Where He Leads (Honduras 2013, Part 4)

As we make our way to one of the picnic huts on the beach, Melania and I walk with our arms around each other, smiling in partial disbelief.  The grass below our feet quickly turns to sand.  She laughs.

We sit at a table and I tell Melania I have a special gift for her.  I actually have a whole bag of gifts, but I'm saving most of them for the end of the day.  I pull out the necklace and explain that God has made us sisters in Christ, and because of that, I want to give her this necklace, which is called "Sisters".  I show her that I have an identical one around my neck.  She thinks this is very neat.  I put the necklace on her.



As we talk, I learn more and more just what a special girl Melania is.  Like I mentioned in my last post, from the very second we met, she wanted nothing more than to tell me what she was learning about God and the details of her family life.  So much like me in the aspect of not seeing a need for casual conversation and getting right to the serious stuff.

She asks for my favorite bible verse.  I debate in my head between Acts 20:24 and Romans 5:8, eventually deciding Romans 5:8 would be easier to translate.  I ask for hers, not at all prepared for the profound answer I was about to receive.  After thinking for a moment, tells me she likes Isaiah 1:17.  Please excuse me while I sob over the fact that her favorite verse says:

"Learn to do good;

Seek justice,

Reprove the ruthless,

Defend the orphan,

Plead for the widow."

The fourth line can also be translated, "vindicate the fatherless".  If you don't know, when I was deciding whether or not to go on this trip, a dear friend quoted this exact verse to me, reminding me of God's command for us to go and comfort the fatherless and the widows (Melania and her mother).  This advice played a big part in my decision to go to Honduras.  Meanwhile, while I am doing this for Melania, she is out there doing it for everyone else!  Undaunted by her circumstances, I see now that God didn't choose me to be her sponsor because she was weak and helpless.  He chose us for each other for continued encouragement and love as we follow Him. 

We decide to get changed into our swim clothes.  I give Melania the swim suit I brought for her.  As we walk to the changing rooms, Melania grabs my hand, still smiling the world's biggest smile.  Despite having met half an hour ago, she tells me she is praying for God to bring me back to visit a second time.

I often ask myself if I should really be traveling for missions when there are so many unsaved, hurting people right in my own little town in Western Pennsylvania.  Hearing my Melania ask me to please come back to her confirmed that answer for me.  It's not about where or how we serve God.  It's about seeing a need and going after it- wherever, however He leads.  Do you see a person standing next to you at the grocery store who likely doesn't know the gospel?  Tell them!  Do you know of a widow who could use some company or financial assistance?  Invite her over for dinner!  Do you know about a child in another country who is orphaned, abused, or lacking basic needs?  Go to them!  God showed me Melania's need.  He gave her to me and said, "Go, this mission is for you."  In the bible, God called the disciples to minister starting right where they were....and then leading to even to the remotest part of the Earth (Acts 1:8). 

I think Christine Caine said it best when she said that we can't ignore those who we meet on our way to who we have chosen to reach.  I can't just go to Honduras for a week to minister to Melania and ignore the needs of all of the people I meet before, after, and on my way there.  I definitely have a ministry back home, and for the time being, that is where I need to be long term.  But right then, on that beach, I knew my "now", was Honduras.

Meeting Melania (Honduras 2013, Part 3)

Remember how I said I was numb?  Well, writing this post about my first moments with Melania got it all out of me- the tears, the joy, everything.  The reality of God's work in this story just hit me like a ton of bricks...and it is so beautiful!

The day we had all been waiting for had finally arrived- child visit day!  We awoke that morning and drove an hour to Hotel Playa Beach on the Caribbean Sea, where we would spend the day at the beach with our sponsored children.  Upon arrival, we were told they'd call us off of the bus one at a time to meet our kids.  For almost an hour, sponsors were called one by one, while the rest of us anxiously crowded around the back window of the bus to watch for any signs of our children.

Although I had not yet spotted Melania, my tour leader soon re-entered the bus and announced, "Megan, you're on deck!  Get ready!"  My heart began to race.  I suddenly felt so unprepared.  I committed our day to God and made my way to the front of the bus, carrying the multiple bags of beach supplies and gifts for Melania's family.  Anticipation must have been written all over my face, because the last thing I remember before exiting the bus was my tour leader asking me to please not faint.

As soon as I stepped off the bus, I dropped my bags, found my translator, and began to look for Melania in the crowd.   And then, I saw her.  If she hadn't come running full-force into my arms, I'm not sure I would have recognized her.  So petite, she easily could have passed for eleven or twelve rather than fourteen!  Yet, the second I had her there with me, I was sure of this one thing: God knew exactly what He was doing.  He had matched us perfectly.  I smiled and silently gave thanks.  Yes, I thought, this fits.

