Super Sunday

WHAT A DAY! We have been busy, busy, busy today. We started with a great breakfast, hosted by one of the ministry leaders here in Honduras. We were able to hear an amazing testimony given by him and his wife. He was electrocuted and wasn't expected to recover for years and needed tons of surgery to heal his wounds from being burned. After 40 days, he was out of the hospital and healing. He has had a few necessary surgeries, but his life was changed and most of his skin healed or grew back without medical help.

After breakfast, we headed back to the hotel for our big meeting to get the details of our week ahead and to prepare for our distributions. We practiced worship songs that we sing with the kids at each distribution and some silly puppets. We also worked on a really dramatic skit with no words, only music that shows the impact of Jesus' death. We have translators here, but we don't need words to share our God and the sacrifice that he made for us.

After lunch, we sorted out our give-a-ways for the next two stops, which were a Nutrition Center and Orphanage. The two are operated by a sweet woman from Texas who takes in children who are abandoned or who are taken from their parents by the courts for horrendous things. These sweet smiling faces have seen some of the most traumatic things I have ever heard of. A 6-month-old who was being prostituted...yes, I said MONTHS. A little girl who is deathly afraid of water, for good reason, her mother tried to drown her at the age of 5. And many more who were not fed, not wanted, and not loved. In this orphanage, they are sent to private school at the age of five...the only way they have a chance in Honduras is to get a good education. Their smiles offer confirmation in Jesus' healing power. To know what those sweet little children have endured in their short lives, and they are still smiling, is to know that Jesus is real. He is our strength and he can reclaim us from any evil.

It's difficult to visit with children; especially because I miss my own. But I will remember their faces for the rest of my life and I will be reminded of their smiles, their struggles, and their savior. Now, what I saw after those sweet children was something I wasn't prepared for. We visited a small village down by a river. It's apparently a place where the homeless make home. There are houses, if you want to call them that, that have been thrown together with whatever scraps that could be found. This is probably the worst poverty in Honduras. Children with no clothes, babies with no diapers. Still, their faces were eager to see our bus pull up. We got to visit with the people of the village and walk through their streets. In our walk we saw a malnourished horse, two pigs, tons of emaciated dogs, plenty of children with no clothes, no running water, and no electricity. We saw smiles though, lots of those. :) We also encountered a family whose young daughter was suffering from Leukemia and members of our group were able to pray for her and her family.

At the end of it all, it was a blessing to be there. Bubbles, and all.

Finally, we attended church this evening. We sang worship with the church and then performed the songs and skits that we had rehearsed earlier.

This was not a normal Sunday, apparently. I know just last year, we went to church in the morning and visited the Nutrition Center and Orphanage. This day was jam packed...and it was great.

I am sure I will sleep like a baby tonight. I am certainly exhausted. I can't wait for tomorrow.

As I wind down for the day, I ask one thing, please pray for the people of Honduras and our team. Pray that our team is able to overlook all of the earthly things that separate us from the Honduran people. We are separated by water, land, language and finances, but we are drawn together by one very important thing, Jesus Christ. Pray that we, as Americans realize that and that the Honduran people just the same. There is also a member of the team here in Honduras who has fallen on hard times. I don't know a lot of details, I just know he is an amazing man with an amazing testimony, and he's going hungry. Pray for our team to rally around him and bless him and for blessings from God because of his obedience.

Buenos Noches!