What's Next?

Dear Mas Vida Followers,

On behalf of everyone on the team, I want to say thank you for following our journey and being with us in prayer and support. We could have not done it without you. After the trip, we were able to share many great stories of what God did in each of us with our families and friends at church. All of us have had our eyes opened to the amazing need in Honduras and the rest of the world. As I have written, we started planning our next trip before the last one was over. There are still many needs in Honduras.
The first need that has to be fulfilled before the others is a large water purification unit for the HVTI building. We need this unit before the next two needs are even possible, because they cannot take place without clean water.
The next plan is the industrial kitchen, which will teach students culinary skills and baking, and will ultimately support the mission by funds raised by the baked goods from the kitchen. After the water purification unit and the kitchen is the awesome opportunity to build an area for a medical clinic. This is a huge need, seeing that most of the Honduran people have never seen the inside of a hospital. All three of these opportunities are deep in each of our hearts and can use many prayers.
For the first opportunity of the water purification unit, we found that it would cost us about $3,200 for the unit and supplies to build it. Along with another $3,000 to send a team of three missionaries to Honduras to build it. As you and I both know, God is awesome! As of Sunday, we have raised enough for the unit and supplies to build it. We still need the money to send the team to build it however. Please pray for this need and the team that is chosen by God to go and do his work.

Thanks again for following our blog, and please continue to support us with your prayers!

Matthew Reece for Team Mas Vida

Last Day!!!

Dear Mas Vida followers,

We are all sad to be leaving first thing tomorrow morning. As much as we have done, all of the lives that we have touched, there is still much to be done on the mission field. We said that we would be starting the plan for next years trip the second we arrived in the states. We may have lied. We are already planning.

Today we went to an orphanage just across the street from the compound. We had a class of 21. During the class we had to take a break. We started the class at the start of the World Cup match between Honduras and Spain, so we had to check the score. Unfortunately, Honduras lost the match.

During this awesome trip, our team has taught 407 students total. Not only did we give them valuable information that could save their own life, but we taught them how to save one life, OR MORE! We distributed a total of 2,784 meals to families in need. We prepared many more to be distributed by a different team that will be serving on the mission field starting tomorrow. We have planted a spiritual seed in some, watered the seed of others, and we have faith that God will manage the harvest and grow it.

We leave very early in the morning for the United States. Please keep our team in your prayers. We are praying for the continued health and safety of our team, and for the people of Honduras that we are leaving behind.

Thanks for reading,

Matthew Reece for Team Mas Vida

Mas Vida Day 7

Dear Mas Vida Followers,

I know that I just updated a couple hours ago. However, a lot has happened in just a couple hours. We left to distribute food to "Cardboard City". We added the distribution of shoes as well as food to our mission tonight. We passed out about 130 bags of food and just over 40 pairs of shoes to the people in the town. Overwhelmed, we did all of this in under 30 minutes. The mobs of people in need kept coming until we had no more. As you eat dinner tonight, pray that the food we distributed goes far and they are filled until the next meal they get.

We are back at the compound now, and getting ready for our day tomorrow. We will be visiting the market in Downtown San Pedro Sula, then we have a class at noon. We will be teaching at a nearby orphanage and hope to touch the lives of many young people.

Until Tomorrow,

Matthew Reece for Team Mas Vida

P.S. Happy Father's Day Dad(Dia del Padre Feliz!) I Love you.

Re: Day 4

Dear Mas Vida Followers,

I forgot to go into detail about day 4 because of the power outage. Day 4 was the day that we had two classes in one day. It turned out to only be about 212 students. Among the students however, were the local firefighters or "Bombaderes" in Spanish. We held a smaller workshop with them, so we could go into more detail about airway and breathing, as well as CPR.

The class turned out to be a great success. These Fire Fighters were basically trained to do just that, fight fires. The country of Honduras does not have an EMS system. They have a couple of ambulances, and a few more fire trucks. We were told by the Bombaderes that they usually have two men on a fire truck. One to drive and one to work.

On another note, Honduras is also lacking one thing that we in America take for granted. Or at least I do. Natural Gas. So, instead of hot showers, or even warm showers for that matter, we have been taking "hail storms" at the hotel. The girls at the complex on the other hand knew from the start how to use the electric heater on the shower head, or "widow makers" as they are known. This term was created because of the SHOCK you get when turning it on. They told me about it, but I would rather be cold than DEAD!

God has blessed our team that has children at home to be able to talk to their family and kids at home via Skype. Andy and Amy were glowing when they got to see their babies at home. Gary has also got to keep track of his family, making sure that his son has mowed the lawn. Christina is keeping her husband up to date so he knows that she is safe, as this is her first trip away from him for this amount of time. (We "wuv" you Ed.)

Pastor preached at church this morning, amazingly the interpreter could translate all of the "fragaisms". We have had a great day of rest and are now off to pass out food to a nearby town that is known as the "Cardboard City".