We stayed just like this for a long time.  After everything God had done to bring us together, she was really standing there in front of me.  Now that I had her, it was unreal to me that I had ever considered the possibility that someone else was meant to be her sponsor.  It was so obvious right then that God had chosen her for me.  I remember telling myself to embrace that moment, because it was real.  Suddenly, this trip no longer felt like walking through a photograph.  No photograph could be this perfect.

When we finally let go, Melania began to pull things out of the small plastic grocery bag she was carrying.  First, a poster she had made with my name on it!  At the bottom was written, "I love you with all of my heart."  She had even laminated it with tape and decorated it by making flowers out of pencil shavings.  Is it any surprise that one of her favorite activities is art?

Next, she handed me a letter, another drawing, and a hand made jewelry box containing two bracelets and a pair of earrings, all handmade by her!  As you may remember from my very first post when I was led to sponsor Melania, one thing that really tugged at my heart strings was the fact that she wasn't in school and was instead being taught to make jewelry at her Compassion center.  Since I also worked with jewelry, helping my mom with her direct sales jewelry company, I had written to Melania about the fact that we had that in common.  Anything related to jewelry is a special bond between the two of us.  When she put those bracelets on my wrist, I thought yet again: This is as close to perfection as it gets.  She is everything I hoped for and so much more.  Going into this trip, I was (rightly) told not to make any expectations, but to step aside and let God lead.  Often times, God's plans are not ours.  However, this time, it was almost exactly what I had wanted.  It couldn't possibly get any better.

Or so I thought...because that was when Melania smiled at me with the world's biggest smile and proudly said the words, "Thanks to you, now I am studying."  She has chosen to go back to school!  My heart leaps out of my chest even now as I type those words.  God is good all the time!  Not only is she going to school, but she is getting good grades (as she reminded me several times throughout the day), often stays after school for extra art classes, and still faithfully attends her Compassion project and the worship choir at her church!  This girl blows me away on absolutely every level.

I was introduced to Melania's mother and tutor who had traveled with her.  I learned neither Melania nor her mother had ever been to a beach or hotel before that day.  They were very excited.  As we made our way to a shelter on the beach, I quickly learned in more detail just how perfectly God had chosen Melania for me.  As fit my personality to a T, she made no time for small talk and immediately wanted to tell me what she was learning about God.  She also shared openly right away about her father's death, which occurred two years ago on her birthday.  Her maturity and trust in God impressed me immensely.  When I sponsored Melania, I did so thinking that I was sponsoring a sad little girl who had grown up surrounded by tragedy and very little hope...a little girl who needed to be told about the love of Jesus.  Instead, I met a happy girl who has been through a lot in her life, but is undaunted by her pain thanks to the love she receives from her Heavenly Father. 

As we walk, Melania wraps her arm around me and tells me that we are now like family.  I agree.  Family in Christ, brought together to share in His love.  Yes, this fits.

Walking Through a Photograph (Honduras 2013, Part 2)

When friends of mine have come home from mission trips in the past, one thing I have heard multiple times is that it is nothing like the pictures- that it is something you cannot fully grasp until you are actually there.  In many ways, while in Honduras, I found this to be true.  All of the letters and pictures in the world cannot compare to actually experiencing your sponsor child's sweet hugs and warm smiles.  It is pure joy; something I highly recommend for everyone who sponsors a child. 

Yet, at the same time, it was exactly like the pictures.  We left our beautifully comfortable hotel in the city that first morning after a good night's sleep and full breakfast buffet, hopped onto our rented air conditioned busses, and drove a mere 30 minutes to what seemed like a whole new world.  Suddenly, the wide pavement turned to narrow, bumpy dirt roads.  The 5-star hotels and popular fast food chains turned to bamboo huts selling filtered water and bananas.  The lines of Pepsi billboards on the sides of the highways turned to barbed wire fences and stray animals roaming freely.  The traffic grew less and less.  Everyone emerged from their homes to marvel at the unusual sight of two large charter busses coming down the street. 

(Click photos to enlarge)

How could it be that just 20 miles away, people were living comfortable lives?  How could it be that just an hour ago, I awoke in a queen-sized bed, unaware of any nearby poverty?  How could it be that just outside the big city, people were living in bamboo houses with dirt floors?  I was numb.  Seriously, I felt nothing.

It all happened so fast that it felt like we had simply driven into one of the pictures I had seen many times before.  Maybe, I thought, I was just vividly experiencing a photograph brought back by a missionary who had really been there.  As I saw the needs of so many people flash before my eyes, especially when everything had been so normal earlier that day, it didn't seem real.  Even now, honestly, I haven't exactly grasped it.  I was simply walking through a photograph, I told myself. 

