Sweet Sunday

Honduras. Day 33.

Well, yesterday, Saturday, we went to the fruit market in the morning and bought a ton of food that we took back to the warehouse and packaged up to distribute to families in the community outside of Valley of Angels. That was pretty awesome. I met some cool people from Terry Reaves' group, and met some awesome people there on the mountain too. This one lady named Marta came up to me when I was on the road by myself and said, "I NEED one of those bags," without even knowing what was in it. So I told her I'd follow her to her house (which, of course, she failed to mention was FAR, far away). When we got there, I opened the bag for her and showed her all of what was inside. I don't think I've someone glow that much in quite some time. That was pretty awesome.

Today, Sunday, I had a real cool "Lord's Day." We drove a couple hours out of Teguc towards San Pedro Sula to a massive waterfall and had "church" there with just the interns, AIMers, and Marc's family. Marc talked to us a little bit, really informally, and then we passed around tortillas and a jug of Welch's for the Lord's Supper (try getting away with that one back in the States!). Then we all talked about some of the things we had been studying ourselves lately. It was a really cool "church service."

And what we did next... was awesome.

The waterfall was set up almost like a water park. So we just spent the rest of the day there, swimming in the lakes around the waterfalls. Even better, there was a small waterfall that you could actually slide down. The first few times I slid down the easy way, and then I tried the adventurous-looking "water shoot" on the side of the slide. It was fast, and crazy-cool, but also full of rocks (I am still sore as anything as I type this several hours later). But all in all it was a great experience. The waterfall was BEAUTIFUL (look for Facebook pictures later), and it was just a blast to enjoy God's creation that way.

We went to a fresh fish restaurant after that. And I mean fresh. As in, it was on the side of a massive lake, from which they would drag the fish in and then put them straight into the frier (eyes, brains, fins, EVERYTHING). As weird as it was to eat a bass that was looking up at me, it was some of the best fish I've had in a long time. And it was a lot of fun just relaxing with everyone too. It was a long drive back, but we made it safe and sound. And, reflecting on the day, I thank God for His ability to bless me with creative Sabbaths like today.

:)

Free Day

Honduras. Day 31.

Yesterday I went and did the Hospital Escuela, Mi Esperanza, and School for the Blind package with Mark Halbert's group from Tupelo, MS. It was their last day, and there were no more houses to be built. It was cool to see the kids at the hospital and at the blind school, so I guess it was an okay day. Went to Carnita's last night with one of the interns, and just had a real chill evening.

But today: well, today was cool.

Today we had a free day. Marc took Mark Halbert's group to the San Pedro Sula airport, so there was no one here to work with except if we wanted to go and help Mark Connel with a playground at the Good Shepherd orphanage. Translation: we all slept in. Me and Luis got up at about 8:00 and walked a couple of blocks to a street vendor that sells awesome breakfast subs. Then I went back to bed. We woke up later and made fun of Karis because she lost her voice, and then... I went back to bed.

It ain't easy being an intern...

I woke up around 12:50 and all of the others were gone. That was actually okay though. I just chilled, took a shower, and then packed my laptop and Bible into my backpack and started walking around. I found an awesome chicken seller near Hospital Escuela, and the chicken there was AWESOME (I will be returning every chance I get). I ate it at a Espresso Americano, and then ordered a Moccachino Supreme (if Wesley Thompson just read that, he may have just died) and spent the rest of the afternoon working on lessons for this coming fall. It was so spiritually uplifting to think that long about Scripture, and so I not only got a lot accomplished, but I think I grew a lot. I walked to La Colonia Mega (I got my exercise in today) and bought a few groceries for myself, and then I walked back. Marc came and picked us all up and took us to Pizza Hut, always good. Then Keith drove us back to the apartments and me, Nolan, and Kale hung out of the windows yelling at everyone. It was fun.

I had a great free day. Processed a lot of stuff that's happened, caught up and sleep, and have a sense of peace and happiness in Christ that I hope will spill over into the weekend.

Juan's House

Honduras. Day 29.

Today I worked on a house in Santa Ana for one of the guards, Juan, at the children's home, Casa de Esperanza. Building this house for him is basically giving him a $50 per month raise (big money in Hondo) because he no longer has to pay rent on where he was living. So that was a pretty cool thing to get to do.

At first, there was way too many people on such a tiny plot of land, so I just chilled in the truck for a while. Eventually I got up and decided to at least be spiritually productive, so I went to Los Arcos and had some papas fritas and a Fresca while I read my Bible. I focused on the Psalms, particularly Psalm 139, which I've decided to read every day to remind me that I am a work of art that God has signed and knows me inside and out AND that every other person on the face of the planet is too. That really refueled me to go out and focus on seeing people as Jesus would, and I tried for a while, and it really did a number on my perception and set me at so much more peace. I really feel like God is working hard on my heart here.

All of the others eventually came to Los Arcos later for pupusas, and I got to sit and eat with a guy named Kevin and we had what turned out to be a pretty awesome conversation. At first we just talked about college and seminary and learning Greek and Hebrew and all of that stuff (which really bores me to talk about), but then we got into plans for our lives, and that was awesome. I mentioned that I was a Missions and Graphic Design double major, but that I was thinking of switching Missions to regular Bible. He talked about how beneficial he thinks it is for groups to see this side of life, which I agreed to but said that I didn't think it was for me, long-term at least, and that I wanted to do church plants in the States. What a coincidence it was, then, that that is exactly what Kevin is doing right now. So we talked about that for a little while, and then we headed back to the house.

At first, I was thinking that this group was not exactly the personality types I enjoyed getting along with. But once I went back to the house and committed to work alongside them (even if there were too many people, I was tired of sitting around), I realized that I REALLY liked this group. The older people are very kind, and the three younger girls were fun and nice as well. It was a small group, but it was a group of brothers and sisters in Christ nonetheless; and once I kept that in mind, I had an awesome day. I did a good bit of the roof with Kevin and Luis and Mark Halbert, and then the wall with the girls. And once we finished, I can honestly say that it was one of the best Hondo houses I've ever worked on. I was very proud of it. And then I found out it was a house in memory of Rick's (one of the older guys from Tupelo) father, and that just made it even better.

What a great day.

Then we came back to the apartments, cleaned up, and went to the mall. I found an opportunity to go off by myself (alone time is good after living with 8 other people for a month) and had some Popeye's (yes, I do love Popeye's chicken and biscuits even though I realize I am white). I walked around for a bit, got some Espresso Americano (ohhhhh yes), and then talked with Terri, Matt and Nicole for a while. After that, I couldn't find the others (I think they left), and my phone was out of minutes; but, honestly, I was pretty okay with that, and so I just went out, caught a cab, and came back to the apartments to watch another Louie Giglio talk and maybe go to the Nashville group's devo in a little while.

Dios es bueno, todo el tiempo. Y todo el tiempo, Dios es bueno.

Ojojona... Continued

Honduras. Day 28.

Today I went back to Ojojona to finish the never ending house with Nolan, Karis, and Rainer. We got there, told the lady that we would finally finish her house today because we brought our two best chainsaws, and we started to get to work. So me and Nol try to fire up the two 24 inch blade Stihl chainsaws and... neither one worked.

I remember thinking, "You've gotta be kidding me."

Richard, the preacher at the church in Ojojona, showed up to try and help. He couldn't fix the chainsaws (go figure; the house is cursed). So we went with Richard to his house back towards the city to pick up his chainsaw, then we went to buy oil for it, and then back to the house. We fire up his chainsaw and... it also does not work. Again, go figure; this house never ends.

So Nolan and Karis and Rainer left to go and get another chainsaw from the bodega in Santa Ana, and me and Richard stayed at the house. After trying all of the chainsaws again until our arms were sore, we eventually gave up and waited on Nolan. He came back with a chainsaw that actually worked (praise!!!) and we finished the house up. It took forever, and we did a lot of dangerous stuff trying to get it done which I won't post on this blog because I know that certain persons would not appreciate knowing how their son stood on a 2 x 4 and chainsawed the side off of a wall (whoops, I said it). So we load up in the truck, and think we're about to leave.

Not a chance.

