What a week!
Last night in the truck on the way home from our street ministry in La Kenedy, my friend Roni who stays at Zion's Gate Ministries asked me "Como estas Chiquita?"(how are you). I answered "Happy." He asked why, and I told him because I was with my friends, I am loved by God, and this is an adventure. And Honduras truly is an adventure. It is completely different than anything I've ever experianced. Let me explain.
Everywhere you look, mountains. Tall, rocky and green, the mountains in Honduras are the primary feature, causing the roads to curve and slope up and down like a rollercoaster. The scenery is breathtaking, surrounding everything. One minute we are driving in the crowed city, the next bend in the road we are alongside the red rocky face of the mountain with the drop-off on the other side. Cactuses line the roads, stuck between giant boulders. If I could only pick one word to describe Honduras, I would probably choose "beautiful."
Every morning we are awakened by the sun rising and the sound of the semi trucks barreling their way up the hill. For some reason the trucks here are twenty times louder than in the states, sounding like they are ripping apart as they drive past. Everyone is liberal and heavy on their horns, whether it is to acknowledge us as we walk to the Popereia( pulp-ah-ria), the little convience stores that line the roads, or to express their frustration at other drivers. I love driving on Honduran roads, it is exhilarating and so much fun!
We get ready for the day in a co-Ed bathroom, with cold showers and toilets that only flush liquids. We have to throw our toilet paper in a trash can when we are done. Breakfast is fruit loops or frosted flakes, but if we catch the fruit truck then we are blessed with fresh papaya, avocados, pineapple, watermelons, cucumbers, starfruit and melt-in-your-mouth-crazy-delicious mangoes.
My team is working on the property at Zion's Gate, groups of us working on certain areas. My friend Kalynn and I took up the cactus garden: we spent the past week using shovels and pick axes to dig a trench around the garden which we will eventually fill with gravel to drain the water better. I also used a machete to chop down grass; it's safe to say I felt pretty hardcore.
After our usual lunch of beans, rice and tortillas, a group of us will go down to La Kenedy to do street ministry. We have been going down everyday, visiting the small, neglected community that lives at the bottom of a ravine behind a dumpster. It smells, there is trash and flies everywhere. When we go, at least two of the kids are sniffing paint thinner to get high. And they love to see us. They don't want us to leave. We bring food and play with the children, practice English with the adults, give them company. Victoria, the abuela and head woman in charge, told Tony, " No one comes down here to visit us." In just five days of ministering there, three of the boys came to Zion's gate to see us and hang out. Please continue to pray for this ministry, that God would plant seeds in their lives and we would leave them at the end of these 2 months in a better position knowing the love of Jesus.
Last night, on Friday our entire team and about 15 other people from Zion's Gate went down to the busiest intersection in La Kenedy to do more street ministry. We made giant signs and hand wrote over 200 little notes that we attached to pieces of candy to give out. When the light turned red, we ran out in the street, danced, sang, handed out candy and waved our signs. I sat atop Roni's shoulders waving a sign that said "Jesus Te Ama" (Jesus loves you) and he would run back and forth across the street. We sang "Hakuna Matata" and "Jesus is Bubbling" and "Rolling in The Deep." We flashmobbed five restaurants singing "Jesus is Bubbling." Anything that would get the people to smile and wonder what would make a group of crazy North Americans do this. We had people filming us from their cars and taking pictures. The best part was that some of the boys from Zion's Gate who used to be on the streets begging at the cars at the very same intersection are now GIVING, not asking for anything but giving out and demonstrating beautifully how having a relationship with Christ can completely turn around a life.
Everything we are doing is an adventure, from what we eat to using pick axes to riding the crowded public bus on the way to the mall to post this blog. I serious considered calling this post " Your Tush is Touching Mine," because there have been at least five people, who, in trying to squeeze past, scraped their rear end across mine. But that's just how it goes. I accidentally hit a lady in the head with my bag last time on the bus, and she didn't even blink. Just when you think the bus is full, six more people have to get on, and its time to get real comfortable with the people on either side of you. And I love it. I love every part of being here. I have always wanted to go on an adventure, and now I'm living one. Sure it's hard, but that's part of what makes me grow in God. He is with me through the whole thing, and that is the very best thing.
Psalm 145:21 "My mouth will speak in praise of The Lord. Let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever."
