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Life on the Mountain

WOW!! The past month has been a whirlwind of emotions. Walking into Honduras I was scared and nervous of what the month would hold. But let me start by saying this month humbled me in so many ways and blessed me with so many new memories. 

 

First of all, I want to say that Pastor Paul and Tania are doing great things in this mountain through their ministry Catracho Missions. They have shown me what it means to be obedient in the Lord and say yes to whatever He has called you to, even if it means leaving the comforts of the city of life. This month our main focus was building the church here in the community of Granadilla. Some mornings we would wake up and carry wood miles through the mountains. We would do 1-2 trips per day walking back and forth to the church to unload the pieces. We also helped make chairs, railings, bunk beds, floors, doors, benches and tables for the buildings. Once this project is finished the community of Granadilla will have a place to worship the Lord and gather as the body of the church. In addition, the community center will be used as a place for people to stay while they work here in the mountains. Aside from the construction of the church we were able to help one of the locals expand his home for his family. One day we went and leveled the ground so that it can be built on. Later in the month we created an assembly line to get concrete sand up the mountain and to the house where they would be using it for future construction. Other days we helped harvest vegetables from a local farm which was super cool because they were the crops that the squad before us had planted. Outside of the physical labor our squad was in charge of running the 3 days of VBS. During that week we taught Bible lessons, ran games and helped make snacks in the kitchen. I got to make over 250 pancakes for the children and their mothers. While the children were participating in their own activities our Beauty for Ashes team were able to spend time pouring into the mothers. Overall it was a pretty physically demanding month but looking back it was so worth it. This ministry is doing an amazing job with reaching out to the communities here on the mountain in Granadilla which can sometimes be the communities that are often forgotten about. 

 

Aside from the ministry, there were a lot of things that I learned this month. I think one of the biggest areas in which I have grown in, is what it means to be content. I won’t lie there were a lot of challenging times during this month. Challenges such as living out of a tent, having no wifi or electricity, having to watch your every step to avoid slipping (I think overall there were at least 50 falls this month meaning lots of muddy clothes), showering with ice cold water, sharing living space and one bathroom with 30-40 people, and the many nights that Zapato (the local stray dog) would bark and wake the entire camp at like 3 a.m. There were times where I just missed home and wanted to see a familiar face or the day I had the stomach bug and all I wanted was a hug from mom. Living on a mountain meant I could not do a lot of things I normally would do to bring comfort such as going on a walk by myself or watching my favorite movie. Having time alone was almost impossible outside of my tent. And retail therapy, FORGET IT! But before you jump to conclusions, let me say I am grateful that I did not have these things because through this I was able to grow so much and become so much closer with the Father. In the past I would wake up and the first thing I would reach for was my phone. But this month my Bible replaced the role of my phone. Those hours I used to waste scrolling through social media was time I used to read different parts of my Bible or spend time with the Lord through prayer. Instead of calling home for comfort I called out to God and shared all of my worries and fears with Him. This month God reminded me that He is the only one that I need to depend on for comfort. It can be easy to have faith in the Lord when you can basically have anything you need at the snap of a finger. But the real test of our faith comes when the distractions are gone, things become hard and we have no other choice but to put trust in Him. He taught me that He is everything I will ever need. No worldly thing can bring me more comfort than the God who is consistent through every circumstance. He is the only one who can bring pure joy and peace in the most challenging of times. I am so grateful for this month. A month where I had to let go of my comforts and seek God for the relief I need. His love lasts a lifetime. 

 

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever”. 

 

This month it was obvious that the enemy was trying to damage the work God is doing here on this mountain. In his attempts to disunify our squad we only fought to become stronger. When we lost a teammate it only pushed us to come together as a team and move forward. When the negative thoughts started breaking through, God only reminded me of His goodness. The times when I wanted to go home I was only reminded of my purpose of being here. In those moments where I just wanted to break down and cry while carrying the wood on my back, God only reminded me that His love requires sacrifice. We have to pick up our cross and follow him. So yea, there were times when I wanted to give up but in those times my God stepped in and showed me exactly what I needed to push forward. It was things like the laughter of the little children, or those bright smiles the kitchen ladies always gave me whenever I had a frown on mine. It was those moments when I sat in the hammock and was just in awe of the vast mountains that surrounded me. It was those nights when the thunder roared over the hills that God showed me that he is more powerful than any challenge I go through. Simple things like the butterflies fluttering around or the leaves that fell from the trees that showed me life is beautiful. And we have the choice to either dwell in the darkness or find the light in the beautiful life that we have been given. Life is tough and the race is a challenge but there’s beauty in everything. And in this month God reminded me to seek him in everything and find joy in the good moments.  

Some of my favorite memories from this month included the night we were attacked by a bat. I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard. There was the day when we hiked on a mountainside to go replant trees and we all kept slipping down the hill. My teammate Caitlyn even face planted as she feel down in a full front flip. There was the time we all almost died trying to cross the base of a waterfall on adventure day. During VBS we all made homemade piñatas for the children and then when they all left our team and the catracho team all got to hit a piñata of our own. There was the fun day where we played a huge soccer game gringos (Americans) vs locals. During the game I went to go kick the ball and completely missed and wiped out in the middle of the field. Oh and there was the night we watched Tangled on top of a rock as the sunset and we snacked on our banana and peanut butter. But one of the most memorable nights for me was our last night. The locals who were serving alongside us threw us the sweetest going away party. We started the night watching the sunset over the mountain side and then we moved to the dining area. They prayed for us, organized a cultural game, made us the sweetest handmade bracelet and necklace and made us a classic gringo meal of Fried Chicken, French fries and Dunkin Donuts. We closed out the night by worshipping one last time under the stars as a whole before we had to leave. I could go on and on with all the little moments that brought me so much happiness but all I can say is that this was a great month. 

So as I finish, I just want to say thank you to Paul and Tania, the Kitchen Ladies, and all of the other volunteers who are helping pour into this ministry. I cannot even put into words how much I loved the time I spent here in Honduras. Yall have shown us what it means to trust and be content in the Lord. I am so grateful for all of the friendships I made during this month and the people who are now like family. I loved being a part of a ministry that is doing such great things in building up the Kingdom of God. This is not goodbye just a see ya later. I will continue to pray for the lives that are being changed here on this mountain. 

 

As my team spends the next month in Costa Rica I just ask for continued prayers and support as we head into a new ministry. This month we will be working in San Jose, where we have partnered with the Hope Project to teach English to refugees, help with the pregnancy center, assist in counseling sessions and work on projects for the ministry base. I am so excited to see the ways the Lord works through us.

 

 

 

   

 

 

As always thank you for supporting me on this journey. 

 

All the love, 

 

Daliah 



4 Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing your beautiful adventures , your love & your light. You are truly making the world a better place. You & your fellow racers are always in my prayers ????????

  2. Reading your blog was truly beautiful. It was sweet reliving the month through your eyes. Excited to see even more of what God will teach and grow you in, but also celebrating what He has done thus far. Thankful for your kind heart and genuine spirit.

  3. Daliah, reading this made me so happy! I know that month was challenging in so many ways, but you came out of it with a greater joy and dependence on the Lord—and the beautiful smile on your face I see in so many of the photos! You are so loved!

  4. Thanks for the update, Daliah. I pray all of the lessons learned about squad unity and deep dependence on God will last the remainder of the Race… and beyond! We’re so proud of K for handling life in Honduras so well. See you soon.

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