We went to the city dump of Tegucigalpa. As I stepped off the bus, I was hit with the putrid smell of rotting garbage and animal feces. I glanced to my left and saw a young girl. Her face was downcast as she picked through the garbage on a small hill of garbage. Her clothes were darkened by the trash and dirt that engulfed her. Picking through the mounds of trash she was silhouetted by a beautiful landscape of lush green mountains with light streaming through the thick fog that covered the distance.
Behind the young girl, God's glorious mountains provided a lush backdrop. One could not deny His presence. Surrounding this trash heap, this place of complete utter hopelessness, His glorious creation shone beauty upon these people. Shone beauty upon that little girl. Saying to not only her, but to me as well, that she is not alone. God is with her in that place. He will never leave nor forsake His children. Especially not His children in dark places. He surrounds them, just as God surrounds that place of pure disgust and decay, a place where a dead dog is being picked at by vultures, where cows are intertwined with people eating from the dump. He surrounds that place with beauty, with the Lord's presence.
