In no particular order here are 11 of my favorite memories from my time in Honduras.
- Building relationships and just living life together with the teenagers and volunteers who live at Zion’s Gate Ministries. Hearing the testimonies of some of these people are just incredible. From being out in the streets, addicted to paint thinner to learning what responsibility is, being free from past addictions and developing a relationship with Christ.
- Relationships formed with my four sixth grade students who I taught English to all month. I’m by no means a teacher, but I will miss the joy they brought to my day! They were eager to learn English and it was great to see our conversations grow throughout the month because we could understand each other more.
- Taking two of the boys that live at Zion’s Gate shopping for new clothing. These boys were relatively new to Zion’s Gate and only owned the clothes on their back. My team and I were able to bless them and purchase a couple new shirts, pants, shoes and undergarments for them. The joy and excitement that filled their faces expressed to us just how grateful they were! **Please be praying for these two boys, as some things have happened that is currently preventing them from living on Zion’s Gate property.
- Opportunities to learn some sign language in hopes of trying to interact with and communicate with a young lady who lives on the property who is deaf. One night my team made her coffee and waffles (her favorite), did our nails together and watched a movie. Our last night in Honduras, we took her and the wife of our ministry contact out to dinner and the joy in her eyes throughout the entire night just showed how much fun she was having. She is an amazing, beautiful, young lady with a great personality. We only wish that we could have understood more of her story.
- Who needs to be strapped in with a seatbelt in cars to travel in foreign countries? Not World Racers. Try imagining, over 20 of us sitting on the back of an open flatbed truck on our way home from church in the dark as the wind blew against our faces.
- Being able to fellowship and worship God at CCI multiple Sundays in an English speaking church that is specifically for missionaries in Honduras. The final Sunday in Honduras, we went to a local, charismatic church that had English translation for us. The message was directly geared toward us World Racers and the key verse was 1 Kings 19:7 which reads “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”
- The ability to use the knowledge and skills that I’ve gained from my information technology studies in college to fix and update a couple laptops to make them workable and more user friendly for the teens to use on the property. Through the frustrations of this project, the outcome was still worth it!
- The small restaurant next door and their very popular, delicious and cheap chicken tacos. This quickly became a favorite for many of us on our squad.
- Getting the opportunity to meet and interact with local families in the community. We would go to their homes and they would welcome us in without hesitation. It was also a blessing to be able to pray for them too (even if it was in a different language).
- Building stronger relationships with the girls on my team and watching us continue to open up in both the serious and funny moments of the day.
- Celebrating my 25th birthday in Honduras with the community that God has blessed me with to walk this journey of life together. Not only do I share my birthday with my earthly father, but this year I also shared it will one of the teenage boys who lives at Zion’s Gate as well. I got to enjoy eating out at a restaurant and being encouraged and loved on by my team. Thankfully I managed to escape getting ‘egged’ … a typical birthday tradition here in Honduras!
