Beyond Sunday with Pastor Nic
Join me for a more personal look into the weekend sermons, as well as some thoughts on theology, marriage, parenting, and leadership. I will also explore some of your most asked questions throughout the year.
www.nic-williams.com
Beyond Sunday with Pastor Nic
Through the Eyes of a Missionary Kid: A Conversation with Soren
Soren, the son of Valerie and Felipe who leads His Eyes ministry in Honduras, shares his unique perspective on growing up as a missionary kid and how that experience shapes his faith and future direction.
• Born and raised in Honduras as part of His Eyes ministry
• Navigating cultural differences between Honduras and America, including water conservation habits
• Finding personal faith beyond growing up around ministry
• Studying construction engineering at Purdue while discerning God's path forward
• Seeing parents' ministry through adult eyes after personal faith journey
• Understanding His Eyes' multifaceted approach: clinics, churches, children, clothing, coffee
• Building connections with international students through shared third-culture experiences
• Keeping "open hands" toward God's leading for future ministry or career
If you'd like to support the ministry of His Eyes in Honduras, consider sponsoring a child for $38 a month or visit HisEyesHonduras.com to learn more about getting involved.
Welcome back to Beyond Sunday. If you caught last week's episode, you heard an incredible conversation with Felipe, who's the ministry leader of His Eyes in Honduras, a ministry making a huge difference in the lives of families here in Tegucigalpa. Today, we're switching gears just a little. I'm actually still in Honduras and I'm sitting down with Soren, who's Felipe's son, who was actually born and raised here in Honduras, and I'm sitting down with Soren, who's Felipe's son, who was actually born and raised here in Honduras. He's now a senior at Purdue University back in the States, but he's spending the summer here with his family, fully re-immersed in the ministry he literally grew up around. So we're going to talk about things like what's it like to be a missionary kid, how do you carry that heritage into adulthood, and what happens when you're trying to find your own path, your own career, calling future, and still feel a tug towards what you grew up in ministry. We're talking about all that and more in this episode, and I think you'll find Soren's perspective real, honest and incredibly encouraging. So join me in welcoming Soren. Thanks for joining me today.
Speaker 1:Hi, pastor Nick, thanks for having me. Man, I'm excited. I've known your family for about eight years and I've heard about you, but I've actually never met you till this trip, yeah, and so it's been fun getting to know you, seeing your personality, your parts that are like your mom, parts that are like your dad, parts that are unique, right. But it's also been cool to do ministry with you. This week, soren's been out. We've got a team of people here in Honduras. He's been out with us almost every day into different villages and helping us translate, because my Spanish is no bueno and Soren grew up in this. So let's talk a little bit about being a ministry kid. You might hear some background noise. We are right in the city center right now, but what's your earliest memories of growing up here in Honduras, right?
Speaker 2:now. But what's your earliest memories of growing up here in Honduras? Oh wow, it's weird, I don't have very many. First of all, my memory isn't great, but I don't really distinguish it as being a different place In my head. It's just home, where I grew up. So I remember going to church and like sleeping on my mom's lap because I didn't like going there. And I remember going to school, but as far as ministry, it was just normal life. To me it wasn't really a clear difference. You know, like at my school actually, there were one or two teams that would come to the school and it wasn't like a poor school or anything, it was a private school and they'd, you know, come for the day and there'd be kind of a mix of oh wait, here are 30 Americans to play with some of their during kids. But to say, there was a specific point where, like that's my earliest memory, I really can't say so you grew up here.
Speaker 1:You were born here. Yeah, you were born on this property, right? Yeah, I was born in the clinic. Were you born in the room I'm sleeping in? Probably that's awkward, yeah, isn't it? So the clinic has been turned into housing now and they've built a new clinic. It's pretty, pretty, absolutely incredible. So you were born here, you grew up here, you went to private school.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:In that private school? Were there other English speaking kids, other missionary kids, or was it a mix of Honduran American?
