Having showered the night before, I was able to sleep in until after 7am today. Same food for breakfast and we sang great songs: "How great is our God", "Meet with me" and "You said". This was a great worship time. We then boarded the bus and headed for Ciudad Nueva.

We went to the GCLA compound, which includes a tortilla factory for women to work in, a daycare, and the “Jim Zippay” soccer field. They are also building a clinic for malnourished kids. The kids of the women who work in the tortilla factory as well as some others go to daycare there, which is led by Luis Fernando, the worship leader at the GCLA church. As I stepped off the bus, whom did I see running toward me but Hugo! I couldn’t believe he was there; after church on Saturday I never expected to see him again. I gave him a huge hug and just kept my hand on his shoulder for a long time. We then swung on the swings together and I taught him how to jump off of them. Then he started saying, "caballo!" meaning that he wanted to ride on my back. (Caballo means horse in Spanish. The equivalent of an American "piggy-back ride"). We went into the daycare where they recited about half of the names of the 66 books of the bible from memory. Three kids prayed including Hugo. As he was praying I started to cry, especially when he asked God to bless us. I kept thinking he had it backwards - we were there to bless him. His heart is SOOO large and he has so much love to give. He has a very special place in my heart - praise God we met! I came to learn that his mother works in the tortilla factory and Reina is his sister. G. and A. also took a special liking to him and he to them.

The women stayed at the GCLA compound while the men left for the Ciudad Nueva public school (one of 2 in the area) to see what work we were going to do. The school is made up of several different classrooms – two under one roof. The older kids come in the morning, the younger ones in the afternoon. We are helping some Honduran men build another classroom. As they lay cinderblock, we shovel gravel into wheelbarrows to put in the foundation. It wasn’t really gravel but more like coarse rocks. The task was very difficult.

One time while I was getting water a 15 year old boy named Pablo came up to me and we started to make conversation in Spanish. Amazingly, we understood each other well in Spanish. He asked a lot of questions about the US - for example "how close to Ohio is California?", and "What’s the weather like?" (he flipped when I told him in snows in the winter), etc. I told him I had already met a Pablo so I would call him, "Pablo con el pelo guapo" or Pablo with the slick hair since he had gel in it. He stayed over an hour after school to be around us, even when I was working and not able to talk. I have now met and made relationships with one boy from the three places we frequent: Oasis (Pablo), GCLA compound (Hugo), and the school worksite (Pablo con el pelo guapo, pictured with me below). The most amazing thing is that each of them has initiated with me, not me with them. All of them have so much love to give and I’m honored to be able to love them in return. I have been very relational here and indeed God has gifted me in this area. I am so glad I’ve been able to be relational here - and I’m falling in love with the kids.

Following a great lunch, we went into a very poor community called Gracias Cristo to share the gospel. I went into a group with L., B., W., and A.. At the first house we went to a man and his entire house prayed to receive Christ. Next, we went to a house and met Vilma. She is a very faith-filled woman and she also prayed to receive Christ. I could tell while talking to her that she loved and depended on God - amazing in this greatly impoverished place. Most houses are one-room shacks with barbed wire guarding the property. I think some of the wire is to protect from some animals that are “wild” including dogs, pigs, hens, and roosters. At our final house we spoke with a woman who had a 2 month old baby. In contrast to Vilma she seemed very cold and closed to the idea of God. There were many kids at our bus playing when we came back.

By this point the heat was unbearable and we were all sweating profusely. I took an hour nap when returned then ate dinner. I made my daily posting and I am writing this I’m looking after Samuel while J. & S. are gone sharing at Boris married couples group. (They sponsor Samuel from Oasis and he was able to spend the week with us). I feel the need to pray so I plan to do just that before heading to bed.