Luz Means ‘Light’

     –A Girl Living Up to Her Name-

This is 15 year old Luz. Luz means 'light' in Spanish.. and few nights ago in a very small outdoor church service on the side of a mountain in Honduras, I was able to witness Luz share a story that shed some light on suicide.   

 

      She shared that in March of last year, she had had enough of the life that she was living. Her father had always been very controlling and abusive to her, her mother, and her little brother and sister. She was tired of feeling like her life had no meaning, no purpose, and no one cared about her. One day she went into her room and cried for hours. She kept hearing voices telling her 'You are not worthy.' 'You have no reason to live.' 'Nobody cares about you.' Finally, she got a bottle of medicine to poison herself…took all of it..and felt nothing happen in her body. She was angry and went to find a rope in attempt to hang herself. She found a lasso, tied it to a beam in the ceiling, put it around her neck, and hung herself. She was hanging by her neck.. but she said that she immediately felt that she was hanging upside down by her feet. She saw a lake of fire and three men wearing black gowns pulling and dragging her into it. She was fighting against them, and suddenly a woman wearing a white gown came towards her and told her that she would save her. She removed the rope from her neck, and began to tell Luz the value and worth that she has here in this world for the glory of Jesus' name. Luz immediately began trying to remove herself from the rope and made it down safely, feeling a weight lifted off of her shoulders, and a new purpose for her life here on earth. 

 

     Luz now walks three hours each way to the small church where we are staying this month. Her father is an alcoholic, and for years he had refused to allow her and her mother to go to church. Recently, he has had a change of heart and allows them to come a certain amount of Sundays a month. We will be able to join Luz this weekend on a radio show where she will share her story for thousands to hear.
 

     The dedication and hunger for God that the people have here continues to amaze me daily. They aren't coming to church to socialize, sing some songs, and go out to a nice restaurant for lunch after. They are spending their entire day walking on dirt mountain roads, not knowing where their next meal is coming from, and showing up here with smiles on their faces, love in their hearts, and hope for their futures.

     Yesterday, an elderly lady showed up to our house/church to bring us coffee. After she left, our Pastor told us that she had to have walked at least an hour and a half to bring it to us. We must have made some impact on her at church on Sunday, that she felt the need to walk all the way back here the next day to bring us the best gift she could possibly afford. Any house that we go in to to pray or witness to the people, they immediately begin searching the kitchen for something to give us. How can these people have so little, and give so much? They are such great models of what it looks like to genuinely live in love. 

 

     At 15, Luz has found her worth and reason to live here on earth, and she is using her story to help other people find theirs. The song 'Here's My Heart' -David Crowder – just came out on the new Passion 2013 album. It says 'Here's my heart, Lord. Speak what is true. I am found, I am Yours, I am loved, I'm made pure. I have life, I can breathe, I am healed, I am free..because You are strong, You are pure, You are life, You endure. You are good, always true, You are light breaking through. Here's my life Lord, speak what is true!' The song speaks so strongly for testimonies like Luz's, I encourage everyone to listen to it and think about what it means in your own life. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTxED4_j8kQ