Share Joy

Worship, games, skit, Bible study, and pizza made for a great youth service at Corazon a Corazon church.

After worship and games, we discussed what brings us joy and what takes it away from us. Through the skit, we saw that our own actions and words could either share joy with others or take it away from them.

"Be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

2 Piñatas

We had the privilege of working with Wil and Jane Meckle the first week of December. Through their time and generosity, many projects were completed, and we were certainly encouraged by their presence here. All of the projects we had planned depended on good weather. For rainy season, we knew it would be an act of God to have four days with no rain while in the mountains. 

Four days with no rain...during the rainy season

Marvin, Karen, Jane, & Wil

On our last day in Las Flores, we invited families from the community to join us at the soccer field for 2 piñatas. We did something similar with Marvin's family in May that you can read about on our previous post: http://theharvest-honduras.blogspot.com/2013/06/pinata.html

Over 90 children came to the soccer field for the piñatas. We could not believe how many people there were. We also couldn't believe the durability of the piñatas that were being used. We had such a great time sharing joy with this community.

A Pound for a Chimney

• Around 3 billion people cook and heat their homes using open fires and leaky stoves burning biomass (wood, animal dung and crop waste) and coal.
• Nearly 2 million people die prematurely from illness attributable to indoor air pollution from household solid fuel use.
• Nearly 50% of pneumonia deaths among children under five are due to particulate matter inhaled from indoor air pollution.
• More than 1 million people a year die from chronic obstructive respiratory disease (COPD) that develop due to exposure to such indoor air pollution.
• Both women and men exposed to heavy indoor smoke are 2-3 times more likely to develop COPD. 

These facts are from the World Health Organization's website:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs292/en/

The families in Las Flores, Quimistan, Honduras are part of the 3 billion around the world cooking with leaky stoves. In order to decrease indoor air pollution, families need chimney's installed on their wood burning stoves. Many families have makeshift chimneys from sheet metal which help to remove some smoke. The downside of these is that they are never taller than the roof so the smoke often enters back in the house through the space between the walls and the roof.

A makeshift chimney in Las Flores

In order to decrease the indoor air pollution in Las Flores, Gather Church in Centralia, WA collected funds to cover costs of chimneys. Each chimney cost about $18. For each family to receive the chimney donation, we asked that they too make a donation. Most of the families initially responded by explaining their poverty and saying that they had nothing to give. We requested at least one pound of anything (corn, beans, firewood, coconuts, etc) to take to Worldwide Heart to Heart Children's Village. After hearing this the families were thrilled because they knew they all had something they could contribute. Not one family brought in the minimum requirement. Instead, they gave their absolute best and brought way more than we expected!

Two mothers coming to get the chimneys for their homes

Taking a chimney to his elderly mother

Santos with her donation for Heart to Heart

A newly installed chimney in Las Flores

We ended up with about 30 bananas, 20 plantains, 150 lbs of corn, 20 pears, fire wood, and some great Honduran vegetables (pacallas, pataste, yuca, and ocote) that blessed Heart to Heart children. We know that God is pleased when we give our best to Him. We are so thankful for Gather church and the people of Las Flores for reminding us to give our best to the Lord. 

New roof, New nature

Mario and Dunia have three children living at home, three more children live at Heart to Heart Children's village, two passed away, and one that is on her own and expecting her first child in February. These are the children that I am aware of and that I have gotten to know during my time in Honduras. Mario's family lives in Las Flores just down a path from Marvin's parents home. They are the poorest family in this village because they have no family nearby and no land of their own to work on. 

Mario's house has one bedroom, one storage room, and another room used for cooking. All of these rooms were covered with a rusty, leaking metal roof. This caused their dirt floor to become muddy and with no places for the children to be, they simply crawled, walked, played in the mud.

Now they have a beautiful shiny roof that is guaranteed to last 20 years. Mario worked along side Wil, a great friend from Washington state, and Marvin to remove the old roof and put on the new one. 

 

"Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy."
Ephesians 4: 21-24 

Our hope is that Mario and his family will accept not just a new roof but also a new nature from God.