God is in This City (2)

United States of America. Day 1.

I started this blog talking about how I was making an escape to Honduras, only to find a God there who was alive and well in the capital city of Tegucigalpa. And I now conclude this blog by saying that I have returned home from that city today and found that that same God is here inthis city in America as well; a God who is still living, breathing, active, and unchanging. He is the God who has done amazing works in a city in Honduras this summer, and allowed me to witness some of them. And He is the God who, I know, will now not only continue good works in that city while I'm gone, but will let me continue to witness the might and wonder of His glory through His works where I am now.

So, I'm not "home" from a mission trip right now. Because I have realized that my life is a mission trip. A mission trip is a journey in which a person goes to some strange land to try and reveal Christ to others there, but then they return home. Well, if my home is actually not here but in Heaven, then every day that I spend on this planet is a day in some strange land where Christ is still needing to be revealed: whether it be Tegucigalpa, Starkville, or Henderson. And some day (but not today) I will finish this mission trip on this earth and FINALLY

go home.

***

"God of This City"

by Chris Tomlin

You're the God of this city
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You Are

For there is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

Greater things have yet to come
Great things are still to be done
In this city
Greater things are still to come
And greater things are still to be done here

You're the Lord of Creation
The Creator of all things
You're the King above all Kings
You Are

You're the strength in our weakness
You're the love to the broken
You're the joy in the sadness
You Are

Greater things have yet to come
Great things are still to be done
In this city
Where glory shines from hearts alive
With praise for you and love for you
In this city

Greater things have yet to come
Great things are still to be done
In this city
Greater things are still to come
And greater things are still to be done here

My Last Day

Honduras. Day 65.

It's been a crazy past two months, so why wouldn't it be a crazy last day too?

This morning I took a small group of guys to go and re-do a roof on Anna's (Danella, Josilyn, and Lester's mom) house. I promised to get her a new roof back in June, if you remember that from one of the old blog entries, and I was fearing that that promise was going to fall through and I'd never get to fix the roof of one of my favorite families in all of Hondo. But Marc gave me enough money to buy all of the wood and tin I would need to go and get it done today, and he let me pick four other guys and basically just said, "Go do it!"

So me, Nolan, Parker, Lee, and Justin went out to Villa Nueva Sector Ocho for the last day of our trip. And what a day it was. The roof was much more complicated than we expected. We were trying to salvage as much of the old tin and wood as possible (and dodging all of the way too scary electrical wiring). The problem was, some of the wood didn't want to be salvaged; it was way too weak and kept threatening to break all day long. And, of course, you knew it had to happen sooner or later... It broke. And guess who it broke under? If you guessed, "Arroz," you guessed right. The roof split right underneath me about 30 minutes into the tear-down, and I broke through all the way to the ground. Thankfully, their bed was right under where I fell.

I saw Jesus in a conveniently placed bed today.

We eventually got the roof off, and then argued through how we were going to assemble the new roof pieces (as Lee said, we were "free-styling" today because no one had ever tried to re-roof on a concrete block house before). We got a good roof support system laid out, took a Wendy's break (David and Stacy Maharrey are now adding the last tick mark to how many times I've eaten out this summer), and then went to go buy some extra tin. We hauled the tin back and finished the house.

Awesome, awesome, awesome day.

I got to say my "goodbye's" and "I love you's" to several of my kids in Sector Ocho, and then it was time to go because it was getting so late. And as we rolled out of that village for

one last time

I heard all of the kids and brothers and sisters I had come to know so well saying, "Adios! Adios!" But among those "Adios!'s," I heard Anna crying out, "Gracias! Gracias! Gracias!" And her neighbors saying, "Gracias a Dios!" ("Thank you, God!") It's been a long, crazy, challenging summer, but hearing the cries of a people who say, "Thank you," and not to me but to God, makes it all seem complete in some way.

God has a way of completing things, I suppose.

More Goodbyes

Honduras. Day 64.

Today I rode into town with Marc and had him drop me off at the apartments so that I could work out the horrendous laundry bill problem with the manager so that the interns don't owe nearly $1000 in laundry (it's a long, stupid story). We worked through it and got the bill cut lower. Afterwards, I had a few hours to kill before I could meet up with a TORCH bus and get back with the group, so I walked down the street and got one last panes (an amazing Honduran breakfast sub) from my favorite street vendor. Then I walked to Little Caesar's to eat it, and then to Cafemania (again, one last time) for a mocachino. Then I walked to the McDonald's across the street from Campero's (where I figured the bus would go) and sat on the bench outside with Ronald McDonald and waved to people (yes, I'm weird). An hour later, I lucked out and a TORCH bus rode by and I jumped on.

We went to the school for the blind next. I have gotten tired of visiting so many places this summer, but I have never gotten tired of the school for the blind. And as I played with all of my little friends, and held hands with my "girlfriend" Maria, and listened to the kids (the angels) sing... It all set in that it was really ending, and that I was walking out of the gate to the blind school for the last time.

