July 14, 2023
Honduras 2023 | Update #3
July 12, 2023
By Nichole Kirkpatrick
Hello family, friends, and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
Today was our third full day serving the Lord in El Progresso, Honduras. We were able to sleep in a little bit and met as a group before breakfast. However, several if not all of us were up before 8:00 enjoying some coffee at the coffee shop that is across from the hotel. Our morning started with an appetizing breakfast of an egg and cheese omelet and toast, washed down with some nice cold orange juice. While we enjoyed our food, we chatted amongst ourselves, telling stories and getting to know each other better.
After breakfast, we shared how each of us was doing both physically and spiritually on a scale of 0-5; with five being the best. Several of us said we were at a three physically with a couple of twos, and fours. However, spiritually we were just about all fours! God is working here in Honduras, and we are all feeling His love but also know that there is room to grow. We then discussed several verses that Josh introduced to us on Sunday but dug deep on Matthew 25:13-30 which talks about the parable of the talents. Kathy then prayed for the day and for healing for those of us who are struggling physically, whether it be stomach issues, visible wounds, or other internal pains.
We loaded the bus (all except Lee who we almost left behind) and headed back to Pastor Nelson’s village to continue the work we started yesterday, of painting and digging ditches to put the water lines in, and of course playing with the children! When we arrived, the people of the village were already working hard and digging the foundation. We were able to finish painting the interior of the house a vibrant orange and painted the first coat of turquoise on the exterior. The other half of the team proceeded working hard on digging ditches for the waterlines. Of course, with work there needs to be some play, so everyone took time to play with the children by either jumping rope, playing tag, playing catch, or any other game we or they could think of. It is amazing to see everyone on the team giving their everything no matter what the activity may be despite the humidity and doing it with a smile on their face.
Towards the end of our time in the village, Pastor Arqui tested the waterlines to see if they worked, and they did! It was incredible to see the hard work pay off and knowing that there is now water for them to drink closer to their home. Because of this fantastic accomplishment, we celebrated with music and dancing. Our team member Linda showed off her dance moves and others on the Honduran team joined in. We are so thankful that God is good and made this possible.
We ended our time in the village welcoming the other folks from the community, praying over them, and handing out boxes of supplies for them to take home, as well as toys for the children. We returned to the hotel around 4:30 giving the team time to rest after a successful day of hard work. Some of us went to a store down the street and learned that crossing the streets in Honduras is like playing real life Frogger because the cars do not stop for anything and there are a ton of them! Others on the team hung out and played cards.
We gathered together for dinner which tonight was fried chicken, french fries, coleslaw, and a roll. We ended the day sharing laughs and our “happies and crappies” of the day. A happy that was brought up by several of our team members was when the water started working and knowing that not only did our hard work pay off, but now the people in the village would finally have running water. Crappies consisted of fatigue and aches/pains from the day. We are truly enjoying our time here working with Pastor Arqui and Pastor Nelson and serving the Lord however he may call us.
Tomorrow we will start our day at 8:30 and will be heading back to Pastor Nelson’s village. Thank you all for your continuous prayers and support. We are excited to share more of our experiences with you and how God is working in our lives.