Raising the Roof in Honduras

January 24, 2007

DeMotte CRC's HANDS Team to Honduras

A work team from DeMotte, Indiana put the finishing touches on a WWCS partner school in the Central American country of Honduras.

HANDS Mission Teams build Christian schools in developing countries around the globe.  Here is an excerpt* from one team's online journal as they look forward to their experience.  Check back for updates as the team returns near the end of January.

January 7, 2007:  On January 16 (about 1:00 AM!) we board our church bus and head for O'Hare Airport to fly to Houston, and then to Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  The flight is followed by a 4 hour drive in a rented van and pickup truck to Catacamas, Honduras where we will be part of a 3 team effort to rebuild the Escuela Luz Y Verdad (translated:  Light and Truth Christian School).  The school was built with a clay tile roof supported by wood trusses and stringers; however the roof is badly deteriorating and needs to be totally rebuilt, so we will be fabricating and installing a welded steel roof structure with Jondulite sheeting for the roofing (Jondulite is a corregated cement board material).  The school building is 222 feet long and 29 feet wide, consisting of 10 rooms and 2 washrooms, serving 100 to 150 students at present.

The parents and teachers removed the thousands of clay tiles and the old wooden structure in December. The first team (from Ontario, Canada) is now forming and pouring a concrete bond beam around the top of the wall of the entire structure to strengthen the building and give us a good solid wall on which to build the new roof.  We (the second team) hope to start work on Jan. 17 and have the entire roof completed by Jan. 30, the Lord willing.  The third team (from Holland, MI) will overlap us a few days and will do electical wiring, windows, doors, painting, etc. so the school can reopen by February 12.

This is a big project and we ask for your prayers for safey and health for all the workers.  Please remember, this project is not for our glory; all the glory goes to our God who gave us, and you, the privilege to participate each in our own way to help grow the Lord's Kingdom a little bit more in this small Central American country, Honduras.

January 29, 2007:  This morning, while working on the roof, Marv fell when he slipped on a loose roof panel.  He fell headfirst to the floor below, first striking a metal water bucket before landing on the cement floor.  He sustained 2 broken wrists and a broken jaw.  He was taken to a medical clinic a few blocks away where he received x-rays.  A doctor from the Michigan team accompanied him to the hospital and worked with the staff there.  The decision was made to have him return home a day early for further medical attention.

The rest of the team will continue their work tomorrow and fly back on Wednesday as planned.

Please keep Marv and Ruth in your prayers as well as the rest of the team.  We sincerely believe that the bucket broke his fall enough to prevent more serious injury.

When Marv and Bob left the school grounds to head to the clinic, the DeMotte team, the Michigan team, and all the local workers gathered for a time of prayer.  We all held hands and prayers were lifted up in English and Spanish.  We were able to sense God's Spirit among us and when we conveyed this to Marv at the clinic, he said he felt at peace as well.

Continue to pray for us as we work one more day on the roof and also for the Michigan team as they will continue through the end of the week working on the roof panels as well.

February 5, 2007:  Thank you to all of you for your support and encouragement to the DeMotte work team during the WWCS Honduras work trip.  Thanks again for your support, encouragement and prayers.  God is clearly a mighty God, but he is also a loving and caring God!

Serving Him,

The DeMotte Work Team

*From the online journal of DeMotte CRC's HANDS Team to Honduras.  For more information on joining a HANDS mission team, contact Steve Geurink at sguerink@wwcs.org or (800) 996-9000. 

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