I could tell you how the World Race is the best weight loss plan ever…and I’m sure I’ll do before/after pictures at month 11…BUT..the real story I’m sharing today is about PAINT THINNER. The drug of choice in Honduras. I’ve done some painting in my life…I can’t say it was pretty or anything…but my least favorite part about painting other than being slopped with paint is the removal of paint from my hands and brushes.
Our squad has gone to visit La Kennedy and our team went to play futbol the other day. We step out of the van to a bus parking lot. The dumpsters are brimming over and birds, dogs, and people are scavenging through the spoils. We hike down to one of the squatter villages where families are hanging out. I wouldn’t want to write disrespectful stuff about your messy home…but I can say this is the closest I’ve ever seen families living in a garbage dump. We didn’t bring cameras either partly due to safety but also to be respectful and to continue in building healthy relationships.
We exchange names and us gringos are laughed at often for our pronunciation of Spanish words. It’s a hike through tall grass to get to the futbol field which is actually a basketball court. Thinner doesn’t discriminate…young and old partake…some while playing futbal…so much for drug testing. The kids carry a liter of thinner with them and a rag that they hold to their mouth. Thinner numbs everything…hunger, sorrow, reality..and it’s cheap…way cheap. Just being in a room of paint or thinner makes me gag and burns my nose and throat imagine that’s your addiction? I can’t.
So we don’t come in guns a blazin’ saying to know Jesus you must stop that…we start with relationships and trust that eventually with the partnership and love of the ministry we’re working with they’ll be able to make this choice and have people walk along side them in the process. Some play futbol, others watch from the stands, and if we can we start up conversations. It’s simple stuff but its real life. This is something Jesus would do…play futbol with drug addicts…and He would love them well.
