Good evening interested friends, family, and prayer warriors! Hello from El Progresso, Honduras! 

We made it! There were moments in our travel yesterday that we wondered…I think it was nearing hour three of sitting on the runway in the plane where the air conditioner wasn’t running, and we were dripping sweat down our backs when the wondering really began. But, thanks to many of you for praying, we did get here and were greeted with open arms and happy welcomes from our friends Josh and Mike (World Compassion Network) and Pastor Arqui & Minda, Pastor Nelson, and many others from the Ministerio Internacional Eden de Dios (church) here in El Progresso. We made our way to our excellent hotel and hit our beds pretty much right away. 

In the morning, we had a late start (the only time we’ll sleep in) and met up in our meeting space for breakfast and orientation. Josh talked us through some of the ins and outs of ministry here in Honduras and we talked about our “why” of coming. We spent a little time sketching and talking to God about why we think he brought us here. I’m excited to see how these pictures come to life this week for our team. 

After that, some of us lounged at the hotel for a little bit, while a few others got our lunch supplies for the rest of the week. To save both time and money, our lunch plans include peanut butter and jelly, pringles and cookies pretty much every day. Amid a hard, hot workday (which we’ll have every day), PB&J actually tastes pretty great. 

Then, early afternoon, we headed out to Pastor Arqui’s church. For most of the team, this was the first glance at a miracle in the making in Honduras. God has provided a beautiful piece of property for this church, and they are, by God’s grace, continually making it better and more effective for ministry. Our task today was a pretty simple one—to get rice and beans bagged up and put into distribution boxes (along with some other goods) for families we’ll meet later this week. 

Just so you know, it is unbelievably hot in Honduras. Just packing rice & beans, sweat rolled down our faces “like slugs leaving a trail” (to quote Seth Jordan). But the team prevailed, and it is just getting us ready for what is to come this week. 

Then we had church…Church in Honduras is an experience to be sure! It is a highlight of going on a mission trip to see our team worship with our Honduran brothers and sisters. The team was “dragged” to the front of the room and then our Honduran friends grabbed each one to dance and worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It was a beautiful thing to see. We got to hear Minda’s testimony of being miraculously healed just two weeks ago and I believe God has more miracles in store for all of us this week. 

As we close our day, we end it with sharing our “happies and crappies” - joys and hard parts of each day. . . A happy shared by many was the Honduran “hug line” at the end of church—where our team stands in front and all the Honduran church folks walk past with sweaty, beautiful hugs. :) As is typical at the start of most mission trips, there aren’t a lot of crappies—but do pray for a few who are struggling with a few aches, pains, and swollen joints. Truly, though, it has been a joy-filled day. 

Our day tomorrow begins early and ends late and will be very full! We can’t wait to tell you about it! 

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