Over the course of the week, we visited three sponsorship centers.  These centers are where the sponsored children go to receive meals, tutoring, medical care, bible classes, letters from their sponsors, and extra curricular activities.  I got to see first hand what it means to those children to be sponsored.  I saw unsponsored children literally begging members of our group to sponsor them.  I saw tour members who sponsored children at those projects and the deep bonds between them.  Not only that, but I saw that this was indeed reality.  As we visited their homes and churches, I knew they couldn't simply escape like I soon would.  

Beautiful children waiting to greet us as we arrived

Little Keren with her new sponsor, Julie

God-ordained family

An outdoor kitchen run by firewood

It is hard to say much more when in so many ways, it was exactly what it looks like.  I knew how real it was.  Being there didn't surprise me like I thought it would.  I believe it was partly because I already knew.  Needs like these are what brought me to Honduras.  They are what God used to start my sponsorship journey in the first place.  Now I was actually living it, but not really.  In a few hours, I would return to my hotel, wash the dirt and sweat off of me, and have a filling dinner. Many of these people wouldn't.  My Melania attends a sponsorship center far into the mountains, which was not one of the 3 we visited; so they would be bringing her to me for a visit later in the week.  This meant I had the first part of the week free to observe and take it all in.

Christians are often criticized with the claims that we go on mission trips to make ourselves feel holy.  What I can tell you for sure, is that I have never felt more unholy in my entire life (I think I have heard someone else describe it similarly, so I'm sorry if I'm stealing your words, whoever you are.)  Don't get me wrong, God has made us holy through Jesus Christ.  No feeling can change that.  However, seeing poverty up close made me realize how much more I can be giving away.  It is not enough to spend a week in a country like this and go back to normal life the rest of the year.  It is time we live with reckless abandon- living our whole lives for the gospel and love of Christ.  Laying our own privileges aside the way Christ did, and doing more.  Doing something.  That something doesn't have to be traveling to be becoming a full time missionary or even sponsoring a child.  There are needs right where you are right now.  Through my numbness, I see that we must be aware.  Not just aware, but we must act.  We must love.  We must tell of the grace of God.  I've seen how much there is to be done, and it's time we do it!

An Omer of Bananas (Honduras 2013, Part 1)

This is part 1 of my Honduras 2013 blogs.  God has blessed me in so many ways through this trip to Latin America to meet my 14 year old sponsor child, Melania.  Many of you have followed our story  from the start, and you definitely will not want to miss this next chapter!  I honestly could not have asked for a more God-filled week.  I would like to take you on a five part journey through my experience in Honduras; not only with Melania, but also visiting sponsorship centers, attending church, bonding with the team, and so much more. 

So yes, I am back!  As some of you know from past entries, while preparing for this trip, my mind was under attack.  Had God really told me to go to Honduras so soon?  Would the culture shock be unbearable?  Would Melania be shy?  Would she even like me?  When thoughts attacked my mind, God constantly reminded me that they were not of Him.  The bible says that God has not given us a Spirit of fear.  Regardless of what will or will not happen in our lives, the fear about those things is never of God.  I didn't need anything but to follow His lead, and He was leading me to Honduras.  That alone brought me peace. 

While in prayer, God had confirmed to me that He had big plans for the adventure I was about to go on.  That's all He ever asked anyway, that I would go with Him.  So, I prayed.  I prayed for God to go ahead of me.  I prayed for Melania, that this trip would impact her however He willed.  I prayed for health, safety, and lots and lots of ministry opportunities.  And then, I prayed a very faithful prayer- I prayed for bananas.

See, I like bananas.  A lot.  What started as a good health choice has turned into a full out obsession with this delicious fruit.  As bizarre as it sounds (and, well, probably is), I am completely addicted and didn't want to think about not having bananas for almost an entire week on this trip.  It is my breakfast every day, and my health has greatly improved.

So, imagine my surprise when I got the trip itinerary in the mail and discovered that we were going to none other than a banana plantation!  God didn’t just answer my prayer by letting there be a few bananas at the breakfast buffet at our hotel, but by bringing me to a whole plantation of bananas!  Oh, and the country that I soon would find out is considered the banana republic of the world!

Practically in Heaven at the banana plantation

 

 

As silly as it may seem, this was all the confirmation I needed that I was on the right trip.  I was now certain that God was going to work in mighty ways.  I was thrilled.  Little did I know that not only would I get to visit a banana plantation, but also....

 

 





Climb a bamboo ladder up a banana tree....
 

 

 

Trudge through a banana forest....

 

 

(My shoes did not make it out alive.)

 

 

 

 

Try banana soda (oh, and some pretty awesome tacos) ....

 

 

 

 

 

and multiple kinds of fried bananas....

 

 

 

and banana (plantain?) nachos.....

 

 

and salted banana (plantain?) chips with basically every meal

 

 

 

A fantastic start to the week showed me that God is faithful and hears our prayers.  I asked for bananas, and God certainly supplied.  I knew the rest of this journey would be amazing.