Overcoming my fear of horse riding (or donkeys/mules)!

Honduras was an interesting  stop on our journey.  Our base was camping in the grounds of a nice hotel which meant that my tent got some action (it was weird sleeping by myself!) and I got to have early morning swims – hurrah!  Not so nice was the amount of accosting us ladies got by the local men.

The team split into various groups during our time.  One group travelled back to Guatemala to pick up one of our vehicles from the mechanic, one group stayed at the base and worked in the local prison (run by prisoners themselves) and then my group went to the mountains.

Following a two day journey including a car and bus ride (and our car getting stuck in the mud and having to be towed) we arrived at the base of the mountains and trekked to the village of Agua Caliente.  Mules took our luggage whilst we walked, mainly in the dark.  The following day we were able to visit local families to share our Christian faith alongside a local believer.  The church had not met since August but after talking and praying with people we were excited to realise that through our witness new Christians had been added to the number and the church would now be restarted.  We also saw people receive healing after prayer.

One of the most memorable parts of the journey for me was slipping in the mud (even though I was the only person wearing walking boots!) and then my knee pretty much went when I tried to bend down later to speak to a child.  So this meant that I was unable to walk on my right leg.  Given that it was a three hour trek back down the mountain, the decision was taken by the rest of my team that I should be blessed with one of the mules the whole way down!  Whilst I was very grateful, my team were unaware that I do not appreciate horse/donkey/mule riding, particularly without all the usual equipment and coming down steep slopes! 

Much to the amusement of the local guide (!) my reaction went between ‘I’m really not enjoying this’ to having tears in my eyes to repeating Bible verses like ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’!!  By the end of the ride I had reached a calm state and was very grateful that I had not needed to walk.  In hindsight I love the fact that God used the journey to help me overcome my fear of certain four legged creatures, especially as this was not in my original plan!