Murder Capital of the World?

Yes, my friends. Honduras is the murder capital of the world, one of the most dangerous places to be, and it is where I and my whole squad are spending our first month of ministry. 

 

The time difference is only an hour, but I feel like I'm in a completely different world. 

Where your choices for a shower include: a cold shower or a cold shower. Where everyone honks just because they can. Where traffic laws are ignored and if you are stopped you can doge a ticket by buying the police officers cokes. Where wifi is scarce and clean water is more scarce. Where the coffee is absolutely out of the world along with homemade corn tortillas. 

 

This month I have been apart of several different missions projects around Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, through our ministry contact Tony and his ministry Zion's Gate. 

 

So here is a rundown of what I have been doing so far this month……

 

Friday: First day we arrived in Honduras. (This was my first time flying, and I loved it) we were greeted by our contact for the month, Tony at the airport. We hop onto a bus to Tony's home called Zion's Gate. Settled around 2-3 o'clock ate some pizza, and Tony briefly told us about his ministry and told us about what God has been doing over the past 5 years. He has 17people who live with him, most of who have been living on the street, and he takes them in feeds them, clothes them, and shares the gospel. Beautiful people who even with a language barrier I have gotten so close with. 

 

Saturday: Tony went straight into talking about what the different ministries we would be apart of this month, talked about some logistical stuff about privacy, ethics, and the do's & don'ts. We spent most of that day spending time with those whose live in Zion's Gate, learning about them (which was hard because very few can speak English and very few of us can speak Spanish). 

And ate our first Honduran meal, Pupusas! 

 

Sunday and Monday: Consisted of more logistical meetings, time with our team and more great food. I got to cut the mother of the ministries hair, Tony's wife, Nivea which I really enjoyed, and she really liked it which was obviously a plus! 

 

Monday: Tony went over our schedule for the next month and the several different ministries we would be working with. 

 

Tuesday: 

Toy and Clothing ministry:

 First day of ministry! We worked in downtown Tegucigalpa, helping a lady named Teresa with her toy and clothing ministry, where we would go through bags of donated items from America and separated them into different piles according to the item. When we finished we got to chill at the Burger King for a while and enjoyed a cold coke, and some wifi time. We grabbed a public bus back to Zion's Gate, which consisted of us standing in the middle of the aisle for the thirty minute ride. #firstworldproblems 

 

Wednesday and Thursday:

 Heart of Christ with Gracie: 

Getting up at 4am doesn't always put me in the best of moods, but what awaited us was so rewarding. We caught a bus where we once again had to stand because there was no sitting room. (And you just get use to people staring at you, you learn to deal with that on day one) We road on that bus for about three hours in the countryside of Honduras, which was breathtaking. We arrive downtown in this little village where Gracie meets us. We all hop into her little truck, six in the back and four in the cab. (We also have three of the boys from Tony's home coming with us for protection and direction) we drive to Gracie's place which is beautiful compared to the houses and huts that surround it. She has her house, an outside patio for meals, about five dorm type rooms, several outside bathrooms, and outside kitchen, and two school rooms. The Heart of Christ ministry is where Gracie takes in children under 18 who have had babies due to rape or incest, girls that have disabilities that no one wants, and then a few special cases. 

She has two cerebral palsy girls, because INFA (state orphanage) said they where too much and they didn't have time to "deal" with them. INFA gave Gracie the two girls to basically die. But they are a miracle thanks to Gracie and her husband, who had to hand feed them drop by drop, thirty minutes a day several times a day. 

She also cares for deaf girl named Karen (picture of her and me on Facebook). Whose own mother tied her to a bed and used her for prostitution. 

Gracie has five girls who have babies, all under 18, due to incest or rape. The youngest is 12, she got pregnant by her stepdad when she was 11.

And then three boys who were abandoned at birth. All of their stories unique and heart breaking. It was an honor and pleasure to work with them and watch their a babies. I got to cook those two days and the Hondurans laughed at my attempt but I tried and learned some cool new recipes. 

 

Friday: Was our first day off from ministry. We got to go to the local mall and eat Fridays, got caught up on the latest facebook/twitter feed, and spend some time talking to my family and friends back home. 

 

Saturday: We got the opportunity to go into a closed community (known for its gangs and being really rough) from our good friend Teresa (toy and clothing ministry contact) and do an event with the kids of that community. We painted nails, played soccer, jumped rope, played worship music, I even got to teach my dance team from homes "mighty to save" dance to some of my squad mates and the kids there. It was an awesome experience.  

 

Sunday: we "took it too the streets" where basically we go to an intersection downtown and played praise and worship music, waved our Jesus signs, screamed out random Christian sayings, and danced! It is something Zion's Gate has been doing for a while. Finally, someones "taking church to the streets". 

We were given a little taste of home and ate at little Caesars. Perfect ending to our second weekend in Honduras. 

 

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: my team (TEAM R.O.A.R.) got the best job ever! We were privileged to build a rabbit cage for Zion's Gate. They want to start a rabbit business so they don't have to depend of support from the states for their only income. It will teach the boys and girls on the property responsibility, business management, and it will be something they will be proud of because it is theirs. Our team had little materials to work with, but learned through it to be thankful for what do have. We painted for probably 5 hours and still have some more painting to go…….but my team and I have enjoyed our time together. We can now add Rabbit Cage building to our list of awesome Skills.  

 

Friday! Which is today, I still can't believe I am here! God is moving powerfully and I'm excited for the next week to come. It's our last week in Honduras (crazy, month one is almost gone!) and It's sad to think that this may be the last time I see these people on this side of heaven. Goodbyes are something that I am going to have to get use to, but I'm so thankful for the opportunity I have to meet these beautiful people and work with them. 

 

Oh while here I have done about about seven hair cuts/styles, I'm glad God is using me in something that I love doing. 

 

Until next time America!

Em