Have you ever been in a place like me in that you can’t put into words how you are feeling? I have felt like this A LOT this month, so forgive me if this blog is lacking in the words department as I am still trying to figure out how to say what is on my heart and mind.
The Set-up: We are in Urraco, Honduras, working with Zoe church under the care of Pastor Rony. (Side note: Pastor Rony speaks very little English, and no one on my team is fluent in Spanish – Claire and Meg have been working very hard to translate for us, but there are definitely times when neither of them know what he is trying to communicate.) We are staying at the church. It has a kitchen, toilet, shower, 8 beds with a blanket for each, a stage, two tables, lots of chairs, ceiling fans, and a large open space.
The Experience (thus far): Please don’t perceive the following as complaining, simply explaining what life has been like here this month thus far. To say that this month has been a struggle would be an understatement. However, there have been a lot of positive things that have happened as well. Let me give you a glimpse of some of the struggles we have run into:
– “Running” water every other day – we fill up a barrel and several water jugs for the off days.
– Loss of power several times – enough said.
– Our living quarters flooded twice – some people’s things/beds got wet but nothing ruined. Caused by multiple tiny holes in our roof.
– Very hot weather… probably close to 100 degrees. At times it is too hot to do anything and sweat just drips while sitting still.
– A bat who lost its’ wing after hitting the ceiling fan – I sandwiched it between two brooms to take it outside.
– Spiritual heaviness and darkness in the city and in the people’s hearts here.
– The sewer pipe leaking sewage on the floor and onto Mollie’s bed and Bible.
Some relief: On a more positive note though, some members of the church have blessed us so well. Some examples:
– When we arrived, there was a sign that said “Welcome to Urraco Relentless Team” and they had dinner prepared for us and several people from the church were here.
– Mikey brought us a box of bananas (150+). Still trying to figure out what we are going to do with them all before they go bad.
– One family brought us 3 extra beds and a blanket because of the wet ones.
– Pastor Rony doing repairs around the church to improve our living conditions.
– Margarita owns a hair salon with air conditioning and WiFi and invited us over and welcomed us back to use it again.
– Daisy has promised to make us the traditional meal here in Honduras.
– Soyla had us over for lunch and allowed us to use her washing machine to do our laundry.
– Alex brought us Little Ceasar’s pizza and wings
– After Bible Study, Norma provided Honduran coffe, Pepsi, and cookies
– Norma (different one), owns the Tienda next door and started carrying Gatorade because we asked for it – not a normal item she carries; and has been super welcoming. Also, she gave us each a small bag of cold water (12 oz. maybe). They cost about the equivalence of $0.10.
The Hope: “Be the Light” is what I hear the Lord speaking to me (and my team) this month. It is not coincidental that on the day that we lost power in the evening during church service that we (Team Relentless) all had our head lamps and shined the light for all to see. Jesus is the light and we have him within us. We have been sent to this town to shine the light and to spark the flames within those who are within. Hopefully the Lord is using us to spread the light to those here and encourage those lights that are already here to shine brighter.
The Work being done: There has been a lot of ministry happening this month. We have only been here 9 days so far and we have done a lot of different things so far, such as:
– Painting the church, inside and out
– Walking around the town to invite people to church service
– Visiting with people in their homes
– Bible class
– Teaching English
– Learning Spanish
– Preparing and cleaning the church for services – something happens here most days of the week
– Praying for all sorts of things – all the time. My prayer life is definitely increasing this month. (Side note: we have decided to pray the Ann Voscamp prayer 703 every morning as a team/squad and some others back home until Easter. Feel free to join in if you’d like. There is an 8.5 minute prayer online that you can look up and listen to everyday. We pray at 7:03am but you can do it anytime. Those in the states are doing it at 9:03am so that it is at the same time as us.)
– Praying for drunk men who wander into the church
– Playing and entertaining the children who stop by and visit the church
– Visiting schools and putting on impromptu skits
– Singing at church services
– Leading Bible Studies
– Feeding the children
There is probably more but that is all I can recall at the moment. We have about 2 more weeks here and I am excited to see what other great things that God is going to use us for this month.
The Change in me: One thing that I am working on this month is growing intimately closer with the Lord. I am reading “The Secret of the Stairs” and I am sure I will post a different blog about this book at some point.
The Chance for you to participate: We could use a lot of prayer. As mentioned earlier, this place is dark, and sometimes we feel the weight of it and it pulls us down. Pray that we would rely on God for strength and that we would turn to Him for strength and hope. Prayers that we would continue to see the good in all that we encounter. Prayers for the people here that are lost; prayers that their hearts are softened and that they come to know the truth. Prayers that logistics for next month can get figured out soon and smoothly. Prayers that all on my team continue to learn Spanish quickly so that communication is less of a barrier. If you have any prayer requests that you would like me or my team to pray about for you feel free to share and we can add you to our list.
Also, I am just shy of $500 away from being fully funded! If you haven’t given financially yet and would still like to, then now is the time! Thanks all!
That is all for now! Check out my facebook page for photos.
Keep Lookin’ Up,
Misha
