Well, today we decided to stay at Casa Isabella to work on our blog and video’s. Bev finished reading A Practical Guide to Evangelism – Supernaturally. Bev then wanted to spend some time laying in the sun, so being overly cautious about the sand fleas she laid out on the 2nd floor balcony of the house we are staying at. Bev is also excited about starting her next book called Spirit Wars by Kris Vallotton. This evening we went to a baseball game. Elmer coaches a little league team. We had to walk down a road in the dark before it opened up to a lighted baseball field; kind of like Field of Dreams. For being in Roatan it was a very nice field. When a foul ball was hit over the fence, kids would take off into the dark jungle after it and somehow always come back with it. Elmer’s team lost but they did a great job. There were also some girls that played on the teams. One girl actually pitched – overhand hardball. There were at least 4 team members that came from the orphanage. The mission team from Texas brought them new t-shirts for their uniforms. We had a fun time watching the game. Afterwards, we rode back to the house on the bus with the mission team.
Today we asked Carlos to call Durwin Hendricks for us to see if today was a good day to go and visit him. Durwin was the young man we met as our waiter on July 22. Carlos agreed to go with us because they have heard that where Durwin lives might be a dangerous area. When we got to the cut off road in Coxen Hole, Durwin was waiting for us. We drove our rental car a little way up the dirt road and figured we couldn’t make it in our car. We (John, Bev & Durwin) climbed in the back of Carlos’s pickup truck. We went up a little farther but the road was so bad the truck wasn’t going to make it either. So Carlos waited in the truck while Durwin lead us up a very steep dirt road. The road had been put in 2 months ago. Before that everyone walked up the mountain through a deep ravine. We walked up the mountain for about 20 minutes while he showed us homes and told us about his community. We learned quickly to take a lot of pictures, because that was the only way to stop long enough for us to catch our breath. Durwin said he makes that walk 4 or 5 times a day. His kids walk it every day to go to school. We finally got to his house. He built it all himself carrying the materials by hand all the way up the mountain. The foundation of his home is cinder blocks. We estimated that he carried close to 200 cinder blocks up the mountain. He has a beautiful family; his wife’s name is Rubenia and his children Stephani – 7, Henrry – 5, and Rossemy – 4. Stephani and Henrry got to stay home from school today because we were coming so we could meet them. In this area there is no electricity and no water. The road has only been there for about 2 months. When it rains it washes out the roads. Their house is about 20’ x 16’. Durwin wants to make two bedrooms and it has a kitchen and dining room area. It does have dirt floors. Two and a half walls are tarp. They would love to close it in before the raining season sets in. He catches rain water from his roof for washing dishes and bathing. He walks down and buys a 5 gallon container of water that he carries up the mountain for drinking. To see these thing will tear your heart out and there are so many just like them. They invited us to go to church with them on Friday night from 6-8 pm. The main church is in Coxen Hole but they are planting a church in their community. It is an evangelical church. Rubenia is a believer, but Durwin is still thinking about it. He is so very close. We told him we would be praying for him. We then drove to West End and ate lunch at the Barking Monkey. Bev had coconut shrimp and John had shrimp fettuccine alfredo. The guy that owns the restaurant and bar is from Austin, Texas. He is trying to sell his boat – don’t you think we would look good in it. We stopped to get gas and at every gas station and every bank they have an armed guard. It is supposed to make you feel safer, but it makes us a little nervous. It was a beautiful evening.
We were going to join the team from Barber’s Hill for the day, but decided at the last minute to stay back and take care of some errands. Carlos and company came in from fishing around 8 am and John went down to see their catch. They caught a small barracuda. While on the pier a lady walked by trying to sell sea grapes which are very popular here. We first headed to the car rental place in Coxen Hole and paid off our balance on the rental car. We then headed to French Harbour to get a modem that someone let us borrow and configured for our laptop so we could get the internet. And of course we could not head back without once again stopping by the grocery store to pick up a few items. We made a couple more quick stops on the way back. First, we went by the Clinica Esperanza to see if Miss Peggy was back from the states. Was told that she won’t be back until tomorrow, so we will give her a few days before we take the medication (that is still in our luggage) to her. Second, we made a quick drive into La Colonia and located the church that Henry told us about. When we got back to Casa Isabella we discovered that the electricity was off. It had been off for a while and without it there is no cool air in the house and no running water (they are on well water and electricity is needed for the pump). Losing power is very common here. It was so hot in the house that we walked down to the pier where there was a nice breeze. When the team came back they went snorkeling and Elmer took Josiah swimming.
