Mission Partner Update - IMC, October 2024

This is our last peek into Honduras. I hope you have grown not only more familiar with the work of IMC, but also with the beautiful people of Honduras. I believe we are making changes and bringing opportunities to those who had none. For those of you we call donors, thank you. For those of you just learning more about what we do, join us.  Join us in making change by creating opportunities that lead to change.  Join us in bringing hope.

Hasta luego, La Victoria.  We were sad as we pulled out of the little village of La Victoria.  We were sad but anxious to begin the next phase of our trip.  We left La Victoria around 9 AM and began our three-hour trip back to Tegucigalpa.

It was around 12 when we arrived in Tegucigalpa.  We ran a few errands to pick up supplies needed to finish the rest of the week, grabbed some lunch and soon found ourselves in the familiar colony of Reynel Funez.  Even though it isn’t our home, it felt strangely like coming back home…people were happy to see us, we were happy to see the children and how much they had grown, we were rapidly pointing out all the newness we saw…it felt good, really good. We visited the school and assessed the projects we would be working on the next day.  We took some time to speak with the new administrator and a few teachers, hoping to get a pulse on how things were going at the school.  All were excited about our participation and thankful for all we do for the school and the students.  The students were just the sweetest and couldn’t resist running out of class and giving us all hugs.

We visited Agua de Vida, a church built by IMC several years ago and secured our plans to use the facility on Saturday for the children’s party.  Afterwards, we visited the office and met with staff about our plans for the next few days in Reynel and prepared the materials needed.

Post meeting, the team went to get checked into the condo, do laundry, and get some rest.  Because of the weather and the nature of the work we did in LV, none of us had any clean clothes left for the rest of the week.  We washed away the remnants of our work in LV, but we would never lose the memories.  We all thoroughly enjoyed our warm showers, air conditioning, and toilet seats that evening.  Anxious to reconnect with the people of Reynel Funez (RF), the team went to bed seeking rest to refresh our bodies and our souls in preparation for all we would encounter over the remaining days.

Como el hierro afila al hierro.  The team split into two groups with the guys going to the school in Reynel to begin the construction of the playset at the school and the ladies went to the office to meet with a group of women.

There were about 20 or so women there and all had children in our afterschool program.  Rhonda met with the women and shared some insight into how the world may see us verses how God sees us.  We prayed together and it felt like a genuine, authentic time with the women.

After the teaching, we invited Aura to teach the ladies how to make homemade soaps to sell.  Aura had been one of the students in our first BAM class and wanted to come back and give back to the ministry!  Each woman seemed genuinely engaged and interested in learning.  The hope is these ladies take the new skill they learned and use it to either earn money or save money by making these cleaners/soaps.

After finishing the class, the ladies left feeling slightly more empowered by a new opportunity.  It was exciting to see the ladies feeling encouraged and it gave us a glimpse of the hope that comes with education/skill building and affirmed our need to come up with a new strategy for the people of Reynel.

After eating lunch, we went to Agua de Vida and Rhonda met with another group of women.  The time with the ladies was meaningful……contrasting how the world sees us versus how God sees each of us brought so much hope to each of us in the room.  The truth of God’s love for us is empowering!   We had about 25 ladies attend and after we were dismissed, we went to the school to see how it was going with the playset.

A few more hours were needed to complete the project, but once it was completed there were a lot of smiles!  Our tasks were complete, and our hearts felt full…being used by God rejuvenates the soul in the deepest of ways.  The team returned to the office for dinner, and then retired to the condo for some much-needed rest.

El major dia!  This may have been my favorite day of the entire trip.  Saturday morning started with Suamy, Alejandra, Mike, Rhonda and Raul meeting with community leaders in Reynel as well as local pastors.  It was so exciting to have 25 local leaders and pastors there!  Our goal was to have a discussion about the needs/state of the community and how we can work together to meet some of those needs and reach the community with the hope found in Jesus. In my opinion, this was an amazing meeting…each person there seemed to have a genuine passion for improving conditions in the community.

The group shared a common concern for the future of the youth in Reynel.  Opportunities are scarce and money is even more elusive.  Each leader shared their heart for the families of the community and believed education to be the foundation of change for the future.

People immediately began brainstorming and combining available resources to create a plan that will initiate change for Reynel.  Before long, proposed classes for cutting hair, computers, sewing, and housekeeping (to enable someone to work in the hotel industry) came to life.  IMC’s staff along with the board members on the trip came to the realization that a change in strategy was needed in order to best serve the people of Reynel.  Commitments were made and before long a plan was beginning to take shape.

After sharing lunch the group dispersed…it was amazing to me to see the obvious difference in the countenance of those at the meeting.  At the beginning of the meeting the group was quiet and timid and by the end of our time a shift in their countenance was so apparent.  Each leader left empowered and encouraged…there was hope.

After finishing up we headed to Aqua de Vida to have a celebration with the kids. The Aqua de Vida youth leaders were on hand to do worship with the kids and help us with the entire party… they were an impressive group. After worship, Alejandra, once again, did an amazing job teaching the Bible lesson and craft. We had about 40-45 kids and it was beautiful chaos! It was hard to tell if the kids were more excited about the pinatas or the pizza & coca cola! It was such a fun afternoon… pure joy.

Our weary team loaded up and went to Suamy and Rut’s for dinner and debriefing. Rut made pupusas and we ate like kings. After sharing our thoughts about our time spent in Honduras, we returned to the condo and prepared for the journey home.

Vaya con Dios!  The team woke up early and loaded up for the two-hour ride to the airport and began our journey home.  As we worked our way through the airport successfully passing through each checkpoint, we were confident our trip was going to be a smooth one. As we ate our last Honduran meal at the airport, we heard an announcement alerting us of a delay in our flight.

This delay had quite a domino effect in our travel homeward.  With the flight being delayed in Tegucigalpa, we missed our connecting flight in Ft. Lauderdale and there were no other flights leaving for Atlanta.  Miami was only thirty minutes from Ft. Lauderdale and was the host of the COPA Soccer tournament…the final, championship game was taking place as we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale.  Because of the soccer game, all hotels and flights were booked for the next two days!  The team was given a hotel room for the night, and we rented a car the next morning and began the 13 hour ride home.

Although we were tired, hungry and stinky, we were satisfied or maybe a better word is content.  We felt like progress had been made and hope had been given.  We felt used by God and humbled to be part of the plan for the people of Honduras.