after everyone else did, that he was saying "what a geek I am!"
One of our many visitors...
After the sisters got over the trauma of seeing some of the creepy crawly creatures, we got ready to go to the service at the Korean church in San Pedro Sula. This church was the only Korean church in Honduras. The bus was supposed to pick us up at 9:00 but Honduran time was apparently much worse than Korean time...the bus didn't show up until after 10:00! The service started at 10 and we were supposed to perform one of our songs during the service!
We arrived halfway through the service after a long bumpy bus ride around 10:45. The service was a traditional Korean one, with the bulletin offering some Spanish translations. Missionary Park, the pastor, was the one who helped us at the mission center as well. The people were very generous at the church. They fed us Bi-Bim-Bap (rice mixed with pork and vegetables) and Kim-Chee until we couldn't eat any more and later they gave us towels! The church was probably the most beautiful building in town...gardens all around, A/C, and excellent food!
The Korean church in San Pedro Sula.
We rode home in a pickup truck with one of the pastors in the back... this was very common in Honduras! Last night, the generator broke and we had to bring it in for repairs. We also picked up some water and ice for the team, a much desired blessing.
That afternoon, the team split up to go into the surrounding villages to post flyers announcing the VBS, dental clinic and revival at the end of the week. We shared about our Jardín de Niños Hosana (Garden of Children, Hosanna) and how our Clínica Médica was "por gratis" (for free). The people were amazed.
We went along the main street, next to the mud houses with thatch roofs, dodging the stray pigs, dogs, and chickens in the street. The children often wandered alone in the streets with the animals while their parents were at work. Andy had the greatest time shamelessly yelling to the kids in his broken Spanish inviting them to the VBS!
On hill overlooking neighboring mountain village.
For dinner, Missionary Park and a couple others took us to Ki-Chan Korean restaurant, a small family-owned place in the city. We ate Kal-Bi (Korean beef) until we couldn't eat any more and then they gave us noodles and more rice!
Right before lunch, we ran through a last quick practice of all the elements of VBS...the songs and body worship, drama, and the puppet show. Lunch was our first typical Honduran meal in a while, tortillas with ingredients to put inside. We had cereal for breakfast and Korean food the day before!
Long before 1:00 when VBS was supposed to start, a crowd of 20-30 children were lined up by the front door, eagerly waiting for VBS to begin. We had gotten the generator replaced, so we had lights and fans for VBS! Another unexpected blessing came around when a truckload of tables and chairs arrived from the Korean church.
When 1:00 rolled around, we got to work immediately making nametags, trying to understand their names! "Repite, por favor" and "No comprendo muy bien" became useful phrases for us! Andy Noh (Andrés) rounded up the kids and warned the kids, "Yo hablar poco poco poco Español" (I to speak little little little Spanish)! The kids caught on immediately, however, to what Andy was trying to communicate. We had to really practice using our Spanish names now (some took a little getting used to...Jen translated into María!)
We started with some praise and body worship (body motions typically accompany worship in Latin America), singing songs including "Nuestro Padre Abraham" and "Pon Tus Manos" ("Our Father Abraham" and "Put Your Hands"). The kids loved getting their whole body into the song, trying to imitate our motions!
Right after worship, we started the drama, a pantomime called "Enlarging Heart" demonstrating how God wants us to share love with others. Next followed Andy's sermon, spoken through a translator, and finally came the puppet show. The kids really loved it! I could hear them laughing from behind the curtain!
Puppet show during VBS.
After the puppet show was crafts and activities. The kids really loved this part as well...making little books, pens with fish, paper bag puppets, and puzzles. At the end, most of the children went outside to play fútbol...they live it; they breathe it; it is an instinct! A few of the younger kids stayed inside to color though.
I got to miss the kids already after the first day. They shook hands with me saying ¡Hasta mañana! eager to come back tomorrow! The kids were very well behaved, much better than spoiled American kids. These kids had very little material wealth. They were happy with what they needed, whereas Americans are never happy even if they have all they want.
