FIRST IMPRESSIONS, FIRST EDITION

The first day of brigades is always a special day, both for those here for the first time and those returning to experience the joy that comes from serving others. But at the same time the Hondurans are serving us, as God blesses us through examples of patience, strength, love and undying faith in Christ. Here are some stories of our first day.


My first mission day was very exciting. I began the day with apprehension and finished with immeasurable joy at the experience that God blessed me with. After our team (Bethany, Erik, and AJ) mixed and finished a cement floor for a woman who was incredibly grateful, I had the opportunity to observe Evangelism with Cliff and eventually even participated- I can’t even begin to explain the feeling to serve the Lord. Thanks Cliff. ~Tony Loessl

Today was amazing! I had the privilege of working with Mike, Kim, and Dave as dental assistants to three Honduran dentists. We were sharing a room with the optometrists, nurses, doctors and numerous translators and even more patients, and while at first it seemed rather chaotic, the Lord pulled us together to serve His people. It is a privilege to be here with His people, serving with brothers and sisters that I didn’t know that I had. Thanks for your prayers! ~Love, Emily

I’m not sure what to say… Today was a challenging, amazing day. Our God is Awesome. I started the morning with a surprising amount of peace, and another experienced RN to help me out (which helped a lot)! I saw about 50 people today, with various physical complaints, and did my best to treat them with the medications and knowledge I have. This experience is an overwhelming reminder of how human I am, and how much I need our God. I’m excited to trust him more fully, see him work more clearly, and share his love with people here, and when I get home! Thanks for all the prayers-I feel them! I love you guys! ~Love, Janelle

When you take the time to know someone, things are sometimes worse than they seem in their lives. When you are able to give and to love, it is a great thing. Everything is exponentially better when Jesus is involved. ~ Peace out, Cliff

I am struck by the fact that every time I make myself available to serve the Lord, the blessings he bestows on me immeasurably outweigh the service I have provided for him. I am blessed beyond words in how the Lord can use someone like me to for his service. Thank you God for providing this opportunity for me. PS I miss my Alexandra! I love you honey and you are too funny, my biker, orange juice drinker. Xoxox ~Love in Christ, Katie

I had an awesome first day! It was a really great experience to work with my dad on a cement floor for an older woman. I never would have thought that someone would be so grateful for a simple concrete floor that was done in about 3 hours. After that I got to roam around and observe which was really cool. The Hondurans are an awesome group of people and I am looking forward to tomorrow. ~A.J.

I had a great time today working on putting on a cement floor in a ladies kitchen. We have an absolutely amazing view from the mission house. The people here are great, and extremely receptive to us. Hope everything is going great and I hope everything is going good back there. ~Love Erik Nodland

Today I was struck by how the Hondurans are so appreciative of little things. I helped work on the concrete floor with AJ, Erik and Tony. I also had a boy later in the day steal my camera (with permission) and go from having no idea how to work it to taking almost professional looking pictures (or as professional as you can get with a point and shoot camera). And it seemed to make his day…to be allowed to walk around with a borrowed camera for 45 minutes and take pictures of everything. And he gladly gave it back in the end (and asked me to take pictures of him). I echo it was an awesome day. I’m looking forward to the rest of the week. Thanks for all your prayers! ~Love ya! Bethany Tollberg

What a great first day! I was in the pharmacy and had the opportunity to see how all of the areas came together with such amazing teamwork! I think the thing that struck me the most today is the warmth of the faces of the Honduran people. The smiles on the faces of the children just melt your heart. I am so thankful that God has blessed us with the opportunity to be here. I can’t wait to see what else the week will bring! ~Nancy Loessl

I will start out by saying that I am so blessed to be here in Honduras. Today was an amazing day! I worked with the children, they were all so funny and sweet. I helped washing and styling their hair. It is so rewarding to see someone be so touched by getting their hair done. My Spanish skills helped me out today because I could actually communicate with them and understand most of what they were saying. Although they are small children they have big hearts. I am so excited to see what God has to show me these next few days! PS Hello wazzy I miss you like the bird misses it’s fish (lol). ~With Much Love, Brittany

I typically get my share of images of the environment, the old, the young, and even the parrots (catch that picture, B?), but today, because of the way the evangelism area was setup in the open upper floor, I was able to watch an amazing man from the Honduran church as he witnessed to and prayed with those coming to the site and especially other members of the church. Watching how he poured his heart into his prayers as he embraced those for whom he prayed I was filled with a mixture of joy at seeing Christ's love flow through him and total immaturity as I realized that compared to this man my prayers still haven't gotten very far beyond "Now I lay me down to sleep..." We come here to serve, but God brings us here to visit his other children so that we ALL can serve. ~Peace, Skip


Monday's pictures are at http://skipm1.smugmug.com/gallery/5496833_DAAg6

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we prepare for our second day at this site.