Today was a day of beginnings and endings. The sewing ministry began at the Honduras Mission National Headquarters for some of us, and others spent our last day at the church/school in Ciudad Espana. Women from United Methodist churches all over Honduras arrived in Tegucigalpa for an Altar Cloth Sewing Ministry. They began making 3 altar cloths with liturgical designs to take home to their churches. Just like last year with the Banner Sewing Ministry, the women were creative and enthusiastic, working late into the night. They will continue the Sewing Ministry tomorrow. As we have seen so often here, the Honduran people are masters at relationships. These women were strangers at the beginning of the day and became friends and hermanas (sisters) in Christ very quickly. Chris Monson, leader of the Sewing Ministry, said, “when I am here in Honduras, my faith world shrinks, comes into focus, and then it expands – and everything in life becomes more clear. It’s really quite simple – it’s all about God and sharing God’s love all the time. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ.”
We also said goodbye to brothers and sisters in Ciudad Espana. It was a bittersweet day, filled with a special Juan Wesley school celebration. We completed our final cultural presentation of the U.S. – sharing our National Parks, ending the presentation with a cross country flight depicting our nations beautiful country and landmarks. The students received awards for academic excellence from 1st grade through high school. We learned that the high school ranks in the top 20 high schools in Honduras. This is quite an accomplishment, as the school has only been open for 6 months. The students performed songs, dances, and poems to celebrate Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Students’ Day. Even from the moment we walked into the sanctuary, God’s presence was there. As we continued in song and praise, we felt as if we were in a worship service. Our closing moments were with Pastor Daniel, who shared with us his testimony and vision for the church. We were struck by his genuine passion and concern for the people of Ciudad Espana, and felt inspired to continue God’s mission in the world. That will look different for each of us after this life changing experience. “Dios les bengida, hermanos (God bless you, brothers and sisters). We leave a piece of our hearts with you, once again.”
