Alrighty, well I am already a week behind! It took awhile to get internet access and since then I have not had a lot of down time. But now that I do I will try and share the events of the week with you without writing a novel.

The pastor of the Great Commission Church here in Choluteca and his wife Iris hosted Ellen and I this past week and I will stay here for the next three. They are very kind and have a passion for the Lord. They have 3 boys, Edgar (16), David (15), and Samuel (8). The two older boys play in the band at the church. Edgar speaks a bit of English so that has been helpful for me. Ellen and I drove into Choluteca from Tegucigalpa with a group from Michigan. There were five adults and one teenage boy. We ended up working with them throughout the week. It was such a blessing to spend time with them. I came here expecting to meet Honduran Christ followers but I am so grateful to have met more believers who were just as unknown to me as the people who live here.

Throughout the week we worked in an area of Choluteca called Limon. We are in the poorest part of Honduras. In Limon there is a developmental center for the children of the area. They have a day care, computer and ESL classes, and a nutrition clinic. Ellen and I spent our mornings helping a woman named Lillian in the nutrition clinic. The clinic is specifically for young children who are malnourished. This issue is a result of the poverty present in Limon but also because the children are not valued and looked after as they should be. The clinic is working to restore their health but it also provides them with love and attention for half the day. There were about 5 kids total each day. We play outside with them, feed them breakfast, brush their teeth, play inside with them, feed them lunch, and then they go home. We encourage them to eat all of their food so that they can grow up to be really strong! There are two cooks who work very hard to provide meals for the children in the clinic and the day care. The center was developed by the church after a hurricane destroyed a lot of the land. Many of the men died so the center also works to bring help to single mothers. It is very encouraging to see the church faithfully tending to the needs of the people around them. They have expressed how the center is their opportunity to practice the love of Christ and I am sure since it has opened it has given hundreds of other Christ followers from all around the world the chance to practice that same love. And now it is giving me the chance.

In the afternoons we joined the team from Michigan. Their goal was to make 12 beds. I think we ended up making 16! The people in the community live in very small homes. Some have beds, some have hammocks, but some have nothing. Or, some have a bed but for seven people. The team worked very hard on making the beds and Ellen and I were glad to join. We cut wood and sanded and stained and then drilled them all together! It was hard work. Choluteca is very very hot, haha. By the end of the day we were all pretty gross. One afternoon we went out into the community and talked with families. We gave them Bibles if they wanted. The people are very welcoming, most invited us in and so we would pile on their bed and ask them if they knew Christ. Only a few didn't want to talk to us. At one point I had a group of kids following me around so I knelt down and asked them if they believed in Jesus, and if they prayed to Him, and how we could love Him. They were enthusiastic so it was fun. Towards the end of the week we got to distribute the beds!

On the way to the first house my friend Kirsten (who had been the year before) told me that she would most likely cry once we got into the house. I nodded but in my head I was like, nahh... The man we visited was about 40 years old, with three kids. In his house there was a hammock and a bunch of trash, that's about it. He is sick and can't really walk so he just sits in the hammock, I'm assuming for most of the day. When we brought the bed in he was so grateful. He told us that the night before he had been crying out to God to help him, but that God already had something in store for him: a new bed. He praised God and told us that his sickness was an opportunity to feel closer to the presence of God. In a matter of seconds my eyes were filled with tears.

"I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:50-52  

We delivered another bed to Alma and her three daughters. She is a very sweet woman with a big smile. She greeted all of us with a big hug and kiss. Her daughters are beautiful. She and her youngest are HIV+. The father of her children left her and her family threw her out after they found out she was sick. She was homeless for awhile until the church provided her with a home through Casa Hogar Vida. They are building a community for those in need and providing housing at a very low cost so that the people can live there while also feel a sense of responsibility and ownership. When they first met Alma they were not sure if she followed Christ but since then she has grown a lot in her faith. Her strength and joy were present even as she tearfully told us her story.

We delivered two beds to another very small community. There were about 3 small houses for a mother and her two grown daughters and son and their children. Every Saturday they all walk to church together, a trip that takes about an hour. Their stories are incredible. One of the daughters is epileptic. One day she was cooking and had a seizure and fell into the fire. The left side of her body is badly burned. Her son is very sick. They believe that he has a neurological problem that keeps him from being able to open his eyes, hold his head up, or walk. He needs constant looking after. The son's youngest daughter is severely malnourished. She is about 9 months and she is very very tiny. I held her for probably 45 minutes. Their home is the size of a walk in closet, barely enough room for a bed. The father works very hard for his family. He too was so grateful and praised God for His provision. Thankfully another group came in this week and they helped build their family a new house! He worked dilligently right alongside them.

Honestly, it is a lot to take in. I think I am still processing everything. It was such a joy to see the faces of these people at the church service last night. I saw Alma when I first walked in and she gave us another big hug. The other family took up the entire back row. It's hard for me to go to bed and not think about them in their small little homes in their new beds. I was talking with Ellen and some of the people from Michigan one evening about how when we dropped the beds off none of us were thinking about how we were giving to them. The truth is that as we stood in their homes they were pouring into us. They were ministering to my heart.

Ellen left his morning so I am just kickin it by myself for the next three weeks. Fortunately I have made some friends. Hopefully we can encourage each other throughout the week in Limon. I can't say that I necessarily feel a specific purpose for why I am here but I am eager for God to reveal more. I am not sure about you but I often feel discouraged about my work in the Lord but God provided counsel near the very beginning of the week. Remember that our weaknesses can never overshadow the glory of God in our lives.

"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:58