May 24th saw me bidding farewell to my dear
friends Juanita and Nelda in Tegucigalpa, who had graciously opened their home
to me during my stay in Tegucigalpa. I boarded a plane heading to San Pedro
Sula in NW Honduras where I would be meeting a group of U.S. Compassion
sponsors who would be partnering with local missionaries (Allen Sowers and his
son Russell) on a work team at a Compassion project in Villa Verde, Gracias.
We
endured a 4 hour drive with our entire luggage to Hotel Guancascos in Gracias,
Lempira which would be our headquarters for the next week. We soon learned we
would have to share our space with little lizards and huge flying grasshoppers
who invaded our restaurant space on a daily basis!! The joys of being in
beautiful rural Honduras!
We got settled in at the hotel, then I spent a wonderful time
of bonding with my teammates for the week, all of whom I had only previously
known through Facebook communications and other Compassion sponsor blogs! It’s
so much better to meet and experience ministry together face-to-face. Sunday,
May 25th saw us visiting an awesome feeding program at a church way
up in the mountains of rural Mercedes, Honduras followed by an afternoon spent
loving on beautiful children during our visit to a girl’s orphanage in Santa
Rosa de Copán. I will share about the unforgettable memories of these two
ministry experiences in a separate post.
On Monday evening, May 26th, after a day spent
familiarizing ourselves with the Villa Verde area, we then went to the hotel dining
room for dinner, where we would be meeting our Compassion translators and
driver for the next three days. Was I ever in for a wonderful surprise when I
saw Gerardo walk toward me to give me a big hug. He was my driver for two of
the three individual child visit days I had just experienced in Tegucigalpa,
and I was so thrilled that he would be our driver during the next three days in
Gracias!!
Due to the number of sponsors who would be meeting their
sponsored kids at project HO133, our child visits would be split over the next
three days, my official visit day with Rony being scheduled for Thursday, May
29th. This meant that three of the sponsors were busy getting their
gift bags ready for their child visits the next day. The other two-thirds of us
spent a good deal of time planning our activities to be held at the project
over the next three days, while a rotating group of sponsors would be having an
official visit day with their specific child(ren).
We spent an awesome time at the project running a VBS
(Vacation Bible School), as well as doing crafts and other activities with the
kids. I even had an opportunity to meet children I had advocated for and to
give them gifts on behalf of their sponsors! That was so special. Although they
were sad that their own sponsors could not be there, they were happy
nonetheless to receive a few small tokens of love in the form of gifts from
them.
As a few of the project’s older kids were helping us out
during the VBS crafts time, I had the joy of meeting my sponsored teen boy Rony
early in the week, as well as his former and current tutors, Karen and Delia.
They are wonderful women of God who invest so much love and care into these
kids’ lives! Rony was thrilled to receive a Spanish Bible from me with his name
engraved on it.
Then the big day came when I would officially meet all of
Rony’s family!! I had spent the evening before readying all the gifts I had
brought for them and made sure my camera’s batteries were fully charged! As I
was accompanied by two other sponsors (Deborah and Amanda) who were also
meeting their sponsored kids’ families that day, we first went to meet Amanda’s
Mario and his mom in their home. We were so moved by the love Mario’s mom
showed us in preparing a wonderful meal for us out of the little she had, a
token of her gratefulness towards her son’s sponsor! We humbly accepted her
wonderful gift of hospitality.
My fabulous Compassion host Isaac accompanied me to Rony’s home
while Deborah went with another translator to her Yolani’s home.
I was welcomed
warmly by Rony’s mom Clemencia, his sisters Paula and Maribel and his father Otilio, a
hard-working farmer and dedicated father. I sensed God wanted me to encourage
Rony’s father, and a resulting strong bond developed between us that day. Now it
was time to go pile into the van to head to the waterpark. The only problem was
that there were now 22 people to be stuffed into a 12-passenger van; only in
Honduras, they say! But we made it work! Three sponsors and their sponsored
kids and families did not want to miss one moment of our day together! It was
such a joy to watch the parents’ faces as they watched their kids having fun!
What priceless moments of pure joy!
I had brought Rony’s gifts in a backpack, but to get to his
swimming trunks and tank top, he had to pass through ….. his 2014 FIFA World
Cup replica soccer ball!! He was thrilled to say the least, and they ended up
using his new ball to play water polo with the whole group of kids!
I even
jumped into the pool to join in on the fun, and left my camera in the trusty
hands of our driver, Gerardo, who captured some fantastic photos for me! He was
an invaluable part of our team, and an awesome young man of God!
After sharing wonderful fellowship over a delicious lunch ....
.... it
was time to give Rony the rest of his gifts. I had left the best for last and
asked him to take out the last item – lo and behold, it was a FC Barcelona
original away jersey with his name on the back! He took so much pleasure in
modeling his new soccer jersey and we took many pictures together.
He was also opening up more in conversation, and overcoming his initial meeting jitters! His best friend Lázaro had come along for the Fun Day and it was a joy to have him join in all the activities with Rony!
