This brings us to the first weekend in Honduras. The group, along with Kurt and Jo Ann and their family, went to Siguatapeque, which is in a more rural area of Honduras. Following is a reflection journal I wrote…it’s a little long, but at least skim the good parts :)
Our trip to Siguatapeque; what a blast! Cerro de Luz (name of the location we stayed at) was so much fun in respect to the team building that took place. The trip there was lovely, getting to know Noah and Anna a bit more. Upon arrival Melissa, Liz, Kurt, and myself made a fearless, risk-taking team…little did we know that we were destined for falling! On a high ropes course about 30 feet in the air, our poor bodies endured three traumatic falls; many sustaining injuries, some even with blood (only a little)! We were determined, and didn’t give up, and in the process found out more about each other and what each of our personalities was like. Our favorite line from this adventure was: “I just have a really long femur!” –Melissa said while trying to climb straight up a log about 10 feet in the air. I think we came as friends/acquaintances and left as family :)
But more importantly is what I learned during this activity is team work, and how working together was vital to accomplish any given task on the high ropes. We searched and found each other’s strengths as we went through the intense moments of balance, strategy, success, and a little bit of failure. A big take away from all of this for me was that we are given others in our life to help us, encourage us along the way, and that is good. But we can’t forget that we will always need our “safety rope”, God, to catch us when all else is unstable.
Afterward we did “The Leap of Faith” which entailed first climbing up a 20 ft. high log, then standing upright on top and jumping, yes jumping, reaching out into the thin air simply to try to grab a trapeze bar. This task was very difficult…it was more about the jumping part than it was about the catching on to the trapeze part. The lesson here that I took away is that God will take care of us when do “leaps of faith” in his name. In order to do this jump, we need to have confidence that God will keep us safe. We can have confidence in the almighty even amidst paralyzing fear and scary circumstances.
Another highlight of Saturday and Sunday was Life Stories, where we each went around telling a 10 minute summary of who we are and how we got to be where we are now. There were many shaping moments, and I believe our group became much closer because of it.
A Sampler Platter of Baby Steps in Kingdom Work
After a magnificent hike to a waterfall in rural Honduras, our group proceeded to visit different projects put on by Global Village. Following are the places we visited and my initial take-aways:
Youth Program: ABC prevention is a well rounded approach to prevention/meeting the individuals where they are at. They used the verse from 1 Tim.=don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young. Good reminder that even here in Honduras we can be role models in thoughts, words, and actions.
Health Clinic: The biggest problems they have are diarrhea, skin problems, and respiratory problems, caused by the pollution. Also, there are many who get HIV AIDS, but the retroviruses cost about 6 months’ salary for the families, making it next to impossible for those who are sick to access medicine and treatment. On the other hand, something that is going really well for the health clinic in the community we visited is that they have started a system where all the babies are weighed and monitored closely till they are two years old. There are vitamins and shots available to the babies, as long as the mother desires that the baby receive them. Also, about 80% of the women give birth to their babies in hospitals; which is a fairly good percentage.
Farms with pigs and chickens and fish: We visited a few farms to see the agriculture side of rural Honduras, and what Global Missions was doing there. I thought it was really neat that in order for the projects to succeed, many from the community needed to be involved, and the wealth was spread around. In order for one family to pay off the loan for the animals, the babies of their animals needed to be given to someone else in the community.
I can’t help but think that walking through some of the areas of rural Honduras are similar to the Garden of Eden. There was a few times where I thought heaven was going to be just around the corner.
Our trip to Siguatapeque; what a blast! Cerro de Luz (name of the location we stayed at) was so much fun in respect to the team building that took place. The trip there was lovely, getting to know Noah and Anna a bit more. Upon arrival Melissa, Liz, Kurt, and myself made a fearless, risk-taking team…little did we know that we were destined for falling! On a high ropes course about 30 feet in the air, our poor bodies endured three traumatic falls; many sustaining injuries, some even with blood (only a little)! We were determined, and didn’t give up, and in the process found out more about each other and what each of our personalities was like. Our favorite line from this adventure was: “I just have a really long femur!” –Melissa said while trying to climb straight up a log about 10 feet in the air. I think we came as friends/acquaintances and left as family :)
But more importantly is what I learned during this activity is team work, and how working together was vital to accomplish any given task on the high ropes. We searched and found each other’s strengths as we went through the intense moments of balance, strategy, success, and a little bit of failure. A big take away from all of this for me was that we are given others in our life to help us, encourage us along the way, and that is good. But we can’t forget that we will always need our “safety rope”, God, to catch us when all else is unstable.
Afterward we did “The Leap of Faith” which entailed first climbing up a 20 ft. high log, then standing upright on top and jumping, yes jumping, reaching out into the thin air simply to try to grab a trapeze bar. This task was very difficult…it was more about the jumping part than it was about the catching on to the trapeze part. The lesson here that I took away is that God will take care of us when do “leaps of faith” in his name. In order to do this jump, we need to have confidence that God will keep us safe. We can have confidence in the almighty even amidst paralyzing fear and scary circumstances.
Another highlight of Saturday and Sunday was Life Stories, where we each went around telling a 10 minute summary of who we are and how we got to be where we are now. There were many shaping moments, and I believe our group became much closer because of it.
A Sampler Platter of Baby Steps in Kingdom Work
After a magnificent hike to a waterfall in rural Honduras, our group proceeded to visit different projects put on by Global Village. Following are the places we visited and my initial take-aways:
Youth Program: ABC prevention is a well rounded approach to prevention/meeting the individuals where they are at. They used the verse from 1 Tim.=don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young. Good reminder that even here in Honduras we can be role models in thoughts, words, and actions.
Health Clinic: The biggest problems they have are diarrhea, skin problems, and respiratory problems, caused by the pollution. Also, there are many who get HIV AIDS, but the retroviruses cost about 6 months’ salary for the families, making it next to impossible for those who are sick to access medicine and treatment. On the other hand, something that is going really well for the health clinic in the community we visited is that they have started a system where all the babies are weighed and monitored closely till they are two years old. There are vitamins and shots available to the babies, as long as the mother desires that the baby receive them. Also, about 80% of the women give birth to their babies in hospitals; which is a fairly good percentage.
Farms with pigs and chickens and fish: We visited a few farms to see the agriculture side of rural Honduras, and what Global Missions was doing there. I thought it was really neat that in order for the projects to succeed, many from the community needed to be involved, and the wealth was spread around. In order for one family to pay off the loan for the animals, the babies of their animals needed to be given to someone else in the community.
I can’t help but think that walking through some of the areas of rural Honduras are similar to the Garden of Eden. There was a few times where I thought heaven was going to be just around the corner.
:-) Wow. You describe things beautifully. Sounds like God is doing tons of awesome revelation over there for you guys!
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