We’ve been in Honduras for over a week now and our squad took a break this past 7 days from the internet. Our first several days here were spent at an outdoor hotel where we had ‘debrief’ with our entire squad, and our leaders and coaches. Now we’re all at our new ministry site near the capital city of Tegucigalpa. We’re at a place where a man named Tony, and his wife, Nidia, not only spend their days reaching out to street kids, but they have 11 of the boys living with them. The name of this ministry is Zion’s Gate and their passion is “Don’t Miss The Opportunity.” It’s not a government program or a program of any kind… the kids are free to leave at any time. It’s not a ‘come and go’ place, though… if they choose to live here then they are choosing to stay away from gangs, from getting high off paint thinner or drugs, and from the violence and crime that is a part of street life.
Our first night here we had an amazing opportunity to receive a visit from the aide to the President of Congress of Honduras. His name is Rafael but we were invited to call him “Rafa”. He is a very down-to-earth Christian man who shared with us about the realities here, his vision and passion for change, and his struggles as well as his excitement~ for government, faith, Honduras, and for soccer! Politics and the corruption here is like a huge dark room full of rats, spiders, and bats. Rafa humbly spoke of holding a flashlight and shining it into the corner of that room and how when the light is shining there things scatter and flee, and the darkness gives way to the light. I came away from that talk feeling inspired that even in this country that has the most murders in the world that there are people willing to hold a flashlight even when there is a lot of darkness. Rafa is incredibly thankful to have us here because what the youth here need are examples of what it means to live life and have motivation. They need inspiration and hope!
Our second day here, Tony emphasized to us that his desire is that we each find what our passion in ministry is here and focus on that. Instead of him formulating a schedule and saying “this is what you’re doing today”, he’s given us the freedom to do what is in our hearts. Another two of my squad mates, Kelly King and Katie Winistorfer, and myself felt very passionate about helping Rafa in whatever capacity we can. It’s Monday and we just found out that we are meeting with him this afternoon!
UPDATE on Thursday 3/22:
I wrote that earlier this week, and had the opportunity on Tuesday to go with Katie and Kelly to the Congress Building in Tegucigalpa to meet with Rafa again. Herman, one of the boys (16 years old) that lives at Zion’s Gate with Tony (and us!), went with. While we were there we were introduced to the aide of the Vice President of Honduras who was very personable and welcoming to us. Actually, he is the aide to one of the V.P.’s… Honduras has three. We sat in on a meeting they had about a youth campaign rally they’re doing on Saturday that we’ll be able to help with. We’re going back for a meeting tonight, and then we should find out more of what these next couple weeks will look like. We're only here in Honduras until April 6th, so we'll try to do as much as we can with only two weeks left. One of our goals is to be able to help encourage and facilitate a voice for the poor. Herman might be able to be a part of that, which would be really exciting for him to be able to continue with the relationship after we leave. There are a lot of possibilities and directions this can go, and we’re excited to have this opportunity and can’t wait to see what becomes of it!
Jo Linda
