April!

This April has been full of transitions. We, the fighting commuters, were coming to a close of the spring semester and our time here at good ole TCCC (Tri-County Community College). We have been challenged in different ways but God has been with us through every turn and direction. We started off the month with the SWO mission trips to Honduras. Let me tell you that these trips were wonderful! God did many things on these trips that were truly life changing.

Week One, we led a group from Hillside Methodist Church in Woodstock, GA. This was a group eager and ready for what God had planned for them on this trip. Maridith and I boarded the plane in Atlanta along with the group from Hillside and began our journey into the depths! When Honduras came into sight from the window of the plane, the reality of what God was doing hit me! We were following God somewhere that many of us had never been and we would do things that many of us had never done. We hit the ground running. The day we landed in the capital city of Tegucigalpa we went to the orphanage and met the kids that we would be taking to camp. The next day we had the pleasure of taking about 20 students from their home at Faith Hope and Love orphanage to a Word of Life Camp about two hours away. This was an amazing time for the Honduran and North American students alike. The Honduran students ranged from ages two to fourteen. The week consisted of recreation and craft activities, Bible stories and plenty of soccer. You would be amazed at how tough a 75 pound 9 year old little girl can be to guard! The time that Maridith and I had to spend with the group from Hillside was simply amazing. We became friends with each student and had the privilege of sharing our lives with them. It was very clear to Maridith and me that God was working in this group in a very real way.

The second week was amazing, and God showed Himself in a wonderful way. The Group coming from Faith, my home church, in Drummonds, TN., encountered problems with their transportation when they arrived at the Memphis International airport to board their plane. But God worked out all the details and they were only delayed for a few hours. God is good! We arrived at the Word of Life camp and began the task that God had sent us there to do; ministering to a group of children from New Life Orphanage located in Jalaca. The task of looking after 20 preschool and elementary age children was in no way easy; I don’t care what country you are in! But what a great opportunity we were given to love and serve these children in their innocence of age. Most of us were not accustomed to caring for children of this age so it was a learning experience for many of us. But everyday was a privilege. Can you imagine what it was like to give these children the much needed attention they deserved through fixing a meal for them, helping them to bed, or seeing to it that they took a bath, with soap? We led the kiddies in the learning of memory verses, songs, and Bible stories. The mission team with all our diversity enjoyed a week of community that could only come from God. It was sad to all of us to have to say good bye to these little ones but we trusted them to God who loves them perfectly. Even now their sweet smiles are in my mind.

Thank you Lord for the incredible blessing of this trip to Honduras!