14 Mar another Honduran Angel! no….really!
So…my brother, Ty, left last Friday to move my son, Shelton, to Honduras. His Godly mentoring of Shelton has been in process for 23 and 1/2 years….basically since Shelton was born. Shelton began going on mission trips with Ty when he was 12 years old and has amazing memories of mixing cement and building churches……we had no idea what God was preparing us all for…building an entire village! It is really exciting for me to hear daily of everything they are accomplishing and how God is using their time together. Ty leaves tomorrow to come home and Shelton will stay and “carry on” the Hearts2Honduras ministry by taking care of Copprome and Mt. Olivos! So Ty doesn’t facebook and would never blog… but little does he know…this blog…he wrote….enjoy this as I share some words from his e-mails to me the past week!
Saturday March 10:
Long day for us today…got Shelton all hooked up with a wardrobe, cleaning supplies, linens, some food, a futon…although he has no hot water or internet…he’s happy…kinda reminds me of moving the girls into college. Looked at probably 8-10 cars/trucks (including one in the impound lot riddled with bullet holes that looked like it belonged to Bonnie and Clyde) but no keepers yet. Got as much groceries as we could haul for Copprome and will do more Monday…loved on kids while delivering the groceries.
Sunday March 11:
Shelton’s internet connection isn’t right yet so I thought I ‘d give you an update…I’m sure you’re wondering. Just got in about an hour ago…another long day….. We went to the store and got cokes and cookies to have a little fellowship at Olivos…picked up Sister Teresita and went out there and gathered everyone together for a “town hall meeting”. First I announced Shelton’s decision to move to Progreso and work with them ongoing…lot’s of applause and thanksgiving. I filled them in on the progress of the fundraising for houses, the woodshop, jewelry, shoe store and so forth…lot’s of excitement and questions. They really can’t believe all that’s happening. I challenged them in a no-nonsense way that they were key to the plan and had to be organized and work together for all this to happen….ended with a devotion and lot’s of smiles….
Tuesday March 13:
Another long day but another good one. Finally finished the Copprome shopping…I don’t know why but it seems like we got so much more for our money this time. We actually FILLED the suv 3.5 times over the past 3 days…maybe it was because we used several different markets and bought in bulk but the folks at Copprome were really happy.
So who’s the kid you ask? (picture attached) Our newest employee…really. Well, yesterday at the grocery this kid grabs our cart and wants to help take it out and load it…not unusual as you know and we had hands full and 2 carts overflowing so we could use a hand. This kid was different…clean clothes, polite, spoke a little English, very helpful and, I don’t know, just different…we gave him a tip and said bye. Today we went to the mall at 9 to pick up some things and make copies. Of course the copy shop wasn’t opening for 30 more minutes so rather than go and come back we grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down to wait. I look up and here comes this kid again. I look up and say, “What’s your name?’…”Angel”…”Angel, why aren’t you in school?”…”I go on Sunday and do homework during the week”…”uh huh, you don’t look like you’re doing homework to me, it looks like you’re hanging out at the mall!” to which he cracked up and sat down with us. Over the next 15 minutes we discover he is 14 and in high school. He lives at the village next to Olivos and there is no high school there so he is doing “radio school”. It’s basically home school over the radio and they physically go in to class on Sundays. It costs money and he’s riding the bus to the mall everyday to earn his way. He tells us he works with Students Helping Honduras (we know those guys) sometimes but they don’t ever pay him. Long story short I ask him if he knows about the Olivos project, he does,…..I then asked if he would like to help us this summer and he says yes. There is something different about this kid. I’m thinking he needs a chance. So, I invite him for a one day “internship”. He fell in with us like he’d been part of the team forever. Helpful, smart, polite, great sense of humor…and very streetwise…when we went to the vegetable market he jumped right into the negotiating fray with us. He got the list and started calling out items and marking them off, weighing stuff, checking for ripeness and making sure we got the best deals…he and Lola (our interpreter) were a force to be dealt with! Plus he can throw a 100 lb. sack of potatoes on his shoulder and go! Needless to say we all fell for Angel and when we got to Copprome found out he’s friends with several of the kids there. So, I know this is going on a long time….. but here’s the really cool part. When I asked him if we let him work with us how much his “dayrate” was he said 150 Lempira…about $7.50 a day. He’s worth that an hour! But, late in the day he asks if we could go by his school downtown to pay his tuition, due by the weekend. We go and I say here’s your pay of 150 lempira, how much is your tuition? “200 but I have the other 50 from working in the parking lot.” We went inside the school and paid the tuition and when we came out I asked him what he would have done had we not met and he worked with us all day and he said “no se.” (means I don’t know) I looked at Lola and said you tell him that this is a life lesson he should always remember…God’s timing is always perfect…he looked back at me and a huge smile emerged…”Gracias a Dios!”, (Thank you God!) he says and gives me a high five. 
Two more things…one, the school is DIRECTLY across the street from Shelton’s apartment (Holy Coincidence!) and they’re already exchanging video game trashtalk. Second and most important, late in the day as we were about to head back out to Olivos Shelton saw Angel slip a really poor looking guy a few lemps…this kid is different. After Olivos we took him home and he insisted we meet his family. We bragged on him and he beamed. I’m sure he and Shelton will be seeing each other a lot over the next few months and I can’t wait to see him again in June. P1:3 TY
These are the things we experience daily in Honduras….God giving us glimpses of Himself…and teaching us how to react….if you would like to be a part of our summer mission teams…we have space left on the June 3-10th and August 1-8th trips…we will be building houses in Mt Olivos like you see here and serving at Copprome Orphanage too!……email me at rhonda@hearts2honduras.com
In His Love, Rhonda
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