We were up this morning at 6 am and on the bus ready to leave at 8 am. We joined the team from Texas today for a one hour ride to a public school in Pandy Town which is near Oak Ridge. Again, not that many miles away, but it was raining and the roads could use a little work. The school is attached to the Methodist Trinity Church building. On the way, their youth pastor Cody, gave a devotion. It was from Matthew 10:5-14. This is about what Jesus told His disciples to bring with them on their short term missions trip. After that Elmer showed us how he used string to tell stories to the students about Jesus. When we arrived it was pouring down rain, so the students were all under a house across the street that was on stilts. All the students and people that we talked to spoke English. The team sat up for what they were doing for the students while we stood outside and talked to the teachers. The name of the town was settled by a man with the last name Pandy. One of the teachers was Vicky Pandy a descendant. Then we met a young man named Geron Harris (21) who lived there. With the help of some people that came there on a mission’s trip, he is hoping to be able to attend a University in Oklahoma and then come back and make a difference in Roatan. He is currently working at a restaurant called Foster’s in West Bay. You could tell he really loved Jesus. He also plays on a soccer league. We all walked out to the basketball court – because basketball in Pandy Town is really big. His brother had won a gold medal for playing with the 12 and under group. We also got to meet Geron’s coach, Javier (28), who paints houses for a living but his first love is soccer. Bev really enjoyed talking to them and hearing about the needs they have just for soccer to get kids to be able to play and stay off drugs. We then went back to the bus to eat our sack lunch. After lunch Elmer introduced us to Pastor Jennie who lived across the street from where the bus was parked. She invited us into her home while everyone else went on a walking tour of the town. We had the opportunity to ask a lot of questions and to hear about some of their problems. They struggle a lot with their youth using drugs and alcohol and also have a fair amount of witchcraft and voodoo in their town. A very high level of unemployment is probably the biggest reason for many of the problems they are experiencing. She was a very sincere lady. She invited us to church on Sunday and said that if we would come she would change the service from their regular time of 7:00 pm to 10:00 am because she knew it would not be safe for us to be on the roads at night. We prayed for her and then we walked up the street and took pictures of the church. It is a very poor community but the people were very nice and friendly. They call themselves Islanders. When we returned to the house, the internet was down again. They said that it usually goes down after a rain and you never know for how long.
This morning started with a bowl of cereal then off to church at the First Baptist Church of West End. That is where Elmer and Andrea attend as Elmer’s dad is the Pastor (they call him Pastor Bush). We made it to Sunday school and stayed for worship. What a great time and what beautiful people. They truly love the Lord and let their voices be heard during worship. It is an English speaking church and they were very welcoming to us. We had to leave church a little early to head to the airport where we turned in our rental car. We chose to do it today because Elmer was headed to the airport to pick up a team of 12 from Barbers Hill, Texas that came in around 12:30 pm. We grabbed a snack at the airport and then caught a ride with Elmer back to the room. As the new team began to move in, they asked us if we would mind moving to the Master suite upstairs. It’s beautiful with our own bathroom and we have a large porch out our room looking out over the ocean. We told them that we were sure we could manageJ That evening we made the 20 minute walk to West Bay where they were having a fund raiser down on the beach for the HIV clinic. They had some activities such as a crab race and a guy do a fire dance performance. We had a nice dinner at a restaurant called Beacher’s. When we were done, we had Lindsey the PR guy from the restaurant call us a cab. We could have walked back, but it was dark and we are trying to be cautious until we know the do’s and don’ts. The cab driver was a friend of his that runs a taxi service, his name is Wilson. He brought us back to Casa Isabella after a quick stop for milk. Back at the house we took a walk out on the pier where we stumbled upon 2 brothers down on the pier fishing. They were using a very common method of fishing with a line on a wooden spool – John called it a hand line. They would throw their line out in the water by hand letting the string spool off of the piece of wood as the hook and bait flew through the air. Tomorrow we plan to go with the team to Pandy Town which is near Oak Ridge. We are visiting a school there. We are very interested in observing how activities for teams are organized and what a typical service day would look like. (Bev is now reading A Practical Guide to Evangelism – Supernaturally by Chris Overstreet.)
