Since I've been staying with a host family the last few days, my internet access has been limited. Here's another update on the last few days.
On Sunday morning at the BIC church, they had a baby dedication service. On Sunday night, Holly and I went to Noe and Suyapa’s house. Noe was away for work, so it was just Suyapa and her children, Keyla and Jarvin. We had a Honduran dinner of eggs, beans and cheese. Suyapa is an amazing cook and so gifted in hospitality! We had a fun “girls night” since Noe was away. Keily does an amazing job of painting nails, so she treated me to a manicure and a pedicure! That was a special treat. So, Holly and I spent time with Keyla and Suyapa for a few hours that night while doing my nails. We had a great time sharing together—only in Spanish! I was trying to give Keyla dating advice. We did a lot of laughing!
We went to bed for the night and tried to sleep. They live more in the country, so there were dogs barking, and roosters crowing…all night long! I thought roosters were only supposed to crow when the sun came up!? Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep. That’s kind of been the “normal” for me on this trip. There have been a lot of various interruptions during my sleep at night…more of those stories will be told one-on-one.
Living with this host family for the few nights, was a true Honduran experience. They do not have any running water in the house. So, toilets are flushed with a bucket of water (like in India) and the shower is a bucket bath. Since we were only there for the two nights, Holly and I decided we weren’t going to do the sponge bath—we got showers at the Horsts house each morning instead.
Holly and I got up early on Monday morning to go for a run. It’s best to go really early to avoid the traffic and fumes. We were hoping to see the sunrise, but the mountain sort of blocked our view. We did see some crazy electrical wires, though! It was great to get out and run! Suyapa served us a bean and cheese sandwich for breakfast, along with some orange juice. It was tasty! Holly and I ended up walking to the Horsts after breakfast, rather than waiting to get picked up. It was about a 2-mile walk.
When we got to the Horsts, the team took some time to split up the HUGE amount of chocolate the Kim brought for them. Chocolate is expensive here and the team (especially Holly!) were going through withdrawal. Kim is their new best friend now! We had to take the van to the garage this morning, so I had to drive the other vehicle. THAT was something I didn’t expect…me, drive in Honduras? Well, I did it—and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be! Traffic is definitely crazy…you need to be an aggressive driver.
Our team took a trip to the Basillica of Suyapa on Monday morning. So, here is come cultural information for you…February 3, marks the 264th anniversary of the Virgin Suyapa, Patron Saint of Honduras. Many versions of the story of Suyapa are told, but the official one goes that the statue of Suyapa was discovered by a man named Alejandro Colindres, a peasant worker, along with an 8-year old boy, one Saturday in February 1747. Both were sent to work in the Piliguin Mountains. As they were returning to their native village of Suyapa, they spent the night outside. In the middle of the night, Colindres was awakened by something causing a sharp pain in his back. Without looking, he picked it up and tossed it away, but soon felt the same sensation again. When morning broke, he discovered a tiny, wooden statue of a virgin. He took it with him and placed it in his mother’s house. As the people of Suyapa heard the story of the tiny virgin, they were convinced it was a miracle. This is how this legend began and ever since, people from around the country have made their way to the Basillica to catch a glimpse of the six and a half centimeter virgin and to offer prayers and ask for their own miracles.
After lunch, we had team devotions and prayer and prepared to join some teens from a local church here to do some evangelizing. Our team joined 5-6 other Honduran teens and we went to a local community and went out two-(or three)-by-two to evangelize. The teens that we went with do this evangelizing regularly. There are a lot of gangs in the area where they go. They have such a heart to reach the young people for Christ. It was an amazing experience! There will be lots more to share on that as the week goes on. We’ll be doing that each evening from 4-6 this week. Prayers are appreciated! Pray that the STEP team would have clarity of mind to be able to speak the Spanish they have learned and to be able to share Christ with these people. Pray for open hearts and minds of those we meet, to be receptive to the Gospel.
Monday was a pretty exhausting day. We ended up back at our houses for the evening around 7:30. Suyapa made “baleadas”—LOVE them! Suyapa is such a great cook! Baleadas are sort of like a flour tortilla with some sort of sauce, cheese and beans inside. So yummy! Unfortunately, Holly and I were so tired that we didn’t have a lot of energy to visit with Suyapa and Keyla that night. We went to bed pretty early. And, amazingly, the dogs and roosters were pretty quiet all night!
Tuesday morning breakfast was “catrachas.” These were also amazing! It’s sort of a tostado with cheese and veggies (tomatoes, onions and cilantro) on top. We had a nice visit with Suyapa and Keyla during breakfast. We said our goodbye’s to Suyapa and Keyla and joined the rest of the team at the Horsts. In the morning, we shared together in team devotions and prayer, ending our time before lunch with a team building activity.
The afternoon will allow time for the team to practice things for the Kids Club program, as well as some additional practice for our evangelizing tonight.
