So it’s been a
while, sorry!…but finally here is an update on my life here in Honduras. It’s
quite long, a lot to update on…I’ll be impressed if you get through the whole
thing! :)
School
happenings…
The library is
finally decorated!! Some teams came this summer who had artists, sewers and
man-power so we were able to make colorful mat covers, book-ends and paintings
for the walls including a tree with the kids’ traced hands as leaves. I’m so
happy that these ideas actually became a reality and that finally the library
looks like a library—a warm inviting place to read J
Here is a
picture of the library when I first got here:
Here is what it
looks like now:
So
I really enjoyed the three weeks teaching English in the high school and God has
enabled me to stay in the high school as an assistant teacher (I trained
another volunteer to take over my Elementary school reading classes). I am so
happy and grateful that this worked out because I have discovered that I like
and am much more passionate about teaching in high school than in Elementary
school. Being a teacher in the high school has opened up some really cool doors
to get to know the older kids better (several of whom are in the discipleship
program I help out with), to have great conversations to encourage the youth
and talk about God. I’m also learning a lot about teaching English as a second
language, which is something I have wanted to learn for a while now.
Bible
Studies/Discipleship…
Please
continue to pray for the Bible studies I have with my high school girls on
Monday and Tuesday nights (there are two houses). We’ve been going through a
devotional that I’ve been writing for them called “The gospel: my freedom, hope and power.” The first section is on who God is particularly focusing on His
holiness, the second is on who we are: created in the image of God but fallen
and completely depraved, the third is on who Jesus is: on Him as our only hope
for salvation, and the fourth is on our response to the gospel: what is true
salvation. We are still working through these first four, the basics of what
the gospel really is. My hope for the following studies is to study what we are
called to as Christians (such as forgiveness, love, sharing the gospel, sexual
purity etc.) but that it is this same gospel that gives us the heart motivation
and power to live the Christian life, that it is all based, rooted in the
gospel, that it all comes out of knowing and experiencing the gospel of grace.
Please pray that God would give me wisdom and guidance as I write these
devotionals and lead these studies. I feel the great weight yet also
excitement, joy, deep longing and urgency to proclaim the gospel clearly to
these girls. Please pray that God would work powerfully by His Spirit through
these studies and that these girls would truly be saved and know the power of
the gospel in their lives.
One-on-one
discipleship…
I
haven’t been able to do as much of this for a while because of the demands of
teaching but I am starting to do more again, though there have always been a
few that have consistently sought out my counsel. Some of the topics/issues
that have come up and I’m seeking to walk alongside these girls in are:
-experiencing
heartbreak after breaking up with a boyfriend
-confusion
and sadness in interacting with a close friend who is being disobedient,
hurtful and not walking with the Lord
-forgiving
abusive parents (please please pray for this, it has a strong grip on so many
youth here, and particularly some of my girls, only the power of Jesus can
penetrate these walls)
-spiritual
battle—sin, violent anger, discouragement, evil spirits, dreams about
witchcraft
-making
time to spend with God and study His word
-desire
and fear of having close friends, friendships being attacked
-wanting
to leave the orphanage…I have a couple girls who are 18 or turning 18 and are
in 7th grade. When a child here turns 18 they can legally leave an
orphanage though they don’t have to. They want to be with their family, they
want to get out from all the rules at the orphanage. One in particular is dead
set on leaving in a couple months once she finishes this school year. It’s so
hard for me to see this, I’ve been trying to talk with her pretty point blank
about what this means for her future but she doesn’t really want to listen.
What options are there for an 18-year-old girl with a 7th grade
education? She won’t be able to keep studying if she goes back to live with her
mom. What will her future be like? I don’t want to think about it but I’ve had
to be very direct with her. The only probable options are selling things on the
streets, maybe selling things in a small store/stand on the road or in an open-air
market, or being some sort of maid. The options are bleak. It breaks my heart
to think of her living in poverty. But without an education what hope is there?
