Mayfair CRC in Cañada, Olancho

Mayfair Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan recently sent a team to Cañada, Olancho – not Canada, CaÑada!  The eight team members were quite surprised – along with the rest of us from Diaconía and CRWRC – at the extravagant welcome ceremony that the people of Cañada put together for us.  There was a processional with special introductions for each member of the team and each Diaconía Nacional and CRWRC representative.  With our intros we each entered the small church to the music of the wedding march beneath an archway of palm branches.  The local CRC pastor, Lupito, facilitated a very elaborate ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the beginning of a fruitful partnership with Mayfair CRC, DN, CRWRC, the county mayor´s office, and the local churches and governing associations.  It was a very beautiful but long ceremony that truly demonstrated the community´s enthusiasm. 

During their week-long stay in Cañada the Mayfair team built 4 pilas for water storage and washing as well as pouring 13 concrete floors – 3 more than they initially planned!  They really enjoyed working alongside the locals in these projects although mixing cement with a couple of shovels and a hoe may have been a new experience for them.  I must commend them all for their effort and dedication to the project.  They worked extremely hard despite the vicious virus that eventually made its way through the whole team.  Plus, they were down one teammate even before they started the hard labour. 

Following their first soccer game with the community Pastor Jack took a horrible tumble on the field and injured his knee.  The day of the soccer game no one was really aware of the true extent of his injury.  The following day Jack still could not walk without pain so he went to the clinic in Santa María del Real a short four hours away.  The x-ray revealed a serious vertical fracture below the knee.  Pastor Jack was not able to return to the team in Cañada as he hopped the next flight home to receive 7 pins placed in his leg over 7 hours of surgery. 

We rejoice that Pastor Jack is doing much better and that the rest of his Mayfair teammates enjoyed the rest of their time in Honduras without him.  Cañada is a welcoming and hardworking community and I´m sure Pastor Jack and the rest from Mayfair will be eager to return next year – although Jack might have to pass on the next soccer game!