After some crazy days of travel and a 12-hour time
difference… we made it to Honduras! Gracias
a Dios!
I’m super excited
about our ministry this month; we’re working with a man named Tony (from
the US) and his wife Nidia (from Honduras) building relationships and loving on
street kids from an inner-city neighborhood of Tegucigalpa: Los Pinos. This “barrio�
(neighborhood) is one of the most dangerous in Honduras and was haphazardly put
together after the devastating Hurricane Niche destroyed massive areas of the
country in 2000. With nowhere else to go because their homes had been
destroyed, the government began relocating bus-loads of people from their
original homes to the area that is now known as Los Pinos (“The Pines�). Because
the homes were constructed so quickly, they’re made out of scrap metal and
garbage that people frantically pieced together in order to make a home. There
is no running water, no (legal) electricity, no waste disposal system, no
latrines, and no money for food, school, or anything else. Therefore trash,
feces, drugs (such as paint thinner and glue), alcohol, and hopelessness are
rampant in this neighborhood. The people living there, especially the youth,
are considered “basuraâ€� or “trashâ€� by others in the community – they believe
there’s no hope for them and that they’ll never be able to change their lives.
But thank the Lord
there is HOPE in Him. Tony and his wife have been living in this community
for years and attempting to build relationships with the people and help in any
way they can. They are incredibly passionate about seeing the KINGDOM come and
they’ve discovered that simply offering LOVE is the only way to transform
people’s hearts and lives through Christ (hence Jesus’ greatest command: Love
GOD with all you have and love your neighbor as yourself).
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor
as yourself’� (Matthew 22:36-39).
We’ve been privileged with the opportunity to come alongside
them this month and simply love on these street kids. What we’re doing is
considered crazy by the world’s standards, but most things that are of Christ
are going to perplex the world. After thinking and praying together about what
God wanted for this month, we’ve come up with a plan to bring the kids off the
street for a bit to experience a different kind of life. Tony and Nidia have
recently been blessed with a farm that they moved into about four months ago,
leaving Los Pinos physically but certainly not spiritually or emotionally. The
farm is located in a community called El Horno, about forty minutes outside of
Tegucigalpa. Tony commutes almost daily to continue visiting, spending time,
and building relationships with the families and youth that have become family
to them.
These teenagers are often found hanging out on the street
corner with nothing to do, nothing to eat, and no one to love them, so they
often turn to drugs to ease the pain and simply get through the day. The drug
of choice here (like I mentioned previously) is paint thinner; it’s a quick,
cheap, easy high but has devastating impacts as every whiff simply destroys
brain cells. But these kids don’t care; they have nothing else to look forward
to in life.
Tony has begun a ministry with them called Opportunity in
Honduras where he tries to see a need a meet it. He tells the youth he will not
force them to do anything; he simply presents opportunities and gives them the
choice to do what they want. He used to be completely project-based but has now
come to realize that building
relationships needs to come before building houses (or anything else). Just
as Christ wants a deep, intimate relationship with each of us, that’s what Tony
is striving to give these kids and what we’re able to do for the month as well.
Love breaks chains. Love transforms lives.
Love never fails.
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices
with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. Love never fails� (1 Corin. 13:6-8).
For the next three weeks we’ll be having a variety of
different youth come off the streets for a few days a week to get loved on and
experience a different kind of life. We’re inviting street kids who are in
gangs, addicted to drugs, assaulting people for food and money, and completely
hopeless to come live with us at the farm… I’m
so excited! The farm needs a lot of work (it had been completely abandoned
for about eighteen years before Tony and Nidia moved in) so there’s lots of
potential and opportunities for growth. We’ll be doing a type of camp with them
where we work on different projects over the next three weeks; we’ll be doing
some gardening, painting, creative artwork, making signs with scripture verses
on them that we’ll place throughout the property, making photo frames, having
bonfires, playing “futbol� (which they’re all ridiculously good at), and
anything else the Lord leads us to. I’m pumped!
The farm is
absolutely gorgeous. Mountains all around, fresh breezes, horses, a dirt
trail to run on each morning, and two new PUPPIES! They’re adorable… I think I’m
in love. 🙂 Being in God’s creation is so refreshing. Tony’s plan is to make
the farm an International Christian Retreat Center and call it “The Garden of Eden,� referring to a
place that you can go back to and be
with God. I’m so excited about what it’s going to look like after all the
work goes into it; there’s already such a raw sense of beauty and peace there
but it has incredible potential for more. When you step onto the property it’s
as if a weight is instantly lifted off you; there’s something special about
that place and I’m so blessed we have the opportunity to live and work there
for the month. God is good!
On another note, I LOVE
being able to speak Spanish! I still have a lot to learn but it’s been awesome
to be able to communicate with the youth and families we’ve been meeting. They’re
amazing. I’ve gone with Tony into Los Pinos for about three days in a row and
have gotten to witness the reality of living there. It’s been a blessing to
meet people in the community and simply try to show them love – my desire is
that they’ll see they’re not trash, but that they’re precious sons and daughter
of the Most High. God truly is igniting my heart for these people; I feel alive
and at home in this place.
I’m excited to see how these next few weeks pan out… I’m
sure I’ll have many more stories to come. Thank you for your continued prayers
and encouragement. You guys are awesome. 🙂
Oh, and check out Tony’s blog site for more info: www.opportunityinhonduras.blogspot.com
p.p.s. We’re working with another team this month: Team Sequoia! Check out a few of Andrea’s
blogs for more info… they’re good. 🙂
http://andreagosselin.theworldrace.org/?filename=my-first-week-in-heaveni-mean-honduras
http://andreagosselin.theworldrace.org/?filename=life-in-honduras-our-plan-for-the-month
These are pics of the farm and some of the kids and a family we had over this past weekend; we cooked spaghetti and they seemed to enjoy it. 🙂
