Earlier this month, I was blessed to be able to travel with 19 others from Southwest Church of Christ to Honduras where we did some work with Mission Lazarus.  This was a “youth trip”, designed for our current seniors and just graduated seniors, but of course, God taught me so much on this trip.  Over the next few posts I want to journal just a little bit of what God has taught/is teaching me from my time in a third world country. 

Lesson Número Uno – Be Thankful! 

I’ve always thought I was a pretty grateful person.  I praise God regularly for His goodness and the blessings I have in my life.  My incredible wife, my incredible kids, the job that I have, etc.  But, in Honduras, I was called to a new level of gratitude.

As a part of our work in Honduras, our team built a house (we almost finished it!).  I know people in the US that have several storage buildings (for our extra stuff) that are bigger than the house we built.  We built a 16’x20’ cinderblock house.  It will eventually have some electricity but will not have running water.  A family of 5 is anxiously awaiting this new home and were so thankful to Southwest and Mission Lazarus for building it.  (by the way, a huge thank you to the KSM foundation for providing the funds for us to do this project)  My office, is bigger than this house.  Of course my house is bigger than this house! 

Another part of our work was taking bags of food to homes that were in need.  Each day we were there, part of our team would deliver a feed sack full of “staple” foods to homes of people who were in need.  We would present the food to them as a provision from God (not from the Americans but from God).  These bags would feed a family of 5 for about 2 weeks.  Many of the homes we entered were built much like the home we were building…small cinder block rooms that were partitioned off by hanging blankets or building makeshift walls to give some sort of privacy.  Many of the homes we were in were not as nice.  They were built out of mud and sticks with dirt floors.  Their bathrooms were usually out in the yard as was their “laundry room” and kitchens.  Many of the people we met didn’t know where their next meal would come from.  Some of the people we met had serious health problems and were awaiting some sort of treatment praying to God for healing.  All of the homes and needs were different, but there was one thing they all had in common…they were happy and thankful.  They were thankful for every blessing they had.  When they prayed over their food, they were ACTUALLY thankful for it.  They never once complained because they got beans and they had already had beans that week.  They didn’t put themselves into debt over their heads buying bigger houses to keep up with the “Jones’”. They were thankful!  When they prayed, I didn’t understand much of it but I did understand “gracias señor”(thank you Lord) being said over and over again as well as “gracias espiritu santo” (thank you Holy Spirit…yes they would thank the Holy Spirit for leading us to their house!). 

The third part of our work in Honduras was putting on a VBS for the kids at a church in Limon.  And again, I saw everywhere I looked, thankful hearts.  I hate to admit the number of crafts, color pages, children’s stories, etc. that I have deposited in my trash cans over the years my children have been in church…but it’s a lot.  And I think I’m a good parent because my kids crafts actually made it to the trash can and weren’t left in the church pew!  Not so with these kids though.  Every color sheet that they were given was a treasure.  The crafts they made were valuable works of art to them.  And snack time…you would have thought we were giving them a gourmet dinner (goldfish and koolaid!).  They were so thankful for all of these things.  Not one got left on the ground when they left.  Not one was left in the car to be thrown away later (partly because they didn’t have cars!).  And every day, they ended by giving us all hugs and thanking us. 

So while I travelled to Honduras to teach about God and serve people for God, God taught me great lessons from the people of Honduras.  First off, He challenged me to be more thankful.  And I am/will be!  More thankful for my family, more thankful for my church, more thankful at EVERY meal, more thankful for road construction (I have now driven on roads that don’t get construction…makes you more thankful!), on that note…more thankful for traffic laws, more thankful for the times of fun and laughter, more thankful for the quiet serious times,  more thankful for my education and for the education system my children get, more thankful for my government, more thankful for my church family, more thankful for the big things and more thankful for the little things.  I hope people notice this in me, notice that I’ve changed.  Not for my glory but for the Glory of God.

Gracias a Dios, Gracias Hijo, y Gracias Espiritu Santo!!

1 Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.