Welcome to Tegucigalpa, Honduras!
As one of my teammates, Dave describes it, "Hello to the most dangerous country in the world. A country in which teenagers sniff paint thinner out of coke cans on the streets. A country in which you can witness the most breathtaking view of city lights at night from the makeshift balcony of a house with no bathroom, no running water, no electricity.
Hello to the Cotton Club. Twenty years ago, it was the most notorious nightclub in the city — drugs sold like beer, women sold without much more consideration. The stories and spirits still linger within these walls.
Hello to what happens next: A city of tents is rising out of an abandoned building, a new community springing forth for a people many times referred to as unredeemable.
Hello to hope."
I cannot believe we are already into month 2! This month we are staying at Zion's Gate, with our whole squad of 51. The ministry that Tony and his wife Nydia started 3 years ago, "Don't Miss the Opportunity" when they bought this bar, formerly The Cotton Club, and 15 acres to bring in missionaries and children off the streets.
The Cotton Club now Zion's Gate
Making it our home for the month
Our summer homes(a place to get away to!)
Our home this month is a large bar that we have filled with sleeping bags, our large backpacks, clotheslines and hammocks that hang from the poles that women once danced on. As I sit here writing this blog it is full of laughter, music, screaming through intense games of cards, eating meals together and worshiping while Caitlyn plays the guitar in the next room over. I never expected to love living with this many people so much. While there are definitely moments that my eye mask and ipod are the only sane place I have for quiet time, there is more love in this bar for our large family than I know how to describe. I have learned so much, from having grace with others to just letting go and being a kid again.The property they bought was a well known bar in Tegucigalpa, it was known as the bar where anything goes. Tony explained to us that it was known as the most scandalous bar in town but the Lord led him here to bring the light! Which he has! Not only to the property but to some of the scariest, darkest parts of Tegucigalpa. Coming into the property you would never know it was such a dark place for so many years. Now there are always kids running and playing throughout the property, Tony and Nydia's ministry is incredible, they work to get kids off the streets, off drugs and helps them turn their lives around by bringing them into their home. They take in the kids that no one else will, kids that have addiction problems, that are in gangs, and most who have been stealing to feed their addictions. From 10 years and up many of the kids living in the poorer parts of the city are in gangs and already addicted to drugs. The statistics are so sad and overwhelming. But it is real, real life for Tony and Nydia everyday. The Lord brought them to the a hard place with a huge calling, and they work hard everyday to fulfill His calling, they truly inspire me.
They also work with the churches in Los Pinos to bring more youth to the church. They explained to us the building projects help local families and churches but are really used to build stronger relationships and lead more people to Christ. He is such a faithful man! He and his wife have 12 14(it literally grew from the time I wrote this blog, to the time I get to post it) extra people living in their home today, feeding them, clothing them, keeping them off the streets. It isn't an adoption program, it is really for the children who have no one, not even an orphanage as an option. They send pay for each of their kids to go to school, which costs anywhere from $25-$100 per month for schooling, transportation, lunches and uniforms. The kids are out of school right now so they spend days playing and helping us clean, build, demo bathrooms, and painting the church. At night they snuggled up as a huge family singing worship songs, watching movies and loving on each other as a huge family. It is so beautiful to watch them love these boys like they are their own! Along with that comes a lot of disipline and long hours one on one to teach them the rules and how to be honorable to the family. Its a 24 hour/7 day a week ministry. AND ITS WORKING!
Our first Saturday in Tegucigalpa Tony took our whole squad to the giant Jesus statue that sits high above the city. We spent the day praying over the city and I truly believe that the Lord has a huge plan for this nation. We prayed for men to grow to be leaders of integrity, families to find the Lord, children to find comfort in the Holy Spirit, and the Kingdom grow.
Ministry this month!
During the week we have been working with Mi Vina church, it is a church that reaches out to women, and even more, single mothers. It took me by surprise our first Sunday at church when they told us that more than 80% of Honduran moms are single, which means more than 80% of children here do not have a father. Honduras is missing men of God. There is a huge problem with men stepping up to be fathers, and the sexual immorality here is overwhelming. But where there is darkness, there is a place to shine His light. The pastor, Pamela, is a single mother also, along with one of the most powerful speakers and woman I have ever met. She is 5'3 and couldn't be more that 115 pounds, but when she steps on stage to preach to the very large congregation at Mi Vina the Holy Spirit fills her, people are crying while she prays, they are listening with all their attention to each word she says, and even in a language that I can hardly understand, I can feel joy of the Lord living in that church and using Pamela to bring more to a life of freedom! At the end of the sermon she has people that would like prayer come to the front of the room and there are at least 20, she prays over each of them one by one for few minutes, then she calls anyone up who would like to commit their life to Christ and they were just as many as those who wanted prayer. It was overwhelming as she asked us all to raise our hands and pray for them as she did. I've never experienced a church with such desperation to feel the Holy Spirit! It is beautiful to be apart of.
