a day in the life of one full squad serving together on the field
We leave Kaytie’s without seeing her walk, but knowing that the LORD is moving in this house. We resolve to stay in stubborn prayer and to come back.
Back at church, Pastor Nicholas’ wife, Sarah, has made tacos for lunch. Their generosity is incredible. We eat quickly, thankfully, and then clear the room. Soon, we’re flooded with people of all ages, most from the church, who’ve come to learn English. We start with a “quick” round of introductions and a quick game of “Hot Seat” (basically, “keep away” with chairs).
Chrissy and Dan are teaching numbers 1-10, so after running through the numbers, they pull both teams to the front of the room. We break up into different sized groups while the Hondurans shout out the amounts. Then we get into age-based groups. The youngest play leap frog, while the older ones write the numbers out in English and Spanish. We finally come together to recap and then have a few minutes to play with the kids. There’s so much joy in this part of the day. The littlest ones are desperate to be thrown high above our heads or spun around until we’re all dizzy.
When the bus picks us up at four, we’re exhausted but happy. Most of us munch on plantanos or chips from the local poperia (much like a 7-11). The ride home is full of joking and laughter and passing coke bottles or lychees from the front of the bus to the back.
At home, Laura, Rachel and I rescue our laundry from the clothesline, where—though clean—it’s going through the wash cycle a second time courtesy of a late afternoon downpour. We move everything into an abandoned dormitory building and jerry rig Laura’s clothesline to hang them on. Everything’s dripping onto the floor and I catch myself from slipping as I hang a t-shirt next to a pair of boy’s boxers. There’s definitely no privacy this month, but I just have to laugh.
It’s Laura’s turn to run feedback so we grab headlamps, dodge raindrops and sit under an alcove outside. We talk through the day and how we’re doing emotionally, spiritually, physically. Everything runs pretty smoothly and we close with a prayer before dinner.
Stacey and Mike have decided that while we have the opportunity, we’re going to get to know each other better. This means we’re having dinner in groups of three or four with people we don’t know well yet. Tonight though, I have a long overdue dinner date with Channelle. Over bowls of spaghetti, we talk about our last month of ministry, our families, the men who used to be in our lives, all that the LORD’s done since… well, since the Race. We’re different people now than we were when we left and we know it in hard-to-explain ways. She leaves for her double date with Danae and Stacey (our squad leaders are trying to get more one-on-one time with each other this month) after we pray for each other.
I make a quick trip to the poperia run by three Canadian sisters who live on the property to buy a Butterfingers bar and granola bars for tomorrow. I’ve been seriously jonesing for Trail Mix, but the Nature Valley bars are a good substitute. The squad is making a trip to the mega-mall in Tegucigalpa on Saturday, which boasts a WalMart among other things, so maybe I’ll get my hands on some then. I’m maybe more excited about this WalMart than I’ve ever been about WalMart in my entire life which just goes to show what life in a compound will do to you! (Sorry, Chichi!)
My team comes together one more time to pray together before bed. We each pray over one person on the team and then say goodnight. As I crawl into my tent around ten pm, it’s still raining. I don’t bother changing, just brush my teeth and crawl into my sleeping bag, exhausted but thankful. THIS is my life, and it’s really, really good.
1st Thessalonians 2:8. “We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News, but our own lives too.”
