God Has Called and Gifted Each One - Sermon by Carson Moor

Well, good morning. I’ve decided the easiest way to begin is that I’ll start with a fact. Now, I’m fairly confident many of you aren’t aware that Honduras’s flag is the only flag in the world that makes any mention of its surrounding countries. Personally I didn’t know this either, but the 4 small encircling stars represent the nations that share a border with Honduras; Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua and the 2 blue lines represent the two oceans that Honduras has, the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Now within this country operates World Accord whom directly fund and help manage a group of people called Programa de Reconstruccion Rural, which simply means, the Rural Reconstruction Program which happens to be centered in a campground like location called La Buena Fe, which means, The Good Faith. This location could be said to be the centre off all of World’s accords work in the country. This is where the school supplies are kept, the valley’s Clinic with 2 nurses is, where many people call home, and various meetings and celebrations take place. This can also be said for me, I too called La Buena Fe my home for the 2 weeks while I was there in mid November. This location is where your money donated to World accord goes for Honduras “and they do it with something that is basically worthless in our society – pennies. But overseas, pennies can move mountains”

I must admit on my journey down to Honduras, I was quite hesitant. I didn’t think I’d be too much help, not knowing many construction skills or techniques. But I still went forward with it, with an open mind and an open heart. When I arrived, I met up with our group, Al Wyegood, the gentleman who works in Honduras most of the year leading the world accord projects. Jens Schrobank, his assistant and equal, and then the Ontario crew, Doug, Dave, Jim, Eric, Mary, and Ryan, who happened to be the closest to me in age by about 8 years. We hopped in an old yellow school bus and drove through the country towards La Buena Fe. After receiving a tour of the premises, our first night ended. On the second day, the Sunday, we were given a tour of the valley and Mountains that World Accord and P.R.R operated in. We saw old schools and churches that were built, and met some people who’ve had their lives changed by these actions. After a long day of touring the area, the next day arrived and we traveled to the build site with me being slightly apprehensive.

The school room was to be built in the mountain town of “Canculuncos” a forty five minute truck ride from La Buena Fe. In this small village, more than 50% of the inhabitants were children, who just all happened to be under the ages of 13, but most of them were roughly 5 to 8 years old.

Of course though, as we tried to do our work, a lot of the kids would come to the work site and sit and watch. That’s all they’d do. Just sit and watch as I personally mixed mortar and concrete with one of the participants from Ontario. We mixed it by hand and shovel each day for each load, and every once in a while, we’d get a hand from the kids. In our down time we would attempt to communicate and get to know one another, and I happened to get very good by talking with my hands and body and I even picked up a modest amount of Spanish.

Another task I performed while building the school was the transportation and more importantly, the lifting of blocks above my head onto the scaffolding. Since I was clearly the tallest person there, I was more than suited for the job, but I certainly wasn’t the strongest. Many of the young children could easily carry more supplies than me and more often than not, they’d brush by me speeding by with two hundred pound bags of cement. They never seemed to tire or quit and the kids were so enthusiastic about helping; because how many of you can say that you helped build a school for you and your brothers and sisters?

The construction of the single school room proceeded without any problems except for oddly, an overall lack of participation from the surrounding community. The kids who helped us during the first week were mainly there to just watch us foreigners but we’d recruit them to help. But there was a deal made between World Accord and P.R.R and the village of Canculuncos, which stated that World Accord would supply 7 volunteers (Us) and the Community was to match that with 7 able bodied men.

Al and Jens, our two hosts in Honduras went to talk with the Mayor of Canculuncos, and informed him if he didn’t supply us with our 7 volunteers, he could finish the school himself, and we’d be gone the next day. To no surprise, as we drove to the build site the next day, there had to be over 15 adults, alongside their sons and daughters, making roughly 30 some odd volunteers to help build our school. It was just a fantastic sight to see. After their arrival, the building of our school went faster and without any more problems.

Also, during the second week of my adventure, on the Tuesday, we had a gift for the community. A group of older ladies from back in Ontario have been knitting hats and vests for kids in Honduras and the Ukraine. When we came down, I was the only traveler from Western Canada, but the rest of the group each had a hockey bag with them, packed full of vests and toques. On the Tuesday, we proceeded to hand out the knitted clothing to the children of the village and those kids were so incredibly happy. They were dancing, and yelling and smiling, and they were just so pleased to be given such gifts. These warm gifts were a necessity though, because in Honduras, the weather drops from 35 degrees Celsius to about 5 or 10 degrees Celsius at night, and for these kids, the knitted wool clothing was a very welcomed gift.

With a trip like this though, attempting to half way around the world, build a school and make a difference you almost have to expect some challenges to await you. For us, the two main problems we found was the initial lack of participation from Canculuncos and the language barrier. Eventually though, the language barrier became one of the best and more enriching aspects of my experience, as I was taught to communicate with others on a different level, as well as how to listen more effectively. But these skills or gifts, did I have them all this time or that I picked up while there?

For me this trip was more than just an opportunity or the chance of a life time. It was a gift, something to help me get started on my life and to help me realize more importantly, just what I’m capable of, and especially what others can and will do. While I was down there, I remember something Al Wyegood told our group during our last night together. He said “These people are so happy to have you here to help them. They know they’re position right now, and when you extend to them a hand up, they take it and they work for it, and they make it happen.”