Hello again from Honduras! On Monday this past week, half of the squad (4 teams) traveled to Talanga, Honduras to Heart of Christ ministries. We are living in dormitories. (NO TENTS!) and every way you turn you see mountains. It's beautiful and breathtaking. Coming from Florida, mountains just amaze me every single morning. The Heart of Christ ministries is run by Gracie and her husband Lee, who we refer to as Papi Lee. They are both Americans and boy to they both exhibit the heart of Christ in all that they do. The ministry here houses 3 girls right now who all have a child as a result of incest or rape. Their names are Michelle, Heidi, and Milagros. Their babies are Katherine (Michelle's girl), Christopher (Heidi's boy), and Genesis (Milargros' girl). Along with the girls and their babies we have three toddlers- Diego, Moses, and Alejandro. Diego's mother along with Alejandro's mother have abandoned them. Moses was born with an abnormally large tumor across the left part of his stomach wrapping all the way around to his back. He had it removed in two separate surgeries and is just left with a large scar on his side. (Pictures below 🙂 Gracie and her ministry also help in the care of Erika and Yovania (spelling? sorry). They are both special needs and have cerebral palsy. They're families cannot take care of them, or just won't for that matter.
The ministry is beautiful and I'm so excited with the things that the Lord has shown me in just one week here. Since there are four teams, we have four different work stations here at the ministry. Three of which currently consist of construction. We are in the process of building a driveway for the front of the ministry, building a canal to catch all of the rainwater, and then 4 new dormitories and shower rooms on the second floor. Besides construction, the other work station is housework. This mainly consists of burning trash, cleaning the bathrooms and showers, and taking care of all the little children. Teams are assigned to one work station for two days.
The other day our team was assigned to house duty and I worked with the two special needs girls. Erika and Yovania are beautiful girls. Erika is 12 and Yovanis is 8. Yovania came from a family who abused her at meal time so feeding her is quite an adventure. She is frightened at the thought of eating and cries throughout most of it. After around one in the afternoon, I was lying with the girls on the mat and all of a sudden God put it in my mind to say the word "mini" over and over. I did and one of the most beautiful and tearful moments occurred. Erika got this huge smile on her face and started laughing uncontrollably. She laughed to the point of snorting. That blessing alone has made this week worth it.
We will be here in Talanga for another 3 weeks starting Monday and as of right now, I'm feeling overwhelmed with love and the physical exhaustion doesn't provide for a second thought for anything as of right now.
Sending all my love- Netty