Speaker 2:It was definitely a mix. It's an international school but more wealthy Hondurans and then a few missionary kids. Yeah, but I mean, as an American, as someone who stands out because of the you know, the color of my skin, I kind of hang out. Hung out with the kids that were also a little different. So, like my friends were the, the one Chinese kid, the one more darker skin kid and then the shortest kid in the class. You know, all four of us that were different hung out and then, unfortunately, most of the other Americans or I don't know, unfortunately, maybe it's not the right word, but they would come and go so they weren't always there. Like one of them was only there for about two or three years and then is that because their parents would come here be missionaries and then move on?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, their parents would leave, or COVID really affected things, but you know that affected everyone.
Speaker 1:So did you ever have a moment because you you grew up here, but you also have grandparents in the States and you went back to the States Did you have ever have a moment that you realized your upbringing wasn't a typical experience for an American kid?
Speaker 2:Not not a moment per se. I think my parents did a good job of of showing us that it was going to be different, because when we would visit the States, obviously my parents, my grandparents' house, where we would stay, had a basement and a second floor, things that aren't they're not uncommon here. The basement's, like there's none of those here, but having a second floor just the way, like we would always go out to eat and you know we'd spend money differently and things would cost way more. But it's not like there was something that was like, oh, this is completely different. It's more like this is a different place and it's supposed to be different. And I kind of understood that every culture does things differently and there's not something wrong with that, it's just different yeah, I always kind of equate it to whenever we bring teams down here.
Speaker 1:Everything's different for me. I mean we, the food we eat, the places we go like I'm hitting chick fil a couple times a week up in the states and down here we have an incredible lady. What's the name that?
Speaker 1:mary naria cooks dinner for us every day. It's genuine honduran food and it's absolutely incredible, but it's different than what I would eat back home. Yeah, and so I can imagine going back and visiting like you, just get to experience different things. But to your point, it is just this is home and that was a different experience, if you will yeah, and it takes a while to appreciate the differences.
Speaker 2:But then also something that people have been trying to tell me is that use my experiences, use my life in Honduras to show people in the States that life isn't the same everywhere, and that's sometimes hard for me. I I have a tendency to to blend in or want to blend in, at least, like here in Honduras. I it's it's hard having American teams here because I want to be one of the Honduran guys but I can't. I have to be a translator and when I'm, I'm in the States, I right now in between that kind of going into another phase, but I just want to be another. You know white guy, you know another, like I don't stand out. You know I'm pretty normal looking in the States. So that's been something challenging bridging that gap between cultures.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So that kind of brings me to my next question what are some of the blessings or challenges of being a missionary kid?
Speaker 2:Sure, one of the challenges is that not nobody really understands, like my roommate. My roommate asked me this might be weird, but sometimes I just don't flush the toilet because because, because you know, I'm, I'm in my head, I'm like, well, I gotta save the water, and you know if I'm just peeing, what's that? You know, if I'm doing number two, obviously I'm gonna flush the toilet. But he asked me, why don't you flush the toilet? And I thought, oh, I, I don't really know, in the morning I just don't do it because I'll. It just never clicked in my head that that would be a difference. So that's one of the challenges.
Speaker 1:This might be my favorite podcast ever. Just for clarity for those listening to this story in Honduras, especially where we're at like you, really are conscious about water. Yeah, because you don't have an endless supply of water, and so when you go number one in the bathroom, when you pee, you don't flush it, right. If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down, that's right, that's the rule, and so that is funny. I wouldn't think about that. That's been your whole life. And then you come to America. I can imagine your roommate walking in them. What's wrong with this?
Speaker 2:yeah, the other thing is taking a shower. After about a month they asked me what are you doing in there? You turn off the water halfway through and then you turn it back on and you only take, you know, five minutes. I'm like, well, I, I get wet, I lather up, you know. I turn off the water and then I get off the soap off me and I'm done. That's funny, I mean again.
Speaker 1:That's a traditional thing down here to conserve water.
Speaker 2:Military showers, right, and that's what I grew up doing. I don't know if that's what most Honduran families do, but there's not. You know, they only have a tank that probably holds I don't know 25, 30 gallons maybe. So you're taking a shower with a little, maybe a two liter little bucket and you're just using that sparingly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I mean I was talking to Felipe earlier this week just trying to wrap my mind around all this and you actually buy truckloads of water a couple of times a week because you really don't have enough water to sustain the clinic and the housing, and all that happens on this property. Right, it's just not infinite.