Richard then informed us that the other house that a different crew was working on LAST FRIDAY in Ojojona was not finished. They had told us that it was... Grrr... So we went and looked at the house, realized that it needed a door, a window, and one more wall. One problem: no hinges. So we made a trip back to a hardware store in the city, bought the basegras, and went all the way back out to the house. Nearly two hours later (yes, we ran into some problems at that house too; imagine that) we finally finished the house. We got the family inside and prayed with them and as we were praying, I realized that the grandmother was crying as she prayed. After the prayer, she looked up at us, with tears in her eyes, and thanked us and thanked God for the new house.

Okay. So, reflection time: we started two houses last friday in this community, and we finished them today, five days later. And I can personally testify that these houses were not started... how should I say this... they were started terribly, and were not, by any means, houses that I was proudest of. But the lady in the first house was so touched by the generosity and Christ-like attitude of our group that she was coming to church now. And one of the ladies of the second house was so touched that she was moved to tears and praising God and blessing us for what we had done.

I was confused.

But I guess it makes sense. I was frustrated all day; I mean, it was a very frustrating work day. But when I'm frustrated, when I'm thinking that nothing is going right, when I'm thinking that the day is a bigger problem than a blessing, God has a way of showing off and saying, "Think what you want about what you see around you, but I am still God, I am still alive and working in your world, and I am still good."

As frustrated as I was today, I got back to the apartments around 4:00, showered off and put on fresh clothes, grabbed Kale and we caught a cab to Cafemania. We sat in Cafemania and watched one of Louie Giglio's talks online, listened to some Chris Tomlin, and talked about spiritual stuff for three whole hours. And it was AMAZING. We talked about seeing people like Jesus would see people: as souls, as people made in the image of God, as persons who are fearfully and wonderfully made. And then, how "ironic," Louie's talk ("Unthinkable You" on 268generation.com) was on that exact same topic. So after we watched that, we talked about it a whole lot more, and we started talking about trying to put it into practice. We left and walked to Little Caesar's for some pizza and breadsticks and canelitas, and as we went, we really tried to look at people the way that Jesus did the whole way. It was eye-opening, and I could feel God stirring inside me as I viewed people how He views them; not judgmentally, not focusing on exteriors or labels, but looking at them as a person. And that is going to be my goal from here on out: see people as Jesus sees people. And all of that great quality, spiritual time really built me up and gave me the encouragement I was desperately needing.

Then, check this out: we get back and get invited to this devo some other mission group is having on the roof of the apartments. They're from some church of Christ in Nashville, and they are an amazing, open, friendly, and Christ-centered group. We sang praises and prayed and talked about Christ for a couple of hours on the roof, and they were very welcoming to those of us that joined them.

When I am feeling down, He always has a way of lifting my head.

So I am so refreshed and recharged spiritually right now. I am looking forward to tomorrow, and the rest of the week, and the rest of my life. Because God is God; alive, well, working... and good.

So good.

Ojojona House and Sector Ocho

Honduras. Day 27.

Crazy, crazy day today.

Me, Karis, and Nolan spent the night at Marc's in Santa Ana last night so that we could wake up early and go finish a house in Ojojona that a TORCH group started on the other day. Let me tell you about this house: it is one of the easiest sites I have ever seen, and yet it is, to say the least, CURSED.

Day 1 of working on that house: they didn't get the tools until way late, and they did one of the walls wrong. They got the four posts in, and one and a half walls done. No bueno.

Day 2 of working on that house (I was on the crew that day): we got there at 9 in the morning. Sounds promising, right? But we had to leave at 11 to go to Good Shepherd. 2 hours? Are you kidding me? Not to mention, we had to take down the half-of-a-wall because it wasn't right, and we didn't have hinges to get the door or window done.

Day 3 of working on that house (today, with the TORCH interns): we get there, and things are going well at first. We are finishing up the floor when we realize that we need to cut the last piece, and then... the chainsaw chain screws up. So Nolan tried to start on the roof. But we didn't have roofing nails. So we wait for Terri to come back so we can tell her to go back and buy some. So me and Nolan sat down to work on the chainsaw. After awhile, we actually kinda figured out how it worked, and we got the chain on, and it started working. But it couldn't cut a piece of paper, so we re-did it. And then it worked perfectly. And then... it ran out of gas. So about that time, the preacher at the Ojojona church pulls up on his motorcycle to help. He does the chain again, and then he siphons gas out of his motorcycle and into the chainsaw. That was kinda cool. So about that time, Terri shows up with the nails. Nolan does a few pieces of tin, then came down to help with the chainsaw. I went up to do the rest of the roof (which was kinda shotty). Meanwhile, the chainsaw break broke, and then, eventually, the chainsaw split itself in two. I cannot even describe how frustrating the whole thing was. I finished the roof, we packed up the tools, and I explained to the lady about the chainsaw problems. I told her we'd be back tomorrow to finish, and I apologized. But she said it was okay, and that she was still very happy.

I found out later that she was so impressed that these Christian gringos would come to another country and build her a house that she had started coming to church. Wow. I was thinking, "This has to be one of the most messed up, cursed houses that I've ever worked on (I mean... four days to finish!?), and this lady is so impressed that she's coming to church?" It's weird, but it's awesome. And it shows that God can work through anything (even bogus TORCH houses) to bring people to Him. And it shows that we are still witnessing Christ to people, even when we think we're not doing a good enough job. God still works.

We had pupusas with Terri at Los Arcos in Santa Ana, and then we went to Toncontin airport to pick up a new rental truck (and it is NIIICCEEE). Then we went to Sector Ocho to help the Tupelo TORCH group finish their two houses. That made things so much better, because Sector Ocho is my favorite place; it's where all of my little friends are. So we roll in, and I step out of the truck, and all the kids start yelling, "Arroz!" and that made stuff a lot better. I did all the roof supports on Luis's site, and then walked around and talked to people in the community. I talked to Danella, Josilyn, and Lester's mom for a while, and she explained how she was needing a new roof because of how it leaked. I told her I'd personally see to it that I can buy her some new tin, and I really mean that. I'm going to make that a project for myself.

They finished the houses on time (I was kinda shocked at that, actually), and the houses were really nice. We all went and had chicken lasagna (to die for) at Julio's house in Santa Ana, and then to devotional with all of TORCH at the Jesus Statue tonight. Marc gave the devo; it was about picking up your cross daily, and being willing to sacrifice it all for Christ. We got back to the apartments a little after 10 o'clock, and then me, Kale, Karis, Luis, and Nolan got in the truck to go for a late night Wendy's run.

It's been a crazy day. But I'm starting to realize that every day is. And yet... Even though it was nuts, I am happy right now. It's been a good day. A good, LONG day. 

God's Song

Honduras. Day 26.

This morning, we got up early to get all of our stuff packed at the house in El Hatillo so that we could move back to the apartments in Humuya quicker this afternoon. We left all the luggage by the door and then piled in Marc's truck (the Galloper is apparently still in the auto-hospital, as well it should be) and headed to church in Los Pinos, where one of the TORCH groups was going to be worshipping. The church service there was fine, but I did bring my iPod with one of Andy's sermons on it so that I could go out after communion and listen to a message (it's been rough not being able to understand anything in church, and I was craving a good Bible lesson; you never understand how being removed from a strong, supporting church can affect you until it's gone). I got to see some of my favorite kids after they got out of class, and that was awesome; got to hang out with David and Luis too, and they're quickly becoming some of my best buds, so that's always good too.

We went and got some of the luggage at El Hatillo and took it to the apartments. We dropped off a few people at Carnita's (an awesome steak restaurant built inside of an old dugout of a run-down baseball field), then a few of us went back to get the rest of the luggage. After we moved it all into the apartments, we all joined Timoteo's family, Norlan (the bus driver), Marc and his family, and Mark Halbert's group from Tupelo for an awesome lunch at Carnita's. Me, Karis, Nolan, David and Kale left early to go to the apartments, and then we left later on to go to Valle of Angeles to meet the others. Me and David walked around Valle de Angeles looking for a guitar (of which there were no cheap ones), and then had Espresso Americano. That was a good time, and then we loaded up and went to devo at Santa Lucia with both TORCH groups. The singing tonight was AMAZING, and it was definitely the recharge that I needed. Tim Hine's gave a mini-devo when he prayed after the singing, and he prayed about how great the singing is going to be in Heaven.

