New Blog

Hey Guys, we have a new site we are using to blog on, please check it out:

http://missionlazarus.tumblr.com/




See you soon!

Jarrod

Home in the Mountains

On Saturday March 7 an energetic group of folks from Searcy, Arkansas and Seth & Rebekah Daggett from Nashville, TN, arrived at the Lazarus Lodge. Their goal for the week was to built a brick home in the remote rugged mountains that surround the Mission Lazarus Ranch. The home is for a family that works on the Mission Lazarus coffee plantation. For this group of non-construction workers the task ahead of them seemed a bit daunting. However, after a week of hard work in the beautiful pine forest all four walls were standing.

Not only did they build a house they also blessed many families with sacks of food stuffs that were delivered to their homes, worked in the Lazarus Clinic, and held VBS activities with local churches. Thanks Guys for the great service and the hard work.

The Good, The bad, and the Ugly.

When the men from First Colony church of Christ arrived last Friday I don’t think that they fully understood the task that lay before them. What they did know is that a nearly finished new home built by Berry’s Chapel stood next to their barren concrete slab surrounded by piles of lumber. Perhaps their faithful group leader, Eric Billingsley thought to himself, what have I gotten into? You’d never have known. The group also faced another challenge, befriend and be able to work with the three outsiders, Mac “soft spoken” Hughes, David “ FSuper Duty” Ford, and Gabe “Smile Bigger than my Head” Bales.

Satan was looking for a fight, day one; the group was without electricity, TC, Texas Cameron, Mission Lazarus project coordinator, came to the rescue with a large 25,000 watt generator. By 2 PM the generator was toast and the group was back to swinging hammers and hand saws as opposed to the powerful nail guns and chop saws. What Satan did not know was that this group had drive! They did not let up and by late afternoon the electricity was back on and all 4 walls of the house were up, all of the windows had been hung, and all of the tar paper wrap was in place.
The group also took time for a side project, the construction of a mud brick home in the community of Namasigue. This home is for a sister of the church, built on the site of her previous home that fell down during last year’s rainy season. The weather in Namasigue is much different than in San Marcos. Temperatures hovering around 100 degrees made the process of lift and placing the 25 pound mud bricks very tiring. Fortunately the piles of mud used to hold the bricks in place cooled your hands a bit while wearing off the outer layers of skin.
On Sunday the group quit work early for a trip back to Namasigue to worship with the locals in the evening. The old adobe house turned church building was packed. The service was great and so was the singing. The kids loved the candy that was brought to them by the Americans and after worship large quantities of flip flops and clothes were distributed to the local Christians.
On Wednesday a group of 5 spies went out to see the outlying jungle areas where Mission Lazarus works. They took time to visit with local Christians just barely surviving of what they can produce in the jungle. The trip also took them to a small island off of the pacific coast where they saw folks are “surviving” but without a million bucks at stake, rather their lives.
By the end of the week the men were tired. By the end of the week God’s love had been preached in many places around southern Honduras. By the end of the week the house was nearly completed, all exterior walls finished, all rafters and joists in place, and the roof was done. By the end of the week 30 had grown closer together. By the end of the week new friendships had been made. By the end of the week God’s name had been glorified. And by the end of the week one more home is nearly ready to serve 10 orphaned, neglected, or abused children from the southern region of Honduras.
Thanks guys for a great week of hard work. Thanks Eric for taking on this huge task, and thanks to all of you guys who sacrificed, time, money, and comforts to serve the children of Honduras.
Jarrod

Details Details Details

After the Berry’s Chapel crew left Honduras the hard task of finishing out the new refuge home began. A great crew from Greenwood Park led by Terry Lofton came to accomplish this task. It included finishing out all interior siding, all plumbing, all remaining wiring details, installing the cabinets, finishing out the showers (6), putting tile on the counters as well as the shower walls, and setting 4 toilets. The amazing thing is that they did it all in just one week. God is amazing and he used these amazing folks for his glory. The only things that are missing from this house now are doors, floor stain and sealer, and furnishings. Even with all of the construction activities a few folks were able to visit our schools, love on the children and visit brothers and sisters in the jungle villages that we work with near the Nicaraguan border. Thanks a ton Greenwood Park et al for the amazing accomplishments of the week.

