Day 7 (Jan 26)

Good morning from Honduras! ☀️

We’re so thankful to wake up to another day here, and today was a full one - one of those days that leaves you exhausted, grateful, very sweaty, and deeply aware of how much God is at work.

It was a beautiful morning. The fog cleared, the sun came out, and we were up nice and early to make sure we were ready when the bus arrived. We spread ourselves out… naturally, the youngest of the team ended up in the back of the bus. 😎
Then came the excitement. We drove down the road to pick up the gang, and we were greeted by so many smiling faces, along with lots of hugs, as we squished everyone onto the bus. And then we were off to the races!

We had about an hour-and-a-half drive ahead of us, and the kids quickly discovered that we had candy in our bags, which meant we never heard the end of it until we arrived at Los Naranjos, our big excursion for the week, which is an archaeological region on the border of Lake Yojoa.
This area of Honduras does have a higher presence of mosquitoes, some of which can carry dengue and malaria, so our goal was to come away with as few bug bites as possible. It’s actually kind of fitting that I’m writing the update today, because I’m almost certain I ended up with the most bug bites of anyone. Please pray for me! 😅 All jokes aside, we don’t believe any of us contracted anything, which is a real answer to prayer.

Soon after arriving, we were loaded onto boats that held over a dozen passengers (likely not how they’re meant to be used, but extra chairs were needed to accommodate our large group). Needless to say, some boats were a little weighed down, but praise God, we never had to use our life jackets or encounter the crocodiles the kids were warned would come for them if they jumped in. Still not sure if that was true or not, but I’m thankful our boats never capsized!
Once we were underway, we toured the perimeter of the lake. It was absolutely beautiful, and we even spotted cabins for rent that can only be reached by boat.
Fun fact: for anyone familiar with “old man’s beard,” there was ‘Spanish moss’ growing in the trees around the lake. It honestly looks more like an old man’s beard than the green moss we have at home - something Lorena found hilarious when I tried to explain it to her.

The heat was definitely starting to get to some of us… and little did we know, we were in for it today (you’ll understand why very soon). We enjoyed lunch together at a nearby restaurant, and afterward, much of the leftover food was packaged up for the kids to take home. One of the older boys, on his way out, noticed another boy outside who appeared less fortunate. Without hesitation, he gave the food to him instead of keeping it for later. When asked why, he said, “He needs it more than I do.” We all felt this was a special moment worth noting, even though he tried to brush it off like it was no big deal. Total macho guy energy.

After lunch, we walked the trails and boardwalks for quite a while, which felt like forever to some as the sun beat down and the bugs were out in full force. About an hour in, we had to stop and turn around because part of the boardwalk was compromised and unsafe. Cue the groans. 😅
By the time we finished - and after a quick stop at a small museum featuring some of the only Lencan pottery on display in Honduras - we had walked an estimated 6–7 kilometres. All in good fun… except for piling back into the bus with a group of very sweaty kids and adults.

Even so, everyone was still buzzing from the excitement of the day. Spirits were high, laughs were shared, and there were many sweet moments. Unfortunately, since this was the last day we were able to see most of the older kids, saying goodbye was especially hard when we dropped them off. There were many tight (and sweaty) hugs, heartfelt “see you laters,” and long waves goodbye through the bus windows. It never gets easier, and there was definitely a healthy amount of tears.

Back at Cerro for the night, we enjoyed a lovely dinner and then gathered for a devotional on the back deck with Luis, a good friend whose involvement with the Honduras team goes back nearly to the very beginning, and someone we have many reasons to be thankful for. By the end of devos, the day had fully caught up with us, and we were more than ready for a good night’s sleep… except for myself, because I still had yet to write the daily update and likely Sandra, who doesn’t need sleep because she runs on a hope and a prayer.😂

Thank you all so much for continuing to pray for us and support us as we have this incredible opportunity to love on these amazing kids. ❤️

Signing off,
Emelia 😉