on the road to recovery.

meet Ronnie.

This is his story:
Ronnie is 18 years old. He lives with his mom, younger brother, and two younger sisters. His dad is an alcoholic and left the family a few months ago. Ronnie dropped out of school when he was in 5th grade because he preferred street life over school. He got involved with drugs and alcohol which resulted in him assaulting people, stealing, and getting in fights. 


One year ago, he was living out at the farm with our World Race group, completely clean from drugs and alcohol. He read stories from an illustrated Bible for hours every day. When we went into Los Pinos to hold programs for the kids and youth, Ronnie taught the kids Bible stories. He told us his dream was to be a pastor one day.

[October 2010--Ronnie reading Bible stories]

[October 2010]

A few weeks ago, I went into Los Pinos to pick up Luis and I was met by the sight of Ronnie--shirtless and stumbling down the path towards me, clearly high. I hadn't seen him in nearly a year, but that was not at all how I remembered him...I could tell he was shocked to see me.

When I got to Ronnie, I opened my arms wide and gave him a HUGE hug. I was immediately hit with the fumes of paint thinner on his breath. I told him it was good to see him and that I love him and have missed him so much this past year. I walked away with tears in my eyes, not knowing what to do other than pray. 

A few days later, his mom told us she was worried about Ronnie and asked if we would go with her to visit a drug rehab center in downtown Tegucigalpa. We went with her to find out more information, and the next night we had a meeting with Ronnie at his house explaining the program. He was completely against it at first--saying he did not want to be away from his family for 3 months. We assured him that they would be able to visit him regularly, and he reluctantly agreed to at least think about this opportunity. At the end of our meeting I took some time to pray over him and remind him that God still loves him so much--no matter what he has done--and He has BIG plans for Ronnie's life!!

[meeting with Ronnie and his mom]

As we were leaving Ronnie's house that night, we invited him and his mom to come to church with us on Sunday. Not only did they show up, but Ronnie also took a huge step of faith during the worship service. As we were singing, Ronnie went over to Pastor Nicolas and got on his knees as Pastor prayed over him. Ronnie was crying and completely broken. Once the service began, Pastor Nicolas invited Ronnie up to share his testimony and his desire to change. Pastor invited the congregation to join him in a time of prayer for Ronnie.

[Ronnie sharing his testimony]

After church, we invited Ronnie to join us for a few days to detox and have more time to talk, think, and pray more about his options. He was very excited about the opportunity to come out to the property and be off the streets. During these few days, I was able to spend more time with him one-on-one to encourage and pray for him. One day, I took him to get a Coke and we talked for nearly an hour about many different things. I told him that it made me sad to see him high and reminded him about our time together a year ago. 

He became excited when I talked about how he used to read Bible stories and teach the kids. I also asked him if he still wants to be a pastor. He looked down and seemed to be ashamed of the past year of his life. I could tell that he thought he could never be a pastor now, after all he has done. I went on to tell him I believe in him 100% and if he wants to be a pastor, I want to help him make that happen!! I also told him that he will have so much influence as a pastor coming from his background. He will have the ability to minister to people coming from broken homes, drugs, alcohol, and violence with absolutely no hope. His testimony is powerful and God is going to use it to CHANGE his community.

[Luis & Ronnie]

About one week ago, Ronnie took his first step on the road to recovery by entering the drug rehab center and committing to spend 3 months there. We are currently working on finding options for his next steps when he finishes the program in December.

Please keep Ronnie in your prayers as he continues on the road to recovery!

Herman.

meet Herman.

This is his story:

Herman is 16 years old. He lives with his mom, older sister, and his sister's 4 young kids. His dad was killed when Herman was 6 years old. He dropped out of school when he was in 6th grade because street life was more appealing to him. Herman used to do paint thinner, but has recently realized the damage it is causing so he has given it up to begin pursuing his dreams. 

His interests:
Herman wants to learn how to drive and eventually get his license when he turns 18. He wants to learn English and loves practicing with missionary teams that come to Honduras. He also enjoys playing computer games and wants to buy a computer of his own someday.  He wants to go back to school when the next school year starts (February 2012) and continue until he graduates. His dream is to travel to many countries to learn different languages, make more friends, and see new places.

