The End...El Fin

Saturday

At some point or other, all good things must come to an end.  He has made everything beautiful in its time... (Ecc. 3:11).  

A la Playa!

The final day of our adventures ended at the beach, about an hour drive from Choluteca.  It was a beautiful and warm day, perfect for swimming, walks along the beach, or lying in one of the dozens of hammocks.  For me, it was nice to have a day to absorb the events of the week while enjoying time with the members of our team.  (But can you believe it?  I got a sunburn!)

 Myself and my best friend Michelle at the beach <3

 Our whole team at the beach, including our translators and little Antony

Views of Nicaragua and El Salvador

Playing our favorite card game in Spanish at the beach, Monopoly Deal

At one point, I found a table in the shade and began reading Acts 2 in Michelle's Spanish-English Bible.  Oscar and our bus driver Francisco wanted me to read it out loud in Spanish.  I knew I was about to butcher the Spanish, but I agreed to go ahead and read it. 

As I thought about what I was reading, I understood verses 42-47 in a whole new light:  They devoted themselves...everyday they continued to meet together....  What we experienced throughout the week was a community of believers committed to upholding each other and pouring out their lives so that people can taste and see who the Lord is.  Now, I know there's not some magic formula to being a healthy church community, and la iglesia is by no means perfect, but what I saw through their interactions was an Christ-centered, interdependent mindset I wanted to bring back to my community back home.  Interestingly enough, the same theme was echoed in church that night.

La Iglesia

We came back from the beach just in time for dinner and the church service.  Pastor Geovany's message was entitled Contectate, which means "Connect yourself," and he compared Christians to electrical cords plugging into outlets.  It made me think about how I'm connecting with my church community here in the States and what my role might be with la iglesia in the future.  

As I later reflected on his message, I recalled something I learned from the Urbana 2012 Conference: 

 If I don't use my gifts, I will impoverish the Church of God.  

Remember Jesus' parable of the talents (or "minas;" Matt. 25)?  In the story, a master gives his servants the talents with the sole purpose of investing them into his business.  Investing them into anything else or simply burying them was cause for rebuke from the master.  Knowing that my gifts and abilities have been given to me to invest in the work of the church and the lives of others, how can I keep on living as though what I have is only to serve myself?

I'm convicted of my own actions and as a whole upset when I think of our "ME" centered culture here in the US.  How rarely do we hear of people who wake in the morning, their first thought being how they will seek the Lord and serve others!

Abba, sometimes it's so difficult to set my heart on the things that really matter while I'm bombarded with so many self-centered messages everyday.  Help me and those I love to remember that if we seek first Your kingdom, You will give to us everything we need.  Amen.

 Pastor Geovany preaching at Iglesia Gran Comisión

Luis Fernando

When the service was over, God had a surprise waiting for me.  There is a man named Luis Fernando who directs the daycare in Limón where I worked over the summer.  From him I learned most of my Spanish and what it looks like to share the Gospel at every opportunity (on one occasion, he even preached to us at a coffee shop!).  But the most beautiful thing to see is his love for the kids at Limón.  Most of them have no fathers living at home, but Luis Fernando cares for them as though they were his own.  And naturally, he teaches them about Jesus everyday.  

 I was really looking forward to seeing him again in Honduras, but when I arrived, I learned that he and his family were on vacation that week.  I was sad at this news, yet I was secretly praying that they would come back early to go to la iglesia.  Well, to my great surprise, they came, and I was glad to talk with Luis Fernando about each of our trips and families.  

He ended by asking me how he could pray for me, so I told him about deciding to follow God into the mission field but not knowing what exactly that implies.  It means a lot to me to know that such a man of faith is praying for me, yet even more significant than that are all the prayers said for me, many of which I'm not even aware.  I am convinced that I would not be who I am today without people praying for me, and I firmly believe that

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective, (James 5:16).

Luis Fernando with his wife Ofelia and family

Our team spent the evening talking with our new friends at la iglesia until everyone else had left.  With questions in my head all week about the purpose of mission work and why on earth we were even in Honduras for a week, I learned a lesson that I won't forget.  I repeatedly saw people encounter God, not because of impressive projects or well-organized church services, but because of individuals who took the the time to listen to someone else and tell them about their hope in the Lord God.

