Month 1+2 Recap: What We Did and What I Learned in the Mountains of Honduras

It’s crazy to believe that the first two months of the Race are officially over! Yesterday marked the beginning of Month 3, and soon I’ll be in Nicaragua living on an island with my team and serving at a remote orphanage. 

My team had the unique experience of staying for 2 months at the same ministry host to begin our time on the Race, and after a few days to reflect and process what happened, I’m excited to share it with you!

To put it really simply: it was hard and sweet. 

In some ways, it felt like baptism by fire. We went from life in America with all its comfort and luxury, speed and convenience, to life on a rainy mountainside in a foreign country with a bunch of spiders and a bunch of strangers. 

The hardest part for me was definitely the physicality of what our lives were; it was rainy and cold and muddy a lot of the time, we lived in our tents and had few options of true “indoor” spaces, and our ministry was physically demanding most every day. 

The easiest part was the people–we lived and served alongside an incredible team of people who love the Lord and want to see their communities changed by Him! A huge portion of the team were teenagers who by day were driving ATVs down the mountain to go get groceries for the teams, evangelizing to their neighboring communities, and wielding machetes as we worked, and by night were doing homework at the dinner table, watching TikToks, and eating too many cookies and chips. They were a huge encouragement to me! They showed me what it looks like to spend your life from a young age for the Kingdom. 

We were lucky in our time in Honduras to get to serve in a lot of different ways! 

Here’s a little recap of what we did: 

• We helped with construction projects around the base we lived on. We helped waterproof the buildings, build bunk beds, repair windows and doors, and repair benches and chairs. There’s a church building and a multi-use building on the base, and all the building material is sourced from the mountain. Everything is sawed, nailed, and built by hand, since we didn’t have electricity, and I think I’ll never take for granted power tools again! 
• We built garden beds around the property and planted seeds! The seeds we planted will grow produce that will feed future missionaries and locals on the mountain. 
• We helped clear a section of the jungle near the property to be used as a community garden. The ministry plans to use it as an opportunity to teach the local people about the variety of produce that can grow in the area! Many locals believe that only coffee can grow on their mountain, so they’ve limited their potential streams of income and sustenance. 
• We carried wood from a nearby mountain back to the base to be used on current and future construction projects. There was a sense of urgency around this project, because cutting down trees to cut lumber is very expensive, but all the trees cut for us had fallen down in a hurricane a few years ago! So we tried to carry as much as we could while it was available. 
• We hosted a few different days of VBS for the children on the mountain! They heard Bible stories, played games, learned songs, got to eat a meal and were given a gift at the end. The first VBS we helped with had over 120 kids come to it! 
• A small team taught reading, writing, and math to the kids on the mountain each week. There used to be a teacher that would come up the mountain twice a week, but that stopped when the pandemic started so many kids are either behind in their skills or have never been to school. It was cool to see the same kids come each week, and to see kids that came to school while we would be out and about doing ministry on the mountain!
• We visited families in the area to invite them to church, tell them about classes on the base, and offer to pray for them. We stopped at the same houses on our way to and from getting wood each time, so it was sweet to build relationships with those families! 
• We occasionally helped lead worship at church! This was something new for some of my team, but was really fun every time. We had church every Sunday and it was always always a blast. 
• We hosted a Beauty for Ashes event for the women and girls of the Catracho Missions team and who served us in the kitchen. We shared a message with the women and served them by washing their feet, gave them scripture and words of encouragement we had prayed for each of them, and then had coffee and cookies, painted nails, and had a dance party. The women then took the opportunity and shared with us the impact we’d had on their lives since arriving! There were lots of smiles and some tears, and lots of pictures and hugs. Meanwhile, all the guys from our team, along with the Catracho boys, were in the kitchen making dinner for everyone! They were super kind in letting all the women sit and be served, making sure to bring anyone anything they needed. It was such a fun and encouraging day of ministering to one another in unexpected ways. 
• Behind the church, we leveled ground and dug out a space to build a baptismal! We moved a bunch of dirt, cut down trees and pulled up trees stumps, helped move bricks, lay rebar, and mix and pour concrete to lay the foundation of the baptismal. It will be a blessing to the local church and future missionaries! I’m excited to see photos of the finished project in the weeks to come. 
• I got to help repaint the Catracho Missions logo on the side of the multi-use building on the very last day in Honduras. It was the first thing I noticed about the base when we arrived two months prior, and I got to work on the project with my friend Lucas! It was so fun and a sweet time of reflection. 
• Most importantly and maybe least noticed: we built relationships with the Catracho team we served alongside. They poured into our lives and we poured into theirs. We were examples to them of discipline and hope and walking in obedience, and they were encouragements to us of boldness and perseverance and chosen family. They are sweet and precious to me, and I’m excited for the party that heaven’s gonna be with them!! 

Other things of our time in Honduras: 

• We saw multiple people from the Catracho team take the step of obedience to be baptized!!! We celebrated alongside all the angels of Heaven!! 
• We read scripture and worshiped for 12 hours straight one day. The Lord moved in powerful ways, we ended our time in prayer and people walked into freedom! 
• I got to teach during our team’s Beauty for Ashes training, and it was so fun! I shared about the story of the people on the road to Emmaus and their encounter with Jesus. We did an activity asking God to show us how we view Him and it was powerful! 
• We had several classes on apologetics while a small American team was on the base with us for a week! These were SO fun and interesting.

The Lord taught me a lot in Honduras about sitting and just listening to Him. Letting Him lead our conversations instead of bringing a to-do list to Him everyday. I also learned a lot about simplicity and resourcefulness, of finding simple joy and being content in every circumstance. I found myself in many moments saying “okay Lord, I need you right now!” And every time, He showed up! 

The Lord is sweet and He is good. He is patient and faithful. And He is just as good on a mountain in Honduras as He is at the beach in El Salvador and as He’ll be on an island in Nicaragua. 

I’m excited for what’s to come! 

Prayer requests: 

• for my fundraising! It’s been sweet to see the Lord provide up to this point, and I’m expectant about how He’ll continue to show up. Would you consider partnering with me and financially supporting my World Race? 
• for my team! We are heading into a month of ministry with only our team. We are so excited about the time together! 
• for the squad! We’ve begun a week of training now, so pray for our minds to be focused and our hearts to be open. 

Thanks so much for reading and being interested in what God is doing around the globe! Leave a comment below with any thoughts or prayer requests you have. 🙂