Honduras - Day 4

This was my favorite day of the trip. Any anxieties I had held – not measuring up in assisting at the work site or not being able to connect with the children enough – had evaporated. I was confident that I could now fulfill the tasks to which I had been commissioned by God to love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously. We put the finish on the top of the pila and began to build the washboard. A few pieces of wood were cut and held to the frame using rebar and nails. Jason, the homeowner, used a machete to cut two half circles in the wood that would serve as an entry point for a pipe that would provide water to the house.

One of my favorite (of many) activities was acting out skits that were directed by our teammate Steve. Each day contained some curriculum based on biblical events and principles, so our skits would align with whatever the lessons contained. On this day we told the story of Jesus healing the lepers, and how only one of the lepers came back to thank him.

The most entertaining part of this had to be our improvised costumes – we  just wrapped ourselves up in toilet paper (I may have resembled a mummy more than anything) but the kids really enjoyed this. I don’t think the lesson was lost on any of them, because I believe most of them are already well-acquainted with the virtue of gratitude and how much it enhances the quality of our lives. Without ever having to hear it (although exclamations of “Gracias!” were always heard when passing out candy, helping with a word search, or even snapping a photo) they showed appreciativeness and grace every time they ran up to us for a hug. They were thankful to us just for being there and spending time with them.

After Bible school came, for me, perhaps the beloved event of the entire week. Pastor Alejandro (the leader of United Methodist church and the principal of our partner school) brought people together for a men’s testimonial meeting. Since a few men were unable to make the meeting, their wives or other relatives came on their behalf to give an attestation and commendation on the receipt of piles for their family.

We heard from about five people who expressed their gratitude for this project and gave praise to God for making it all possible. A couple of them already had pilas but theirs had gotten leaks or other damage over the years. In both cases, they could now store even more water than before with a new and larger pila. With these new containers, they are now able to store up to four days worth of water supply.

Pastor Alejandro made a very powerful connection between the water that nourishes our bodies and the living water through Christ that nourishes our soul; both are necessary to sustain our lives. To paraphrase, he said “Hold onto God’s word in our hearts. The greatest blessing in our life is to have the living water that satisfies our living need and gives us eternal life.”

We have been concluding each day with a devotional shortly after our evening meal. This has been a great practice and is something that I intend to continue long after the Honduran sun has finished kissing our cheeks and warming our bodies. The devotionals are based on the different pieces of the Wesley Covenant Prayer, mentioned in my previous blog post. For Wednesday, the focus was the line, “Let me be fully, let me be empty.”

We read Matthew chapter 26, verses 27-28 and 36-39, where we discuss the giving of Jesus’ body and blood to the disciples (and as an extension, to all of us). Then we witnessed a rare moment of internal struggle in Jesus when he sought to fulfill God’s will in verses 36-39.  We use this time to describe our own struggles that we have encountered on this trip and acknowledge that even Jesus dealt with these kinds of things but ultimately persevered to do the right thing.

This passage of scripture is powerful to me because it powerfully reinforces the concept of imago dei, the fact that we are created in the image of God. Jesus was a human, after all, and he struggled with fear, uncertainty, doubt, and temptation, just as we all do. We cannot expect to always live up to the example that Jesus set, but we can make a realistic vow to strive in that direction every day.