Did you feel the mountains tremble?

I have been trying to put together a video for my last blog on Honduras, but sadly, we don’t have the internet capacity to post it, so I will end with a story.

Deep in the mountains of Honduras, Tegucigalpa is known as the most dangerous city in the world.   Within the city is a place called Los Pinos, known for it's darkness.  A place where street kids do paint thinner all day because they have nothing better to do, where gangs are rampant, and where the six boys that live at Zion’s Gate ministry are from.  Each one of them was considered trash, the worst of society, yet because Tony (the founder of Zion’s Gate) loved them, each one now has the chance at a future, and several of them have received Christ.  Herman was one of those.  He was the worst of the worst, so much so that his community told Tony to stop hanging out with him; that they were going to take him out. 

That was 6 months ago.  Now Herman lives at Zion’s Gate, knows Jesus, and last month actually lead mission teams back into Los Pinos. Tony has been working in Los Pinos for six years, and in that time, six street kids have opted to get out of that lifestyle, work on the property, go to school, and learn about Jesus so that they can make a difference in their lives and their old neighborhood.  However, it was hard to feel like he was making a difference in the entire community.  Yes, they suffered his presence without wishing him any harm and wouldn’t hurt the mission teams if he or Herman was with them.  Yes, he is able to walk where few outsiders have been able to, but it seems just grudgingly tolerated, not welcomed. 

Our last week in Honduras a shift happened, that I cannot believe we were able to be a part of.  My squadmate Nicole was in Los Pinos after painting Herman’s mother’s house.  She asked my teammate Liz to take a picture of her and one of the young girls she had made friends with.  Out of nowhere a man sprinted up, grabbed the camera out of Liz’ hand and took off.  Her first reaction was essentially, “Well, they warned us about this area, it sucks, but it’s gone, nothing to be done.”  That’s pretty much what everyone thought.  Even in the States you wouldn’t usually get your camera back if that happened, let alone in one of the most dangerous places in Central America.  Someone would just pawn it, and that would be that. 

Well, the Lord had other plans.  The community, that previously had viewed such things as idiocy on the part of the Americans, that it served them right for even bringing something like that there, immediately rallied around Nicole.  The store owners nearby called the police, and a local street boy, who had previously been known as a thief (whom Tony had been helping/teaching recently) came forward and gave the name of the man who had stolen the camera.  That might not seem like such a big deal, but it is huge.  This kid could be killed for that, and was actually planning on going into hiding afterwards.  But instead of just taking off, he stayed and helped with the search first, wanting to do as much as he could.  And here’s the thing, the community completely supported him.  Previously they would have easily told his name to someone as a snitch and helped them take him out, but instead, they encouraged him and lifted him up. 

Can you see what this means for Tony’s ministry?  It isn’t about a camera in the slightest; it is about the fact that the community WANTS us there.  They are no longer grudgingly accepting Tony’s intrusion into their lives.  For the first time they have hope, and are fighting to keep it.   Six years, and the Lord finally broke through, and we got to see it; to be a part of it.  And to top it all off, Nicole got the call a few days ago that they actually recovered her camera.  That floored Tony and Cassie (a former Racer who now works with Zion’s Gate), who are freaking out about the change in the community.  God does do miracles, He used a camera to bring a community together and show his faithful servants that their work has never been in vain.  I cannot wait to see how the Lord transforms Los Pinos.  Thank you for being a part of this.
 
 (First pic – Herman's mother in Los Pinos.  Second pic – the inside of her house.  Last pic (courtesy of Denise Escamilla) – Herman's mothers house after we painted it (Herman is in the orange))