Our team is among three others, so there are about 24 of us Racers, 17 youth, 12 bunnies, 3 dogs, 2 police, and 5 staff here to run everything. I have really enjoyed my time here in Honduras and especially love being so involved with the city. Violence and drugs are out of control. Apparently Tegucigalpa is the murder capital of the world. Children as young as 6 years old are doing paint-thinner to get high. Whole communities eat from the dumpsters and fight everyday for the best garbage. The stories we hear and have witnessed with our own eyes, the stories of oppression, brokenness, neglect, generation after generation of distress, is enough to make any person question a lot about this life. I mean, imagine being born and raised in a dump, to live a whole life not knowing any different. We’re born, we live, we die.
A lot of people in Honduras lack having goals or dreams, life is just a routine. With this outlook and the constant pressure of not having enough (enough money, enough food, enough love) drives people to live with a dog-eat-dog mentality. When nothing is for certain people cling to violence, drugs, alcohol, sex, incest, rape, and anything that will numb reality. What I find interesting about this is that in America we do the same exact thing, act as if we do not have enough yet the reality is that we have it all. We have food on our shelves that never gets touched, we have clothes to last us years, people have addictions, and most marriages end in divorce-why? One spouse isn’t enough? Honestly anything a person might want, there is a way to somehow obtain it. So why do two cultures which are complete opposites act the same way?
Our hearts are longing for God.
If we settle at believing that this life is the only thing there is, we’re born, we live, we die; then how tragic of a world this becomes. It does not take a genius to see that things are not perfect on earth, things are not always fair, and justice is not usually served. There has to be more to it, there has to be a bigger question and bigger picture. I believe that the only explanation is that God made us for Himself. God made us for Himself and the most profound picture to support this is Jesus Christ on the cross. If God did not long to be near to His people then He would not have made a way for us to be in direct relationship with Him.
So whether you are living in a dumpster in Honduras, or in a warm house in the United States, ask yourself today-
am I living like the world provides all there is to offer?“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.{For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also}
The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
–Matthew 6:19-24
