Eat the Whole Lamb

Photo by Debby Hudson

Hello friends! 

I pray that each of you is staying safe and also sane. Life here hasn’t changed much from the last update, but we continue to seek the Lord and to grow. One of the things God has been drawing me back to in studying the Word is just how thoughtful of an Author He is. The symbolism He has weaved into His story with humanity is astounding, yet we often gloss over it because we’ve become well-acquainted with the Bible. I have been studying especially the rules for the Passover meal and also the symbolism within Biblical Jewish weddings. I believe that the invitation that has been extended to us in this time (but also for the coming season) is to eat the whole lamb as they did in Passover. What I mean by that is to go deeper in relationship with Jesus and to choose to partake of His suffering and not just His victory. He already made the sacrifice, but I believe that our calling as Christians is to take up our cross and follow Him. Part of following Him is entering into the suffering of others as He did. This is also what it means to begin to walk as the Bride of Christ. In a marriage that lasts, a wife walks with her love through both victory and suffering. We do know how the story ends and who wins, but in the meantime, there are so many in this world suffering deeply who do not. While many of us feel discomfort or inconvenienced during this time, there are those who are truly suffering—with starvation, with illness, with depression, with hopelessness. There is a side of Jesus we will never know, an intimacy we cannot enter into, unless we’re willing to drink His cup of suffering alongside Him (and alongside those His heart breaks for). I am asking the Lord how I can do this well. In considering this theme, we recently had a worship night that centered around the idea of Communion and partaking of Jesus' body and blood, sharing in His life and allowing His life to sustain us. If you're interested in that playlist, here it is: Communion.

COVID-19 Update and Provision Bags

Life has continued on lockdown here. Today marks two months of stay-at-home orders. Two weeks ago, as the US began rolling out plans for re-opening, our restrictions got tightened. Before people were allowed to go out once a week based on the last digit of their ID number. That got changed to once every two weeks. We will find out tomorrow if that measure will continue or be lifted. We currently have 2,460 cases, 134 deaths, and 264 recoveries. The economic situation is dire for many people, so we (and so many other missionaries) have continued to distribute food provisions. Our budget as an NGO is small, so at times, it feels we are merely a drop in a bucket. Yet, we have been able to distribute a bit over 80 family provisions so far with 30 more being bagged up in the next couple of days (for 110 total). Those bags include Honduran staples like rice, beans, spaghetti, tomato paste, eggs, coffee, sugar, vegetable shortening, and corn flour. There are no government safety nets here nor food banks, so many people are truly surviving on the generosity of others and the faithfulness of the Church. And Raúl truly deserves a shout-out in this time. He doesn't always consider himself a missionary in the same way that I do just because he also has a job and is a business owner. But, there is no way that we could be distributing food without all of the work that Raúl does in tracking down where to buy the items, negotiating prices, standing in line to purchase items, and being the one to distribute most of the bags. His business has also been contributing to the costs of purchasing the items. It is getting more and more difficult to find certain items because food is being distributed by many NGOs and ministries and missionaries. The prices of many staples like beans are also rising, but we will continue to do the best we can with what we have where we are. We so appreciate your faithfulness in friendship to us. God has been so gracious to us during this time through divine provision and through our both being able to continue working. We commit to stewarding all of His blessings as best as we can.























Blessings from Heaven

I think everyone in Tegucigalpa breathed a joyous, collective sigh of relief whenever the rains started here. The smoke blanketing Honduras could be seen from space (not an exaggeration), and the need for water was getting very real. Missionaries texted each other back and forth, and social media blew up with videos of rain as we got our first real downpour in months. Since then, rain has continued to be in the forecast, and while we haven't reached the stage of the rainy season where it rains every day, we have felt the relief from the smoke! During the last month, many homes and missionary properties were threatened by massive wildfires. Many people had to work through the night to fight the fires, yet God was gracious in sparing many of the properties of our friends. And, it also is just a welcome change of scenery. There is something hopeful in the change of the seasons as life is mostly confined to the same four walls. The green is returning to our surroundings.

We hope that all of you are doing well and still feeling grace and favor in your lives despite how we're all adapting and learning in this time. If you ever have any prayer requests that you would like us to pray for, feel free to send them my way at sarah.crickenberger@gmail.com.

All of My Love,
Sarah