I have been putting off a blog since we arrived because quite frankly it is the blog that no one wants to read. It is a blog about things people do not wish to speak of in social media, and so I refrain usually from putting it out there and I keep it to myself and to God because sometimes I just have to ask Him why it is this way.
The day we arrived here in Tegucigalpa we of course were overwhelmed by the sights and sounds,
even though we have lived among them before, but you see Honduras in many ways is much worse. The absolute poverty and desolation is sometimes all too much to bear. We had to make many trips on the road to Tegucigalpa our first month here in Honduras. This busy road (The Pan-American Highway) goes through several very poor communities and is also lined with large trash receptacles (dumpsters) in various areas as you enter the city because there is no trash pick up in the outlying areas. So we must bring the trash to Tegucigalpa ourselves for pick up. It then goes to the city dump. I will admit when I was told by our landlady (Veronica) that they went once a week to drop off their trash and they would gladly take ours if I would just put it out into recycled bags for paper, plastic, aluminum, other trash, and food (for the compost in our backyard), I gladly jumped on it in relief. Although I was a bit perturbed about why I needed to sort it all out in separate bags before putting it all in the same dump. I soon discovered in these trips to and from Tegucigalpa exactly why that was.
You see these large trash containers are not just the next to last stop for trash, they are also the
homes for many Hondurans. These Hondurans will gather up the recyclable items and sell them
when possible. They also will use them to improve on their lean to shelters, provide toys for their children, use as fuel for a fire to keep warm on the nights it drops down to the 50s (pretty common in the mountains outside the city) and perhaps saddest of all, find a meal for their family. They take what no one else wants.
The first time I saw this I realized what Veronica was doing in trying to sort the trash so that the children did not have to do the sorting themselves. I cannot tell you the remorse I felt for complaining about having to sort the garbage. Ken confided to me after working 3 weeks in small poor villages such as these, that even some of the Honduran translators were unaware of the abject poverty found in many of these communities. The conditions of many of these people can sometime feel overwhelming.
In the US many of our homeless are people with drug and alcohol addictions, or vets with PTSD
who are unable to maintain gainful employment. This is not necessarily the case with Hondurans. It is a cycle of poverty that appears to have no end. Most all of the close to 100 children in our Good Shepherd Children's Home come from families just like the one above. They suffer from malnutrition, neglect, and are starving for affection. As I get to know these children and see their lives now, it is hard to even fathom the life they led before they came to us. I am broken for these families as I drive by them on the busy highway to the city. There are more people than I can count some days, rummaging through the trash, only seeking a little something to eat to keep the hunger pains at bay or to stop their child's crying. I do not have any excuses that seem adequate as to why I have not fed them all myself except the task seems unending in its scope.
When Ken started going to the villages with the teams I was somewhat jealous at first I will admit. I have worked medical/ dental teams in the past with our previous mission and I enjoyed meeting the people in these poor villages and getting to know their stories and how God was working in these communities. But now I know these sweet children that have lived these lives. I interact almost daily with children who in a not too distant past had these hunger pains and were sorting through trash to find their next meal and shoes. I shudder to think of where these precious boys and girls I have come to love would be now if it were not for God's provision through this mission.
Over the last 3 weeks with 3 different teams in 3 different villages that Ken has been a part of, the
volunteers have seen over 5,800 patients, given out over 34,000 prescriptions, cared for almost 800 dental patients including extractions of 1,900 teeth, provided over 1,300 pairs of eyeglasses, distributed over 1,400 Bibles, given over 3,500 pounds or rice and beans, given over 300 cases of shoes and clothing, and most importantly saw 410 new believers begin a relationship with Christ. As Ken returned from each team, the burden for these broken people was still there, but the load felt lighter knowing that God was again providing through His people to show the Hondurans how very much He loves them. The needs may be overwhelming in light of the fact that we cannot help everyone we see, but to those who are fed, clothed, healed, and ministered to by this mission and the volunteers that work alongside us, it makes a world of difference. This is most especially the case for those who come to personally know as Savior the God who loves them and wants to care for them.
If this story touches you, it is my prayer that rather than be overwhelmed by the need, you will be motivated to do your part to help those in need where you can. There are many ways you can be a part of ministering to the people of Honduras. Whether it is through sponsoring a child in our Good Shepherd Children's Home, coming down and serving the people for one week each year as a volunteer, supporting one of the many ministry efforts of our mission, or becoming a partner of this ministry, we hope that you will prayerfully seek out the role God has for you in ministering to the "least of these".
The Nelson's Ministry page
BMDMI Ministry page
When Ken started going to the villages with the teams I was somewhat jealous at first I will admit. I have worked medical/ dental teams in the past with our previous mission and I enjoyed meeting the people in these poor villages and getting to know their stories and how God was working in these communities. But now I know these sweet children that have lived these lives. I interact almost daily with children who in a not too distant past had these hunger pains and were sorting through trash to find their next meal and shoes. I shudder to think of where these precious boys and girls I have come to love would be now if it were not for God's provision through this mission.
