Meet The Team - Honduras LWI 2013
As I look through my pictures and think about my trip, it is hard to find a place to start and what to share. While the drilling and actual nuts and bolts of the trip are easy to describe, the relationships and spiritual aspect are almost indescribable.
First, I want to introduce my team. None of the stories I share, goals we accomplished, or God moments mean anything without knowing these people who committed their times and their lives to bringing clean water and the message of Jesus to Salamas, Honduras. Although I knew some better than others, and we all had met briefly at meetings, 7 days in a foreign country will be bring to you to a serious level of closeness. I was amazed at the way God put our team together. I shouldn't be, right? He was absolutely in control of the "calling" and organizing and bringing of each one of us on this trip. He knew our strengths and weaknesses. He knew our hearts. He knew what people to place in our lives that would encourage us, grow us, and become part of our hearts forever.
This is Brad or Bradito as he is called. Our leader, our cheerleader, super planner, organizer, friend, song leader, and constant source of entertainment. This was Brad's second trip with Living Water to Honduras. His first time to lead and his first time to actually see the work complete. This guy was the reason that our team was so cohesive. The reason that we were so prepared. This guy has the biggest heart for the Lord, for people, and for having fun. I promise you never a dull moment when he is around.
Meet Ashliegh. My roommate. She's a black belt. Animal lover. Youngest on our team. You might think she is quiet at first but once she opens up is full of so much life. Artist and music lover. (but not all of Brad's!) Ashliegh was quite impressive in her hard work drilling. Not afraid at all to be totally covered in mud, soaking wet, and breaking pipe. Yep, she is one bad chick. She took such good care of me. We had the best roommate experience. We shared and talked. She kept my fluids filled when I was sick and was always willing to escort me to the bathroom!
Meet Femi. Femi was born in Nigeria. An actual real live drilling engineer. Raging Cajun (although we don't hold it against him :-) One of the later additions to our team and so grateful that God brought him in our lives. The biggest, brightest smile. All day. Everyday. What a joy he was to our team. His hilarious sense of humor. His rapport with the kids. His "spanish". His ability to only handle "one job". Ha! Those kids will not soon forget their friend Femi.
Micah. The math teacher. Best friend of Brad's or fact checker as we like to say. Experienced in the mission field after spending almost 6 months teaching in Africa at one point. Now a high school math teacher here in our area. Loved the dynamic between him and Brad and the perspective that Micah brought. Patient. Even tempered. Hard working. Fraction expert. When he spoke in devotional or team time, always with such depth and perspective. Or such comic relief as you will see in a video I will post later.
James and Allison. Our married couple of the team. They have a little one year old Savannah and were away from her for the first time for an extended amount of time. James and Allison are part of Brad's small group. Allison is an athletic trainer and James is a teacher and coach. Allison and James are one hard working couple. The rocks of the team.
Allison stepped in and moved off the drill team on the first day to cover hygiene when I was sick. Then moved back and forth the rest of the week. One tough chick I have to tell you with mad volleyball skills. She was always willing to share her heart and lend a hand wherever one was needed. Not afraid at all to always be right in the action.. or the mud.. or the water!
James, her husband, was a joy to watch him work and grow in his faith on this trip. At one point, a seal blew on the pipe and James never flinched and held steady all while water and mud pounded him and the rest of us ran away screaming. I remember one night in team time when we were sharing and someone made the comment that watching James watch was like seeing a true servant's heart. What a blessing.
Charlie. One of the "Dad's" as in Brad's dad. I have to say what a blessing it was to work along side Charlie. He and my dad hit if off immediately and had lots of fun making jokes about "their generation". Charlie was not just along for the ride people, Charlie was hard core. There wasn't a job he didn't do. God used his talents and expertise to trouble shoot many problems with the drilling. He had so much wisdom and experience and I loved the stories he shared. He was always one step ahead too. We stopped at the gas station to fill our van and Charlie remembers to say "don't we need gas for the pump too?" Oh yeah. Always on top of it. I mean look at him. That's his arm, all the way down in the mud pit. I told him he looked like a noodler except he didn't pull up a catfish!
And we cannot forget my dad. There were not many nightly meetings that someone on the team didn't have a story or word to share about how my dad had impacted them that day. Certainly not the loudest team member (ah.. Brad) but steadfast and Godly in his actions and words. The message he gave on the bus to the team on the last day was God inspired. And what would I have done without him? Don't get me wrong. The team took care of all their girls but there is something reassuring about being so sick in a foreign country and knowing that your Daddy is there. Dad said that he went on this trip because I asked him to go with me and God showed him so much more that he had in store for him than just tagging along. What a blessing to share this amazing experience with my dad.
I knew going into this lots of great things about the "on the ground" local Honduras Living Water drillers and representatives but I was not prepared to be totally amazed and blown away by each of them. Talk about a heart for God. Walking the walk. Day in and day out. Every word bringing glory and praise to their maker. The first contact we had was Emilio. He is the short term team director or field man as he calls himself. He is the head of Living Water Honduras. He scouts the sites and processes the well petitions. He is a walking talking witness with the biggest heart for the Lord. His wife Sony does hygiene (and she was with the other team with us). He has 4 kids. He is also a deacon at the church we visited.
Nugget. Yep. That's his name. His brother's Abraham and Matias drilled for the other team with us. He is a lead driller. Quiet... well, at first. Solid as a rock. Hard working. Motivating. Heart for God. Has 2 kids that live in the States with his wife. When the work got hard and the concrete team didn't show, Nugget never complained. Just jumped in, and said. We will do it.
