As I tell more and more people about my upcoming plans, they are curious and rightly so. How many people do you know who are moving to a 3rd world country during a pandemic? Not many, I’d guess. So many friends and family have asked me, “so, why are you going to Honduras?”. I’ve had a challenging time trying to articulate the answer and present it in a nice cute package with a pretty bow on top. Because of my lack of a sufficient answer, many people have suggestions for their question and they are usually at least partially right.
Am I going to be a good person and help people? Yes. Am I going because it’s an adventure and adventure runs through my blood? Yes. Am I going because I loved my previous mission trip to El Salvador and fell in love with the Central American culture and its people? Yes. But all of these reasons aren’t THE reason. The big reason is that I felt called by God to serve those who were materially poor. I have a heart for children and love teaching and I wanted to be able to use those gifts in my service. For some reason, that I don’t totally understand right now, the Lord called me to serve at Farm of the Child. And I am choosing to follow Him.
During my discernment I spent time contemplating Matthew 25: 31-46. This is the passage where Jesus talks about the final judgement and how those who have served others have served Christ and are able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Specifically, Jesus says, “ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me....Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me. (Mt 25:35-36, 40)
We are all called to serve in different ways. Many people will live very holy lives without travelling to a 3rd world country to serve the poor. And it’s important to serve those around you who are spiritually and materially poor. But I feel drawn to serve in Honduras to those who are physically poor. During Jesus’ public ministry he encountered the poor and outcasts and shared meals with them, healed them, and called them to follow Him. With Christ as my model, I hope to encounter the poor the same way. I want to feed the hungry who don’t have any means of putting food on the table for their families. I want to welcome new students to the Farm and into my classroom and show them that they belong in this community and are a part of the Body of Christ. I want to clothe the naked by giving a pair of shoes to a kid who has outgrown his old pair. I want to serve on mission for Jesus.
This written explanation still may not be sufficient, and I can’t articulate everything as well as a would like. But please know that while I can’t put everything into words when I’m answering your questions or putting pen to paper, I’m going on this mission because Jesus calls all of us to serve Him through the least of these, and the way I’m doing that is at Farm of the Child.