God really has blessed me with quite an experience that I'll never forget...

Tonight, me, Wesley, Daniel Russell, Tracy and Eli went to La Cumbre for dinner (a BEAUTIFUL restaurant, ritzier and nicer than any I've ever been to in the States). It was a wonderful and peaceful evening, with some of the best food I've ever had. Ever. A great way to conclude the trip.

I had to say, "Goodbye" to many things today. And yet, I know, that saying, "Goodbye" to Sector Ocho tomorrow will be the toughest of all.

God bless them all.

Last Day in Los Pinos

Honduras. Day 63.

The past two days (today and yesterday) have been some of the most physically and emotionally challenging days of the summer.

And yet they were wonderful all at the same time.

Yesterday, a group of us set out to Los Pinos on Jenny Cobb's house crew. We got to the site and saw that there was going to be a little bit of a downhill struggle to get the wood and the tools to the site, but it was nothing worse than anything I've seen so far this summer. No, the challenge was what we found when we got to the site: a six foot slope of solid rock. Normally we can just elevate the floor and ignore the slope, but this slope was so extreme that we had to chisel it out with bars and pick axes.

And did I mention it was solid rock?

So the first three or so hours of the house site was purely just swinging heavy metal objects at rock. Twenty minutes of driving a bar will melt your arms into jell-o, let me just go ahead and tell ya'. But eventually we lowered the slope a couple of feet and were able to start digging post-holes. Still, we blew so much time working with the rock that we were only able to get all of the 4x4 and 2x4 posts in, and then it was time to leave.

But this morning, the "bufftruck" crew loaded up in Guillermo's mini-bus and headed back to Los Pinos to finally tackle what was honestly the most difficult house site I've ever seen. Mark Connell eventually showed up and helped us out GREATLY, but the crew itself was a powerful, cohesive team, and we finished up by about 1:30 in the afternoon. It was a TOUGH house to finish, but extremely rewarding to finally get done with. Then, a few of us went with Victor, probably my best friend in all of Honduras (he always asks where I am when Gringos show up on the mountain, he never begs for stuff like the other kids, and he always helps on EVERY house site in Los Pinos, and never gets paid except for whatever stuff we might give him), to go visit his house. It was a small hut, maybe 20x16, with a half separating wall in the middle and Victor said it was where he

and his ten brothers and sisters

lived. It was amazing to finally see my best friend's house (he's been asking me to come visit for a long time), and we just sat and looked at family pictures and talked with him. Will and Jenny left them their shoes for him and his family, and then it was time to go.

Here comes the heart-wrenching part.

All of the kids were well aware that it was our last day in Los Pinos for the year. And some of the ones that I was closest to (Wilson, Victor, Josilyn, and Keydi) even knew that it was probably my last day in Los Pinos ever. So when it was time to get on the bus, there was this swarm of children around our work crew. But they were no mob; they begged for nothing; they were silent. They just stood there, wanting to hug every one of us several times, and tell us that they loved us. So after five years of coming to TORCH, and spending the majority of those years working in Los Pinos with these children, the day had finally come to say, "Goodbye." And it was much harder than I expected. I don't know if I squeezed too hard, but I definitely gave each of those kids the biggest hugs I could. I told them that I loved them. I told them that I'd miss them.

And then I got on the bus.

And I will never forget their faces, running alongside the bus, smiling and waving (all the while fighting back the rest of their tears) and telling us, "Adios."

"Adios..."

Adios, Los Pinos. Adios.

The Widow's Mite

Honduras. Day 61 (July 28).

Today I hit my two-month mark of time spent here in Honduras this summer.

I had seriously been considering going to build a house today (just for my personal sanity since it's been since Thursday that I've gotten to build one), but they offered a clothing distribution center opportunity in Sector Ocho and, fearing that I don't have much time left to be able to be with the kids in my favorite community anymore, I jumped on that opportunity. Several other Starkville people did as well, which made for a good, fun day. Plus, Maria Phillips organized the clothing center and she is AMAZING at organizing, so it all went extremely smoothly and we clothed the whole community. What a great day!

But let me tell you where I saw Jesus today. I think this was the firs time, all summer long, where I spoke up at "Where Did You See Jesus Today" at devo.

When I got there, there were a bunch of kids that remembered me that ran up to me crying out, "Arroz! Arroz!" like normal in Sector Ocho. But today, one kid came up to me, calling me "Arroz," whom I had never even seen before. And normally that wouldn't phase me, but this kid was just crazy about some "Arroz." He was kind of chubbier, maybe 9 years old, and he was just hanging all over me, wanting hugs, wanting me to talk to him, not wanting me to give him anything but just wanting my attention.

His name was Manuel.

