Honduras

Some of our team, including me got to visit the InnerCHANGE team that works in Honduras. It consists officially of a couple who have been with IC for over 20 years. He is from El Salvador and she is from Mexico and they started their journey with IC in San Fransisco. Now they are working in a poor neighborhood up in the hills above the capital city, that was built in 1998 after the devastation of Hurricane Mitch. As the population grows, houses are built further and further up the hill/mountain. The roads are unmaintained and luckily we had a truck with 4-wheel drive. There are still places without electricity and running water and not a single doctor for tens of thousands of people. It is a very under-served community, but we visited an awesome youth center in the neighborhood, Jose and Celida are helping to build a new church and school. Celida and volunteers cook twice a week for kids who most likely eat very little day to day or sometimes nothing at all. The view of the city is amazing from that high up, both during the day and at night. It was an honor to see their ministry, neighborhood and hear their hopes and dreams. 

We also held a half-day activity for a few people who live in the same neighborhood as Celida and Jose and are interested in joining the team there. They are young people that are already involved in many ways in the community, but would officially join and be mentored by the IC family. I was encouraged by how these awesome people with a passion for their own community are discerning a call to join and serve as missionaries. It isn't just about the work we do, but the work we allow God to do in us. 

We spent a whole day visiting the family of a now grown man, who met IC people 20 years who were working in SF when he immigrated to the states. He has been waiting to take them to visit his hometown and meet his family for 15 years. It was out in the country and home to several young people that the IC team met in SF when they were working with gang members and in juvenile hall. It was a town that a good number of young people have and continue to leave, for the US. We were gifted with breakfast, lunch, snacks, fresh mangos and lemons from their fruit trees. We dropped by 5 homes and ran out of time to visit 2 more. At the last house they gave us two live chickens that would become a very tasty soup the next day. The hospitality was unmatched and an honor to receive.