Honduras

A few months ago I got to take my first mission trip to Central America in the beautiful country of Honduras. It was so different from the other mission trips I've been on because 1) it wasn't in Africa and 2) we stayed with the same community for the duration of the trip. That actually ended up being my favorite part about it. Because we were always interacting with the same families and kids every day, we got to build great relationships with them.

Our team was in charge of two main things: building a new well for the community and teaching hygiene and Bible lessons to the kids and parents to help facilitate future maintenance of the well. I got to be on the hygiene team which meant lots of fun times with precious little kids like these:

They were so incredibly attentive and engaged to the lessons. And when the time came for playtime they were no less excited. Seriously, I have never seen anyone jump rope or dance as well as these girls could!

But one of my favorite moments wasn't at the church site at all. It was during a walk we had taken around the neighborhood to get a picture of the river right by the village. To our surprise, a fellow team member and I ended up running into some of the girls who had been attending our lessons. They invited us into their backyard (which had a beautiful view of the river) and showed us all the different fruit trees of the area. There are so many in Honduras!

The girls then shared some of their fruit with us, and we got to hear about their family and meet their parents. It was such a special moment because we really got to see the world they live in- to understand what life is like in that little village and what makes these girls happy. Of course there's problems to deal with because of the area they live in. But the kids there were so happy and kind, and it was a privilege to get to spend time with them.

Me with the girls in their backyard

Eventually the other half of our team finished the well and we presented it to the community in a lovely ceremony of sharing and celebration. That little village in Honduras may not be large or well known, but I know it will forever have a place in our hearts because of the kindness of its people. That's what I love so much about missions. It's not about projects or schedules or agendas. At its heart, it is about love and it is about people. And there was so much of that on this trip.

#travel #missions #2014