We made it to Honduras last Wednesday night! After an 18-hour bus ride sitting next to a very cranky, 10-month pregnant lady (I've never been a fan of assigned seating.), we finally arrived at our destination – Zion's Gate! The minute we stepped on to the property at 8:30 PM, we knew that we were in for a great month. We were greeted with hugs, smiles, and bowls of delicious soup! We just wrapped up our first week of ministry. If the other two are going to be anything like this one, we are in for a powerful Month Two on The World Race!
On Friday, we were given an orientation. Tony Deien, the founder of Zion's Gate, gave us a description of all the different ministries that S Squad would be a part of during the month of August. We could be hanging out with kids after school, going to the hospital to pray for those who are in need of healing, landscaping the property surrounding Zion's Gate, or teaching English at the school down the road. There was one, though that was different than all the rest: The Yellow Building. Tony said to us, "There is a yellow building down the road where a group of kids hang out. No other ministries have attempted to start anything there, and to be candid, they think we are pretty brave to pioneer it. We don't know anything about these kids, but we want one of your Teams to be the first people to reach them. We need a pretty bold Team to do it."
Newsflash: I am not bold. So, I kind of figured that we would not be chosen to be the first Team to go down there during the first week of ministry. However, shortly after orientation, God brought a verse to my mind. It was Romans 15:20-21. Through that verse, He was telling me that Team Frureo would, in fact, be the first Team to be at The Yellow Building.
…and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand." – Romans 15:20-21
Although I was excited that the Lord gave me a revelation, I was still pretty nervous about being one of the first "outsiders" to enter The Yellow Building. Between the language barrier and the fact that I lack boldness in starting conversations with people whom I've never met, I felt like I wasn't going to be much use in making an initial impact. Later on the same day, I was reading Ephesians during my quiet time. As I read, the Lord assured me that He would give me the boldness that I need. He has already provided it through His Son, Jesus Christ.
"This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness an access with confidence through our faith in him." – Ephesians 3:11-12
On Monday, during the meeting to go over our Team's ministry schedule, Tony announced, "During your first week, you will be at the Hospital Escuela in the mornings to pray for people in the ER. In the afternoon, you will be at The Yellow Building. Exciting stuff! You guys will be the first group ever to go down there!" Called it. So, on Tuesday afternoon, we walked down to The Yellow Building for the very first time. There really is no way to enter the area, so we had to crawl through a cement fence that had just enough rungs knocked out in order for a kid to crawl in.
There were a a few teenage guys inside kicking around a soccer ball. They seemed leery of us at first, but we joined in anyway. Pretty soon, we had 3-on3 games going on using the goals they had made out of sticks and bamboo.
As the week went on, the guys looked forward to having us at The Yellow Building. They wouldn't start any games until after we got there. Without even asking on the second day, two of them called me over to be there goalie. Two more asked me on the third day. I also got to know one guy, Devin pretty well. He is 19 and is in college. I told him my name. "Clay" is very hard for hispanics to say, so I asked him to give me a Spanish name. He decided on Pedro. That's what he called me for the rest of the week. We took donuts and pop to share with them one day. We also brought wood and nails to make sturdier goal posts for them.
It was a great first week of ministry! The thing is…I never once had to think about forcing myself to get involved despite my lack of boldness. It just seemed to happen. As soon as I entered that property, I felt confident with the person who the Lord created me to be. He wouldn't have called me there if He wasn't going to strengthen and charge me with His qualities. All I had to was to be willing. He took care of the rest.