I try to explain to her that if she truly loves her family she should continue
her education so that she can help provide for them someday. But thinking down
the road is not on her mind, all she knows is what she wants right now. Please
pray for her. I’ve been having a similar conversation with another 18 year old
in 7th grade, but thankfully she’s open and willing to listen. She’s
struggling a lot to be motivated to continue her studies but she’s begun to
grasp the idea that she needs an education in order to get any kind of a stable
job in the future.
Discipleship Program…
I am still
helping out with the Discipleship program they have here. A few weeks ago I
translated for a speaker from the United States. My Spanish wasn’t perfect but
the message got across. IT was an exciting challenge for me. God keeps
challenging and pushing me to keep growing in my Spanish, often I step back and
think, how did I get here? I hated Spanish for the first at least 7 years of studying
it because I was so bad at it. I never would have imagined being able to
translate, teach, disciple etc in Spanish. God is indeed bigger than our
natural gifting.
So speaking of
challenges…tomorrow I will be giving the message at our discipleship meeting. I
will be speaking on prayer, which will then be followed by leading the youth in
an extending time of prayer. Please pray that God would give me the words to say, that
the youth’s ears and hearts would be open and that God would open their eyes to
see who He really is, convict them of their pride and independence and give
them a deep and lasting desire to seek His presence, power, wisdom and
transformation in prayer.
Visiting NPH…
Several weeks
ago I was able to visit Diego, Dennis and Erick again. They had a big event
called the Olympics at their orphanage, where the entire orphanage is split up
into teams and competes the whole weekend. It was really fun, I joined Diego’s
team. I gave each of the boys a book based on the recent TV series called the
Bible, that retells stories from the Bible in a narrative form. I’ve had a few
spiritual conversations with these boys and they don’t have much interest in
God so please pray that God might move them to read this book and that it might
draw them closer to Him.
Once I got back
from NPH I was reading a poem that I had written about Diego my freshman year
of college. Many parts made me cry but I was particularly hit by a part that I
had forgotten about, reading it God reminded me again just how good He has been
to me, how He has been in control the whole time and knew 5 years ago that He
would indeed bring me back here, that He needed to do some great work in me
before I would come to name this blog what it is named, and be able to return
to Honduras…here is part of the poem…
“God, will this
someday be my reality?
I pray that you
bring me back.
for I see you
here
I see the need
for you here
I see who you
have created me to be
here
where excess is
striped away.
But maybe I am
just running away
from obstacles
that I don’t want to face.
my weaknesses.
You do not have
the strength yet my child.
I am giving you
a glimpse
I have not
prepared you yet.
You must go back
to your world.
You must face
your fears.
You must become
“like a lily
among thorns
is my darling
among the maidens”
before I send
you back.
Trust in me.”
Future thoughts…
A few weeks ago
I visited three different ministries in Tegucigalpa: Casa de Ester (safe home
for teen girls) the Micah Project (home and outreach to street boys) and La
Esperanza (day care and youth center for families in poverty). I really enjoyed
visiting all of them, learning about their ministries and meeting the staff and
kids. At the moment though I am not feeling led to any of the ones in
Tegucigalpa because I am feeling quite drawn to a ministry in La Ceiba (in the
north of Honduras). The ministry there is a church-planting ministry through
Mission to The World, the missionary sending branch of the Presbyterian Church
of America. I found them through the gospel coalition’s online church
directory, their church plant is one of the three listed in Honduras. They also
have several mercy ministries in La Ceiba including a safe home for teen moms,
a street children outreach and a medical center. I’ve been in contact with their
team leader, and MTW recruiter and am hoping to take a vision trip there this
month. I’m in the middle of the application process to be a 6 month intern
there this coming year. Please pray for God’s guidance in all of this. I’m
really excited about this opportunity, particularly because my heart in the
last several years has grow more and more in love with the church and my
convictions on missions, theology and missionary care seem to align very
closely with this ministry. I don’t know what God will do, but it continues to
be an adventure.
Thank you so
much for your continual prayers for me and for what God is doing here in
Honduras. I know God continues to answer them in my life and in the lives of
the children here. So I can’t express enough how grateful I am for interceding to
the Father on my behalf.
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