The other driller on our team was Dennis. He is Nugget's assistant and praise team leader at their church in La Ceiba. One of my favorite memories is Brad, Tori (from the other team), and Dennis leading worship at 6am devotion time.
Dennis also provided lots of humor for our team. His favorite phrase .. "Like Seriously" became the team anthem and I am still saying it!
Felicia serves as hygiene team leader. She has 3 children too. In fact, she missed her babies 3rd birthday that week. Felicia grew up on Roatan which is a beautiful formerly British Island outside Honduras. Felicia has a beautiful voice and an even more beautiful smile. Her rapport with the ladies of the village and children was precious. Her love for Jesus and for Hondurans was evident in what she did. She was so sweet to our team.
This team spent 7 days in communion with each other, serving not only God, the people of Honduras, but each other.
One of our devotions early in the week was about team work based on 1 Corinthians 12:27 "All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is part of it." Even though I was given the analogy "pinky toe" at one part, this verse is so true. God used each strength, each weakness, each joy, each sorrow, each gift, and each talent to unite us for His glory. Our unity was truly a testimony to God's grace and power. Our lives forever connected by our experiences in Honduras.
Love,
The Riley's
First, I want to introduce my team. None of the stories I share, goals we accomplished, or God moments mean anything without knowing these people who committed their times and their lives to bringing clean water and the message of Jesus to Salamas, Honduras. Although I knew some better than others, and we all had met briefly at meetings, 7 days in a foreign country will be bring to you to a serious level of closeness. I was amazed at the way God put our team together. I shouldn't be, right? He was absolutely in control of the "calling" and organizing and bringing of each one of us on this trip. He knew our strengths and weaknesses. He knew our hearts. He knew what people to place in our lives that would encourage us, grow us, and become part of our hearts forever.
This is Brad or Bradito as he is called. Our leader, our cheerleader, super planner, organizer, friend, song leader, and constant source of entertainment. This was Brad's second trip with Living Water to Honduras. His first time to lead and his first time to actually see the work complete. This guy was the reason that our team was so cohesive. The reason that we were so prepared. This guy has the biggest heart for the Lord, for people, and for having fun. I promise you never a dull moment when he is around.
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| working |
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| always full of jokes |
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| Dad managed to stay out of the pits |
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| getting a little water down the shirt |
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| Brad getting dirty with the concrete |
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| proud team leader |
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| by the way.. I didn't do that. |
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| It's hot. |
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| Drilling face |
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| holding down the fort |
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| coloring with the kids. |
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| Drilling game face. |
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| what? I was hungry :-) |
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| She was not being talked into getting on the twisted swing |
James and Allison. Our married couple of the team. They have a little one year old Savannah and were away from her for the first time for an extended amount of time. James and Allison are part of Brad's small group. Allison is an athletic trainer and James is a teacher and coach. Allison and James are one hard working couple. The rocks of the team.
Allison stepped in and moved off the drill team on the first day to cover hygiene when I was sick. Then moved back and forth the rest of the week. One tough chick I have to tell you with mad volleyball skills. She was always willing to share her heart and lend a hand wherever one was needed. Not afraid at all to always be right in the action.. or the mud.. or the water!
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| my favorite picture of her. Smiling and loving every minute. |
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| after getting blasted. Still smiling. |
Charlie. One of the "Dad's" as in Brad's dad. I have to say what a blessing it was to work along side Charlie. He and my dad hit if off immediately and had lots of fun making jokes about "their generation". Charlie was not just along for the ride people, Charlie was hard core. There wasn't a job he didn't do. God used his talents and expertise to trouble shoot many problems with the drilling. He had so much wisdom and experience and I loved the stories he shared. He was always one step ahead too. We stopped at the gas station to fill our van and Charlie remembers to say "don't we need gas for the pump too?" Oh yeah. Always on top of it. I mean look at him. That's his arm, all the way down in the mud pit. I told him he looked like a noodler except he didn't pull up a catfish!
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| The "dads" |
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| that's charlie. On his stomach in the mud pit |
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| pushing out the rig |
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| on the airplane |
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| at church in La Ceiba |
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| On the drill site |
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| at our hotel |
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| joking around with the guys |
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| with Ashliegh and I before heading to the drill site |
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| trying to be quiet but being moved by the spirit to share what he witnessed this week |
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| Roll Tide!! (another convert :-) |
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| working concrete |
Dennis also provided lots of humor for our team. His favorite phrase .. "Like Seriously" became the team anthem and I am still saying it!
Felicia serves as hygiene team leader. She has 3 children too. In fact, she missed her babies 3rd birthday that week. Felicia grew up on Roatan which is a beautiful formerly British Island outside Honduras. Felicia has a beautiful voice and an even more beautiful smile. Her rapport with the ladies of the village and children was precious. Her love for Jesus and for Hondurans was evident in what she did. She was so sweet to our team.
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| Great leader and teacher |
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| helping the ladies with lunch |
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| loving on our team |
One of our devotions early in the week was about team work based on 1 Corinthians 12:27 "All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is part of it." Even though I was given the analogy "pinky toe" at one part, this verse is so true. God used each strength, each weakness, each joy, each sorrow, each gift, and each talent to unite us for His glory. Our unity was truly a testimony to God's grace and power. Our lives forever connected by our experiences in Honduras.
Love,
The Riley's