Josselyn’s Home: Ed and Christina’s Child (32 seconds)

 

A day I will never forget.

Ed here - there is so much to tell and so little time. Today was day two of our visit to the projects. Today was project 268 they call it the House of Diamonds. The church plant was started a few years back - their facility was modern by Teguc standards and compared to project 235. But the needs are still very evident. Children have an amazing resilience and even in the face or poverty have smiles that would warm even the coldest heart. They love to have visitors and they love even more to have their pictures taken. We did not actually go into the dump itself but were on the outskirts of the dump, where the project is situated.

This was a particularly hard day for me, but in the face of the difficulties I was also able to witness a new friendship. Joselin and Emily met! Joselin was very shy at first but Emily was able to pull her out of her shell and she and Emily spent the day hand in hand smiling together, playing together, without a word being spoken. Joselin has a special friend at the project and her special friend has a direct tie to our special friends back home. Dave and Shelly, Joselin’s friend is Jennifer. Emily, Joselin and Jennifer were like glue all day. Cannot wait to show you our pictures.

The hard part of the day however came at the home visit. We had seen some very amazing conditions up until this point, but Joselin’s home was the last on our list. Tears are on my cheek now as I type this! First off we had a very steep walk up to their home and the path was covered in glass, broken metal, and other sharp objects. It was very dangerous. The House of Diamonds seeks desperately to ensure they children and their families are able to hold their head high in such adverse situations (I can see why they are a good fit with Compassion and its mission).

We were unable to take many pictures of Joselin’s home out of respect for her mother, who on several occasions noted she was “ashamed” of her home and was visibly embarrassed to have us in their home. Christina, Emily and I had a hard time pulling ourselves together in order to share with them the pleasure it was for us to meet them, even for a brief moment. We balled out eyes out once we were back in the bus. This home had to have been in the worst shape of all we had seen to this point. We wanted Joselin and her madre know that we pray for them every night and that we were honored to have them as part of our extended family. I seem to have run out of words on this topic for tonight. But I know God knows our heart, our desires and our abilities.  I just wish I could pull them out of that situation!

 

You should always carry a guitar pick with you

Ed Here

The title is true - but for you it may be something other than a guitar pick. For me though it was a guitar pick. On Sunday we of course went to a church service (I will have more on that perhaps tomorrow as I will share Bev’s notes with you all). During the service however, just like at LifeBridge, there were technical difficulties. Here the power went out. But that does not stop God’s people from praising Him. In fact, it makes them more determined. Instead of plug ins we moved to acoustic and the leader picked up the guitar. But he did not have a guitar pick. He started using a card from another leader’s wallet. I remembered that I always carry a guitar pick in my wallet and was pleasantly surprised that it had not fallen out. I quickly recovered it and gave it to the leader. He was even more determined to make God’s word heard in music. Give some thought as to what your guitar pick might be.

 

Claudia (235)

Christina here with one closing thought for the day,

We met Claudia today. She is thirteen years old. She is bright, beautiful, humble, gentle, quiet and when she smiles her eyes shine with promise. We spent time with her and the project, had lunch with her at Burger King (she wanted a hamburger) and took her shopping for some new tops at the mall where we had lunch. She loves cartoons and is like any other teenager in that she has goals and aspirations. She wants to be a teacher. Even though her current situation looks bleak to the outsider, the odds are in her favour now that Compassion has stepped in (thanks Cliff and Sherry and all you other sponsors out there) with some much needed and appreciated assistance. One final observation, Claudia’s walk to the project is like crossing the Circumferential at rush hour.

 

What to Eat?

Christina again,

So far I have tried real tamales, frijoles, plantano, papas fritos, mango, anana, sandia, cantalupo, pan, pollo, just to mention a few and that’s just for breakfast!!! (And no, I’m not going to translate right now.) I am issuing a challenge to everyone out there to learn a little Spanish before the end of the week.

 

First Impressions

Hi this is Christina,

Getting off the plane in Honduras was most interesting. I know virtually no Spanish and we were all sent to different agents to clear immigration (no Bev). The customs people spoke even less English. Goal #1 upon return - learn Spanish!

At the project was also an eye opener. I choked back many tears today. It was both heart warming and heart breaking. What is most striking is the love for the Lord which these workers and ministry people have. They are very passionate about the work they are doing and are consumed with winning the souls of these children and their parents. They believe as we do that once a person believes in Jesus Christ, God will provide for all their needs.

 

City on a Hill

This place is amazing ! Houses are built on cliffs - I should be used to that given houses in Newfoundland outports, but here it is even more amazing. The one thing I have heard is the higher up the hill you live does not mean to more you make - in fact it means you are from the lower class. By the way we also have been told there is no middle class here only upper, lower and lowest of low. We are going to have to see what we can do in the very near future to share pictures with you all (perhaps on the LifeBridge site itself) I have taken more than 75 pictures already and at least 45 minutes of video in project 235.

 

Spanish Language

As Rob has said we have been very grateful to have Bev with us. Our spanish has not been all the best, but people are very friendly. They want to hear us speak english.

I think I have managed to buy 1 cow, 3 horses and a couple of goats ! They should be arriving in Halifax likely before we get Rob’s luggage. I thought I was buying a hamburger, fries and two cokes. Mom and Dad can you clean out the shed

 

Safe in Tegucigalpa - Laidlaw’s & Light’s have arrived!

Hi everyone. Just heard from Rob and the group. All are safely in the hotel in Tegus. They are tired from the journey but ready to represent us, and God, over the next days as they visit the projects. As you can imagine they are very disappointed that we (Flints and Tonens) won’t be joining them due to delays in our flights, but I reassured them to carry on and that we will be with them in spirit. My heart is sad for sure, but I will remain faithful that beyond our understanding at this time, it is all part of God’s master plan. So, God bless you all, thank you for your prayers and support….and please keep praying for the continued safety of our Lifebridge family travelling in Honduras this week! Flints out

 

Getting off the Rock !!!

Well this has been an adventure and we have not even started. I think I am being tested from the get go. It is Wed March 05th and I am trying to get to Halifax so that I can join the team for our “real” departure on Friday. As has been the case on several of my trips between Halifax and The Rock one flight has been cancelled and by back up plan has been delayed. I keep telling myself “this is a test” I need to breathe … in with the good air out with the bad. I am so looking forward to this mission. But can we ever be ready for what we are going to experience?