Speaker 2:And that's going back to the States, especially when I was a kid. How you can, just you know, oh, and you can drink the water out of the shower because it's all you know, clean. I don't know how true that is, but it's true. You can just use it all. And then there's water fountains everywhere. Oh, okay, I don't have to buy my water, it's, it's a blessing when you're there. But then, right, it's, it's different. And then you, I come back to Honduras and my, my way of living has to change. So yeah.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, that's an interesting perspective that I, I guess I knew, but hadn't thought about that transitioning to America versus here for you.
Speaker 2:Another. Another probably challenge or a benefit of being a missionary kid or being a third culture kid is that I can connect with other cultures easier. Like one of my friends in college best friend he's he grew up or lived in Southeast Asia for some time and right, that was an immediate connection. Or some of my classmates are from Spain, mexico, and even though I don't look like them, I still speak the language. And sometimes it's hard to explain that I have cultural similarities, because if they just looked at me they'd think I'm from Indiana.
Speaker 2:The number one question I get you know oh, where are you from? Well, what state are you from? Well, I'm from Honduras, oh really. And then that kind of makes conversations a little easier to have, at least I think. And the problem or the challenge of that is how do I, how do I take advantage of that? Really? Because one thing is to to know that, oh yeah, I can get along with this person, but, for God's glory, because there's a lot of international students at my college that just don't know of Jesus, and then how can I bridge culturally that Jesus is the answer for the problem.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I was talking to your dad earlier this week and he was telling me the story that when you you're at Purdue University right. When you went to Purdue early on, you joined an international students club or something like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, which was funny because you're American, yeah, and I can imagine as you walked in, people look at you and you're white, yeah, and it's like, why is this guy here? Yeah, but you can connect with them probably better than some of the normal Americans at the college.
Speaker 2:That's been cool. But then also to see the Americans in both my church and in those groups that do have a heart for international students, and how they use that and they don't let where they come from or, you know, they don't let that bother them in terms of communicating and and sharing, that's been cool and it pushes me like I do have that gift of being from somewhere else and maybe understanding a little better. So I, why don't I use that more? Why don't I use that gift that god's given me?
Speaker 1:yeah, so you're. You're a senior at purd. What are you studying and what are you hoping to pursue?
Speaker 2:I'm studying construction engineering management and I really don't know what I'm trying to pursue. I like to think that it's missions. That's just what I'm geared for, but where is a question I don't know the answer to, or when? Yeah, I'm trying to have open hands, open arms.
Speaker 1:So are you feeling that tension between career and ministry?
Speaker 2:I was Not so much anymore. I've done with my major, I have to do three internships and I've worked on the States two summers and there's tons of ministry opportunity at work, right, like both of my jobs. Thankfully, my bosses were Christian or, you know, somebody higher up was a Christian, and so they helped me navigate that. And then evangelizing to the people I was working with, like I know that there's opportunity there, but is that where God has? Is that what God has made me for? Because you know, I speak Spanish and I understand the culture somewhat, right, and I you know the list goes on of ways that I'm suited to live in Honduras or to live cross-culturally, but yeah, it's. What am I supposed to do with my experiences? I just don't know the answer to that right now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's been interesting because you and I have talked about this. As for those that don't know what it's like here in Honduras for this ministry, when we go out to another town, it may be an hour and a half drive into the mountains on very shady roads to get there, and so there's a lot of conversation had, and Soren and I have talked a little bit about his future and where God's calling him and trying to figure that out, not having that answer yet, but that's an okay place to be. But let me ask you kind of a personal question what is your conversation with God like about your future?
Speaker 2:Oh man, it's complicated. I probably don't talk to him and pray about it as much as I should. Yeah, I don't really know. I I tend to try to have open hands about it. Yeah, and I know that he's using the experiences that I'm having for the future, like it's been evident in the past, like getting to Purdue it all a God thing, like I applied on a whim because I didn't really know what I wanted to do.
Speaker 2:I only applied to that college Somehow. I got in and my major was because I met with an advisor who was from a third world country or maybe it's not a third world country and I had some similarities. But with the future, I'm just still waiting for him to put that place or to put that thing or that person in front of me and honestly praying that God would open my heart to just say yes in that moment. Yeah or right, even if it's not that moment, to say yes to what he has. Yeah, because he will put it there. It's just a matter of if I will say yes or not. Yeah, and have clear eyes to see that.
