My Life in La Paz, Honduras by Dr. Gibson and Carl (aka Mrs. Gibson, Mrs. Gibleson, Carl's wife, Terry and I'm sure there are more we do not know about!)

I know my goal for today's blog is to let everyone know what we did today... but that just doesn't seem to be enough. We have had beautiful weather in the 80s and 90s (only 1 cool day), have met many incredible people, have served others and learned so much about the Honduran culture, but also come together as a team that has been inspiring. To say that we're all a bit sad to leave this beautiful country tomorrow doesn't seem to really express our feelings.
Hondurans are loving people, who are gracious and accepting and want to serve us as much as we want to serve them. Hugs are always the norm, handshakes are never missed, and smiles are given out that melt your heart at times. It's been a honor to be in Honduras, with this group of students, and I know all our lives have been marked with a new perspective on what the Lord meant when He said... Love your neighbor. We may be separated by 1000s of miles but the memories made here in Honduras will last a lifetime.

Gustavo (who drove us all over the place this week), his wife and son (Benjamin) joined us today for our final trip around the town. Benjamin is 4 years old and oh.... so cute!

Gustavo works so incredibly hard, building during the week, going to school on the weekends, and starting a new church. The students and Terry and I made a decision to sponsor Benjamin at his school called Faro. It is a Christ-centered school here in La Paz that has students from pre-school through 5th grade. They were so touched but honestly, we were more so... It will be an honor to help pay for his education.

The kids were able to spend some time with Benjamin, playing a bit of soccer with him this afternoon. It was a hot day today but that didn't seem to deter anyone from playing!

To wrap up our cultural excursions, we took everyone to a few small businesses that make Rosquillas in LaVia. However, instead of eating the Rosquillas everyone decided the cookies were much better! Many of them purchased 8 cookies for $1 from the sweet grandma who makes them everyday.

This is her oven... Hoping that I do not forget to thank the Lord for the provisions He's given me of an indoor stove that uses electricity!

After filling up on cookies, we traveled to another business that makes the aluminum pots and pans here in La Paz. It was amazing to see them fill the molds using their feet, pour the aluminum and within 5 minutes produce a bowl or tortilla press! I cannot imagine doing this everyday and felt almost guilty for thinking how hot I was... and I was only watching.

The melting of the aluminum!

And the final product!

The men were so proud of their work and showed us from beginning to end, how they made their products. I pray that I will never lose focus on the gifts God has blessed me with, and always use them to the best of my ability.

During our visits today we were able to visit another one of the villages that were used for my dissertation. It was so rewarding to see that the systems are still fully functioning after 2 years. We were even able to fill up our water bottles using the tanks from the village. God is good... All the time!

Our next stop was Dona Paquita to see bread-making. The place smelled incredible and the bread was even better!

Sweet and tasty... and yes, we had to buy some from this business as well :-) Doing our part to support the economy in La Paz!

We spent the rest of our evening sitting on the porch, eating, packing, snacking some more, packing a little more and napping! And yes... I needed a nap. (I decided that I'd better post this because I know it's going to be floating around somewhere on facebook anyway!) I'm sure Carl (aka Terry) had something to do with this picture.

For dinner we made a bonfire, roasted hotdogs and ate Honduran chips (which are sooooo good!), sent Terry to the store for some soda, and for dessert ate a few roasted marshmellows. For me, I skipped the hotdogs and went straight to the marshmellows and the diet coke! Sort of like eating a Big Mac and drinking a diet coke but then again, life is meant to be enjoyed!

It's been a ride... an amazing one filled with adventure, love, and God's grace and love around every corner. My prayer is that the students return filled with the Holy Spirit, knowing that it is their turn to make the world a better place... to share Christ's love (with or without words), to encourage or be encouraged to 'step out of the boat' as Peter did, and as Pastor Aldofo so lovingly preached last Sunday. Did I tell you that he opened with the same Bible verse that was in our devotional for that day?!... I knew then that God was in control of this trip. How cool is that!

On the road again... 9am Sunday morning to return home. Prayers for safe travels and an uneventful trip home.Oh, and that Brooke doesn't run out of money before she can shop for one more gift to take home!

How great is the love the father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!    I John 3:1

My Life in La Paz, Honduras by Taryn


Today we were the Seven Gringos, and it was muy caliente. After plantain pancakes for breakfast, we hopped into Gustavo's truck and drove to Reposto, which is the village with a bridge about fifteen feet above the water. Unfortunately, we are in the dry season, so we had to walk across the riverbed instead.

