Welcome to Honduras!
Hello! This month we are staying on the property that Tony,
our ministry contact, recently acquired for his ministry, Zion’s Gate. The
property was formerly the most prominent nightclub in the nation’s capital,
Tegucigalpa. The
owner became a Christian, shut down the club, and began renting it to Tony!
This month, our entire squad is living together and working
alongside one another. It’s definitely a change going from living with six
girls to living with over 40 men and woman!
The main purpose of Zion’s Gate is to minister to the street
kids in a community called Los Pinos. Los Pinos is
the most dangerous section of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Tony has a
heart for the kids here, particularly the teenage boys on the streets. He goes
into the city daily, to talk with and form relationships with the boys. He
doesn’t buy them presents, he doesn’t bribe them; he simply forms a
relationship with them and demonstrates the love of God.
When one of the street kids begins
to catch his vision, Tony invites him to come and stay on the property here.
Currently, there are 11 boys living on the property with us as they attempt to
change their lives.
This property is a great escape
for the teens. Tony’s vision is to fix the place up and turn it into a retreat
center of sorts. He has dreams to put in a turf soccer field, and lots of other
amenities.
Our main focus this month is to
come alongside Tony, minister to the kids, and do anything and everything we
can to fix up the property and minister to the community. We’ve broken up into
groups depending upon interest areas, and are tackling numerous projects.
Projects include:
–
Creating a website for
the ministry
–
Painting the interior
of the building
–
Painting murals on the
exterior of the building
–
Teaching English in
the school down the street
–
Expanding the garden
–
Making stone walkways
–
Clearing the land of
large rocks, glass, and trash
–
Helping one of the boys
to bake and sell cookies
–
Helping another boy to
make and sell bags of popcorn
–
Helping three of the
boys learn English
–
Working with members
of Congress
–
Ministering to the
people living at the local dump
–
Visiting Los Piños and
building an outhouse for a family there
–
Helping Esperanza, the
cook, prepare the meals
–
Cleaning and painting
Tony’s house
–
Working alongside
local pastors to fulfill any need that arises
I specifically have been assigned
to the murals on the outside of the building, and manual labor around the
property. I’ve also helped the cook, Esperanza, cook dinner once or twice, and
have gone to Los Pinos to pray for people in the town.
So that’s the extent of it!
Because of debrief and leaving early for Europe, we only have a little over two
weeks of ministry, but already we’ve seen tremendous changes to the property! It’s crazy what
can happen when 40 people get together and work for the Lord! As soon as I get a chance, I’ll take and post a video tour
of the complex here so check back and look for that!