Speaker 1:I'll encourage you a little bit. That's actually a great place to be, right Sitting and waiting for God to bring clarity to the road. I mean, the scripture is very clear that God will light our path if we're sitting in his will, and so I'm excited for you and excited to see what God does, whether it's stateside, whether it's in another country, and then how he uses that to continue your heart for ministry. I'm honestly really excited from the outside to watch and see.
Speaker 2:I probably I'll say I, I probably don't pray enough about it. When you ask me that question, I I don't remember when the last time I prayed about my future was. It's just. Yeah, I get stuck in the now, you know, praying for, for the people who don't know jesus, but why don't I pray about the thing? Like that's something big. Yeah, I don't know. Maybe I just feel that God has it in control, but I think that's common.
Speaker 1:We tend to worry about the future and live in the present, and we talk to God about the present and not the future, the future yeah. And that that is a typical Christian thing to do. Right, yeah, we worry about the future, but we don't really involve God in talking about it.
Speaker 2:Which is strange because, like you were mentioning, right, the light to our feet and the yeah, maybe I misquoted that, but the path is going forward. Why am I not praying about the going forward? I'm only praying about the now. I need to do a little better about that.
Speaker 1:So when you went off to college to Purdue, was that your first time living full-time stateside.
Speaker 2:Not. That's a complicated question. No, I don't think. My freshman year of high school our family moved up to the States for right that eight months of school oh wow, as a furlough, I guess they'd call it. So I did high school there and then when I moved back up to the States, I moved for my last year of high school because it just made sense to, with COVID and everything. So I had lived there for that year of high school and then I just went off to college, and state tuition plays a big part of that. It makes things a lot cheaper and a lot less hairy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So what's it like being back this summer seeing the ministry you grew up in, but now with adult eyes?
Speaker 2:Sure, I wouldn't even say I don't know if it's adult eyes, but when I was growing up, I knew Jesus and I I my parents tell me that I'd said that Jesus was my savior and that I was a sinner. But I wasn't a Christian. Jesus was a Savior. That's how I think about it, and my grades, my relationships, my humor, right, whatever that was was my other Savior and that's what I was going to. And that when I moved to the States that second time for my senior year of high school right and this is a story that I was on my own and I did things I shouldn't have, but I didn't have that tether to Christianity and I was just doing what I thought was right. You know, I was hanging out with people who also said they were Christians but didn't live it through their lifestyles, and clearly I wasn't either.
Speaker 2:So coming back now and I met Jesus going to college that summer, which is another common story but coming back now and seeing how God is working here is what impacts me, Because before I was just like, yeah, my parents kind of do it, but God isn't a big part of it. And now I see how Valerie and Felipe, my parents, they kind of guide conversations. They guide debriefs after after we go out for the day, like they do have a heart for God. But when, back when I was growing up, I just it was just something to do and you know we never really talked about God for some reason. I didn't see it.
Speaker 2:I saw it like that in my head. But you know God, there's a veil that covers our eyes, right. That says it somewhere in the Bible and that's when that's lifted. It's just, we see God clearly, but only he lifts that veil. So it's been cool to see how my parents are intentional about missions. And it's not just come here and do some work because Americans are great. No, it's hey. What's God doing in your life? Yeah, you know. Every time we come back, the question is what's God doing today? What did you see different?
