7.10.12 1830 hours
It is impossible to imagine only seven days ago I was not here. I cannot imagine life not being here. I cannot imagine that I would be doing this. We picked up rocks today. Awesome and fun exciting work, back breaking work I might add. And I will be picking rocks tomorrow too.
This month our entire squad is staying at Zion’s Gate, a ministry for children and teenagers ages 12-19 years old on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. There are currently 8 boys and 2 girls. These children have come on their own accord from some of the most dangerous colonies in the city with a desire to change and stay off the streets and stay out of the mess that they were in. Many of them were addicted to drugs, the specialty here being huffing paint thinner, or were found playing in and eating out of dumpsters. Tony, the director of Zion’s Gate, and our ministry contact this month, takes on these children and teaches the about Jesus and helps them with a place to stay, a safe place, food, and education.
There is an open door policy(actually, there is physically no gate out front which is rare around here) and there are consequences of choosing to leave to go back to drugs. As long as they have a plan and a goal for their lives while here so does Tony. He loves these kids like his own and pours into them like none other.
Our ministry site is relatively new to the location we are at. They obtained the property which is about 10 acres. It once was the most famous club in town where you would dance, drink, buy and use drugs, and find prostitution. It was abandoned and overgrown with 8 foot tall weeds when Tony came to receive it; now it is a place for hope, a place for growth, and a place for a new life and redemption.
Each of the 8 teams on our squad have taken on projects to improve the place this month. This includes anything from using machetes to mow down the knee high grass and over growth, painting, fixing, building, pulling rocks, and planting gardens. Becca and I are removing all the rocks in the park area of the property where the children play and other kids play too. We have a good relationship with the school next door and on their breaks they come over and play.
The community living is nothing like anything I have ever experienced. We have been together for one week and we are beginning to feel so close to the other 5 people in our group. We are challenging each other to grow… we laugh, we cry, we live, we eat together, actually, we even go to the bathroom together (one bathroom with 3 toilets and two showers for approximately 70 people because there is another group of missionaries here also).
