Wow...it's hard to put into words everything about a trip that I'd been anticipating for so long. I got back from Honduras late Friday night and am just now beginning to unpack the lasting impact this trip is going to have on my life.
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| We were challenged to be the difference to one person in Honduras during the week. |
Only a short week ago I arrived in this tragically beautiful third-world country. To be perfectly honest, in terms of "stuff" it exceeded my expectations. There were paved roads, fast food restaurants, malls, and stores on every corner. However, I was immediately greeted with a language barrier and a culture I knew little about. It's surprising how much Spanish I picked up in a week's time--the 12 words I knew quickly turned into at least 25!
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| Catherine and me with one of the little girls at IHNFA, the government run orphanage. |
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| Serving alongside some of my favorite people. |
I had the joy of serving on a team with 32 other people, largely from Birmingham, ranging in age from 8 to 78. The neat thing about this team was it was made up of five families with lots of kids, and then my crew of friends. It was a lot of fun to watch these families serve together and teach their children the importance of sacrifice and choosing a lifestyle that puts others first. We worked with an organization called
Forgotten Children Ministries, whose mission is to rescue abandoned street children and provide them with a safe, loving place to live, an education, and a knowledge of Jesus Christ. The kids live at Noah's Ark Shelter in Tegucigalpa (where we stayed), the Girls' Shelter, and Grace Farm (a little out from town).
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| The "young people" on our team |
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| Our team outside the entrance to Grace Farm |
Each morning, while the shelter kids were at school, we would go out into the local community and do food ministry. This basically meant that we would divide into teams of 6 to 8 people (and a translator) and go door to door ministering to people in poverty-stricken neighborhoods. We had the opportunity to not only provide them with food, but we got to share the Gospel and pray for these precious people. Often to my surprise, the people we encountered were already believers, but might not have been able to attend church or have fellowship with other Christians for whatever reason. In those situations, we were able to minister through fellowship and conversation. I was always amazed at how we went with the intention of being a blessing to these people, but when we walked away, we were the ones who had been blessed. The Lord is always so kind to show up like that. A lot of times we would get off the bus and people would start to gather in before we even had a chance to disperse out into the neighborhood. One particular day when we got back to the bus, there were probably 100 people gathered around. One of the missionaries had a chance to preach outside the bus and several people accepted Jesus on the side of the road. It was such a neat experience to see the Kingdom expand right before my eyes.
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| My team doing food ministry one day. After we prayed for this lady, she asked to pray for us! |
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| Pray for my friend Nestor. He accepted Jesus beside the bus one morning. |
After lunch, we would travel out to the farm where all the kids would be waiting for us. Our team hosted a soccer tournament. Turns out, this soccer tournament is one of the most anticipated events every year. It's legit, too...jerseys, t-shirts, prizes, the whole nine yards. A lot of the guys on our team (gringos) played with the Honduran kids. Needless to say, the gringos just don't quite have the same kind of soccer skills! After the kids played soccer every day, we broke up into discipleship groups where we got to teach and do crafts. One day we had a water gun war and silly string fight. There was also lots of time to hang out with the kids, build relationships, and just play!
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| Playing at the farm with Lester and Duglas |
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| Nelson is a wild man! |
At night, we would go back to the shelter for dinner (which was surprisingly good!) and team time. Team time was always cool because you got to hear everyone's' stories from the day. It was always obvious that the Lord showed up and put us in situations to minister to people that we could never have created ourselves. Then we would bag more beans and rice for the next day. There were several methods for bagging, but my team felt it necessary to be unconventional and use the gravity method. This required a speedy assembly line. It was my job to sit in the floor and fill the bags and try to spill as little as possible...harder than it sounds!
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| Bagging beans and rice...takes more skill than you'd think! |
On our last full day in Honduras, we took the kids to Pizza Hut and bowling. It was definitely a highlight of the trip. They had a blast!
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| Bowling with the kiddos. |
By the end of the week, we had encountered many people, played with lots of kids, passed out hundreds of pounds of beans and rice, and played sixteen soccer games. But the thing that sticks with me the most is that the love of God transcends a language barrier, a strange culture, a national pastime, and country borders. These precious people are just like you and me...sinners in need of a Savior. When we come face to face with our total depravity, where we live, how much we have, and what we do for a living all suddenly becomes totally insignificant. It was my joy to be the hands and feet of Jesus this week, and it is my prayer that even though I am back in Birmingham, I am mindful of the lost, hurting people in my own community that I can share the love of Christ with. It doesn't take traveling to a third-world country to find people who are in need of an encounter with the One who holds the whole world in His hands.
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| Graham, Dany, Catherine, and me at dinner one night. The kids don't use forks, so he ate his mashed potatoes with a tortilla...crazy! |
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| This is Dany, the little boy I sponsor through FCM. | | | | |
"The needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever."
Psalm 9:18
