March 13 - Tuesday

(Drew posted most of this in his post - If you're going for brevity read his haha. Either way!)

So, I’m a little late posting this because I have been the most recent victim of the bug that’s going around all the guys since we got here (I blame Drew by the way - it was him first). Yesterday, Matt, Terry, and Ben stayed back because they weren’t feeling well and were trying to recover. Isbill, Drew, Dillon, and I headed out with Mark yesterday morning and rode to a town on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa to build a house for the family of 13. I was so excited for it and felt the anticipation on the ride there. When we arrived, the family ran up and was waiting on us to see the wood delivered by the wood truck. They were all smiles. Poor Isbill had to stay in the van because he wasn’t feeling well at all still from being sick before. Around 3 other Honduran men and an 18 year old boy, Daniel - a former gang member trying to turn his life around - and younger boys in the family also helped build. We measured off the foundations of the house and Mark squared it all off and we all began to dig holes for the 4x4 posts to be the corners of the house. About 15 minutes into breaking into the ground with posthole diggers and large metal rods (name escapes me now), I was feeling pretty dehydrated and extremely tired and light-headed. It was a really hot day with no cloud cover. I proceeded to go to the van to try to cool off and shortly thereafter lost all of my breakfast and any liquid in my stomach. I decided it would be best to stay in the van and let the other Hondurans, Mark, Drew, and Dillon do the work because I would be absolutely no help and probably would do nothing but get even more sick, to the risk of having to cut the build short to take me back.

While we were in the van for maybe around 5ish hours, between vomiting and “passing out” from not feeling well, Evan and I talked. We both were extremely disappointed that we couldn’t help build and agreed that we basically felt worthless and were even using some of the bottles of water that the builders kept coming to get. I cannot lie, I even had at the forefront of my mind “God, why have you brought me here to feel like this?” “These people need a house and here I am sick as a dog, feeling terrible, I should have stayed in the states if I am going to be like this.” Of course, my “pain” and sickness did not help my mindset. I would go back and forth between this and between knowing, as Romans 8:28 says, that God works for the good of all those that love Him. While staying in the van trying to find some comfort for what seemed like 2 days, I looked up and the basic wooden house with a tin roof had been erected and the finishing touches were being put on. Other community members were gathered around watching. Mark came to the van and asked if Evan and I wanted to come pray with the family, if we were able. We went inside their fresh new home, with the kids running around with smiles on their faces and the mother/grandmother smiling in what seemed thankfulness and joy. She was thanking Mark for the house and from my little Spanish knowledge, I understood him basically say, “This is not anything that we have done on our own, it is God and the glory belongs only to God - ‘sólo a Dios’ - only to God and ‘Todos Dios. - All God” We all linked hands, builders and family, and Drew prayed in English followed by Daniel in Spanish. At this point, I began to weep, trying to hide it for some reason. It all rushed and hit me at once. This family of 13 with no home - no home or place to call their own, no shelter - now had one of the most basic of all needs. You can think of it all you want but it is never the same until you see the looks on that family’s face, see what they are living in, and the overarching joy in such dire physical circumstances. I looked at my friends, Dillon and Drew, who were sunburned and worn out and who had worked so hard to provide this family this wonderful, simple gift; I looked at Mark, who lives among the Hondurans and does this on a daily basis for the people of Honduras, giving the glory only to God; I saw Daniel, a former gang member, praying over these people. Nothing but complete joy and humility and thankfulness ran over me. What a beautiful picture!! I felt God taught me a lesson yesterday - even though I knew Romans 8:28 in my head I had the chance to truly experience it. I was there for a purpose, even if I had dug part of one 2 foot hole for 15 minutes. I had the chance to witness God’s wonderful work through our group (including the Hondurans) in all of our lives, and the chance to participate in prayer as a group for this family. I don’t even know what to follow up after this besides to God alone be the glory - he intertwined each of our lives for His glory for His purposes. Sólo a Dios.

Eternally forgiven sinner by an eternally GREAT God,

-Barrett

“For we know that God works for the good of all those who love him, who have been called according to HIS purpose.” -Romans 8:28-29