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. :)
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