The work of God is about building relationships!

 Julio and his daughter Isis, some of my closest friends at la iglesia

 Challenges for YOU

• If you happened across this blog and listened to me speak of Jesus and the Church in ways you've never heard before, I want you to know that I'm praying for you and those like you.  I encourage you to ask God all your questions and seek out someone from a local church to talk to.  I hope you are encouraged by these lyrics from one of my favorite songs:  "Come away with me.  Come away with me.  It's not too late, it's never too late, to come away."
• If you haven't been a part of a church community in awhile, I encourage you to seriously consider what it would look like for you to build new relationships and experience Christian community.  It will not be perfect, but God will be with you.
• If anything I've said that God has made impactful to you, talk to someone about it.  Journal, draw, write music, whatever--just don't let that thought slip by without addressing it.
• If you want to do something about the great needs in Choluteca, Honduras, I have some options for you!
• The biggest need of the church now is sponsors for the orphanage.  They have a new home built for the orphans and need $15,000 annually to provide for the kids and those to take care of them.  Let me be real with you.  I'm a broke college student, and I'm committing to supporting this with $30 a month.  I don't know exactly how I'm going to do it, but I'm trusting God to take care of what I need.  If you are also interested, check out https://npo1.networkforgood.org/Donate/Donate.aspx?npoSubscriptionId=1005219&code=Launching%20Campaign; the option is "Sponsor a Child Casa Hogar Vid."  Here you can also support other projects of the church.
• You can also learn how to buy delicious Honduran coffee that supports the orphans at http://www.greatcommissionla.com/coffee/.
• Pray for la iglesia and the people I've mentioned.
• If you want to hear more about the trip from another perspective, check out Michelle's blog at http://godsounds.wordpress.com/2013/01/14/honduras-2013-part-i/. 

 Orphan twins Eli and Elias in Casa Hogar Vida

Thank you for taking the time to hear my story.  :)

Giving All They Have...A Dar Todo Lo Que Tienen

Thursday and Friday

These days were the most exciting for me.

His mercies never come to an end; are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! (Lam. 3:22-23)

El Piso de Cemento

 Our next project was to build a cement floor to replace the dirt floor for a family in Limón.  The house was built of wood posts and covered in sheet metal using nails and scavenged bottle caps as nuts (pretty creative, huh?).  The work involved leveling the dirt, clearing the rocks, mixing the concrete, and finally pouring the concrete in the house.

But that's not what I did.  Because we had only two shovels, a broken wheelbarrow, and no water on site, I took a couple trips in the back of a pickup to fill up huge barrels with water for mixing the concrete.  The men did most of the hard work, which left most of the girls without a task.  One of them began to feel ineffective, explaining that she only wanted to help this family but didn't know what she could do.  Then we saw Xiaozhen go hug a girl in the street and talk to her, even though the girl couldn't understand a word she was saying.

She reminded me of when Jesus said, "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me,'" (Matt. 25:44-45).

Francisco, one of the five people who previously lived in a house with a dirt floor.

So I decided to pick up trash around the house and invite the kids to help me.  The oldest son Francisco was eager to join me and encouraged other kids of the neighborhood to help out too.  Soon, we had a carro basura  (trash car) complete with wheels and honking!  While we looked for recyclables that the mother of the home could sell, I happened across a dusty white hair clip.  I told one of the girls it was good to use if rinsed off, but while I was doing so, Francisco ran off to fetch something for his mom.  He came back with a prettier hair clip, saying that it was a gift from his mom.  Realizing that it was more respectful to accept the gift than reject it, I thanked his mom and put it away.

As I looked at the house which couldn't even make for a suitable shed in the US and the piles of rocks and trash surrounding the house, I was blown away by the generosity of this woman.  Selling hair accessories was her way of providing food for her kids, yet she freely gave me this gift without hesitation.

Freely you have received, freely give, (Matt. 10:8).

I could tell she had a powerful perspective on what sustained her day by day: 

not possessions but people.

Evangelizar 

I use the Spanish word for "evangelizing" because sharing the Gospel has taken on a whole new meaning for me in Honduras.  On Thursday, we broke off into groups to evangelize in Limón.  I was with translator Alejandro and Xiaozhen.  Okay then, I thought, a quiet translator and my friend who speaks in metaphors.  This should be interesting.  

