The biggest high was going into Los Pinos on Monday and meeting with the mayor. At the time I thought he was the mayor of just that sector, but I later learned he is actually the mayor of all of Los Pinos.
He officially gave Molly and me his permission to work there. He stood and shook our hands and talked to us, as the neighborhood (gang members) looked on. He said he is going to organize a meeting with the youth so that they can know who we are. In other words, he will let them know that they are to let us pass safely through the community where we serve. Having the mayor's backing is a big step for our personal safety.
This is something that Molly has been praying about since long before I joined her there. He has been open to meet with her for a few months. But this week the timing was right. We were able to enter on a road that I haven't been on since 2009, before everything went crazy in this country. Molly has only been on that road twice in two years. But we felt safe and didn't have any problems.
In the future we will only use that road on the days we know the mayor is there, until we are able to build a rapport with the people. Otherwise we will continue to use the upper road, which is longer, but safer.
The lows of the week were Marjory being so sick and a meeting I was asked to attend. God's presence was obvious in many ways as He took care of baby Marjory. Although she stopped breathing and had convulsions, she was better by the next day. I am still praying about exactly what I am supposed to learn from the meeting. So far I have been shown that God's peace can overcome words that otherwise could be very hurtful.
I asked Molly if we could set aside a specific time of prayer for our ministry. My church has a weekly prayer group which I attend. Molly and I are both in prayer individually all of the time. We pray before and usually after our meetings in Los Pinos together. But I think it is important, if we are going to serve together, that we spend an extended time in prayer together too.
This week we attempted to pray together three times. The first time the mechanic interrupted and asked if we would like to go look at cars for Molly. Since that is a high priority, we decided to postpone the prayer and go car shopping. The second time people dropped in unexpectedly after we had only been praying for about 10 minutes. After that I told Molly that we need to be careful, because it seems like things keep popping up to impede our prayer time. We agreed that we would not let anything get in the way of our third attempt.
The third try was successful. From this week forward praying together is on the schedule for every Friday morning. That time of prayer, praying together, is going to make a big difference. It think it will unite us more closely as a team, strengthen us as individuals, and make everything we do for God more effective as we spend purposeful time in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Tonight was my last night to see the team from Salt Lake. They leave on Monday. It was nice to be able to meet them and share dinner with them several times. I am glad they got to meet Pastora Ruth and Pastor Paysen too.
My messed up stomach has been back and forth. One day it seems like I'm cured and the next day it hurts again. It's worst when I lie down. The best thing to do might be to get back into the gym and try some light exercise, just to see what happens. Although I am not good at light exercise. If I don't push myself hard I feel lazy and guilty.
After two trips to the salon, my hair still has a slight red tint in spots. Tuesday Albita tried to strip the color out, but after three attempts it had only lightened the red a little bit. Today the plan was to dye over the red, but it wouldn't cover up either. Albita said she is shocked at how hard it is to get that red out of my hair.
It lightened enough that I feel more comfortable entering Los Pinos now, and that was the goal. Albita was afraid to lighten it too much because blonde and red are the two colors that signify you are a gang member's girlfriend. Only girlfriends of gang members are allowed to color their hair those colors. After trying to strip the red three times she was afraid I'd end up blond. That wouldn't have been good either. It's pretty natural now. The red is hardly noticeable at all.
Thank God I am in Honduras and not in the US. All of those procedures in the US would have been more than a months rent in Honduras. Here they were a week's grocery money. Not great for the budget, but at least they didn't break the bank.
Speaking of groceries and money, did I tell you about the $10 box of Sugar Corn Pops I didn't buy last week? Those are the strange sort of things I would never normally eat, but I crave in Honduras. I was so excited to see that yellow box. Until I saw the price on the shelf below. No Sugar Corn Pops for me.
