Halloween is a strange day to be in Honduras. My friends here are SO against the idea of Halloween and see it only as satanical. I try to explain that most people use it as a reason to dress up silly and get together with friends, but the people always say, "Don't they understand what they are doing?" Hey. It's a tradition. It's what we do in the US. We don't really think about it that much. We just do what we've done since we were kids and what the generation before us did.
Needless to say, I didn't dress up and go trick or treating today. I never liked dressing up or going door to door before anyway.
But today I learned a new way to go door to door. Many churches in Honduras choose this day to hold big activities. My church decided to go door to door in our neighborhood and evangelize.
To be honest, I was not looking forward to it. I am not one to push my faith onto anyone. Several people have found Christ through their relationship with me. But usually, the topic of religion comes up organically. I was not comfortable with the idea of taking to the streets. In the end I went and it was awesome!
We met ahead of time and read in the bible about how Jesus sent out 72 of his followers, two by two, and told them to be careful.
We took off all of our jewelry and went with nothing but our bibles and some really well done pamphlets. Turned out, that was for the best. The streets were basically empty, except for private security guards. The few people we did meet told us to be careful as they scurried along.
It wasn't the most productive place to evangelize. There just weren't many people. One of our goals was for our neighbors to know that our church is close by. Turns out we really don't have many neighbors. There are tons of houses, but all of them have businesses inside and we were not allowed to enter. So we mainly talked to the guards in front of the businesses, or people we passed in the street.
I have to say that we were well received. People in Honduras are much more open to talk about God. They share their faith proudly. So the main factor that kept us from talking to others was either the issue of safety, or that they were pressed for time. Either way, they were always kind.
We went out in groups of four, two people on each side of the street. That way we always had an eye on each other. I was happy to be partnered with a younger person, a boy who is in college, but on fire for God. I like being around him in general. He is wise beyond his years. I figured between his ability to speak about God, and my gringa face, people wouldn't mind talking with us.
I was right! First we talked with a man who was in the same position as us. He was a salesman trying to sell his goods. He was loaded down with tons and tons of woven crafts and hand carved wooden kitchen spoons. He his goods were tied to him in every place you can imagine.
My side-kick, Allan, started talking to him first. I only said a few words. God was leading Allan. When Allan spoke of leaning on God for our physical problems, the man became very attentive. His facial expression changed and he stood more upright. I think he is fighting a sickness. Actually, I think he is fighting HIV. He was thin and marks on his face that led me to believe HIV could be the reason he needs God. We talked to him about the location of the church and asked his name. If one day he chooses to go to church, he knows where we are.
We also prayed for a security guard. His name was Javier. He was hanging out with the guard who works across the street from the building where he works. I think if he had been alone, he would have been more receptive. When we asked if there was anything specific we could pray for, he thought hard. We kept waiting for the words to come out, but finally he shook back tears and said, no, nothing. So we prayed a general prayer. That man's face is planted in my heart too.
Alan and I met a really cool young man who worked at the car wash. People who have tattoos in Honduras are usually gang related. He had a poorly done tattoo across his forearm that said "Victor". He was full of more light and joy than anyone we met. He said that he belongs to a church and spent last night in an all night vigil. He said he was feeling a little loopy from lack of sleep, but it was a good loopy, since he spent his time worshiping God in the vigil.
We also met a young guy named Jorge. He was walking very fast and did not want to talk to us at first. He was anxious and had something about him that was not quite right - maybe a learning disorder. But he was kind. Jorge loved talking about the US. He said he reads the bible often, but only little bits at a time. I assured him little bits are good! He said he has two sisters in Tennessee and asked if I have ever been there. I said I have and it's a beautiful place. It is his dream to get a job in the United States. I told him it is not as easy as he is led to believe. In fact life in the US can be quite difficult.
We prayed with two women who asked for our prayer. Our last stop was with the guard for In and Out Burger! I never knew there is an In and Out Burger here. Turns out it is right behind the church! We talked to the guard there for a while about how people in the US love In and Out Burger. He is Christian and has Sundays free. He knew better where we are located than we did because by that point we had wandered around on windy roads long enough that we felt disoriented.
When we got back to the church to pray and discuss our experience, they told me to look out the back window. There was In and Out Burger, in our backyard. I gave some of the guys a ride home. As we were getting into the car, there was the guard from In and Out Burger, standing in our parking lot, pointing up to the third floor, where we told him we meet on Sundays. I called to him and greeted him again. I told him I hope to see him tomorrow.
