With only three days left in Honduras, I figured this was as good a time as any to tell you exactly what the heck I’ve been doing here all month.
I know I’ve shared photos that depict bits and pieces of ministry, but you deserve the full story. The whole shebang, if you will. I want to recapture what our daily lives looked like as we lived and served with our Hondureño brothers and sisters.
We served at Loyalty School just outside of Tegucigalpa. The property sits atop a mountain with a magnificent view of the surrounding city. In the afternoons, the sun-soaked hills glistened like something out of my visions from God. The wildflowers whisked to and fro as the wind dragged their direction every which way. The sky was enormous and we could see the entire capital city from our humble schoolhouse.
Loyalty School was established eight years ago with a vision of giving local children access to a bilingual education. These kids would not be able to attend a bilingual school otherwise due to cost, but Loyalty subsidizes the cost and offers over half of the students full scholarships to make this possible.
The school starts at preschool and goes through ninth grade. This is tricky because there are only three classrooms in the entire school. One for pre-k through second grade, another for third through sixth, and another for seventh through ninth. There are only three teachers for the entire school, so I’m sure you can imagine the logistical challenges that they face.
Although I don’t think of teaching kiddos as my forte, it’s been so clear that our team was here for more than that. First, we came to lift this ministry up and give the teachers the opportunity to breathe a little. Second, we are here to love these kids who come from little (economically speaking) and have tough home situations. This month was all about sharing Jesus in a practical, immediate way. We aren’t able to fix problems in four weeks, but we are able encourage the permanent staff to continue to push onward.
Surely the seeds we sowed in these relationships will reap plenty of spiritual fruit, but I’m glad we were able to witness the impact in the day-to-day as well.
Most of the 29 students have at least one brother, sister, cousin or aunt attending the school with them. Our host, Mr. Flores, picks them up from home each day in his van.
I worked with the preschool through second grade classroom, and let me tell you, I love those kids so much! They are the future of this nation and The Church, and it was awesome to see them learn some tools that will equip them for that. We could all learn a thing or two from a curious four-year-old.
As I said in my blog Another Freaking Growth Experience, this month was not easy. That’s still true. It stretched me, but our days at Loyalty were most definitely the high point of Honduras. Nothing can match the exuberant joy that shines from the faces of these kids. Nothing wins my heart like a hug from one of my mini pals.
I’m grateful for my time here. Every month is different on the World Race, but I’m seeing how uniquely valuable they all are. Here’s to learning more about myself, humanity and God in Nicaragua!
Until then,
McKenzie
