We have been surrounded in ministry since we arrived here in Honduras on the first of June. We are staying at “Zion’s Gate” ministry which is a refuge and home for youth whose alternative is the streets. These are kids with pasts that I cannot even comprehend…abuse, neglect, crime, loss, pain…Tony, our contact, is from the United States and when he became a believer about five years ago, God called him to Honduras. He met this wife here and is now following the call God has put on his heart to be God’s hands and feet for these youth. While my squad is here this month, we get to be his hands and feet too!
Our ministry here in Honduras also goes beyond the boundaries of Zion’s Gate to the greater community of Tegucigalpa. Today we went to a “casita”. A casita, to the best of my understanding, is a government run institution which takes youth off of the streets and provides a place to stay. I have heard it described that it is basically a form of a juvenile hall. There are about 25 youth living at the casita we visited today, mostly girls around the ages of 13 to 17.
I met Vanessa at my teammate, Kip’s, game station. She came up to me to learn how to play checkers. She and I played and talked. She told me that she is 16 years old and that she just arrived at the casita the previous day. When I asked why she was there, she shared that when she decided to go live with her boyfriend because things were bad at home, her parents sent her to the casita. At this point in our conversation, a fight erupted between a few of the girls on the other side of the room. Some of our squad went over to help break it up and a couple of the casita employees made their way over too. When I asked Vanessa if she was okay after witnessing the fight she started to tear up. She said, “No quiero vivir aqui”…I don’t want to live here. I told her I understood and that I’m sorry she has to be “here”. Vanessa said “sigue”…continue…so we continued playing our checkers game, trying to ignore the drama that was going on around us. A few moments later, another girl came storming through the doors and the fight erupted again. I reached out for Vanessa’s hand and we just sat there together waiting for the violence to pass. It was all I could do…I could not stop the fight or take her out of that place…but I could sit with her in that moment. I could comfort her and let her know that she was not alone and that I saw her in the mess and chaos that surrounded us. The violence ended when a couple of girls were taken away in police cars.
Our squad’s time with the girls ended with a testimony from one of my squad mates that I am certain touched every single one of the girls there that afternoon, as well as a couple of worship songs and an invitation to come to the front for prayer. Vanessa was sitting in a chair behind me and when the Lord prompted me to ask her if she wanted prayer I turned around and invited her to go up with me. She immediately said yes and we walked up together to pray. After the prayer we went outside to talk and she said that she believes in God and has Jesus in her heart. At this point our bus was leaving and I had to leave Vanessa sitting there at that place. This is where my faith in God comes in…I left her in His hands until next Thursday. I was there for what God allowed me to be there for, and he is in control of the rest. It’s here that I remind myself that He knows her, sees her, and loves her more than I can fathom…and let her go…into His loving care.
