How can I describe what has happened in scarcely a week?
Last Friday morning, I woke up at 2:30 am on the floor of Dulles Airport in Washington, DC.
This Friday I awoke in my tent in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to the sound of a truck horn blowing for a good three minutes straight.
I could run through a play-by-play of everything that has happened.
I could tell stories of amazing men and women of God laboring to bring the gospel, justice, hope, and change every person they meet.
I could tell you about boys and girls with horrific pasts whose lives have been radically transformed by Jesus Christ and the men and women who are His hands and feet.
For the sake of a story, here are some highlights. My days are spent playing soccer for hours on end, digging rocks out of a sick mixture of mud and poop, washing clothes (especially the mud covered ones), teaching school, playing more soccer, feeding a 6 year old with cerebral palsy, throwing a ball with a 2 year old boy (a product of rape and abandoned by his 12 year old mother), playing even more soccer, sleeping, and finally laughing, crying and singing with my squadmates.
However, what can I say that could fully encompass the amazing things that God is doing here?
Our host family deserves several pages of stories alone. But, what I want to share is that God can change any scenario. As I write this, I’m dodging flying pool cues as I try to find some free space to write. The room is packed full of white North Americans and about 10 Honduran boys and girls. These kids live here, with Tony and his wife. They used to live on the streets, fending for themselves. As I adjust my chair, I turn to see who is wielding the pool cue. It is not my fellow squad mates who are playing pool. Instead, it is one of Tony’s boys playing with the a police officer.
This could never have happened a few months ago. The atmosphere between these boys and the police was contentious at best. These boys were consistently pulled over by the police and searched. Suspicion and anger were commonplace.
Tony, however, began making an effort to change this. Accordingly, Tony and the police came to an agreement about having two officers at the compound every day as added protection for us, the North Americans. Thus, I have become accustomed to seeing fully armed policemen roaming about the compound. It’s a small thing, but today I saw how time, effort, and the love of God could change a scenario in which there seemed to be no hope.
I have two weeks left in Tegucigalpa. With everything that has happened so far, I cannot wait to see what else God has in store.
