Long, long overdue but here is my recap of Central America.
Guatemala. Honduras. Nicaragua. After a 1,000 hour travel day from Asia (or so it felt that long) we arrived in our last continent.
Guatemala– I was so excited to go back to Guatemala for my 6th time but also very excited to be spending the month in the town of Antigua, which I had only been for a few hours previously. Month 9 I was living with two teams in a beautiful cabin looking house partnering with Luis and his ministry, Nueva Generacion. Luis was hands down one of my favorite hosts on the Race; he has a powerful testimony and such a heart for the youth in his country, and he’s also one of the funniest men I know. This month was filled with lots of laughs, a restoration for teaching, communal meals and getting to see my mom!
This month I worked with four other girls to help fundraise for Luis’ ministry; we partnered with a coffee shop in Antigua and sold coffee and desserts for Mother’s day. We also were able to launch an online platform and raised $1,000 for Luis to finish and renovate an apartment he was building. For the last week of ministry, the five of us did some serious manual labor and leveled a field for a house to later be built.
This month was unique in that my wonderful mother got to come out and visit at the end of the month. Our Parent Vision trip was in Antigua with Luis and his ministry. My heart was filled to see my mom, do ministry with her, and catch up and learn more about each others lives. It was an experience that both of us will treasure and thank God for giving to us.
Honduras– This month was one of the most interesting and unique experiences for myself and the team I was with. We were in San Pedro Sula, ever heard of it? Well it’s the murder capital of the world, but we met only wonderful loving people. This month we partnered with His Hands for Honduras and Pastor Gregorio; we helped facilitate classes twice daily in Pastors outdoor church and at night accompanied his family to church.
But because of a series of events, the team and I didn’t do a whole lot of ministry and somedays didn’t even end up leaving the house. Did I mention we lived with the family in their two bedroom house with a makeshift bedroom in the dining room. They were so generous to let us live in their house for free but it sure was cramped for 8 girls, plus this was most likely my hottest month; it was pretty rough. Not leaving the house or doing any ministry weighed heavily on us and we began to feel unproductive and question why we were even there. The Lord was teaching us something greater and giving us a month of rest with Him. We realized never again in our lives would we have as much free time with the Lord, so we began taking advantage of this month. When I think back on Honduras I remember such a hard month but sweet sweet time with Jesus and the team.
Nicaragua– Wow I miss this country dearly; it was an incredible one to end on and one of my favorite months on the Race. We lived in a small city and lived at a bed and breakfast. Our host was from Canada but had been living in Nicaragua for years and started Salt and Light Ministries with her husband. Their focus was on boys ages 9-15 and their mission was providing them with Bible classes and a few trades. This was a 4 year discipleship program, if the boys chose to stay that long. On the World Race, discipleship is one of the main focuses, so we are discipled by people on our leadership team and we are discipling the people we come in contact with. This month was so cool to see this discipleship model in action with young boys, who are actively engaged in learning the Bible and trades that will better their futures.
I feel deeply in love with these boys and also found my passion for teaching again. I had lost it throughout the Race but God was slowly showing me why it’s something I love so much and how good at it I am. These boys were hungry for English but even more for love, and that’s what I was really good at giving them. This ministry was so adamant in changing the cycle of alcoholism, abuse and single parent homes, and that really hit a cord with me and made me fall even more in love with this place. I will always remember Nicaragua as one my favorite countries, filled with lots of love from my sweet boys, an incredibly strong female host with a powerful testimony and beauty everywhere I looked.
