Oh me of little faith


The day after we arrived home we were blessed to have Terry, Ben, Brian,
Brett and AB come and stay with us as they conducted their annual pre-summer scouting trip. They arrived late Thursday and had to leave early Monday. I was doubtful. How much scouting can you do in 3 full days in Honduras? I really thought that it was a waste of time and money to only come for such a short time. Boy was I proven wrong. God knows what he wants done this summer and he laid it all out right in front of Terry and the gang.

Everyone met at our house on Thursday night Jen A and Katie came after school, Jen W picked everyone up at the airport and we has picked AB up that afternoon. What a great time we had catching up with everyone. It is so good to get together with friends and eat and laugh and share memories and make new ones. We love having people stay with us and these guys were great house guest.

Friday morning the group gathered their courage and said a pray and then left the house with Randy behind the wheel. They went all over the place, Baxter, Valley of Angels, Mololoa, and of course lunch. I was amazed to hear how much they had gotten done in one day. I find that I can usually get one thing done on a productive day and they had driven out to the valley and checked out the church for painting, they stopped at a food market and then delivered food to hungry families in Mololoa. They also spent time looking at possible homesites and meeting the family's that call this area home. And there is always time to play with the kiddos and pass out some cookies and bananas. They set up soccer games and met with old friends at Baxter and even made it up to the school that morning to set up a couple more games. I get tired just thinking of everything that was accomplished. Everyone met back at our house for dinner and planning. Ideas were flying and plans were taking shape. Randy was thrilled to have some new people to play cards with and I love hearing the conversations and laughter in a house full of friends.

Saturday was a day of driving. We first went to Mololoa to pick up Oneida and her children. It took a while to get out of that community. Oneida was sick and could not come but her son, Gustabo started to cry because he really wanted to go. So Randy waited for him to get ready to spend the day and the night with us. (We have taking him to spend the night before and we have such a great time playing with and spoiling him.) We then loaded up, passed out treats and headed to Baxter to meet up with everyone after picking up Fabiola. Off to Comayagua. It is a very long drive. With no restrooms(enough said) to be found. We all met at Wendy's. The only fastfood restaurant around. We met up with Lee Tucker and his family for a tour of the town. We stopped at a local hotel to check it out for a work group to stay at. While we were there a group of soccer players were leaving and Brett was able to set up yet another game. We then went to a church that was locked but found some work that was needed to be done, perfect for a small group this summer. We went to a small town square where wares were being sold, a fountain stood in the middle of flowering trees and shops where you could indulge in an icecream on a hot afternoon. We all had a good time and headed back to Tegucigalpa. We were all meeting at El Corral for a special night out. Well we all arrived at about 5:30. We had forgotten that we had invited a friend to join us at 7:00. We tried to call with no success so Terry came up with the plan to order an appetizer. It would have been a good plan if there wasn't 17 of us sharing. After about one bite each they were gone. The waiter came back and we told him we were not ready yet. No not yet, not yet, almost, yes we know we have been here for a hour, okay we're ready just give us a minute to look at the menu, yes I know we've had an hour to look at the menu. Okay we're ready. We had a terrific dinner. Our friend was 30 minutes late, so over all we were there 2 hours and 40 minutes. Gustabo had a great time, he was the center of attention and really enjoyed his day out. We took him to our house and he played video games with the puppies.

Sunday morning, Brian is leaving today. We all decide to go to Mololoa Church of Christ. With the five guys, Jen A, Katie, Jen W, her cousin (Kristin?), a family of four from Santa Anna, and the four of us the place was packed. The Baxter Students who have been leading the worship service and bible classes are very warm and welcoming. They do not speak English but Leo made an effort to learn how to say, good morning and welcome brothers and sisters in Christ. It was very thoughtful and heartwarming to know that he put in the effort to make us feel welcome. Terry led a couple of songs in English and we had a wonderful service surrounded by friends and family and of course dozens of children. Randy left early to get Brian to his plane. We were sorry to see him go. We all met at Ruby Tuesdays for lunch. We had added Oneida and her two children as well as another little girl whose mother was not at home, to our gang at total of 20 people. We chose R.T. because on Sunday it is buy one get one free. We had a wonderful lunch and then headed out to the Valley for a little shopping. We have to scout out the best stores to direct everyone to this summer. Terry found some artwork, and then some more. We took the kids for icecream and then let them ride horses. Poor Gustabo was so tired from the day before that he could barley hold it together and fell asleep in the truck. On our way out of town we stopped at Center for Hope a wonderful children's home that has 17 of the sweetest little ones. I always leave there feeling so uplifted. I have been to a lot of orphanages and children's homes here and I always have a wonderful time with the children; however I leave feeling sad. I just wish that they all had a family, everyone needs a mom. So while I have a good time and know that the children have a great time with us I always feel a little sad. Center for Hope is a different story. It is small, the directors are a young married couple with a biological daughter that is only two and 16 children that are between 1 and 7 years old. They have their room on the same floor and all of the children call them Mama and Papa. They are happy and well cared for. They are a family. I always feel so good when I leave there. I know that these children have their physical needs met as well as their emotional needs. It is a very positive place and we are blessed to know them. We all played with the children while Terry received the tour of the facilities and made some plans to visit and work out there this summer. It was a great way to end the day. And a great way to end the scouting trip.
Terry and his crew left on Monday morning. AB stayed on another day to squeeze in a few more games of chess with Randy. We always have a good time with AB. He picks on the girls like an older brother and they pick back. We can't wait for him to come back.

Overall it was a wonderful week and we are so excited about this summer and we ask that everyone keep Terry and all the group leaders in your prayers. Leading a group is a terrific blessing, but it is a lot of behind the scenes work and planning, so pray for strength and wisdom and a lot of patience when it comes to dealing with American Airlines. Can't wait to see what God has in store for this summer.

Love to all,

the Kluge Family