Breakthrough: it's the little things

Today was a sweet spirited day... I don't really know how to explain it but it just felt peaceful and I truly felt delight in this day. That doesn't mean it didn't have its trials, girls still got into trouble and had to be punished, it poured rain all day, the electricity went out for 5 hours (4th time in the week and a half that I've been here), the girls in charge of cooking started too late and we had grilled bologna sandwiches instead, and we had to address the situation of one of the girls wearing 3 bras to make her look a little more blessed up top (yes, even though the culture is different, girls struggle just the same as the U.S.) just to name a few. BUT God gave me a smiling spirit today.

I feel like today was a day about relationships and being able to hangout with the girls. I feel like they are starting to open up to me and trust me being around, like they feel like they can come to me. It's like they have to make sure I am sticking around before they invest in a relationship with me. At the same time I am learning how to be a disciplinarian and authority figure and still have relationships with them to where they feel like they can talk to me about things.

The electricity went out at about 1pm today. We all went about the day and when dinner came along we gathered into the kitchen. As we handed out plates the electricity came back on and the kitchen erupted in cheers! This meant not walking around the farm in the dark (bc it would be dark in about an hour), hot showers, and coffee for me! This isn't the first time they cheered like this when the electricity came back on... it has been everytime. In this moment sitting in the kitchen hearing their cheers, my soul sighed and I smiled. It has been the first time that I can say with everything I truly felt joy being here. Thank you Jesus for the encouragement of today... not because it was filled with great things or because I have some awesome Jesus story to tell. But Lord, you provided me with comfort in the little things.

Your prayers are being heard by our amazing God. Your prayers are felt. Thank you for your faithfulness in praying for me.

AP

The Mission Field as a Lifestyle: “This isn’t a week long trip”

Right now I sit in my room writing by head lamp because the electricity is out for the second night in a row (they say this happens a lot around here. Just keeps things interesting I guess).

I don’t even know where to begin… Arriving at the farm on Thursday we pulled up to the gate and I got out of the truck to unlock the gate and barely had time to look up before I was tackled by one of the girls I had grown very close to when I was here in Honduras at the ministry in December. It was an amazing reminder of what this is all about after a long emotional day of traveling.

I have gone through all the normal processes of being new somewhere: getting settled into my room (which is in one of the houses with 2 girls from the farm), getting a phone, learning the rules and schedules, paying attention to everywhere we go, and being very intentional of learning the language (it would have made way too much sense to learn the language before I came). Of course you have that one person you follow around the whole time because they were the one that reached out and made you feel like they cared. Thankfully for me it was Natali who I already knew and was excited to work alongside. She keeps telling me, “Its ok, you will have to do it for the next intern.” J

Ive been on many short term mission trips through my church, Crosspointe Church. I never knew how different the immediate feelings and thoughts would be from those trips to this year long commitment. When you go on a week long mission trip, there is so much excitement and just trying to consume everything as quickly as possible because reality is that you will leave soon. This is totally different. I almost feel like I am in slow motion while everything else is on fast forward around me. I am trying to process everything, pick up and pay attention to everything, discern so much, and understand the systems behind everything. There is no thought of when I leave, there are only thoughts of how to settle in and make this my lifestyle, how to function in this environment most effectively. So that has been my prayer, that the Lord would show me how to function in this lifestyle in the most glorifying way to HIM. That the Lord would show me schedules and systems that work best for me to pour into the girls, invest in the ministry, and allow for the word to renew and transform me.

Before I left Valdosta, I made four extremely Christ centered, edifying, encouraging, and challenging relationships with 4 AMAZING girls over the past year of my life. I know God ordained these girls into my life. They challenged me in my relationship with Christ simply by looking to me to speak truth. It always caused me to cling to the cross and run to scripture. I am so thankful for them and the way God has used them in my life. Since I have been here I have struggled with not being able to get in the word with these girls, do ministry with them, or talk to them whenever I want to about everything JESUS. But today the Lord revealed to me that even these girls were a part of his plan for me in Honduras, to show me what these relationships have meant and that I can have the same relationships with the girls here on the farm. That these girls need Christ centered, edifying, encouraging, and challenging relationships in their lives in the same way the girls and I in Valdosta do. He challenged me with being all in, showing me that my growth was not for my own sake but for the sake of the Gospel being made famous right here in these girls lives in Honduras. Thank you Jesus!