We made it home safe and sound on Saturday evening. Spent our last night singing and playing with the girls at the Hope House, and many staying up all night (well...almost), we flew from Tecucigalpa to El Salvadore, then to Dulles Airport in Washington, DC - and then the bus ride home to Newport News, VA.
What an amazing trip! I can close my eyes and still hear the children singing and playing together. Orphan Helpers staff and volunteers are doing a wonderful job in Honduras and it was a joy to see and experience first-hand the miraculous changes in the lives of the orphaned, abandoned and abused children and teens.
Now - what can we do to support this wonderful work? Please continue to pray and give - your support is being used in a mighty way by God to change lives.
Take care,
Kathy Futrell
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Day Six
Day Six:
Rebirth
Sacred Heart
Daniel: How do you explain the impact of something through words, when it can only be experienced? I must admit from the very start that this post will come up extremely short! None the less, I will give it my best attempt. A red metal door with no handle: this is where I find myself waiting, wondering what lies within, and having no idea what it would actually reveal. The morning started like all the rest. I was tired and very emotionally drained. Yet, this is in no way a bad thing. The lack of strength has been brought on by a constant flow of serving, and the lack of tears from the move of God that I have been experiencing in Honduras thus far. I am now ready and in the car on the way to Rebirth, a detention center for teenage guys. My devotion time has been extremely refreshing, and I am so ready for all that God has in store for the day. We arrive at the center and are told that this place is even rougher than El Carmen (a jail we visited earlier in the week). These guys have committed worse crimes, or perhaps have already caused problems at another detention center. Yet, most of us are not scared. We have an odd peace. Christine leans over, as we walk in, and tells me she feels no fear but rather an excitement for whatever God is about to do. I can only smile and nod in agreement. We begin the tour walking back to the Orphan Helpers module, which is painted white and red, matching the official look. I breath in, attempting to capture the moment and take in all that surounds me. The campus is surprisingly nice. It is in no way perfect, but there is a certain light about this place that I am already experiencing. We view the “barber shop,” and meet the teacher who shows them how to cut their hair and allows them to learn this skill as a trade. He is a paid working from Orphan Helpers and seems extremely impressive. We turn the corner, and Edward, our leader for the week, knocks on a red metal door. I wait in anticipation. Edward pushes in the door and I see four guys sitting at a white table. There is a bookshelf in the corner and a stack of chairs behind me, but other than that there is nothing special about this room. We have entered a discipleship class led by Marvin, another amazing Orphan Helpers employee. (no shock there.) My eyes find their way to a very alluring guy at the end of the table. Something is different about him. I feel drawn to him. Our eyes meet. It is in this moment that time seems to stop, or at least my mind blacks everything out that is taking place around me. God lays on my heart that i am staring into the eyes of a future leader for the gospel, a modern day Paul of shorts. Yet even as I think this, I have no idea how true this statement really is. Over the next 10 minutes we meet the four guys before us, learning their names and a few details about them. We talk back and fourth hearing their needs and struggles. It has now been revealed to us that they are the core believers in Rebirth; The leaders of the few Christian guys in the jail. Though I still can’t stop looking at who i now know to be Caesar, it is quickly being revealed to us that all these guys are extremely anointed by God. We decide to gather around them, laying hands on them, to pray for them. They get u to hold off for a few short moments while they can run grab another Christian guy. They call him “the pastor.” He is a 15 year old boy named Luis, and immediately has the same effect on me as Caesar has had. He radiates Jesus Christ from the moment he turns the corner. Anointed is the only word that comes close to describing these five guys. We join in a sweet time of prayer for them that is very powerful! The unity I feel with them is indescribable. I long to be a part of their brotherhood. Afterwards they have us sit around the room, and begin to share their stories. What ensues over the next hour or so is unbelievable. There stories are unfathomable; The pain they have experienced is nearly unbearable.
