Honduras Trip -2/2022

Take a look at our trip to Honduras as seen through the eyes of Team Blogger, Carrie Gaxiola. God has given her such a gift of writing, and she has once again blessed us with that gift.

Thank you Carrie, for being so transparent and making those who were not there, feel like they were front and center with us every day.

Honduras Day 4,563. Just kidding, of course, it’s our Day 1 in this beautiful country but the road to getting here was really long. Four cancelled and rescheduled flights, a car trip to what we thought was one city and changed to another 3 hours further and several other obstacles finally led us to our destination: doing what God told us to do and that’s tell His people about Jesus. Meet their needs in practical and spiritual ways. Love on them. And we will. Today was a day of settling in, going to the Super Mercado (grocery store), buying items for the piñatas for the children we will see this week and settling in after a long journey from home. Best part: feeling like we’ve come back to our second home, new friends experiencing their first trip, and hearing the amazing stories from our RTM Men’s team that have been here for a week and now want to stay. The men have modeled Jesus to the people of El Belen in beginning the project of our new Community and Training Center and building relationships with the people of the village. The team members and local community members worked hard to build a vision for the future and they played hard, too! The most impressive thing to me, as we heard the guys’ stories tonight, is their connection to the people of the community because of Jesus. Because of Jesus… it doesn’t matter what trials we face, what hurdles we have to overcome or what satan tries to throw our way. Jesus always wins. Because of Jesus… that’s my theme as I journal this coming week. Because of Jesus I am alive and free and have eternal life. Because of Jesus I am serving in this precious country. Because of Jesus our men have modeled His love and practically met the needs of this little community called El Belen. Because of Jesus we have the tenacity to do what He tells us to do no matter the obstacles. And you? What is your “because of Jesus”? Right Turn Ministries, NFP

Honduras Day 2 (when you stay up talking with your roommate till 1 a.m., you blog in the morning ) February 4 found us preparing for our visit to the Jeremiah 29:11 Mission house to see the children and bring a little joy. The men that are leaving had to take care of pre-flight business so the rest of us bagged up beans and rice, stuffed piñatas and care packages for the kids. The sweet reunion is always a highlight for the team and the kids. The emotions were high for those that are here for the first time. Seeing all these beautiful children and hearing their stories of how they got there does something to your heart. It illuminates the depravity of man and what one human can do to another, like some of the abuses the children have faced, but it greater illuminates the power and love of Jesus as He calls people to care for the least of these as He has Chuck and Joyce Harper. Because of Jesus, the kids have so much love given to them. Because of Jesus, these sweet children have the transforming power of Jesus offered to them. Because of Jesus, we are privileged to bring a little love, food and gifts and an all out Silly String war We have so much in our country that we take for granted, including each other. These children show us every time that you can have so little, yet have so much because of the love of Jesus. It’s stripped down to that when the trappings of this world aren’t part of our battle. It’s all about Him. After returning we joined our Honduran pastor, Wilmer Godoy, for church. We worshipped, experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit, the preaching from our team member, Pastor Zack Dunlap, and ministered to many people at the altar in prayer. One young couple was there for the first time and crying out for help for their marriage, many souls gave their hearts to Jesus for the first time and Bibles were put in 100 peoples’ hands. Because of Jesus, heaven rejoiced! And we did, too!

Honduras Day 3. What a day! Once again the word of the day is flexible. Our men’s team was scheduled to fly home early in the afternoon, Rachel Dunlap was scheduled to preach at the women’s retreat and none of that happened. Our mens’ flights got cancelled and rescheduled. Rachel isn’t flying in until tomorrow. Just before leaving for church services, one of our transport vehicles wouldn’t start and we had to get it jump started. Plan C or D or F. I’ve lost count! But God… flights got rescheduled and God put it on my heart to share my story of God’s redemption in my life. The theme of our ladies retreat was Beautifully Broken. The pushback we received from the enemy just kept coming until the first note of the first worship song was played. God will not be mocked and His work will not be defeated! Hundreds of women came, Jesus saved precious souls tonight. A healing work began in hearts, we got to pour our hearts into beautiful ladies that have a hunger for Jesus. For me, the best parts were this: I got to tell many ladies about the love of Jesus through my story of brokenness and our team got to pray with women that had never given their hearts to Jesus before and pray in faith for many hearts to be healed. After several months of Spanish lessons, with my teacher by my side, I was able to speak several sentences in Spanish by myself. Then, that same teacher, Maestra Mandy, was my interpreter! Many people at home were praying for us and we felt it. The next thing is my husband and dad were covering me (and the event) in prayer and they got to watch from thousands of miles away. I felt like they were with me! It was a hard day that stretched our limits but because of Jesus and the tenacity He has put in us, we pushed back in His Name and heaven rejoiced again… and so did we! Because of Jesus! Right Turn Ministries, NFP

