Loma de Luz: The missionary hospital in Belfate.
The Rumbaughs: This family is a huge answer to prayer, as Dr. Rumbaugh and I connected after Easter break and he found a place for me here in Belfate. He is a man passionate about showing the love of God to others, especially children. Mrs. Rumbaugh, although I have had less interaction with her, is also a fantastic woman who is clearly full of patience and love.
Lauren, Natalie, Liz, and Julia: The first three are girls from Grove City and Julia is a friend of theirs from home. They are living with the Rumbaughs and although I have not seen much of them lately, they were a huge help in adjusting to Honduras the first two days here.
Lisa: Lisa is the administrator for the hospital, as well as the leader of numerous childrens ministries in Belfate and La Ceiba. I am living in the Casita on her property, aiding in her ministries, and helping keep her property in order because she is completely overloaded with work. Without her, much of this wouldn't be possible.
Hannah: Hannah is a college student from Alabama living with Lisa. She is about to change her major to nursing and is considering a life in missions. She has a huge desire to help people and she's great with the kids, especially Denetti.
Denetti (definitely spelled wrong): Denetti is a 14 year old Honduran living down the street from Lisa. He loves Jesus and is a huge helper to Lisa, traveling along with her in all of her missionary endeavors. He knows a little bit of English and laughs at my attempts to speak Spanish.
Amaralis (again, spelled wrong): Denetti's younger sister. She's also a lot of fun.
The last two days have been the beginning of my weekly routine, and by routine, I mean that things are going to be different every day. Yesterday (Monday), I spent the morning measuring out all the area of Lisa's property that needs to be painted, as she is going to have a work team coming down and painting for her. Then Lisa, Hannah, and I traveled to San Louis (10 minute drive) to help Judy (a missionary connected to the hospital) with a children's ministry. The kids there are nothing like in Belfate; they would not stop hitting, poking, and pinching each other while Judy tried to share a message with them. Although they can cause a lot of stress, it is very clear that they need people who care about them in their lives. I spent the rest of the night replacing a deadbolt on the casita and playing (i.e. throwing seaweed at each other) at the beach with Denetti, Amarilis, and Hannah.
Today was my first experience at the dump in La Ceiba (an hour's drive from Belfate). Up until this point the poverty in Honduras hadn't seemed as bad as I had anticipated. I mean, I'm definitely not living in the U.S. right now and most people are by no means living comfortably, but up to this point, despite lack of good health care and great nutrition, it has seemed like very few people I've met are live significantly diminished lives. The dump changed all that.
There is an entire community living in and around the dump (imagine that happening in the U.S.), rummaging through the trash to find bottles and cans. It is very similar to City Soleil, for those of you who've been to Haiti, although some of them have access to running water and slightly larger homes. Lisa first drove us to the top of the hill so that we could see the stark contrast of the homes of the wealthy (who do nothing for those living in the dump) against the tin roofs of the impoverished.
Lisa supports four families living in the dump, one of which is the pastor's. His wife just had galbladder surgery (funded by the mission that supports them) and Lisa came with gauze to help clean and bandage the wound. While she and Hanna were attending to the woman, Denetti and I waited in the adjacent room (about 12 feet by 8 feet) with the pastor's children (pictured at the right...Mishael is the boy's name). This was probably the first time on the trip that I had literally no idea what to say or do, so I just let the kids lead the interaction. After a few minutes of awkwardness, Mishael whipped out the book he was learning how to read from and started proudly reading (with my help) some basic Spanish words. Then he disappeared around the corner and came back with a drawing book and told me the first picture was me. The vibrancy and happiness these two live was quite a testimony to the power of their family's faith, when you consider how little they have and especially when you compare them to the other kids. After the wound was dressed, we went outside and saw the other children of the dump waiting with cups and bowls (we were there to distribute food sent from the mission, and the kids are told that they won't receive food if they don't have bowls with them). Before the food arrived (we ended up waiting 3 hours and the food didn't come while we were there), we handed out pencils and soap. Los ninos obediently waited in a line for about 30 seconds of watching others receive the precious goods before they mobbed us, poking and prodding and refusing to listen to me yelling "forma una fila." In the end, some kids had 5 pencils and 4 bars of soap, while others had none. It is so easy to judge them for being selfish, before looking at myself and wondering if I would do the same if I had nothing. Again, this makes me look back at the pastor (who refuses to take any of the food unless there are leftovers) and his family who wait patiently for God to take care of them. They have nothing but their faith and that is sufficient for them.
I'm gonna have to cut this one short and hope that it makes sense without double checking it because it's taken me almost an hour to write just this much. I know that many of you have been praying for me and I have seen the effects, especially in how uninhibited my time with God has been down here.
"but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence"
1 Peter 3:15
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