As I type
this, Dan and Brenda are playing Hide and Seek with the Fernandez kids. Tomorrow we begin our treacherous twenty plus
bus ride to Nicaragua. We’ll be crossing
through Honduras and El Salvador. Our
final debrief will be in Costa Rica. By the
end of the Race and with my previous missions experiences, I will have
traversed through much of Central America. Our own version of the Motorcycle Diaries, hooray!
We’ve
been in San Lucas, Guatemala these past few days with the Carlos and Heidi
Fernandez. They act as facilitators of
short-term missions teams, sending them out to places like Tabacal (a Mayan
village of 200 or so people). They’ve
led various projects – construction, medical, dental, education, sports and
recreation – with scores of teams. Carlos dreams of being able to empower communities like Tabacal with
microfinance, and would like to someday build an international missions
training center.
Carlos
has great vision for this country, but mostly he’s got a big heart.
Among the
potpourri of things we did while in Tabacal was building stoves. Helps International has been distributing
these stoves (recipient families need only to supply eleven cinderblocks and
some sand/ash) and educating villages on how to assemble and maintain them. These stoves, designed by a Englishman named
Onil (I think?), are very easy to assemble and are a far better alternative to
the open fires commonly used for cooking.
Women all
over rural Central America spend most their days cooking over open fires. I hardly was able to face the fire to slap on
tortillas for a few minutes; the smoke irritated my eyes to the point of tears. Imagine the effects of facing the fire daily
– respiratory problems and eye issues.
These
open fires also are a hazard as families sometimes keep them going and their
homes, made of wood, catch on fire accidentally. Open fires aren’t as energy efficient which
means firewood needs to be cut constantly, which in the grand scheme of things
– namely, the environment – leads to drying up of rivers and such.
Something
as simple as a stove makes an impact. Amazing. Neat-o!
So, one
day, after Carlos introduced a team from Springfield, IL to the pastor, Manuel,
of the church in Tabacal, he invited the pastor to say a few words. In Spanish, Manuel thanks them (and us) for
coming to Tabacal to help the community; he says that these stoves are going to
save lives. At that point, Carlos stops.
“Excuse
me,” he says, choked up. Then, through
tears, he continues to share with the rest of the non-Spanish speaking audience
(excluding Christi and myself) Manuel’s gratitude.
What do
you see in his heart? I see
humility. And it’s amazing how God
exalts the humble, no?
your prayers.
