Hola, sweet readers! This blog is coming to you from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. This month (as I told y’all before), I and ALL of I squad is staying at Zion’s Gate ministries. It has been such a blessing to be with our whole family, not to mention a family of 15+ Hondurans and 4 American volunteers (two of whom are former World Racers) living on the same premises. Let me catch you up on what the month has looked like so far.
My team’s first week of ministry was going to be at a local school, teaching various grades of children. I am NOT a teacher. I had visions of the poor unfortunate souls stuck in my class, learning nothing and becoming increasingly frustrated with their muy incompetent American Maestra. On top of this, I was exhausted (physically, spiritually, and mentally) coming out of our month 8 debrief and didn’t feel ready for ministry in any way.
With all of this in mind, I opted to stay back and work in the garden all week. It was then that a couple of my brilliant teammates approached me with a different idea: “Why don’t you make a video for Zion’s Gate?” Yes, please. While on the race, I’ve discovered that I have a passion (and a gift) for shooting and editing videos. imovie has become one of my best friends. Needless to say, I was thrilled with the prospect of using my gift to bless this ministry. Unfortunately, those plans fell through due to unforeseen circumstances and I was left ministry-less for the week. The next morning, I woke up with a crazy idea: “why not just go to the school?”
So I did. And of course…I fell in love.
Four fourth graders were my ministry for the week. Elias, Eunice, Nicole, and Hesler. in a way, my visions came true ; my first hour with them consisted of me “re-learning” how to do long division from Elias! Eventually, the five of us got into the groove of things. I gave them each nicknames, and they called me Miss Pena (pineapple en espanol). We sat out on the stairs for a couple of hours each day, studying math and language.
One of my kids actually got a firsthand experience of the power of prayer. Elias had spent all morning looking for a drawing that his brother had given him. He was on the verge of tears looking for it. He even stayed in from recess to find it. I felt SO bad, and trying to be the helpful teacher, said, “Elias, why don’t you ask Jesus to help you find it? What if we pray?” He stopped and sighed in exasperation, then went back to rummaging through his backpack (for the tenth time.) I shrugged. “Okay, I’ll pray. Jesus, please help Elias find his drawing that is so important to him.” and then, so quiet that no one but He and I could hear, prayed. “Please, Jesus.” I turned around, and immediately Elias pulled a paper out of his backpack. Sheepishly, he showed it to me. “This is it.” I beamed. “See, Elias? I told you Jesus would help you find it!” He smiled back at me and then ran out to play.
On the last day I got to give each of my kids a note with a bible verse on it that God had put on my heart for them. Being with them just for a week, I wondered what kind of impact I could have on them, if any. I came to the conclusion that praying for them is the most effective thing I can do. For the remainder of this month, I am committing to pray for each of my kiddos every day and would LOVE if you would join me.
Our second week of ministry started off with a bang-the kind you hear when the shovel you’re digging with hits a boulder. My team was “Gardening” for the first two days, and by that, I mean we were excavating ground that was 90 percent rock. Our squadmates dug rocks out of that ground that were half the size of a human (NO exaggeration.) The reason we’re doing this is because of the vision Tony (the founder of Zion’s Gate) has for this property. He wants to make it accessible to the WHOLE community. We’re building a family area, a giant rabbit cage, and a field for the rabbits to “play” in. apparently pet bunnies are a HUGE commodity here.
On Wednesday, my team and I went to the local hospital to pray for people. The very first woman we talked to wanted to receive Jesus. Her name is Teresa. it was such a blessing to pray with her and see her give her life to Him!
Something God is working on in me this month is the anxiety I have about money. It seems like a great deal of this mission trip has revolved around the stuff, (whether I have it or I don’t) and I’m sick of it. I’m learning to rely on God for what I NEED and for what I want according to His will. Truth be told, it’s been SO hard to log into my bank account week after week, see that there’s nothing in there, and still trust that He provides – ESPECIALLY when I see my squadmates spending their seeming endless supply of funds on things that aren’t available to me. However, somehow, He does provide. He’s faithful, even when I don’t see it. May He give me the grace to know it better.
Things to be praying for this month:
1) financial provision for my personal expenses and my faith when that provision doesn’t look like I want it to.
2) unity in my team and my squad
3) Elias, Hesler, Eunice(oo-nees-ay), and Nicole
4) that Zion’s Gate would be ABUNDANTLY blessed by I squad’s presence here and that God would move mightily through us.
5) Our upcoming “Youth night” that we’re hosting here on the property. Pray that many young adults from the outlying community would come and be blessed.
Thank you for your support, your prayers, and for sharing the journey with me.
-Anna
(P.S. by the time y’all are reading this, I’m headed into week three of ministry here in Honduras. I’ve asked my amazing mother, Jennifer, to write a couple of blogs from her point of view so you can get a parents perspective on what it’s like to be “on the World Race.” My mom has been an active participant of this journey since before the beginning, and I’m looking forward to having her share her story!)
