April 2010
Walking has become a recurring theme this month
Looking back, we cannot believe it has only been a month since our last letter. We have been spending our time getting to know the people and visiting as many of the different groups that are held by the two churches in Tegucigalpa. They have been incredibly welcoming and generous, especially with the local Honduran cuisine. It’s amazing to see how often those that have the least, will give the most.
We are loving spending time getting to know all the teenagers and seeing all that they have going on in the life of the church. One of our first experiences with the downstairs church youth was a morning prayer meeting, in preparation for the evening youth service. We turned up at 8am thinking about what we might do later on in the morning after the meeting and five hours later we broke for some lunch! What amazed us the most was not the length of time the meeting went on for, but that it was peer led and the earnestness of this core group of five young people. They worshipped, fasted, shared words and prayed 'con gana' (with desire). It was extremely edifying. Later on that night they had their largest turn-out for weeks and after a crazy drama and word section we were privileged to see 12 young people make a commitment, four of which have now been attending the church services/youth cells and one who keeps bringing her non church friends along.
This group of young people also held a concert for the neighbourhood last Saturday and we saw a turnout of 90 young people (plus the 15 church youth). It was a sight to behold and could be heard three blocks down! (we know, because some ladies in the church told us). It made walking the mountainous community inviting anyone and everyone we met in the days leading up to it, well worth it.
Walking has become a recurring theme this month, we are starting to see an increase in muscles in our thighs.
In preparation for 'Project Joseph' we went out with the inviting team to visit some of the poorer parts of the upstairs church's community. Some of these houses are literally floating on the mountain side. The pathways, all the worse for wear after the recent rain, would not have been passable by a sure-footed donkey! (we were informed by one of the teens, very comforting as you can imagine when you're half way up a dirt track).
As the day came round we had our first experience of one of the main markets, seeing pineapples the size of your head and pumpkins the size of your torso. As we carried the heavy load back to the car it had not crossed our minds that the next morning we would be getting up to chop all the veg in preparation for the 200 Enchiladas. Maybe if we had, we would have hidden a few carrots and potatoes.
It was actually really good fun preparing and cooking the food, as we joked and laughed, comparing blisters and vowing to bring sharper knives for next time. We learnt many lessons, in particular, don't annoy your pastor when he is chopping wood with a machete. Also there is a fruit you can eat that looks like a lime but you eat the skin and seeds as well as the flesh. (Rachel still can't get her head around it or remember its name). After cooking, cleaning and having a well earned lunch break we began to welcome the children in and prepare for the next two hours of madness.
Now why is it that all youth and children's work has a policy of making
the leaders look daft?
After games and competitions with forfeits, including making all the leaders
dance in front of the children to their screaming delight, they had an incredible
energetic time of worship followed by a Bible story, whilst the rest of
us plated up all the Enchiladas and got ready to serve. Just as the children
were seated to eat, one small boy fell asleep (obviously too much excitement)
and Rachel spent the whole feeding time with a dead arm, until she managed
to get John to take over for the last five minutes - if only she had thought
sooner.
The best thing is it all starts again this week for the downstairs church's group, phew (wipe of brow). So how on earth John is able to play football, in the scorching sun, between the Sunday services is beyond us all.
Finally we would like to thank you all for your prayers regarding driving in Honduras. We thank God we are British and that John's UK driving licence confuses the local police so badly they never bother us for more than a few minutes and even tell us to have a safe and good journey. John has now become apt at dealing with the crazy roads and has given up his English reserve to join in the horn beeping and hazard light flashing that makes driving here possible. Most of all we feel safe and secure and really blessed by the provision of a car (even if Rachel often finds herself riding in the boot after Bible School, when we do the home drop offs).
We miss you all very much and ask that you continue to remember us and the work out here. God is doing some mighty things and we feel blessed to be witnesses to all that is going on.
God Bless
John and Rachel
All gifts towards our ministry in Honduras should be designated for the ‘McDonoughs’ and sent to Elim International Missions, Elim International Centre, De Walden Road, West Malvern, WR14 4DF, England (cheques payable to Elim International Missions). Thank you.
If you would like to make regular gifts towards our support contact missions@elimhq.net
Charity nos 251549 / SC037754.