Mission work in Honduras: Sanctuary

“…with thanksgiving
I’ll be a living
Sanctuary for you”

Yesterday was our last day. (again I was too tired to blog) It was a joyful day. We started with the second half of our field day. Amy and Joey had us all very well organized. The children were put into 3 groups – oldest (“king size”) middle (“fun size”) and the little ones (“snack size”) We had 3 stations – tie dying, egg hunt, and the Cha Cha Slide (a fun line dance.) I was on the team with the fun size kids that included Melvin. Melvin is a precious child who is severely vision impaired. He has glasses which don’t seem to help much but, for unknown reasons, wasn’t wearing them for the egg hunt. So when we let the children loose to find the eggs, I grabbed his hand to help him. He kept repeating in this tiny little voice, “juevos, juevos, juevos…” (eggs, eggs, eggs) So we came upon the first egg nestled in the pine straw. I said, “Melvin, mire!” (Look) Melvin peered down at the ground and picked up a rock. (My heart ached at that moment.) I showed him the egg and he figured out that the bright colored blobs were eggs. We kept going, me pointing out the eggs. Several of the other children would run up periodically to check how many eggs Melvin had and would hand him one. They had been told they could find 4 eggs. Melvin ended up with 6 because it was so dear how the children were watching out for him. They were monitoring each other’s cache of eggs to make sure everyone had their 4. Dilcia wasn’t doing well so they were giving her eggs too. Fernando had found 6 and the kids scolded him. He very tearfully relinquished two. It was so sweet how generous these children are with each other.

Casey and John led the Cha Cha Slide. The kids loved dancing with the teens and started to pick up the dance right away. The funny thing was that John was using hand motions to indicate to the kids what to do since they couldn’t understand the directions in the song. The kids picked up his hand motions as part of the dance.

The tie dying was great, led by Carolyn, Anna, Bonnie, and Amy. This was a great success. The teens had twisted and rubber banded the T Shirts the night before. All the children got beautiful shirts and were so proud of them.

Meanwhile, Renee and Leonard continued to work. They were determined to finish the painting on Cottages 3 and 4 – and they did!

After lunch we all just chilled with the kids until it was time for the various ceremonies to start. At 1:45 all the teams, staff, and several of the children gathered in the courtyard to dedicate Cottage 4 to Wheeler. He thought we were gathering to wrap up the week. But..no! Oeland, from the other team, played guitar while we sang, “Lord we lift your name on high.” Then Suzy led us in a prayer of thanksgiving. Next I got up and read a Resolution expressing thanksgiving for Wheeler and Bonnie read the words on the plaque that will be mounted in Cottage 4. Suzy invited the children to say something. Daniel, Jimmy, and Julio all did. They were so dear expressing how appreciative they are for these beautiful cottages. It was wonderful.

After the dedication, we all walked up to the Chapel for a Good Friday service. I cannot begin to describe how beautiful, moving, and inspiring it was to worship in that space. We sat there facing those large (still open) windows overlooking the absolutely gorgeous scenery. This is truly God’s house. We sang “Sanctuary” – must have been written for this moment in this space. Wheeler read the psalm and I read the Passion. Suzy preached a sermon. She is always able to reach out and touch each person’s heart when she speaks. She invited people up to receive prayers. Several people went up to ask for specific prayers. Suzy would pray over the person. Two people from SC also came up and prayed over several of their team members. The Holy Spirit was powerfully present with us.

After the service, the children arrived. They put on their program, emceed by Xiomara. Xiomara is 13 years old and so poised. The little bitties came up and sang a couple of songs. Just like our services a couple of the little girls, including Jocelyn with a wide grin, belted out the songs while a few of the children stood there and stared at us! The fun size boys did a wonderful drama acting out the Good Samaritan story. It was marvelous, especially seeing Daniel as the burro on all fours carrying Julio, the Good Samaritan. Sergio was the victim and at first lay there “beaten and robbed” with a big grin suppressing giggles. When Julio came upon him and ministered to him, he lifted up Sergio and plopped him, face down, on the burro’s back. We roared! The girls danced for us, Julio sang a solo. He has a beautiful voice. The teens acted out a drama to music about the temptations in the world and how Jesus is the answer. After the drama, Reina came out and explained to all of us what we had seen. We all knew that they are all children of people who had succumbed to these temptations. It is so emotional to see them act out their own histories knowing they all have very deep faith and find joy each day from their relationship with their Savior Jesus. There were several other dances. Julio was in every one of them. He is very talented. In the midst of the dances there were technical difficulties. So Suzy invited people to come up and give their testimony. The only person who did was our own Casey. There were 60 people there, 25 of them teens from our group and the SC group. It took such courage to stand up and tell everyone about the struggles he has had with colitis and how that has helped him become closer to God. At the end, just as Xiomara was about to dismiss us, Suzy asked her to give her testimony. No words can describe this but let me try… She explained that before coming to SBV she had lived in another children’s home, not a very nice one. At age 9 she had gone to the police herself and announced she wanted to go to school but her parents wouldn’t let her. She was placed in this other home for 4 months. She didn’t explain how she moved from there to SBV but she confessed that she was unhappy when she arrived. She explained that she assumed it would be just like the other home. Of course, it isn’t and she went on to describe how her life has changed since coming to our Children’s Residential Home. The strength, courage, and faith these children have are so humbling and inspiring to us. We have much to learn from them. It is so evident that God is present here with His great love and healing power. How can I leave here again?

We had long tearful goodbyes. Maddie was crying very hard as she hugged the children for the last time. Mary was also visibly upset at the thought of leaving. On the way home, just about everyone was talking about when they would return.

An update about some of the children I have written about this week. Wheeler delivered the neck collar to Victoria for her son Adam in La Cantera. We pray this has brought him relief. Anna Karina has crutches now and has been to see a private doctor about her foot. He said the black skin where the graft is is ok, it is a scab. We are still not sure about that but at least she is able to move around the property. Tatiana is still in need of prayer. She remains in the hospital. We heard yesterday that the nail had moved backwards and was in her small intestines. Please pray very hard that she doesn’t need surgery. Jorge still needs medical care. Things move much too slowly here, especially in Holy Week. I will continue to press for him to come to the US for treatment. Please keep Jorge in your prayers.

We reluctantly leave today. Be gentle with your missioner when they return home, especially those making their first trip. Reentry into our US lives can be very difficult and jarring.

Thank you for reading this blog, for your prayers and support. Stay tuned for the next set of entries when we return to this most beautiful and sacred place.

Hasta la vista! Bendigos de Dios!