I’m sitting on a plastic chair in the front area of our host’s home in Zolano, Honduras, listening to the rain pounding on the roof. It’s too loud to talk to anyone, so I figured this would be a good time to fill you all in on what’s been happening this week.
Shannon is on a plane right now, heading home after spending four days in a military hospital here in Honduras. She’s hoping to recover quickly and come back here in a week or two. I’m sad that she’s sick and I’m sad that she’s gone, but it’s been amazing to watch how God has worked in this situation.
First of all, he provided us with an incredible host family. Sometimes it’s hard and tiring because they don’t speak English, but they have loved us so well. They’ve given us so much more than we’ve been able to give back yet. They’ve driven us all over creation – the hospital, the store, the airport – without any complaints. Our host mom’s nephew even had us over to his house for a legitimate barbeque and to swim in his little pool (we’re talking maybe two feet of water, but it was SO refreshing). We’re supposed to be here to help them; instead, they’ve put us and Shannon first, even when that meant that we were missing ministry time.
When Shannon first was sick (as soon as we got here), Pastor Gregorio called on a friend of his who is a doctor. The doctor’s whole family basically adopted Shannon. The mom and the dad talked to the doctors at the hospital and made sure Shannon was taken care of, prayed over her, and made sure whoever was staying with her had food to eat. Their two kids, Darwin (23) and Mary Carmen (17), were our translators. Mary Carmen, especially, was at the hospital constantly. She also connected us with her friend’s parents, who own a beautiful hostel. They allowed us to stay there (at a deeply discounted rate) with Shannon last night after she was released from the hospital. In all these ways, God has shown that He will always provide us with the help we need.
Our ministry this month is to work with the kids at Pastor Gregorio’s church. We’ve gotten a taste of it this past week, but I’m excited to really start digging into it. There is a morning class (for kids who go to school in the afternoons) and an afternoon class (for the kids who go to school in the morning.) They have teachers and they have workbooks from Compassion, so we’ve been trying to figure out our role. They like when we teach them new songs and when we act out Bible stories, so we’re hoping to do more of that. It’s been a weird week, not just because of everything going on with Shannon, but also because Pastor Gregorio himself has been sick. He has a bad tooth and the whole side of his face is swollen. Tomorrow (Monday) he will be having surgery to have the tooth removed. Please pray that everything goes well.
Prayer Requests:
-A real diagnosis and quick healing for Shannon.
-Insurance coverage for Shannon to work out.
-Pastor Gregorio’s surgery tomorrow.
-Team bonding – this is another manistry month, so I’m with my Thailand team (Taylor Brantley, Julia, Gabrielle, and Carson), plus Kris, Shannon, and our squad leader Emily.
-Positive attitudes – it’s REALLY HOT here, and the living conditions are more difficult than what we’ve had in awhile. We’re also not allowed to leave the house without a family member because the area is unsafe. Being on lockdown in a small house currently holding 13 people plus visitors can be draining. Pray that we (and our host family) can get the rest that we need.
-Eyes to see ways we can bless our host family and the energy to do it.
-Ideas for ways to interact with the kids at the church.
-Improvement in our Spanish – the gift of tongues would be nice 😛
More Praises:
-We have a cute dog!
-We have WiFi!
-Francisca is an amazing cook! We are eating very well!
-We have a mango tree!
-We have a roof we can sit on!
-We have little brothers (Jonathan, 12, and Omar, 10) and a little sister (Keidry, 5) to hang out with. (Although a few prayers for patience with Keidry couldn’t hurt :-))