Speaker 1:Yeah, your dad's always been a big encouragement to me and also challenged me. Because I get here and I want to fix things and I want to do things and I'm like, felipe, what do you need? Where can I throw money at, how can I help you? And he says, man, I want God to show that to you. And I'm like, no, just tell me, you've seen it, you know what's wrong, you know where you need help. And he definitely lives in a different faith bubble than most Americans live in, and that's always encouraging but also challenging. Let me ask you this kind of similar vein that we're talking is there something that hits differently now compared to when you were younger?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Maybe not specifically about being here, but just the need for Jesus. Right, I knew I knew Jesus growing up when I was younger. But the same way I know, like the same way I know a lot of things, like it didn't really matter if it was there or not the next day. It was just like, yeah, I know Jesus, so I wasn't really driven to tell other people about him because it didn't really matter to me. You know, I don't, I didn't really care, Like, yeah, it's a good thing to know and I that's why we go to church and that's why we're here. But really getting things done is what matters when I was growing up. But now, like it doesn't matter if we, if we pave the road or or paint a mural or what matters is getting people to know God as their only savior and not as like a backup. Yep, so that's. I think that answers your question. No, that's incredible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so a little off topic, I asked your dad the same question. It's kind of like picking a favorite kid, but you've got eight different communities that you guys are in, with churches and milk projects and farms and all that that you guys do. Is there one that's a favorite for you?
Speaker 2:I'm interested to hear. His question is because we are similar, me and my dad. I don't think about it as favorites a lot, because they're all different, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:He probably gave the same sort of spiel.
Speaker 2:Yeah very similar, but I'd have to say the one in Las Botijas which is I don't know, two hours away, hour and a half away, yeah, just because of the story of how it came to be, how there was no church up there and then they hired a farm manager because that's what it was, it was a farm and then the farm manager and his family, they were Christians, and then they started holding a, a church, basically like he'd have a guitar and he'd play the same two chords for three songs and then he'd, you know, read the word with his family and then more people would show up and then he's, he's no pastor and he, he knows that, right. But then god, god, uses the people that aren't qualified, yeah, right, the people who aren't supposed to be. He uses the things that aren't to shame the things that are. And now there's a church there. That's awesome. And now there's a, you know, milk project which is, you know, using the, the people that aren't, to shame the people that are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and how, the people in charge there, right two years ago, didn't think they were supposed to be. And then, just, his family is so welcoming. Every time we go up there, we always have lunch in his house, like with his family, yeah, and then, you know, they always send us back with bananas or something. It's just so welcoming. He's always got a smile on his face. I don't know. I like him as a guy and his kids and seeing him and hearing about him be an actual human and have familial struggles as a pastor, but being human.
Speaker 1:I don't know I I the views up there are pretty too. Yeah, it actually. It's probably one of my favorite places that we've gone as well, and pastor Ronnie is part of that reason. Yeah, and I love that your dad tells that story about him kind of having that Bible study in his house. And then more people start calling up and he calls your dad one day and he's like what do I do and having that Bible study?
Speaker 1:in his house and then more people start calling up and he calls your dad one day and he's like what do I do? And he does like congratulations, you're a pastor. And I've talked to Ronnie enough to know, I mean, he's had struggles with it and he doesn't fully, I think, accept the fact that he's a pastor. But he's pastoring people in a community that needed somebody to pastor them and it's an incredible, incredible place. So let me ask you this I obviously I've been here a couple of times. I'm familiar with what his eyes is. You grew up with it. But for the listeners on this podcast that are just kind of tuning in hearing us talk about NOC projects and clinics and banana trees and coffee, like how would you describe to somebody in America what this ministry is?
Speaker 2:It's been a while since I explained it so I'm a little rusty on how I normally do it. But I kind of split it up into the four or five different things we do and they normally start with the same word yeah, the same letter, which is C Churches, children, clothing, coffee, and then groups. It doesn't start with a C, but groups are like the American teams that come down.
Speaker 1:And the clinic in there too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks, and the clinic is how it actually got started, but clearly that's not where God wanted it to end. So my mom actually works in the clinic as an optometrist and she used to be the director. But now there's a Honduran doctor who's the director and they do just awesome work there. And there's a Honduran doctor who's a director and they do just awesome work there. And there's a dentistry now general medicine, pharmacy, obgyn, I think a pediatrician, all sorts of things.
Speaker 2:And then the churches is also another God thing, because when my parents first came here, they weren't about planning churches and being in the States and going to Christian conferences and oh, it's all about planting churches. And what I've heard is like at one of the churches I was going to, they had a conference called Missions is Church Planting, and I wrestled with that, because my parents aren't church planters but they're missionaries and seeing how God uses them to plant churches, like there's eight churches now. And not because my parents were gung-ho about planning churches, but because God is gung-ho about his bride and how he wants everyone to know. So he's going to make it happen whether or not we're on board or not. We just have to be faithful to say yes to what he's already doing. So the churches has been cool because they're being planted, whether or not we want them to or not, almost, but hopefully we're saying yes to that.
