We made it to Mexico!

¡Saludos desde la Ciudad de México! My dad and I arrived yesterday about noon. We had an exciting morning—about a month ago Delta changed our flight itinerary giving us a 45 minute transition in Atlanta. That would be difficult enough, but our first flight was late so we had 20 minutes from the time we got off until our next flight’s scheduled take-off! Better yet, we landed in terminal T, which is the furthest terminal from our connecting flight in terminal E. As we were on the train through the airport, it had some sort of mechanical problem and stalled for about 3 precious minutes. When we got up the escalator to our terminal, we saw that our gate was literally at the very end of the hall. So as we were running through the airport, we heard “Final boarding call for Delta flight 363 for Mexico City. The gate will close in just a moment.” But thankfully, we made it just in time!

We made it to the Sassers’ house without any problems, got settled in, and then went to lunch with Mr. Sasser at a friend’s house. Later that afternoon Dad and I walked around to check out the neighborhood (and because I was trying to keep him from going to bed at 5pm :)). Eventually we both got to bed early, since we’d been up since 3:45 am.

Today, after a relaxing morning here, Dad and I headed out. We took the metro to the Zócalo, the historic center of the city. We were on a mission to find a place to change money, which proved to be trickier than we expected. I asked about 6 times, and we were pointed in 6 directions. Eventually we found one, then met up with Maki, a young Japanese woman who translated for my dad’s mission team last fall (clarification: translated between English and Spanish, and she’s Japanese!). We had lunch, walked around downtown, then headed home. Dad is giving a message this Sunday and I have reading to do for my class next week, so we both have some work to do this evening.

Tomorrow we’ll spend the day with Fabian, a new pastor who our home church will probably be partnering with on future mission trips. Friday is my visit with Karla, my World Vision girl.

So far, it’s great to be here. Dad and I are enjoying spending time together, and it’s fun being back in a big city—there’s so much to see and do! I have such high hopes for my time here, but I’m realizing I won’t be able to fit everything into just 5 weeks. But I’m excited about the experiences I’ll have, especially as I meet my host family on Sunday and begin my course on Monday.

Home from Honduras

Hola, everybody! I’m back from an incredible week in Honduras. There’s so much I could say but I don’t want to bore you with too many details, but here are some of the most impactful or memorable things about the trip:

1. Before flying out, I had the unexpected gift of a few hours in Cleveland, during which I got to spend time with some of my favorite people—my roommate Emily, the kids in J Mack Circle, and the Davies family. In past summers I haven’t gotten to see anyone from Cleveland between the end of spring and beginning of fall semesters, so even though it was short, having time there was a midsummer blessing!

2. God took care of our team from start to finish! We had smooth plane and bus rides, no visa or customs issues, a great facility. We spent our first night in Honduras at a hotel outside of San Pedro Sula so that we could get an early start Sunday morning. San Agustín, the village where we set up the clinic, was about 6 hours away, up in the mountains. Except for the days we travelled to and from the village, it rained cats and dogs for a few hours each afternoon. If it had rained on the days we travelled, we don’t know if the winding, unpaved mountain roads would have been usable! God also provided us with a great facility in San Agustín. The principal of the elementary school allowed us to use the whole campus for the days we were there, so we had dorms, kitchen, clinic, and church all at one site. Of course it wasn’t the most luxurious housing (I’ll skip the description of the baños :)), we had electricity and running water, more than the teams have had in past years. Another way I saw God’s provision is through the people on the team. Before going I only knew Matt Davies, but throughout the week I was able to build relationships with other members of Grace Point and the 3 other girls about my age who were part of the team.

