It was 2014 and I was at the candlelight Christmas Eve service at my church.  Pastor Adam explained that ½ of the offering taken that evening would stay in KC for missions and ½ of it would go to a Honduras mission to fund a school in Ciudad Espana. They showed a great video with these darling Honduran children and I thought “Those kids are so dang cute and I want to help give them an education. I am going to give money and bless these children”.  I did write that check that night praying for blessings for that community but I never thought about those children again….until today.  As our team drove up to the school, ALL of the students in their navy and red uniforms and fresh combed hair were lined up cheering our arrival. I was completely overwhelmed and choked up by the sight of these little faces looking up at me and hugging me as tight as they could as I passed by them.  They simply said thank you over and over….thank you for loving them, thank you for building their school, thank you for giving them a chance and hope for the future.  As a missions team we felt so humbled and unworthy of this praise and gratitude.  You see, WE weren’t the ones that gave the time and money to build the school, it was YOU ~ Church of the Resurrection.  We were simply the church’s representation and a face and body to physically hug and say thank you too.  Although you, the church, were not able to be here, I want to make sure YOU KNOW that this community is forever grateful for your love and support.

We then had a dedication up on a hill with the students, families and our team.  A beautiful plaque was unveiled showing the partnership between our two churches.  I loved that part…not us solely helping them but both church’s helping and blessing each other, a true partnership.  As the breeze was blowing and the sun was shining we bowed our heads and praised the Lord for His goodness.  Over the years, there have been doubts, fears, joys and tears but we were all finally standing there dedicating this school that would change lives and give hope to this community.  After the ceremony, we were asked to plant some trees/flowers at this dedication site up on the hill.  As I knelt side by side with an 8 year old little girl, we got our hands dirty together digging the soil and planting the flower together.  We didn’t know the same language to communicate but as we dug and smiled and hugged we both knew that we worshiped the same God that loves us so very much.  It was a marigold that we planted….a flower that each time I see in the future will remind me of that glorious day in a small village in Honduras when God’s love and faithfulness was shining bright.