Lagunas

Sorry this blog is a bit late. We got back from our second mountain mission last Friday and since I was tired I decided it was better to write this post a little late than have it totally incomprehensible. It was a blessed and very beautiful week. Once again we were in a place of startling natural beauty. There were a lot more struggles this time though. The situation of the parish wasn’t very strong and the delegate is stuck trying to lead everyone while she herself is struggling with family things. The people weren’t really engaged and many families are divided over a couple evangelical churches that aggressively moved into the aldea within the last couple years. It is so sad to see the Body of Christ divided like this.

As we were trying to serve in the midst of all this and to bring peace to the people we met, I was reminded once again of my own inherent poverty. I may have many material things, but I, like every other person, am in desperate need of God. It was easy to think I was self-sufficient until I was confronted here with the realities of life faced by over half the world. The people know their desperate need for God and you can see it in their eyes; they hunger for Him. And they are slowly teaching me my own need too. Without Him, there is nothing.

Right now we are preparing to leave on another mission, this time in La Ceiba at the beach. That is where everyone stereotypically goes for Holy Week, so that is where we are going to, albeit for different reasons. I don’t really know what this mission will look like, but please keep us in your prayers.

Have a blessed Holy Week and a blessed Easter.

Dios es Bueno

That title is a popular song to sing before we start any program on the mountain missions. It is also a good way to describe my experience this last week on mission. A team had come down from the States and so we sent five teams to super remote mountain villages (aldeas) to do a weeks-worth of faith formation and evangelization. These villages get Mass every couple of months, tops. It was a beautiful experience. I saw God so clearly in the people, in their generosity to give us the best of what they have in gratitude, in the smiles of the kids, in their faith in the midst of struggles those from the States can never even begin to understand…The week was filled with blessings. I am so grateful that God has brought me here and pray that He continues to use me to reach others, even if I am not aware of it.

Now we will finish up with this team tonight and we pick up another at the airport tomorrow. I am excited to go back to the mountains to see both what God wants to teach me and what He wants me to do this time. Please pray for us since we can do nothing alone.

A Quick Note

I can’t write much today because we are preparing for a mountain mission. A team comes down from the States tomorrow and we have a lot to do. Pray for us in these next two weeks!

I also updated the pictures. Click on the link above. It should work this time.