Dinner was another typical Honduran one...we were getting used to the dry tortillas by now. Dessert was special though. One of the local workers got us a bunch of coconuts and started cutting them open with his machete. The milk was delicious. One thing different about these coconuts, however was that the milk was clear, not white, and there wasn't as much meat inside.
After dinner we prepared for tomorrow's VBS. We sang some songs, prayed and debriefed a little. Then suddenly, the lights started getting dimmer, dimmer, and finally the generator just died! We thought we broke another one...we later realized it just ran out of gas! Nobody thought of checking how much gas was in it! We didn't have any more gas so we just shared stories and prayed in the dark.
Right before dinner, the sisters did a bunch of laundry and hung it out to dry overnight, when little did they realize that a storm was looming! It poured rain that night, rain bouncing furiously off the corrugated tin roof with lightning dancing across the sky every couple seconds! Summer is the rainy season for Honduras, and in some areas it rains every night.
Soccer was the most popular pastime.
The kids really loved to play soccer! They were also really good at it...kicking rainbows, diving headers, and faking passes! During one of the games, some of the kids took me aside and showed me some of the plays! In addition to soccer, the kids enjoyed the jumpropes. They were always eager for their turn and to hear us sing the songs (Cinderella, dressed in yellow...)
Later on, after most of the kids left, a bunch of us picked up some of the guitars and played a couple songs. A couple kids gathered around by the windows to hear us play. Janet and Sonia also jumped in, eager to learn a couple more songs on the guitar!
The shower felt so good that night...there was no hot water but it was very refreshing after I ran around with the kids for a couple hours! The sisters finally got the laundry done, and later we had dinner. Some of the members of the Korean church cooked for us again.
After dinner, the dental team got back after a long busy day. To unwind a little, we picked up some guitars again and this time, David Han showed me a couple songs. We picked around for an hour or so before we went to bed.
The next day, we had to get up early for VBS, since we were going to have both a morning and afternoon session that day. After a slightly rushed breakfast, we had some time for a quick quiet time. The dental team had left again early to go to another village like yesterday. The morning session of VBS was the same as Monday's afternoon session. There were 2 separate VBS's each with 3 sessions: M-W afternoon and W-F morning.
During the afternoon VBS we performed our third skit called "Las Manos" talking about how God created everything. He gave us hands that could be used for good things. However, man used them for evil. Jesus then gave us the opportunity to hold him with our hands for forgiveness.
After a double dose of VBS we were exhausted and very sweaty...the showers felt immensely refreshing! By this afternoon, some workers had been mowing the grass with machetes and were almost done. The machete is an all-purpose cutting tool in Honduras. Its long 3 foot blade can cut almost anything, grass, small branches, weeds, and even coconuts! I asked one of the workers if he would let me try cutting some grass, and then I realized how much work it really was! We took lawn mowers for granted way too much back in America!
After dinner, we planned on showing the Jesus film in Spanish. A bunch of us helped set up the screen and projector outside, and some others handled the speakers. A few moments later however, it started raining, and we were forced to bring everything inside. In spite of the rain though, a good crowd showed up for the movie. I could tell how hearts were being changed. It was very encouraging!
Later on, during the puppet show, the tape messed up and wouldn't start where it was supposed to, so Andy improvised a way to keep the attention...let's do the Cucaracha! The kids loved seeing Andy dance and make a fool of himself, as usual!
The kids loved making origami flowers, fortune-tellers, and cups
during activities. It didn't matter how much pain we were in, how hot
and thirsty we were, or how tired we were when we saw the smiles light
up on the children's faces. It was so encouraging. That's what the
mission was all about, reaching kids on their level, showing our love,
and at the same time presenting them with the gospel.
Right after dinner we planned on starting the revival so we got to
work immediately. A bunch of us helped set up the lights, sound
equipment, and seats for a couple hundred people. We did a last
run-through of the body worship and of "Burden" the drama. Finally we
prayed that God would really speak through the pastor, the songs and
the testimony, and that He would draw many people to Himself.
