We’re in Danlí!

The trip down was long as we had to be at the airport for 5:30 am. We arrived in El Salvador about 2:30 pm Toronto time, (1:30 Central Standard), and having only had a breakfast on the plane about 9:30, we bought a Subway sandwich for lunch. Before we continued on to Honduras at 7:30 we had dinner in the airport ‘secure’ area which we never left. Our friend Pati picked us up and took us to her home where we visited with her and her 3 children, then spent the night.

Next morning we went to the ‘Mall Multiplaza’ to exchange money and get ‘SIM’ chips for our phones. As usual we encountered Latin American bureaucracy, but with Pati’s help, were able to manage without too much trouble, Cell phones here are quite cheap and for just over US $5 we got both phones working with US $5 air time, (about 24 minutes). After a light lunch, Rev. Deacon Kathy Pennybacker picked us up and drove us to Nueva Esperanza on the outskirts of Danlí where we will be staying in the church apartment.

We are the first to stay here and all the furniture etc. had been piled in here and in the kitchen downstairs that we will be using temporarily. Our first job was cleaning and organizing. By the time 10 pm arrived, we were tired and headed for bed. Unfortunately, our blankets had not arrived and it was cool with only a sheet over us.

Wed. we did more organizing and SAMS US missionary Jeannie Loving drove us to a major supermarket to do some shopping. Spent about $130. We have a new fridge with a large freezer so there are no worries there. IT HAS A FREEZER DOOR THAT CLOSES!! We met an itinerant vegetable seller this morning who told us he will be by every day about 8 am. Also, the Jr. Warden (Betty) of the church lives just down the street and she makes and sells tortillas, (starting about 4 am). Some things haven’t arrived yet such as the gas tank for the stove. Fortunately it has one electric burner so we can do simple cooking. We have also been able to borrow a few things left behind when SAMS US missionary Dotty Gleason returned to the US a week ago.

The Texas group ‘Manos de Dios’ who built this church are arriving Thurs. On Sunday Bishop Lloyd Allen will be here to dedicate the second level, which contains the apartment and the room in which Eva will be teaching, plus 3 other rooms. The church sanctuary was dedicated last year while we were here.

This is thesite of the mud slide that sent a motel crashing down on a number of houses below. There were 3 more of these slides on the way to Danli that destroyed part of the highway.

Here you see the motel that slid about 50 feet onto the houses that you can just see in the bakground. No one was seriously injured.

Honduran weather continues to be very different from the rainless 3 months we experienced when we first arrived. On our way out from Tegucigalpa we stopped to view one of the land slide areas from the recent rains in Oct. Half the road was gone, the motel below slid down and into some houses which also slid down the hill possibly 50 ft. Fortunately, no one was badly injured. However lost crops are continuing to cause severe hardship for many.

That’s it for now folks. Keep tuned for further news.