Welcome to Honduras!

We have made it to our hotel in  after a 3 hr flight and the rest of the day traveling we all are so glad to see beds all ready for us.

Today has had its share of excitement ... We all made it though customs, got to meet our awesome living water team mates and then drove 20min to grab a quick lunch at a Burger King :) but after ordering and getting our food to-go we returned to our 20 passenger van to find one of the windows had been jimmied open and four bags were missing! While my bag was under a seat and managed to stay safe, the loss of items was still significant... Two members of the team lost their wallets (containing their drivers license, cash and credit cards) and, amongst other things, their PASSPORTS! Please pray for us as we will have to get them to the american embassy in the capital city by Monday morning so they can get new passports/documents for travel. The capital city is a 7hr bus drive away so we are hoping to get them on a flight tomorrow afternoon. (One of the Honduras team members will travel with them to ensure they get the needed documents)

Today has been quite an eye opener for all of us... The standard of living here is so drastically different from the states...

We saw children working in the streets to sell items like bottled water, car air fresheners an anything else that they could find to sell to cars passing by... They would weave between the traffic whenever they thought they could make a sale.

Traffic is aggressive and on more than one occasion motorcycles would wip past us between the traffic lanes... People pass going around corners and on a couple occasions just made it back into their lane as oncoming traffic whizzed by... 

We also saw a single peddle bike holding four people.

It is quite strange to be in a foreign country where you do not speak the language...

We are going to try to get a good nights sleep to be ready for church, lunch and more travel tomorrow...

Please keep us in your prayers... It is very evident that there is some strong spiritual opposition to the work that we will be doing this week ...  

I can not wait to see what is in store for us this week!

Blessings,

Kaitlin, Andy and the team

Honduras

Hello Everyone,

Andy and I embark on a new journey on Friday; we are going to Honduras!
As I pondered about the best way to keep in touch with you all while we are away, I decided this abandoned blog would be as good a place as any.

We are joining our church, Cedarbrook of Menomonie, WI

who partners with Living Waters International

My heart has been aching to go on another short terms missions trip; and I was so excited when I heard there would be a trip going in the winter months, when farming is a little slower.

It was a nice bonus that Honduras is in central

america and will be in the 80's while we are there :D

The Team:
This team is a large group (compared to past Cedarbrook groups) we have 14 people in total. Some of the team members have missions trip experience and for several this is their first trip.
- Four for well repair (this is what Andy and I are signed up for) - This team will travel to different places during the day to repair broken wells (goal is to repair three wells while we are there)
- Five for the well digging - This team will be in one town and will spend four days to dig and dedicate the brand new well
- Five for teaching - This team will be in the same community as the new well and will teach the children and families hygiene and about Jesus

The Itinerary: 
Friday the 20th: We fly out of the twin cities Friday afternoon and land in Huston Texas at 10pm... we have a long layover so we will be spending the night in a hotel
Saturday the 21st: Rise early(ish) to catch a 9am flight from Texas to San Pedro Sula, Honduras! we should be in country around noon. I believe it is a several hour van drive from the airport to the hotel we are staying in (in La Ceiba). I believe we will settle into the hotel a little and have some time to hangout as a goup
Sunday the 22nd: have breakfast, then attend church in La Ceiba and have lunch with the pastors and possibly church community. We then will pack up our things and move to a different hotel closer to the work site.
Monday through Wednesday: Meet the community, drill the well and teach lessons, the repair team will be in neighboring villages fixing broken wells
Thursday the 26th: Complete pump installation and have a dedication ceremony and celebration
Friday the 27th: a tourist day to explore relax and buy any souvenirs, we will then travel to our third hotel which is close to the airport and have a team dinner.
Saturday the 28th: Have breakfast as a team and then catch an early afternoon flight back to Texas where we have a three hour delay before flying into MSP with an estimated arrival of 11pm.

We should have some internet access at the hotels that we are staying (though I'm told its spotty and may only work in the reception area)... I plan to keep you all up to date as we plunge into this awesome adventure.

I am so excited for this trip and am having a hard time believing that it is only four days away!
I covet your prayers as we travel outside our comfort zone into new culture, lifestyle and language. I would greatly appreciate prayers for sufficient energy, safety and for God to move through us in the people we encounter, and that he would transform our hearts.

Blessings,
Kaitlin