Gray's Experience

       Let me start by saying how awesome and inspiring this trip to the LAMB Institute was and how truly appreciative I am of those who sent us money that helped us make this trip. Before going to the LAMB Institute in Honduras this summer, the only place I had been out of the country before was the Bahamas. It was really eye-opening to see how differently people live in a third-world country - the fact that they don’t have very much, but they still get by with what they have. This trip was a great experience and I hope that I get the chance to go back.
There was a lot of joking, goofing around, and just having fun at LAMB, but when it got down to it, there was a lot of work that needed to be done. Working with Mario, Juan, and even a few of the kids, was one of the coolest things I experienced. Seeing how differently they accomplished their tasks was so cool. We are used to having at least close to top-of-the-line products that make work so much easier and more efficient. Well, we didn’t have any of that. The closest thing to high-tech we had was an old beat up cement mixer that we had to lug around by hand up and down the hills. No matter how beat up and old it was, it was a blessing to have that mixer because I cannot imagine mixing all the cement we mixed by hand! We laid a concrete slab next to the shed where they kept the tools, and this was used for another covered area for storage. Then we constructed the form, around what would soon be another house, to pour cement in and then lay bricks. After the form was built and the concrete had set in it, a few of the group got to work on laying the bricks which they did for the rest of the time that week. The work we did at LAMB not only showed how blessed we are to have very simple luxuries, but also built relationships in our church group, and between us and the people at LAMB.
The other major part of the trip, and my favorite part, was playing with all of the kids. This involved everything from arts and crafts to soccer, or “fútbol”, matches on the concrete soccer court. Probably you could figure without me saying that I spent much of this time playing soccer with the kids. For soccer, we played with kids aging anywhere from seven to seventeen. Most of the time we played Hondurans vs. Gringos and even with our large age advantage, we usually got killed by about nine or ten goals. Even though we spent most of the time losing, the time spent playing with the kids was my favorite because we really bonded with the kids. Through my broken spanish and their little bit of english, we would “talk” and even though we come from different places and different circumstances, we are not all that different.
I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to take the trip to the LAMB Institute in Honduras and I do plan on taking as many trips back as possible. The people there are good and the fellowship it brings is even better. There are many people there who help out for very very low income and the LAMB Institute would not be possible without them. It is amazing what goes on there and I ask you to pray for the kids, and their caretakers, and the rest of LAMB.

Pictures!

We have created a site on Shutterfly so everyone can view the many, many pictures we took. Chandler took over 700 pictures while in Honduras. But most of those were selflies the little kids loved to take!

Here is the website with the pictures:

http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=9539181025/a=16815665025_16815665025/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Chandler's Experience

Here is a short summary of our trip:
Who: An intergenerational team of 14 members, 9 adults and 5 youth, from Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church
When: July 20-July27
Where: Tegucigalpa, Honduras and San Buena Ventura, Honduras
What: We worked at a children's home. 63 children call the home, Casa Hogar (God's House) their home. Some children are orphans, some have been removed from their homes by Honduran social services, some have personally asked to live there because they know their homes are unsafe, and some children's parents have agreed to let their children live there because their homes are unsafe. Every child's situation is different, but the goal is to provide a safe, loving, nurturing, and God-centered environment for these children to grow up in.
Why: Our church, MPPC, is a big supporter of the LAMB Institute and send a team every summer to work at the children's home as well as financially support the institute.
       

      Gray and I are so blessed to have had the opportunity to spend a week in Honduras working for the Lamb Institute. Amanda Scott, a missionary who works with the missionary teams who come each summer, tells members of the teams to give people 90 second snap shots of the trip, but I usually spend that much time trying to figure out what part of my trip I want to talk about. 
We started our trip bright and early on Saturday, July 20, by being at the airport at 5:30 am. We flew from Charleston to Miami and then from Miami to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. When we finally made it to Tegucigalpa, it was only 12:30 and our day was just beginning. We met our drivers for the week, Jose David and Novel, went to Casa Lamb, where we would be staying for the next week, unpacked and ate our first Honduran meal. After lunch, we loaded into the vans and traveled 45 minutes south of Tegucigalpa to San Buena Ventura, where the children’s home is located. Amanda gave us a tour and after the girls played with the little kids on the playground and the boys had their first soccer match. We ended our first day excited to see what God had in store for us as we worked along the Hondurans and got to know the children at the home. 
Sunday began with “upside down church” as Amanda calls it. It’s 90 percent kids and 10 percent adults. Suzy McCall, the founder and spiritual advisor of the Lamb Institute, preaches at the church. I had the amazing opportunity to help Suzy serve communion to everyone. I could see the love and appreciation for God on each child’s face as he or she took the communion. After church, one of the interns, Mary Crawford, took us to lunch at Casa y Campo and then we went back to the children’s home to spend the afternoon playing soccer and making crafts. 
Monday morning the real work began. Mario, the Honduran work leader, split us into groups and we began doing a variety of tasks. Throughout the week, we made a lot concrete, began building a brick wall, finished the new trash house, sanded and painted  metal doors and shelves, moved and reinstalled cabinets, and made an outside work area off of the shed. 
Each day, we would take an hour lunch break and gather on the porch of the church to eat and take a small siesta, before going back to work. Around 3 or 3:30, we would call it quits for the day and go play with kids until we had to leave. 
On Wednesday, we went to Flor del Campo, an impoverished neighborhood in Tegucigalpa, to visit the school and to learn about the MicroFinance program. We went to lunch and then headed to the Valley of Angels to spend our afternoon shopping. 
On Friday, we finished our work early and went to the church, where the kids put on a little goodbye ceremony for us. Afterwards, the kids led us up to the top of a the mountain across the street. Sitting on the top of the mountain with the kids was an incredible experience. You could see the city of San Buena Ventura as well as the children’s home. We made it down the mountain and said our goodbyes. 
Saturday came around way to quickly and we found ourselves back at the airport and heading home. I wasn’t ready to leave and I know that God will take me back one day.