Before leaving for this trip, I finished reading Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. (A must read.) Much of what Shane has to say in his book coincides with thoughts I have after seeing so much poverty in Honduras. Below are two quotes from the book that really hit home to me. What are we doing to love our neighbors?

"Two guys were talking to each other, and one of them says he would like to ask God why he allows poverty, war, and suffering to exist in the world. And his friend says, 'Well, why don't you ask?' The fellow shakes his head and says he is scared. When asked why, he mutters, 'I'm scared God will ask me the same question, for when I think about it, I can hear God whispering to me, 'You tell me why we allow these things to exist. You are my body, my hands, my feet.'"

"God did not mess up and make too many people and not enough 'stuff'. Poverty was created not by God but by you and me, because we have not learned to love our neighbors as ourselves."

One of the first things that hit all 65 of us travelers upon arrival in Teguc was how great the language barrier would be. I don't think any of us anticipated just how little we would recall from high school Spanish classes and how that would affect communication for the week. But in one of our first devos of the week, we were all reminded how far reaching a smile can be. For there are no boundaries with our tones of voice, our attitudes, and our actions. We soon discovered that much can be said without using words.

The children of Honduras were the highlight of the trip for me. We were able to visit an orphanage outside the city in the beautiful countryside and spend the afternoon with 86 boys who had been abandoned or given up by their parents. Also at the building site each day, many children came to help us and be around us as we worked on the house. They were so excited to play with bubbles, coloring books, and learn the game of 'Tag'. It was true joy to see their faces light up around total strangers that could barely ask their names.

Then there are the people at Baxter, the preaching institute where we stayed. Within an hour of our arrival, I had 'amigas en la cocina', the ladies who cooked for us all week. I was also able to meet a beautiful family (Sebastian, Rachel, and Hadid) who were students at Baxter. It was a great blessing to encounter these Christian brothers and sisters each day and be reminded that there are warriors for the Lord in such faraway places.

"Missions are less about the transportation of God from one place to another and more about the identification of a God who is already there. See God where others don't. And then you point him out. Be more like a tour guide. We don't take Jesus to people who don't have him, we just point out to the people a God who is already present in their midst." -Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis

And I believe that as we point out God to these people, we are able to glimpse His love just as much through them...

Probably easiest to divide the chronicles of our Honduras trip into a few parts...

The trip was amazing, what could I possibly say to describe it and still justify the journey? What words are there to relate one incredibly week in a third-world country? Try as I may, I could never do it justice, so I won't sum up the week by saying the trite 'it was an eye-opening experience'. For now I'll just say that I had a hard time coming back to the states and wanted to stay much longer, whether in Tegucigalpa or elsewhere. You can ask me more if you really want to know.

The majority of the trip was spent doing manual labor: house building, painting, ditch digging, and whatever else got thrown our way. Four days were spent rotating from site to site, with Friday being our day of completion.

Ok, doing a little backtracking for this post. A few weeks ago, I met Mom and Dad in Alburquerque and we packed in and climbed Wheeler Peak outside Red River. Had a great time enjoying some cooler temperatures and a chance to get away from everything for awhile. Jessie enjoyed the adventure as well, probably due to the fact that she didn't have a 30 lb. pack on her back and she got to wear her 'Doggles'. Here are some pics of the trip.

Hola! We all arrived back in Dallas from Teguciagalpa, Honduras at 3 am this morning. Wonderful trip in so many ways. It was hard to come home, and it is certainly much harder than I thought it would be to adjust back to our rich, spoiled American ways of living. I'm not a fan... Will try to update on here soon and get some pictures up. For now, I'm just trying to tackle the laundry....

So I had great intentions to update, post some pics from the week and all that good stuff, but here it is, 9:15 and I have to be at the church tomorrow morning at 6 am to leave for Honduras!!! Did I mention that I haven't packed yet? Yeah.... So I'll catch up when I get back and will have a multitude of stories to share. Blessings on the week to all...