3. Leading kids’ church was a great opportunity to “work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…it is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24). Up until the first day of ministry I felt clueless about what Matt and I would be doing with the kids, and what I heard from team members who had come in past years was mostly negative: kids’ church is hot, chaotic, etc. So going into the week I had sort of low expectations. But thankfully I got my attitude right before Monday morning, realizing that we could do more than crowd control. God had given Matt and me the opportunity to work with these kids, and I didn’t want to neglect that opportunity. We had the chance (and responsibility) to do more than just babysit them while their parents were in the church service. And for the three days clinic was open, we had a blast with the kids! They were happy to be there (several of them kept coming back) and listened really attentively as we share the gospel and made bracelets with them. I’m praying God will continue to open their hearts and minds to the truth we shared with them.

4. Our team was a picture of the body of Christ at work. It was different from any mission trip I’ve been on, but such a great system: to bring doctors, nurses, pharmacists, opticians, and dentists to people who didn’t have access to healthcare, and in the process to explain the cure for their spiritual needs—the hope of Christ.

5. One of the most rewarding aspects of the trip was putting my Spanish to use. As a Spanish major, most of the courses I’ve taken consist of analyzing literature and writing papers—not exactly the most practical side of learning a language. But in Honduras I was able to use the language I’ve been studying for so long. I could connect with the kids and adults in ways I couldn’t without knowing Spanish, and I was able to help team members communicate when a translator wasn’t around. At an evening church service, one of the Hispanic pastors asked me to interpret his message! Even though I was nervous to be on the spot, I enjoyed doing it!

6. Being part of a medical/dental mission gave me a new appreciation for my teeth! One afternoon I helped out at the dental clinic, holding a flashlight and handing things to one of the dentists. So many people had rotting teeth. Even little kids and teenagers were getting permanent teeth pulled out—they were beyond repair, and so the best they could do was relieve the pain by taking those teeth out. The dentist I was with let me hold the instrument and yank one of the teeth out! Seeing the results of poor nutrition and lack of hygiene made me grateful to live here in the States and to have access to healthcare.

I’m so thankful I got to be part of the Honduras team. Thank you for praying for me last week, and please keep praying for the people in San Agustín: that those who accepted Christ will grow in their faith, and that God will keep working the hearts of those who heard the message but haven’t trusted in him yet.

IN, NC, TN, GA, HONDURAS!

Those are the places I will have been in a one-week span!

Last week I spent a few days in Indianapolis and had the privilege of being in Ashley's wedding. It was so great to spend some time with her, especially since she just graduated and won't be back at Lee next year :( Her wedding was beautiful: she looked absolutely gorgeous, and Jonathan is one lucky guy! The best part was seeing the commitment they've both made to keep Christ at the center of their marriage, evidenced by saving their first kiss for their wedding day...and it was quite a kiss!
You can see a few pictures on Facebook, but I didn't get that many great ones. Ash and Jonathan, Congratulations!!!!!



Since Saturday I've been back in North Carolina getting ready for the next trip. Tomorrow I'm driving back to Cleveland, and on Saturday at 4:00 a.m. our team is meeting to drive to Atlanta. From there we've got a direct flight to Honduras. As it gets closer I'm getting more excited about being part of this team! Thanks for praying for our team and the people of San Agustin.

Hebrews 12

The last few weeks I’ve started running, and if you know me very well you know I’ve never been a big fan of exercising, ESPECIALLY running! But the more I do it, not only is it becoming more bearable but I’ve started enjoying the challenge. This morning as I ran, I understood in a new way, from first-hand experience, the verse that says “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Running and my walk with Christ share many similarities: neither one is always easy or pleasant; both require training; and in both cases, the reward is so worthwhile. To persevere with running, I have to have a goal in sight, whether it’s the next stop sign or the finish line. With my faith, I also have to set my eyes on the goal: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” As I finished my run today, I listened to Jeremy Camp’s song “I am nothing” and it was so great to be reminded of the truth that I can’t do anything on my own:

I am nothing without Your love
I'm unworthy but Your death has been enough
I'm completed by Your touch,
But I feel like I've been given so much. I am nothing
You are everything
So I thank you