(Pictures from the trip included at the end).
Honduras. Many see it as just another foreign, third world country. To me now, it is so much more; it is a place where part of my heart is.
Last school year, Dr. Pratt (the Director of Campus Life at OCU) approached some of us about going on a missions trip to Faith Home (a child care facility) in Honduras. My first thought was, “Yeah, that will be fun.” So after much prayer, my husband Ryan and I decided we would go. We started raising the funds, and the time quickly approached. On Saturday, July 31st, at 1 AM in the morning, we left for the airport in Louisville. Later that day, we arrived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Talk about a little culture shock. Imagine sixteen English-speaking Americans in the midst of hundreds of people speaking a language where you can only understand very, very little. We traveled to Faith Home, and I was amazed at some of the poverty on the way. I thought I had prepared myself, but in all reality, there is really no way to prepare yourself unless you have seen it before. Once at Faith Home, one of the awesome missionaries took us on a tour where we got to meet some of the great kids and people. I was also in complete awe of the beauty of the land; God truly is the great sculptor! That night, we had our first worship service as a group. Dr. Pratt asked us what we wanted to accomplish or have God show us this week. My simple prayer was for God to truly break me. What I mean by that is I wanted Him to break me for the people of Honduras and humble me to the point where I realize how big God is and how small I am. Later on in the week, I learned to be careful what you ask God for because He never fails in following through!
Sunday, August 1, we went to an English-speaking church the missionaries in the area attend. It was great to get to worship with people from all over the world and United States. Then, we ate at Uno Chicago which is kind of like Old Chicago’s in Evansville. The funniest thing was opening the menu to see a meal costing 195, which is in lempira – not dollars. I probably almost fainted before I realized it was not dollars. We also went to a wood factory later that day where there were some beautiful hand-carven furniture and knick-knacks.
The next three days, we spent most of our time working at Faith Home. Rae Ann (from the OCU team) and I worked in the kitchen most of the week preparing meals for the team, which gave me a much greater appreciation for mothers with lots of children! Other members of the team worked on roofs, painted, etc. On Tuesday, Rae Ann and I went to the school on the Faith Home campus and helped out. Rae Ann worked with the youngest class, and I helped out at PE. This was EXTREMELY interesting because soccer, or futbol, is king in Honduras. I personally have NEVER played this sport, where most of them come out of the womb kicking a soccer ball, I think. It was a ton of fun though!! Also, on Wednesday, some of the guys went with Saul, the translator from Faith Home, to town to buy rice and beans. They took their picture with armed guards and had a great time.
One cool thing Rae Ann and I did was learn how to make tortillas from scratch. Three of the transition girls at Faith Home came to the Team Home and taught us how. They are amazingly quick and talented at making tortillas, which were very delicious!
Another awesome experience was Tuesday night. We got the opportunity to worship with the kids at Faith Home. The whole service was in Spanish with the kids singing and doing skits, but during two songs, the kids starting singing in English. Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord was one of them. I was completely overwhelmed at how amazing and global our God is. It is powerful to me how we can worship in small town USA in English while a group of kids worship in Honduras in Spanish.
On Thursday, we had the day off to sight see around Honduras. That morning, we went to the co-op. This is a place where women whose husbands have left them can make things and sell them to provide for their families. They made some beautiful pieces that many of us purchased. We chose to go to a big lake about an hour away. It was beautiful, and we had a blast. Later on that day, we went to the Guamalita, which was a huge flea market. I got some great stuff at great bargains. My husband was extremely happy because he got his first machete, and three more for our family! (He felt like a man…hehe).
Friday. Oh Friday. This was the day God had been preparing for me the whole trip. A few of us went to a government ran orphanage that morning; we had been warned that it would be rough. Never had I anticipated what I was going to see. We pulled up to see that it was by a prison with only a concrete wall between the two. We later found out that some of the children will trade their shoes for food, with the prisoners. Bad huh? This wasn’t half of it. We walked up to see some children running out to hug and kiss us. This made me smile but my heart was breaking on the inside. These kids just wanted to be hugged and loved on. The only thought running through my head was, “How can people not want these beautiful children? What have they done wrong?” We then brought in the 300 pounds of beans and rice we had raised money for; the bad thing was that we found out this would only feed the kids for three days. Only three days? Wow. The lady then took us on a tour of the facilities. We got to see the kids in some of their classes, and many seemed so bright and cheerful. I thought, “How can I be so upset and have a bad attitude when these kids have little to nothing and are still joyful?” This knocked me down a few pegs to say the least. We visited a few more classrooms and then headed upstairs to the nursery. We walked in, and the smell about knocked me down. Sometimes I can still smell the odor just thinking about it. There were 24 babies and one woman to take care of all of them. ALL OF THEM. They were pitiful. Most of them terribly needed a diaper change, and most just wanted to be held. They tugged at us to pick them up, and my heart was completely shattered. I thought to myself, “These are BABIES! How could people not want them?!?” We stayed for a while and eventually left. I walked out of there sobbing and completely changed. I asked to be broken and God came through. The scripture in James flooded my mind about caring for orphans and widows. Wow, what a failure I have been.
Later on Friday, the whole group went to a small village not far from Faith Home and took bags of beans and rice we had previously made up. There was a church service were Dr. Pratt spoke, and Saul translated. It was absolutely beautiful. The church was basically a rock/dirt floor and four semi-built concrete walls. The roof covered only half the church and was metal. But these people didn’t care. The place was packed and people were worshiping God like they didn’t have a care in the world. This put so many things into perspective. After the service, we got the privilege to hand out bags of beans and rice. The smiles on their faces were priceless. These people were so thankful to get a zip lock bag of beans and rice. So simple. And I complain when someone messes up my order at McDonalds. Why, oh why?
Later on that night at worship with the team, I shared with them how God had indeed broken me. My heart was forever changed because of Friday, August 6. I also got to see how God had worked and changed the lives of my team members. Wow, what a day!
Saturday was bittersweet. We were going home (whohoo!) but leaving beautiful Honduras (boo!). We traveled back to Louisville where it all began the week before.
Needless to say, God is good! He had planned the week out so perfectly and revealed Himself to me piece by piece. It was truly a life changing experience that is indescribable. To understand it, you have to experience it for yourself! I challenge anyone to take the plunge and go on a missions trip. If not Honduras, go to China, Africa, wherever! Just get out there and be the hands and feet of Jesus to all nations. Because that is what we are called to do!
I also challenge you to visit www.faithhome.net to sponsor a missionary or child. It is a way for you to bless someone with what God has blessed you with!
God is good all the time!
Whitney
