"How was Honduras?" A question that is so tough for me to answer in just a few short sentences. I love the question and I love that people care enough to ask me about my travels, but I can never choose a few specific things to tell the person because everything -- and I mean EVERYTHING -- was amazing. All I'm saying is that if you ask me that question, be prepared for a novel when you signed up for the Spark Notes.
In my last post (which you can read here!), I talked about the wild and crazy adventure of simply preparing for Honduras and the craziness of getting there, but also how the Lord initiated and pushed me to do things I've always wanted to do but have been too afraid to do. Well, that continued even more while I was in Honduras.
We arrived in Comayagua on Saturday night and got settled in, met everyone, ate, and watched the sweet little kids whose families help out at the mission organization (El Ayudante) sing and danced for us to welcome us! I immediately fell in love. I mean, seriously. These kids were PRECIOUS. It had been a long day of traveling, so we all went to bed fairly early to get some good rest before church the following morning.
Sunday was yet another day of taking everything in and resting. We went to CCI, the church that the people that live at the mission go to. It was so contemporary and great! And it was my first dose of what services in Honduras looked like. It was hard keeping up with the message because I was easing into my Spanish, but luckily we had our friend Elizabeth translating it for us. Later that night, we had church at a small, Pentecostal church right down the road from the mission. We got to meet more kiddos, be introduced to the families that attend that church, AND... are you ready for this... I don't think you are...... LEAD WORSHIP with Tia, and Santos and Rachel (our translators for the week). HAHAHAHAHA WHAT?!?! I literally stood in front of a church and led worship!! It makes me laugh so much because there is not even a slim chance I would do that in the States. Worship was one of my favorite parts from this day though. I got to see that the people of this culture praise God in the very same way that we do. They sing, they dance. It's the same. The same Holy Spirit that is in us is also in them. We all are made in God's image and it was so cool to experience this and feel His Spirit so alive in us all together -- united as one.
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| The church in Los Pinos |
Every day, from Monday until Thursday, we installed water filters from about 8:30 until 11:30. We drove about 10-15 minutes away to a different neighborhood called Los Pinos that is known for really being untouched terrain. There is one church there that people rarely go to and people are very disinterested to the church. Going there was incredible, though. We would go into every house that had signed up to get a water filter each day with a huge gallon tub, a few bags of rocks, and sifters to get the job done. While waiting to see if the water flowed the right speed, we got a chance to hang out with the families and build relationships with them. We sat down and asked them about their thoughts on the Lord and whether or not they were saved. We got to share with so many families the true love of Christ and present the offer Christ has always been holding out to them of eternal life right then and there. It was as if I felt the Kingdom of Heaven literally coming down. Working and serving the Lord made me rejoice. I was absolutely in my element.
One specific situation really made me take a step back and say, "Man, I love this. So much." We were a little behind doing the water filters one day, so they had me and Anyi, a friend that knows some English and really knows the process of installing filters, go to start on installing a filter at a woman's house. We began talking and I really got to use my Spanish and learn more about the woman. This woman owned a little land in order to grow mango and guayaba and had a little girl that wasn't home from school yet. Once we got the filter installed, we got to sit down with the woman and introduce her to the gospel. Elizabeth, one of the wives that live at El Ayudante and help run it, asked me if I wanted to translate this time instead of one of the translators. Initially, I said, "No, no, no. It's okay. I don't really know very many of those kinds of words in Spanish to translate the gospel." After much hesitation and Elizabeth pushing me and reassuring me that I indeed could do it and if I missed a word, I would have 2 translators sitting next to me to fall back on, I decided to go with it.
And it was the most beautiful and liberating thing.
I got to see that all along, not only was I putting myself and my potential in a box, but I was doing the same to God. I doubted myself. I let Satan tell me I was unworthy and not good enough to translate the gospel. But low and behold, I DID IT. With ease, too. The woman completely understood what I was saying. I was capable of translating God's Word. And that's when it hit me -- Jesus and Spanish together seriously are my biggest passions and I want to use both of them for the rest of my life. Ephesians 3:14-20 was what I decided to memorize before I went on this trip and I saw first hand verse 20 come to life.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
BOOM
And what happened afterwards? The woman refused to let me leave without her showering me with gratitude by sharing the fruit she had grown with me. She didn't care that I didn't need it. She solely wanted to show me how thankful she was. That's the Lord's work for ya, y'all.
So, that was the bulk of our day on Monday through Thursday for the most part. It was beautiful seeing how the Lord can bond people from completely different cultures and show that God's love really doesn't have a language barrier at all and that putting actions with words -- God's Word -- can transform lives, including your own. Everything about Honduras stole my heart: the people, the kids, using my Spanish, the delicious food, the beauty of the mountains, and just experiencing the Lord in ways I never had before.
Friday was our last "real", full day in Comayagua. This was probably my favorite day because we got to a school and give fluoride treatments and play with the kids. A lot of the children are ones we had already met that lived in Lo de Reina, the same neighborhood the El Ayudante is in. The school was literally a 10 minute walk away. While there, we got to see the workers at El Ayudante give a lesson on hygiene and why it's important. Later on was the fun part -- organizing sack races, painting faces, and distributing MILLIONS of hugs to so many faces that I could pinch off! I mean come on.. they don't get much cuter :)
These kids made me see how fun life can truly be. The restlessness in me wants with all my heart to be back with them. They love and love and love and give you hugs that lets you know how desired you are by an almighty God that never ever lets go of you. Saying goodbye to these faces killed me. School ended and we got to walk them home and I was crushed because I knew it could possibly be the last time I saw them ever again. It hurt so bad to know that if I did get to return to Honduras, they'd be older and different and I wouldn't get to see them grow up. That was the hardest part -- knowing I was only there for a week when I wanted to be there for the long haul.
Some extra things we go to do during the week after we would install water filters and eat lunch was pour concrete floors and help build latrines. Most houses don't have concrete floors nor a latrine (kind of like an outhouse/toilet). Pouring and mixing concrete for the latrines and the floors was so tough. I ached. Everywhere. But seeing the end result made it so worth it. Knowing that these houses would be homes and would be finished a few short months after we had left was what made it worth it.
A few months later, I got to see this sweet, sweet picture of the house that we built the latrine be finished. And livable.
There are so many things I could say to express what this trip did for me. I saw a new side of what life is like and what the Lord has to offer when we just take that leap of faith because He believes in us. I jumped off a 15+ foot rock into some water. I got to use my Spanish, the skills the Lord had prepared me to use for 6 years, to translate the Good News to a woman. I lead worship with about 4 other people in front of a church when I have a horrible voice. On my very last day, I shared in the front of a church, IN SPANISH, with many people what my trip to Honduras did for me. How it changed me. How it allowed me to see our God in a much bigger spectrum than the tiny box that I put Him in. His Holy Spirit is alive and working, not only in the United States, but EVERYWHERE in the world. He is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or think.
The Lord challenged me in new ways while in Honduras and showed me that I didn't have to only "be brave" when I made it my New Year's resolution, but that He created me to be that all the time. When I see a need wherever I am, to try my best to meet it and give Him the glory. Being bold and not letting fear hold me back from the things I want to do is how I experienced God in Honduras and now in life every day. He has so much more to offer than holding back. Take the road less traveled by. Be different. Stop and take the time to love a single person. Honduras let me see Heaven touching Earth and how He will use all things for His glory.
"To belong to Jesus is to embrace the nations with Him." - John Piper
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