June 13, 2008

Friday

 

We started our last full day in Honduras by filling clothing bags to distribute among the people of Honduras who are in the most need.  Then we hopped on the bus and rode to Hogar Bencaleth, the special needs children’s home. We sat among children with various needs, laughing with some, coloring and blowing bubbles with some, and just holding or sitting alongside others.  These are the places where it seems the easiest for our team to “let go and let God.” We simply go and let God work through these bodies. 

From there, we went to the dump.  Earlier this week we had only taken part of the group, but this time we took the whole bus. The front of the bus was loaded with the clothing bags and the back of the bus was loaded with about 250 food bags.  So we stationed a few big guys at the front door of the bus and few big guys at the back door of the bus while some of the other guys and gals in the middle passed bags and prayed. The 1200 people who live in the filth of the dump have been blessed by a local church and so they are somewhat used to people coming into where they live to help them. They form 3 lines; 1 of women, 1 of children, and 1 of men. They wait fairly patiently and the women and children are always served first.  On Monday when we were there, they had asked us for water and so we took water as well. It was heart-wrenching for all of our team and especially, those who had not yet been there.  There was so much to take in. It was overwhelming and again we find ourselves wondering where God is in this mess.  There were lots of tears and lots of people amazed at how terrible it smelled. And so we prayed before we got there, and prayed while we were there… and we’ll continue to pray for people who have nowhere else to go and find themselves digging through disgusting piles of trash, surrounded by flies and vultures.  And so for today, we are thankful to be the hands and feet of Jesus to people who so desperately need someone to look at them as a person and not as a problem.  And I do not know how many times it took for people to look the other way before 1200 people ended up living in such a vile and horrific place.

 God, May we never turn our heads from the people who need You most. May You open our eyes to see needs that You’ve prepared us to meet. Please, protect us from the “comfort” of home and keep us willing to serve . Let our lives reflect Jesus- His love, compassion, kindness, and service. May our lives be all about bringing the hope of Your Son to the lost and dying.  It is through the powerful name of Jesus that we pray.

We sang all the way to the dump, but it was pretty quiet as we left. We then drove to Didasko, a Children’s Hone of about 23 children that is run by Jorge and Rosa. They are the only 2 people caring for these children. They have 1 gal to cook Monday thru Friday and one to clean and then a groundskeeper. That’s it.  And they just found out that Rosa has a tumor in her brain. It is benign, but it has begun to affect the feeling in her face and also her walking. They gave up everything to be parents to these children and they love them as God loves his own children. Beautiful. And so he requested prayers from our team.  Please join us as we pray for them.  They have options and my favorite option is the one he mentioned first and that is a miracle from God. So let us pray for that. And if God would have it another way, please let it come clearly and quickly.

 

Then we were off to the Valley of the Angels, to shop for some souvenirs and boost the Honduran economyJ After an hour of that, we went just up the street to eat dinner at “Las Tejas.” 

After dinner, we visited the oldest still-standing church building in the Western Hemisphere in Santa Lucia, Honduras. We held our devotional there and our voices reverberated throughout the building… it was so beautiful that a woman who does ministry in the city with street kids came inside to meet us because the singing was so beautiful and she wanted to know who we were because she just wanted her kids to hear us sing. God be glorified through our singing, and we were edified among each other. Worship is such a gift. It was such a joy to be together singing to the God who had strengthened us for this work and for this difficult and yet important day. God is so very faithful.