North Americans tend to take a lot of things for granted. If we’re in the market for a new or used vehicle, we have no shortage of options. We can head off to a dealership and take something for a test drive. Or we can stay at home in our jammies and shop for a vehicle over the internet. And, when we find a car, we don’t really give much thought as to how long it will take for new license plates to arrive. As usual, Russell was able to give me a healthy dose of perspective when he described his adventure of buying a new vehicle for the ministry.
On Monday, Russell headed off to the big city of San Pedro to pick up a used van. He gave me the specifics, but I don’t type very fast while cradling a phone to my ear, so we’ll just call it a big ol’ Ford van because I’m pretty sure that’s what all of the specifics boiled down to.
The thing is, they don’t sell big ol’ Ford vans in Honduras. No dealership carries them. There is no CarMax or online option. If you need a big ol’ van in Central America, that big ol’ van needs to come from the U.S. When vans get in fender benders, they are sometimes bought at auction and shipped to Central America for repairs.
In August, Russell purchased the big ol’ Ford van from an auction in Louisiana, with the help of a friend. The friend helped with the process of getting the van exported from the States and imported to Honduras. It was imported with all of its bumps and bruises because it is cheaper to repair a vehicle in Honduras, where the labor costs are less. Plus, if you bring in a vehicle that doesn’t look nice, authorities won’t try to gouge you for import taxes.
The slightly battered, big ol’ Ford van arrived in its new country during the last week of September. It has since been repaired and painted. And, wonder of wonders… It has license plates! According to Russell, it can take up to three years to get license plates after purchasing a vehicle in Honduras. You might remember that Russell owned a motorcycle for five years that did not have plates! Each month, Russell had to make an hour long drive to get written permission from the government to drive his motorcycle. This time, he got the plates in two weeks! To quote Russell, “Plates are a blessing from God, in this country! People sometimes buy vehicles in Guatemala because it’s easier to go to another country once a year to have plates renewed than to try to get plates in Honduras.”
Now, you might be asking yourself why Sowers4Pastors purchased a big ol’ Ford van. That’s simple. The van will be used to transport visiting teams. Up until now, they have been forced to rent small, uncomfortable Japanese vans when teams arrived. These vans also had undersized suspensions and tires, which don't stand up well to the rough mountain roads.The van purchase will be financially beneficial to the ministry, in the long term. It’s almost time for a new “team season” and now, the money teams spend on transportation will be used to pay off the van rather than pad the pockets of Hertz.
The next team will arrive on December 26. In fact, that will be the first of ten teams to arrive in a fourteen week period! There will be at least five weeks of back to back teams! Sorry, Hertz, but Sowers4Pastors will not be needing to reserve any little Japanese vans!
- posted by Christi
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