6:30am came very early today. I then took a "shower" which amounted to standing under a freezing trickle for 10 seconds, turning it off, lathering, rinsing in the freezing trickle and jumping out. Breakfast was good - cornflakes and whole milk. We had a short meeting and sang, "From the rising of the sun" and "Here I am to worship" and then headed out for the market in Choluteca.

The market was an incredible experience. There were people everywhere - both buying and selling. There are dozens of little store fronts where people sold everything. Rent for many of these small stores is $5/day and they will make little more than that in a day. Many of these were walled sections inside warehouses. The interesting places were the ones that sold meat, fish, and cheese. It was hot, the stench was almost unbearable, and there were tons of people. The market showed me a good picture of Honduran people and culture.

There are wild cats and dogs in many places - several cats are at the hotel. They are all very thin and pay little attention to people.

After the market, we went to Boris’ church. The church was very vibrant - much more so than the GCLA church. There were tons of kids! There was 50 minutes of music at the beginning of the service including Spanish renditions of "Open the eyes of my heart" and "The happy song". This particular Sunday the church surprised Boris & Nena (his wife) by having a service of appreciation for him as their pastor. Several congregation members sang or spoke for Boris and they bought his family a washing machine (a rare appliance in this area). A very energetic woman gave an inspiring message and music concluded the service. In all, church lasted 2hrs 20min. Many people hugged me on the way out. Touch is so important to these people and I was more than happy to receive it.

We were planning to eat lunch with the kids from Oasis de Amor (the orphanage Heritage sponsors. Boris and Nena are in charge of it) at Pizza Hut but since church ran late, the restaurant was full, so we took the pizza back to the hotel and ate by the pool. I was very excited to meet the kids I have heard so much about. As they were coming in Jose Daniel who is 2 years old gave me a big hug. While we ate, I sat with the older boys and learned their names. Pablo, a 13 year old and I took a special liking to each other. He does thing where he puts his fingers together and playfully strikes me in the chest. We laughed and taunted each other in sport.

After lunch, we began the 40 minute drive to the beach. I sat next to Pablo and we made good conversation. He kept playfully striking me and even though I didn’t care to much for it, I could see how important touch was to him so I let him continue. His English is surprisingly good!

The beach was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. The waves were amazingly high and made a sonic BOOM when the crested. In addition, there was amazing scenery out to sea. We were in a bay and to our right we could see the mountains of Nicaragua and the mountains of El Salvador to our left. All of us enjoyed playing in the water. Pablo and I were beginning to bond and had fun at the beach.

I also met a boy named Isaias who only has two fingers on each hand. In the water, I would hold him by the wrist while he rode out the undertows. He also would jump on my back or we would grab wrists to resist the strong waves. We had a piñata to celebrate Cristian’s birthday. We then boarded the bus and headed for the hotel. I was impressed by Pablo at the beach; while some of the other kids kept to themselves and didn’t participate, Pablo not only engaged with us but also the younger Oasis kids. On the way back Pablo enjoyed using my camera and filled my memory card with pictures. At the end of the day he called me a "friend forever" and we hugged. I can see in Pablo what I have heard about the kids from Oasis from countless others who have been before: he has so much love to give and steals your heart. Here is a picture of Pablo and me from today.

We had a nice dinner and a short meeting afterwards. We each shared what we were processing about the trip to this point. It was interesting hearing how God was speaking to people in unique ways. I then created an online blog and went to bed around 11pm.