Welcome to the Valley of Angels!
Early yesterday afternoon we landed in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. From the stories I had heard I was expecting the landing to be scarier, but it was still a little bit like an aerial slalom course. The hazard of building an airport in the middle of a populated valley, I suppose! After getting through customs and standing around for a bit like a lost flock of sheep, we finally managed to find and communicate with our bus driver. He didn’t speak English but we got it sorted out before too long. He tossed our bags on the roof of the van and tied them down, then we were off! Only for a few minutes though before it started to pour. It was really coming down. We had to stop and put the bags inside the van, which in hindsight would have been the best option from the beginning. Thankfully nothing got too soaked! The rain didn’t last long and after a short and beautiful bus ride through the mountains, we arrived in Valle de Angeles. It was only mid afternoon, so we got a quick tour of our hosts home where we’re staying and of the town. Let me tell you, this place is incredibly beautiful! The mountains, the flowers hanging over almost every wall, the people. Even the street dogs are better looking than expected! It’s a popular tourist area and I see why. However, that only goes so deep. Outside the core of the valley, there are a lot of people living in poverty. Even missionaries, who will often come here for souvenirs, rarely notice that side of the valley, let alone do anything about it.
Our hosts run a feeding and discipleship program in the local public schools to address the physical needs of the kids in the area living in poverty. They’re also currently fundraising to help kids pay for uniforms so they can get the education that’s so important. School doesn’t start for another few weeks though so for our ministry we’ll be going to a home in the area for adults with special needs. I’m not entirely sure yet what that’s going to look like, but we’re really excited to get into it tomorrow!
This month, our team is planning to commit a lot of time to growing closer to God, and to growing a safe and intimate community with each other. Whatever our ministry looks like, we believe that’s the vital foundation of being able to do this for 11 months, and to do it well. As they told us at Training Camp and Launch, it won’t go well if we do things for Jesus instead of doing it with Him. Another thing they mention often is if we don’t get along and love each other well as a team, it will inhibit our ability to serve the people we encounter. Similarly, our physical health has an impact on our ability to serve. I have a cold and some of the team are getting sick as well. It’s probably the result of travelling all day, being in a different climate, as well as being surrounded by sick people at Launch, but we would appreciate prayer for our health, and that of our hosts. We don’t want to pass anything on to them!
A quick update about fundraising, as I know some of you have questions about how that works. I’ve met the deadline that I had at the end of December, praise God! But I still have 2 deadlines to go. I’m close to meeting the February one already, but If I don’t meet them I have to go home, which I think everyone would agree would not be ideal! If you could pray that I, and everyone else on my squad, can meet all of those deadlines, or even contribute financially, we would all appreciate it!
Thank you for following my journey, and thank you to those who helped make it possible!