Nothing new. Heard people pray about that before.

But then he prayed about how excited he was to hear what it was going to be like when God sings to us in Heaven. He quoted Zephaniah 3:17, and said that, someday, God will sing over us.

Now that I hadn't heard before.

God's song... I wonder what it will say. I wonder how it will sound. I wonder if Jesus and the Holy Spirit will sing harmony. God's song to us... God's song... over us... I don't know; maybe I'm weird, but that's a pretty cool idea to me. I think so often about singing being something I give to Him. But someday, He'll give it to us.

I look forward to it.

Ruthy

Honduras. Day 25.

Today rocked.

Me, Karis, Kale, and Luis woke up early this morning to go meet up with a small part of the TORCH group to go finish a few houses in Ojojona (it was going to be just me and Luis until I mentioned that I was making chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and then I picked up two more people, haha). So we headed out (it was a LONG bus ride), and got there at about 9 this morning. We got as far as we could on the houses, but still didn't get to finish because Tim Hines wanted us to leave early to go meet up with the rest of the TORCH group at a children's home called Good Shepherd. We were all really frustrated that we didn't finish the house today; but it was a divine frustrated. I saw people who were angry that someone was going to go without their new house for another day, and that is a type of anger that inspired me. The people I worked with were genuinely caring about this lady and her house... It was awesome.

So then we made the... EXTREMELY long bus ride to Good Shepherd from Ojojona. But it was so worth the trip. We got there, and they had grilled chicken for all of us and all of the kids. I had lunch with Luis, Gellermo, Marlon and Josue on the bus. Those guys are hilarious. Then I met up with these guys named Francisco and Miguel, and two of their other friends whom I never caught the name of. We actually had some good conversations, hung out and watched some people break dance for all the kids, but then I didn't see them again for awhile. But the reason.. was pretty cool.

This girl came up to me and grabbed my hand out of no where. I looked down and saw her, and she just looked up at me and smiled. I could tell there was something wrong with her, but I wasn't exactly sure what. She couldn't walk very well, and after trying to talk to her for a while, some other girl walked by and finally told me that she couldn't talk. But she clutched my hand tight, kept smiling at me, and then led me around the children's home for the property for a while. Eventually I picked up her name: Ruthy. There were a lot of different kids there that day, but I think the one I remember most is Ruthy. She wanted to give me presents all day long (which usually were just pieces of trash she picked up off the ground and broken crayons), and eventually she gave me a balloon. Well, it was a busted balloon... that she blew on for a while, trying to blow it up and give it to me, but then she figured it was as good as it was going to get and just gave it to me with a smile. I gladly took it, and I still have it.

I pushed Ruthy in the swings for a while, and every time she'd go up she'd look back at me and smile like she was in heaven. Eventually she got tired of that and led me over to the kitchen area to show me how she could stand up on the tables all by herself. When she'd get on top of one, she'd just laugh and laugh and laugh. And I'd laugh with her. And then the bus started loading up, and I tried to tell her that I needed to go. But she wanted to keep holding my hand and walking around with me. I bent down and tried to explain that I couldn't stay. But she wouldn't have it. As hard as it was, I finally just had to say, "Adios, Ruthy." And then she got it. She looked up at me, opened her arms wide, and wrapped her arms around me.

Wow. Quite possibly the best hug I've ever gotten.

I saw Francisco and Miguel on the way out, and they asked what happened to me. I just told them, "Ruthy," and they just smiled and nodded. I shook their hands and got on the bus. It was hard to leave Good Shepherd. Not only was it a secluded children's home surrounded by gorgeous mountain farmlands, but it was a place full of new friends.

We went back to Villa Gracia (the mission house) for supper and devo. Tim Hines delivered one of those "you'll-never-forget-this" messages, and then we all hung out with Gellermo and Marlon for about an hour. Gellermo was going CRAZY, and it was hilarious. I can't even describe it, it was just too funny.

Today was a good day. And I think I know why. Here's my new equation: Life is Jesus; Jesus is Good; therefore, Life is Good.

:)

The Day that Changed My Life

Honduras. Day 23.

Today I walked into Hell.

Literally.

I don't think that words can ever fully explain what happened today. I am going to try my best to capture what happened in this blog, but you must know up front that words just simply cannot express the things that I experienced in the past several hours.

For the past few days I have been pretty sick. Not stomach stuff, just kind of a mini-flu (it happens in Honduras; it feels bad, but it's nothing serious, and it's usually gone in a few days). So I mostly just stayed at the house here recently. But I made the commitment to wake up this morning and get out and do stuff, no matter how much I didn't want to. So I loaded up with Marc this morning, and rode around with him to an unfinished work site in Los Pinos, a very poor suburb outside of Tegucigalpa, and one of my favorites because I've spent so much time there and made so many friends there. We got to the work site, and I saw that there were enough people there to finish it. I was still feeling very light headed and sore, so I just stayed in the truck with Marc, Felicia, and Kale to ride around and do some errands while the others finished up the house. We went to La Colonia, a supermarket, so that we could buy supplies to make sandwiches and have bags of water to distribute at the city dump this afternoon. Others had been there and said that it was really bad; they told me that there were hundreds of people that lived in the garbage, scavenging everyday alongside buzzards for food and shelter. And they said we were going to feed them today.

Sure. I was onboard for whatever today. I was just along for the ride.

Marc took us back to the church building in Los Pinos. Steve and Felicia made sandwiches for the dump inside the church building, and me and Kale stayed outside and played soccer with some of the kids in front of the church (we got to play with some of my long-time best friends in Hondo: Wilson, Linda, Oscar, Victor, and Faviola; me and Faviola even played hide and go seek that afternoon). After a trip to the pulperia to buy some Mirinda for everybody, and a few more rounds of "Keep Away" with the soccer ball, Marc showed up and said the house site was finished. We loaded up into his truck and took some people to Valle de Angeles to finish a house there; the rest of us stayed in the truck to make our way to the city dump.

Okay... This is where words start getting tough. And I'm actually choking up as I type this. Seriously, I just... I just can't even explain what happened next.

We got to the dump and were instantly hit with the smell of burning trash. There were heaps of garbage everywhere. It was no landfill; it was a drop-off point for all of the trash in Tegucigalpa. And there were, literally, mountains and mountains of garbage. And as we drove in to it all, I started noticing the vultures EVERYWHERE picking at the garbage. But as we went further in... I noticed that there were children alongside the vultures, rummaging through the garbage looking for scraps of anything they could get in their mouth.

How can i describe what these people looked like... They were all covered head to toe in dirt; most of them appeared black from the soot of the burning garbage. They were all extremely skinny, and looked as if you could touch them and they would break. There were men, women and children. Some of them had make-shift masks that they put over their mouths, whether it be ski-masks or just scarfs, to try and not breathe in so much of the pollution.

There were hundreds of them. Garbage-dwellers. Untouchables. People living in what I can call nothing short of... Hell.

We parked the truck. The girls sat in the bed of the truck with all of the water and sandwiches. Steve stayed to watch them, and Kale and Keith alternated taking turns watching the truck too. But me and Marc, and then either Kale or Keith, would take huge bags of water on our shoulder, or bags of sandwiches, and trudge out into the dump. Because some people would come to the truck to get food and water. But some were so far removed from... their own humanity... that they didn't even know what to do when they saw us.

The truck was parked underneith one of the big mountains of trash so that the people in the truck couldn't see over it. But... But I saw what was on the other side. I remember climbing the mountain of trash, fighting through the crowds of buzzards at my feet, and passing out a few bags of water to people sitting in the rubbish along the way... and then I remember standing on the top of that trash heap and looking over the other side and just dropping my jaw and saying... "Oh... My God..."

There were hundreds more people, all pilfering through the garbage, looking for SOMETHING that could offer them relief. There were a few dump trucks there, and people were gathered around them as they dropped their loads. It was as if the dump trucks were bringing Christmas presents to anxious boys and girls on the 25th of December. But it wasn't December. It was just another day in June, in a third-world country, at a dump where people LIVE and hope to find food and shelter out of what other people throw away.