At the bridge, we met up with a missionary couple from Maryland named Ellen and Matt; they were over joyed to be helping us today. So, after a long hike up large hill, we made it to the village school. There was only one teacher there today and she was teaching grades kindergarten through fifth grade. There were about twenty kids in the classroom though. We taught the kids how to brush their teeth with a large model mouth and a toothbrush. The kids had lots of fun trying it out for themselves. Then we handed out toothbrushes and toothpaste to the kids.

Next, we stepped outside and sprayed our hands with water and put glitter on them, came back in and shook all the kids' hands. They were shocked to see the glitter on their own hands. Ena explained to the kids about disease transmission.

After handing out vitamins and toys to the kids, we headed back down to Gustavo's truck and drove to the missionaries' home Huyuma. There the showed us a contraption they made to cook food and keep it hot for several hours. Then, they took us out in their back yard and showed us their maize and compost. We also tasted a green fruit that was extremely sour and bitter. But, a few of them enjoyed it. Then they showed us their "miracle tree" called Moringa; we ate the leaves right off the branch, and it is said to be extremely healthy.

 Here is Ellen and Matt showing us their warmer. It is fabric stuffed with shredded corn husks and then another one placed on top. In the pot, there was water that they had boiled for ten minutes at 7:15, when we touched the pot at 11:30, it was still very hot.

This is the Moringa tree that Matt was showing us.


Next, we drove to INFOP which was the agricultural school for students from ages fifteen to twenty. There a man named Mario took us around the whole grounds of the school while Carl trained the people on the water system.

 Here is Mario (in the black shirt) telling us about the school.

When we got back to the school part, some of the students brought in coconuts and the chopped off the ends and we drank the milk out of the top of it. Then they cut some of them up and we ate the meat out of it.

 The men in the blue shirts are the ones who go to or work at the school.

After the coconuts, we got a picture in front of the water system we raised money for last school year. Everyone was ready for the picture except for Will and Micah.


After cleaning up at Ena's, we went out to eat at George's and then surprised Micah with a birthday cake and a Honduran hat. Then we went to La Cosecha church again and heard the end of Pastor Aldolfo's message and then we prayed over the congregation and the pastor,

My Life in La Paz, Honduras by William

Today we went back to Cadin to do our big medical clinic. We saw about 150 people in about six hours. They came in with all types of ailments, from not as serious cases such as headaches to people with worms. We had four stations: triage, the pharmacy, foot washing, and the praying station.

These are all of the people waiting for a chance to see the doctors.

This was our pharmacy staff. I would not have trusted them with my life.

My job was to hand out things to children and pray for them. As you can see I had a lot of down time so I had to entertain myself somehow.

 This had to be the worst station to be at. It was the foot washing station. I give major props to the brave souls who volunteered to do this. Some of their feet looked pretty nasty.

Here was our brave triage team. They had to try and figure out what was wrong with everybody.

Here were our "bilingual" doctors.

This little girl was not very happy to have her temperature taken, but was happy to have her lollipop.

Finally, this was our group of workers that worked tirelessly through the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6j3Hg7bMvM This is our team song LISTEN.

My Life in La Paz, Honduras by Micah Smith

Before our long day doing the medical clinic we had to organize the vitamins, medicine, and other things needed to give out to those at the clinic.

Finally, after the third time building these tables I think we got the hang of it. Which was important cause we needed to get it done before the clinic started. We built the tables at Coquito, the same place we held the clinic.

We sent the people through three stations, the first to receive their name, weight, their complaint, age, and what medicine they will need. The second was the pharmacy where they would receive their medicine and worm medication if needed and then vitamins. The last was where they would get their feet washed and receive a tooth brush, tooth paste, a toy, and whatever else was needed.  The clinic was an eye opener for everyone seeing so much sickness in such a small village. The clinic really showed us all what can be done when believing and trusting that God is there 100 percent of the way. I believe most of us were pushed outside our comfort zone, but with the help of God those weakness became our strengths. 

As soon as the others in Coquito see others gathering and music playing the come just to watch and wait for us to be done so that they can play with us.

After some rest and food we go to church at La Cosecha. Were we taught the kids the motions to "Oh Happy Days" and "Lord I Lift Your Name On High" which all the kids learned fast and started to mouth the words with us. Then the kids colored and waited till church ended.