Honduras Trip Part 1

    Seven years ago this summer I was in Honduras with Book of Hope as an intern, little did I know everything was about to change. The trip that summer is where God really began to transform my heart and open my eyes to the hurting world around me. At the age of seventeen I came to the realization that there was so much more out there in the world and my own little place of East Hartford, Connecticut was barely the tip of it. So it was interesting to see how my world had come full circle bringing me back to where it all started.

   Our time of ministry in San Pedro Sula can be compared most accurately to a roller coaster ride, a really hot sticky roller coater ride considering the weather. I was there helping to lead a 10 day team of teenagers from two youth groups who are from Missouri and our week started out with strikes. Gas is $5 a gallon in Honduras, which is a lot for America and people in Honduras make even less annually then we do. So there was a transportation strike to fight the gas prices, which meant most of the teachers couldn't get to work, which means the children didn't go to school. Luckily we were able to find some schools where the children stuck around and we got to spend a lot of time with the kids since there weren't time constraints.  Tuesday and Wednesday were strike free and at night we had an opportunity to show the movie the God Man, which is an animated film of the life of Jesus, with a live action story running parallel. Thursday and Friday the public school teachers decided to strike because they aren't getting paid enough by the government. So yet again our plans had to change and we had to try and get into private schools. Fortunately the doors opened for us and it was amazing to see how God orchestrated everything. On Friday we were able to get into two schools that have denied Book of Hope entrance in the previous years. The first was an all girls Catholic school and the second was a military school. The military school was our very last school for the week and one of the team leaders had the privilege of leading the director of the school to the Lord. He said we were welcomed to come back to the school anytime and bring the Book of Hope! It is so funny how we as humans have all of these well laid out plans and then God comes along and changes everything up; always for the better. On Saturday I head out for Honduras again for two more weeks and two more 10 day teams. Please continue to keep me in your prayers for strength and wisdom and the teams that will be coming to Honduras. Many Blessings!!!

Here is the link to my first set of pictures    http://www.flickr.com/photos/mindytheworldtraveler/sets/

Uganda Summer 2008

  Well unfortunately I wasn't able to update my blog while I was in Uganda due to some technical difficulties :-) So i'm going to try and condense 6 weeks into a few paragraphs.

     Going to Uganda, Africa I really had no idea what to expect. I knew there would be poverty and sickness and

 funny smells, but you never know exactly what it's going to look like and how you are going to react. On top of that I was helping to lead a team of 15 interns, which meant I was responsible for their well being both physically and spiritually, as

 well as helping them deal with their first time in another country. Let's just say it was a lot more on my plate than I thought was going to be placed there.

       We started out in the capital city of Kampala going into the schools doing dramas, sharing our testimonies, distributing books and getting to talk and play with the kids. We even got to go to an all girls Muslim orphanage next to our hotel and share with them the Book of Hope. We also got an opportunity to visit this orphanage on one of our "days off" called Watoto. It is an amazing place, they take kids in not to just give them a home, but to raise them up as leaders. If you have a chance check them out online. Our next week was spent in Luwero that was so much quieter and the grounds our guest house were on were beautiful. The week of ministry was great and we got to spend a lot of one on one time talking with the kids in the schools.                                Then the third week came, we went to this place called Gulu. On the way up to Gulu we got to go on a Safari which was amazing. Afterwards we took a "short cut" after getting out of the Safari and it ended up taking us 5 hours to get to the hotel instead of the 2 it was suppose to take us. Then we got to the hotel at about 11 p.m. and they had given our hotel rooms away. So we were scrambling to find rooms for 22 people at 11 o'clock at night, thankfully we were able to and everyone had a bed for the night. The thing about Gulu is there is a lot of history that goes with it. Joseph Conney use to have his headquarters in that area along with his army, the Lords' Resistance Army. Conney is a man trying to lead a revolution against the Ugandan government and unfortunately is using the Bible as his basis. He is responsible for making little boys starting anywhere from ages 6 and up become child soldiers and do things not even grown ups should do, as well as taking little girls and making them sex slaves to his army. Joseph Conney has fled to the Congo for now and his army is not as big as it use to be. Needless to say we were facing a lot of spiritual opposition. 

However, I think that personally I was affected the most there then any of our other locations. One of the schools we distributed in had boys in it that use to be child soldiers and as I was handing a book to a boy that was about 9 or 10, I saw that his face was half burned and it hit me. Nothing that I do or say is going to help these kids, it has to be Jesus and his Word.  The power of God's Word is going to affect and change their lives. They have been through so much more than I can ever imagine, so no fancy words are going to do, just telling them about God's Word and praying that it will change their hearts when they read it. That was for sure my light bulb moment of the trip.

Our last week of ministry was a challenge as well, but in a different way. In our time in Uganda we had last power several times in our three previous hotels, but in Busolewai for two and a half days straight we had lost power and water. It really makes you appreciate the simple things in life a lot more, I know our interns do now. Our last weekend in Uganda I got to have a unique experience. We got to go to the Nile River and I was able to water baptize two people, one girl from our team and one girl that was a national working in Uganda. Most definitely a highlight of the trip!   

    All of your prayers means more to me than I can express. They definitely got 

my team and myself through those very difficult times, please do not underestimate their effectiveness! Please conti

nue to keep me in your prayers as I travel to Honduras from July 19- August 18th to work with  3 different 10 day teams. To look at my pictures from the trip click on this link  flickr.com/photos/mindytheworldtraveler/sets