And Then There Were Four

Well, it's done. After 6 hard days of work the 27 men from Berry's Chapel church of Christ did it. We now have 4 homes at the Mission Lazarus Refuge. The leadership provided by Mac Hughes was phenomenal. The team work by the guys was outstanding. The group of guys flew back to the US today. Thanks for all the hard work and laughs, especially Ron Carlos....

Our House is a Refuge

On Friday February 20, 2007 men from Middle Tennessee arrived in Honduras to build the 4th home at the Mission Lazarus Refuge. Many hours of preparation had gone into the venture, both stateside and in Honduras. About 95% of the lumber was shipped from in a sea container to Honduras back in December. The concrete slabe and locally purchased lumber, along with the lumber shipped in, were all ready and waiting when the men hit the ground running early saturday morning.

This is the third home built by the same group of men from Tennessee. It is true, third time's a charm. The house has gone together like a puzzle. It's been great to see the team work and the efficiency of the crew. From cutting rafters to hanging siding, there's a job for everyone. Even the preacher!!

Sunday night the men traveled about an hour to worship at a church in the village of Los Zorrillos. The service was packed and I would imagine has to be one of the highlights for all of the men on the trip.

The weather has been unseasonable cool. Lower 50's a night and low 80's during the day. We are in the middle of the dry season here in southern Honduras but we've even had some rain. No one has gotten sick....yet!

Thanks for all the prayers being lifted up stateside. They have kept everyone safe.

Paola Salorzano

This is sister Paola Salorzano. She has been battling cancer since 2007 and it appears that she has just about WON the battle. It started with a tumor on one of her ovaries. She had surgery and that tumor was successfully removed. Soon thereafter it was discovered that she had another tumor on her colon, it was the size of a grapefruit. She had another surgery to remove the tumor but they were not able to get it all, it was too wrapped around the colon. She then start chemotherapy treatments to shrink and destroy what was left. 8 months ago she was bed ridden and had all but given up. Christ's words to Lazarus's family encouraged her and she found hope in the scriptures and decided that she would continue to fight.
When she was in my office on Monday she was truly a living testament to God's faithfulness and her faith was very contagious as well. Her hair has just finally begun to grow back in. She still lacks a final round of chemo, a CAT scan, and a final surgery to remove the residuals of the tumor that was on her colon. She can get all of this taken care of for $2000. Sister Paola is 43 years old and a lifelong member of the church. She is a single parent with a 16 year old son. I think that it would be money well spent if we could come up with the funds to help sister Paola. Let me know if you have any ideas.

Wood is Here

We now have all of the lumber on site for the construction of the next 3 homes at the Mission Lazarus Refuge children's home. The next three homes will be built by groups of men from across the United States. For the first time semi trucks have been able to actually deliver lumber to the construction site. Our road up the mountain onto the Mission Lazarus ranch has been too rough in the past. This year we save a lot of time and money by being able to have our lumber delivered to the site.

Got Milk?

Our kids at the children’s home have been busy during their summer break (ended 2 weeks ago). All of the kids above 8 years old now have farm chores. They really do not view the chores as work. They actually love it. It’s been great to watch them gain self confidence working with the cows and horses and to see the pride they have for their family garden. Attached is a picture of Selvin milking a cow. He’s really gotten the hang of it and he milks two cows everyday to provide milk to his home.

99 and counting

One of the sisters from the jungle village of Palo de Agua shared with me that her mom was sick and bed ridden. She asked me to visit her in Choluteca to pray for her. I told her to call me when she got to Choluteca and that I would meet her. I met her at the house where her mother, Juana, lives. They had a large, very tasty meal, prepared for me for lunch. The home was very humble, dirt floor, but very clean. Juana, 99 years old, fell and broke her hip 6 months ago. She spends most of her days sitting in a chair staring out the back door of the house. The family cannot afford the $500 for hip replacement surgery, After a few hours and a prayer of blessing for Juana I was on my way. But not empty handed, I brought a really bad stomach ache with me. Apparently the good tasting food did not taste to good to my stomach. After 2 weeks of being sick Ally finally started me on Cipro to kill the intestinal infection! The time with Juana was well worth the stomach issues!