I remember the fierce longing I used to have for time with Jesus. It was so difficult to work 8, 10, 12 hours a day on someone else's agenda while all I wanted to do was hear from the Father.
Don't get me wrong, working in corporate America was a blessing. It taught me discipline, opened up my heart for the workplace mission field, and I learned to seek the Lord by adapting to my time constraints.
But there's nothing like spending hours with Jesus.
Ministry here in Honduras has been a blessing because of the amount of down time. I'm here at Zion's Gate Ministries, which occupies a 10-acre property right outside Tegucigalpa that used to be the largest nightclub in the area. Now, a family, headed by our ministry contact Tony, lives on-site and takes in and disciples adolescent boys off the streets of Los Pinos (Los Pinos is a dump site nearby where very impoverished families live. The kids spend their days digging through the dumps for food while being high on paint thinner. About 90% of kids in Honduras don't have a father listed on their birth certificate, and the women who are involved with men are usually in abusive relationships.). The ministry is intensely relational, so the goal is really to form relationships and disciple the boys on-site.
Monday through Wednesdays are work days, and each team works on a manual labor project on the grounds. Team Hebron is swinging machetes cutting down the three foot weeds that cover the site. It's quite the work-out!
Thursdays we go to Infa, an institution where girls who were previously abused live under government protection. We sing songs, share testimonies, and play with the girls (they're anywhere from 5 to 16 years old). My first Thursday, I met a girl named Yesica and we made friendship bracelets together. She laboriously picked out matching beads for both of us and insisted that I use every one. Afterwards she took me by the hand outside and drew a picture of a house and the two of us outside of it with sidewalk chalk.
Our friendship bracelets (we're not allowed to post photos of the girls since they're protected.)
Every Friday we take over a street corner with signs about Jesus' love and we hug and wave at and sing for people passing by in Friday afternoon traffic. Michael, Stephanie, and I were on a corner and got to meet and pray for a boy named Carlitos that one of our Zion's Gate boys recognized from his days in the dumps. Michael expands more on the experience in his blog, michaelnicosia.theworldrace.org.
On Saturday, we attended a youth service at a church named Hebron! Two squadmates shared testimonies, another team performed a skit dealing with prostitution, drugs, violence, and drinking. The pastor delivered a message on having the mind of Christ and we were all able to worship together in English and Spanish.
Sometimes it's difficult to assess the impact we're having in ministry, but the Lord has been reminding me of 2 Corinthians 1:5 which says, "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds in Christ." I have never been abused or addicted to thinner, but Jesus knows and He also knows how to comfort them. He has to remind me now and again that His comforting Spirit lives in me and that any way I'm able to love on these boys and girls impacts them even if I can't see the immediate results.
Oh yes, back to the down time. I've been waking up around 6 or 6:30 every morning and been able to spend a few hours with Jesus every day before we start ministry or work. It's been amazing. Being able to just worship the Father and listen to His voice without the restraint of time has caused something in my heart to shift. I'm hungry for Him, I'm so, so hungry. Some days I think of Genesis 5:24, "And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." There's moments so sweet, so intimate with the Lord that I think I'm going to walk and one moment be on earth and the next in heaven. It's been such a privilege to be here.
