This blog in particular will contain some stronger, and slightly more graphic descriptions. In fact, I am censoring a lot of what I am writing to both respect the ministry and it’s willingness to be so open about their work, and to be sensitive to my readers.
“Our school isn’t for poor kids. The poor kids can afford to go to the public school. Our school is for the trash dump kids.”
This is what my team was told before we went to visit our first ministry: AFE (Amor, Fe, Esperanza – “Love, Faith, Hope”). Pastor Jeony had sat down with a few of us for coffee a few days prior to tell us about his ministry. In the northwest corner of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, is the trash dump. Families live and work there. Parents leave their babies in a box back at home, and the next youngest kid is in charge of taking care of them while they go to work. I could hardly believe that this was true, or rather, I didn’t want to believe that it was true.
I had the privilege of visiting the school that AFE has, literally, across the street from the trash dump. Pastor Jeony picked us up in the morning, and we headed up to where the school was, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The closer we got to the school, the more birds I saw. They were everywhere, flying in a circular motion. When the wind picks up, trash swirls up in a tornado formation in the sky and it is a unique sight to behold. We got the grand tour of this beautifully built school – which has everything from a nursery up through offering college courses.
We were told that children who once said they wanted to be trash dump workers when they grew up, because that’s all they ever saw, were now saying they wanted to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, fútbol superstars. They were being taught that a different future was not only out there, but possible and within their reach. Kids can come here and get a great education, and they are shown the love of Christ in the process. ?
During their recess hour, one little girl took my hand and led me around the playground. Her name was Daniela and she was 6 years old. She had the most gorgeous smile I had ever seen. There were no walls up with her – she was just willing to make a new friend. We sat on a swing set together and held hands. I experienced pure joy from the Lord that morning – witnessing these kids being so genuinely loved and cared for at this school.
During lunch time, Pastor Jeony told us some sobering stories about what these kids’ lives are like. There were beautiful stories about boys and girls who are now 20 or 21 that Pastor Jeony had met in the dump when they were only four years old. They are now taking college courses and preparing for their future. There were horrible stories that burned images in my mind that I wish had never been there. Yet at the same time, it opened my eyes to all the things I’m ignorant of, the things that Jesus sees and that break His heart.
The hardest story I heard was about two little sisters, about ages nine and ten. One of them had asked Pastor Jeony, “Pastor, why don’t the adults love the children?” Pastor Jeony asked them why they thought that. The girls seemed embarrassed to be asking. One of the sisters explained (in rather graphic detail) that they had found bodies of discarded babies in the dump. So they wanted to know, “Why don’t the adults love the children?”
You can hear these stories and not feel a thing because it’s too great to wrap your mind around it. You can hear these stories and feel your heart ache for the grave injustice that exists on our earth. You can even see for yourself, the place where these kids come from, and wonder what anyone could possibly do to help. What I do know is that I could not possibly be numb to this. I wanted to feel the agony that our Father in heaven feels. After spending the morning at AFE, playing with these precious children, and hearing about the lives of the trash dump families, I was awakened to a whole new reality – the reality that many of us either chose to ignore, or are just unaware of.
Being on the World Race means moving around a lot and experiencing the Kingdom of God throughout many countries. I couldn’t do anything in that moment to truly help the kids of AFE, aside from buying a beautiful bracelet made from recycled material (made by girls at the school), that would benefit the ministry. I offered my presence for a few hours. What good does that do? Something I’ve been learning is that God doesn’t need me for anything, but I get to be used by Him. The people that He leads me to meet and the places I come to are all exactly what He wants for me. It’s humbling to know that nothing is reliant on my ability or what I have to offer, but rather on how God works through me.
You don’t have to come all the way to Tegucigalpa, Honduras and see the dump for yourselves to have your heart softened. Look for people in your day to day life that need the love of Christ. I promise you that they are out there if you look for them, and if you have a heart that is ready to be broken.
To learn more about AFE, please visit their website! They love having teams come down to help them, and maybe the LORD could use this blog to open doors for others to visit and serve with them.
