With one month of the World Race (how did that happen!!!) under our belt we press on into Honduras. Time seems to be flying so fast! We arrived in Honduras on February 2 after a 22 hour busride from Guatemala City to the Valley of Angels in Honduras. The bus ride was only supposed to take 10 hours, but our drivers got lost and ended up driving for about 5 hours in the wrong direction! Instead of arriving at 10:00am we arrived at 10:00pm! The first 3 days in Honduras were spent at a nice “hotel” which consisted of 4 person cabins, hammocks, hot showers, meals prepared for us, and all the tea I could drink! Those 3 days served as a time to talk about, process and reflect on the first month of the Race as well as time to prepare for the month ahead of us. We will have debriefs after month 4, 8, and at the end of the race to help us process all that God is doing in and through us. Our mentor Jeremy along with our two awesome coaches (squad parents) Joey and Gary will be with us at each debrief to help us along the journey.It was great to see them and get to bounce many of the questions I have been wrestling with offindividuals who have so much spiritual wisdom. Thank you Gary and Joey for loving me and helping me to work through what God is calling me to! I know our parents appreciate all the hugs you gave us for them!!!
We arrived at our ministry location in Talanga, Honduras on Thursday, February 6. This month is special as it is the only one where we will be together as a whole squad! All 47 of us plus our 3 squad leaders are staying at the same house; however, there are only 16 beds so the front porch has become a sea of hammocks and we have founded a city of tents in the backyard. I am staying in my tent this monthand am enjoying having my own space! Plus it is nice to use the tent and sleeping pad I am lugging around. Now I know those 7 pounds have more purpose than to cause my back to ache! J
The 7 teams have been split between 3 ministries this month. 1 team will be working at an orphanage, 2 teams with be working with our hosts who run Aaron’s Mission Outreach, and 4 teams will be working with Heart of Christ ministry. My team is working with Gracie and Lee Murphee at Heart of Christ, which focuses on rescuing young mothers off the streets who have been raped or experienced domestic violence, and kids who are disabled. We will be doing construction 3 days a week working on building a fence for their backyard, 1 day a week we will be going out into 2 different villages and interviewing people looking for abandoned single mothers or kids with disabilities, and 1 day we will be at the house where the mothers and children are living, playing with the kids and loving on them. The bus arrives each morning at 7am to pick us up and we have a half hour drive to Gracie’s house. We do our designated ministry for the day until 3pm when we stop for coffee, cookies, and our daily devotional. Our bus then arrives at 4:30 to pick us up and take us back “home” for the day.
With so many of us in one location we rotate days of cooking and cleaning. With 7 teams it works out perfectly to have a team for each day of the week. Tuesdays is my team’s day for cooking and cleaning which usually consists of waking at 5:45 to get the breakfast set out and immediately starting supper upon return from ministry until dishes are all cleaned which isn’t usually until 8-9 o’clock that night. Please pray for extra energy and patience for my team and me on Tuesdays as those are very long days of ministry.
We do not haveinternetat our house this month and only have access on the weekend if there is time to go into town to a local internet café, so I will not be posting much. If you want to have more frequent updates feel free to befriend Gracie Murphee on Facebook as she is our ministry contact this month and daily updates her supporters via statuses or pictures on what we are doing.
Please know that God has me in the palm of his hand and is keeping me safe. He is working to mold me into the Beloved daughter he created me to be.
Thank you for your support and prayers! Continue to pray for our safety, and for our hearts and the hearts of those we come into contact with.
God is so good!!!!
