Expectations vs. Reality

 As Christians, and especially as missionaries, we often have high expectations for what will happen in our lives or in the lives of those to whom we minister. We have perfect ideas of how every life will change radically and there will be/should be few difficulties in any direction- physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually; however, God did not call us to lead easy lives. Our expectations are frequently challenged and rarely met or exceeded. We think that we will be doing one thing, but the Lord very clearly shows us differently. These past couple of weeks I have seen how He has taken the expectations that I had for my time in Honduras and He has flipped them 180 degrees so that I can better serve HIM rather than my own desires.

 So what does that reality look like? A week ago I moved back to Zion's Gate, a ministry located just outside of Tegucigalpa where I lived and worked all last summer when I was in Honduras. After being with Gracie and Lee for just a few days, I knew that I was not meant to stay there for long. The Lord put it on my heart that it was only a time of preparation and not a permanent home for me. Through many days of prayer and seeking council, the Lord led me back to Zion's Gate to continue ministry here.

 Initially, I had decided to come back to Honduras to do street ministry, regardless of the ministry or city. When I came back to Zion's Gate, it was very clear that I am here to minister to the family and to the kids here before I reach out to the community. Of course, I will continue to go out and do ministry in the streets once or twice a week with a few of the boys, but it will not be the main focus for the time being.

 Right now, my main focus is a 10-year-old boy named Alex. Alex is the cousin of Carlos and Cristofer, two brothers who live on the property, and he just recently came to live with the family about 6 months ago. Before living here, he was living on the streets with other members of their family. Because of the way their family operates, Alex was already doing paint thinner and was very rarely going to school. This 10-year-old boy was surrounded by older boys aged 16+, and he was expected to behave and do the same things as them, and he did. As a result, Alex has been fast-tracked to grow up in some ways, but extremely stunted in other ways; he has not had a real childhood. Now that he lives with the family here at Zion's Gate, he is still lumped in with the older boys and rarely gets to be a kid. I am here to change that!

 Alex goes to school at the small public school around the corner at which we taught last summer. Everyday after school, he comes back to the property and he and I go through his homework. Sometimes it is 20 minutes, sometimes an hour- just like every other 10-year-old. Recently, I have started a reward system so that he will get a few cookies each day after he finishes his homework. I am also in the process of making a daily schedule for him so that he can get back on track and be a kid again. For a while, I will be his pseudo-mom here on the property. This is something that I never would have imagined doing here, but God is continuously giving me the tools to work with Alex and to be patient with him. It is a very slow process since he has a lot to work through out of his past, but I am so excited to see what the Lord has planned for him!

If you would like to support Alex or give a donation to help pay for his rewards, supplies, new clothes (he has only couple shirts, pairs of pants, and one pair of shoes), please let me know so that I can direct your donation to him.

As a general financial update, for the month of April my monthly support amount was just over $300. I am still looking for supporters so that I can reach the goal of $450 each month, and a few extra supporters so that I will be able to bless different areas of ministry. After the first month here, I will post exactly where the funds have gone and what they are being used for.  Please consider partnering with me so that I can continue ministering to this family and also bring ministry back out to the community.

The easiest way to donate is online at www.worldoutreach.org/donations; simply choose my name from the dropdown list - Jennifer Olsen #263





Meet Alex!

Back on the Mission Field

Hello from Honduras!

After an overnight delay in El Salvador Monday night, I made it to Honduras Tuesday morning on the 29th. While the delay would normally have been another tedious travel annoyance, it turned out to be such a blessing! The airline gave each person (12 in all) dinner, a hotel room, breakfast, and a driver to/from the airport. I'm not sure I have ever stayed in such a nice hotel or had such an expansive buffet of food, especially at 10:00 at night. I was able to enjoy dinner and conversation with wonderful travel companions from Peru, Colombia, Honduras, and various parts of the US; God is good!

I was picked up from the airport by a missionary couple whose daughter has a children's home in Tegucigalpa, and they drove me out to Talanga, a city about an hour and a half north of the capital (Tegucigalpa). Currently, I am staying with Gracie and Lee Murphree and their ministry, The Heart of Christ, which focuses primarily on teenage girls who are victims of domestic rape or abuse. At any given time on the property there are three 3-4 year old boys, a 2 year old boy, two 1-2 year old baby girls, 2 teenage girls, a cook, 3 nannies, and Gracie and Lee. The past 10 days I have been working with the little ones and beginning to build relationships with the staff and the two teenage girls who live here. As always, I have made good friends with the woman who cooks for us and we have wonderful, long conversations over coffee in the afternoon. 

Much of my time has been spent relaxing and re-assimilating to third world life and all that it entails- primarily waking up at 5:30 am, bathing with cold bucket showers, and finding hand-sized spiders/cockroaches in our bedroom. I share an 'apartment' with a fellow missionary, Jessica, that is on the second floor of the main building. Thankfully, we get to retreat during the afternoons while the boys nap to have a few minutes of peace and quiet to ourselves.

Please continue to pray for me as I ease back in to life here in Honduras doing ministry. I will be posting very soon about new changes that are to come as well as April's financial update.

Thanks for checking in!

The neighbor's house

Driving through Tegucigalpa

Diego

The boys getting into their bunk bed

View from our 'apartment'