Why is this aloud to happen? This is not life...

They saw us standing there, and they all looked up and just stood where they were and raised their hands in the air to faintly wave at us and just started saying, "Agua... Agua..." ("Water... Water..."). I came down to them, and tried to pass out the bags of water to as many people as I could. Some wouldn't look me in the eye. Some were afraid to touch me. It was as if they were too far removed from life to make contact with someone... And when we ran out of food and water, there were so many distraught faces. But we ran back to the truck to get more. And we kept running back over the mountain, passing out everything we could to everyone we could. The next few times we came back, they started feeling more comfortable with us, and they started coming up to us. There was one guy that came up to us and took the bag of water in one hand and kept sniffing the glue he had in the other (it's a deadly thing to do, but many people do it to kill their hunger pains).

And then we ran out of food and water.

The faces... I will never forget those faces. And as we marched back down to the truck, I told Keith that we had been to hell and back today. This was hell on earth. This was the destruction and corruption and brokenness of our world at its best; the brokenness God never intended us to deal with. And with every sandwich and bag of water, we tried our best to fix the corruption, to stop the hell on earth, and to bring some Heaven to this failing planet. But as we gathered around the truck to pray... I couldn't pray along with them. I felt like... I couldn't do enough. There was just too much here. Too much sadness. Too much loneliness. Too much brokenness. And as they were praying, a little boy came up to me and Marc (he wasn't praying either), and it took him awhile to warm up to us, but eventually he started shaking Marc's hand, and my hand, and gave Marc a hug. I asked him his name and he said Bryan.

His name was Bryan.

And as we pulled out, Marc asked me how things were. And all I could say was, "It's just so messed up, man." And I talked to Kale later and said, "You know, we're all going to be back at our house tonight: eating food, taking showers, climbing into beds, and going to sleep. And they are still going to be... there." And for some reason... I can't get past that.

I know this seems so over-dramatic. You may be wondering, "It couldn't have been that bad, right?" But it was unimaginably... unimaginable. Any poverty that any of you who have been to Honduras before have seen on the mountains of Los Pinos or Sector Ocho or wherever CANNOT COMPARE to what I saw at the dump today. Today, I saw people dwelling in other people's refuse. I saw people rejoicing over new dump trucks arriving with more... garbage. Today changed my life. Because as I sit here, in a nice house, on a computer, filled with some McDonald's chicken, and some nachos I just had in the kitchen.... There's people out there in the dark, hoping that someone doesn't come by and steal the nice potato sack they found to use as their pillow for the night; kids... kids just like Bryan... who are hoping they survive through the night, but probably wonder what the point of surviving the night is anymore.

Today was real.

And so I'm never taking for granted what I have anymore. I'm sick of materialism... and selfishness and... I don't know; I'm sick of a lot of things. But it ignites a passion within me to start storming the gates of hell, wherever they may be in this world, from the trash heaps of Tegucigalpa, to the friendless, lonely person I pass by on the way to class everyday, to the elderly person who needs someone to help him or her with the simple stuff of life, I want to seek those broken situations out so that I can show the love of Christ by trying to bring a little Heaven to the Hells on earth. Whether it be through a smile, or a kind word, or a hug... Christ died to bring Heaven to us through peace and forgiveness and mercy and love, and I'm going to further His cause by doing what I can to restore and renew this broken world any way that I can.

If this blog doesn't make much sense, I apologize. I wrote a Facebook note that might help some, but other than that... Today was so beyond words, and my heart is such a mess right now, that this might be a blog entry you have to just trust me on. I just don't know how to say it all.

But God help them...

A Bright Sunday

Honduras. Day 20.

It's Monday, the 16th of June, as I'm writing this. The manager of the apartments had promised our apartments to someone else for a week, so Saturday afternoon we moved out and I'm now at the manager of the apartments' house for a week (and it's a huge mansion of a house at that). I stayed home today because I woke up and was fine at first, but then started feeling pretty bad. I slept for a while longer, then got up and took some medicine. I just finished making some cinnamon-vanilla pancakes in the kitchen while listening to Weezer's blue album, and now I'm feeling a little better and sitting down to reflect. It's been a pretty cool sick day so far. But I want to talk about yesterday (Sunday).

Saturday night I had a good talk with Karis about what it means for us to be Christ to the people here. And as I was talking with her, things began to unfold more and more in my heart and my mind that I have let myself become a little too hardened to all of the stuff that I've been seeing go on around me here lately. I haven't been as spiritually focused, I haven't been looking for Christ as much any more, and I haven't had the compassionate attitude that I believe He would have were He in my shoes. And I realized: something's gotta' give.

So I woke up on Sunday, and I woke up early so that I could go sit out on the hammock on the second floor balcony and just listen to whatever words God might have for me. And I opened to the Psalms, and was blown away at how it applied to me: to stop being proud or materialistic or worldly minded and to start being pure in heart and focused on being led by the right hand of God. And then we went to church in Santa Ana. I couldn't understand a word they were talking about, and it was packed inside so I was sitting on the sidewalk outside with a few others, and then I just opened my Bible and kept reading again. I remember reading the phrases, "Though, O LORD, are a shield around me. You are the One who lifts my head," and "Lord, let the light of your face shine upon us." And as I read, I was feeling better with every comforting, life-changing word that jumped off the page and into my heart.

Because no matter how callous our hearts may seem, or how far we may think we are, we are never too far that the word of God can't break us and begin a transformation again in us.

So then after church I got some money from Marc. Me, Karis, and Nolan were going to go get pupusas but Nolan decided to stay. So just me and Karis went, but we met some of the TORCH group there at the store (unfortunately we were behind them, and they had ordered 70 pupusas; ay!). After pupusas, I made the effort to try and spend time with the TORCH group outside of Casa de Esperanza. They were really a lot of fun, and I found out they were going to El Patio and then to devotional at Santa Lucia's Catholic Church that night. So I went ahead and made plans to go along because I someone knew I needed to be there at that devo.

We got back to our house in the afternoon, and everyone else went to sleep. But I just took Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell and got back in my hammock until I finished it (and if you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it; has a few controversial points, but overall it is phenomenal). Then I did a little laundry, and then got everyone up to catch the bus to El Patio. Only 6 of us wound up going, but I think I can speak for all 6 when I say that we're glad we went. El Patio was not only some of the best food ever, it was a ton of fun with this TORCH group. There was a mariachi (sp?) band, who one of the translators from their group sang with, there were Christmas and disco lights from the ceiling, and there was just a whole bunch of people goofing off (it was the last night of their trip, so this was their big, energetic celebration deal).

Afterwards, we went to Santa Lucia for devo. The singing was beautiful; it felt so good to be surrounded by that many voices giving such praise to God. Matt, one of the TORCHers who is my age and went to Tulane this past year, gave the devo. He did an awesome job, talking about the fact that God takes care of us and we have no need to worry about a thing. It was the uplifting and recharging night that I needed, and it definitely makes me want to keep the zeal burning within me to continue to see and be Jesus everywhere I go.

Thanks to all of those who are praying for me. Being here is demanding sometimes, but your prayers, I believe, are what gets me through. May God bless you richly, and much love.

Life of an Intern

Honduras. Day 17.

Today, me, Karis, and Nolan got up to load up into the Galloper with the AIMers and get dropped off at Mas X Menos, the gringo (white person) supermarket in Teguc. And, of course, the Galloper found another excuse (the alternator) to decide to not work. Well, the interns HAD to meet the TORCH bus at Mas X Menos in about 15 minutes, so we left the AIMers to deal with the Galloper and called a cab. The cab driver, Julio, was an amazingly nice guy. He talked to us about church, and reading his Bible, and was just funny too (he pretended to talk in a Chinese accent, and it was hilarious). We got to Mas X Menos 30 minutes past and... No Marc. And no TORCH bus.

We thought we were just going to get a free day to hang out downtown, so we looked around in the supermarket, went and got breakfast at Burger King, and then saw... a TORCH bus at Mas X Menos? There were a whole bunch of people on it, from Marc Connell's group, and they were all playing with puppets. We figured, "Why not?" So we got on the bus.

