Over the past year and a half during the pandemic, one this is clear: the ministry would not have survived without our incredible Honduran team. We have always been grateful for them, but this difficult season has made us even more acutely aware of how special they are.
The pandemic brought a lot of chaos and challenges. For various reasons of family, health, country closures, etc., our U.S. missionaries were all out of Honduras for significant, alternating chunks of time. Everyone continued communicating, coordinating and serving full-time, but many aspects were done remotely while our Honduran team ministered on the ground.
Our Honduran team ordered, organized and distributed 300 bags of food per week for a year, and they served their neighbors in the process. They made sure our education students had the supplies, technology and support they needed to work remotely. They ministered to families in need of extra benevolence support for rent, medical bills and funeral costs. They helped our teens and families stay safe during back-to-back hurricanes. They loved, taught and provided counsel and companionship to our teens dealing with stay-at-home orders and virtual school.
Public transportation was shut down for much of the pandemic. However, thanks to the blessing of our ministry bus, Rafa was able to transport our staff to and from work every day and take care of any other errands needed. Our team cared for each other and their communities and drew closer to God when things could have easily fallen apart.
We are so grateful to God for His faithfulness in bringing people into our lives. If the pandemic had struck several years ago when we were in the midst of team transitions and growing pains, I’m not sure we could have survived it. But God knows what we need and when we need it. We needed this team during this time, and we are blessed and honored to call them family.
Thanks to your support, we were able to keep everyone employed full-time and pay their regular salaries during the pandemic. That is huge for us as a ministry and for our staff’s individual families. We are so grateful to everyone who has given financially and continues to support the work in Honduras.