Time is going so fast here…and our days are full! It’s been a few days since I’ve been able to update you all on what is happening. So much is happening! The enemy is constantly trying to stop our evangelism plans, but God is good! We are continuing to push through!
Tuesday night was our second night of evangelizing. We joined the group of Honduran teens here that evangelize in these neighborhoods regularly. Tuesday evening’s evangelism experience was different from Monday’s in that on Tuesday, we went to a different neighborhood and were inviting people to come to church with us that night.
Our group split in two groups to go to two different neighborhoods. Our group ended up having a van full of local children to take to church. We filled every available spot (and even NOT so available spot) in the van!
Tuesday evening ended up quite differently than we all expected it to. Long story…and I’ll share more on that one-on-one. Holly and Yolanda are the only ones from our group that were able to get to the church service that night. Due to some mechanical difficulties with our van, the church had to send another van to us to load up the kids we picked up. It ended up being quite a long night, but God is good!
On Wednesday morning, I had some time to meet with another one of our leaders here in Honduras to just discuss how things were going for him with our BIC churches here and to also brainstorm other ideas or ministries that we could plug in to. He lives up in the mountains and takes public transportation most times, so we walked to a local Dunkin Donuts for our meeting. We ended our meeting close to lunch time so we ended up going to have basically, Mexican tacos for lunch. We tried taking a bus, but got on the wrong one. So, we got off and ended up walking to the restaurant. After lunch, I got the taxi experience to go back to the house. We had our team devotions and prayer time, continuing our study of Nehemiah. The study was appropriate in that we talked about how the enemy was attacking Nehemiah and trying to stop his building plans—just as the enemy is trying to work against us this week as we try to evangelize in the community.
On Wednesday afternoon, our team spent some time at Jericho Ministries. This is one of the ministries that our STEP team plugs in to. Jericho Ministries began as a ministry to get women off of the streets and away from prostitution. These women were provided with a safe place to be, learn skills to find a job and learn about Christ. A sewing workshop began out of this ministry. There are three phases in the rehabilitation program—a one-year residential program, readjustment to city life and follow-up for the graduates. Jericho Ministries has expanded to include a school for children, too. Betsy, the woman who started it, also has an amazing testimony! This ministry is such a blessing to the community!
Wednesday night’s evangelism was to yet another neighborhood. We joined a new group of Honduran teens and ended up walking around the community and inviting youth to their cell group for that night. We met a lot of the teens they have been meeting with regularly. The church here that we’ve been working with for the evangelism has quite a ministry! It’s awesome to see these young people so excited for Jesus! I tried to take a few photos of the community as we were walking, just to give you an idea of what it looks like.
One of the teens we met from the church is named, Katherine. She spoke English very well and is actually in college studying to be a doctor. I had a lot of good conversations with her. She’s an amazing young woman! She actually seems very interested in taking part in our STEP program someday. Who knows? On Tuesday evening when I was with Katherine evangelizing, she asked me what types of Honduran foods I’ve been able to try. I hadn’t had too many at that point. So, she proceeded to buy a green mango with salt and vinegar on it. It was quite an interesting flavor…I sort of liked it. Then, Katherine invited me (and anyone else on our team who wanted to) to come to her house the next night, Wednesday night, for dinner. She would make us “pupusas”, which is like a tortilla filled with cheese and then topped with shredded lettuce and diced tomatos, onions and peppers.
So, on Wednesday night, after our evangelism time, Kim (Jesse’s mom) and I ended up going to Katherine’s house for dinner. The rest of the STEP team had made arrangements to join their host families for dinner, especially since it had been late the last few nights. So, Kim and I joined Katherine and her family for dinner. When we got to Katherine’s house, we actually ended up helping her to make the pupusas. That was a fun experience. Katherine told us how her mom was an excellent cook and she was sure that when she returned home from church, she would NOT be happy with the pupusas that she was making for us. Well, she was right. It was almost 9:00 until we actually sat down to eat what we made and her mom returned home from church and took one look at what we were eating and was “horrified!” She was teasing Katherine and proceeded to make us HER version of pupusas. Katherine’s dad and younger brother joined us too. Our “pupusas” were too thin…the ones that she made were much thicker with more cheese. I had to tell Katherine that I did, in fact, like her mom’s better. Everyone got a good laugh about that. We had a great time sharing together. This is one special family. Katherine’s mother has an amazing testimony. The short of it is that she pretty much died three times (various surgeries) but came back to life. I’m pretty sure that God still wants her here! Kim and I ended up visiting Katherine and her family until 10:30; and I had yet another privilege to drive in Honduras—3 times now! Who would have guessed?!
I’ve had quite a few late nights, most with interrupted sleep, so prayers are appreciated. I’m doing well, but I am tired—please pray that I’ll be able to maintain my health. I’ve been going on morning runs with Aquilla, the dog, and that has been interesting! All in all, things continue to go well here.
On Thursday morning, Barry took Kim and I to see The Micah Project, another ministry in the city that the STEP team will get involved with. This is a home for boys. The ministry is to get them off of the streets. Most of them are addicted to sniffing glue. The home provides a safe place where they can study, learn a trade and learn about Jesus. The one photo shows a “shop” on the roof of the building that is used to teach them carpentry skills. Another picture shows a local church in the area. The yellow house right above the church is actually the local drug lord’s house. The neighborhood is pretty rough. The Micah Project meets a great need in the area. They are actually in the process of expanding the ministry and moving it to a more rural area. We had an opportunity to see that land as well and hear about some of the plans they have.
Tonight (Thursday) is our last night of evangelism. We’re actually joining the group of Honduran teens tonight for a “celebration” dinner at Suyapa’s house before we evangelize. We wanted to thank them for their role in our week and to just be able to spend some time with them. We’ll be evangelizing with them after our dinner. Please pray for safety tonight in our travels and as we walk the streets of the communities. Pray for open hearts to hear from Christ.
It looks like tonight will be another late night. And, tomorrow, we have an early start. We’re travelling quite a distance to a waterfall for a fun day to end our week. We’re all looking forward to it!
Thanks for your continued prayers for us!
