Today we head back up to the Highlands area outside of Tegucigalpa, another two-plus-hour bus ride over terrible, dusty roads. Traditionally, in the remote communities we serve, the last day we tried to put on something fun for the kids of the community to participate in and remember. Taking inspiration from the FIFA World Cup currently underway, we hosted a World Cup soccer tournament for kids from four different schools. One of our brothers in Christ from the Tegucigalpa Church runs a soccer program to help benefit kids in various communities. He has all the equipment and expertise, and he volunteered his time to make this happen in this remote highland area. He even brought speakers for announcements and music, goals, jerseys, participation medals, and trophies
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.We volunteer in the highlands area alongside many brothers and sisters from our local church in Tegucigalpa. Their teens and young adults are our main translators. Our PH volunteers and Tegucigalpa church volunteers were the coaches, referees, snack and water distributors, cheerleaders, etc. George and XiXi got to coach a team together.
It was hot and dusty, but the kids had a great time. They don’t ever get opportunities like this – to play with jerseys and for trophies – there are no organized sports of any kind up here. Your time is spent working the land and making food to provide for your family.
While the World Cup was underway, some medications were distributed. We ran out of medications the day before, when we saw 430 patients. We replenished and brought medications to distribute to those who did not receive them the day before.
We also distributed water filters to families in the community and instructed them on how to use them. This can be a game changer for many families – we are giving them access to filtered water, free of parasites. It is some work to filter, but it can make a huge difference in a family’s health. So encouraged to see this distribution. A special thank you to Wine to Water, who provided us with these water filters to distribute.
“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” – Matthew 10:42
Overall, a great day of fun for the team and the Highlands community. To me, serving in the highlands community alongside our brothers and sisters-in-Christ is the heart of Project Honduras. It is making a difference in the lives of those individuals in these highland communities and impacting our hearts as we serve.
After 2 days of hard serving, so glad we got to go as a team to Valle de Ángeles – a beautiful, yet touristy part of Honduras in late afternoon/evening. It is such a fun place – full of colorful murals and souvenir shops. We were here four years ago. They have a super cool, fun coffee shop where the walls are filled with handwritten post-it notes and beautifully decorated stores, with back garden areas for pictures. We had just a couple of hours here, but it was well worth it. I had to souvenir shop with the two women’s ministry leaders in Tegucigalpa and Patty, Project Honduras co-founder. Such a great time getting to know them better and them helping me souvenir shop for people back at home. Special times!
We then all had dinner together, shared our reflections, and gave shout-outs to other team members. These times cement the bond created by serving side by side. Love this team and our church family in Tegucigalpa.