I have been living in Honduras for
only three short days and have had to already sport my Disney Princess
Band-Aids on three separate occasions.
Each representing a different facet of Month 4, in El Horno,
Honduras.
The first band-aid was placed on my
left big toe (which is rather abnormally large). The damage occurred when I stepped on a rather sharp,
undetermined object. I was
attempting to teach Cristofer, my new friend and the person who seems to be the
focal point in many of my prayers, how to play volleyball.
In order to best explain Cristofer
I must backtrack to details pertaining to life this month. Upon arriving to Honduras we (two teams
and five squad leaders) were driven to what is known as, “the farm.” Located about 30 minutes outside of
Honduras’ capital, the farm is 120 acres of God’s beauty, peace, and safe haven
(more about the farm described in the blog pertaining to my second band-aid). The farm is a place where two
incredible believers, Tony and Nidia, live and invite teenagers from Los Pinos,
the third most dangerous neighborhood of Honduras, to simply be the kids their
circumstances at home do not allow them to be.
Sixteen-year-old Cristofer is one
of the kids that Tony has been building a relationship with for the past two
years. Cristofer has come to the
farm, of his own free will, to have one month of being clean from his addiction
that is killing him from the inside out, paint thinner. I have come to learn that paint thinner
is the drug of choice for many youth in third world countries. The reason of the addiction is not for a desired high often associated with drugs, but for its numbing affects. It allows Cristofer to forget the
hunger, thirst and loneliness that plague him. But it also strips him of all awareness of surroundings and
is slowly destroying his brain and body.
Cristofer is such a sweet boy who
is thin as a rail, has an education level of about a 3rd grader and has a lonely look to his eyes that rarely leaves. My desire and prayer is that during
this month, as we are all living on the farm together, Cristofer will remain clean
for what would be the longest time in four years. My prayer is also that he may maintain a healthy lifestyle
that allows him to put a little meat on his bones, learn hard work, and learn
to laugh and play as well as building a relationship with us crazy North
Americans. Most importantly, my
prayer is that Cristofer will come to know, love, and depend on our Creator,
Savior, and Spirit that has the power to overcome all addictions. Please join me in praying for
him. God is so faithful, and I
truly cannot wait to write a blog at the end of the month of all He is going to
do in the life of Cristofer.
