Honduras Day Two

Day Two - San Pedro Sula:

Primera Iglesia Evagelistica Reforma

Primera Iglesia del Nazareno

Nueva Esperanza

Kathy:  It was amazing to sing some of the same worship songs we sing at home - only “en espanol” - and to watch the people worship.  Everyone was friendly and welcoming.  The children at the Nazarene church came up to us and hugged us and made us feel right at home.  I was surprised to see several large churches as we drove through the city.

The children at Nueva were so glad to see us.  This facility is run by the government and Orphan Helpers provides volunteers and supplies. We took a tour and saw the young girls’ room, the infant room, the playground and the dining area. We weren’t allowed to take pictures of the dormitories on the inside.  Even though the facility was only four years old, the signs of wear & tear made it look much older.  The girls’ room had metal bunk beds with stained mattresses and the light fixtures were pulled from the walls. It was a beautiful day so we played with the children outside at the playground, which had recently been donated and comparable to what you would see at a park in the U.S.  It was great to watch our students play and bond with the children who were so hungry for attention and love. Later, we went inside and the students sang for the orphans.  Later we helped hand out plates of food for their dinner - beans, tortilla and rice - which is what they typically eat at all three meals.  It was hard to leave the children.  After dinner, we shared our thoughts of the day and talked about what we can do when we get back home to help. 

Jamie:  Today we went into two churches and were able to get a glimpse of the way people in Honduras worship on a Sunday. I think we are all in agreement that being able to worship with them (and in a different language) was one of the best moments of the day. The power and presence of God was everywhere, and seeing them cry out to the same God we worship every Sunday was comforting, because God is working in people’s lives in Honduras just as much as He is in the U.S. 

Although being at church was fun, going into Nueva Esperanza to spend time with the children was the best experience ever (BTW the kids there range from infancy to 12 years old). From the moment we got out of the vans the kids were absolutely starving for attention, and all you want to do is give it to them! At first seeing the way they live in the orphanage is just sad- it is dirty and smelly, very few of them have shoes, and none of them have clean clothes. Then once you spend more time there and get to see how happy those kids are regardless of what they have been through, it is evident that they consider it a blessing to even have a place to eat and sleep (and they were also just ecstatic to see us). When we got there we toured the classrooms, girl’s & boy’s bedrooms, the toddler’s room, and the infant’s room. Again, seeing the way the children live is sad, I wanted to take every one of them home with me.. because they do not deserve that life style- no one does! At first glance you think, ‘what can I do to help them?’ but that thought does not have much time to progress before five little kids come and jump on you with the biggest smiles you have ever seen, and it is almost suddenly that you realize the answer to your question is love. They need people who trust God enough to come love them! We were reminded that we were only going to be in Honduras for a week, so what about the other 51 weeks of the year? It’s not just in Honduras, there are people in need everywhere. Yet we always find great excuses to pass up those kinds of opportunities. 

If there is such a thing as love at first sight, I felt it when i saw a little boy named Daniel. At first “Daniel dos” (Daniel Ethridge) just needed some help translating a conversation with little “Daniel uno” as we called him (because ironically they had the same name), but after talking with him and loving on him I could tell it was going to be impossible to leave. We found out a few facts about our little man- he had only been at the orphanage for about a week, because the mentors did not know of him. He is ten years old and has two brothers, one is four and one is eleven, and he was the only one at the orphanage. It is so hard to explain how you can meet someone and then after spending only a few hours with them, have such strong feelings for them and genuinely want to take care of them forever and make their life better. I would do anything for that little boy! The fact that we spoke two different languages did not even matter. If we did not understand what the other was saying then we would point or gesture until we did. But most of the time we did not even have to talk, just holding him or ticking him, or making silly faces to see him smile was enough. As Daniel E. and I were talking he said, “Love is a universal language” haha.. it is so true! I love that little kid, and I pray that he remains at the orphanage so he can receive a Biblical education. Leaving that place was absolutely heartbreaking. It is hard to believe I will probably not see any of them again. But I trust the Lord to look after them and pray that somehow, some way I can see Daniel again one day.

This was said by our Orphan Helper leader at the meeting Sunday night: 

“You’ll never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have”

-Corrie Ten Boom