All The Poor and Powerless: Honduras 2013 -- Picture Edition

Just a few of the pictures from this week. Our camp photographer hasn't uploaded her pictures yet, but once she does I will probably upload some more, as I know she has some of my favorite pictures on her camera!

All The Poor and Powerless: Honduras 2013

This last week in Honduras has been bigger than words can describe. God showed up in HUGE ways. 

We arrived in San Pedro Sula Saturday afternoon, and then proceeded to go grab lunch at our favorite Honduran restaurant, Power Chicken. We then drove to Santa Elena where we would be based out of for the week. We ate dinner and just settled in for the night. 

Sunday: We spent the morning touring Canchias, the village where Heart To Honduras was started. It was cool to see one of the houses that we started building last year finished, and to get to see that family again. We then went to an obstacle course owned by the CEI camp (the camp Heart to Honduras partners with), and spent the afternoon doing team-building activities. That night we went to a church in Santa Elena, where I was able to share part of what God is doing in my life in front of the whole congregation. 

Monday: The first day at the job-sites in the neighboring village of El Bambu! We started building the frames of the house, and got to reconnect with some of the children that we met the year before. It was so incredible to see their beaming faces as they ran down the hill into our welcoming arms. That reunion is one I won't soon forget. Caida, a 2 year old, was now walking on her own. Cenya and Marisol had smiles bigger than I had ever seen. Pedro had to have grown atleast a foot. These kids are precious! After spending the morning loving on them, we went to a mission home in Las Naranjas, where we ran day camp for an extremely poor neighborhood where we had over 200 children at the camp. We were taken a back by the need of these children and families. It broke my heart to see mother's lying to our faces in an attempt to steal what we had for their kids. I was able to meet one sweet little girl, Azariah, who must have been about 5 or so. She was so precious and loved me despite my poor attempts at understanding her Spanish. The name "Azariah" is biblical and means "whom the Lord helps", and that gave me so much hope for her precious life!

Tuesday: The morning we made LOTS of progress on the houses in El Bambu! We also got to continue to play with the sweet village kids. That afternoon camp was held at the CEI camp for all the village children.  The first girls I tried to talk to that afternoon were middle schoolers who laughed at me for a good 3 minutes at my not-so-great Spanish and then began to talk behind my back and point and sneer at me. I was honestly kinda hurt by their actions, but eventually one of the girls came up to me and began to talk to me. We taught each other our languages. She would point to something and tell me the Spanish name, and I would tell her the English name. It was so fun! She was 12 years old, and her name was Carla. I loved getting to laugh and play with her, and all too soon it was time for her to head back home. I was excited to see her again on Thursday!

Wednesday: The same typical morning routine at the houses, except for that we FINISHED both houses in El Bambu! We then went to camp in Las Naranjas, and it went MUCH better than on Monday. I got to hang out with a fire-cracker of a girl, Haiti, and ended up blowing bubbles for nearly 2 hours with a crowd of youngin's. They LOVED it, and I couldn't get enough of their joyous smiles as bubbles would pop in their faces. It was hard to say goodbyes to all these kids, as I knew that the fun they had at camp probably wouldn't be had again for a long while. Wednesday night we went to a lake/river/stream/dam/reservoir thing and all showered in the lake! It was much better than the ice-cold showers we were used to!

Thursday: We went hiking at Panacam National Park, and got to see some absolutely gorgeous views. We were able to go swimming in ponds with gentle waterfalls flowing into them, and hammock for a while! It was so beautiful to be there, but I also learned that I am not much of a hiker... I was tuckered out afterwards! We ran camp in Santa Elena that afternoon, and I hung out with Carla the entire time. She also had brought her baby cousin who was only a few months old who fell asleep in my arms for a while! So precious. That afternoon was also a real eye-opener to me. I saw a little boy, probably 8 or so, whose back of his head was bleeding. We found out that his mom had beat him a few days ago, and that was the result. In America, this cut would have needed several stitches and he would've been removed from his home, but that isn't possible in Honduras. It definitely shattered my heart, as the little boy didn't even think anything was wrong with the situation. 

