The next three posts are my personal experiences during a recent mission trip to Honduras. My daughter and I traveled to Nacaome and into the mountains in June to serve the children at a school in Las Tablas. These are my personal views and are in no way meant to offend or influence anyone in any matter.
If you have ever had the opportunity to travel by car in Latin America, you will understand my Honduras trip wasn’t just a wild ride of emotions. Yes, I did experience every emotion: empathy, excitement, love, and so many others. I also experienced extreme fears on the roads out of Tegucigalpa. The drivers recognize 3 lanes, although only 2 or marked and passing on busy, winding mountain roads is commonplace.
After navigating south of the airport for about an hour we finally made a stop, and it is here where I recognized I needed to let go. Let go of what I thought was important and what I thought I could not live without.
It is also here where I started my first trip to this magical place by dropping my phone into a toilet at a roadside restaurant-zoo. At this point I should have realized I better prepare for an adventure. And, yes, I put my hand into a toilet and did not later cut it off (although no amount of hand sanitizer would ever make me feel clean again). What else could I do? I had just found out roads were being blocked by protests and tires were being burned at the US Embassy to also protest American influence. There was no way I was spending the next week without a lifeline to the outside world. I was more anxious and panicked than I had ever been.
Weeks before this trip I had worked myself into a frenzy. I begged God every night to find a way to cancel this trip. Fears and what if’s had taken over my body. I had hardly slept and cried on a constant basis. I was being forced literally out of my comfort zone kicking and screaming.
Later on that day of our arrival, and after a surprisingly good meal at the restaurant-roadside zoo (which included creamy chicken and beef dishes, as well as animals in the nearby cages…because, why not?), we made our way to our new home away from home for the next week. There was no running water because the pump had broken, but we were assured it would be fixed (and it was). We all took bucket baths and slept in bunk beds to prepare for our next day of service. We were here to help the children and families of Las Tablas and we were all anxious about our upcoming first day. I was dirty and my mouth was sore from clenching my jaw since we had left the airport. After this very long day of travel and not feeling too confident our circumstances were going to improve, I prayed and I prayed hard. Dear God, please bring me peace. Please help me to overcome these fears and figure out why I am here.
And peace is what I received.
