So ministry was busy and often last month. During our time in Honduras we had the opportunity of participating in five specific ministries and then three or so others that presented themselves during the month. When we showed up to Zion’s Gate Ministry in early March we were asked to slow down, rest, and prepare. Our contact, Tony, wanted us to really prepare our hearts and minds for the month. Once he said go we wouldn’t stop until we headed to debrief.
Our first two days of ministry were spent at Loyalty School: a bilingual Christian school on the side of a Honduran mountain for poor kids. The director’s vision is to provide bilingual education to kids who can’t afford it as a means to empower kids beyond the dumpsters they either live in or find their food in now. His hope is to break the cycle by injecting education into the equation. Mostly only wealthier families can afford bilingual education for their kids, which prevents people who need assistance the most to get out of their situation a means to get out of it. It forces the poor to remain stagnant, fixed, in their place in society without any hope. Roger (the director) receives sponsorships for kids to attend school but is low on assistance. When we showed up to partner with the school he asked us to teach kids anywhere from pre-K to eighth grade in all subjects, except Spanish. So for my first two days I taught first through third graders Science, Social Studies, English, and Math.
It was crazy to see the difference in English and subject aptitude a single year made for these kids. Most of my time with the first and second graders was spent asking them to focus more or trying to think of more basic language to explain what rough or soft meant. With the third graders their ability to comprehend English was impressive. They not only could understand my words in their secondary language, but also comprehend new material and ask relevant questions. It was great.
The next few days we split time between the Heart of Christ ministry, which receives girls from the State who have been victims of rape and incest. Often other homes have refused to accept these girls and/or their kids. Most of them don’t want to be there. The girls range from 10 to 18 and their kids anywhere from a few months to 4 or 5 years old. The girls learn how to take care of their babies and also receive schooling and counseling to heal from their past and the wounds caused by their rape.
We split time between the Heart of Christ and the Honduran Hospital School. Early in the month, Beka was diagnosed with Guillen Barre. You can read her story about a miracle healing here. We split our time between the two. We wanted to make sure she was taken care of and never alone and wanted to find opportunities for ministry in the midst of her injury. The night Abby and I got to spend at the hospital was phenomenal. After being denied time after time to visit Beka, we decided to see if we could pray over people in the ER. After praying for two people we started to develop a line, a waiting list, of people wanting prayer. People were coming up to us asking for prayer. After about an hour or so of praying the doctor, who was in his 30th of a 36-hour rotation, came up to let us spend time with her. We spoke with her for two hours or so then she had to rest. The rest of the night we spent in the outside waiting area sharing warm things, a deck of Uno cards, and our reason for mission with a group of five Honduran kids until 3am or so. It was exhausting and restful all at the same time.
