You know, Honduras was my "throw away" country. If there was any place that I was least looking forward to going, that I would give up, trade in, or discard entirely, it would have been Honduras. I didn't know much about the country and nothing inside of myself cared to change that.
The thing I was most looking forward to in Honduras as we traveled from its neighbour country was the cheap tacos that were rumoured to be in near proximity to our ministry site. When we did get to our stomping grounds, it was freezing. A freak cold front from Canada, or something. And we were forced to set up our tents in baby hurricane winds. We had to throw rocks in them to keep them from getting stolen by the air. We were chilled to the bone. Honduras was not making a good impression on me.
Just as I had thought.
We met the staff and heard about their vision for Zion's Gate, which was really quite inspiring and intriguing. We spent the next two days getting acquainted to our surroundings and learning more about the ministry director, Tony. That Sunday we had the most incredible experience at church, where we were all prayed over and anointed with hands to heal the poor, free the captives, bring the Kingdom of God here to earth. It was the most beautiful church service I had ever attended. The people were so willing to give all that they could for us, for over 2 hours.
But even with all of that, plus the chance to go to an Americanized mall every week for wifi and comfort foods, I still wasn't sold.
And then I met the reason why the ministry exists in the first place: 15 kids with not a lot of hope outside of Zion's Gate. What I mean by that is, Tony has spent the last five years hanging out in some of the city's poorest and most dangerous neighbourhoods and he's found the gems that were hiding in the dirt. The kids with potential bursting out of their ears, smiles that light up a room, and most importantly, souls.
He's being Mr. Samaritan, looking into the eyes of society's un-lookable and bringing them home. Some of these kids were eating out of dumpsters before living here. Almost none of them have a relationship with their father and if it wasn't for Tony, Nidia (his wife) and the workers at Zion's Gate, these kids would be high off paint thinner right now.
But because God is good, we get to witness some incredible redemption. We get to see these kids flourish in school (one of them just got 100% on his last exam, thank you) and flourish in community. A home of 15+ and only one bathroom would test anybody's patience, but when I see the older ones off to school at 6:10 in the morning, they're nothing but smiles (and tighter-than-spandex-hugs and bites on the face and rapid Spanish greetings).
Thank God for these kids, ranging from 6 to 19. Thank God that I get to spend a month being part of this family: reading Bible stories in Spanish, having tickle fights, and sharing bowls of cereal with Anderson, the littlest nugget in the bunch, while he sits on my lap.
So for now, let me just say that I absolutely love where I am and who I'm with and I don't want to leave and how could I have been so wrong. I'm loving how God is surprising the pants off me.