Honduras Day 4. Our day started with getting the remainder of the men’s team off to the airport and picking Pastor Rachel and Lorrie up from the airport. Hallelujah on both counts for success…finally! Betty and I were blessed to spend some time with Mandy and her sweet baby. It’s a joy to be with them! Next we waited out the rain and went to the park in downtown San Pedro Sulas. We felt God telling us to go share Jesus and offer “free prayers and free hugs” to anyone that had need. I’m still in somber reflection of the response we had. In America, for the most part, you couldn’t walk into a public square bustling with the activity we saw today and have people be hungry for human touch and care, let alone prayer. We prayed for marriages, family concerns, job and health needs, battles with drugs and alcohol from those that were sick from the results of that abuse. One man had someone actively using witchcraft against him and wanted prayer. We hugged those that wanted a hug or handshake, prayed hard, handed out water and Bibles and simply loved those that feel unlovely. Cheryl ministered to one young man and talked straight with him about life with Jesus. His response? “Thank you for taking the time to care for me.” He looked her in the eye and saw genuine Jesus love. I’m still choked up about this one. I’m choked up about the whole day. People just want to be loved. I don’t care what state of mind they are in. There are evils in this world that we have no idea torment people. We saw some of that today and prayerfully, because of Jesus, brought some light into the darkness. We had a short break and headed back to Pastor Wilmer’s church for Sunday night service and Pastor Rachel’s preaching. Pictures are worth a thousand words so I’ll let the church photos speak. Although I will say, the baby at church was a balm for my soul after the day at the park. There is evil in this world and the longer I live, the more I get weary of the pettiness of life, competing for position or being “the best”, holding grudges and just not being about the Father’s business. Our focus must be the importance of love and sharing Jesus. Christians, we have a job to do. Because of Jesus…

Honduras Day 5: Today was our rest and recharge day. The remainder of the week will be very busy with ministry, and Tela Beach is just what our souls needed. After a 2 hour (Honduran time) ride, we relaxed, enjoyed local food, played with the children from ministry friends’ families and sponser children and had an all around relaxing time in the sun and sea. (Sorry Midwest snow dwellers ). We were all so grateful for the time spent together and are ready to get back to work tomorrow. God gives rest to the weary and gives His beauty for us to enjoy. Sometimes I think we work so hard that we can become ineffective if we don’t recharge. Irritable, tired, cranky Christians don’t do much for the kingdom if we act like the world. Take time to rest and then get back to His business. Find the balance but enjoy His creation. He made it for a reason!“He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— he remains faithful forever.” Psalm 146:6

Honduras Day 6: I almost don’t have the words to describe today. The ministry that happened today pierced our souls and brought some real impactful change to this community so it’s hard to put it all into words, but I cannot stay silent but must proclaim the goodness and power of God. He is faithful! He is worthy of all our praise! We started the day with devotions as usual, then went to a different park, this time in Choloma, where we partner with Pastor Jose, to hand out water, Bibles and pray for whoever desired to be prayed for. There were men that were in the park desiring prayer, saturated with the smell and addiction of alcohol, asking us to pray for their health and freedom. I can still see their faces. Their glazed eyes and the desperation. The Bible says the eyes are the window to the soul. The eyes spoke pain and suffering today. I didn’t get many photos of our time at the park. It was busy. But I can’t get their eyes out of my mind. We also handed out flyers for the church event in the same community and we saw a few people from the park come to the church tonight. We came back for a short rest and then out again to pray for people in the River community of Choloma. Pastor José has a children’s feeding program in this community, and a vision for a kitchen and a playground for the children was birthed. I’ll share more about that later, because we need you all to partner with us to make it happen. We went into one home and the matriarch of the family, Maria, was in severe pain as she has bone on bone at the knees. She lives with debilitating pain every day. We prayed hard for her, we wept with her, gave a little food to the family and hopefully eased her suffering for a moment. Because of Jesus, we are trusting He will ease her suffering with a miracle. She told us He has healed her before. He can do it again! We arrived at Pastor Jose’s church to hold another Beautifully Broken Women’s event and the glory of God was with us in worship, the gospel shared and powerful prayers. The spirit of discouragement has been a battling entity this trip. It’s hit us hard, but God in His power has hit back harder. You see, He is the Waymaker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper and Light in the Darkness. Discouragement can plague us, but God says I came to defeat that plague and saved 8 souls tonight! Countless people were prayed for at the park, at the church and Pastor Rachael prayed for the city of Choloma today. I said I didn’t have many words and here that am, thinking I need to do a Part 2 . Because of Jesus…

Honduras Day 7: Last ministry day for our February 2022 team. Thanking God that we ended strong at the community of Belén. So much progress is being made on many fronts and Right Turn is so grateful and honored to be a part of the work God is doing. We were able to see the construction progress our men’s team made and the local men continue to make on the Community Center. It’s amazing! So much good is going to happen for the people of Belén through this center: classes for the children, trade programs, church, Bible studies, sports programs and more! We were able to take food to each home in the community and invite the women to church for another Beautifully Broken service. The community, through Pastor Walker Somerville, was able to purchase a small plot of land, and the service today was their first! Pastor Rachael gave the women a wonderful word of encouragement and Pastor José shared his testimony. Eight beautiful souls were saved today! We played with the children, gave them little toys and treats and another piñata lost to the children’s pounding . We reconnected with women we have met in previous trips and it is such a joy to spend time with them! A request was made to pray with a lady in the community for healing from leukemia. She had not been out of bed for weeks and not eaten for days. After laying hands on this sick woman, she was able to get up out of her bed and expressed that she was hungry! Praise to God! This community has so little but loves so very much. We are so humbled to be a small part of the work of God in Belén. After our time with them, we headed to these beautiful water falls. We were in awe of God’s creation! Shouts of joy over the beauty He has provided for us! Jesus said , “Whoever has believed in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” This beautiful, powerful waterfall is just a period at the end of the sentence of the past week for the women’s team and the previous week for the men’s team. The water source was strong and powerful. Water like this can power a region. This is how God’s living water is. One small stream can flow into a river and that river a waterfall that could power a whole city. We’re seeing it, stream by stream and flowing river by flowing river and then it overflows to do more than we can imagine and we are in awe! God has truly brought Right Turn Ministries, NFP to Honduras for such a time as this. Although I think our team would say that God brought Honduras to make our hearts never be the same! Because of Jesus…