Month 9: May in Honduras was a good.
I loved the work done at Zion’s Gate, our place of ministry.
I loved our contact, Tony.
I loved the people I met- Genesis, Ariel, Carlos, Amelia, Henry, William, Anderson and so many other wonderful people.
I loved that our squad got to be together for the entire month.
I loved being adopted onto The Dry Bones team and getting to know them better.
I made some new friends and laughed a lot in the process.
I loved the Zion’s Gate was like a zoo, horses that visited the property at random, the cutest kittens, the best dog named Chai, two little puppies and bunny rabbits. I got my pet fix all the time.
I loved seeing some of my favorite people everyday.
I loved Zumba dancing with the ladies of I squad.
I loved it.
And while it was a great month, it was also personally very difficult. While in Honduras, I found out my uncle died by suicide. It’s been a tumultuous event that’s had me asking God and myself some hard questions. I feel as though much of my race has been grieving. I also lost my grandfather in February.
But more than that the Lord has been doing some deep deep work in my heart and soul. The “dross” as one of my squad coaches explained, is coming up to the surface of our hearts, the Lord is cleaning it away.
One of our last ministry days at Zion’s Gate, Tony, took I squad to the city dump located in the center of Tegucigalpa. What I saw I was completely unprepared for.
There were hundreds of vultures, wild packs of dogs, cows, and people combing through the filth. The smell was terrible. The ground was a muddy garbage mixture from the rain.
The people survive in the dumpsite searching through the garbage to find salvageable items to sell, use, and make a living from. The humiliation from their livelihood is etched across their faces.
But I was so proud of I squad. As I looked out at my fellow squad mates- hugging the people, praying for them, talking (as much as we could) with them- my heart grew joyful. We treated them no differently, did not look upon them as less, remembering that what we “do unto others, we do unto Christ.” (Matthew 25:40) That these people, though living in quite possibly some of the worst living conditions [ever] are valued,
LOVED, adored human beings in the heart of God. It also presented me with a hard challenge to keep perspective when I start complaining about my life. That day I squad also fasted lunch so that we could take a spaghetti meal with clean fresh water to them.
While there I met a lady who worked in the dumpsite. She looked so troubled by the cares of the world, so sad and defeated. My heart broke for her. She kept asking for shoes, if we had a pair we could give her. Our small group that congregated around this woman didn’t bring an extra pair of shoes to hand away. As she kept insistently asking for shoes, I felt a tugging in my heart and I knew I needed to give her mine. As we made our way back to the bus I found a seat in the first row and took off my black Toms shoes and gave them away.
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”- Jesus, Acts 20: 35
It has been one of the most joyful things to look at my bare feet knowing that someone else who needed them far more than I did was being blessed with “new” shoes. The rewarding part was also seeing a shift in my own heart. At the start of the race I was so attached to my material possessions, holding onto them, unwilling and reluctant to freely give that which I called MY OWN. But it the quick moment of giving away a pair of shoes, I realized my attachment to material things didn’t really exist anymore and I had a freedom I had never had before.
Jesus’ words suddenly made more sense than ever.
It is more blessed to give than to receive.