Honestly, I was scared to death at the thought of going into the homes of strangers to pop the question, "Where do you think you'll go when you die?"  

The three brothers who translated for us:  Armando, Gabriel, and Alejandro.

But then I remembered,

 I'm a daughter of the King, 

and He has promised to give me the words to speak.  So with that thought, we boldly crossed the barbwire fence of the first house.  

The highlight of that day was hearing Xiaozhen explain to a woman how greatly God longed for her in a similar yet stronger way that she longed to guide and care for her own children.   The Spirit was so powerful during our conversation that afterwards the three of us held hands in the middle of the street while I thanked God for how He revealed himself to that woman.

Then on Friday, we evangelized in a place poorer than other I've ever stepped foot in.  The homes were tiny and dilapidated, connected by dirt paths.  Even so, the mountains appeared beautiful in the distance as the sun was setting.  One of la iglesia members Oscar went with us.  I have many stories about him, but let's just say he's very dear to me and it was good to have him evangelize with us. 

Francisco the bus driver, Kaitlyn our team member, and Oscar

At the first home, we started talking with a woman while sitting outside on spring bed frame, and soon her family of more than seven people came to listen.  I was surprised and how attentive they were, even through the extra time spent translating.  God compelled me to do most of the talking, and I found myself  sharing scripture I hadn't prepared and connecting with this family very naturally.  Our conversation focused on explaining how being right with with God was not about our actions but about our faith in Jesus.

Afterwards, I wrote this in my journal:

Evangelizar scares me because I know God spoke through me....I'm scared because God may be building me into an evangelist.  Although I've decided to say "yes" to where he calls, this lifestyle is more radical than that which I live right now.

Many uncomfortable, humiliating, or even dangerous situations can come with evangelizing, and although I know the One who has called me will never abandon me, I have much to wrestle with before dedicate my life to mission work.

At the next house, we spoke with a woman who loved the Lord.  Once she showed us her husband's Bible, we asked her what her favorite scripture was.  She then proceeded to essentially preach to us salvation through Jesus and God's authority.  She's part of a tiny new church, and she has a passion for her neighbors to put their faith in Jesus also.  Like C.S. Lewis once said, "He who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only."  How true.

As was our custom, we gave this woman a bag of food essentials.  In reply, she answered,

"Thanks for the food, but I was hoping for a Bible instead.

You see, Jesus said, 'Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"  Lord, increase my faith!  So we gave her a Bible, prayed with her, and went back to the bus.  But her words continued with us even as we left.

I'm sorry this post did not have as many photos--that's mostly because we didn't feel respectful taking photos of people with whom we evangelized.  Tomorrow will have many more photos. :)

New Perspectives...Nuevas Perspectivas

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

We started off the day Monday hearing Pastor Geovany describe la iglesia's focus on the Gospel and the projects they've developed to connect people to the church and train disciples.  An important aspect for them is serving the "most vulnerable"--that is, children.  Geovany explained the vast physical and spiritual needs of children in Honduras, from the 40% who are malnourished, the orphans of parents infected with HIV, to the prevalent mentality of salvation-by-works held by adults in the community. Our team was very solemn as he showed a video of a boy named Angel with no legs and one arm, saying that  it would be a tragedy for kids like him not to live long enough to hear about Jesus Christ.

Wow...

 What I cherish most is the biblical teaching for students at the bilingual school and the daycare in Limón.  Many of their parents are not Christians, and especially at Limón, the kids play a role in witnessing to them.  Over the summer, I even got to see one of the teachers and a girl talk with her mom about Jesus, which resulted in her deciding to follow Him.  It was then that witnessed God's light shining through these kids as a powerful reality to the community.

Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young.  But set an example to the believers... (1 Tim. 4:12).

I've been thinking a lot about missionary projects, what's actually biblical and what's not.  Here's something I read this morning from Revolution in World Missions:

"The church of God, let me repeat, never ceases to be dependent upon the life of God for it's maintenance.  The trouble with the social gospel, even when it is clothed in religious garb and operating within Christian institutions, is that it seeks to fight what is basically a spiritual warfare with weapons of the flesh."

