Well we are already on our way to our mission site in San Viceinte after a relaxing, adventure filled week of debrief on the ocean in El Sunzal, El Salvador. I thought that only one blog post about Honduras would not do it justice, so while I sit on this crowded bus with all 14 packs stacked up in the seat behind me, I will tell ya'll about the rest of our time in Honduras.
(Side note: number of times a backpack or guitar has fallen on my head = 2… Life is more exciting this way though!)
Week two of Honduras:
This is funny. So we get done with the "pushing large boulders through poo + mud mixture, while barefoot, while getting sunburned, but laughing" week and my team and I are all super excited to work at a school this week. Our thoughts Monday morning on the way to the private elementary school: "No more manual labor!"…"Play with cute kids all day long!"… "We get to dress nice!"…."No more manual labor!!!"… Probably thought that last thought quite a few times haha We get to the school. We are shocked at the short commute of 10 minutes compared to our 45 – 1 hour commute to the tilapia farm. Walk into the principle's office. He tells us that the kids are taking their exams this whole week so instead of teaching english and loving on the kiddos, he has a small project for us instead.
Thoughts: "Mmmm small project… keep smile on face…."
This small project is flattening out a large hill in the back of the school so that the kids can have an area to play on during recess. To sum it up, more manual labor…! In all actuality, it was a fun day. My team had a great attitude from the start; we sucked up our pride and threw our expectations out the window. We picked up our old friends Mr. Shovel and Mrs. Pick Axe and got right to work, skinny jeans and all. We sang songs, played a few scenario games, came up with elaborate day dreams (thanks to the creative, brilliant mind of Betsy Ramser) and had a couple conversations to challenge each other spiritually and intellectually. It was a great 3 days at the school.
Thursday we had the opportunity to go to a ministry called The Heart of Christ. It was about an hour and half drive out there from home and since I am incapable of sleeping in buses, I got some Jesus time.
I realized that all this time I have been praying for confidence, strength, armor for the battle. But what I'm discovering now is that I need to pray for vulnerability, for the uncomfortable situations, for my weaknesses to be exposed and visible to all. Because this is where we find God shining the brightest. We feel his presence thickest in the situations where we must fully rely on Him to make our lives stable again. For it is when I am weakest, that He gives me all my strength to carry on. When I am in the filthy, dark areas of the world that I see his true beauty shining. In the sadness and brokeness, that we must stop and search around for his open arms to bring us peace and joy. He is always with us, we just aren't looking hard enough. His arms are always open, but sometimes we are simply too proud or aren't ready to walk into them. So now I pray for God to show me the trials and tribulations of my life, to expose my weaknesses so I may be fully healed, and put me in the tough situations so I may listen intently to His voice and His voice alone for guidance.
James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
God was preparing me for that day because it was not an easy situation for me. First of all, I have never babysat in my life; therefore I am not too sure how to play with babies or even how to hold a baby for that matter. What do you say to them? Give them a high five? Poke? Tickle? All things that are not my strong suit haha But these babies weren't your typical babies. A couple from Alabama moved here years ago after they knew their calling to victim ministry. They built a home, and have taken in babies and children whom are children of incest. Not all, but most of the kids were abandoned by their mothers because every time the mother looked at their child they were reminded of the rape within their family. Some of the mothers live there with their babies, including their most recent addition to the family; a twelve year old and her 5 week old baby whose father was her great grandfather. My heart broke for these kids. Although I felt out of my element and unexperienced with babies, God gave me the words to say and actions to show His love to them. Playing with the babies all day brought me so much joy. They were so stinkin cute and happy! It was a fantastic day and I thank God for putting me there at The Heart of Christ ministry.
The rest of the month of Honduras we worked on the property – moving.. you guessed it – rocks. And painting rocks! Then we had a very mish (short for missionary) vacation to the beach of Honduras. We pitched our tents under the palm trees, played/bathed in the ocean, grilled out some horse hot dogs, had a sunset yoga session, read Explicit Gospel out loud under the stars, and last but not least – our fearless leader Brent killed a giant spider in mine and Marianne's tent to end the night. No mish vacation would be complete without killing of one of God's 8 legged creatures.
The next morning we said our goodbyes to the boys, girls, and Tony at 5 am and left for our next country, El Salvador. My memory of Honduras will be one of finding joy and beauty in the dirty, unlikely situations. Although we were surrounded by His majestic mountains and creations, there is still corruption and darkness filling the streets. If I stopped and looked around, I found God in every part of that country. He is doing immense work through the boys of Zion's Gate and I truly believe they will be the leaders that turn Honduras' gaze towards the skies.
