Firstly, I thank God for directing me to this missionary trip. ShareHim (for organizing such an amazing program), the Church in Monte Carlo, Choluteca (for letting me take over their pulpit for 16 days), and all my friends and family for their support. My long time dream of going on a mission trip became a reality.
On June 27, 2011, I boarded a Delta flight to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. This was my first missionary trip; something I had longed to do. I did not know where I would be preaching or any of the other individuals who would be there, but I trusted God that everything would be alright. When I had a four hour layover in Atlanta, I met Bethie. She was wearing a Share Him T-shirt, so I introduced myself to her. We dialoged back and forth and found out that we had a lot in common. When we boarded the plane, we discovered we were sitting in the same row. How coincidental is that? I do not believe in coincidences.
When we got to Tegucigalpa, where we had orientation; we stayed at De Valle of the Angeles for two nights. Tegucigalpa is high in the mountains, very cool, beautiful and touristy. We met some amazing groups of people from Hungary, Jamaica, Haiti, and several states in the United States. We bonded quickly and after two days it was hard for us to split as each group headed to different destinations.
There were approximately 70 missionaries. Some stayed in Tegucigalpa, some went to Olancho, which is 7 hours away, and 20 of us went to Choluteca which is 3 hours away. We stayed at the Las Bresas Hotel. Bethie and I were roommates. Choluteca was very warm, muggy and had monsoon rains. We encountered some vicious mosquitoes and it felt as though I was constantly dodging them. I still ended up with several bites, even on my face.
Some evenings, I thought that due to the heavy rains, we would not have been able to make it to our campaign sites, but I quickly learned that rain stops nothing in Choluteca and that God’s work had to be accomplished regardless of whatever obstacles we were faced with. It was clear that Satan was at work in many instances, but God’s miraculous power always defeated the plans of the enemy. My missionary experience was inspirational, humbling and fascinating!
It was an amazing experience. We preached 19 sermons in 16 days. There were times when we were faced with challenges, such as finding good translators, having power cuts in the middle of our sermons, getting sick and facing impassable roads, due to the weather conditions, but God came through every single time for us and fixed the problems. This experience has deepened my faith and trust in God. It has cemented my belief in Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 37:23, 48:14, John 16:13 and Philippians 4:13.
I enjoyed being in another culture, sharing with the people in love, food and conversations; even through there was a language barrier- Love covers a multitude of things. I can say the best papayas and the biggest guavas I have had were in Choluteca. Interestingly enough, everyone wants to learn English and everyone wants to learn Spanish, so we often had even exchanges.
The people are very friendly, loving, kind and respectable. It was difficult to part or even to say hasta luego. They became our families, away from our families. When it was time to depart, there were tears. I miss the adults, but I miss the children even more. I wished I did not have to leave them. However, it is comforting to know that if I do not see them in Honduras again. I will see them in heaven later.
One thing I wish I had started before this trip was to learn more Spanish. I would suggest; if you are planning to visit a country, learn as much as you can about the culture and the language. Having some knowledge of the people and their culture is only wise. It will make you feel more comfortable and the people will feel better about communicating with you.
Now, I have dreams of the people a, a desire to learn their language and hope of seeing them again, so that I might interact with them better. I look forward to going on another mission trip in the very near future.
If you would like to donate to a Honduran orphanage visit: www.casaderoc.org.
Pauline Lewinson
http://Globalministryofhope.org
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