The revival started around 7:00, opening with some worship from some
people from a local Honduran church. The weather had cleared up just
in time for the beginning - praise God! I really enjoyed their style
of worship. Most of the songs were in a minor key with an upbeat
rhythm, and instead of just clapping or raising hands while singing,
their whole bodies were animated, swinging to the beat.
By the end of the worship, at least 200 or 300 people had showed up!
I was really uncertain how many people would actually show up since
almost all the people were unreached and unchurched. Later on, Julie
gave her testimony, spoken through a translator. I could see many
hearts being touched...the Spirit of God was moving in a powerful way!
After the testimony we performed "Burden" depicting a character with a
big load that he can't handle. He goes around asking for help, but
everyone is too busy working, or too self-centered to notice. Later
in his despair, Jesus comes and removes the burden. He looks around
to try to find the one who took away the burden and later discovers
that only Jesus could have been the one.
Following "Burden" was a little more worship by members of the Korean
church, and then came the message. A pastor from a local church
presented the gospel about how God opens our eyes to see Jesus and His
miraculous work on the cross. He spoke with such authority that
people in the front had to cover their ears! It was awesome to hear
the Gospel message proclaimed in simple language that everyone could
understand. Even with my broken Spanish I understood almost every
word. During the final altar call, a good crowd of 30 or 40 came up
front to receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior!
Following the revival, Young Jun was finishing up his pump, drilling
the last couple holes and bolting it together. The rest of us played
jumpropes, double dutch and other silly games for about an hour!
Later we went outside to see the glorious Milky Way directly overhead.
With no lights in Honduras to block the sky I saw the stars as I had
never seen them! We even saw a few shooting stars! A bunch of us
claimed stars as our own, and I remember launching an attack on David's
star with plans on taking over the sky!
Friday was very similar to Thursday, with morning VBS starting at 8,
and the dental team getting started at 9 (they only went to other
villages Tuesday and Wednesday.) After VBS some of the kids would
come up to me saying "¡foto! ¡foto!" They loved getting
their picture taken!
Young Jun finished his pump and demonstrated it by squirting water all
over the floor! Later on we had a celebration dinner for the local
people, celebrating the beginning of a new ministry in Honduras and
kicking off a new church.
The revival went well again, starting with worship, the drama
"Puppet", and another testimony. The message was another powerful
one, this time focusing on Acts 4:12, how Jesus is the only one who
can break the chains of sin.
The bus apparently was still running on Honduran time, showing up
around 8:30! We started making our way up to Tela, up on the northern
coast. We planned on hanging out and relaxing on the beach to debrief
from the week-long mission. We wound our way north, through the
two-thousand foot mountains all around us, past the lush forests of
palm trees, and through San Pedro Sula. It took 1000 lempiras ($75)
of gas to last us for the three-hour journey to the beach.
In Honduras, people drank Coca-Cola more than water, almost literally!
Every block we would see at least one or two signs "Siempre
Coca-Cola", "Disfrute Coca-Cola" (Always Coke; Enjoy Coke). The
driving was terrible in Honduras! With very few traffic lights, cars
jumping the median to use whatever lane available, and people driving
on sidewalks, we were lucky the old clunky bus made it in one piece!
It was sad to leave the kids behind. After a week of working closely
with them some of us started holding them dear to our hearts. We left
knowing that many of us probably wouldn't ever see them again, but yet we
touched their lives so much. Many of them asked when we were coming
back!
We arrived at the beach around 11:30 and settled into the beach-house,
a beautiful fully furnished house with hardwood floors, A/C, TV, great
view from the deck, and best of all, beds! Yes, beds! I couldn't
describe how it felt to lay down in a warm cozy bed after sleeping 10
days in our smelly sleeping bags on the hard and cold concrete
floor.
The beach was beautiful, well worth the agonizing bumpy ride to get
there! We sprinted for the beautiful aqua-blue Caribbean water,
straight out of a dream vacation. The water was a warm 85°, the
sand was smooth, and the beach was very clean.