Lord, may our focus ever be on proclaiming to others your good news!  Once we turn from "seeking first the kingdom" to just doing "community service,"  we settle for less than You have for us.  Teach us what it means to have the faith of a child.

Limón

Limón is possibly my favorite place in the world.  I'll show you just a few reasons why:

Three boys of the malnutrition clinic (Aww!)

John, translator Armando, and some kids about to get hurt

Danny and the other boys are trying to tell me which futbal teams to like

Our favorite recess activity (although I obviously have no skill)

Jose David.  Is it okay to have favorites?

 Three more of my boys

I spent a lot of time working with Yajira and Oneida at 

the daycare over the summer.  (See how tall I am?)

This is the place and these are the kids I worked with over the summer, teaching Bible studies, helping with homework, playing, and providing lunch.  We were here on Monday for a tour, and I also spent Wednesday and Friday with them.  God has really blessed me by putting each of these kids, along with their stories and personalities, into my life.

Pray for them.  Pray that they would have enough sponsors so they can continue to come to a place that is safe, loving, and teaches them the Word of God.  And pray for another committed worker, because there is already more work than just the few staff members can do on their own.  The latter request is based on what I experienced over the summer--I think anyone who God puts there for a time will have plenty of work to do!

Dirma

In Limón I met my dear friend Dirma.  She is now the English teacher, a position that has needed to be filled since June.  She has strengthened me through many struggles, and her love for the kids at Limón is incredible.  Being her friend has given me more assurance that we in America and those in Honduras need each other, if not for any other reason than that from Him [Christ] the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part, (Eph. 4:16, HCS).  

 Dirma and myself in July

Xiaozhen

No, that's not a Honduran name.  Xiaozhen ("shao-jin") is a woman from China studying at my university.  We became friends last year when she walked into her first church service because she like the music.  Just over 3 months ago, she gave her life to Christ and consecutively decided to come to Honduras with us.   When I heard this, I was pretty excited because, as some of you may know, most of my friends in college are Asians.

Xiaozhen with Antony, a son of one of the leaders of la iglesia

But I had no idea what to expect with her.

Xiaozhen is a woman of great faith and love.  And she has the gift of speaking--by that I mean she can talk longer and using more obscure metaphors than anyone else I know.  She has this incredible ability to appear as sweet and innocent as a 5 year old, yet also as serious and bold as an army veteran.  Sometimes members of our team would get agitated with her being notoriously late, and there was a unanimous dread that she would share during a Bible study and talk until we ran out of time.

But in the end, I believe God humbled us all through her.  On Monday night during a dinner for all the leaders of la iglesia, Pastor Geovany asked if she would share her testimony.  Throughout her 40 minute spiel, I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear during her analogy of a storm to God's love, along with half a dozen other metaphors.  As she spoke, I recalled pastors who spoke over the summer about how missionaries need to go to Asia and how places like China are full of lost people.  So to see her in front of 50 of us, describing God's love and grace in a way that none of us could, spoke volumes to the church leaders about how God was moving outside of the world they knew.  Surely, the places that were formerly considered the "mission field" are now themselves sending out missionaries.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong, (1 Cor. 1:27).

I could speak so much more about what I've learned from her, but I'll end by echoing her words that God's love is the most powerful and all-consuming thing on earth, and he will guide you step by step if you will reach out Him.

Notes: 

• To find out more information about supporting a child at Limon, check out http://www.greatcommissionla.com/child-sponsorship 
• To purchase coffee and find out more about Casa Hogar Vida (from yesterday's post), visit https://www.facebook.com/casahogarcoffee 

Why am I here?...¿Por qué estoy aquí?

Saturday and Sunday

January 5th, the first day of our trip, started with a drive to the airport at 3am...

During the flights, I began reading a book called Revolution in World Missions by J.P. Yohannan, which has been remarkably thought provoking as I investigate what it means to be a missionary.  I had recently taken a thorough examination of the path of my life--my choices, opportunities, and passions--and prayerfully decided to do mission work as God opens up opportunities for me.  I still don't know what that looks like and I have a lot of questions, but I stand firm knowing that "the One who calls you is faithful" (1 Thes. 5:24).  With this resolution fresh in my mind, I wanted to keep my heart open to what God wanted to teach me through this short-term mission trip.

