An industrial mechanic one day?

There is nothing so unexpected as travel. Right now I am at a hotel in the  city of Santa Barbara, Honduras when I had originally planned to still be in my cabin at D&D. I’ve come to the restaurant for dinner, only to discover a huge medical mission team celebrating their last evening together. The restaurant is vibrating with positive energy and a full-fledged concert by a couple of the leaders. At the moment, in between Christian songs, they are offering up a challenge. Someone calls out a year and they instantly play a song from that year. They’re good, too. 

Fredy was supposed to come to D&D for our visit today. For those of you who don’t know Fredy, he is the young man that I sponsor through an organization called Unbound, that works here in Honduras.

Unbound is a name that captures the organization’s philosophy that all people deserve the chance to pursue their dreams. Fredy’s dream, as he shared today, is to be an industrial mechanic, a career for which there is a trade school in nearby Chinda. That could change, as we all know who have had an almost sixteen year old in our lives. But it is a dream to hold onto, to be inspired by for now. And he could continue to live at home.

So I’m here, instead of there, because logistically it was much simpler and gave us more time for visiting. Tomorrow morning I will join the rest of our mission team here in Santa Barbara and begin our week of work building homes in the mountains up above the city.

As if today needed any more excitement, after we finally had to say goodbye, I was lying down in my room flipping through the photos. Suddenly, a key started rattling in the lock and my door started opening and I started yelling. Whoever it was retreated very quickly. I scrambled to the door, opened it, and saw several men, one of whom was actually carrying a gun. The door doesn’t have any kind of a deadbolt, so I did stroll down to the desk later to a very sincere and elaborate apology from the manager, who assured me that I am quite safe. I hope so, as I am headed to bed to enjoy my last night in a spacious private room.