Wonder Voyage 2008 Summer Blog

Kelsey is a student on the voyage.

Bright and early we all woke up to head off to the reservation. The drive was beautiful, through the desert highlands and Sedona. However, no drive could prepare us for the beauty, in so many forms, that we were about to encounter. Immediately after crossing into the reservation we were greeted by Elsie and Darlene, two members of the family we would be staying with. The thing that hit we almost instantly was how big the sky is here, like it could swallow you up. They took us to their uncle Johnny’s home where we were put right to work dismantling an old sheep corral. The work went quickly, even though it was hard, because the barriers between our team and the family vanished and we were laughing together the entire time. With all of the extra wood from the corral, we made two ridiculously big bonfires, which would be burning for the next three days. After our hard work we had dinner and were told some Navajo stories about creation and life. Herman, a member of the family and also a professor of Navajo language and tradition gave us an amazing introduction into the beliefs of the Navajo people.

What stands out most was the opportunity that I was given to help make the tortillas and flatbread for dinner. I was able to talk to the girls my age about life and food and life. Their stories and insights were refreshing and new, and they opened my eyes to was in which you can be self-sacrificing that I didn’t ever realize.

Not knowing what to expect, and honestly fearing a cold welcome I was blown away by the instant shower of kindness we were given. It humbles be that the people we are here to serve take so much effort to serve us and make us feel completely at home. It shows me that Christ-like love is severely lacking on my part, and if I could only have a fraction of the servant’s attitude they have I would be a far better witness to my faith.

Nathan is a student from Mariner’s Community Church.

We woke up early, and headed to the airport. After meeting up with Craig and the rest of the group, we caught our flight to Phoenix. It was an uneventful ride. We were all separated, everyone had middle seats in alternating rows. After about two hours, we touched down in Phoenix. The heat was incredible! After living in my 65º climate, it was like landing on the surface of the sun. We met up with the Wonder Voyage crew at Wendy’s where we grabbed a bite to eat, and drove off to Living water retreat center. There was an awesome pond for swimming, which most of us took advantage of. The retreat center also had awesome rocking chairs. After dinner, we had a meeting to discuss what we expected from the trip, and then off to bed.

The pond swimming was probably the most interesting thing of the day. Finally cooling off in a new place, after a long day of travel, was amazing. The water was a bit murky, but swimming had never felt so good. Arizona also has an incredible sky. There is this huge section that is usually obscured by the mountains where I live that you could see here. It was relaxing, and a really good way to start the trip.

I’m usually not that big on travel. My parents drag me off to places every year, but deep down, I’m a homebody. I have a feeling this trip will help me to push my boundaries a bit, and open me up to new things and experiences, maybe to give me more opportunities to serve God. Who knows what the trip will bring?

In Matthew 25, Jesus reminds us that those things which we do for “the least” we do for Him. Most of us are familiar with this passage: it exhorts us to show the love of Christ through humble service to the weakest of God’s children.  Feeding the hungry, satisfying the thirst of the parched, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and incarcerated, and welcoming the stranger are the things which we are encouraged to do. One of the team members today has essentially “pencilled in” a new part of Matthew 25.

Our fearless team from Mt Ararat Baptist Church visited the least while serving the Missionaries of Charity, the religious order founded by blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.  Here in Comayagua, 6 sisters of the order run a hospice and care facility for old men, and a care facility for mothers and children infected with HIV.  When we arrived this morning, we anticipated working with both the children and old men, but the children had gone to the hospital in Tegucigalpa for checkups;  so we dived in and began to play and color with the ” abuelitos.”   The sisters were overjoyed as they watched the students work one on one with these men who rarely receive visitors.

In the group was a blind man; for him, coloring, playing checkers, and card games were virtually pointleess.  Enter Bree, who has a voice like an angel…who sang to this man for over an hour, while the rest of us watched in tearful amazement.  The man smiled a lot as he nodded his head and swayed to the music. What Bree added to this important verse was, ”Sing to those for whom words won’t work, and engage in a ministry of presence with them.”  Today, a teenage girl with an amazing love for the children of God…ministered to a lonely old man with the sounds of heaven, and made it clear to him the she was there for him and him alone. To God be the glory for her faithfulness and ingenuity.

After another morning of beans and tortillas, the traditional Honduran cuisine, the team from Mt Ararat set off to Casa de Ayuda. This school is a local institution in Comayagua for the deaf, blind, and handicapped. If it was not for this institution many of these childern would be displaced or abandoned but the love that fills the halls of the school was thick. Almost immediately upon arrival several members of the team from Mt Ararat were taught their names in sign language by the childern, and then the play really began. There was soccer and sidewalk chalk, juice and bracelet making. In the end the team was exhausted but nevertheless blessed by the outpouring of love that these children showed them.

That same night the team were surprised with two special treats. The first was a special behind-the-scenes tour of the cathedral bell-tower, flaunting the oldest clock in the Americas, but to make the surprise even more unique the town bell-ringer allowed the group to accompany him for his traditional call to Mass ringing. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and one that you can never forget.

Once that event was completed the team took one final journey that day to the local Franscian Friary. This particular order of the Catholic Church is based out of the Bronx and are known as the Grey Friars, and with the average age of the brothers being only around 28 it was not what the team expected to find. These men live in vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and are shining lights to the love and joy in Christ. Similar to the ringing of the bells for Mass these men of God issue in the call to repentance and service in Christ, and for the team it is similar to how they represented Christ to those children at Casa de Ayuda who could never hear the bells from the cathedral.

The team from Mt Ararat Virginia awoke early this morning and headed back out to El Porvenir to finish laying the foundation for the local Baptist church. Thanks to the work that the team put in yesterday there was only a quarter of the church left to fill and by lunch time all the dirt moving was completed. After lunch the local church that the foundation had just been provided with was already filled with the sounds of new life. Thanks to the guidance of the local pastor the team had already invited every child throughout the small village to come to a special viewing of the Jesus movie this afternoon and right on schedule the new floor that was only completed hours before was filled with proclamation of the gospel and invigoration of the local community.
 
Once the movie was finished the team headed home for dinner until one more small surprise in the evening, this time in the form of another Baptist church in Comayagua. Being a Wednesday night the youth of the local congregation was having their weekly service and by invitation the youth of Mt Ararat were invited to come along and worship with them. The evening was filled with bilingual sounds of praise and conversation and by the time the night was over each group had made new friends. As the team returned home this evening they took the time to reflect on the provision of Christ throughout the world. Within one day a small group of youth from Virginia had come to Honduras, blessed a new congregation in a remote village by providing a foundation, and also made new friends in another congregation of Honduran youth. Through the shared foundation of the Holy Spirit the youth of Mt Ararat crossed cultural and lingual barriers and participated in fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ.