I remember sitting down one night and saying to God, "Show me how to love like you love." Before I knew it I found myself in Los Pinos standing in trash trying to not fall off a cliff... 

Los Pinos is an area known for poverty. It is one of the poorest and most dangerous areas in Honduras. The "houses" are all on a mountain..the higher the house the worse the poverty is...My team trekked up to a woman's house to fix it up while she was away at the hospital. My job was to go down into an area where her and her family throw all of their trash and clean it up. Once i climbed down in the area..I started picking up the trash..and before I knew it I was picking up poop too. They don't have a bathroom so they throw it ALL down there. I had to hold myself from throwing up several times because of the lucrid smell. On top of that I was attempting to not fall off the cliff while being tangled in an assortment of weeds and wires. God took me through this day step by step. 

He just kept telling me ...

Push through this. I kept reciting verses to myself and reminding myself why I am here and why God has called me.

I felt so much brokenness in that place. I wanted to sit there and cry. Not only the fact that I was picking up things that I thought I would never pick up. But the fact that the boys and girls that I have been forming relationships over this past month have grown up here. This is all they know. Their bedding looks like it was pulled out of the trash and it probably was..I can not even imagine living like that. They live cramped into one room with a dirt floor..my room is bigger than their houses. It broke my heart. I have been around that kind of poverty before I came on this trip but it didn't really affect me for some reason. It hit me this time because the people that I have become attached to live there. The people that hug and kiss me non-stop. The people I live life with day in and day out. I wish that I could take their pasts away and live it for them. I will never comprehend or understand the life that they have lived and the psychological issues that they will have for the rest of their lives.

After I left that day..I felt kind of hopeless and depressed in way. It is a hard thing to process. God told me "it is okay, Andrea, you loved them today..in a deeper way." "In a way you haven't before." Ultimately, it is not my job to take any of that away from them. God is going to redeem and restore them in ways that I could never dream of.

This is how God loves me/us every single hour of our lives. We are sinners. He picks up our pasts. He picks up our burdens..our dirt..our chains. Our poop. The worst of the worst. 

I called to Him and He answered. He gave me a glimpse of how he loves. He taught me..I got a deeper understanding of who He is. I am thankful.

Always,

Andrea

* IMPORTANT ! *

Tony Deien, the owner, of Zions Gates Ministries aka the ministry that I am working through and staying at..His car broke down yesterday and it would be the biggest blessing to Tony and the boys to be able to get a new used car. They use that car for basically everything and without it...it makes the work that God has called Tony to do very hard. Also, he uses the car to take around different missionaries to do work in Honduras. 

There are 23 people on my squad and we have decided that we want to raise money for Tony to replace/fix his car. So if each team member raises $50 then we would be able to raise the money! ONLY $50! It would be the biggest blessing. I believe that God is going to use YOU to bless this ministry so they can do HIS work. I am confident that God is going to multiple money in crazy ways to bless this mininstry.

Anything is appreciated..$5, $10, $20, $50

If you feel led to donate money please make a check by October 25th to..

Tony Deien

3426 Oakwood Street

Salt Lake City, Utah 84109

Note: Write car on the memo line

Also, if you would like to contact him here is further information..

tony.deien@gmail.com

zionsgateministries.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/zionsgatehonduras

If you are unable to donate...prayer is needed!

Here is a video that my team made to raise money!! GOD BLESS! Thank you.

http://youtu.be/BcXH2bo9vl0