When: February – March
Where: Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Who: Zion’s Gate
What: Street ministry, hospitals, rebuilding a house, maintenance around the property, teaching English and music in the schools, and children’s ministries.
Arriving in Honduras after an eight our bus ride through the mountains that would make the toughest people sick, I was exhausted. I was sad that I had to leave El Salvador that morning and hadn’t had a meal since breakfast. However, the moment I stepped off the bus I was met by a line of children who had been waiting for hours so they could fight over who would hug us first. I thought, “I’m going to be okay”.
We are all together as a squad this month, all 42 of us. There are people everywhere all the time. Waiting patiently in line is part of daily life now. We wait for showers, for food, even to use the internet. We are also camping in tents the whole month, so I am glad that I get to use my tent since it takes up half the space in my backpack.
Our ministry host is Tony, an American who has lived in Honduras for the past five years with his wife, Nidia. Their vision is to see change in the lives of the violence and gang ridden youth here in the capitol city of Honduras. There are currently 6 street boys that live here full time now and are committed to having a different kind of life. They give us all about a hundred hugs a day and are so excited to have our attention. Many of them grew up without parents and are starving for affection.
For ministry our week is a little crazy. We are working with three different pastors from around the city. On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday we will break up into groups of about 14 (two teams each) and go with a different pastor each week working with hospitals, schools, and street ministries. One week we will be going into an extremely poor area and do an extreme home makeover for the family of one of the boys living on the property. In the afternoon we will be doing maintenance and yard work around the 20 acre property we are living on. On Fridays we go as a Squad to Ihnfa, which is a facility for street children who have no other place to go. There, we play music, color, play games and sports, make bracelets, or just talk to them and love them. Saturdays are my favorite day so far. We go into a rural colony and play soccer, basketball, paint nails, and make bracelets with the children in the neighborhood.
I also would like to make and exciting announcement: I met my April deadline two weeks ago of $11,000. I am ¾ of the way to being fully funded! I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have supported me. I am only here because of you!
Thank you all for your prayers and support!!
