A Christmas Celebration

It’s finally Christmas time, and here in Honduras, we’re already celebrating! Over the past few months, many of you have seen non-stop facebook posts raising money to host Christmas events in Los Pinos, La Kennedy, and Tizatillo here in the capital city of Honduras. The first of these events –Los Pinos – was held on December 5^th and was incredible!

There was a lot to do the week leading up to the celebration. Goody bags had to be decorated and stuffed, plans confirmed with Pastor Nicolas in Los Pinos who allowed us to use his church, families all over Los Pinos invited, and a whole lot of food to be prepared (we ended up with about 130 nacatamales, and if you know anything about making tamales, you know that doesn’t happen quickly!) I was so blessed to have plenty of help from the boys and girls on the property, from Nohemi, and from Don, a missionary serving with Zion’s Gate.

I was just about driving myself crazy trying to get everything perfect, but when Friday finally rolled around, God took over and made it an incredibly blessed and joyful day.

Pastor Nicolas’s church was very quickly filled with about 75 people – 40 of which were children! First we were able to enjoy a Christmas feast of traditional (and SUPER delicious!) nacatamales as one big community. Everyone ate until they were full, and then each family was able to take home plenty extra (it seemed like God was doing some kind of food multiplying because we just couldn’t ever seem to reach the bottom of tamales!) Praise God! All the kids from Zion’s Gate were our waiters and waitresses – serving every little need of their friends, families, and former neighbors in Los Pinos. Not only did they serve with such beautiful servants hearts, but you could tell it did something to them. Right when everyone was in the middle of eating and the room was full of happy kids, Carlos came up to me, gave me a big hug, and almost with tears in his eyes told me about four times how he was so happy – SO HAPPY – we were doing this event. He saw his aunts, his brother Fernando, and his friends sitting together, celebrating together, all while he was able to serve them and be together with them, and something about that touched him. When God shows up, everybody feels it! It was an absolutely joyful time full of laughter, family, and the presence of our Lord!

After the food and while dessert was being served, we decided to give out the presents for the kids. I don’t even know where all the kids came from, but when it was time to give out goody bags, a whole bunch of them appeared! I would love to share a picture of that moment with you guys, but when you’re guarding gifts and have 40 kids charging towards you, there’s really no time to snap a picture, so use your imagination! The kids loved the gifts – each bag full of bouncy balls, crayons, Spanish Christmas activity books, kazoos, crayons, mini puzzles, and so much more!

As the kids scattered off to play with their new toys, I got to enjoy my favorite part of the day – one on one time with each of the families (well, moms and aunts and sisters) that came. I was able to meet them briefly if I hadn’t yet met them, share a special moment with them, pray with them, and present them with the food baskets that YOU, my wonderful supporters, provided them with to help fight hunger over the holidays. The moments I had with each family, however short, were so important to me so that the family knows they individually are loved, this is not just a one - time hand out, but I want to know their name, how to pray for them, and to visit them in the future. The plan was for Ariel and I to pray over the families, but turns out almost all the kids wanted to join in too and pray for their friends, cousins, aunts, etc. Amidst all the craziness, the noise that goes along with 75 people in a small church, we had some precious time before the Lord with each family – prayers full of joy, thanking the Lord for who He is and what He is doing, blessing the families and their households, and prayers for the restoration of the community of Los Pinos. It was absolutely perfect!

(Not pictured are Mari and Danielito who couldn't make it for health reasons, Alex's mom Elin with her four daughters, and Marlen with her five kids (somehow we lost the picture :( )

I can’t say thank you enough to each and every sponsor who made this event possible. I truly believe we were in the presence of the Lord as we celebrated His birth in a day full of joy, community, and love – just as He intended.  I know this is opening more doors for me to meet more families in Los Pinos and be able to minister to them. And as an early confirmation of the prayers I’ve been praying to God, prayers asking that Los Pinos be opened so that I can safely enter more often and to different areas, I’m happy to say that last week I was able to visit “the other side” of Sector F, the side you have to walk in front of the main pulperia to get to, the side I haven’t been able to visit in over a year and a half. A year and a half!! I can’t tell you what joy it gave me to be able to visit there, even just briefly, and I know it is a confirmation that God is answering and will continue to answer my prayers for the atmosphere in Los Pinos. Please continue to partner with me to pray for Los Pinos, the families there, and for God to work his redemptive and restorative powers there!

The events scheduled for La Kennedy and for the elderly in Tizatillo will be happening in the coming weeks. These events will be run generally the same as the one in Los Pinos, but they will be executed by the people ministering in those areas on a regular basis (Jen, missionary at Zion’s Gate for the La Kennedy event, and Nidia with the elderly in Tizatillo). If God worked so obviously through one event, I can’t wait to hear the stories after all three! Stay tuned!!