Saturday, January 29

Note from Debbie:

The internet is very sketchy here and sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. That is why there was no posting on Saturday, and if the internet is down again in the future, don't be surprised if we post the next day.

Sunday, January 30

Posted by Martha and Elliott Best:

After swift flights and an especially smooth landing at the Tegucigalpa airport, we received a warm welcome from our World Gospel Outreach (WGO) friends and our team was complete as we joined fellow members from Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona, North Dakota and Iowa.

The rest of Saturday was spent settling into our new mission house, enjoying a meal together and getting to know one another.

Sunday began with a visit to a church for their 10:00 service. We were welcomed with smiles and loving hugs. The singing and message were truly an inspiration. The pastor emphasized the power of love because without it we are a noisy gong or a clanging symbol as he spoke from 1 Corinthians. The pastor spoke from his heart in exclaiming their gratitude and their belief that our visit here is a true expression of love.

Our afternoon was spent enjoying a local shopping district gathering treasures to take home to family and friends.

We ended our evening with preparation for the next day's events which included an intertaining evangelism role play featuring Debbie Rathert, Katie Kosten and Elliott Best. We're ready for tomorrow.

On a personal note, love to Neil and Amy. We're doing great!

Monday, January 31

Posted by Michelle Meier:

Today was the first day at our brigades. We have quite a few new members of the team so there were a lot of emotions and nervousness on the bus this morning. After picking up our translators and over an hour drive we arrived at our site to see a line of people waiting for us.

Today was an eventful day, there were many struggles, many successes, tears and smiles.

As we sat around the mission house tonight discussing the day, you could see the love pouring out of our team members through their stories. The nervousness that turned into pride and faith. The events that changed members life after only one day.

On a personal level, today was an amazing day for me. I spent the whole day in children's ministry. I connected with a little girl, named Fernanda, who stole my heart 3 years ago when we visited the same church. The love that I felt today, the hugs, smiles, kisses - it showed me the reason why I ended up on this mission trip. For the first time in quite a while, my heart wasn't full of anxiety and sadness but instead with peace and love.

I am forever grateful and thankful to everyone who helped me make the decision to come on this trip. We all look forward to the adventures the rest of this week holds and pray for all those we left behind.

Tuesday, February 1

Posted by Birthday Boy Jeff Herberts:

Greetings to all our family and friends back home. It was another beautiful day in Tegucigalpa--sunny, dry, and about 80 degrees. It was a great day to serve the people here in Honduras (sorry to rub it in as we heard there is severe winter weather back home.)

We spent our second day working in the rural community of Tamara, about a 1.5 hour bus ride from the mission house. Like yesterday, many people were waiting in line as we arrived. There was one man and his grandson that had walked 1.5 hours to get there....I guess the bus ride wasn't so bad!

It was a busy day for all the mission team. A concrete floor was poured in the house of a woman and her family. The woman had lived in the same house with a dirt floor for the past 40 years. Talk about making a difference! Beth Small, who weighs about 90 pounds, Brianna Zoschke who had never even played in a sand box before, and Debbie Rathert were part of the cement team. God does work in mysterious ways!

There were 140 children seen in the children's ministry and 284 people seen by the medical team. In dental, there was a 17 year old girl who had 4 front teeth pulled because they were non-restorable. Arrangements were made for her to receive a partial bridge--another small miracle that we were able to witness in Honduras.

It was a continuous stream of patients in optical...patients ranging in age from 3 to 92. One girl had a prescription of -8.00 (very myopic) and had not worn glasses for about 8 months. We had new glasses with the correct presription--what a blessing! One elderly woman received her glasses and started reading the Bible non-stop. What a good feeling that not only are we helping the people physically, but more importantly, spiritually.

We had a short closing ceremony with the pastor of the church and his collaborators. The team was tired and many dozed off to sleep on the return to the mission house, but it was a GOOD kind of tired knowing we had served many people and made a difference in their lives.

Wednesday, February 2

Posted by Annette and John Scheibal:

Today was a little less hectic with a trip to Rancho Ebenezer, another mission for WGO. We toured the ranch and school where four host families are raising 35 Honduran children. These kids have either been taken away from or abandoned by their biological parents.

