Hey everyone! I am so sorry I disappeared off the grid last month (that’s what going “ninja” means). I only had internet once! It was crazy but also so good. Without the distraction of the internet I was able to focus on God and really listen to what He had to say. It also provided the opportunity to dig deeper into relatonships with my teammates and squadmates. We played a lot of cards and Dutch Blitz, threw around a frisbee often, played soccor, and even made up some games such as “This is so much fun!” …But I’m not going to explain this game because I already know that we need therapy.
Our Thanksgiving was amazing and way better than I ever expected it would be. Okay so picture this: There are about 75 people all sitting together enjoying this amazing meal. We had turned the lights off and all placed our headlamps in a line down the table and pretended to eat in candle light. We had chicken, potatoes, corn, cranberries, bread rolls, devilled eggs, stuffing, and MAC N’ CHEESE! I almost cried when I saw I saw the mac n’ cheese. It was a very happy moment for me. Oh yeah, and we had pumpkin pie and ice cream for dessert. Then we finished the evening strong by building a campfire and singing Christmas carols.
During our month in Honduras our squad was able to witness some insane things. At a nursing home a blind man was given his sight back, and a man who could barely walk was walking around holding his walker up in the air. That same day an old lady who had worn out the cartilage in her shoulders and knees and was in pain from her bones grinding together was healed from that pain and the cartilage actually grew back. Also, at a hospital, God took away cancer from an entire group of women. Oh and for another woman, God turned stomach cancer into a bacterial infection. Crazy. I believe that we are just getting started though and God has more crazy awesome things to show us this year.
We worked alongside a church this month and while it sometimes felt like we weren’t doing enough or we weren’t making a difference, we became part of that family. They included us in their daily lives and we were able to build strong relationships with Pastor Nicolas, his wife Sarah, daughter Angie, and a group of teens who spent a considerable amount of time at the church during the week. We taught english lessons and it surprised me how eager they were to learn. A few of them would show up with a notebook and take notes everyday. We also played soccor. I am not good at soccor and to be honest, it really freaks me out when inanimate objects fly at me. However I will admit that it turned out to be a good ministry tool and everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves.
One more ministry that we were apart of this month was called Don’t Miss the Opportunity. The cool thing about this ministry was that it went on 24/7 right where we were living. Our host, Tony, and his wife, Nidia, take in street kids and allow them to live with them in their home. They give these kids hope and the chance at a better future. While there are 3 boys currently living at the property, there usually are a bunch of other kids running around as well. So this whole month we were able to love on the kids and pour life into them because for so long, lies have been told to them and about them. Our last night in Honduras our whole squad took a few hours and one child at a time we prayed for them, prophesied over them, and told them about the love God has for each of them.
Three things that Honduras has taught me:
1.) Be present. Don’t worry about the future or about someone or something else that is not something you can control. Just don’t miss the opportunity right here in front of you.
2.) My whole life I was shy. It’s not that I didn’t want to meet new people or make new friends but I would wait for them to pursue me. I would wait for them to start the conversation and to ask the questions. This month God has taught me how to seek others out. I am learning the urgency in pursuing the people around me because I don’t want to miss the opportunity.
3.) The last thing that I learned is to listen for God’s voice. I mean, I already knew that was important but I didn’t always do it. I like to wait for Him to scream at me. I need to pursue Him!
See how they are all linked together? Funny how that works…
Okay and lastly, I am in kind of a crunch. I have 3 weeks to make my next deadline or I will be sent home. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far, but I have a ways to go to being fully funded. So with that being said I am in need of your prayers. If you find it in your hearts to help me then thank you! If all you can do is pray then thank you! Anything and every little bit does help and means so much to me! I have about $5,000 to go to be fully funded…So if you can, if you have 5 free minutes in the day, could you forwar this in an email to some people? Have it be a chain mail! You send it to 20 people, and they have to send it to 20 people and so on! Come on, it’ll be fun! Former racers, if you can repost this in one of your blogs and send it to your supporters who supported you on your race!? Tweet it, post it in random columns or groups online. Talk to your friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family and tell them a little about me and what I’m doing and ask if they could donate. Word of mouth means everything! Could you talk to your church about maybe having a second offering one Sunday? That would be legit and could even fully fund me. Posting this blog on your Facebook news feed everyday till my deadline is reached would be incredibe! I know who you Facebook addicts are! Can you take 2 seconds a day and repost this for me? Guys, God is huge and so good and I know this is posible! Will you partner with me?
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Gracias! (I am in Central America, ya know?) ^_^
I love you all and I will post in the next few days about our time so far in Nicaragua!
Peace, love, blessings
M
