Day One - Sunday

What a Day! There is not much value in sleep deprivation. 40 plus hours without sleep is nasty any way you look at it. However, God gave us safe travel and there is much value in that. We arrived in Tegucigalpa around 11:30, spent 1 1/2 hours gettting through customs, finding luggage, and set off to eat at a local KFC-like chicken joint called Camperos. It was fine! After 2 hours, we loaded up and drove the 30 kilometers outside of Tegucigalpa to our Marriott. Ha Ha! JK. Actually, this is one neat place. Though not a Marriott, the mattresses are great, the food tasty and the temperature incredible. As I drink the rich Honduran coffee this morning, it is probably 60 degress... nice!

So, back to yesterday and how we finished off the day. Rather than crash at Julio's (our Marriott), we loaded back up and headed down to Tegucigalpa and out the other side to a cool little town called Santa Lucia. Santa Lucia boasts the oldest church in Central or South America to my knowledge. Built in 1532, it hosts the local Catholic church in the town and is an amazing work of architecture. Still in use, it has the original beams, structure, etc... Many of the frescoes and some of the artwork have been there for hundreds of years. Those in charge there allowed us to come in and sing and wow, the acoustics were pretty amazing. The thought of people singing praises to God for over 500 years in the same building is an humbling one.

I didn't mention that half our group got stopped and hassled by the local POLICIA because they didn't have their passports on them. The reason they didn't have their passports on them is because the POLICIA recommends that mission groups NOT carry their passports on them due to the risk of having thems stolen. Go figure. Apparently, he didn't get the memo. Nobody was detained except for the Ferguson twins because of the their rebellious attitude. JK.

A great day, a tiring day, a safe day, a day where God was present and recognizable in the natural beauty of Honduras. Many thanks to HIM. He was also present in our communion service, which was very unique. How many people have taken the Lord's Supper on a sidewalk outside a church building? The smell of diesel, the sounds of children playing nearby, and the honk of taxi horns were all a part of the experience. I wasn't really excited about the location, but I did reflect on the value of it. Here is what hit me on that sidewalk amidst all of the distraction: the kingdom is EVERYWHERE.

We tend to think that the kingdom resides in our comfortable church buildings where the temperature has to be 71 degrees and if it's not, we spend time and effort complaining in order to get the situation remedied. We tend to think the kingdom resides in a designated time slot... We don't tend to think much about the kingdom coming to a sidewalk where all around, life is happening. The kingdom is everywhere.

And where it's not, we are supposed to take it. In just a little while, 18 brave, yet cautious, excited, yet a little nervous people will go to one of the darkest places in the city, if not in all of Honduras and feed beans, rice and tortillas to men, women, and children who literally live, work, and eat in a dump. Pray for us. Pray for them. Most of all pray that in some small way, the kingdom comes to some you don't have a whole lot of opportunity to experience it. More to come...