Tranquilidad Foundation's Mission Team Blog: A Last Day Full of Grace

2 Corinthians 12:9 - "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

I want to begin by saying that it is so hard for me to believe that tonight is our last night in Quimistan, Honduras. We have all spent months raising funds and preparing our hearts to serve the Lord here in Honduras, and the fact that the trip is coming to a close feels very surreal. However, this trip is not truly ending. We may be getting on a plane to return home tomorrow, but God intends for us to carry our ten days in Honduras in our hearts so that we may reveal what He has taught us here to others.

For our last devotion this morning, I chose to reflect on grace. Along with 2 Corinthians 12:9, I read a quote from my study Bible on the definition of grace: "God gives us the grace - the supernatural ability or miraculous faculty to sustain, endure or maintain our call, for all He is enabling us to become in Christ." We each shared how we have seen God's grace this week in various areas, including our mission team members, Hondurans, answers to prayers and more. Finally, we expressed how grateful we were that God has given us the opportunity to share this grace that He has taught us this week, whether it is here in Honduras for Roxanne and Sam or back in the States for Jennifer, Catharine, Emma and me.

After breakfast and devotion, we drove up to beautiful Buenos Aires to view the Quimistan Valley from the mountains. Daniel, our friend and translator, pointed out that he could see the red roof of the Tranquilidad Foundation Children's Home from our vantage point! While we were still enjoying the view of the valley and the mountains, Sam took a short walk into the village and got us an invitation to be served coffee by one of the local families. Their warm hospitality was a perfect example of the grace that we had discussed in our morning devotion. The couple (Sebastian and Adele) gave us each a cup of coffee along with a delicious chocolate covered banana. Sebastian also showed us some of his homemade clay pottery and gave Sam and Roxanne three of his pieces. Just before we left, Adele said a beautiful prayer thanking God for the opportunity to talk with us and for the timely blessing of Sam and Roxane's offering money for the clay pots. God truly blessed our morning with both an opportunity to view His creation and to meet Sebastian and Adele!

In the afternoon, we went to Tranquilidad to finish off some loose ends. Roxanne was able to hang three beautiful pictures in the front room along with helping Catharine, Emma and me finish a second coat of paint on the trim around the home. Jennifer and Daniel were able to finish building a storage shelf for TQ that they started yesterday.

After finishing at Tranquilidad, me, Jennifer, Emma, and Catharine were able to help Gloria, Letie and Sandra make tortillas! It was very difficult at first, but after a few tries Gloria told all four of us that our tortillas were "Perfecto!" (a significant compliment from the expert tortilla maker). After dinner, we were able to celebrate both Cecelia and Roxanne's birthdays with a "muy rica" chocolate cake and a few gifts. It was such a sweet opportunity to be able to celebrate two very special ladies! We, the ladies, ended our last night with an entire game of Phase 10 (I won :) )

We are all so thankful to have had a wonderful last day in Honduras filled with many good things (Psalm 103:5). We also want to thank everyone for their prayers, financial support and donations that made it possible for us to come here to Quimistan, and would appreciate your continued prayers for safe travel home (and lots of good rest for Sam and Roxanne!)