After visiting the mini-zoo at the waterpark and wolfing down
ice cream, we once again stuffed ourselves in the van, now joyously chattering
with each other after spending an incredible afternoon together. The van
dropped off Rony’s family near their house and it was time to say good-bye to his
wonderful and gracious family! That was a sad moment, but I know it won’t be
the last time we see each other!
Back at our hotel, we had a debrief meeting after having
dinner. So many wonderful tidbits of information we shared with each other
about our child visit days, so it was a real bonding moment! I was emotionally
drained by this time; and needed some time to process everything I had
experienced thus far. I truly believe God was busy giving my heart “stretchy
walls” to allow me to accommodate the awesomeness of the experience and the resulting
emotions!!
Friday, May 30th came much too soon! It would be
our last day in Gracias! We shared breakfast for the last time
with our wonderful Compassion translators Isaac, Joel and Robbie, as well as
our fabulous driver, Gerardo. Many photos were taken and goodbye hugs shared,
with promises to stay in touch.
We then headed up to the HO133 project with Allen
and his son Russell for our last day working with the children at this
wonderful project. I also had the awesome pleasure of meeting Oscar, the former
project director at HO133, who had invested so heavily into the lives of the children
and youth during the previous few years.
There was one special 8 year old boy Willians who I had made
a strong heart connection with all week. We had actually chosen each other, a
first for me! He unfortunately was not registered in the project as he was too
old during the last enrollment time, although not past Compassion’s maximum
enrollment age. I made myself a promise to check into how he could become officially
registered at the project to enable me to add him to my sponsor family. As of
the time of writing this post, we are still going through the arduous paperwork
process which could take another month or so! If God wishes it to happen, it
will, in His perfect timing!
The time came for the highlight of the day – Melania, who was
sponsored by my teammate Megan, was celebrating her quinceañera, a
coming-of-age party for every 15 year old girl growing up in Latin America. It
is an event only surpassed in importance by a wedding in the Latin American
culture.
I was honoured to act as the translator for Megan during her tribute speech to Melania.
It was a joyous occasion enjoyed by all, with seemingly the whole
community in attendance! The tutors even had special gifts that
they presented to each member of our team, with mine presented to me by Karen,
the former tutor of my sponsored teen boy Rony, and the mother of my soon-to-be
sponsored boy Kennet, a 3 year old “boy wonder”!
As Rony is graduating next
year, what better way to keep the continuity going than by sponsoring the son
of a person so near and dear to him! Rony and I shared a tearful goodbye, with
him telling me that I was the best sponsor he had ever had and promising each
other that we would continue writing lots of letters! I promised to send him all
the photos that we had taken together with his lovely family and we committed
to praying for each another every day!
All that was left was to pack our suitcases, which did not
take too long, as we had given away all our gifts! I was even able to pack my
two smaller suitcases into my largest one, as I had virtually nothing to bring
home except for my clothes and a few small souvenirs! Mission accomplished!!
With a heart full of gratitude to God for opening the door for
me to minister to the wonderful people of Honduras, I fell fast asleep with
incredible memories flashing through my mind. I would never forget this
wonderful experience I had been blessed with, and I pray that God will continue
to use me to fulfill His plan for my life, to reach “the least of these” wherever
they may be and to release children from poverty, in Jesus’ precious name!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Then came the day we were all waiting for, Child Fun Day
on May 11th held at Turipaná Water Park right on the
Caribbean Ocean. For many of the sponsored children, it was their first time
ever seeing the ocean! I was overjoyed to see nine of my sponsored kids lined
up waiting for me – Edelis, Brayan, Andrés, Yeison, Rodrigo, Keiner, Vilanis,
Erika and Mishell. Brayan really worked his way into my heart that day with his
outgoing and loving nature. From soccer games to playing in the pool and on the
beach, many memorable moments were created.
Friday,
May 13th saw me visiting Vilanis’s project church located in Puerto
Colombia in the morning where the junior worship team put on a musical
presentation just for me! We then went to her home where I met her family –
grandma Luz, mom Martha, and brothers Andrés and Juan. I was saddened to find
out that her father had left the family two weeks before, but thankful that
Compassion is there to support her family in this time of need. 
After a delicious lunch prepared by the project cooks and saying my good-byes to Vilanis, I then headed to Brayan’s project where I met his inspirational pastor Milton who gave up a lucrative legal career to dedicate his life to serve the youth of his community. I was then given another bear hug from Brayan, who stole my heart even more that day. I also met his tutor Yessenia and other project staff before heading over to his nearby home to meet his wonderful family – father Juan, mother Merlinda, sister Dayana and precious niece Bryana. After an awesome afternoon spent getting to know each other on an even deeper level, Brayan walked me back to the project where we had more time to chat before facing the tough moment when we had to say our good-byes. He told me this was the worst part of the visit, having to say good-bye. I promised him I would make my best effort to return to see him before he graduates from the sponsorship program.
