Sundays are always an adventure here, but some Sundays hold more surprises than others. Last Sunday, May 13, was such a day for us. It went something like this...
7:15 a.m. A little after 7 a.m. Mike & I left our home in La Esperanza for the Lenca works in the mountains. Before leaving, I made sure I had on lots of insect repellent and I drank only enough water to get my vitamins down. (This is because where we are going they only have "pathrooms"!) With us is Victor and Hector, two teenage boys from our church in La Esperanza, and Magda. (Magda is fifteen and is staying with us until the 21st of this month when her new adoptive parents will come to take her to her new home in the U.S.) The rest of our regulars, Hotir, Alex, Salvador, Clemente, and Leonidas, are not with us today. Hotir needed a break and didn't go, and his brother, Alex, is having neck and back problems and can no longer go and help me with the children's classes in the mountains. The others went to the mountains on Saturday so that they could get an early start and visit the struggling mission in Zapotillo. (This is the work where you drive one and 1/2 hours, park the vehichle, and then hike for one and 1/2 hrs. Because of his health issues, Mike can no longer make this trip.)
The dirt roads are never very good, but now, during the rainy season, they are especially horrendous. We are so very thankful for the the 4-wheel drive, heavy duty, Ford truck that was donated to our ministry. It is an invaluable and integral part of the work here and there is no way we could go and do what we do without it! As we bumped, slipped and slid our way to the first service in San Lorenzo, we stopped occasionally along the way to pick up people that were walking along the road.
The dirt roads are never very good, but now, during the rainy season, they are especially horrendous. We are so very thankful for the the 4-wheel drive, heavy duty, Ford truck that was donated to our ministry. It is an invaluable and integral part of the work here and there is no way we could go and do what we do without it! As we bumped, slipped and slid our way to the first service in San Lorenzo, we stopped occasionally along the way to pick up people that were walking along the road.
9:00 a.m. We arrived just in time to hold our first service of the day. As we pulled up, it was easy to see that San Lorenzo had had as much rain as La Esperanza. Seeing the slick, red, muddy clay, and knowing we had to walk about a half mile in the light drizzling rain to the little adobe home where services are held, I put on my rain jacket with the hood and changed my shoes to the rubber flipflops that I had brought along "just in case". (They're much easier to clean.) By the time we reach Engenia's and Silverio's home, my feet are filthy and I have about 3 inches of sticky mud stuck to the bottom of my shoes.
Normally, my children's class is held outside since the adults are meeting in the largest room of the little three room house. I was wondering how I was going to teach in the rain, when Engenia offered to let us have class in her little kitchen. (Her kitchen consists of a little stick shack on the side of her home that has a mud stove in it.) It was nice and warm and dry and, Boy, was I thankful! Slowly, the children began to trickle in as we sang the opening songs. Then, as I was teaching, I realized that something was holding the children's attention... and it wasn't me! There, in the corner of the kitchen, under the edge of a little wooden box, was a mother duck and two little fuzzy yellow ducklings. And there was another little duckling halfway out of it's shell! You just never know what may happen or "who" may show up for class! Anyway, by the time class was over, we ended up with a pretty good little group: Besides myself, there was Magda, eight children, one mother duck and three little yellow ducklings!
Normally, my children's class is held outside since the adults are meeting in the largest room of the little three room house. I was wondering how I was going to teach in the rain, when Engenia offered to let us have class in her little kitchen. (Her kitchen consists of a little stick shack on the side of her home that has a mud stove in it.) It was nice and warm and dry and, Boy, was I thankful! Slowly, the children began to trickle in as we sang the opening songs. Then, as I was teaching, I realized that something was holding the children's attention... and it wasn't me! There, in the corner of the kitchen, under the edge of a little wooden box, was a mother duck and two little fuzzy yellow ducklings. And there was another little duckling halfway out of it's shell! You just never know what may happen or "who" may show up for class! Anyway, by the time class was over, we ended up with a pretty good little group: Besides myself, there was Magda, eight children, one mother duck and three little yellow ducklings!
