After a five hour bus trip to JFK airport, a five-ish hour plane trip to Costa Rica and a two day bus ride through Costa Rica and Nicaragua, we finally made it to Honduras!
This month, our entire squad is together as we are living and working at Zion’s Gate Ministries, just 30 minutes south of Tegucigalpas, the capital. Zion’s Gate was started by a man named Tony, from the United States, after coming to Honduras and seeing many of the teenagers in the area in need of someone to simply love them and guide them (most of the teens in the country are addicted to paint thinner and 90% of children don’t have a father). So Tony and his wife Nidia bought the property where the most notoriously popular nightclub used to be and have visions to completely restore it and everyone who comes into their care into something beautiful. Any person who wants to turn their life around can voluntarily come in and receive help from addictions, an education, and have God’s love poured on them. Currently, their house is open to two girls and ten boys, all teenagers, who have lived in the darkest neighborhood in town, Los Pinos, with some of the roughest stories.
In hearing Tony’s vision for bringing hope and redemption to the barrio of Los Pinos and Honduras, our squad immediately fell in love with the heart of this ministry and the boys and girls living with us. However, the property needs a lot of restoration so it can reach more people.
Operation Beautify Zion’s Gate consists of each of the eight teams on G squad working three days out of the week on different manual labor projects.
Tony wants to be able to utilize all of his property meaning that all the crazy brush that’s been growing around the ten acres of Zion’s Gate needs to be cut down. And since Honduras’ soil is covered with huge rocks, a lawn mower wouldn’t work too well. So Team Hebron’s job is cutting the grass in typical Honduras fashion:
All we can say is that Team Hebron now has a new appreciation for lawnmowers. And goats.
(No pictures available this time–this month we're having to snag our internet from the local TGI Fridays)
Prayers for this month:
-My translating skills: I have the Spanish vocabulary of a ten year old which means that my Spanish is passable but that God gifts me in the spirit of learning Spanish quickly. Especially during the times when I have to translate the gospel!
-Team Hebron: We're learning how to live in deep community with each other so prayers for us simply loving each other each day and for us to grow deeper with our Father together! Also for our macheting skills. It's pretty rough work no lie.
–Zion's Gate Ministry: For Tony and his family to walk with the Lord daily, specifically the boys and girls living there to know who their Father is and for them to make wise decisions. Also, on some of the other days of the week, we visit a girls' home with 30+ little girls and love on them and work at soccer camps. Pray that in each of these ministries, we can show the love of God to all his children!
