Our first week in Honduras we got to go to an amazing ministry called Heart of Christ. We spent three days with Gracie and Lee working at their ministry, a specialized children's home that is a refuge for victims of rape and violence, housing girls and children. At this ministry we got to care for the babies and toddlers while the mothers were in classes, spend time with the girls and I got to help make lunch with one of the girls one day for everyone, a traditional Honduran dish called pupusa.
“It is the heart of Christ that reaches out to rescue the lost, the suffering, and the dying. We must impact the world by sharing Christ's love in the form of serving others, meeting their needs, rescuing them from their suffering and discipling and empowering them to become the solutions to the problems around them” (heartofchristhonduras.org). This explains a lot about this ministry. Gracie, has also been involved with ministry outside of Heart of Christ doing investigations with the Honduran police in the town she is staying in. She has been working at solving cases, and has had cases actually lead to a place where people are prosecuted. 70% of the cases brought to Gracie are resolved. That Is only part of what Gracie has done in Honduras. The ministry we spent time at, Heart of Christ is a home for girls, who as I mentioned is a home for children who have suffered rape or incest, and also for children who where not able to be cared for in infa (the government orphanages) or even children left to die, in some instances.

 Some of the young mothers and children. Lee & Gracie are in the back
Here is the reality in Honduras…I mentioned before that Honduras is the murder capital of the world, There is a high precedence of rape, kidnapping, sex trafficking, and violence and abuse within homes. The policing here is corrupt, and resources our limited, so many people in need to not receive the help they should, and consequence for action does not always come to pass. It is such a sad situation, and something I would have never understood, or at least scratched the surface of understanding the issues of this country if not coming here, and not meeting Gracie and being part of Heart of Christ.
Spending time with the girls Heart of Christ
All the girls here have different stories, from gang violence to incest. The ministry is involved with the government in that the girls, by law, are to stay in the centre and they and their children are court ordered to stay there until the mother is 21 years of age. Some of the girls want to be in the center, and others don't, which is very sad. My prayer is that these girls would be able to understand the love they are receiving and how they are being helped, and that they too could be a world changer.


So here are some of the beautiful girls and children that are at Heart for Christ and a brief look at their stories…
This is Heidy. Her mother woke her up each morning at 3am to make tortillas, and then she would have to sell them on the streets during the day. In the evening she would be beaten for not selling enough tortillas. She was raped by her uncle and is now 17 with a baby less than a year old.


Heidy & me making pupusa Heidy's baby, Christopher
This is Michelle, she was raped by her grandfather and at 12 years old, she has 2 month old baby.


This is Moises, Diego and Alejuandro…
Moises was brought to Gracie at 5 months old with a large tumor on his side, he was basically left to die. Gracie worked hard and prayed hard to have the tumor removed. He initially was supposed to be able to have it done in the USA, but a funding grant from Honduras was unable to be made as the country does not have the money, and they had to have the procedure done here in Honduras in a public hospital. The scary part of that are the less than ideal conditions in the hospitals, and likely a lesser skill set than that in the USA. God willing, this miracle child had his 15lb tumor removed can now run and play as a regular child or 2yrs old.

Both of Alejuandro and Diego mothers escaped and left the centre one night, leaving their children behind.


This is Ivania and Erika. They have cystic fibrosis. Ivania was left for dead. Gracie and Lee took her in, I believe she was around 15lbs and severely malnourished. They had to spend about 6hrs a day for 3 months feeding her to bring her back to health. She is such a beautiful child of God.



Ciera (my team mate using her Physio Therapist Assistant skills


I think this is such a beautiful ministry. I am so amazed how God uses people. I can't imagine how she deals with the stress and emotions that would come with this ministry. One can only hope and pray that these girls, through God using Gracie may one day be part of a solution to all the corruption and exploitation that goes on in this country.
Once again, the very talented Jessie & Kristy put together a video about where we live!