I wondered during our first Sunday at Mi Vina how they brought so many new people to church each week, especially when services are between 3 and 4 hours. I learned the reason this week. We went out to the poorest parts of the city and went door to door talking to families, praying over them, and inviting them to church. If they would like to go, we write down their address and the church sends out buses on Sunday morning to pick them up. It was sobering seeing multiple families living in makeshift homes the size of my bedroom, with sheets hanging as doors and no air conditioning. This is life here, they are not staying for one month or even a year, they live this way every day. There food is not unlimited, and life is much harder than I have known. Thats the reason I get to see the desperation and the need for the Lord every Sunday as the congregation prays and worships for hours.
And when I get discouraged that we are not bearing any fruit, He blows me away like last night! We held a youth event at the church and a huge family that we prayed over came!!! I was in shock when I saw them, the mom hugged me and I could see tears in her eyes. When we were praying for them earlier that week in their home I was watching and it felt like nothing was coming, but God has very perfectly taught me that it has nothing to do with us, and all to do with Him! The Holy Spirit filled her this week and she brought her entire family! AND another boy, Kevin, showed up that our team talked to while going door to door, he didn't really say too much when we met him the first time, but when we prayed for him it felt powerful. Still, that day, I saw nothing in his eyes…. Then seeing him at church last night blew my mind! It's not what we see in the moment but trust that the Lord will work all the time! "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." Psalm 124:8
So simple. So true.
A journal entry from November 23rd
"The youth event we put on last night was awesome- Mike Sanders, our squad leader gave and amazing message and Brandon and Ben gave their testimonies. I was in awe of God's presence in the room. They asked me and Paul if we would pray over the children that wanted prayer after the service and it was overwhelming, I was asking the kids questions before we prayed and none of them had fathers, many home lives are very hard, and they are struggling. God showed up, he guided my words and I had an interpreter who is 12! A beautiful girl who has faith as big as any adult I have met! She helped so much! God delivered one of
the girls in our presence. She said she would be back to the church on Sunday!"
A few fun things that started this month
- 27K for 27 million
A bunch of us are traing for a 27k, its the launch to a new non profit our squad leader Stacey is starting. Its The 27 Project, she is raising money for the 27 million people who are sold into human trafficking every year. So to launch it she is having a the 27k in Thailand in January, our whole squad is hosting it and working at it and some of us are training to run it. We started running the beginning of last week very early each morning and depending if my body can handle it, I'm either going to try to do the whole thing(which I would love!) or split it in half with a teammate. But the best part is all the money she raises from it will go to a womens shelters and programs to help get women and children started after being stuck in a life of prostitution or slavery. Stacey is incredible and I really believe that this nonprofit is going to save lives!
I'm trying to come up with ways to help her raise money and the most fun way to do that would be, anyone who donates any amount of money to her new organization can pick a song that I have to run to the day of the marathon. If your interested shoot me an email 🙂 BUT please be nice and remember that songs are 4-5 minutes and it needs to pump me up enough to run 17 miles!
- The first girl to shave her head on the race!! Yep, it happened! (and it has now happened twice!)
- Seeing farm animals while running… it's normal. See men with automatic weapons while running still makes me a little nervous.
- Bus rides are always an adventure!
- This is a very sacred place in my life this month… my first shower in a bucket happened here. We wash dished for 72 people here and wash our clothes here.
- Squad bonfires and worshiping the Lord make for an incredible night!
- We got to see Passion of the Christ in Spanish! And that night Fernando(one of Tony's boys) sat in my lap and jumped up to run to the front of the church after the play when the pastor asked if anyone wanted to give their life to Christ tonight! He had been off the streets and off drugs for only a few weeks, and he has been made new!! It was incredible to be apart of!
Thanksgiving!!
- Thanksgiving for 72!! We had chicken(because it was less expensive), corn, stuffing, cranberries, angel eggs and PUMPKIN PIE!
- And all the paper taped to the walls are our "facebook walls" replaced! We haven't had internet this month so each person has their name posted and we write on eachothers, haha. It has been a great way to really encourage eachother in our walks!
Well everyone, I love you so much and miss my family and friends like crazy! Thank you so much for your support and giving me the opportunity to walk with the Lord this year in a way that I have never experienced! Please comment and post and email me, I love reading your words!
Lots of love,
Kenra
P.S. Hyder kids! I love you and miss you all like crazy! I know you are being so good for Candie. Take good care of her and I will see you in September :))
