Puerto Barrios Part Two

On the morning on Tuesday we went to go visit some really poor families that live in the foothills just out of town. They lived in small houses made of ruff-sawn wood with metal roofs and dirt floors. They cook everything with fire and get their water from a stream that flows through the area. It was actually one of the most beautiful places that we have visited so far. If it was in the states they would probable be moved out so that high end homes could me build on the land that they live on. The first thing that I noticed as we approached these homes is that they are all very welcoming. I think that they are happy for a break in there routine. We brought them closes and prayed with them. One of the families gave us palmelos which are like a sweet grapefruit and small oranges. It was really humbling to be given something by people that have so little. As we went to leave, they gave us more and later as we were driving by they stopped us and asked us to come down and get more. I couldn’t believe it, here this family has no income except to sell this fruit at the market and they are showering it on us. It was all I could to to accept it.

Then we went to a small cold water spring in the Mt that has a small cement pool that we swam in. It was so refreshing to swim in the cold water and not be hot. After about an hour we loaded up and headed back down to town to visit an orphanage. It was very run down and in need of some maintenance. We played with the kids for a while and I talked with the woman who ran it about coming back and doing some maintenance next week. It was so great to watch the kids interact with each other and how generous they are if you give something to one of them, they automatically share with each other. Again it just broke my heart to see how generous these people are. I can’t wait to see the kids again.

We got up early on Wednesday to go visit some families at the local Landfill. We all packed into the old GM panel van that we have been using to get around, it has no windows and only front seats. It always feels like we are in movie on our way to rob a bank steal some jewels, we just need to get some black masks and learn to get out of the van a little faster 🙂 We arrived at the dump and started to walk up the entrance road to the main area. The smell was overwhelming before we even got up over the hill.  As we crested the hill you could see the smoke from the smoldering fires that were burning through out the heaps of garbage. There was a small group of young men picking through a pile of fruit that had been thrown away, looking for any that was still edible. They offered some to us as we walked up. We prayed with them for their families and that they would find work. Gave them clothes for their children and some juice. Then we continued to walk down the road. As we got closer to the actual dump site, there were more huts dug into the side of the hill.  I can’t really imagine many places I would like to live less. Between the smell, and being surrounded 24/7 by rotting, burning garbage. It is hard to think why anyone would stay there, let alone live there. But its all they know. The children there don’t go to school, they just help with collecting the recyclables and such. They don’t have a chance to learn to do anything else and so the just stay and take over the family business. It felt like we where doing so little to help them. I wanted to get the kids out of there and find them a better life. But I don’t know where they would go. It just rips your heart out to see people living like this. Praying for them seams like such a small gesture but we know that our Father can do anything so please pray these people would find supernatural provision in their lives and that they would know that is where it came from.

More to come …..