TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras-
Located precariously on the side of a mountain, on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, Buena Vista and its neighbor, Nueva Capital are relatively new, yet exceedingly distressed, neighborhoods. During the massive flooding of 1998’s Hurricane Mitch, people from all over the capital fled to the highlands to escape the dangerous waters. When the storm finally receded, 1.5 million people found themselves suddenly homeless. With the capital a complete mess and little ability to recover the former ghettos, the government of Honduras decided that a previously unused mountain could house these people.
Looking over the sprawling capital city of Tegucigalpa, it is 15 years later and this community still does not have paved roads or any running water whatsoever, drinkable nor otherwise. The roads occasionally get graded and while we were standing near the concrete-blocked kindergarten building, a small tanker huffed up the path, a trickle of water flowing down the dusty label which stated: “Donated by the Government of Japan.”
In the eyes of Honduras, this mountain is an impoverished afterthought. A place to forget, a place for the forgettable.
Many of the children live with constant parasites or respiratory illnesses, a product of the poor infrastructure and dire living conditions. Recycled 2-liter soda bottles line the front of each classroom, each with a student’s name scrawled hastily, each filled to various degrees with “drinking” water as there is no water even at the public school.
Yet for Randy and Judy Lundrigan, and Dale and Carolyn Ruttan, this community is rich and fertile soil for the Gospel.
As the children’s pastor for Escuelas de Esperanza, Dale combines his deep knowledge of God’s Word with a passion to see the poorest children in Tegucigalpa come to know the Lord. He visits five different schools twice a month to share God’s love and message of hope. Through games, crafts, songs, and skits (yours truly made a great Jonah, only to get eaten by the whale in front of the kindergarteners, haha), Dale and his team encourage the least encouraged. They share the message of the Bible, not as an instant fix-all or a crutch, but as a vibrant, living message, one that speaks no matter what the situation.
Our daylong visit to Buena Vista allowed us to join Dale’s team and share some joy and fun times with the children of Buena Vista. We presented the message of Jonah and what it looks like to be obedient to the Lord, we colored pictures, we sang songs at the top of our lungs, we shared the story of Elisha and the Widow – that the Lord is able to take care of us.
The Lord has blessed Schools of Hope and their work in this community. Not only are they allowed to visit the schools, many school directors have invited Schools of Hope, knowing that the children here need the message of the Bible, of hope, of love, of redemption, even more than they need mathematics and literature.
The Lundrigans and the Ruttans work daily to reach the poorest of the poor, both in possessions and in hope. If serving the poor of Tegucigalpa is something you might consider, I would encourage you to check out Schools of Hope at http://www.schoolofhope.ca .
