The last three countries for our Fusion Squad listed on our route are Costa Rica for September, Nicaragua for October and Guatemala for November. However, because our route is different than typical World Race routes in that we don’t have hosts or assigned ministry, traveling often around countries has been a fun and distinctive trait. In regards to this, when we arrived in Costa Rica, our leadership announced to us that we would not be traveling to Guatemala together as a squad. They gave us the freedom to potentially travel to both Honduras and El Salvador depending on where God was leading each of the teams.
Though we were given the freedom to travel to Honduras and El Salvador, I still wasn’t particularly convinced in going. I heard had from many people in Costa Rica and Nicaragua that “Honduras and El Salvador are dangerous,” or “Tegucigalpa is the murder capital of the world,” and “You’ll probably get kidnapped because you’re blonde,” and more crazy statements.
To put it simply, I was perfectly fine with skipping Honduras and El Salvador and staying on the nice air conditioned-with a bathroom-and movie playing-bus from Nicaragua to Guatemala.
When our squad first arrived in Nicaragua, we stayed in Granada and had a three to four day conference called Awakening with our sister squad, R Squad, who we also call Rico. The Awakening conference brought together our two squads and we served alongside each other doing outbreak sessions, hospitality, intercessory prayer, worship and more. We were hosted by REAP ministry, a partnership of Adventures in Missions (AIM), and all 70+ of us set up our tents underneath a pavilion on a farm and shared one bathroom. Truly, World Race style at its finest.
At Awakening, my team became good friends with two guys named Nathan and Jared. Nathan is a long-term missionary with AIM serving with REAP and Jared is a World Race Alum. My team was itching for an adventure and to leave Granada after spending a few extra days there after the conference, and Nathan had mentioned volcano boarding to us. So, we decided to go to Leon, Nicaragua and go volcano boarding with Nathan and Jared. While there, we met two girls named Rachael and Lindsey who are long-term missionaries and teachers in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Our friendship grew with Rachael and Lindsey after we survived the volcano boarding, went to the beach, and did Bible study together and we really wanted to see them again, though we were parting ways. And so, lo and behold, God gave each of us on my team a desire to go to Tegucigalpa, Honduras to visit our new friends.
However, things were not working out as simply as we thought they would. We learned that places were either out of budget, not enough room, no availability etc. We just kept running into wall after wall after wall. We were told not to arrive after 5PM due to the dangers of gangs, to not stay in hostels because they’re unsafe and to even not ride in certain taxies because they will mug you. I’ll be honest, after I run into three walls….okay sometimes two walls, I want to give up. I want to throw in the towel and say, “Okay God, this isn’t working out, let’s do something else.” And for me, my something else was skipping Honduras and riding that comfy bus all the way to Guatemala. All these walls, plus my fears, convinced me to give up.
But, my teammates were still hopeful something would work out and I knew the Holy Spirit was speaking to them. Rachael and Lindsey ended up posting on a Facebook missionary page for us to be hosted and a lady, Allison, reached out to them saying she had room and availability. However, Allison’s place was 2 – 3 hours away from Tegucigalpa, so there was a very low chance we would even see Rachael and Lindsey, which was the reason we were going to Honduras in the first place.
We prayed, had peace, and decided to just go for it. And it worked out great! We served with Allison’s ministry, which I’m posting another blog about, and even got to meet up with Rachael and Lindsey in Tegucigalpa because our team had to return to the capital to catch a bus to El Salvador. What’s even more, Rachael is visiting the states in January and some of us may have the chance to meet up with her in a few months again.
All this to say, when obstacles and fears come your way, be open and flexible to God changing your plans and your heart. Sometimes those mountains mean to stop you from something, or to make you go a different way. My fears had convinced me to not even consider Honduras, but my teammate’s determination shined through my doubt. And I’m so thankful it did. I now have my own personal experience of Honduras, and would highly recommend people to visit. Whatever arises in front of you (walls) and within you (fears), pray and seek God on what He has to say, because more often than not, it is completely different than what we expected….but those are the best stories, right?
