It always seems to be that the week leading up to mission, I have way to much to do. Not necessarily related to the mission, but “life” here in Wisconsin. This week was no exception with various different things going on, including a family funeral and other events. I spend so much time in the busyness of it all and getting caught up in the details, I forget to slow down and find the meaning in what I am preparing for. Shouldn’t we do this more anyway, mission trip or no? So I am taking this time to reflect on my week and prepare my heart and my mind for the work ahead in mission.
Its a beautiful thing to spend time with the most wonderful people in Honduras, those who I consider close friends. Its time to take that deep breath and pour my focus into what it should be. The love and caring of others and leaning into Gods work. Its time to be grounded in my faith and find peace in it all. Its not hard to do once I am there. Our friends in La Ceibita and Tocoa have so much love to give, I feel abundantly blessed when I am there. I’m thankful for the technology that exists that keeps those relationships alive when we are no longer together. The work doesn’t stop just because we leave and the beautiful mission continues to grow. So much good has happened, yet there is always work to do. I am excited to see the brand new feeding center in la Ceibita and be part of the opening ceremony for that! We now have two feeding centers in the area and they feed around 150 kids a day. Food insecurity is very real out there. Most of those kids who visit the feeding center, thats their only meal for the day.
We had a small team go ahead a few days ago, to do some prep work for this mission. This is a big mission, with 27 US missioners, and 10+ translators and a whole community of people in the area. We consider ourselves guests in their community and we hope to always follow their lead. The rest of the team arrives Saturday. We never truly know how long that first travel day will be, because there are so many variants. We are usually exhausted, but wake up fresh and excited the next day. I can’t wait to see everyone again!
I am working on being grounded. To feel centered, stable and strong in my faith. To connect with myself, and my faith and the folks in Honduras. To take time to meditate on things. To be present with myself, God and others.
Tomorrow is a big day. I’m thrilled to be going.
To be continued……
