The month of December my team has been in Tegucigalpa, Honduras working with a ministry called Honduras Gospel Outreach. This program is made up of two main parts: the first is a small Christian bilingual school and the second is a community church. For the first two weeks we were here, my team took on the rolls of teachers at Loyalty School. Each one of my teammates got assigned to a classroom and was completely responsible for all the lessons, planning, and classroom management. I was working with my teammate, Gracie, teaching first and second graders. It was an amazing two weeks! Standing in front of those kiddos, getting to pour into them both spiritually and academically, was one of my favorite experiences so far. God has blessed me with a love for teaching and I got to really press into that passion this month. Unfortunately I couldn’t teach the whole month because the students got out of school for Winter Break last week.
So for the last two weeks of December we will be working with the other side of Honduras Gospel Outreach, Shalom Church. This looks like a lot of different things. On Monday we put together gospel bracelets for little kids and made care packages for new mothers. On Tuesday we went to visit some of the members of the church to pray blessings over them and their families. We also got to play games, sing, and share a message with some children from one of the neighborhoods nearby. Yesterday we visited a local children’s hospital. This was very different than I expected it to be. When we pulled up outside there were people waiting all around the entrance with duffel bags and blankets. Our ministry host informed us that there were no waiting rooms at this hospital. Parents, relatives, and siblings have to wait outside while their little ones are being cared for inside. He told us that some wait out there for days or even weeks while their children are being treated. We were originally told that we would be going into the newborn area to pray over the babies there, but when we arrived a contact from the hospital told us that we would not be allowed inside. Changing plans on the spot, we decided to invite everyone waiting outside to have some free coffee and a small service. Each one of my teammates and I were asked to share a short word from the Lord with the group that gathered. I had no idea what to say to to group of adults waiting in the cold to hear news of their sick loved ones. The Lord gave me the words “hope” and “reconciliation” so I talked about how the Lord is in the business of reconciling everyone and everything to Himself. Even if the situation seems bleak there is still reason to hope, because this world is not our home. After each of us spoke, we got to pray for the people standing there. Though it was nothing like I imagined it would be, I still know the Lord was present in that parking lot and drawing all those people near.
Needless to say it has been a challenging, rewarding, and surprising month. I am sad to see it drawing to an end, but I look forward with expectation to the way the Lord will move in the upcoming days, weeks, and months.