We were all playing with the puppets, talking to people on the street with them from the side of the bus (this group REALLY reminded me of the TORCH group I regularly go with), and just had a good time talking and getting to know everybody. And then we passed the other TORCH bus at the ferreteria (hardware store). The one we were supposed to be on, that was going to go build houses.

Oh no. Looks like we are going to have to do VBS instead of build houses. Shoot... :)

We got to a village none of us had ever been to before, and we started unloading supplies at a local pulperia. One group made 100 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and organized juice boxes for all of the kids, while the rest of us went around the community for a few hours, telling everyone about the VBS. At about 2:00 that afternoon, we held the VBS in the center of the village. A ton of kids came out, and we had a blast. There was a puppet show, a skit, and then the kids all got their PB&J's. We sang songs, and then played with the kids. Those kids were a ton of fun. I really had a great time with them, and I really got along well with the TORCH group we were with.

Then we got on the bus and went to the Mission House with the TORCHers. Then we called Marc and said we needed picked up, and he said we should get a cab and meet him at Mas X Menos. So we called a cab. They said it'd be twenty minutes. Within that time frame, Marc called back and said, "Never call a cab, they'll double or triple the price." So we started walking, and were going to look for a taxi on the way down El Hatillo (the safe, nice neighborhood, don't worry). Well, Nolan joked about hitchhiking... And then I stuck out my hand, and a truck stopped. Karis freaked out. But I figure, "It's a nice neighborhood, people have done it before, there's three of us; it'll be okay." So we hopped in the bed of the truck and went to Mas X Menos. Marc was surprisingly okay with it when we got there, and then he took us to the warehouse to unload a container that had just come in from the States for one of the TORCH groups.

Little did we know...

The container was full of medical supplies. $3 million worth. And when I say full, I mean FULL. It was a ton of heavy lifting, a ton of unpacking, and a ton of repacking in the warehouse. It took well over two hours with about 20 people. At the end of it all, I was physically exhausted. But then Marc took us out to Pizza Hut, and after a whole bunch of pizza, chugging a bottle of water, and a little Pepsi to top it all off, I felt a lot better.

Crazy stuff today. But I reflect on it all and... It was a good day in Hondo today.

Underneath El Picacho

Honduras. Day 16.

Mmmk... Let's see if there's a word that could describe my day today... Nope. Today's beyond words.

Me, Nol, and Karis got up and went and grabbed some Dunkin' Donuts, and then hurried back to the apartments for devo at 7:00 (even though devo starts when we get there because Nol had it this morning). He talked about serving in humility, and then we did a circle prayer and everyone prayed for the day ahead of us.

Hahaha... The day ahead of us...

So we all load up in the Galloper and go meet Marc, Luis, David, Milton, and Michelle at the Texaco at the bottom of El Hatillo. Then we all go to the work site in a village underneath El Picacho. What is El Picacho, you ask? El Picacho is the enormous statue of Jesus that you can look up and see from Tegucigalpa. It is on one of the highest mountains. So today we were building a house right under the feet of Jesus, on a mountain high above all of Honduras, and it offered one of the most breath-taking views I have ever beheld (and, of course, I had forgotten my camera today).

I have done some bad house sites before, but today's takes the cake. It was an enormous hike straight up, literally, the mountain. Carrying the tools up alone was miserable. Taking the wood there was kinda like a bad mixture of a never-ending nightmare, having cancer, and Hillary getting president. Marc had to go get the TORCH team and the tin, so I went with him and Michelle. We delivered the tin to the other site (I lost my phone; that will be an important detail later), and then we took the TORCHers to the Site of Death (oh, the look on their faces when they saw the mountain). Once we got them there, they got to work and we kinda stepped back. Marc is real big on us getting the hard work started for them and then letting it be their project, which I completely understand.

So it was a long day of playing with kids, blowing money on Taco chips for all of them and Natura's Pear Juice for myself (I'm an addict now). Now let me tell you what happened at the end of the day.

We took the tools to the top of the mountain to wait for Nol to come pick us up. At first, it was just me and Karis. That was at about 4:30, not too bad yet. We sat and waited, and sat and waited, and sat and waited. No Nolan. We looked down the mountain and saw Marc's truck pulling out. Eventually Steve and Felicia came up to watch the tools with us. That was about 5:00, getting a little worse. Then we saw Luis, the last TORCH helper on the mountain, get on the bus and leave. Still no Nolan, and now we are alone on the top of an unfamiliar mountain with a whole bunch of tools and it's getting late. And there's still no Nolan.

Steve wanted to walk back down the mountain (a 30 minute task) and look for Nolan, thinking he got lost in the Galloper or stuck somewhere. But seeing as how there were a bunch of strange guys gathering around, waiting for Steve to find Nolan was not an option. Then we thought we could just call him and Marc and tell them to come find us. Oh wait. Karis' phone is dead. Felicia left her's in the car. Steve's is charging at the apartment. And I lost mine today.

Yeah, it was getting a little scary.

We finally decided that we couldn't wait any longer. We gathered as much as tools as we could, placed Steve walking in front, Karis and Felicia in the middle, and me in back carrying the Fat Max hammers and a Stihl chainsaw for, as much as I hate to say it, protection. We got a ways down the mountain, ignoring all the drunks, until we met a cabby. We loaded our stuff up with him and started driving around looking for Nolan. We found him with the Galloper, which had a dead battery on the side of the mountain. We tried to jump start it with the cab, but it was pointed uphill and wouldn't go. So we tried to push it over the hill. Uh uh. Then some Mormons walked up and helped us push.

Oh, the Mormons...

We got the Galloper down the next hill, found another cab driver to jump us off, and started on our way. We called Marc (on Nolan's phone) and told him to meet us at the apartments with a new battery. Little did we know, we wouldn't make it that far. We got into El Centro (which translates "THE Downtown") and, guess what, the Galloper died again. And it died pointing the wrong way. Down a one way street. Blocking traffic.

So me and Steve managed to push the Galloper around the street while Nol cut the wheels until we eventually got it parked on the curb. We went into Dunkin' Donuts and got the lady at the counter to give directions to Milton (who could then in turn give them to Marc) and told them we need a new battery in El Centro a.s.a.p. Me and Nol stayed with the car, which was conveniently dead outside of a bar, thus attracting several drunks that came up to see how they could "help." Eventually we paid off the Dunkin' Donuts guard to help watch the Galloper with us (we paid him off with donuts; how stereotypical). Marc and Milton showed up 30 minutes later with a new battery, and we were off again. We dropped Milton off at his house, went back to the apartments to get some spaghetti, and then chilled the rest of the night.

Ok. Here's a phrase to sum up the day that some of you will understand: "Welcome to Honduras."

Bueno ("Good")

Honduras. Day 15.

Today can be summed up in the word: bueno, which means, "good."

We slept in a little today, and then me, Nolan and Karis (the TORCH interns) went downstairs and loaded up with Marc, Nicole, and Matt to set out on what was to be a really cool day. We went and met one of the TORCH groups from West Virginia (a pretty cool, nice group with several veteran TORCH members in it) in some community where we have never done work before. The TORCHers had bagged 200 bags of food for the community, and we came and helped them distribute the food. Let me just say this: just because I didn't build a house today in no way means I didn't get a work out. The hills in that community were intense, and delivering that food up and down those hills took a toll on me. But we gave out every last bag, and some of the looks on some of those faces were looks that said, "I genuinely appreciate this, and I can't tell you how thankful I am for it."

Yeah, that was pretty cool.

Then we rode on the bus with them to Casitas Kennedy (basically a child warehouse, where Casa de Esperanza gets a lot of children from). They had 60 boxes of pizza for the kids. I really appreciated that; that was a cool idea. But we waited for Marc at Casitas until he got out of a meeting and picked us up and took us to Sector Ocho (and as we were driving up I could already here, "Arroz! Arroz!" And that made me smile). But we were on a mission in Sector Ocho. We found our friend named Kelline, who we met there because of how much she worked at the new church building (and she knew some English so it was easier to hang out with her). Kelline was turning 15 today, and we told her we were going to take her out to eat. She got really excited, and said she would run back and ask her mom.

