Pictures of what's happening

Top picture: Shows a beautiful sunset on the island of Roatan in the Carribbean off the coast of Honduras during Holy Week (Easter).

Middle picture: Several students from the University of TN came to Honduras for their Spring Break under the leadership of Molly Hayes to work on the homes and do an art project with the kids on the ranch one day after school.

Bottom picture: The Meek family visited us last week for their Spring Break. They did an excellent job painting the Mission Lazarus school in San Marcos. They stayed in our home for the week and we thoroughly enjoyed having them. We had a great week.

Chad

A Tough Week

We have had a tough week here in Honduras. Gloria (the sick mother with 7 children who Mission Lazarus is helping) passed away Tuesday morning. She had been fighting congestive heart failure for a few years. She was bit by a bug called a chinche here in Honduras when she was young and the symptoms didn't show up until about 15-20 years after.

Gloria was in a lot of pain through her life with her sickness but always had a smile on her face. I will miss seeing her encouraging smile. She has 7 of the most beautiful children I have seen in Honduras who Mission Lazarus will continue to support.

Please pray for the children as they grieve their mother's death.

Chad

Two New Homes

We have failed as bloggers. We have not kept you up to date on what is going on with us and for that we apologize but hopefully you will see what we have been up to since our last blog with this entry.

I can not tell you how overwhelmed I have been over the last two weeks. We have had 2 churches (Berry's Chapel and Maple Hill) here building house #2 and #3 on the ranch. Mission Lazarus Refuge now has 3 homes sitting on the ranch which is hard to actually concieve. Can you beleive it, 3 homes? 84 men from the United States paid to come to Honduras to build something that they may never see what it produces in the future. I take my hat off to the men who came and built. You guys are amazing. I admire you for your skills (and lack thereof) and for your willingness to make a difference one child at a time in Honduras.

To see both homes go up piece by piece was awesome! To see the skill and understanding by a core group of men to make sure the house will stand for years to come was awesome! I am overwhelmed with the fact that 2 more homes sit on the ranch and within a few months, children will fill them and their lives will forever be changed.

I want to thank Mac Hughes, Mike Hayes, Mike Johnson and Justin Latimer for their willingness to put these groups together. Thank you for your hard work before, during and after the trip. I appreciate you so much. Thank you to the other 84 men who came and conquered. Do you know how special you are to our Lord? I was able to see a glimpse of it while you were here. God bless all of you!

Chad