Sorry for the delay in a final blog for Honduras. We had so many great and eye opening experiences there. One of my favourite days in Honduras was hitch hiking with 3 of the boys from Zion's Gate to get Honduras football jerseys and coming back to Zion's Gate just in time for a rain storm. During this downpour and thunder and lightning we got to spend time with the boys and girls playing football (soccer) in a field jumping and falling into the mud running around and having so much fun!
The gang after our soccer match
It poured rain and we got soaked and muddy!
The biggest eye opener in Honduras was our trip to the city dump. We rode in the back of trucks to hand out food and water to the people there. It wasn't quite as I expected. The stench was almost unbearable. There were herds of cattle eating garbage, vultures circling the dump, a tonne of dogs wandering about, and piles of cardboard scattered everywhere, which people would be guarding as they would sell these piles making on a good day about 5$. When the garbage trucks would come in to unload, people would swarm, even crawling into the trucks looking for the best things, whether food, or recyclables to cash in for money. One of the craziest bits of information we got about the dump was the fact that when a cow would die (they do not kill the cows because they have owners) people would rush over to cut off meat so that they could eat it right then and there. It is very sad because poverty is such a big issue in Honduras and there is no government help for these people. I can't imagine the challenges for some to get out of their situation. So we went about giving food and spending time talking and praying with the people there, men women and children.
The people lining up to get food from our trucks
The people compete with vultures, cattle and each other for the best garbage
The stench at the dump is unbearable so many people cover their faces
People are trying to eek out a living off of the garbage by finding food to eat and selling recyclable materials
There was a lady sitting on a pile of garbage whom my teammate Danae was talking and praying with. The lady was 26 years old (though you would have thought she was much older) and 7 months pregnant. She had 5 kids, her husband had been killed and she had been kicked out of every place she tried to stay. During the time Danae was praying she passed out. Devin, a member on our squad, is an EMT and we called him over to assess this woman. Heart rate: 30-32 beats per minute, breathing: 7-10 breaths, it seemed liked we watched her breath get even more shallow. His assessment was this lady was going into a mild cardiac arrest. With no tools, no AED, oxygen or IV, all we had was Jesus and our prayers. So we prayed and Marielle a woman on our squad felt The Lord tell her to tap the woman on the heart. She did this twice and the woman woke up! Her eyes opened and a deep breath was taken. I do believe God gave us a miracle that day, through prayer and obedience during that time.
This is the woman who almost died with my teammate Danae
(photos courtesy of Kirsten Hughes)
