Today was mostly a travel day beginning at 3:45am Pittsburgh time, but we arrived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, with about half of the day left. This has been a great day! We drove through the city streets with our translator, Roberto, who gave us a tour of the city he loves. After a stop at a local restaurant, we checked in at an amazing hotel before heading over to take a walk through the Genesis Center with the director of Orphan Helpers, Richard Yeargain. Julie and I caught the vision for the work that is being done at Genesis, and we enjoyed meeting several of the local staff people. Five young men are living at Genesis in order to repair the property. They all come from troubled backgrounds having spent time in the boys' youth detention center that is next door, but they have all experienced the joys of transformation that comes through our Lord Jesus Christ. Tomorrow we are planning to go back to Genesis so that I can interview the young men for my dissertation project. Transformation is a process, and as a researcher it is important for me to gain the perspectives of high risk youth that are at many different ends of the spectrum in terms of visible outcomes and heart change.
The time spent in Honduras has been wonderful! The most difficult part of our trip so far was leaving our two daughters at home in Homewood while their grandmother stayed with them. I could tell going off to Honduras to work with orphans seemed to go somewhat against Julie's maternal instincts, but she was able to navigate through those emotions. My oldest daughter, Kyra, who is eight years old, had a hard time with us leaving even though she's been through this before (Julie and I have visited cities all over the world in obedience to the calling that God has given us). A few minutes before I was scheduled to leave Homewood she asked me to take a walk with her, and as we strolled down my street on a summer night in the inner city of Pittsburgh she told me that she was sad we were leaving and she wondered if we had to go. We talk to our children often about how God calls us to do hard things for the sake of His Kingdom, and when they are old enough God will ask them to be obedient and join in His dangerous, scandalous, risky, adventerous journey to redeem all of humanity to Himself. After all, that is the central purpose to being a follower of Christ... a relationship with our Lord and being sold out to His purposes. I told Kyra that God is in control, and mommy and daddy are being obedient to God's calling to go to Honduras to advance the cause of faith-based mentoring in Latin America. It's because I love my daughters so much that I am so passionate about modeling for them how to follow Christ with reckless abandon.
Christianity isn't just a religion, and the Bible isn't just a bunch of words. Kids get confused when they learn about Christianity and read the Bible, but their parents don't live out what the Bible says. When parents lead sheltered lives, and they make their kids lead sheltered lives, then it's going to be extremely difficult for the kids to contextualize and live out their Christian faith when they become adults. One of the biggest blessings I have ever given my daughters is to raise them in Homewood while our family is obedient to God's calling to give ourselves away to the most vulnerable people in Pittsburgh for the sake of Christ. I don't need to take them on short term mission trips to foreign countries or down to the local soup kitchen in Pittsburgh to feed homeless people once a year for them to experience the life that Christians are supposed to be living. I am really looking forward to the day when my daughters are old enough to join their mommy and me in God's global mission to reach the most massive migration in human history of people moving to cities all over the world (this at a time when many American Christians are rapidly fleeing cities in order to distance themselves from complex problems and brokenness). I can't wait to bring my daughters to Honduras!
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