When she left, me and Nolan got David (one of the kids we'd played soccer with) to take us to see Reyna, the lady who had had appendicitis. It was a brutal hike to her house, but we eventually got there. I told her, as best as I could in my broken Spanish, that we just wanted to come and see her and see how she was doing. She and her grandmother were very appreciate, and we sat with them for a while. Reyna was bedridden for the day, and she said her side was feeling a lot better (not sure if that's a good thing or not yet, though). I asked if there was anything we could get for her, and she asked for some orange juice.

Reyna just wanted some orange juice.

So we marched to a pulperia, got her some, and took it back to her. She said thank you, we said it was good to see her and that we hoped she'd get better. We said God bless you, and parted ways.

God, please bless Reyna.

We took Kelline to Pizza Hut for her birthday (she loves Pizza Hut). We all had fun sitting around and laughing, and right before we left, Marc got me to go ask the waiter to get everyone to sing Happy Birthday to her. When they all came out, at first I thought she was embarrassed. And when they all started singing, Kelline began to cry. I was wondering if we had made the right move, but then she lifted her face after the song was over, and she was smiling. She looked around at us all and said, "Thank you very much. My cries are happy. Very, very happy. Thank you so much." That was a moment I think I'll never forget. Rob Bell would call it a "sacred" moment, where I could feel the happiness of God around the table as we had taken this sweet 15 year old girl out to Pizza Hut for her birthday.

Then we went and hung out at the warehouse, and then we went and had some amazing chicken and mashed potatoes at Marc's house in Santa Ana. We just got back to the apartments a little while ago. And as I reflect over today, again, all I can say is: "It is good."

Crazy

Honduras. Day 14 (Tuesday).

Let me tell you about the crazy day that was my yesterday.

We all got up a little earlier to have devotional on the roof of the apartment complex. Marc asked me to take the message, and I did a devo on Isaiah 40, about how sometimes we see and hear and know that there is a God and that He is great and powerful, but that sometimes what we really need to know is whether or not He sees what we're going through and understands our concerns. And the answer to that question is: He understands more than we can understand, and "for those who trust [hope, wait, look to] in the Lord, He will give them new strength."

Then we loaded up and went to Sector Ocho to finish the house from yesterday. Translation: there were already way to many people working on it, so I dropped off my tool belt and went and found all of my kids. Let me just tell you about my kids. Danella, Josilyn, and Lester are all brother and sisters, and they are the most adorable kids on the planet. And now, every time I go to Sector Ocho, I walk up to their house and they start hollering, "Arroz! Arroz! Arroz!" And then I'll pick 'em up and twirl them around, and hold Danella's hand (she insists that she can't walk without holding my hand, apparently). They all have the biggest smiles, and when I asked them if I could adopt them, they said it'd be okay so I'm working on getting the papers for that (of course, I asked in English, and I think they just agree with everything I ask...). My other kids are Pamela and her older sister. They have head lice. And all of the boys in the neighborhood call them ugly and make fun of them. But I still spend time with them, and yesterday I told them that I thought they were beautiful. My other kid is Mirari. She's always got a smile on her face, and since she calls me "Arroz" ("rice"), I've started calling her "Papas" ("potatoes"), and that always makes her laugh.

So I played with the kids for a while, and then eventually headed back to the house site. It was coming along, so I just sat inside with Felicia and a bunch of other kids and listened to a little girl named Deside sing church songs that she knew. Eventually someone came in and said, "Russell, you've gotta go. Someone's sick." So I got up and left and ran towards the church building. I saw Karis on the way, and she said there was a lady who was having really bad stomach pains. I got to the house across from the church building where a bunch of people were gathered, and I tried to assess what to do. Nolan ran up, and we talked and made the split second decision to just get the Galloper and drive her and one other person to Hospital Escuela. So we loaded them up, the lady and her grandmother, me, Nolan, and Karis, and booked it to the hospital. We rushed her in through the emergency gate, and I helped her through the emergency room doors. We had talked about it along the way, and told the nurses it may be something with her appendix. One nurse looked her over, and then the waiting game began. Nolan had to go back to pick up the AIMers at the house, and so then it was just me, Karis, and the grandmother waiting outside the emergency room doors.

Let me just tell you: I saw a lot of things in that two hours of waiting that should never be seen in a hospital. It was pitiful.

I saw a dead woman get wheeled in; I saw a man lying on a cart with his legs chopped off; I saw a man walking OUT (as in, leaving, not coming; as in, the hospital had already done all they could for him) with a mangled hand, dripping blood all over the floor. There were people wailing and crying, trying to get through the emergency room admission line. There was a son that carried in his old grandmother, and the grandmother was screaming at the top of her lungs. It was crazy. And it was dirty. It was a third-world country hospital to the core. And I had visited kids in this hospital for years and years, but I had never seen this side of Hospital Escuela.

Eventually Reyna (the lady in the emergency room) came out, and her grandmother showed me the receipt the doctors gave them for it all. Reyna had appendicitis. I asked if they were going to do surgery. She said no. She said they just were going to give her painkillers and antibiotics.

I know. I was thinking the same thing too.

So Nolan shows up right about then with Burger King for Reyna, the grandmother, and Reyna's mother who had come along right before Reyna got out. We gave them all a ride back to Sector Ocho. And then we had to go and meet Marc and the others at the warehouse. I'm not going to lie, I was not okay about all of it.

Reyna couldn't afford surgery. The doctors wouldn't perform surgery. There's a chance the antibiotics will save her. But there's a chance it will resurface and rupture.

It's just not fair.

Then we went and unloaded Tim Hine's container full of school supplies at the mayor's bodega. There was a lot more tension, and the three interns pulled Marc aside and said we needed to talk to him about the tension issues. He was cool with that, and we all went out to eat (me, Nolan, Karis, Nicole and Matt, Milton, Marc and Tim) at Carnita's (a Honduran steakhouse in the old dug-out of a baseball field with AMAZING food). We were open and honest with him about the tension issues, and just expressed that we felt that we needed to be working more with TORCH. He understood, and it really was a great night after that. The three interns went and picked up an ice cream cake for Keith (it was his birthday) and took it back to the apartments for everybody to enjoy.

The day started with cute kids, continued with an appendicitis, and ended with an ice cream cake. Yesterday was a crazy day.

A Long Monday

Honduras. Day 13 (Monday).

Yesterday was really a tough day. There was a lot of bickering and fighting between some of the AIMers, and it was spilling tension over into everything that we did. By the time we got to Sector Ocho to wait for Louis, Milton, and David to help us with the build site, not many people were talking to each other. It was absolutely ridiculous. Karis and Nolan had to run to town and I had to stay behind with all of the "silent treatment." But I just sat there, thought about it, thought about how Satan was using our arguments to attack us, and decided that I was not going to let anything or anyone else bring down my ability to minister to these people on this mountain.

So I prayed.

And when I said, "Amen," I got up and tried my hardest to answer that prayer for myself. I went out and started playing with the kids. And that became quite an experience. I met fifty or more children today (even picked up a couple of little girlfriends, Danella, Pamella, Josilyn, and Mirari). My name is real tough to pronounce in Spanish, and once all of the kids found out that Milton's nickname for me in Spanish was, "Aroz," (which translates, "Rice"), the kids thought it was hilarious and EVERYWHERE I would go, the kids would shout, "Aroz! Aroz!" And I played soccer with a bunch of the boys in the town, and made quite a few friends through that (I also almost had a heart attack; they are hard to keep up with!).

So even though one of the houses we had to start for one of the TORCH groups was a sui-site where we had to haul wood, literally, straight up a mountain (it was quite the work out), and even though the other house crew... well, let's just say they really messed up their house... and even though there was so much bickering between some of the AIMers, I pressed on trying to smile and minister and serve. And the more I tried, the more Spirit God gave me to try harder and do it better. So even though it was a long Monday, filled with a ton of rough spots, it was a very, very good day in Honduras.

New Apartments

Honduras. Day 11.

Today was one of those days that I think I can call: beautiful.

Today was a “day off” for the interns and AIMers, but that does not mean it wasn’t eventful. We slept in until nearly 10 this morning, while Marc and Terri went to take the TORCH group to the airport. Then we woke up and got all of our stuff together and prepared to go to our new apartments in Teguc. We piled nearly all of the luggage into the Galloper, and then me and Karis squeezed into the front and Nolan drove. It was quite an interesting drive.