Friday: Friday morning we went to the El Bambu houses for a dedication. It was such a blessing to see the families and their new homes, but it was also so very hard to say goodbye to them and all the kids in the neighborhood. Tears were definitely shed as we got on the bus and drove away from El Bambu and all the kids that stole our hearts. Friday afternoon was spent doing touristy things. We went ziplining over a 150 foot waterfall, and then proceeded to hike under the waterfall, with thousands of gallons of water pounding your head every second. We definitely experienced God's beauty and power first hand! We then went to a market where we were able to shop, it was a fun time! That night we went out to eat and then stayed at a Bed and Breakfast.

Saturday came way too soon, and none of us were ready to leave the beautiful country that stole our hearts. We left though with hearts full and an even more passionate love for our Father, Savior, and Creator. He is so good.

The Lord Will Provide.

It is a well-known fact amongst our team that The Lord will provide for our trip. He will show us the right families to help, He will enable us to translate the Bible Studies into Spanish, He will equip us physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and financially to go. He will provide.

Our first test has been placed amongst us: fundraising. Although a challenge, fundraising for this trip is also exciting as we get to spread the Word of Jesus while we do it, and not only gather monetary support, but prayer support as well.  The $1,300 we are to raise for this trip is a challenge in and of itself. When plane tickets sky-rocket and are way over what we budgeted, it requires us to raise an additional $150 that we were not expecting. But instead of getting down about the new challenge, we remind ourselves that the Lord will provide. We have no doubts that we are to be in Honduras, and therefore, we take comfort in the truth that Our God will fulfill what we need.

Our trip is less than two months away: CRAZY. There is so much that needs to be done! As we start checking things off our to-do list, we get a bit more excited about what God will do through us in Honduras!

Studyin' Spanish

Yes, I have picked up an extra "subject" to "study" for the remainder of this semester! My goal is to be a lot more comfortable with some of the high frequency words in the Spanish vocabulary by the time I land in Honduras in January! My favorite thing last year was getting to play with the kids and talk with the families, and I was so thankful that translators were there to help us when we were stuck and couldn't figure out a way to make the words we did know in Spanish work for what we were trying to say. This year, I'm determined to have a better basis of Spanish when we go, so that I can communicate more on my own! So stoked!

Honduras 2012 VIDEO!

It's been 10 months since my first trip to Honduras, and just this past week the wonderful videographer at camp put together a video to describe just a tiny-portion of what our trip consisted of. I thought I would share with all of you guys so that you too can see a glimpse into what this week held for us in Honduras.

Isaiah 6:8

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”" -Isaiah 6:8

"Y oí la voz del Señor que decía: ¿A quién enviaré, y quién irá por nosotros? Entonces respondí: Heme aquí; envíame a mí." -Isaías 6:8

So ready and excited to be a servant that God is sending out in January! Until then, I will continue to serve Him here in College Station through the daily parts of life!

"All I Am"

One of my friends tweeted a lyric to the song "All I Am" by Phil Wickham today and I got curious. So, obviously, I went and youtubed the song to listen to it.

LOVE. The song applied directly to missions and related beautifully to my upcoming trip to Honduras. Here are the full lyrics:

"Take these hands

I know they're empty
But with You they can
Be used for beauty
In Your perfect Plan
All I am is Yours

Take these feet
I know they stumble
But You use the weak
You use the humble
So, please use me
All I am is Yours

I give You all my life
I'm letting it go
A living sacrifice
No longer my own
All I am is Yours
All I am is Yours

Take this heart
Set it on fire
Shine it in the dark
I wanna tell the world
Of who You are
All I am is Yours

I give You all my life
I'm letting it go
I live in sacrifice

No longer my own
All I am is Yours
All I am is Yours

I give You everything
To You I belong
Every beat of my heart
The breath in my lungs
All I am is Yours
All I am is Yours

I lift my hands up
God I surrender
All that I am
For Your glory, Your honor, Your faith
I lift my hands up
God I surrender to You

I give You all my life
I'm letting it go
I live in sacrifice
No longer my own
All I am is Yours
All I am is Yours

I give You everything
To You I belong
Every beat of my heart
The breath in my lungs
All I am is Yours
All I am is Yours" 

All we are is God's. That is our purpose here on this Earth, to shine for Him and to bring His Name the glory. We may only have empty hands and stumbling feet, but God uses those to His glory. When we surrender He uses our weaknesses, our strengths, our breath, and our life to bring others to Him. We just have to give Him all that we are!