My team and I have now been in Urraco Pueblo, Honduras for two weeks; and let me tell ya it’s been an adventure. I thought this week I would just give you a low down on everything that we are doing, where we are living, how I am feeling physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, etc., and the plans for the rest of the time here.
Our Home: Our Home this month is Urraco Pueblo, which is considered a “village”. At first I expected that this meant that there would only be 300 or so people living here; or at least smaller than my hometown of 2,000 people. Nope, Urraco has around 10,000 people living in the village. There are three different neighborhoods and we are living in the downtown area of the village. I really enjoy this because we are close to the shops and park which has a soccer field. The village is extremely safe, so almost every day I start my day by running around the neighborhood. Team Sweet N’ Low is living in the church that we are serving with. With this being said, I have been sleeping in my hammock for the past two weeks and it has been amazing. Prior to the race, I have never slept in a hammock for longer than 30 minutes, so I am glad that I enjoy it. It is winter here in Honduras so it rains very frequently. Our roof is over 50 years and so through wear and tear it leaks whenever it rains, however, we have easily adapted to this. Roosters have been our alarm clocks and it is common to be welcomed by the neighborhood dogs, wild horses, cows, and pigs on our way to our destinations for the day.
Our Mission: Our Mission in Honduras is to show the love of Jesus through loving the community in any means possible. This has looked very different day to day, however the overarching task is evangelism. My team is working with Zoe Church run by Pastor Rony and his wife Esther. Once a week, we help serve food at the children’s feeding program that the church hosts for the community. During this time, we play games with the kids, teach them a bible lesson and/or verse, and then serve them lunch. This has been my favorite ministry because we literally are asked to play with kids and help them feel fully seen and loved. The other four days of serving are a modge podge of different activities. Frequently we go into the different neighborhoods for the day and visit with families that attend the church. During this time we primarily spend time with the families, hear their stories, laugh, eat food and drink, and pray for whatever they need at that time. I also enjoy this because we are able to engage with the church community on a deeper level and truly get to know them. I have learned that the church here is a family at church but also a family outside the traditional church service times, which is something that I believe should be strived for more in the United States. We have also had small groups that we have attended, helped at another church in the area to establish itself more, and will participate in park ministry this coming week. Finally, we give tidbits of our testimonies, act out a drama (LifeHouse Everything Skit), and are a part of the worship team during church services that happen three times a week. Pastor Rony found out that I played percussion in high school so I’ve been promoted to the drummer of the group even after I explained to him that I have never played the actual drum set before! When in Honduras…do everything and anything to make even a small impact.
How am I? Man, this is a hard question because there is so much to say because it seems as though so much as happened in the past two weeks. Physically — I’m doing well. I have been able to exercise almost every day which is something I was kind of nervous about when preparing for the World Race. This has allowed me some alone time, as well as, the ability to stay fit. I think the only negative to by physical health has been the mosquito bites that I have obtained. As the locals say, “The mosquitos love the fresh Gringa meat.” While the bites are annoying and I am guilty of constantly itching them, the risk of Malaria in this area is extremely low, YAY! Emotionally/Mentally — I think that there have been highs and lows emotionally and mentally. I didn’t anticipate being homesick until month three or four but here I am two weeks in homesick every once and a while. This isn’t a bad thing, in fact, I think that it shows how amazing people are back home to miss this much but it makes it hard. Running and interacting with the community and my teammates have made it very easy to overcome the lows and get back to the highs. Other than that, I have really loved everything that we have been involved in and I have realized how much this dream of mine is something that was meant for me. I feel like I belong here, doing exactly what I’m doing, at this very moment, with exactly who I am doing it with. Spiritually — Wow, I would have never had guessed that I would grow this much in simply two weeks. My goal for the year was to really indulge in the Bible and read it front to back. I have attempted to do this before but never succeeded. While doing this, I wanted to ensure that I was wanting to read it and have my heart in the right place instead of solely reading because I felt like I needed to do so. I have been blown away with how this is going for me. There are times in the day when I impulsively reach for my Bible because I want to read it more. I believe that this gain has been guided by the fact that we are not connected to WiFi or have any of the technological distractions that I have frequently made my priority during free time. In addition, I have just felt the overflow of love from the community in Urraco and that makes it really easy to see Jesus in this village. I can hear Him more clearly, pray to Him more effortlessly, and ultimately act in a way that pleases Him easier.
Our team frequently does an activity called Rose, Bud, Thorn at the end of each day. Rose is your high for the day or what you enjoyed most, Thorn is the low point of the day, and Bud is something that you are looking forward to. I would like to also do this for you for the past two weeks.
Rose — This past Sunday, we took a bus in the morning to a River about 45 minutes away and as a church we participated in baptisms! Four members of the church were baptized, Whoot Whoot! My whole team and I loved this experience because…
1) Because baptisms are one of the most joyful parts of Christianity, duh!
2) After the baptisms, we were able to swim and enjoy the cool water and take in the amazing views Honduras has to offer while eating fresh oranges and snacks.
3) There was a realization that this is want ministry can look like. It doesn’t always have to look like house visits, manual labor, teaching English, or other stereotypical mission trip ministries. While those are also important and enjoyable, ministry can look like swimming with the community and after celebrating rebirth. Super Cool.
Thorn — This week I have came to the conclusion that soon we will have to say good-bye to this community and that is going to be very hard for me. Being the first month, I was already nervous about being away from home and Pastor Rony, the church family, and Urraco has taken us in like family and made us feel so loved. With that being said, it is going to be really difficult to have to say goodbye to them and move on to the next destination: Nicaragua.
Bud — Today I was talking to one of the local girls about playing soccer with them. While I have passed the ball around a couple times, I haven’t been able to play a full game yet. She was telling me how this week we will go to the park and play a couple times with everyone and I’m so excited. So, that is what I’m looking forward to this week.
ALSO, you might have saw it on my Facebook but we did a fundraiser for Pastor Rony and Zoe Church to try and fund a new roof. With the initial goal of $220 we blew past that goal and raised over $1,000 for the church! This means that not only will they be able to replace a couple of the leaking roof panels, they should be able to replace the full roof! How incredible is that.
I hope this helps give you an image of some of the things that my team and I are doing here in Urraco. As always, feel free to reach out to me via email ([email protected]) if you have any questions or just want to chat. I only have WiFi once or twice a week but I will be sure to respond as soon as possible!
See you next week!
Elisabeth Sage
