Tuesday 10 December 2013

El Hogar Service Team to Honduras, February 22 - March 1, 2014

Here we are again - preparing for another mission trip to Honduras in February with a brand new team that are already preparing and looking forward to serving once again.  There is a core of the team returning and 4 first time team members.

The first thing we did after our team was chosen was  to book our flights for departure Feb 22nd.  We had to work fast at getting seats as flights were filling up fast.  October then arrived and we began the job of team building which took place mostly over the building of our Gingerbread Churches that seem to be a big hit and a big seller. This fund raiser  covers the Project Fee for the work we do in the week that we are at El Hogar.  Gingerbread was the focus of our lives for more than two months as we got together regularly to roll, bake, construct, decorate and package our gingerbread. 




 As well as the team, we had some additional people who came to help, mostly to decorate and share and speak a little Spanish and listen to Christmas carols!  Perhaps we did get a little competitive trying to use original ideas in decorating, but mostly it was all about team building!





We began selling in earnest on the day of St. Luke's Christmas Market. By selling more on that day then in any other year at that Market, it says that people are coming to expect our churches and we found that some of our visitors were coming just for the gingerbread!  Here is the father and daughter duo added to our team this year.  Our own Rector and Louisa. 







Or..... our success may have had something to do with Rick, our team leader and also Market welcomer, who greeted everyone at the door with a map directly to our Gingerbread table!

All in all, (and with 20 houses going to a Real Estate company),  we made and sold 151 churches and houses.

We are so grateful to Marilyn who again this year has made beautiful note cards from her lovely original paintings which she sells to benefit the children of El Hogar.  She is a talented lady.  Thank you Marilyn!

And thanks to all the team and those alumni or friends of El Hogar who baked and decorated.  A special thanks to you all for purchasing our handiwork and helping to make a difference in the lives of the children of El Hogar