The last time I wrote to you I was facing the giants in Guatemala and now I find myself 2 weeks into our month in Honduras leading the whole squad at Zion's Gate ministries.
I have to admit, last month was my hardest month on the race. Looking back on my life though I know that hard is not always a bad thing, that storms produce the growth, and God is always faithful with blue skies returning.
At Casa Maria I prayed for some pretty big miracles to happen, and to be honest I was disappointed that Carlos' arm wasn't healed, that Maxine's eyes weren't opened, and that Julia's constant pain didn't go away. My last day there though I realized, yes, maybe I didn't see a miracle happen that way "I" wanted to, but maybe, just maybe, we were the miracle. Maybe sitting with them every day, entertaining them, playing with their hair, painting their nails, playing worship music, maybe that was the miracle they needed. To know that they are not alone, that they have lived such a wonderful and full life, and to just have someone sit with them, pray for them, and love on them in their final days was what they needed.
Something that I've constantly learned on this race is that I lean not on my own understanding, my life is in the hands of the maker of heaven. I don't understand a lot of things that I've seen around the world, but I do know without a shadow of doubt in my mind that God is faithful, that He is bigger than I could ever imagine, that He is good and loving, that through Him nothing is impossible, and that I can trust Him. He is the one that I continually cling and hold onto, He is my everything, and that is more than enough.
So now I'm at the half way point of month 10 in Honduras where Sara and I are leading all of Z-Squad. Having all 40 of us together is a little overwhelming at times, but it is also such a blessing to see how far we have all come since the beginning of the race.
Partnering with Tony (the founder of Zion's Gate ministries) is such a blessing! He has saved 9 boys lives who he has taken off the streets and into his home. These boys were addicted to paint thinner involved in gangs and whose stories are unimaginable. Every time I hear one of their testimonies my heart shatters, but the coolest thing is the smile on their face and sparkle in their eyes when they say, "yes, that was who I was, but through Jesus this is who I am now".
We have gone to the biggest dump in Tegulcigalpa where we fed and prayed for over 200 people, we have gone to INFHA- where girls, babies, and special needs children are taken off the streets- to share with them the love of Jesus and tell them they're beautiful, we have gone to AA to encourage and support men who are recovering alcoholics, we have invaded colonies who have never had white people enter into their neighborhood to play soccer and share testimonies…one day at a time we have gone out into Honduras where the problems seem impossible to count to just love people and be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Thank you so much for your continued love, prayers, support, and encouragement. It means more to me than you will ever know! Please continue to pray for me and Z-Squad. That we will keep pressing in and pushing on, that we will keep believing that greater things are still to come, and that we will finish strong the beautiful work that God started in us.
