Honduras pt.1

| Honduras |
            a place I now consider to be a second home. Never in a million years would I have ever expected to spend 6 weeks of my life in such a beautiful country with a family who welcomed my sister and I with open arms and quickly became very special friends. We experienced so much in those 6 weeks. There is so much to tell, so many faces to show. It will take some time but I want to share as much as I can.

I'll start from the beginning. Growing up I always loved the idea of traveling; of leaving home and going to other places in the world to tell people about Jesus (Amy Carmichael is my hero). My heart for missions had seem to be growing over this past year so earlier this year, in March, I decided to really start praying towards missions. There was no path towards missions in my mind, no opportunities had presented themselves, nor did I think they ever would for at least a couple years. But, I wanted to start praying because of the tugging that was going on in my heart and also because James 2 says "you have not because you do not ask God." The opportunity for us to go came about so quickly, we had only known a month in advance that we would be going! I don't think we will ever fully understand Gods timing in certain areas of life but it is always perfect, good for us, and for His ultimate glory. I won't ever forget the moment I sat on my floor in my room and I looking back in my journal over the past couple months I found a one line entry on March 15 and made the connection that no joke, 3 months later, to the day (June 15) my sister and I would be hopping on a plane headed for San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Only God could plan something like that so perfectly. I was in awe. 

Our mission: Going there we had a hand ful of goals, but our biggest goal was to begin a youth girls ministry in a village called El Buen Pastor. It was about 20 miles away from where we stayed in Siguatepeque but it took a good 2 hours to get there because of the rough roads. Super bumpy, super uncomfortable, but so fun! 

In the few weeks leading up to our trip, I was so nervous and felt unqualified to go do the work God has put before my sister and I. I didn't know hardly any Spanish (only a few things I could remember from taking it 2 or 3 years prior in college), and I didn't have much experience teaching but I was reminded over and over that He uses weak vessel to display His great strength. 

| our weakness is a vessel for His power and our flaws a canvas for His grace | -SRT

Our first Sunday there with the girls was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. They were so shy and nervous.  We couldn't speak to them, because we didn't know Spanish, there were a couple moments of complete silence...you can just imagine them and us, here in this little church, in a village that just received electricity 2 1/2 years ago, unable to speak to each other. (I'm not a fan of awkward silence, so this was a challenge for me). Words cannot describe how thankful I am for the Pattersons, the family we stayed with who are also the ones who started this church in the village. They were so gracious and translated for my sister and I time and time again. Every week Christy Patterson, would translate for us so we could get to know the girls some. The first week we taught them how to make friendship bracelets and we sat in a circle and ate some cookies and we began to learn the names and ages of these precious girls. In the weeks following, they began to break out of their shells. We played more crazy, fun games, we did more crafts, painted nails, and the atmosphere began to get more comfortable. 

 It was the second week that my eyes were really opened. We played a game called "drop the sheet", a game I played when I was in youth, we split the girls in 2 groups and each group picks one person to walk up to the sheet, then the sheet gets dropped and whoever names the person on the other side the fastest gets a point. Boy oh boy, did these girls know each other! And really well too. Of course, what a foolish thing for me to think they didn't know each other very well, they all lived super close and have probably grow up together. They were spoutin' off each other's names left and right, still nervously giggling but the smiles on their faces grew and they began to feel more comfortable. We had so much fun! For the first time I really felt connected to them, they became so much more real to me that day. Just like us girls in America, they like to have fun together, they laugh and cry and have unique beautiful personalities. That experience in those moments was worth the whole trip to me.. But it got even better. 

I was able to start teaching them over the next few weeks. None of them had ever heard the gospel before, so I began with a simple lesson from the story of Mary sitting with Jesus and Martha working in the kitchen. I explained how much more important it is for us to come believe in Jesus rather than try to work out way to heaven. Catholicism is very preeminent in Honduras so they are very works based. Over the course of the next 3-4 weeks, we talked very simply about God grace for us, forgiveness, and substitution. I used a lot of examples that required volunteers...which is another things I learned while spending time with these sweet girls, they can and like to read! They only need a little encouragement. Every time I taught, I gave 6-10 of them different verses from the bible for them to read for me. They did excellent!

My most favorite example was from the lesson on Christ's substitution (shoutout to Pinterest and creative people for being so great at making stuff like this so accessible). In this lesson, I had 2 backpacks, one that said "nuestros pecados" which says "our sin" and it represented the sin that we have committed. I had 5 or 6 heavy rocks laying off to the side, then pulled an older girl that I thought could hold the weight, and I placed the backpack on her and called other girls to come and place rocks in the backpack, but before they did that, they had to name a sin that the rock represented. Before we knew it, the backpack was weighing about 40lbs and bless her heart, she had to stand there the rest of my lesson haha. She was a trooper! When I got to the part of my lesson that explain how Christ was our substitute, the second back pack, which I was wearing and had nothing in it, was given to her. I traded with her and explained that when Jesus died on the cross, not only did he remove our sins from us, He substituted His righteous life for our sinful one. He took our sin and gave us perfection. 

I was amazed and so grateful for how well the girls listened to me teach week after week. The connection we had with one another was a gift form God. It's because of His grace in my life that I was even able to experience these moments, these girls became so dear and so special! God overcame every fear and worry I had about teaching and about not being able to speak to them. He blessed us so much. My heart is so thankful that our time with them went so well. The last day we were with them, we decided to decorate cupcakes and none of them even knew what a cupcake was! Some were careful e in their placing of the sprinkles they were given by creating a cute design and others enjoyed completely coating the top with them, haha.

That morning we also decided to give the girls gift bags full of goodies. Christy explained to the girls what was in the bags, which included a tooth brush, toothpaste, and vitamins, and when she got to the toothbrush part, you would've thought we were giving them iPhones. There were bursts of cheers and laughter, clapping and giggling. Pure joy was on their faces, over a little tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush. It's incredible what we take for granted.

Our final moments with them ended in tears and a big group hug. Our hearts had been connected in ways I can't describe. I miss them, the giggles, the smiles, the hugs. I can't wait to go back one day and see them again. 

God is greater than a language barrier. He is stronger and greater than the obstacles and mountains we are a faced with in life. I saw Him work in incredible ways and learned more about Him and how He uses His children. He is the head of His church, and we are His hands and feet. Our first week there we started with 16 girls and ended up with 30+. Since, our time there, 5 of the girls have consistently been going to church, one of them brought their older sister the next week. God provided 2 other girls from the states to continue the ministry for another 5 weeks, and it will hopefully be continued after they leave. So incredible. He is shining. He is working.

|  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. | -Joshua 1:9