“Why would you ever come here?” -Honduran local

Hey guys, 

This has been a once in a lifetime kind-of month. And to update you: we made it off the mountain (which I have mixed feelings about). 

Our team has been off the grid in the Honduran mountains for the past month. All 30 of us were camping along with some of the locals who were hosting us. Keeping tarantulas, rats, wild boar, snakes, water, mud, and mold out of the tents was more of a struggle than I wish it would have been haha. When living on the side of a mountain in the rainy season doing any simple task becomes more difficult; things like walking, showering, drying clothes, cooking, cleaning, etc. honestly though, as hard as it was, I loved every second of it. We were surrounded by the most beautiful of landscapes and there is a real beauty in how you can connect with people away from electricity and cell service. Above all though, the locals there have an incredible community.

So what were we doing there? We finished building a church and technical training center by carrying wood miles across the mountain to use for construction (without power tools sadly haha). We carried bags of cement up the mountain for the foundations of some houses in the community. We harvested a farm of vegetables then distributed it to help provide food to families. We visited with dozens of families in multiple communities getting to know them and their faith backgrounds. We taught over 130 children about Jesus in a bible school. We planted trees to help with the reforestation project. We raised money for the materials for a water project to provide 30 homes with water. And lastly we helped host meetings for local women to experience God’s grace, mercy, & healing and meetings for men to discuss their work and begin to work together. 

Among all of this, a few of the community members asked the question, “why are you here . . . why would you ever come here?” Lets just say its not common for visitors to make that journey- especially not North Americans. I will write another story soon to try and paint more of a picture of their situation. Our hosts are doing impressive work in this community so here is a link to their page if you would like to donate to them and be a part of it: https://www.missionsdoor.org/missionary/steer-paul-and-tania/

When we left the mountain Thursday, I wont lie, I cried almost the whole way down. Tears of Joy and tears of hurt. After only a month, it is incredibly hard thinking I may never see some of those people again. I feel so loved by God. That He led me to this small community buried away in mountains of the Comayagua national park. That He let me witness and partner with how He is transforming the lives of the people who live in these communities. And that I got to build such close relationships with the locals. It is so beautiful when people get to join together to overcome the struggles of this life and share in the joys.

More to come but in the meantime I have a good night sleep calling my name

Sending wishes of peace