I am reflecting on all of this in Honduras while visiting our ministry partner AFE. The snow has melted in Dallas and the family has left to their own homes. I am with another family or sorts – our ministry family - the staff and volunteers at AFE. They are an amazing dedicated team working with the poorest of the poor at the dump just outside of Tegucigalpa. Yesterday we visited two homes that were built by an Orphan Outreach team from The Church at the Mall in Lakeland, Florida in conjunction with our partnership with Florida Baptist Children’s Homes.
Before we made the trip up the mountains by the dump, we stopped by the grocery store to buy food and other household items as house-warming gifts for both families. Bob Beam’s an Orphan Outreach board member had $90 to buy the groceries which was given to him by his grand children Reese (10), Rhett (8), and Reily Normand (13) who saved their money for the kids at AFE. There we were - four of us guys - buying the groceries (going where few men have gone before). Fortunately for us, Jeony (Director of AFE) received a call from his wife Jessie who said she would be there soon to supervise. When she got there I asked her how she thought we had done prior to her arrival and she just shook her head.
With groceries in tow, we headed to the new homes to not only deliver the gifts but to offer thanksgiving and a blessing for each of the families. We turned off the main road and began our assent up the mountain on a narrow dirt road. As the pick-up truck made its way up the rocky steep road we passed by many families living in homes built of cardboard or scrap’s collected from the dump. No running water, most without electricity, no toilets, showers or baths. The smoke from the fires burning outside in makeshift stoves filled the air mixed with the dust billowing from behind our truck as we made our way to the first home.
As we approached, my eyes caught the small cardboard structure in front of the new wood house. Its roof had caved in and the walls had begun to collapse – Jeony told us that – that was the home they were living in before the new home was built. What difference does a new home make? – you only had to look at the faces of the family that lives there. The kids were so proud of their new home and the grandmother who was there was so thankful for this blessing. She pulled me aside later and grabbed my hand tightly speaking to me in Spanish. I do not speak Spanish but looking at the tears in her eyes and feeling the tender grip of her hand, I did not need a translator to know what was in her heart. Eleven people live in this home – three generations of family. Three of the seven children who live there attend AFE and the four others, though too young now, will hopefully attend when they are old enough.
As we made our way to the second family, I was reflecting on a story that Jeony told me about one of the girls in the home. She is 13 years old and told Jeony that she had made a plan to hang herself because of the desperation of her living situation. It was the hope for a new home that changed her mind and gave her the strength to move past her desperation. As we dedicated their home, I looked over at her father Margarito his head bowed and his weathered hands wiping tears from his eyes – obviously overwhelmed by the gift his family had received.
The next day at Sunday services there sat Margarito – the same hand that had wiped tears away the day before was up in the air when they asked who was a first time visitor to the church. How do you measure impact of ministry? – Margarito sitting quietly in his chair acknowledging his presence for the first time in church and a daughter who was once so desperate contemplated taking her life now sees hope in her future are pretty good measures of success and impact.
In reflecting on the blessing of my family during this Christmas season and then seeing how poverty has put indescribable strains on the families at the dump, one cannot help but feel a sense of urgency and compassion for the children and the parents who live around the dump. AFE provides hope, through the gospel of salvation in our Lord, providing an opportunity for a quality education, and for some, a safe and secure house to give a place for their family to live for the future - home sweet home.
