Phil's Perspective

Wow! Already two days into the 2012 missions trip to La Ceiba, Honduras. Hard to believe. Our trip down here was uneventful, shorter than last year's but still tiring. We had to leave Tucson at 12:30 a.m., drive up to Phoenix, fly to Houston and then to a resort island off of the coast of Honduras called Roatan. We finally arrived in La Ceiba at 3:30 p.m. But we were wiped out. Most of us only got 2-3 hours of sleep.

Regardless, we've had a great time in the last 27 hours. We've been well fed but I still missed having the homemade blueberry pancakes I fix every Sunday. We went to two worship services today. The first worship service was what the missionaries call “Gringo Church” because it is just the Honduran missionaries. Mike Pettengill taught from 1 Timothy 5 on the treatment of elders by their congregations. I was honored to be able to administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, something Team Honduras only gets to have when they have an ordained pastor come down on a mission trip.

After lunch we went on a tour of La Ceiba in which we were able to get a clearer view of not only the city but the way of life here. I was shocked once a again to see the poverty in which these people live and how much I take for granted in my own life. Of course, there were the beautiful homes and cars sprinkled in among the shacks and junkers. This seems to be a country in which the very few rich take advantage of the many poor.

I'm really enjoying having Caleb here with me. He and I have been hanging out and talking a lot about what we're seeing and experiencing. He's also been enjoying hanging out with the older members of the team—one older teenager, three guys in their mid-twenties, and Richard who is in his fifties. Caleb has jumped right in and is eager to serve and help out with anything asked of him.

God has put together a great team for us here. We are getting along really well and having some great conversations about what we're seeing but also what we see God doing—and what we are praying he will do in us and through us. We had a great discussion tonight—as we prepare to go the the work site tomorrow—about being 'other' focused and making the most of the relational opportunities.

We had a mild scare last night as one of our team members, Richard, had a severe allergic reaction. We still have not determined what caused it but he is feeling much better today. Erin Pettengill is an RN and was on her game in administering treatment. He will be taking steroids around the clock to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Well, almost time for bed. I'm looking forward to what God has in store tomorrow.