We knew the basic gist of where we were going, but apparently there was a wrong turn in there somewhere and we wound up in El Centro (downtown Tegucigalpa, which is actually a perfectly safe place to be in, it’s just a mess of a traffic jam). So I called Louis for directions, and after he got done laughing at us, he told me that the best thing to do is ask a taxi driver because they “always know the way.” So I hopped out, walked to the taxi behind us, and asked the driver.

He did not know the way.

But the guy in the back did. But my Spanish was bad enough that I couldn’t understand, and traffic was starting to move and I didn’t want to be far from the Galloper, so the guy just got out of the taxi and told us he’d show us the way.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing too. “Not a good idea.”

But we were lost, and the guy was a middle-aged, nice looking guy. So we crammed a little more and let him show us the way. He got us deep Centro up to the Stadium. And then the Galloper decided that it was on an impossible hill and gave up hope.

Sigh.

So then I got out of the Galloper to push and, get this, the guy got out too. I thought that was pretty nice. And so me and him pushed on the Galloper until we eventually got it rolling through traffic. And then the two of us ran to catch up with it. We eventually jumped back in and were off. As things settled down and we got on the highway, he started talking to us.

About God.

(And we are the missionaries?)

We noticed that he had a Bible in his hands, and he opened it and showed it to us. Then he started telling us about his church, and asking us about where we went to church. And then we got to the mall (we knew the way to the apartments from there), and the guy got out of the car, said, “God bless you,” we said, “Thank you,” and he walked away.

It could have been any cab in the city that I asked for directions from. But I asked the one with Jesus riding in it.

We got to the apartments, set our stuff down, and me, Karis, Kale, and Nolan went to the mall and to T.G.I. Friday’s (being an intern rocks; we do what we want). We came back later, and me and Karis and Kale sat on the roof and talked about God (I’m with such cool kids), and then we all got together and hung out down in the lobby of the apartments. Then we made a 10 o’ clock run to Wendy’s (with Louis), and then we all ate up on the roof again.

Today was sweet. And it makes me anxious about tomorrow.

Cowboy Boots

Honduras. Day 10.

(This another later-than-the-date recap).

Today I went to work on a house crew in Los Pinos. Most of the other interns and AIMers went to work on the house with us. The house went smoothly. Louis led the crew. No real news about the house.

But I still learned a lot today.

I’ve seen how God has really been working on my heart lately. With the hospital and blind school, He started tearing down walls I had built up. And today, with the kids in Los Pinos (which, for any of you that have been to Los Pinos before, KNOW how amazing the kids are), He really started pealing away to better fill me with His Spirit through

the faces of the children.

Melbe (Karis’ little “boyfriend”). Victor (who sat with me on a break at the work site and we just gazed at the mountains together on the side of a cliff and talked about how beautiful it all was). Esmic (who couldn’t stand to see me without running up and giving me a smile and a hug). Esmic’s little brother Edison. Vanessa. Mirari (who gave me a kiss on the cheek today). Wilma. Carolina. Linda. Wilson. And then the faces of all those I can’t even remember the names of. But they are all God’s precious little children. And I see Jesus in their faces. And yet I know, as I sit here typing this on a nice couch, in a well-lit room with a roof above my head, these precious little ones are hungry, sleeping on dirt floors, and longing for

hope.

But I don’t think that because I am physically blessed I have it altogether. I realized that today when I was trying to walk down a really steep cliff in Los Pinos. I started making my way down when a little girl came up beside me and grabbed my hand. It’s not unusual for random kids to want to hold your hand and walk with you in Honduras, so I was fine with that. I thought she just wanted to be with me as I walked. But she was wanting me to be with her. She started leading the way down the cliff. And every time my footing was a little unsure, she’d look back at me and tighten her grip on my hand. And she never let go until we reached the bottom. Because I thought I was going to be blessing her. But she was the one blessing me.

And you can make your own connections and applications about that one.

I also really bonded with Karis and Nolan today. Me and Karis had a good long conversation about a lot of different stuff, and a lot of it was very spiritual, and about God calling us to different things throughout our lives. But at one point, Karis stopped and asked if the lady we were building the house for might want some shoes (others from the group were organizing a clothing give-away at the church down the road). So we asked her if she’d like some, she of course said yes, and we set off for the church. When we got there, there weren’t exactly “shoes,” per se. Someone had just brought an enormous box full of... cowboy boots? But Karis took the time to look through every set of cowboy boots until she found the ones that were the right size and looked just the absolute best for this lady (they were black with pink embroidery and silver caps on the toes. I know what you’re thinking already: “Hot”). And then we started walking back and met the lady on the road. When Karis unzipped her backpack and brought out the boots, I don’t think I have ever seen a lady so excited. She beamed. And she took the shoes and thanked Karis, and hugged the boots, and took them home with her. At devo tonight, I told everyone that I saw Jesus in Karis for that today.

I went with Marc to the work site of the new church building in Sector Ocho this afternoon. I played with some kids there, and then stuck around even after all of the others had left (only Gringo on the work site. Oh yeah, I’m cool). Then I road back with my new best buddy, Milton Estrada, and all of my friends from the Oriente work site. It was hilarious. We were all piled in the Galloper, and they had the Honduran reggaeton music bumpin’, and they were all singing along and I was just laughing my head off at them. When we dropped them off, me and Milton rode back to Julio’s house together. We actually had a serious conversation about dating and life and all that stuff. It was very “of God.”

Then that night we got back to Santa Ana, and me and Nolan and Karis stayed up until 2 in the morning talking. It was a ton of fun; we laughed all night, and had a great time. I don’t think I could be with a better group of friends.

God is good. All the time.

And all the time, God is good.

Covered in Rain

Honduras. Day 9.

I am soaked to the bone from a long night in freezing cold rain right now. And yet it has been such a great day that I will never forget.

Today I woke up early and went with Marc and a few others to go meet the TORCH group at Julio’s house, and then we had a morning devo. Nathan, one of the TORCHers, encouraged us all to know Jesus, see Jesus, and be Jesus for the day. And boy was he ever a great predictor of what was going to happen.

Nicole and me led groups of TORCHers to Hospital Escuela this morning. It was the first time for any of them to see the hospital. I told my group up front that it was going to be a challenge to take in, and that it would break their hearts, but that they would still need to pour out love and show Christ to all of the kids there. So we prayed and went up into the hospital and made our way to the cancer unit.

All of the people in my group did amazing in the cancer unit. They brought sock puppets, Hot Wheels cars, even a Tickle-Me-Elmo (which provided a great amount of entertainment for the kids), and passed it all out to the kids there. There were so many smiles on so many faces, and even though there is sometimes a faint feeling of helplessness, I really felt as though our group made a difference. There was a little boy there named David there who was convinced that I was a road for his Hot Wheels car, and every time I would tickle him and he’d smile and giggle and his bright, pure, innocent joy just radiated Jesus to me today.

After we left the cancer unit, a couple of people expressed that they wanted to go to the burn unit. Now, I’ve been in the burn unit several times, and I can personally testify that it is a very tough place to go and visit. So I told the group that I was not going to make anyone go that didn’t want to go, but that those that did could go in and the others could just play with the kids in the rooms nearby. So I took them up to the third floor, and let the others go around to all the other rooms, and then I let a few people go into the burn unit. I watched them from the hall. And they were praying with the kids, and laughing with the kids, and smiling with the kids. And after they got out, they broke down in tears. I saw Jesus in them for that today.

After the children’s hospital, we went to El Centro (downtown) Tegucigalpa. We passed out food bags to the shoe shiners and their families (who make just about nothing), and one of the congressmen was there and TV cameras were there and all that stuff. But the thing that I remember most about El Centro today was going in the Catholic basilica. I walked in, and I noticed this little boy sitting at the door of the church. He had very dark skin with lots of white splotches where it looked like he may have been burned. He wore tattered clothes, and he sat counting his limpiras over and over and over again. And he wouldn’t look at anyone. He just looked down.

