Honduras is a country that I was not ready to say goodbye to.
Between debrief and how our schedule worked out for travel days in February, we ended up only having two short weeks with New Life Children’s Home.
During our first week at the orphanage, I was mainly doing construction in the kitchen building a countertop and tiling. I was thrilled to be doing a hands-on project and to see the progress that we were able to make each day, but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that I wasn’t getting to spend much time with the kids. This was my first experience working with an orphanage and I had expected to have much more quality time spent building strong connections with them. With only two weeks at the orphanage though and one week already complete, I was starting to think that those connections would have to come another month at a different ministry.
However, those feelings quickly changed that second week because we have a good God who knows our hearts desires and who loves to give us good gifts. Looking back, my time in Honduras reflects Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
I had first noticed a young boy named Luis our first week there because he had the worst black eye I had ever seen. It was a deep purple with a thick white line going across the eyelid. Apparently, he had been playing at the river and hit his eye on a rock after jumping in. With 47 kids running around the orphanage, I didn’t even know Luis by name yet, I just recognized him by his black eye whenever he would come by the house as we were working.
Our second week there though, just as we were jumping in the truck to leave one day, Luis comes over to me as I’m getting in the back, and insists that I sit in the front seat. I went up front and after sitting down he closes the door for me and waves goodbye. In that moment, he stole my heart and the rest of the week we were inseparable.
The next day was the first day of school for the kids. Luis ran up to me when we arrived so that I could see him in his school uniform:) It was so special to be able to spend the morning with him before the first day of school and to watch him participate in the first day opening ceremonies.
After school the next day, we took the boys to the pulperia down the street for snacks. Luis and I walked hand in hand and talked about what he had learned at school that day. He even insisted on carrying my backpack for me the entire way. Luis is only 10 and he’s already such a gentleman:)
We had so many special moments that week it felt like we had spent so much more time together. From him grabbing my hand whenever we walked together, to him laying in my lap while playing Donkey Kong on his Gameboy, to sitting on the swings together as he taught me Spanish (such as the Spanish word for booger: “moco”), our time together was absolutely priceless.
Saying goodbye to Luis on our last day was one of the hardest goodbyes I’ve ever had to say. But no one said this race would be easy. I left a piece of my heart back in Honduras, but I wouldn’t trade our time together for the world. While it was a short month, the Lord reminded me of how sweet His love is for us through the love that Luis showed me and how much of an impact we can have in another person’s life just by loving them well – no matter how long we have together.
I’ve heard people say that once you have kids of your own, you begin to understand Christ’s love for you on a whole new level. While I haven’t experienced this just yet, my time with Luis gave me a glimpse into that feeling. It truly amazes to me that God would bring Luis- a boy without loving parents of his own- into my life to serve as a beautiful example of what it looks like to love with the love of Christ.
To learn more about New Life Children’s Home, check out http://www.newlifehonduras.org/default.aspx.
Team Adelphoi is now currently serving in Leon Nicaragua! More to come on this month’s ministry.
