Mission work in Honduras: How many days has it been since yesterday?

Thursday Oct 14

Being in Honduras is like being in a time warp. I was in Roswell just a few days ago and yet I can barely remember it! On the other hand, I can't believe it is already almost time to leave. Each day is so full it seems like more and yet it goes by so fast. Today was definitely one of those days.

Sadly, the weather let me down and we had to say good bye to Pamm and Alex. David, Gladys, and Isidra and I took a long drive to visit a woman, Maria, who will be entering LAMB's micro-enterprise program. Oh my. She lives in a little tiny sort of house in the back of a rabbit warren of a building. She has a concrete floor and a tin roof courtesy of the mayor of her town. Some of the walls are solid, some are made of a patchwork of cardboard. Inside is a hodgepodge of furniture, two rooms - one bedroom for herself and 3 daughters still at home and a living room/kitchen. Her home was as neat as a pin (MUCH cleaner than mine)with pictures of her older daughters and their school diplomas framed and hung on the bare wood wall. Her 15 day old grandson was there while the new mother was at a clinic getting a check up. Maria has no legs. She lost them both in a train accident. She has an old rickety wheelchair. She sells sweets, apples, churros on the street to make a living. She wants a micro-loan to buy some produce and supplies to sell so she can save money to buy a sewing machine in order to start a sewing business. She makes curtains, bed linens, repairs clothes, etc. Unfortunately, she has not been able to sell much lately because she has just been diagnosed with stage 3 uterine cancer. She is so worried about what will happen to her 3 daughters still at home if she dies. But, she doesn't have the money for the tests (biopsy and something else I didn't recognize) she needs. How much are the tests? $75. I committed that amount from the Atlanta team on the spot. Please pray that she is healed. So she is telling us this, tears down her face, she can't sleep worrying about her children. She sighed and said, "This is just so much to handle." She suddenly brightened up and proclaimed, "I have no legs but that won't stop me!" Gladys and Isidra said they would make her the loan and provide her a sewing machine so she could get started on her new business. We prayed together and then left. Was that only half a day? There was so much to absorb -- to see the life she lives and the grace with which she lives it is overwhelming.

Then on to SBV! I got there and hung out in the library for a couple of hours. The entire time I had one little boy or another, sometimes two, climbing on my lap to listen to a book. Heaven. There were several other children in there all reading books sprawled out on the floor. Jimmy was carefully perusing the books for the older children. He loves to read. He would show me his favorite books or point out the favorites of other children. He proudly showed me the books his Madrina, Marilyn, has given him. It was wonderful.

Next I visited Sala Cuna to see the babies. I was captivated by Yolani who was listening to music and really enjoying it with her whole body during naptime. I couldn't resist so I tiptoed in to watch. Gabriel, one of the staff, followed and got Yolani giggling and then belly laughing. What a glorious sound to hear her laugh!

I moved on to Cottage 2 to put my things in the office. Guess who was sitting there with his own computer? JORGE!!! I haven't seen him in two years! He looks great. He is 16, handsome as he can be, deep voice, and sweet smile. He is living with his mother, whom I met, and going to school. I ran into Xiomara again so it really felt like old home week. We really have spectacular children there.

I played with the younger children for an hour on the playground and the slide. It was a non-stop flow of children down the slide as I horsed around with them. Mondo-fun but boy am I exhausted! My favorite moments were holding Paola's hand as she zoomed down the slide laughing hard and grinning ear to ear. She came to us from such a traumatic and violent environment. It has taken quite awhile for her to get over that trauma so it is such a joy to see her happy and just having a blast. God is good and God is most definitely here.

I am going to fall into bed as soon as I upload some pictures...

Hasta manana!