honduras: a month in review

Where: Tegucigalpa, Honduras
 
Local Language: Spanish
 
Currency: 20 Lempira = 1 USD
 
Travel Time to Location: 17+ hours via planes and a bus
 
Host: Tony at Zion’s Gate Ministry
 
Accommodations: Tents outside; one bathroom for 40+ people; cold showers

Weather: It got pretty chilly in the mornings and evenings (and by chilly I mean upper 50s/low 60s), but sometimes it would warm up to the low 80s
 
Food: Delicious! Primarily (LOTS of) fried corn tortillas, pinto beans, cheese, avocado, sour cream, plantains, and rice. Nothing was ever too spicy, but it certainly was greasy.

(Above: Pupusas… fried corn tortillas stuffed with cheese and some shredded cabbage on top)

 
Ministries of the month:

• Donation sorting… our first day of ministry involved sorting through thousands of toys and clothing donated from the USA. Some of it was junk, all of it was used, and it needed to be sorted so it could eventually be delivered to slum areas.

• “Heart of Christ”… this is the ministry run by Gracie and Lee Murphee. Heart of Christ is, in part, a safe house for girls who’ve been impregnated by rape or incest. The youngest mother among the group is twelve and her child was only a month old when we visited. The women of Team R.O.A.R. spent our time at Heart of Christ working as nannies. We played with the children, helped feed and change them, and assisted the live-in nannies who work full-time at the house. It was absolutely incredible hearing Gracie’s stories of the ministry she’s done in Honduras. She’s been involved with everything from police raids on sex trafficking rings to working on hundreds of local domestic violence cases. Working with her, even if only briefly, was inspirational and motivating. She’s an excellent example of someone who has given up every comfort, security, and Earthly right so that others might experience freedom, safety, grace, and knowledge of God.

• Building a rabbit cage… Team R.O.A.R. spent a full week building the most epic rabbit mansion. The finished product is something we’re quite proud of, but mostly we’re excited that the cage will be a functional home for rabbits that can be raised and sold to bring Zion’s Gate closer to becoming fully self-sustaining. Spending about eight hours a day doing meticulous building also provided great bonding time for the team, and we’re now going into month two as a stronger, healthier team.

   

• Street/barrio evangelism… On the weekends our whole squad went into different areas of town to do some evangelism. One weekend we went into a barrio (slum area) to play with kids and establish a presence for the missionaries that will come behind us. I took my guitar and was in charge of leading music for the afternoon. I had so much fun playing random songs while the kids danced and jumped and stared curiously at me. I played a little Christian music and then threw in some Tay-Swift and Katy Perry. At one point, I noticed a couple older gentlemen standing in the shadows at the edge of the field. They stared blankly at me as I pretended to play my guitar like a rock star. A few minutes later they were walking towards me holding a guitar of their own. Their guitar looked pretty beat up, and the strings probably hadn’t ever been changed. But they walked up to me and motioned that they wanted to join. So there I stood, in the middle of the Honduran slums, having a guitar-off with a couple old men.

 
Favorite ministry memory of the month: Singing “You Are My Sunshine” to Erica at “Heart of Christ”.

Erica is a nine-year old girl who has cerebral palsy. She has the brain function of a five to eight month old baby, so it was difficult to communicate with her. I spent a lot of my time at Heart of Christ sitting with her in the yard, brushing her hair, rubbing her feet, and singing to her. When I sang she smiled and squealed, tossing her arms around. If I sang any song with the word “Jesus” in it, she immediately began laughing and squealing so loudly. Even if her mind couldn’t comprehend very much, her soul recognized the holiness of Christ’s name when it was sung and that caused her body to shout out in celebration. Witnessing this was possibly the most profound experience I had this month. It’s a humbling thing to learn so much about worship from a person who will never be able to communicate with anything more than squeals and moans.