The Final Steps

Greetings from the Miami airport!

So hey! It’s Hannah and I have a joke for ya’all! A grasshopper walks into a bar and the bartender laughs and says, “Hey! We have a drink named after you!” Then the grasshopper goes, “Huh? You have a drink named Steve?” Hehehehehe! Well, if you have not already noticed, the team and I have resorted to mild humor in the attempt to stay awake while we wait for our delayed connecting flight from Miami to O’Hare. Actually though, this delay comes as a blessing because it gives me the perfect opportunity to regale you with stories of the amazing experience God placed before us this last week and a half.  Since you have already heard many stories about AFE and the dump, I will keep this section short. I was part of the team two years ago that was given the chance to visit the dump and AFE. The differences between then and now are astounding!  In 2010, my teammates and I witnessed people in poverty and suffering without the presence of any hope or love or happiness. Personally, I could not see Christ anywhere in that dump.  It was depressing and it made me feel like God did not really care about these people.  This year though, my experience was completely different! As my team visited the dump and we had more time to spend in the trash dump communities, I could see the thing that was desperately lacking two years ago! I could see HOPE! The people were happy; they were smiling and greeting us with open arms just like an old friend would. The thing that amazed me the most though, was the idea of being blessed that they continued to talk about. They constantly thanked God for every small detail of their lives. This really got to me because it me made think about how spoiled I am and how little I thank God. I tend to only appreciate the bigger things in life, and I omit the things that I know will always be there such as food and shelter. As the week went on, I continued to learn from these Hondurans about relationships and about blessings. Although I knew God was working there in that place, there were many other hard questions that we had, many of which we discussed during debrief. And this is the story that I actually sat down to tell. Before I continue though, I would like to give you a fun fact about my team members. If you do not want to hear this small fact of fun, than you may skip ahead a couple of sentences. While my team waits to board the plane, a couple of them decide to have a bit of fun going back and forth on the moving walkways.  They are leap frogging, and dancing, and being dinosaurs and moving in slow motion. It is great fun to watch, and also extremely entertaining! J Anyways! Back to Honduras! So, debrief starts with one God thing after another. First of all, my team and I were supposed to be traveling to Siguatepeque & debrief near San Pedro Sula in one 15-person van and two 5-person cars including all of our luggage and the 4 Hondurans that were traveling with us. At the last minute, Luis found us a bus driver who had the weekend off and who had to pick up a team in San Pedro on Sunday after we left! The bus was amazing! It had air conditioning and fairly comfortable seats – which is pretty rare in Honduras. We reached our destination late that night, and we were amazed at what we saw. It was a beautiful beach house 100 yards away from the ocean! There was a pool with seats and fountains and colored lights! The best part of it was our hostess, Cecia. She was an extreme sweetheart and had a large heart for Christ and for the people working as His hands and feet in Honduras. She had cooked us an amazing homemade meal of chicken and rice and veggies, all sprinkled with tons of love! Since we knew we would be comfortable, we could now set our hearts and our minds on Jesus and start to prepare ourselves for the trip back home. Throughout Friday night and Saturday, my team and I held devotions together, shared God stories, sang praise songs, and just loved on one another. This trip is going to be a difficult one for is to put into words for you because of everything we have witnessed. I do not think that we will ever have answers for some of our questions, at least not on this earth, but I do know that God is using this experience to further His kingdom! My team and I thank you greatly for all of your love, support, and prayers! We cannot wait to see you in just a couple of hours and to be able to share how God moved in our lives with you all! Love you lots! Hasta la vista amigos!