honduras

matt was given an amazing opportunity. john has had two kids graduate from trinity since matt started there 6 years ago. every year he asks matt to come with him to one of the many countries he and his wife's organization, the children's impact network, has orphanages and other ministries in. and every year matt says the same thing, "i would love to go, but we have kids and no money." the night of graduation john asked matt to come with him on a trip and again matt said, "nothing has changed john. i would love to go but i have kids and no money." the next day john called and told matt to pack his bags they were flying out on tuesday. so matt did just that. he packed his bags, mowed our lawn, cleaned the pool and we filled a duffel bag full of things for the kids in the orphanage that he would be visiting. we even had someone donate 12 soccer uniforms and 8 soccer balls! it was a quick trip, only 3 days, but matt was able to visit several churches, the orphanage and a school. 

the picture above is the new property that has been purchased to build a new orphanage compound. it is going to have a girls dorm and a boys dorm and they would like to build a nursery too for babies. john and his wife are interested in trying to make it as green as possible! they are just waiting for the money to be raised before they break ground on the property. 

this is a road that led up to houses on the mountain side. matt said they were 8,000 feet above sea level. the majority of the crops in the area are coffee and banana plants. the workers get paid next to nothing, some only 2 dollars a week to work the crops. 

one of the kitchens in the house matt visited. i can NOT imagine cooking meals for my family like this. i told matt anytime he hears me complain about my small kitchen or the fact that i have to cook three meals a day for my family, to bring me into the computer room, pull up this imagine and just sit me down in front of it. talk about perspective....

this mother had no diapers. so she made a hammock for her baby and put him on top of a bunch of plastic bags to catch the urine, so it wouldn't fall on her bed underneath of him. no words. i have no words for this...

inside one of the houses. mud floors. 

the reason matt walked up the path was to see this house. a missions team from mississippi had been there all week helping to build this home from a family in the community. it has three rooms and a bathroom and only costs $5,000 to build! it is all cinder blocks. they were having a dedication service for the house while matt was there. he told me that the local pastors work closely with the organization to make sure that the families who get houses like this own the land and that there is no abuse in the house. the abuse of children is a huge problem.

 the inside of a school.

 matt also visited a coffee farm.

beautiful mountains in the back ground.

 a worker turning the coffee beans, all done by hand. 

this is where the roasting and packaging of the beans is done. 

 this is the pool area of the hotel where matt and john stayed. it is also where the missions teams stay that come to help in the area. beautiful. 

 john and matt close to the site of the new orphanage. 

it was a good trip. matt had never been on a short term missions trip outside of the u.s.  he really enjoyed his time with john and we are both curious to see what the seeds that were planted will turn into in the future.