Our time in Honduras was filled with a variety of ministry opportunities, and we partnered with Catracho Missions for our two months there. Their focus is sharing the gospel, raising up local believers to be pastors and missionaries to their fellow people, and teaching them the Word of God.
Here are some of the different things we did!
Evangelism
The communities on the mountain are spread out and the houses are scattered across the coffee farms. In order to reach them, we’d walk on narrow dirt paths between the coffee trees until it opened up to a random house. Then we’d go up, get to know the family living there, pray for them, and invite them to church, VBS, or women’s/men’s meetings. The homes usually had chickens wandering in the yard, dogs standing guard, and children running around.
Carrying Wood
The church and training center on the property were built last year by previous World Race squads. Our squad was able to see the fruits of other people’s labor, as well as help with new building projects. Since there’s not a Home Depot nearby, we had to hike up the mountain, go to a place where men were cutting wood into boards, and carry them back by hand. It was honestly some of the hardest work I’ve done, and it pushed me physically and mentally. I’ll be honest, when I heard the word ‘madera’ (the word for wood in Spanish) in our morning instructions, I would cringe. But, there was a feeling of satisfaction once we made it back with our haul, and when we saw the rooms and beds being built out of that wood.
VBS
Our hosts asked us to organize a VBS for the kids of the mountain. We had planned for it to be 3 days long, but it only ended up being 1 day because of all the rain we got. The one day we did have was fantastic! The day centered around the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den so the kids made lion masks, played Daniel, Daniel, Lion instead of Duck, Duck, Goose, and our team did an amazing performance of the story for them. There was face paint and candy to finish the time out. The kids loved it and I was so proud of the Racers for all their hard work and flexibility.
Beauty for Ashes
Another sweet ministry we did was host a Beauty for Ashes event for the women of Catracho Missions. We wanted to give them and the women who serve in the kitchen the afternoon off, as well as to encourage and pamper them. We washed their feet, painted their nails, and gave them sheets of paper with their name and words of encouragement or Bible verses we’d specifically felt God tell us to put down for them. It was a beautiful time of fellowship! The men even got involved by picking flowers to give to the women, and by taking over the kitchen to cook dinner for all of us. They were so loud and excited we could hear them yelling all the way across the grounds in the church. The women loved all of it and God moved in cool ways.
Agriculture
Catracho Missions is teaching locals about agriculture in their area. Many locals believe only coffee trees can grow on the mountain, so our host and his team had us help clear land in the jungle for a garden they want to plant. Their goal is to show the people that many different vegetables can grow there, and to empower the communities to grow their own gardens so they have more to eat and more to sell to help provide for their families. We also helped plant small garden boxes for the kitchen ladies to use so they don’t have to buy vegetables from town as often.
Spiritual Growth
Since our hosts are raising up locals to be pastors, leaders, and missionaries, they took a lot of time to train their team. We also got to be a part of that training. He invited a friend of his from The States who is an apologist and she did some apologetics training with us. Our host also did teachings on how to better understand the Bible by breaking down verses and passages. We had a day where their team and ours spent 12 hours reading the Bible, praying and worshipping. It was a bit tricky at times across the two languages, but it was beautiful to do it all together. I watched as both teams grew spiritually and as individuals encountered God in new ways. And a few people from the Catracho team also got baptized and we were able to celebrate that step of faith with them!
Building Relationships
Since the Lord had us on the mountains for two months instead of one like initially planned, we had a lot of time to get to know the locals and the Catracho team. I loved watching different relationships form! I was able to get to know our hosts really well, and they have a special place in my heart! This whole group of people is absolutely amazing and I definitely left a little piece of my heart with them. It was sweet to learn from each of them, and to also teach them some things. There was a lot of laughter, noise, practicing Spanish and English, and a lot of tears when it was time to leave. Two months with them was such a huge blessing!
There are many other things we did during our time in Honduras. We helped with women’s ministry in sewing class and cooking class, repaired things around the grounds, helped in the kitchen, prayed over land, helped with kid’s classes, mixed cement for steps and for a new baptism pool they are building.
Just when I think I can’t fall in love with another place, God proves me wrong. Honduras is a beautiful country with rich culture. Catracho Missions is doing amazing work for the Lord up on the mountain and in the city below. They are always looking for willing hands and hearts to help with projects, so if you are looking for a way to get involved or serve internationally, check them out! I’ve posted their video below, and if you want more details or the contact info, let me know!
It is great reading all the different views from the team members! Thank you for your blog.
Hey Sweet Alayna! I love reading about all the ministry you did in Honduras from your perspective! You truly are a great writer and teacher. Thank you for all the beautiful pictures. I felt as though I was there with you! I know it’s hard to leave a bit of your heart with all the wonderful people you minister with. We’ll be praying for that heart! Love you so much!
I LOVE all of this! Praying for you Alayna!
I LOVED GETTING TO READ THIS IT WAS SO ENCOURAGING!!!
Awww. I love this. Thank you for sharing.