02.27.2011 Grace Summit - Honduras Recap
28th February 2011
02.27.2011 Grace Summit - Honduras Recap from Grace Summit on Vimeo.
Alan and Annette and I will be sharing about our trip to Honduras.
Mike Marette: We will start with a video – you will see their church worshiping – this is on YouTube – they had a phenomenal worship band. As you drive through Honduras – you’ll see a Dunkin’ Donuts. The pastor of Iglesia Gran Comision spoke – the church seats about 800 people – 3 video screens and projectors. What has happened – American churches have gone down and have churches, hospitals, children’s nutrition centers. They have teams who come down every month. 10 years ago – they had about 50 before Hurricane Mitch came through - and then support has come. There are SO MANY missionaries working there.
When I got to the church there – Terry Lewis has been going down 12 years in a row – there is a nearby village where the drug lords live. They are building a church building there. Even while we were there, someone got killed after a church service.
Terry introduced me to a guy – and he said – I know you! And I said – I know you! It was about 24 years ago in Morgantown that we met!
Annette Shirley: I spent 2 days at the house and 2 days at the children’s center. It was humbling – their generosity – they have nothing compared to us. I felt guilty putting on a pair of earrings this morning. $10 can buy them so much. Those earrings are worth about 2000 lempira. They could do so much with that.
Our God is so much bigger than I thought before. The world struggles to survive. Give a hand up – not a hand out. They always try to better the children and the community – whether in health, clothes, education, homes, nutrition. They don’t get protein and fat at home – so that is what they feed them at CNI. The children living close to the church campus go to CNI – every morning – they are fed a pot of porridge (protein, fat, corn) – smells really bad – like something my uncle would feed his livestock. We were allowed to give them 2-2.5 scoops (and no more). The cups are brought back/washed/ and are ready for the next group.
Rebecca – at CNI – said that – the reason to give them protein and fat – they couldn’t get it anywhere else.
They have an art supply cabinet – full of supplies – Rebecca asked that I restock the cabinet. In the cabinet, I found two boxes full of toothbrushes. The boxes had holes in them – and looked very worn. I asked – can this be thrown out? No! The kids brush their teeth with them! No names – just take a toothbrush. I thought that I offended her. I assume everyone has their toothbrush at home and if they had one there it would have their name on it.
Another job I had – the mission group before us had brought suitcases full of clothes. We divided them up into boys and girls/L/M/S – they lined up in groups – so we could fit them for clothes – 2 pairs of socks – a pair of underwear – maybe a pair of pants – maybe a coat – that is all.
I asked Rebecca – does it matter if it is the wrong size? No, they will make it fit, because it is new clothes.
Another day, instead of clothing distribution – there was a Bible lesson – I didn’t understand it – but I got to watch Melissa do it.
The little boys at the clinic were so precious – the last day – there was a little boy who hugged my leg and it broke my heart! Somehow he knew we were leaving. All the kids started coming up – and it was overwhelming to me.
There was a girl who was the alpha of the group – very bold – and even she came up and gave me a hug.
Gloria is deaf and mute – and another shy girl who gave me a hug. The boys were fascinated with my camera.
The kids come to CNI – because it gives them somewhere to go. They are in a group and have a structured, safe environment. If Jeff posts all those pictures – the ones that are half of my face – were taken by the little boys. They could see what they took – and they were fascinated by that.
People walk miles to get to the clinic. We walk for leisure – they walk for transportation. Each person gets a chart – There are two exam rooms – they have a bed, scale, desk, chair and a blood pressure cuff. The third examination room – after each person is done – they go over to that room – and there is a woman who shares the word with them. Before the clinic is open – they line up and sit down – and then go into the exam rooms – there are a few chairs – and called into the exam room – then into the consultation room – and then may get a prescription. If you are seen by a doctor or a dentist, there is a small fee, but otherwise, everything is free.
If you are healthy, you can work, and if you work, you get paid, and if you get paid, you can eat.
If you go to the clinic to see a dentist – if you need a tooth fixed, it can be pulled (cheap), fixed (an investment). From the time we got to the clinic – 7:00 am for devotions – not far away – got picked up in a van – security person at the campus gate – at 7:30, the clinic was full. They get there any way they can – and it is first-come, first-served. Only women run the clinic (by design) – I think because the majority of people who come are women and children. Now that I am back – I have so many more questions.
Alan – this past week was physically exhausting – we had a lot of fun –
Mike – They don’t have hot water in sinks – the shower – it dribbles down on you –
Alan – We were prepared for the conditions/climate/terrain – similar to Puerto Rico, where we had visited my father-in-law many times. But this was not a vacation. It was labor intensive – everything was done by hand – mixing concrete, pouring concrete – sewage pit – 8x6x6 ft deep.
There was a national teachers strike – they block the roads and try to disrupt commerce and traffic as much as possible. We had to be out of town by 6 – and finished the job by 6 pm – drove back – and took a quick shower and got to bed. Living with host families – they were like Honduran Yackleys – with 3 girls – and they host mission teams 3 weeks out of the month. They made a lot of sacrifices. Before we left – I said – I had two fears – one, that is would be a life-changing event – the second – that it wouldn’t be a life-changing event! While it wasn’t exactly life-changing – I had some revelations. With all the work that had to be done – I missed the relationship aspect of things. Mary and Martha Martha was so busy – Jesus, make her help me. – Mary chose the better – I won’t deny her that. Looking back, things would have gotten done. One day after finishing working – we stopped by a small group – meeting at a back yard – and a van load of gringos shows up – and all of a sudden, I felt part of a larger family – we got very emotional realizing that these are our brothers and sisters too.
Mike Marette: The church – in the book of Acts, you see how the church lived it out – and they are doing that down there. Our guide was Pedro – We discovered – that Okay has four different meanings – Okay – I get it. Okay - yes, I hear you, but we are not doing that, - and ok – these Americans are crazy. Pedro watched us like a hawk – he always knew where we were.
Annette: I’ll second that…He didn’t know where I was one day – I had gone to wash dishes – and the team started yelling my name – and I think they were afraid that I wasn’t safe. They are living the gospel – they preach it – they live it – they don’t just share it – but are giving and caring for these people. They are not wealthy – but they are sacrificing significantly in order to help those who are living in terrible conditions. At the end, we had a big celebration –
Mike Marette:They have food everywhere – it is lush land – chickens/cows/sheep – and this family killed a sheep for us. After it was all done – no one was eating – no one will go through that line until you do.
I thought – what happened to all the food – did all these people get enough – they had put all the meat into a cooler – the oldest son - Melvin – came up – he knows about 3 words – they are really concerned that you need more food – they were watching me – they saw that I walked over to this cooler – they were sooo concerned that we were taken care of – in America – we can be so selfish.
Terry Lewis: You shared your story – and it broke my heart – but God is a God of new beginnings – and we hope this house is a new beginning for you.