As we drove up to the city dump the pastor began to explain how
kids worked in the dumps. He
explained that kids would try to find recyclable cans to sell and then use that
money to buy food. The smell of
smoke and trash filled the air as our car came to a stop.
I
could not believe that kids would work among the trash and ashes until the
smoke from trash burning cleared and I saw small images of kids picking through
the trash. As they spotted our
van, a couple of them came running down the trash hill to meet us.
They
were covered with dirt from head to toe and smelt like smoke and trash. They were around the ages of eight to
thirteen years old. A few of them
had smiles on their faces, probably from the fact that we were gringos. One of
the kids had been punched in the eye and his eye was extremely infected, but he
could not afford the proper medicine.
Here
I was, surrounded by kids that had nothing. They worked in the city dump all day to somehow get enough
money for food. Most of them were
orphans, neglected, and abandoned.
I tried to keep myself from bursting into tears at this revelation. When I looked into one of the young
girls eyes, I felt God saying, “Bethany, I want her to know me.”
I felt God’s heart for these
children, I felt His brokenness over their situation, and I felt His desire for
them to know Him.
I
felt inadequate in my words and actions, because I knew I could not change
their situation or spiritual situation.
Only God could make a difference in these children’s lives.
1,500 kids in Tegucilopa,
Honduras work in the trash dumps
When we finally packed back up into our van and drove away. I was crushed. Tears came to my eyes, but I felt like
it was all right to cry.
Because…
How
many people have cried for these children?
How many people
have not only desired to fix their physical needs, but spiritual needs as well?
How many people have been broken
for these children to know Christ?
“He raises the poor
out of the dust,
And
lifts the needy out of the ash heap.”
Psalm
113:7