Herman has been going to Thursday morning discipleship classes with Pastor Nicolas, and regularly attends church on Sundays. When I asked him if he is a Christian, he told me that he is not because there are many people in his community that claim Christianity but they are the ones who are out on the streets getting high and assaulting people. He does not want to be a part of that. However, he told me he enjoys going to church and listening to what Pastor Nicolas has to say and I believe God is going to use that to open up his mind and heart!

[working hard]

About six weeks ago, Herman made the decision to get on the bus at 5:30am six days a week to go work on the new property instead of continuing his life on the streets. He came knowing he would not get paid for his labor. It was completely his choice. After about 3 weeks of seeing Herman show up and work hard for 8 hours/day, his commitment and work ethic paid off. He is now getting paid $5/day four days a week to work at the property. He continues to give 50% of his earnings to his mother to feed the family. He is putting away 25% of the money to put towards purchasing his own computer. The other 25% he keeps for himself.

[Herman & Ronnie]

Herman is pursuing his dream to learn English by taking a class every Friday for 4 hours. This is a ten-month commitment that will make him proficient in English as long as he continues to study and complete his homework. He also just started taking a computer class every Saturday for 4 hours, which is a year-long commitment teaching many different aspects of computers. He will learn the basics--typing, Microsoft Office, internet--and move on to the inner workings of computers and how to fix them as well as web page design! A year from now, his life will be RADICALLY different in many ways!!

Please keep Herman in your prayers--especially for his future and the opportunities he is a part of! If you would like to partner with our ministry by giving a financial donation, please email me!

I'm going to be a mom!!

...seriously!!

[October 2010]

Those of you who have been following my World Race blog this past year probably already know that the Lord is calling me back to Honduras to be a mother to a 14-year old boy, Luis. I have told his story before, but I will tell it again...

First, let me paint a picture of where he lives...

Luis lives in Los Pinos, a mountain village just outside of the bustling capital of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The community he lives in does not have running water, electricity, trash services, waste removal, public education, etc. Many of the people are unemployed because there are very few job opportunities available. Most cannot afford to feed their families. Parents often send their children out to beg or dig through the local dump to find food. There are many broken homes and children living on the streets. People turn to paint thinner (a highly addictive drug) because it is cheap and easy to get and it numbs their hunger. It is one of the most dangerous communities in Central America with a lot of gangs and violence.

[Los Pinos]

This is his story...

Luis lives with his very sweet, 85-year-old grandmother (dad's mom) and 15-year-old sister, Fanny, in a small shack with a tin roof and a dirt floor. His dad lives about 2 hours away and Luis only sees him about once a month. His mom disowned him at a young age and tells him often that she doesn't love him. She lives only a few houses down the hill with her youngest daughter, Elizabeth Nicole. Luis always told us she was his cousin. Turns out they have the same mother. He was trying to hide the pain. The fact that his mother abandoned him hurts my heart so deeply. Nobody should have to deal with that. I can't even comprehend it. It's just not fair.

[Luis & abuela]

I have never loved someone as much as I love Luis. During one of our last days together (in October 2010), we were talking and I told him how much I love him and that I wish he was my son. At that point, we were both crying. He hugged me tighter and I just held him as we both cried and I prayed over him.

I can feel deep down in my core that God is preparing me to be a mom for Luis when I move back to Honduras in January. This is not normal. I'm 24 years old and have no experience as a mother, especially to a teenage boy that doesn't know English! It's terrifying, crazy, and exciting all at the same time!!

------------------------------

I was able to return to Honduras for a short 2-week visit in September 2011 immediately following the World Race--I didn't even see my own family first! It was an amazing trip filled with tons of laughter, fellowship, prayer, and some serious confirmation from the Lord. I know that is exactly where He wants me to be in the next step of my life!

[September 2011]

Follow my blog for more details about my journey, adventures, support needs, stories, and more information about the ministry I will be partnering with in Honduras in January 2012!! Please partner with me in prayer during this time of preparation for the next season of my life!!