Not Just a Summer Gig

As often as I get it, I never tire of answering the question “Why do you go to Honduras?” My answers vary depending on who I talk to or what particular area of AHMEN outreach I am working on at the moment. As a team leader, team leader trainer, fundraiser, recruiter, and coordinator of many AHMEN projects, sometimes I have more reasons than time allows to answer why I keep returning to Honduras after almost fifteen years.

Always searching for a better way

 

What is fun to think about is that it is okay for a volunteer's reason for volunteering to change. I even think it is probably more normal than not. If after having made AHMEN a part of me for over half of my life I still answered the “Why Honduras?” question by saying “to help” I might not show much growth or depth.

Get the job done

Surely a perfectly fine answer may be that God has put me in a perfect position to partner with Honduran communities through AHMEN. Surely other reasons may include my wanting to reconnect year-after-year with those who have contributed significantly to my growth or been by my side during some of my life's formitive times. After having wrote in-depth about mission work in Honduras for my master's thesis in Women's Studies at Texas Woman's University, praying for revelation in the most-effective techniques of developmental work, and spending a month visiting the three foundational pillars of the AHMEN-SIFAT Initiative this past June, I think I can give another reason of why I personally return to Honduras. I think I can honestly add another rationale to explain why my passport is more of a license to re-enter the turnstile between San Pedro Sula and Atlant than an international travel document. I work on building AHMEN as an organization and building AHMEN teams so that we can fulfill the opportunity laid at our feet so long ago. I apply my time, money, and thoughts to Honduras because I want to get the job done right.

Crossing bridges

Why am I prefacing a blog series with an explanation that doesn't explain a whole heck of a lot? I am doing so because I believe all three parts of the “Río de AguaViva” team demonstrate attempts to move toward a more sustainable way of doing missions.

Building relationships to equip the next generation

Please look for my upcoming daily blog posts as I feature a few pictures each day for the next month detailing my June in Honduras. Leave comments! Donate to my travel expenses and consider joining a team of your own. Visit our website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. AHMEN is reaching out to you; how can you reach back?

Together, we are the difference.