A Day in the Life of a Missionary

Well, some of you have asked what a missionary like me do on a weekend Saturday in Honduras.  Well, for some setting an alarm on a Saturday early might not sound like the most inviting thing to do, especially if it means getting up early to go to work.

Today however, it was a joy for me to get up and prepare for the day with the brothers in the church so that we could go up to one of the outlying feeding centers, that a ministry we work with supports, to help the church in order to give them some encouragement to the brothers and sisters in the church to continue to evangelize the community where the church is located.

They had some cement tiles that they have had for a long time and with those and some sand and cement we undertook the day to begin to lay down the cement tiles for the church.  We water leveled the floor (a term that might be foreign to some – using a transparent water hose to find the same elevation on the two ends of the hose.  It works almost as well as a laser that is commonly used in the States and Europe.

To condense a lot of construction jargon into a final sentence about the construction, we were able to get all the preliminary things done and we started laying tile.  The floor should be ready before next Tuesday’s service at the church.

The important part of the day was to be able to spend the day with the brothers to encourage them in their walk with the Lord.  With one, helping him to recognize his spiritual gifts in order to encourage him to pursue ministry  in that direction, to another encouraging him to take the next step from living under common law to getting legally married in the Church and to yet another, showing him the love that we have in Jesus Christ.  This was all taking place while laying tile, mixing mortar and all the other work taking place at the same time.

At noon I went to buy chicken and tortillas for the group for lunch.  This was a joy to be able to bless the brothers with something to eat at lunchtime.  The money spent on food was well invested.  With the added energy after lunch we returned to the work to attack voraciously the tasks at hand.

When we left, we had made a good dent in the work and agreed to return Monday for those presently out of work.  I will return to lead and encourage and do a chicken run to the store.  Continue to pray for these open doors and for wisdom as we work with these guys.  It’s a joy to be able to help guide these lives in the Lord’s work.    We’ll see you up there on Monday!

Joyfully Submitted,

Mateo