10:30 a.m. When services were over, we slogged our way back to the truck. The rain had stopped and been replaced by a humid heat. As usual, there were others who wanted a ride, either to the next service in Ojo de Agua or into town. Everyone climbed on board and we bumped our way toward Ojo de Agua for the next service. On the way, we always stop at Ricarda's home and pick up her and her family. And again, as usual, she called Mike and I to come down the hill to her little adobe house. Nearly every Sunday, when we stop for her family, she has something prepared for us. Today, it is a cup of hot milk. It's not something I really like, but I would never offend her. And so I take it with a smile and drink every drop of it. Sometimes, when she can, she serves us coffee, and many times, she will also give us a small piece of boiled yucca, patasti or fried platano. The generosity of these poor people never ceases to amaze me! While waiting for her grandchildren to finish getting ready, Ricarda shows us that the milk goat that Mike has loaned to her family has had a kid! (Mike loans out goats and cows to help families that otherwise would not have any milk for their children. They keep them till the animal has at least two babies, one for them to keep and one for us.) Finally, the whole family is ready and all seven jump into the back of the truck... and by the time we arrive in Ojo de Agua, we have added three more to the load.
11:00 a.m. We arrived at our church in Ojo de Agua and we all piled out of the truck. Others had already arrived by foot and were visiting with one another outside the front door. The day before, Mike and several other men worked hard trying to get the tile laid before the services this morning. But around 4:00, the regular quiting time for most workers, Mike had to leave to get home in time for the Saturday night youth meeting. When he left, about the 5 feet at the back of the church was left without tile. What a surprise it was when we walked into the church and the work had been completed! Some of the men had stayed late and finished the job. The amazing thing is that some of these men were just men in the community and did not even attend the church... until this Sunday! In fact, we had about 75 in the service! Several were visitors and 25 were were children there for my Sunday School class.
My Sunday School Class at the Calvary Baptist Church of Ojo de Agua.
When church was over, Mike had a chance to talk to one the men from the community who had come and helped with the work the day before and had returned to visit the services. By the time we left to head back to La Esperanza, that man, and a another young couple who was also visiting, had accepted the Lord as their personal Savior!
Before we left for La Esperanza, several more climbed in the back of the truck, some with large sacks of vegetables to sell at the market in town. We head back to La Esperanza with a truck full of people and 50lb. sacks of vegetables.
3:00 p.m. We finally arrived home! Leaving our muddy shoes outside, we entered the house dirty, tired, hungry and ready for a bathroom! On Saturday, I had pretty much prepared our lunch for Sunday, so all I had to do was warm it up. After cleaning up some, we ate and then Mike laid down to try to rest a little before the next service while I began preparing things for my 3rd class of the day. I emptied the bag that I had taken to the mountains and began loading the things I would need for the next class. I still had a few things to complete before I would have everything ready for the children (things to cut out, a few supplies to gather, etc.) A little after 4:30, I heard Hotir leaving with our truck to go pick up the people in Quebrada de Lajas for the 6:00 services in our main church in La Esperanza.
This little community just outside of town is usually about a 30-45 minute drive (depending on the current road conditions). For many years we have held Sunday services there, crowding them in, between the services in the mountains and our service in La Esperanza. Thankfully, usually one of our faithful workers has handled that service. But in the last few months, attendance there had pretty much dwindled down to one family. Mike decided that maybe if we bussed them in for the services at our church in La Esperanza that it might encourage them. So, for the last few Sundays, they have joined us at New Hope Baptist. And each Sunday, more and more are coming from Quebrada de Lajas to worship with us.
At around 5:30 I heard the truck return. Hotir and everyone from Quebrada got into the bus to go with him on the bus route. A few minutes later, we, too, left the house so that we could unlock the church and make sure everything was ready for the 6:00 p.m. services.
Sunday School is always held during the church service, but on this night, my class was going to do something a little different. After taking attendance and marking the childrens points on their competition sheets, we all went downstairs to the auditorium for the song service. Several of our young people had worked hard to prepare several song specials. We were going to support them with our presence and then we would return to our class. By the time we went down stairs, we knew it was beginning to rain again because we could hear it hitting the tin roof.
