Ministry and Cicadas

What a week it’s been. Most of what I’ve done this week is help level out the side of the mountain so eventually we can start building a church. Our host, Pastor Paul has a heart for the people on the mountain. As he shares about the problems with alcohol and the fact that many men refuse to speak about God, you can see his deep desire for them to know Jesus and be transformed by his love. 

In December, two sisters who live on the mountain had a dream about a large group of North Americans coming to Honduras. Now, months later a World Race Squad is tenting on their property and lending hands to build the church that has been on the Pastor’s heart for a while. These sisters offered their land on the mountain so Pastor Paul would have more space to build a larger church. 

Just a couple weeks before my squad and I showed up, a group of Hondurans came together to create spots for us to put up our tents and they built a kitchen as well as a covered space for us to eat. Now, together with that group of Hondurans we are on the way to making this church a reality, to encouraging the men in the community to lay down the alcohol and start talking about God. 

Working with the Hondurans has been such a blessing. Like I said in my last blog, they are so strong! The work we’re doing can be pretty tiring, but they never give up. They work so hard AND with so much joy. Conversations with them are so fun because they’re learning English and we’re learning Spanish. Oftentimes I’ll ask a question in Spanish and they’ll respond to me in English. 

I’ve made lots of friends on this mountain already. There’s one friend in particular I want to introduce y’all to. Her name is Saraí. 

Our friendship started over some cicadas. There’s a tree in the middle of some of the campsites that has a ton of cicadas on it. One day, while working on clearing out some more sites around the tree, Saraí was with us just playing with the cicadas. I told her they kinda freaked me out and I didn’t like them very much. Later in the day, while I was sitting in my teammates tent with her, Saraí came over to us. We opened the tent door and she threw 2 cicadas into our tent!!! 

I screamed loud and Saraí thought it was hilarious. Now, everyday when I see her she gives me this devious smile and tells me she’s gonna go find a cicada for me. Even though I still hate the cicadas, seeing Saraí every day brings me a lot of joy.

I am absolutely loving it here in Honduras! The work is hard and I’m usually exhausted by the end of the day, but knowing what the vision is helps me push through the tired. I don’t know if I’ll be here long enough to see the church completed, but I sure hope I get to.