We went into a garbage dump near Tegucigalpa, Honduras on Monday and Wednesday to bring lunch to the people who live/work there and to minister and pray for them.
Let me paint you a picture of this dump…
As our bus drives through a gate at the bottom of a hill, the most foul smell you’ve ever imagined floods the bus. I look out the window and see trash in heaps and mounds, like landscape. There are people everywhere, carrying sacks and sorting through the trash to find items they can later sell. There are women, men, children, both young and elderly. Cows and dogs are littered throughout the trash, feasting on anything that’s edible, and even things that aren’t edible. Overhead, there are literally hundreds of birds and vultures circling and diving down to pick through the garbage.
Everyone is staring at the bus. We are staring back with our mouths open, in disbelief that people actually work here, let alone live here. I’m trying to breathe through my mouth, but the smell still gets in. My teammate Sidney prayed for heavenly smells and God gave her a delicious scent in her nostrils, masking the stench. I wish I would have thought to ask for that.
We park the bus and a crowd gathers. We are told to leave everything on the bus except our bodies, for fear of getting things stolen. A few people stay in the back of the bus to prepare the meal cups while the rest of us exit the bus. We start walking, stepping over the trash, smiling at the people as they work. We invite several people to come enter the line for food. Many of them won’t come because they can’t leave their “area”, possibly for fear of having someone else come in a take their spot.
Luke gives a short message about God’s love and its availability to all who ask and believe in it. I hear some men near me talking about how much money they could get for my teammate’s tennis shoes.
The line forms for lunch and people start climbing on the bus and over each other. The people serving food hand it out the window, to eliminate more chaos. A group of us go to pray with the people in the dump. We pray that God would lead us to the person that needs hope, healing, or prayer. Luke points out an older man sitting alone, eating the lunch we brought. His name is Ramon. We ask him about his family and his job at the dump. He doesn’t have a house, and has 2 kids in school. He says that the hardest part about being there is the lack of water. He has to walk a long way to get water and it costs him to get it.
We ask Ramon if there is anything he needs prayer for. He says his head is always in pain, like a constant headache. He also wants us to pray for his mom, Maria, who is in a coma. I ask if he believes that God can heal people, and he nods yes.
So we pray. I do my best at translating for our group, but what I’ve come to realize is that God knows our hearts, so even if something gets lost in translation, He knows our prayers anyway.
After the prayer, I ask Ramon how he feels and he smiles and says the headache is gone. Praise God for healing our friend Ramon and answering our prayer! Holy WOW, God just healed this man!
Ramon then started talking about how he has been studying the Bible to be a pastor. He has tons of scripture memorized, including his favorite verse:
unsearchable things you do not know.”
What I didn’t anticipate from being at the dump is the fact that many people know Jesus. When all you have are the clothes on your back, a tarp to sleep on, and some plastic bottles to sell, Jesus is the only hope to cling to.
In the states, people don’t see the need for Jesus very much. They have savings accounts and a full closet, a car, a house, and a Chihuahua. Don’t get me wrong, I have all these things too (minus the Chihuahua) but those things all pale in comparison to the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, and the relationship that we can have in Him.
We can’t bring our savings account with us when we die. Our car stays in the driveway, and all the other things we put our hope in fail to accompany us to the grave. There’s something else to be had besides the American Dream. Don’t you ever wonder if there’s more?
That’s because there is.
Jesus has been pursuing you since before you were born. His love for you is unlike anyone else on earth is capable of giving. It’s unending. It’s unconditional. He wants you to be in relationship with him. He wants you to trust Him and let Him guide your path because He knows you the best. He created you.
Ramon taught me that it’s possible to have hope amidst living and working in a garbage dump. He doesn’t know where his next drink of water will come from or if his family will be well cared for, but he knows his heavenly father continues to provide. There is hope to be found in Christ, who provides for His children.