And then I walk in and I see this Catholic basilica, with it’s huge ceilings, and a gigantic, extravagant altar, covered wall-to-wall in gold, and no, I was not impressed. I was angry. I was thinking, “There is a world out there that is needing food for the day, and you’re wasting all of this on some golden altar. God doesn’t want some extravagant temple. God wants people to be cared for.” And as I walked out, I gave some money to the little boy at the door of this “great” basilica. And he just said, “Gracias,” never looking at me, only staring down.

Because he needed the money. But he needed connection even more.

And then we went and had lunch at the Campero-Little Caesar’s area. I went to Little Caesar’s with Justin and we split a big pizza. We talked for a while about how life is at a slower pace here, how everything makes sense here, and how much we like the openness and general attitude of the country. He wants to start dedicating more time here and start bringing his whole family too (and this is this guy’s first year!). It was a great encouragement to me.

Then we went to the Mi Esperanza house. And then, finally, we went to one of my favorite places in all of Honduras: the school for the blind. It always has a way of breaking me. When they started singing “I Will Call Upon the Lord” in Spanish, and all of their little voices came together in perfect harmony (when their sight left them, their voices became so much more beautiful), it sounded like angels singing, and I felt the tears forming around my eyes. I was sitting with a little girl named Maria, who wanted to hold my hand the whole time. And then she led me outside after the singing, and she just wanted me to sit with her and hold her hand. And I would like to say, “Well, that’s great. She needed the love.” But I think she may have done more for me than I for her. Because I think that I needed the love too.

Afterwards, we went to the mall. I hung out with Kale, Karis, Nolan, and Keith. And then we rode to El Picacho (the 90 foot tall Jesus Statue that overlooks Tegucigalpa). We had devo up there in the rain. And it was pouring down, and we were huddled underneath the statue of Jesus trying to stay dry, but I couldn’t help but think about all of the people on the mountain who were in the same rain and didn’t have the feet of Jesus to seek shelter underneath. And so when we went back, me and Kale rode in the back of Marc’s truck. And, yeah, it was crazy; it was raining, and cold, and we got completely drenched. But I was trying to understand what it was like for my friends on the mountain when it rains.

But even when I got back to Marc’s house, and changed clothes, and dried off a little, the rain still fell. I’m dry now, but they’re still wet. This roof is above my head, but theirs still leaks.

It was a tough day. Not a day of hard work but a day of heart work. It was emotionally draining. It was heart breaking. But I saw Jesus every where I went. From the people in my group at the hospital, to Maria at the blind school, to the rain that fell on me in the back of the truck: I saw Jesus today. And I’ll try my best to help the people out of the physical storms while I’m here; but I’m also going to try and help them huddle with us at the His feet to keep them out of the spiritual storms while I’m here.

Amen. Bring on the rain.

Nora's House

Honduras. Day 8.

Led a house crew today. Thankfully Milton showed up and greatly helped out (I basically handed the house crew over to him). It was an extremely stressful day, but we got the house built, and that’s all that mattered.

I do want to say one thing about it, though. We had to tear down the house on the lot before we could build a new one in its place. And before we could tear it down, we had to go in and take out all of Nora and her children’s stuff.

That was the first time I’ve been in a Hondo house in a long time. And I think i had forgotten just how “real” it really is.

The house was smaller than most Americans’ bathrooms. It was maybe a good 12’ x 8’. In other words, it was tiny. And it was where three people lived.

Every

day

of

their

lives.

And it was dirty. And it smelled. And it was full of bugs. When we moved their “dressers” (which were cardboard boxes with wet, dirty clothes just piled into them), dozens of cockroaches and water bugs scattered. There were places where we had to be careful because tiger ants were crawling around. In most people’s opinion, it was a box full of trash. But to Nora and her sons, it was all they had. And so whether it be carting out a damp, muddy love-seat or the few dirty pots and pans they had, we were careful with their stuff. Because what looked like not that much to us was sacred to them. It was all they had.

Yeah. Today it got real.

Gracias, a Dios

Honduras. Day 6.

Built my first house for the year today.

We went and picked up the TORCH group at Julio’s mission house and then loaded them on the bus to head to Mirador Oriente. Some of the group then shuttled on Marc’s truck to Sector Ocho to build the new church building, and the rest stayed in Oriente to either build a house for a lady and her family or cook and feed the children at the town’s “cafeteria.” The house building process started slow, and Marc told us interns to let the TORCHers do most of the work so that they could get the experience. So when Marc said he had to go to town, me and Nolan loaded up and went with him. We picked up a bunch of cement, and then we got Burger King (I admit, I felt a little bad, knowing that the work crew was missing out). Then we got more supplies, dropped some stuff off at the church site in Sector Ocho and then went back to Oriente.

The house had come a long ways when we got back. It was at the point where I came back and pretty much jumped right up on the roof to finish it with Louis and his little brother, David (Marc said that interns could roof because the TORCHers didn’t know how yet). After the roof, something interesting happened.

There was this drunk guy that was trying to talk to a bunch of the TORCHers and some of the ninos in the community. Um, that’s a no-no. So I went up to him and told him and talked to him and then told him basically that he had to go (he was scaring a bunch of the kids). He kept asking for food, and when I finally got it across to him that we didn’t have any, he started asking for everything I had. He wanted my pants, my shirt, my shoes, and my hat. After a while, he wasn’t too happy, and he got right up in my face and I could smell the tequila all over him. It was frustrating because the TORCHers were taking forever to get on the bus, but eventually they all got on, and I convinced the guy to leave us be. He said he needed stuff for his family. I told him I would pray for him and his family, but we had to go. And I think I may have said that just so that he would leave. But no. I really am going to pray for him and his family.

God, be with Jose and his mother. Bless them, and guide them to you.

And when we were finishing up the house, and the day was winding down, I met a guy named Ruben. He was an older gentlemen, missing a few teeth and wearing some tattered clothes. But he said he went to the church in the community, so we chatted about that for a minute or two. And then I told him that it looked like WE were going to finish the house today (as if the day’s work were all about what we had done; yeah right). But, to this, Ruben just looked up and said, “Gracias Dios” (“thank you, God”). Most people would have said “Thank you” to us. But Ruben had the right perspective; Ruben saw the bigger picture.

Ruben thanked God. And I saw Jesus in Him for that today.

Another great day in Honduras.

A Lord's Day in Hondo

Honduras. Day 5.

Today was... quite a day.

We went to church in Villa Nueva Sector Ocho, which is a little bit of a “rougher” suburb of Teguc. But before we went to the church, all the AIMers and interns went and met up with the first TORCH group of the summer. They all seemed really nice, and we had a fun trip to the church building on the bus, laughing and telling stories and just getting to know one another.

From what I understood of it, church service was very good today. I’m pretty sure that the first sermon was about Matthew 25 and the ten bridesmaids and their lamps. But there were two other sermons, and I had no idea what they were about. Anyways, I loved listening to the singing. And then, after church, we all went outside and played with the kids in the community. Even in the slums of the slums, there were children there that were just happy and kind and sweet in every way. One boy that I met today, named Ala, was a ten-year-old Honduran living with Downs’ Syndrome. But even through the language barrier and the limits of being able to communicate because of the slurring that the disease did to his speech, I saw Christ in Ala today. I saw Christ in Ala because he was a boy that was enduring his struggles and still had so much energy and love to give.

We went and had lunch at the Campero’s, Church’s, and Little Caesar’s area today. Afterwards, we took the TORCH group to Valley of Angels to souvenir shop. Some of the TORCHers walked around with our group of interns and AIMers (Karis, Steve, and me), and they were cool and we let them shop. But we were pretty content to just drink smoothies and sit in hammocks all day (I have a feeling we’ll be back at Valley of Angels a LOT this summer). In one shop, the two owners were so kind to Karis and me and they even gave us free key chains as we left. As if we needed key chains, and they didn’t need money. But they gave them for free because they had so much love to give.

Even when love comes in the form of a free keychain.

After Valley of Angels we went to Santa Lucia to eat supper (and it was AMAZING). And then we headed over to the Catholic Church for devo. It’s a pretty cool building, I guess. Built in 1530, oldest church building in the Western Hemisphere. Blah Blah. For us, it was just another spot on God’s earth to pause and worship Him. And that was pretty cool.

Ah... Another day in the life.