One Nation, One Day:
For three days we went into local schools to share the word of the gospel. Depending on the age group, we either shared testimonies, read/acted out a Bible story, presented a movie, or acted out a skit. On the first day, I was one of the members of our group that shared my testimony- mostly because I can speak Spanish and could actually communicate it. Although I am pretty confident in my Spanish speaking abilities, it was completely different to pour into 35 seventh grade students in another language. Fortunately, my nerves were calmed pretty quickly and I was able to present coherently to the class. Along with my testimony, we also read the Parable of the Lost Son and talked a little bit about what it means for God to be our father. Because of the lack of fatherly influences and the 'fatherless nation' stereotype of Honduras, it was awesome to be able to share this specific parable. Telling a group of students that they are not actually fatherless and that they have a father in heaven was incredible and powerful! The movie that we presented was 'Most,' which is a European movie that depicts God giving his only son so that others will be saved. Because it is a bit lengthy, we only presented the movie to the older kids. Sam, one of our group members, did an awesome job asking questions and interacting with the students after the movie so that they would understand the message. The skit that was presented was 'Everything,' which is about how Jesus is the only one that can fill your heart. Overall, we were all very pleased with the outcome of the three days of going into the schools. Although we won't necessarily see the fruits of our time, I am confident that we made some sort of impact in at least one life, which makes it all worth it.
On Friday we went to a conference for leaders and pastors that was sponsored by the event. Wow! All of the worship and initial presentations were in Spanish. It was a little tough to stay focused and not be sidetracked. We were in an indoor stadium that got progressively hotter as people poured in and the speakers were pointed inwards, so those of us on the floor were completely overwhelmed with the noise. Unfortunately, we only stayed for two of the speakers because it was so uncomfortable and we were definitely not benefiting as much as we could have been. Even though it was a challenging couple of hours, it was really awesome for me to see so many native pastors gathered together in order to support the nation. Being able to see their passion for their country and for God was so powerful! It was a great way to kick off the stadium event the next day.
The big event for One Nation was held at the national football stadium on Saturday afternoon. We weren't really sure what to expect, but it totally blew all of us away. To see so many Honduran people gathered in the same place to worship and to start 'The New Honduras' was incredible. Even though the whole thing was in Spanish, I know we could all feel the presence of God in the stadium; it wasn't necessary to understand even a single word of it. We were blessed enough to be able to bring Caesar, Oscar, and Wilder (a new friend) to the stadium with us, which was pretty awesome. At the end of the ceremony, the final speaker invited people to go down to the field and accept Christ into their lives and to be prayed for by some of the missionaries that had come. All three of our visitors went down! I cannot even describe the joy that I felt while I watched them walking across the field with tears in their eyes because they could feel so strongly the power of God.
As per usual, we had taken a pick-up truck to the event, so the ride home was just straight joy as we all celebrated the power and the love of God that we had felt that night. There was no better way to finish off the summer than feeling the tears on my face from the wind as we sped up the mountain after One Nation and knowing that each and every person in the bed of the truck would always be my family. Hugging Ariel on one side, holding Wilder in my lap, and feeling Victoria on the other side... just pure joy.
Sam teaching for One Nation at our local school. Many of these were students that we had been teaching all summer.
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