Until Tomorrow,

Matthew Reece for Team Mas Vida

Days 5 and 6

Dear Mas Vida Followers,

Whew! It has been a long two days. I am sorry that I did not get a chance to blog yesterday. Our day got flipped upside down, so our class did not start until 7:00pm. Since there were no pictures the day before, I am going to overload you with pictures today. Let's start with the scorpion that was found the night before when the power was out at the girls compound.

The power came back up shortly after I wrote the blog. Needless to say, the girls found out about the scorpion.

Yesterday we traveled just around the corner to a local school to hold a class. Unfortunately, the teacher of the school called in sick, so class was cancelled for the day. Our team quickly assembled and put together a battle plan. We had a room with chairs, we had our team, and we had all day. Just then, passing by was a young man on a cart being pulled by a donkey. He was saying something in Spanish over a P.A. system that he had on his cart. Our interpreter told us that he was advertising for his metal recycling business. Then it hit us! Let's buy the kid and his P.A. system for a half an hour, so he can advertise us!!! So, we did...and he did.

After a half an hour, nobody showed. Except one young man. He was there since the beginning. He stood outside the door for the two hours that we were there. We decided that we would come back at 7:00pm for a youth event that was being held in the building that night. We told the young man, and he agreed to come back at 7. He seemed like he really wanted to be there and really wanted to learn. My heart broke when he never showed up to class last night. I never really got a chance to talk to him because of the HUGE language barrier and our interpreter was busy trying to sort things out for us. I call this feeling: "missed opportunity". I pray for him and his life, and that our team crosses paths with him again. We lift our heads up and are only inspired to work harder and do more!

We got to help serve lunch yesterday at Charlie's Lunch, which is an organization that feeds children in the community at various locations. Before lunch we took the opportunity to tell the kids about washing their hands before eating, bathing, and helping an injured person. The kids ranged from 1-13, so we made it more of a theatre production than a classroom lesson. Lucky me, I got to play the injured person who fell down and went boom! We not only fed the children, but gave them important information that will help keep them healthy. God is Amazing!

We had just over 30 kids at the class last night, along with some adults. We had a lot of fun and the kids learned MUCHO!

So, this morning we decided to venture off to the Mayan Ruins in Copan for our free day. Well...God had other plans for us. On our way there in the rental van, we heard a "clunking" in the left rear tire. We checked the tire to make sure that it was okay. It was missing a lug nut, but it seemed to be pretty sturdy, so we continued driving. As we cleared the edge of town, just entering the winding road up to Copan, the "clunking" turned into a "CLUNKING!!!" we pulled over and noticed that we were now missing three lug nuts. As it turns out, the actual bolts for the lug nuts were sheered off.

Well, apparently, Honduras has Gorilla Warfare-like roadside assistance. Two men came out of the wood works to help us fix the problem. Within minutes, they had backup with a truck to go get the parts that we needed. Within a few hours we were on the road again. We decided to take a different van just in case. Since the Mayan Ruins were two hours away, we decided to go somewhere closer yet equally awesome. We visited a Fort at the Sea of Cortez. Ironically, while in route, we read in a local newspaper that the route to the Mayan Ruins had been washed out the day prior, and no traffic was allowed through.

We are about to head out for dinner and have an early morning for church tomorrow. We will be attending a morning service, then will be traveling into downtown San Pedro Sula.

Until Tomorrow!

Matthew Reece for Team Mas Vida

Mas Vida Day 4

Dear Mas Vida followers,
Today turned out to be wonderful, until the end. Due to some thunder storms in San Pedro Sula, the power went out at the compound that is housing most of our team. I am being housed at the other compound, so I am able to update the blog. Unfortunately, all of the pictures are on the other team's computer. So I will just have to tell a very funny story.
If you remember my blog on Day Uno, you should recall my "p.s. Remember to slow for the cone zone"... Well, after we landed at L.A.X, we were walking from the security checkpoint area. Most of our team went directly to the terminal, however a couple ventured off to find a Starbucks. When I heard coffee, I perked up and decided to follow. I was too late to see what had just happened first hand, but the team filled me in. One of our teammates tripped and fell in front of the Starbucks. I know what you are thinking: "a slippery floor, or a power cord"... Wrong. There was a bright orange cone, with nothing else anywhere near it. This person was oblivious to everything around them and walked straight for the cone...and fell flat on their face... I have a call out to L.A.X airport security to see if I can get footage of the fall...
Now back to the reason why we are here. Today's classes turned out to have just over 100 students in each. Overall, we had 212 students ranging from 8-15 years old. While our medical team was teaching, our food distribution team was out delivering food to a nearby community in El Progreso. More pictures to come tomorrow of the lives that we touched.
As it stands right now, I believe the power is still out at the other compound. It just so happens that the compound with no power is also the compound that is housing the girls. When we were there dropping them off, one of the missionaries stepped on a scorpion and crushed it with his shoe...we decided that it would be better to NOT tell the girls.

Until tomorrow,

Matthew Reece for Team Mas Vida

Day Tres?

Dear Mas Vida Followers,


It is hard to believe that it is only day three...or is it? We had a very long and AWESOME day today. The medical team had a single class of 116 students! That is 98 more than our class yesterday. We even had a few come in from the street, who heard our team teaching. The class was mainly pre-teens in what we would call high school. In Honduras, it is a college.

