Flexibility.
Our group devotion for the evening encompassed the overarching theme of the day. We reflected upon the adversity that transforms into opportunity through God’s influence. The title of our devotion was “Don’t Just Do Something – Sit There”; this mindset guided our actions as the day progressed. Through trials and tribulations, God’s everlasting love pushed us through. In my opinion, this ideology does not literally mean to do nothing, but it means that we should open our minds and hearts to the call of God.
We were welcomed near the church by Juan Carlos and a crew of familiar faces. However, this welcoming was distracted by the tragic result of the inclement weather of the preceding evening. A tree lay dormant in the middle of the single road leading into the city from Tegucigalpa. Luckily, we were able to pass and scale the rocky road up to the church.
Our plan for the day was to continue to construct the acoustic panels to be hung in the sanctuary; however, due to the weather, power was inactive throughout the church. We were forced to adjust and utilize old-fashioned hand tools in order to continue our work in the dark sanctuary. We fell into assembly lines and worked hand-in-hand to saw wooden boards and screw French cleats onto the back. Despite the setbacks of the weather, God guided us to adapt and seize opportunities to grow together through our work.
Partway through the morning’s van ride, Emi and Alec were propelled back to the Mission House – still unaware of the power outage at the church – to retrieve the projector to guide Michelle and Lisa’s workshop in the afternoon. When they returned to the church, they had to stop and wait for over two hours before passing alongside the collapsed tree in the road. This adversity, though inconvenient, provided the workers in the sanctuary with an opportunity to walk and visit with Emi as she waited for the government cleanup to finish.
As work progressed in the sanctuary, Michelle and Lisa persisted through their second day of their mental health workshop with over 60 women in attendance. There was laughter and joy amongst serious thoughts and concerns of the day. The desire of the Honduran people to learn and grow was impressive and motivated them to continue to empower these women in their thoughts and actions. Despite the lack of electricity, God enabled Michelle and Lisa to adjust and their session proceeded smoothly.
Later in the afternoon, some of the sanctuary workers retreated to the basketball court for a pickup game. The blossoming relationships with the native workers continued to progress through our participation in this amusing game. Our team chemistry mimicked the chemistry of the work that was completed efficiently throughout the day in the sanctuary. Despite the shadowy darkness of the sanctuary during the afternoon, we were able to progress our relationships with the residents of the city. God was a sculptor at the church today as he crafted deep friendships despite physical barriers.
At the end of our day of work, we packed and retreated to the vans for the returning journey, but God had another plan for us. Because of the weather and the falling foliage, we waited for over an hour in traffic for the Honduran crew to repair power lines. God sought to unite us with the delightful and optimistic people of Honduras. As we stood outside of the van, crowds of people scattered through the lines of traffic with smiles lining their faces. Alec and I stood in awe as each joyful person greeted us with “buenas”. These gestures reminded us that adversity is opportunity. These people epitomized God’s service in the world as they united in a difficult situation and transformed it into an exciting occasion. These people, they get it.
God empowers us to do His work in the world. We can plan and strategize as much as we would like, but by listening to His plan for us, we will truly evoke the most impactful change.