The idea of a missions trip had always been foreign to me. Growing up I’d seen their pictures, we sent money and once in a while we’d have the rare opportunity to hear from one. But it had always been at a distance. If there’s one thing God has taught me this week it’s been that the Great Comission is for all of us. This doesn’t just mean going to another country, but it means being on mission as a lifestyle- which happens 52 weeks out of the year. There’s something about thrusting myself on mission for a week in Honduras that has opened my eyes to the importance of God’s call on all our lives every day.
We’ve experienced some life-changing things at the hand of God and I hope none of us from the team leave the intensity of this week here and simply wait for next year to come around. God has called us to this type of lifestyle all 52 weeks of the year… at home AND on the mission field. However, we shouldn’t avoid going on a mission trip because we don’t feel we’ve lived up to God’s mission. Going will only help you discover how much God is at work throughout the world and how he can use you to make a difference in the lives of others.
We kicked off our day taking a tour of the tortilla factory in Choleteca. This is another micro-business designed to give jobs to individuals that have struggled to make it. These jobs give them a steady income to improve the quality of life for them and their families.
I’m not sure any of us could have prepared for our next stop. After a drive outside of the city, we entered the dump area for the city. As we approached, we had to shut the bus windows because of the smell. When we approached the top of the hill, our eyes were drawn to a row of hodge-podged plastic and stick houses. The mood instantly changed. We drove past the row of plastic shacks and into the piles of trash. We were received with skeptical stares as we exited the bus. When we approached the over dozen men and women rummaging through trash, Levi told them we wanted to pray with them and give them food items and water. The group of people took a break from their activity and allowed us to pray for them. We interacted with some of the individuals there and handed out food and water. I’ll forever remember the images and smells of the most hopeless place I’ve ever visited. I pray that for a moment we were able to bring a light of hope through the love of Christ. As we loaded the bus, with no more food and water, there were another dozen people running toward the us from the row of houses, hoping to catch us before we left. Unfortunately, there was nothing more we could do. Needless to say, the drive back was somber and none of us dared to break the silence. Thankfully, Levi sensed the mood and spoke from his heart about how the Great Comission Church wants to help these Hondurans find a way out of living this lifestyle. He asked us to pray for them that God would show them how to best help these individuals.
The afternoon brought some much needed down time from a full week of serving and emotional intensity. We took a drive to the Pacific ocean and spent a few hours resting on the beach and riding the tide in the ocean.
When we returned we ended our day by celebrating with the Great Comission Church during their weekly Worship service. The worship was exciting and the talk by pastor Geovany challenged us to live out a radical faith, like that of the New Testament character of Paul.
Tomorrow will be a long day of travel for the team as we begin the transition back to our routines. My prayer is that we’ll go home having been changed by the power of participating with God in His redemptive plan for the world.
Throughout next week, I’ll continue to post other photos and trip reflections as I see fit so be sure to keeping checking back.
