St. Michael the Archangel Honduras Mission Project

Our Sunday started out quite comically when Miguel (That’s Mike Pollock, just so no one is confused about who the culprit was—Mike Pollock!) decided to get some coffee before breakfast—and then left the spigot open slightly when he left—so when the women showed up for breakfast, they saw coffee running out under the kitchen door—the sors (sisters) cleaned everything up, and everyone had a good laugh because Miguel was praising God that at least he was able to get a good cup of coffee…

But enough about Miguel…

I would have to say that I’ve KNOWN the Honduras Mission for almost a decade, since Magda has made many, many, many trips down here—so I’ve heard so many stories about the experiences the different mission team have had—but I knew hearing the stories and actually LIVING the mission would be different—and I’m so blessed to have this group of seasoned travelers to show me all the ropes…

From the many stories I’ve heard over the years, I expected the final night here to be very emotional, that saying goodbye would be very difficult.  What I didn’t expect was having it hit me the very first day, when we went to the orphanage and started meeting all the girls—one girl asked Magda if I was her husband, and I looked into her eyes and started to melt—and it kinda shocked me that it would start so soon.  Then next day when we were serving breakfast for the families of women waiting to give birth, we were talking to the other volunteers afterwards and I felt the emotion again—but both days I was able to keep it under control.  Not today—we walked to church and I had 4-5 girls walking with me—one of the younger ones just grabbed my hand and off we went—during mass I ended up with that young one asleep in my arms and two more on my lap—I couldn’t keep it in any longer—and it’s kinda hard to hide it when one of the little ones is touching your tears and telling Magda all about them!  Then last night we hosted girls who used to live in the orphanage, and one of them was Edita, who Magda and I sponsored through Unbound for many years, and now she’s been out of the house for three years and going to the university.  She gave me a hug and said she had been wanting to meet me for a long time—and I’m having a hard time this morning even writing about it!  I’ve already given up on keeping it under control the last night here…

A couple more thoughts, before I head out with Miguel to finish our painting project…

The sisters here at the elderly home have such a joy about them—and I think it’s the joy of living as Christ wants us to—of sacrifice and service—and they do it with such grace and hospitality for people who basically abandoned and are heading towards their final days here and eventual appointment with God—and they’ve extended that same hospitality to our team, and the joy they share with us every meal is a highlight in itself…

Down the street is the orphanage, and while the sisters do a wonderful job with the girls, the focus for me is on the girls themselves.  In many gospels, Christ said in order to get to heaven, you needed to be like little children, and you can feel the closeness of God when you’re around these girls.  I put off coming on this mission for many years and for no good reason, and I will tell you if you want to experience the Joy of Christ, come and spend some time down here and you will feel it.  We were blessed to have Sor Dinora (who was in charge of the orphanage for many years) come visit us this weekend from Guatemala, and she said I would leave part of my heart here, and I believe her!

OK, I’ve rambled on long enough—time to go see what kind of trouble Miguel has found for himself…:)

Peace & Love from Honduras

Robin