The mission at the ranch is to raise these kids in a family environment, to equip them spiritually, emotionally, and academically to take care of themselves in adulthood.

They also showed us their coffee making process which includes growing, drying, roasting, and packaging their coffee to help fund the ranch.

We finished the tour with a soccer game--gringos vs. Rancho Ebenezer kids. Needless to say, we lost, but not because of the efforts of our star goalie, Jeff. You should have seen him go airborne to block a goal attempt. With the exceptions of Elliott and Beth, the rest of us were rookies and not incredibly skilled.

We are preparing to go back out tomorrow to a church in the city to continue our medical and evangelism efforts. Keep praying for us.

Thursday, February 3

Posted by Joanna Hoffmeier Duchow and Alice Hoffmeier:

Greetings from Honduras! This is Joanna's 9th trip and Alice's 5th trip. We are once again amazed by all God's love that is shown all around us.

This was Joanna's first time working with concrete as we placed a new floor in a woman's business. It was hard work without a concrete mixer, but the final product turned out great.

Once again, Alice worked in evangelism and prayed with 51 Hondurans. It was a blessing for 2 people to accept Christ. There were many other people who were reached by the rest of team as they worked in the other areas. The big challenge was having to work in a small room and being practically shoulder to shoulder.

The Lord continues to watch over us as we deal with each new situation. Tonight during devotions we each shared what we had learned this week and how it has inpacted our lives and how it will continue to do so. We are blessed to be here and share the love of Jesus with the Hondurans. We hope to be able to have the same goals in our lives in the U.S.

Hello to J.A.C.E. and Erich, Brandy, Callah and Brody! Love to Kirk! And the rest of the Hoffmeier crew at home praying for us.

Friday, February 4

Posted by Don Stewart and Tobie Grover:

On this Super Bowl weekend, if you would alllow us a sports analogy: As two veterans of several Starfish Enterprise trips to Honduras, we both recognize that Friday "fourth quarter" feeling. The feeling of having paced yourself to make sure that you have something left to give in the fourth brigade day. The feeling of being completely drained, having played hard all week, and "leaving it all out there on the field".

Winning, in this case, souls for Christ, is everything. We just can't afford to lose at this game.

We also want to thank all our famiilies and friends back home for cheering us on through prayer. Your support has seen and carried us through another great week of bringing Christ to our Honduran brothers and sisters.

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Saturday, February 5

With everyone back home safely tonight we want to thank each and every one of you who supported us. To those of you who supported us with your prayers - those prayers were all answered in ways you couldn't have imagined. We felt you with us all week. To those who also provided donations and financial support, we thank God for you. This trip quite simply would not have been possible without you.

Until next year...Bendiciones de Dios para ti.

Posted by Paul:

Late Saturday evening, the members of Starfish Enterprises Honduras Mission Team - 2011, arrived back in St. Louis and Denver, with more returning to Tucson, Michigan, North Dakota and Iowa on Sunday.

As we return to our homes, we acknowledge the revelations given us during our short and poignant time working in Honduras. Some of the individually stated revelations include:

Thanksgiving for being home with family and friends and a new appreciation of the same.

A new awareness of the many blessings we have in this country. In addition, a desire to be more thankful of those blessing and increased awareness of the cost of perceived entitlements to the our country and the rest of the world.

Knowledge that 95% of the people of the world are poorer and have less than the poorest family in this country due to supportive social programs. Average family income in Honduras is around $900 and the cost of living is the same as the United States!

New understanding of the blessings which God provides to those individuals and loved ones willing to serve Christ in bring people to him.

Insight into the similarities of all peoples: similar hopes, desires, goals, and hope for a better future.

A deeper appreciation of the depth of Christianity and love of many of the Honduran people met during the week.

An uplifted spirit and desire to continue a more intimate relationship with Christ.

A realization of the point of destiny in which God revealed his reason for having received a personal "Call to Honduras in 2011".

I think I speak for the team when I say, "This was a good thing!" We hope that our facebook and website visitors have enjoyed and been blessed in some small way while sharing our spiritual journey.

Thanks to those supporting us with prayers and donations. Without your support, this would be impossible.

God bless the people.

Paul A. Darr, Team Leader

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