And at first I got a little annoyed. It doesn't take long for one kid to hug you a little too much before you start thinking, "Okay, go find you another Gringo, kid." But in Manuel, I just saw this great need for love. I saw this need for attention. So I kept trying to give it to him all day. But let me tell you, it was he who returned the love back to me.

I used to blow tons of money on the kids in Sector Ocho, buying them drinks and food. But two months of living here has depleted my money supply, and I have a little bit left to get through the rest of this week on. But Manuel and a bunch of his friends ran up to me, asking me if they could go with me and all buy some Cokes. I apologized to them, and explained how I'd been here for so long that all I have left is 50 lempiras (about $2.50) to get me through the rest of this week.

At first, they all just nodded their heads. But then something amazing happened. Manuel reached in his pocket and pulled out

one lempira,

a little less than a nickel,

and tried to hand it to me. I started saying I couldn't take his money, and then all of his friends reached in their pockets and pulled out their lempiras, and tried to give them to me. I had about 5 little hands pushing no more than a dollar in my face. I turned them all down, thanked them profusely, but tried to assure them that I would be okay.

Today I saw the widow who gave to the temple treasury out of her poverty in Manuel. And, if I came on this trip for no other reason, I'm glad that I saw Jesus in Manuel today. Because I think that that had to be one of those "you'll-never-forget-this-moment" kind of moments that will change me forever.

Relaxed

Honduras. Day 60.

Today we all went to church in Los Pinos. Wesley and Cisco preached, and by the end of the sermon there were three new sisters and one new brother in Christ, totaling (I believe) 27 baptisms so far this trip. It was a great time to clap and smile and hug and rejoice in the birth of new Christians, and imagine the even greater rejoicing going on at the party in Heaven.

After church, we all went to Cascadas Mall for lunch. Most everyone from the Starkville group went to get some T.G.I. Friday's (ohhhh, so good). Then we got back on the buses and went out to Valle de Angeles. I went in one store to get a couple more souvenirs for the family, and then I was done (I've been to Valley of Angels ENOUGH this year), so I just went to a coffee shop to sit and work on my devo for the evening. We loaded the buses at about 5:00, went back to Villa Gracia, and enjoyed a TON of Church's chicken. After that, I did the devo on realizing that it's not about us (how big or great we think we are, so focused on ourselves), but that it's all about realizing the big picture and the greatness of our God. Afterwards, I had someone in the trip pull me aside about wanting to change their life.

Maybe God did have a purpose for me after all.

Later that night, all the guys sat around in the Starkville guys' dorm and played Mafia until midnight. It was just an all-around good, relaxing Sunday.

Fruit Market

Honduras. Day 59.

Let me tell you about the awesomeness that has been the past two days.

The past two days, I have woken up, had a delicious breakfast with some of the best people in the world, and then sat through inspiring and encouraging devotionals. Yesterday, Parker led a house crew in Los Pinos. I was going to help on his crew, but he already had like 20 people, so I stuck with most of the Starkville guys and went to the fruit market in Downtown Tegus.

At the fruit market, we all split up into groups to go and bargain for good prices on hundreds of different kinds of fruits and veggies. Me and my group of Cameron, Austin, Logan, and Will bought 300 cabbages and got a little boy to haul them back to the bus for us. Then we all experimented with some of the local foods (thankfully no one "regretted" that later), and then we went to the warehouse to pack up all of the food for distribution that afternoon. After a bite at Pizza Hut, we loaded up the bus and went to Los Pinos to pass out bags of fresh food to all of the families there. It was so amazing to give food to so many people.

But I will never forget the face of the boy that asked for a bag of food for his family right after I had given away my last bag.

That evening, we went to the Jesus Statue for devotional (for my 50th time this summer I can now say, "Yes, Concrete Jesus IS still there."). Wrapped up a great day.

Today: I did basically the same thing. Everyone enjoyed the fruit market and food distribution so much that we did it again. Today I had a much bigger group of a lot more Starkville people, and we just about bought all of one lady's oranges from her stand. We paid another little cart boy to carry them to the bus, and then we all got a little more food from the street vendors before heading to the warehouse. We did our assembly line of food packing again, and then went to... guess... Pizza Hut (is there an echo in here?). Afterwards, we went to a community outside of Valle de Angeles and distributed food to all of the families there.

Let me tell you about one girl I gave some food to. I handed her the bag of food and she smiled and said, "Thank you," but then she just stood there. I asked her what she wanted, and she told me that she really wanted a Bible for her family.

Because the food bag was nice, but some spiritual food would be so much better.

So I ran to find the other group and ask them if they had any Bibles left. There was only one left on the whole mountain. I got it from Jeffrey, and ran back to the girl who was waiting patiently for the Bible. I've never seen someone wait so patiently and excitedly for God's Word, and then to see God provide just one more Bible for His daughter who was waiting.

I saw Jesus in that.

And that made for a good day.