Six Years
Hi! Reagan here! This month I celebrated my six year anniversary of living here in Honduras! I truly can’t believe six years have passed! February 6th always feels like a birthday to me, celebrating God’s provision in countless ways. Below is a reflection I wrote looking back on the years before that got me to this day:
Fourteen years ago, in my high school Spanish class, I became obsessed with the Spanish language and started to translate everything that I could, much to my siblings' annoyance.
Nine years ago I went on a construction mission trip to Honduras on a whim. I was fascinated by the culture, the food and the connections I could build, through the language. This sparked a hunger to return to Central America with every opportunity that I got.
Eight years ago, I met a woman on a ferry in the Caribbean who told me about a little bilingual school located on the north coast of Honduras that was always looking for teachers.
Seven years ago, in my last semester of college I began fasting weekly, asking God to show me where the next place was for me to serve him. On a Sunday morning at church in Dallas, I pulled a missionary support card and landed on El Camino’s website, the same little bilingual school that I had learned about on the ferry, a year and a half earlier.
Six years ago, I boarded a plane with two suitcases to a destination I literally couldn’t point out on a map. I sat down and started bawling, never imagining the joys and challenges that would meet me on the other side. Never imagining all these years later I would be writing this.
Today, I sit in my quiet classroom. All my kids are downstairs in their Bible class with my husband who I met teaching together at El Camino.
I think my encouragement to you in this is that our timing is not God’s timing and our plans are not His plans. He’s working when we don’t see it and in ways that we can’t imagine like high school Spanish class and a wavy ferry ride. My story is no more exciting to God because it involves moving to another country or learning another language, God is after the hearts of everyone everywhere! So keep seeking, following and waiting for His plans
El Camino School
El Camino was able to host their first missions centered conference for the middle school and high schoolers. It was filled with a lot of worship, prayer, and learning. It was a unique opportunity to ignite the kids to take steps in their own faith to impact those around them with the love of Christ. As their first act of service in their community the students collaborated to bring food donations for local families in need. We were able to deliver the food bags to the families home and spend time talking and praying with them. At the end of February we held our annual Open House for parents to come and visit their student’s classrooms. We always love to see the kids’ pride in their hard work and for the parents to see the ways they are growing! It's an honor that these parents have put their trust in us to teach their children.
Casa de Niños
As always, this was a busy month at the Children’s home. We celebrated four birthdays in the month of February! We also had our annual pancake breakfast which is always a great time of fellowship with our community. The kids continue to grow physically and in maturity and we love to get to be a part of their lives.
Praises
Since our last newsletter we celebrated Christmas here in Honduras with the Casa de Niños and then headed to see Chase's family in Wyoming. It was a great time of refreshment and joy with family!
Chase’s brother Trenton and his wife Carrie came to visit us and used their gifts and talents to bless the ministry!
Prayer Requests
Reagan is still experiencing chronic hives so we ask that you join in praying with us for this to cease and that her healing would be for God’s glory!
For wisdom and endurance as we continue to work in our various roles
El Camino is beginning our season of teacher recruiting. We are specifically looking for teachers for our high school classes! Please join us in praying and spreading the word about these opportunities. We believe God will lead us to the people He has hand selected!
We feel so grateful for your ongoing support in our lives through prayer, encouragement and financial giving! We are still praying toward meeting our monthly fundraising goal so if you feel called to join our financial support team please follow this link to our sending organization’s page: https://www.cten.org/central-america-and-caribbean-missionaries/chase-gray
THANK YOU,
The Grays
