Authenticity: Full Circle

This summer is one team after another. Most weeks we drop one team off at the airport, hang around for a bit, and pick up the next team. Naturally, every team is different. I am always sad to see a team leave because there are always a couple of people I have grown close to (in a week!) and also excited to meet the new group. Summer brings lots of youth on mission trips which adds an extra dimension to the fun!

One thing that stays pretty consistent is the schedule. At this point, I pretty much know exactly what to expect...until something surprises me! Yesterday was "Sunday schedule" -- Breakfast at 8 (30 minutes more to sleep!), vans at 9:30, church with the children at SBV from 10:30 (ish) to 11:30 (ish), lunch on the chapel portico, and at about 1:00, spend time playing, reading "Huevos verdes con jamón" (Green Eggs and Ham) and doing crafts with the kids.

Everything was progressing as scheduled, the team was well fed as some played soccer and others did crafts and still others played with the babies. Gabriel, who was covering for Milton over the weekend, told me that a group was arriving to do fluoride treatments on the kids. No problem. Half the kids would get the treatments while the other half played with our team. Then, switch!

I was curious about the group doing the fluoride treatments so I went up to the school to investigate. Surprise! It was a youth group from a 7th Day Adventist Church in Tegucigalpa and a dentist from the church. They were painting the kids' teeth with fluoride, giving them some clothes, a coloring book and a toothbrush. Many of them spoke beautiful English! One of their leaders explained to me that they brought the youth group to "learn how to give." I responded, "Yes, we have a youth group here from the US so they can learn how to give!"

After they finished treating the kids, they streamed down to the soccer field to join in the game! After some interdenominational, inter-generational, international play, it was time for them to leave. We all gathered on the field in a huge circle holding hands -- SBV kids, LAMB staff, First Scot's Youth Team, and the Honduran Youth Group. Gabriel, one of the most passionate pray-ers ever, stood in the middle of the circle and proclaimed our love, our lives, and our service for Jesus. Next, James Rogers, First Scot's youth pastor, prayed. Finally, the Honduran dentist explained that God has no denomination and no country. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Then he prayed.

It was such a beautiful and unexpected moment. We strongly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit as we all, so different in so many ways, were united in the most important way...Amen.