Usually the students would wear uniforms to school, but today was different. The Honduras Futbol team was playing Chile in The World Cup, so they proudly wore their blue and white jerseys. Even though Honduras lost the game, they still had smiles on their faces. The whole class was a success, and the whole team was blessed by all of these wonderful children. I was even more blessed by the number of young Honduran ladies in the audience that fell in love with "Guapo Mateo" as I was introduced by our translator Suzie.

After the class, our teams took to the street to deliver almost 100 packages of food for a local community in San Manuel. The feeling that you get when you are able to feed a family that otherwise may not have food, is indescribable. A picture may say a thousand words, but will never amount to the humbling aftershock of this awesome blessing.

It is off to bed now, so we can get an early start for tomorrow. We are looking at about 400 students tomorrow, broken up into two classes. Please pray for our teams health. The climate is taking a while to get used to. Also, Pray for each of the lives that we are able to touch during this mission.

Matthew Reece for Team Mas Vida

Mas Vida Day 2

Hola Mas Vida Followers!!!

We are all fully rested and may even be getting used to the heat and humidity...maybe not. After an early start this morning, we had a great time of devotion with the group before we started our first class. We had 18 students today and one translator. While the five medical team members were in the classroom teaching, the five on the other team were working hard at preparing food for distribution to a nearby town.

After eating a delicious authentic lunch prepared by one of the church members, we finished class and hit the field. Only two minutes southeast of the building, we delivered food to a very impoverished area on the levee. We were surprised at the joy on the faces of the people we encountered. Each of the bags we delivered was enough food to feed a family of four for two days.

Because of the hard work of the food preparation, we have more than 120 bags at Hope Vocational / Technical Institute to deliver over the rest of the week.

We are taking a quick rest before dinner, then we will be at it again early tomorrow.

Until Next time,

Matthew and Andy for Team Mas Vida

Day Uno!!!

Hola Mas Vida Followers!

After a long yet safe flight, we arrived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras this morning at about 0945. After being slapped in the face with the humidity, we got into our van and headed for Hope Vocational Technical Institute to get a formal tour of the facility. The medical team did some shopping for supplies after a delicious authentic Honduran lunch at a local burrito joint.
As we journey on, we are humbled to see how much we are blessed with. The culture here is much different than in California. For dinner we ate at a very authentic Pizza Hut. It was delicious!

It has been a long day, and now the entire team is ready for bed. Some are already there.

Until Tomorrow(pictures soon to come)

Matthew Reece for Team Mas Vida

P.S. Do not forget to slow for the cone zone!!!(I will explain what that means another day.)

T-Minus 11 Days!!!

Hola Mas Vida Team and Supporters!!!
We are only 11 days away from our awesome departure!!! I will take it one step further, OUR CRAZY AWESOME DEPARTURE!!!

If you are a part of the Mas Vida Team, you received an e-mail from Andy before the rooster crowed on last Wednesday. Attached was the itinerary and some important information for the trip.
Please contact Andy and Amy if you need to carpool to the airport so we can all plan accordingly.

For our prayer team and supporters at home:
Please pray for our continued preparation of the mission, and the lives that will be touched by God's hand through our work. Also, please pray for the health and safety of our team in the days leading up to the trip until the day we return home.

Our team will be departing Sacramento on June 13 at 7:40pm and returning on June 22 at 6:45pm.

It is my plan to update the blog daily between these dates to update you on all of the CRAZY AWESOME things that we are doing in God's name.

Gracias!!!

Matthew Reece for Team Mas Vida

Team Mas Vida from Celebration Church

Hola Hermanos y Hermanas, that means "Hello Brothers and Sisters" in Spanish. We are all trying to get our tongues ready to roll some "R's" as we prepare ourselves for the missions trip in June. This blog has been created so we can keep our team up to date in the weeks before the trip and to keep our prayer warriors up to date while we are there. I hope to update the blog once a week before we travel, and every day while we are in Honduras. Oh yeah, that is where we are going. San Pedro Sula Honduras, where we will be teaming up with Hope Technical Vocational Institute (HTVI) to teach First Aid, Basic Hygiene and Water Safety. We will also be setting up a number of Water Purification Units!

HTVI is the culmination of a shared vision in 1998 by a national leader, resident missionary and project director. It is a Christian organization that works extensively through the local churches in Honduras and with LACC (Latin America Child Care). LACC is a children's ministry providing children in Honduras with a Christian education.

An overall objective was established for HTVI to provide vocational, technological, and academic training for Honduran children, young adults, and adults, to equip them with the needed skills to compete successfully in today's job market. These objectives were expanded to include humanitarian aid for the needy of Honduras as well as providing assistance in events of natural calamity.

All of us on the team are very excited to be a part of this mission, even more so, because we are doing it in the name of Jesus!!!

Please feel free to leave words of support for our team and check back regularly for updates!

Para la gloria de Dios
(For the glory of God)

Matthew Reece for Team Mas Vida