Our group shares tears with them, at times even having to encourage and support them with human touch in order for them to even be able to continue. (I can’t tell you all that we heard because of my long-windedness in this writing ;) but I would like to give you some short details) Caesar was the leader of three hundred boys as the head of a gang. They killed people for him, sold drugs for him, and followed his every command. He was a born leader, yet used his influence thus far in life for evil. He was saved, by the grace of God, a few months earlier, at Rebirth, in the very room we were now seated. My earlier mental comparison to the apostle Paul is all to real now. Their stories are similar in so many ways. Rob attempts to film him for our documentary, and Marvin lets us know He will have to be filmed from the back to protect his identity and to keep the gang from killing him, Caesars response is simple: I am not worried because God will protect me, and besides, to live is Christ but to die is gain! If you would have been able to look into his eyes like we did, you would have no doubt that Caesar is anointed to be a modern day Paul. I will continue throughout the rest of the day shedding many tears over what all God has brought him through, and what all he will accomplish for the kingdom of God. The only crazy thing is that each and every testimony the five guys shared was equally as powerful! Some had been molested at young ages; They had been in gangs; They had murdered people; They had lost multiple loved ones. There stories were mind blowing and God was so prevalent in all of them! These guys were some of the most incredible believers I have ever met. (for sake of time I’ll share the entirety of their stories with you when I get home) Our time of being with them and encouraging them was one of the neatest moments of my life. We went out on the lawn afterwards and other inmates gathered around as we worshiped. After One Voice sang a few songs they wanted to lead a few worship songs. Their worship blew me away. They worshiped in such genuineness! The way they cried out to the Lord in the openness of the jail had me crying through out the entire time they sang. An off key group of guys will go down as one of the best worship services I’ve ever been a part of! A red metal door with no handle: this is a picture my mind can’t seem to forget. Behind it lies a brotherhood of believers. These five guys are the future of Christianity. This door withholds the truest believers I think have ever met.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Honduras Day 3 - Part 3
Drew: In the beginning of the day we had the privilege of going to p Adolecentes. Our trip there started with us leading them in worship (singing praise and worship songs in Spanish; doing some our concert music; and some gave their testimonies). After that was done, they got to lead us in worship. The lady there had taught the kids praise songs, with motions (AWESOME). To be perfectly honest, I did not know the first few songs, but then were told to hold hands with the people next to us. Then a song that we frequently do in chapel (“From the Inside Out” by Hillsong), and in that moment, I have never felt more close to God. It was almost like He was right in front of me, and all I could do is just break down and try to get out the words and scream them in English while everyone is singing in Spanish. But, here’s the thing, these kids have been through more than I can ever imagine, but the are still somehow able to sing “Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades.” Then, we got to hang out with the kids, which was very fun. I’m not going to forget them, I can’t spell their names, but if you ask me, I’ll be able to tell you their names in a heartbeat. There was an evident language barrier because of my lack of Spanish, but it was amazing because I wrote down a Bible verse, and they don’t speak English, but she recognized the Scripture passage and was able to quote the verse. This, for me, was one of the best parts of the trip.
Ben: El Carmen was probably the saddest place we visited, in my opinion. Granted, all the other centers were sad in their own way, but this one was more so then the others. Going into a place where security guards are armed with large seemingly automatic weapons and all the young men (for that is what they are) are behind bars, causes one to think twice before getting closer. At first we were all terrified with all the girls hiding behind Kyle, but after the first, oh, about 30 minutes or so our fear transitioned into sadness. I went into one of the dormitories with Katie, Mr. Eduardo, and Mrs. Poplin. All the boys lined against the wall as we distributed Coca-Cola. As we asked them their names and ages, repeatedly I heard the number “Diecisiete” (17). Since I’m turning 17 on March 25, I felt a sort of bond with these guys. At that point I realized that the only real differences between myself and the young inmates before me were our location in the world and the level of grace God had granted us. It also dawned on me that if wasn’t for the grace of God in my life, I would be in their position or worse. When we had been at the orphanage for little children, we were sorry for them because they had been abandoned. Despite this they were delighted at our arrival and showed us love as we shared ours. When we had been at Mujeres Adolecentes, we were sad because they had been abused. Yet despite this, they showed the grace of God through their worship and their overall happy attitudes. At El Carmen, though, there was very little evidence of God’s grace that I observed although some did seem to show a grasp of the Gospel, meaning that they were close, we believe, to being saved. The majority of the men though seemed unremorseful. This place needs lots of prayer. The staff needs lots of prayer. But most of all, the youth need prayer, especially for their spiritual condition and their future (both temporarily and eternally).