The first song was a nice duet done by a couple of teens in our church. The second song was a special sung by a group of about 8 of our young men and one of our teenage girls. About the time they got to the second verse, the lights began "pulsating" from very bright to very dim. After a minute or so, the power was so low that the sound system cut off, as well as the music for the special, and the entire church looked as if we had outfitted the building with nothing but 15 watt bulbs. (You need to understand that problems with the electricity is something we have always lived with here. For this reason, I have oil lamps in every room in our house... and... we've used them so much that I have had to replace the oil several times!)
Since the song service was obviously over, nearly 30 children and I began to shuffle our way back upstairs for class. Just as we were walking into the room, the power finally went completely out and all the children started screaming! It was pitch black and I could see nothing, so I wasn't sure if the children were just frightened or if someone had gotten hurt coming up the stairs! Finally, a couple of our teenage boys came running to our rescue with a couple of small flashlights. It turns out that some of the little ones had started screaming because they were frightened and the older ones started screaming, too!
After calming everyone down, we prayed, sang a song, and then I began to teach my lesson by flashlight. About the same time that I started the lesson, the rain began to just pour. Being on the second floor, the tin roof was just above our heads and the sound was nearly deafening! I had to teach the lesson while literally screaming at the top of my lungs so I could be heard! The children couldn't really see the story illustrations and, of course, there was no way we could do the handcraft. But, thankfully, Mike dismissed everyone a little early.
Although most of the 72 people in attendance had come on the bus, we had one young Bible institute student that rides his bicycle from across town for every service. He, without a second thought, just pulled the hood of his jacket up over his head and took off for home on his bicycle. While Hotir delivers people to their homes on the bus, it is our job to take the people from Quebrada de Lajas home in the truck . We crammed as many as possible in the double cab and the rest climbed into the back of the pickup in the pouring rain with not one complaint.
The dirt road to Quebrada was slippery and dark. As we passed through the town, we could see that there was no electricity at all in La Esperanza or the outlaying communities. When we arrived at Quebrada, those that had ridden in the back of the truck jumped down and ran around to Mike's window. Although they were drenched with rain and some were shivering, with a smile that would light even the darkest night, we heard the words, "Gracias, Hermano Miguel! Hasta poximo Domingo!" ("Thank you, Bro. Mike! Until next Sunday!") Now I ask you... How could you NOT love people like this?????
9:00 p.m. By the time we got home at around 9 p.m., the rain had slowed to a drizzle again. Mike hopped out of the truck and unlocked the gate to our property. Our dogs came running to the gate, excited that we were home once again, and they ran beside the truck as we pulled up to our dark house. With flashlight in hand, Mike unlocked our door and we entered the house and began light the oil lamps. Then, by lamp light, I made us some sandwiches. (If you have frequent power failures, as we do, it's a good idea to always have something on hand that you can eat that doesn't have to be cooked.) As we sat down at the table to eat our sandwiches, I began to explain to Magda that usually when this happens we don't get our power back till some time the next day. A few minutes later though, the power suddenly came back on. What a wonderful invention electricity is!
Later that night, we all crawled into bed, exhausted by the day's activities. As I lay there waiting for sleep to come, I thought of all that had happened that day... and thought, "How truly blessed I am!!!".
Some of you who read this are probably thinking, "Those people must be nuts!!", while other's are thinking, "Man! I'm so glad it's them and not me!" And all I could think about as I lay in the dark on Sunday night was just how thankful I was that God called MIKE AND I to live and work in this place... among these people! It's so awesome that WE have the privilege to tell them of the awesome love of God and the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, and show them from God's Word how they can be forgiven for their sins, escape Hell, and know beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are going to Heaven when they die!
You're right! It's not always easy. In fact, very seldom is any of it easy. But as we say here in Honduras, "Vale la pena!" or "It's worth it!"... and I wouldn't trade my life with any one else in the world!
No comments:
Post a Comment