Hola mis hermanos e mis hermanas! (Hello my brothers and sisters!)
Today was another power packed day as we watched God do what he does best…change hearts and lives.
We began our day visiting a local school in Comayagua. Part of our group taught a class on ethics while the rest of us did a “fiesta!” We had a group of 1st graders that we did a skit for, sang some songs, played some games with, and gave out free stuff to. We had a blast sharing the story of Jesus with them in a creative way.
Our second stop was at a feeding ministry that was nestled high on a mountainside overlooking a neighborhood that had over 100 children. Many of the children from this neighborhood would not get a hot meal all week if it were not for this feeding ministry. The thing that moved me the most was that Martha, the lady who cooks, shops for, and oversees the feeding ministry, is a VOLUNTEER and does not get paid! What a great testimony of sacrifice and service for these beautiful children.
After heading home to eat lunch we prepared for the last stop of the day. We visited a village called El Sauce. It took us about 20 minutes of traveling down a very rocky, uneven dirt road to come up a hill and see this village emerge in the mountains seemingly in the middle of “nowhere.” There were kids everywhere and the people stopped and stared out of curiosity as to who these people were that were “invading” their village. As our team of 9, plus 3 interpreters, emerged from the vehicles we were greeted by the local pastor and a few church members. They would accompany us as we went door to door to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Just as we were about to leave the church to evangelize it started pouring rain. We decided to go out and talk to people anyway. We split up into smaller teams of 4-5 and began walking the muddied street and talking with locals. As has been common, the people were very welcoming and friendly. I had the privilege of leading a few people to the Lord as did my other team members. We took turns presenting the gospel at the different homes.
We headed back to the church to get ready for service and we were immediately surrounded by dozens of kids. We had fun with them for a bit teaching them handshakes, giving them candy and coloring books, and trying to understand what they were saying (since most of us do not speak Spanish).
To close out the night, we worshiped with the village church. Gloria form our team shared her testimony after the very vibrant worship. Then I had the honor of preaching the message tonight. It was my first time preaching a full message with an interpreter but Vanessa (my interpreter) did a great job. The people were very engaged and responding a lot while I was preaching (kind of like my RPC church family does back home in Laplace). There were many people who could not fit in the small building so they just stood outside and listened as I preached a message about believing God through your “storms” and biggest life struggles. During the decision time at the end of service 6 people came down front and publically acknowledged that they had surrendered their hearts to Jesus! God showed up and showed out, as I like to say. Our team did a great job connecting with the people of El Sauce, Honduras and I was blessed to be a part of it.
I am not certain of the exact number, but I believe that around 75 people repented of their sins and surrendered their lives to Jesus today across our 3 ministry stops. God is AWESOME!
We are all exhausted, but tomorrow is another full day of ministry. I am meditating on Psalm 23:5 as I close out this day.
Adios!
-Pastor C
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