From the heart of Andrew Varvoutis:
“This summer we were able to take our first international mission trip. God convinced us years ago to obey his commands and take the gospel to the nations, and were we excited to experience this together as a couple. The time with orphan children in Honduras showed me many truths about this world and our Father.
From the first moments on the ground I was overwhelmed by the poverty, and realized that the depths of physical need was well above anything that we could solve. It was clear that our mission was not to bring the people of Honduras out of physical poverty, but spiritual poverty. In fact we soon found that the depth of their physical need was an open door for the gospel. The people there knew that there must be something better than what they lived in daily, a view I think many Americans miss.
As we went out into villages were welcomed into home after home I was initially lost as to how to clearly communicate the gospel across cultural and language barriers. As I trusted the Spirit to lead, I found myself like Peter walking out of the boat at the command of Christ. God showed me His hand in holding me up as I walked in faith to obey what he had called me to do.
The last night we were there I was on the roof top of the orphanage singing songs with former street children and God showed the clear simplicity of His gospel and His plan to spread it as I watched a young boy singing “This Little Light of Mine.” How pure and true are the words to that song. God showed himself to me in the face of that little child, I had for so long hid the light, when it was so simple to let it the light shine in a world of darkness. “Hid it under a bushel, NO I’m gonna to let it SHINE!”