When we went to the Genesis Center, I got really excited. The place was covered in weeds, the buildings were decaying and cob-webby. As my Dad would say, “It has potential.” From purely an engineering’s perspective I saw that this place could and would look really nice when it was completed. On the following day we had visited Tree of Life. This place was, more or less, a completed version of Genesis. Seeing this showed me even more how much potential Genesis could have and much it could impact the lives of the Honduran orphans. Granted, this is not as important as the spiritual levels of the people we have been dealing with, however, this is a place that will eventually be used for the spreading of the Gospel, so it is also important. I have a love of building things and being constructive. When I saw this place, it made me realize that cleaning up this place would be something I would love to participate in. Though I may never see this place again I may be able to use the ideas I have gained here to promote the Lord’s work in other parts of the world, if it be His will. The Genesis Center truly is a new beginning.
The Waterfalls
Michael: The waterfall was probably the most anticipated day of the week. We had about a 1 1/2 hour trip from Alba’s house to the waterfall. I was expecting to start at the base of the falls and then go into the cave. When we got there, we got out of the van and then saw this little rapids. We then walked a short distance and got to overlook the real falls (which were about 150 ft tall). Unlike how I expected, we had to walk down the side of the mountain before we went into the cave. We stopped at the observation deck (which was quite wet and muddy) to put our stuff we did not want to loose or get wet. After a short walk through some mud, we had to jump about ten ft above a small pool of water to wade across. When we got to the other side, we were about to go under the falls. While the water was crushing down on us (it felt like riding a roller coaster in the front row and in a hurricane) we had to do some climbing. When we finally reached the cave, there was a small overhand that shielded us from the water. The hole to go into the cave was only big enough for one person to slide through at a time. After I got in the cave, I sat against the wall and felt this hand smack me in the face! Evan had thought he was the las one in and felt for the wall and hit me instead! I was then told that the cave was only big enough for ten people, not the fifteen we had in there. After some pictures, we all slowly came out of the cave. The trip back was not as bad, mainly because the water was to our backs. Just before we got back to the deck, there was a 25 ft cliff that we were allowed to jump off of. This was probably the best part of the trip. Most every one jumped... including Mama Futrell! The second time I got to jump I did a cannonball in the water. Apparently it made a weird noise because everyone was asking me if I was ok after my jump. I was perfectly fine. That pretty much sums up my version of the falls.
Karen: The waterfall was a great experience for all, even those that did not venture behind the falls and into the cave. It was so beautiful with rainbows appearing in various places; truly a reminder of God’s majesty and power! As the students were sharing in the evening about their visit to the falls Katie commented about going behind the water “it was dark, you could not see; you had to hold hands and follow the guide.” When they got to the place where they were going to jump off the cliff and into the water, she told us that she said a quick prayer and jumped right in trusting that the guide would not let her jump some place that was not safe. She thought it was one of the most wonderful experiences she had ever had! I was immediately reminded - and I shared this with the students - that this is what this whole trip has been about! As a matter of fact, this is what our life is like when we follow Jesus. God placed this opportunity in front of us and said, “jump, this is where I want you to be.” Some were afraid because they did not know what was in store; however, we came here to Honduras trusting God and all have shared that it has been one of the greatest experiences they have ever had. In our lives we go through places of darkness just like in the cave and behind the falls, but if we hold on to God’s truth and follow our guide - the Holy Spirit - he will lead to into the light and safety. Sometimes we come to places that are unknown and outside of our comfort zone - like jumping off a 10 foot cliff into swirling water - but God says, “jump, experience the great things I have for you. I am with you!” When you are in God’s will you will have the time of your life!!!
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