We sang a song on Sunday at church called: SUBE MÁS ALTO. It's a song that I've always liked but these lyrics stood out to me this week:
YO SUBIRE A LA MONTAÑA MAS ALTA SUBIRENO DESCANZARE YO SUBIRE
This past week, the four of us girls went out to the mountains with our Missionary, Nathan Bert, to do door-to-door evangelism (more like house-to-house because they are so far apart).
Our first location was in a town called Las Colinas. We arrived Monday afternoon and had some lunch. Nathan needed to give our local brothers and sisters some teaching on the material that we were to be presenting. After that was finished, we set out in groups to get two houses done because it was getting pretty late in the day.
Our view walking to our second house
Katlyn and I walking through a corn field to get to a house
Katlyn and I were in a group with the pastor, his wife, their one son and another girl. I think our group was a little intimidated because they had just gotten a quick run-down of what we were to do and then we were right on the field.
- I should note, I did not do any talking during this because my Spanish would not allow me to present the whole message.
Our second day, Katlyn and I went with the pastor, 2 young men (One of which was not a believer) and the young girl from the day before. We traveled through the jungle, swamp, and mountainside on foot to get to the houses that we needed to visit. We were out for 4 hours and got to 8 houses. It was not an easy experience.
When Katlyn and I got back, our other 2 teammates were there and so were about 50 kids that we were to have VBS for. It was time to put on a smile and try to muster enough energy to minister to these children! Our time included a couple of active games, the creation story acted out, some songs and some colouring. It was a good time.
Those 2 nights, the four of us girls stayed with a local family. We got coffee each morning and I had the privilege to have a cup of fresh milk as well. The family was really nice and seemed to like having us there! OH, and these houses don't have electricity, so candles and flashlights are really popular!
Wednesday we set out for another town about 1.5 hours away called Españolito Numero 2. Two men, Francisco & Sebastian, from the last town traveled with us. We arrived and had lunch, and then went up to the church to train this new group of brothers and sisters about the material.
We formed groups with the people that actually wanted to go out to evangelize. When the groups were formed, a lady noticed that Francisco (from the other town) was sitting in the back. So they got him to come up and join in the group with the pastor.
Kristen and I were in a group with two men and set out for our ministry. Our first house, we presented the booklet and talked. After we were finished there, we got a bunch of fruit from the trees and our one teammate, Mario, decided to store them in my purse! He's such a funny guy. At another house, the same man leaned over and grabbed my glasses and put them on, I couldn't help but take a picture.
He took us to his house to meet his family. They gave me coffee, and gave Kris fresh hot milk. They had 3 of the cutest little puppies! Then they offered us a fruit that looked like a banana, we were surprised when we took a bite and it tasted like an apple! It was the best fruit I've ever tasted!
Our second day, Kris and I arrived to the church to find out that Brynne and Katlyn were up all night sick, so we brought them to marios house to stay for the day.
Since we were down 2 people, we changed up the groups for evangelizing. I was now with the pastor, Francisco and a young guy from the church. Nathan put me with the group that would be doing the least walking because I had really bad knee pain the day before (I also went into the week with 2 fresh blisters on my ankles, we were trying to fight infection, and I gained 3 more blood blisters on the bottom of my feet)
We walked down into the mountains and visited 6 houses, one lady accepted the Lord when we were with her. As we were walking through a corn field to our last house, I knew that all the sores on my feet had broken open and I could barely walk. I was in so much pain and my three friends could tell but didn't know how to help. I had to stop and sit down a few times because the pain was unbearable, but we got there.
This week was definitely the most challenging for me mentally and physically. As some of you know, I feel like I'm being called to long term missions over seas! This week gave me a glimpse into what I might be doing. There were many times during the week that I gave up, but I always had someone there to pick me up. I had my 3 STEP sisters to talk to, God to trust, and many new friends that speak another language than I do.
ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD
Romans 5:3-8
3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
I've mentioned my friend, Francisco, a few times through this post. When we met him on Monday, he was introduced to us as a "friend" which means to them that he is not a believer. He works at the store that we were training at and that we ate most of our meals at. During our meals, I noticed that he was looking at our booklets. I could tell that he was curious. On Tuesday after we got back from evangelizing, I saw him talking to one of the guys that was with us, so I started praying for Francisco.
I was surprised too see that he was coming along to the next town with us. He sat in on training and went out evangelizing that same day. When he was in my group on Thursday, the pastor said "Our friend, Francisco, is not a believer, but he is with us right now."
That night at church, my friend Francisco became my brother.
He opened his heart to the Lord.
After church I went up to shake his hand and say "bienvenidos" to him, and it was just amazing to see his smile and how sincere he was.
This whole time in Honduras, I always wonder why I'm here. What am I doing to help the local people? Am I just making things worse? Why do I have such a bad attitude? Am I even supposed to be here?
No, I don't have the answers to these questions, but seeing someone I care for come to know Christ was such an amazing experience. It encourages me that I'm where I'm supposed to be.
Francisco and I
We can't change the mountains in our lives. There are different paths and roads along the way, some are more easier than others. No matter where we are in those mountains, God is with us.
-Nicole
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