By Chuck (Sharing Compassion)
Well we have returned from Honduras after an awesome week with Compassion International. How do I describe an incredible week in just a few short sentences? It is not easy. First off we had a great team. There were sponsors from all walks of live-young and old all with different spiritual gifts- all coming together for a God driven purpose on this trip. Karen and I especially connected with Beth and Linda. Beth is an independent music artist and hosts a Christian radio program in Minneapolis. She presents Compassion in her concerts but had never taken a tour like this. Linda is a fellow advocate who (like us) was returning to Honduras for the second time. Both of these became close friends and people we could debrief with.
We visited several of the Compassion projects in San Pedro Sula. Our time was spent loving on the children and presenting a VBS. What a joy to see the children worshipping and praising with hope in their eyes. One day we had a workday at one of the projects. We basically cleared out a debris filled lot for a garden. This will be a spot where the children will grow vegetables and learn small farming skills.
The biggest day of all was of course the day we got to meet our sponsored children. I already have told you how I fell in love all over again. Linda, Jeyelly and Jorge all are great kids and we had a blast with them. Jorge is a typical six year old boy and was all over the place. Jeyelly is growing up to a great pre-teen. Linda- what can I say? She is turning into a lovely young lady and I can only pray that with our sponsorship she will go far. It is our dream that she makes it into the Leadership Development Program and then attends the University.
Another great moment was on our next to last night there. Umberto, our bus driver, became a Christian! He was not a Christian but watched us all week. He saw our interactions with the children and each other. He knew we had something special and he wanted Jesus! If there was any one purpose for this trip that was it. We came to Honduras and gained a brother.
So we are home- my heart is still in Honduras. I love my sponsored children, I love Compassion's ministry and I pray that the children we are impacting will grow to make a difference in their community and their country.