We picked up souvenirs on the beach, T-shirts, postcards, conch shells,
and bracelets for less than half of typical American prices. The unit
of currency was called lempiras and it was about 13.5 to 1 dollar.
A typical T-shirt was about 90 lempiras - 7 dollars instead of the
typical $15 for a shirt in America!
After surfing in the waves, catching live sand dollars, and playing in
the sand for a few hours, we were driven inside by a quick afternoon
squall which soaked all our stuff immediately! We headed over to
dinner at the hotel's restaurant. A live band entertained us and
sometimes people would go up to the dance floor. We all enjoyed
"bailando" to the upbeat songs, taking turns being in the middle, and
doing the caterpillar! Between a couple birthday celebrations, the
dee-jay introduced us to the local crowd.
From about 9:30 to 12:30 we had our debriefing session. Praise,
prayer and communion started it off, and later on we shared our
experiences. We all had so much to say - the way the kids loved us,
the struggles we overcame, the joy of serving, and what we learned
about ourselves. It was encouraging to hear how God worked through
each one of us.
The next morning we got up early to head to San Pedro Sula, back to
the Korean church. By this morning about half the team was getting
sick, mostly stomach ailments. Ironically it was the food at the
restaurant that made us sick. Our team took special care to make sure
our food was clean, but the restaurant didn't necessarily take those
precautions. I anxiously awaited the 1 ½ hour bus ride after
having several bouts of diarrhea early in the morning.
After service we headed to the Youth for Christ center center in the
city. It was like a typical retreat center with decent living
conditions. About half an hour later we headed to a local mall which
was like an American one. We shopped around for more T-shirts, little
gifts, etc. Most of the guys bought machetes and the girls got little
baskets and knick-knacks! My 20" machete was in a leather sheath
decorated with flowers and not quite like the ones used in the field.
It was originally 175 lempiras, but we bargained down to 150 (bargaining
was very common in Latin America), which translated to about $11!
For dinner we headed back to Ki-Chan, the same Korean restaurant we
went to last Sunday night. I had recovered mostly from my stomach flu
and enjoyed the Kim-Chee Chi-Gae (Kimchee stew) and Pa-Jang (like
omelettes with scallions and other spices in soy sauce).
Somehow Andy made it through customs with the 6 machetes he bought the
day before! We were all set to go...it seemed like it went by so
quickly! After a 2-hour layover in Miami, we headed back home to
Boston, and we said our good-byes to the Cincinnati team. We were
welcomed with a celebration back in Boston! A bunch of people
volunteered to cook us a feast of Bi-Bim-Bap and sashimi (my favorite!)
It was great to be back home-sweet-home, in my own bed again, pondering
over my sweet memories over the last two weeks!
Revival for the local people. Tela - Saturday July 25
We had to get up really early, around 4:30 to get ready to leave. The
bus was coming at 7, and we had a lot of packing to do. We had to
bundle all the sleeping bags, mosquito nets, VBS materials, and all
our clothes to be out of there right when the bus came. We took one
last picture with some of the kids (they missed us too much to not
come back to say bye!) We also included one of the guards with his
AKA assault rifle...some areas were pretty dangerous and required
armed guards patrolling the area! 
One of the guards with his AKA assault rifle. 
Beach at Tela. San Pedro Sula - Sunday July 26
We all survived the bus ride just fine to the Korean church, actually
arriving on time this time. Missionary Park introduced us to the
congregation and we performed a couple more songs after offertory. As
usual, they served us lunch until we couldn't eat any more. I felt
bummed not being able to enjoy the Kim-Chee and Myuk-Guk (seaweed soup)
since I hadn't yet gotten over my stomach bug from the night before. The Journey Back Home - Monday July 27
We had to be up at 4:30 sharp to pack up, load all our stuff on the
bus, and donate the VBS materials. Our flight left at 7:15, requiring
us to be at the airport to go through customs at 6:00. 
The time sure went by quickly. 