A short-term mission trip.  God, why am I here?  You know I don't like these trips!  Teams come and go, hardly building relationships and gaining more from the trip than they can give!  

Well, I came to understand that God has His own schedule and a purpose in everything.

When we arrived Saturday night at our church Iglesia Gran Comisión, so many questions raced through my head.  I found it difficult for me to reconcile the thousands of dollars that were spent so we could come here for a week with seeing people living in shanty houses made of branches and tarps whose lives could be completely changed with that money.  I wondered if there was a stigma of "wealthy, successful Americans coming to help Honduras" which set la iglesia at a point of inferiority, and I wondered why we Americans weren't supporting and training local Christians to share the Gospel instead of coming to serve for only weeks at a time. 

The GCLA church, Iglesia Gran Comisión

I brought up some of my questions the next day to my dear friend Michelle.  She told me to trust that God has a plan for our trip and that the people of la iglesia truly appreciated our help.  I still had my suspicions, but I didn't want a stubborn heart to keep me from serving throughout the week.

Mi Familia

Something I love about mission trips with the Rock Church is that we spend the week in the homes of families in the church rather than renting out a hotel.  My friend Xiaozhen and I even stayed with a family I knew from the summer.  They are so hospitable.  In fact, Hondurans are in general extremely hospitable, offering food and at times their only chairs to visitors they may not even know.

Speaking with our family was quite a blessing.  From the very first night, the parents Luis and Toyita referred to us as their daughters.  On Monday, Luis unfortunately tore a ligament in his leg, which required him to wear a cast from his ankle to mid-thigh and stay home for a month to recuperate (he was climbing over a fence near a mountain...and since he's a pretty big guy, it took 10 guys to carry him down and to the car for a trip to the hospital).  I got the chance to talk to him the next day, and it was one of the longest Spanish conversations I've had.  God is so good to me to open up my ears to understand.  Love is patient, even though I was probably harder to understand than a 4 year old. 

Our first project:  Painting a fence

La iglesia has built a community near Choluteca called Casa Hogar Vida with homes for those who had none, a brick and a coffee factory for those who need jobs, a shop of handcrafts made by women of the community, an orphanage of kids who have died of AIDS, and their new project, a missionary hotel.

Some homes at Casa Hogar Vida

The purpose of the hotel is missionary teams financially support that community rather than going to some other business.  Now, this hotel is probably the nicest building I've ever seen in Honduras, with brightly colored walls and beautiful black pila in the courtyard.  It's hard to explain, and I'll try to get pictures of it up soon.  Our job was to paint the fence around the hotel.

A few of the unfinished hotel in June

                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                               Our lunch inside one of the rooms in the hotel

I'm carrying the paint we used.  Behind me are two members of our team and one of the translators, Alejandro.

The before...

Myself with members Kaitlyn and Nathan

Painting the fence.  The guys are Ben and Nathan.

 Yay!  The completed fence!

And a more photogenic picture

The painting was fine, but we did have a few difficulties:  It was 90 degrees, the ditches were hard to maneuver around, and there were hormigas! (that is, innocent-looking ants that bite your feet until you kill them).

It took us two days to paint the fence, and during the first, I am so grateful to have had the chance to speak with Lilian, my friend and role model who worked with me in Limón over the summer.  We talked about our families, our difficulties while serving in ministry, and the lessons we've learned from singleness.  Lilian has taught me so much, and I was reminded that "a friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity" (Prov. 17:17).

At the end of our work, a woman of the community I didn't know approached me.  She expressed her thankfulness for our work, that we would leave our homes and comforts to work on the hotel in order to help their community.  It was then I that realized it didn't matter whether or not I was right about the ineffectiveness and possible selfishness of one-week mission trips.

I learned what mattered most was that our work be done sacrificially to the benefit of those we served.

Mission work isn't about performing great deeds with efficiency and perfection. As Mother Teresa put it, "We can do no great things, only small things with great love."

Notes:

• I can get you a free copy of Revolution in World Missions if you're interested.
• The website for Great Commission Latin America, where you can find more about the church in Choluteca is http://www.greatcommissionla.com.
• Information about the Rock, our sending church can be found at http://www.columbiarock.com.
• Check out more photos on my Facebook page!  https://www.facebook.com/sarah.liz.emerick.