Speaker 2:And then also with the groups, that's a big part, especially in my childhood. That's all I thought the mission was really. Oh, the groups coming, people coming, and then we get to go out and do all these awesome things. And then the other months of the year I don't know really. I don't really know what happens because I don't ever go up there, but surely something gets done. And then the groups come back again and then we get to go see what else got done. But they are really a way like, obviously the groups come down for a week at a time and they do however much work, but they don't do all the work. And it's not about the work, it's a, it's a, it's a spiritual work. But they and I'm starting to realize this you know money comes from the States and kind of helps fund the mission.
Speaker 2:Right, there's no, no easy way around that. And without people coming, without people seeing that there is a need for work, then right, you're just giving blindly and I'd rather people know where their money is going to. And that's why I appreciate when teams come down here and and see like, oh, that's that's why I had to, that's why I sponsor this kid in the milk project, right, the child care, like there's a sponsoring option for that and I get to, I get to meet them. Yeah, I'm not just, you know, giving however much money a month to nobody. It's a kid with an actual family who appreciates this.
Speaker 1:And that's been a big deal to me. I think story for another day, but my wife and I have a big heart for kids that are struggling in poverty and $38 a month literally does change a kid's life and I've been able to come and tangibly see that. See the food that they get and that could be the only meal they're getting that day. To see the people that are telling them about Jesus and loving on them, the people that are tutoring them, to see what $38 a month can actually do for a child is mind blowing. And now you mentioned and your dad and I didn't talk about this, so I'm interested on this the clothing, yeah.
Speaker 1:So, what is the clothing side of his eyes?
Speaker 2:Right. So there's these shipping containers that people fill from the States with these big plastic bags full of clothes that some people might oh, secondhand, thirdhand, whatever and we go into these communities, villages that don't have a clothing store and we don't sell them for free because apparently they did that, and then people get real possessive with them and then they you know, fights break out because it's my clothes. So then you know, we charge them what? Five cents for a shirt and a dollar for shoes really cheap, but still enough to where there's a line divided by you don't own this yet, don't worry. And right, we sort them all out.
Speaker 2:And then whoever the pastor is or the people in that community, have to get the word out first, which is something as a kid I didn't really realize. But now, seeing the more managerial aspect of it like we drive an hour and a half away to a village and hope that the pastor let everybody know, cause what if he didn't? Then we've got all these clothes, and or when we do medical brigades, we have all these doctors and there's nobody to treat. So that's like an awesome thing, cause I, there's so many ways that communication can go wrong. But right, we set out all these clothes and then people come that don't have money or resources to go to a city to buy clothes and then, right, they buy these shirts, shoes, pants for cheap.
Speaker 1:It's cool, I don't know. It was interesting. We were at one of the NOPE projects this week and this kid had a shirt on that had English saying on it and I think it said something like getting in trouble is what I do best. And so, through the translator, I asked him if he knew what his shirt said and he said no. And so we told him what it said and he just laughed and laughed and laughed. But it was funny.
Speaker 1:I got to two years ago I think Mark was with me. We've got a little bit of an audience here with us today, but we got to go to a community that there's not a church or milk project in, but a teacher that you guys knew kind of set this up, and we got to go up there and do the clothing drive to sell the clothes and give some away. And man, when we got there, there were just hundreds of people. It was insane to see, knowing that. It's not like they were in the neighborhood next door. I mean, some of them walked for an hour knowing that Americans were bringing clothing that they could get.
Speaker 2:Yeah, which is humbling really yeah, and it's been cool. One story I remember is we were out in the boonies right, and this girl maybe a teenager, late, early 20s or something younger right with her mom pulling out these pair of ripped jeans like, oh mama, can I get these right? Because the ripped jeans, yeah. And the mom's answer was what do you want? To get burned in one spot and look real weird, like a real practical. You know, like parents are still parents. You know like they don't get it Like oh yeah, jeans are in style. They're supposed to come like this. This isn't a defect. That's funny, yeah.
