The Lord was with us in powerful work today. We started the day with a quick visit to another ongoing mission project, building the United Methodist Mission Headquarters for all of Honduras. They are building a residence, a dormitory, a parking lot and a church for the heart of Tegucigalpa. There we met Pastor Guadalupe, a pastor from Mexico who was so moved by a film about the poverty in Honduras that he asked to be assigned to Tegucigalpa Centrale as a missionary from Mexico. The draw was so strong in his heart that the illness of his wife and the sacrifices of his own comfort did not derail his passion for the call. He prayed for it for over a year, and then was directly approached by the bishop to be appointed to the church. Pastor Guadalupe accepted.
Life has not been easy for Pastor Guadalupe. One time, he was a victim in the middle of the night and he has been threatened. Yet he perseveres and works towards building a church community in Tegucigalpa.
Pastors story inspired deep conversation for our commute to Juan Wesley School in Ciudad Espana. Through education, Honduras leaders can provide the Light that chases away the darkness.
Starting the second day of construction, we organized an assembly line to effectively use our time and strengths. Having a water hose that could reach the cement mixer replaced the 5-gallon bucket of water sloshing up the hill. More buckets increased the number of rocks we could move to the mixer. Moving a large number of cement bags with the truck meant having easy access to refill the mixer. Each person found their own niche making the project roll at a great speed.
Don’t be mistaken, this was not easy work and we are all beat from the sun and the heavy lifting. Working with this process we finished the first room and have a great start on the second room.
Our local construction team joined us for lunch. We talked about our families, our careers, and our faith stories. One construction worker invited his two daughters in to meet with us. They are elementary students at the Juan Wesley school, and it occurred to me that these girls will one day attend the high school we are building. I choked back some emotion while speaking with these girls.
After lunch, we were presented a short program by the performing arts students. Through dance and mime, the students were learning how communication can be made without words through art. Below is our friend and interpreter, Mario, describing the art of mime.
Got to go now, it was a long day and I am tired. Please pray for our renewed strength tomorrow and the rest of the week.
Together in service, Joel
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Team Member Spotlight
Chris is one of our Honduras veterans. He served here several times in this country and in Africa. He likes returning to Honduras because it’s a great place with excellent food, and he gets to see a “smile from old friends.” Reflecting on today’s work, Chris shared that the high point was watching the amazing team effort to get the room done, each individual finding a purpose and a rhythm to keep the momentum up. To sum up why he was here, Chis was clear that he heard God’s call for someone with a construction help for the team. His response was , “Here I am Lord, put me to use.”