Jeremiah is often referred to as “the weeping prophet” because of his burden for the lost and sinful people of his nation. As he looked around and saw their wrong paths and their coming destruction, his heart was broken and his eyes were filled with tears. While I certainly would not begin to put myself in the same class with this great prophet of God, it is not hard to understand his burden as I look at the multitudes without hope here in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Being here is certainly a reality check for one who is accustomed to life as we know it in America.
The extreme poverty here in most areas is unlike anything I have ever seen on any of my other mission trips. The people live in fear for the most part, there is very high unemployment, and a sense of hopelessness can be seen in their faces – – very few smiles. A perfect example of this is the orphanage we had the opportunity to visit yesterday. The children were brought in, 45-50 of them from young children to teens, and you could see that they didn’t want to be there. These are children that their parents don’t want – society’s throwaways. Several of our teen girls told some of the girls there that they were pretty, and they said, “No, we are not.” Some have never heard their mom or dad say, “I love you.” No smiles, just an empty stare when you look at them. My heart broke for these unwanted children.
Our wonderful teens did a mime program and then handed out lollipops and made balloon animals for the children. All of a sudden they began to interact, laughing and playing with their balloon “toys” and hugging on our kids. One of them asked one of our girls if she had to leave, and it broke her heart to say yes. For an hour and a half, their misery and poverty was interrupted by a message of hope and some people from another country who showed them some love and attention. I am so proud of our mission team for giving of themselves to be a blessing to kids who have absolutely nothing.
There are many other stories I would like to share with you now, but my time is brief due to the fact that we have kept such a busy schedule and we have VBS tomorrow, so we are going out to give out some more invitations. As we all enjoy our version of the American dream, stop and consider that not far from Florida is another world where so many have so little, and the worst part of all, most of them will die without the hope of new life in Christ. May God open our eyes and hearts to the need around this world and help us to live out our lives for His glory alone. To hear more about our mission trip, don’t miss the Evening Service on July 15 at 6:00 PM.