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After more than 30 hours of travel, the second group of volunteer short-term missionaries arrived safely in Guanaja. They are the senior class of Paradise Adventist Academy, using their spring break for their 2007 class trip. After taking a bus to La Ceiba from San Pedro, they boarded a ferry to Roatan. This high-speed ferry travels at around 35 miles per hour and covered the 45 miles in about 80 minutes. Then the group had to transfer their luggage from the ferry to a couple of buses, and onto the dock where the “Endeavor” shrimp boat waited to transport them to Guanaja. This boat travels at about 10 mph. After getting loading the luggage, the group headed out. Strong winds made the trip a choppy one. In addition, two rain squalls soaked most of the group. At 11 pm, the group arrived at the dock in Guanaja, wet, tired and hungry. By the time the group found their rooms, it was well past midnight and they rested well. Thursday, March 29, 2007 We served the group a late breakfast, and then met for our initial orientation meeting. By noon, we were done with all of the important stuff. We served lunch, and gave them an afternoon for the group to recuperate at Michael’s Rock where we enjoyed a snorkel and dive excursion. Out of this group, there were 15 certified divers. In fact, their dive instructor from Paradise, Duane Meyer, has joined the group for the first week. What an awesome snorkel and dive site. After snorkeling, we spent some leisure time lying on the beach, which was not a good idea to do without insect repellant. I got at least 500 bites all over my body. I am miserable! This senior class from PAA is an exceptional group of highly motivated and good kids! We will have a good experience together. The eye clinic will not begin until Monday, so they will have their orientation tomorrow. The evangelistic meetings will begin on Sunday night. Friday, March 30 We began our first full day of work today. Most of the work involved hoisting the huge 37-foot-long trusses to the second story of the church. It required a lot of help to keep the trusses from fishtailing and snapping at the “truss plate” joints. But we got most of them up today. Part of the group has been helping mix cement, pour concrete in the walls, and clean up the pastor’s home. It is heavy work. Mixing cement on the ground is not an easy task. The kids couldn’t wait to jump in the ocean right after work!! The Children’s Ministry VBS team had its first session tonight. Since it was the first meeting, things were a little disjointed, but we know things will smooth out as the week progresses. The accommodations at the Hotel Alexander have been good! Everyone eats, sleeps and assembles for our worships in the same building, so it works out great. Mr. Monte Nystrom, the group leader from Paradise, is a wonderful man and has the group well prepared. The kids are wonderful student leaders! Saturday, March 31 Today, Pastor Milton Marquez preached for the Spanish Church, which has been meeting in the school auditorium. What a wonderful group they have! There is definitely a different spirit between the English church and the Spanish group. They are so grateful for our help. After a wonderful lunch, prepared by Bruce and Liz Jones (from Sacramento) and Judy, we headed out to “Graham’s Place,” a small island cay resort that has a holding area for turtles, large rays, groupers and barracuda. It was quite choppy going over, but the kids had a relaxing Sabbath afternoon. In the evening, the VBS team had another children’s meeting. Things went more smoothly. After worship tonight, the group decided that they would much rather work earlier in the day to take advantage of the cool mornings. The sun rises at about 5:30, so they all decided (unanimously) that they would be on the job site at 6:00. I love our youth! So, we will work 2 ½ hours, then break for breakfast and worship, then head back out at 9:30 and work until 1:00. Then we will call it a day. Those that will want to go back to the job site will have that option. We will see what happens tomorrow. The team spirit is wonderful. Our love, Joedy & Judy |
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