Speaker 1:One last question. So we've spent about the last 30 minutes talking about being a missionary kid, being his eyes and all that you've done here. Let's go back to my audience for just a moment. If there are people listening today that are wondering, man, how can I get involved or how can I be a part of his eyes, or something like this, what would you tell them?
Speaker 2:Right. Something I've been learning is to get plugged into the local church. Amen, because if your church isn't doing this, you can't do it alone. You're not supposed to Right, get another person. Jesus sends the 12 and the 72 in pairs, right, you're not supposed to go or do things alone. So get involved in your local church. Chances are they have a missions team, whatever that looks like, and if it doesn't bode well then I don't know, maybe that's a bigger conversation because God's heart is for the people, the tribes of every tongue, tribe and nation. So get plugged into your local church. Find out when they're doing another missions trip.
Speaker 2:My church doesn't do very many missions trips, but we support missionaries through different groups. I don't know how many we support, but it seems like a lot. And like, right, we take care of them. That doesn't look like going there every year, but we are consistent and we do not give them that they're lacking. Like.
Speaker 2:I read something about missions and it focused on third John, about how right it's a book about missionaries, I suppose, and how they're supposed to give them like to the to the glory of God, like in the manner of God, like missionaries are not supposed to be underfunded. And if you're worried that, oh, we're paying them too much, then they're the wrong missionaries. You should not be worried about where your money is going to and if you are visit them. I knew a pastor who was supporting this mission in Guatemala, right, and he did a surprise visit, showed up and was like all right, I gave him a phone call, pick me up, I'm at the airport.
Speaker 2:I'm at the airport and he showed up and was like there was nothing. He had been giving money to a guy and there was no fruit to show for it. Yeah, so right b know who you're sending the money to and don't just let it be right. Oh, we sponsor 50 missions, but I don't know, I don't know what their names are there. There are in 100 countries, but I don't know, I don't know what their names are. They're, they're in a hundred countries, but I don't really know what type of missions work they do. Be intentional about who you're, who you're helping.
Speaker 1:I think that's huge. For the missionary too, though, to know that somebody is not just writing them a check. Yeah, somebody's loving on them, praying for them, checking on them, helping them. Which is one of the beauties of his eyes is that you can come down here. Not every missionary we support. We have some in areas of the world I can't talk about, and so I can't send teams there, right, but I still can call them and say, hey, what's happening? Show me some pictures, show me what God's doing and how can I pray for you? I can still talk to them, and the beauty of his eyes is we can actually come down here and see what God's doing through the ministry.
Speaker 2:That's the. That's the cool thing. I appreciate it. Somebody on the team made a joke, right, cause they they were painting a mural, which is, right, not a big glamorous job, you know, you're not painting a road. But then they they said cause we were driving past that same village a few days later and they were like you guys haven't already painted over the mural, right For the next team. And I said no, no, we're taking down the wall tomorrow, so the next team can build it, and then the team after that can paint it. You know it's a big cycle, right, because we're not finding work for you to do. There is work to do. That's the beautiful thing about a place like this is that there's always something to be done.
Speaker 1:And God is always on the move. That's awesome. Well, Soren, I thank you so much for taking some time to jump on this podcast with me. We'll be praying for you on your journey and excited to see what God does in your life.
Speaker 2:Thanks, Pastor Nick. I appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1:So I love Soren's heart, his honesty. Sometimes we forget that behind every missionary, every ministry leader, there's a family working the journey right alongside them. Soren's story kind of reminds us that calling isn't always a straight line and that God often plants seeds in our childhood that he waters over time. So, whether you're a student, a parent or just asking what does God want from me, I hope this episode has stirred something in you today. As always, check out HisEyesHondurascom to get involved, sponsor a child or learn more.
Speaker 1:I talked about in the last episode that we have 17 kids right now that we need sponsors for. I can't tell you how many have been sponsored in the last week. I will get you that number soon. But if you have an interest in that $38 a month, would love for you to be on this journey with me and if this episode encouraged you, share it with someone who needs to hear it. We'll be back next week with more stories, more conversations, more reminders that faith was never meant to stay inside the walls of a church. So until then, keep living it out beyond Sunday.
Speaker 2:Amen.