Day Two- The Power We Hold

"Wait for the Lord, and he will make things right,"
Proverbs 20:22

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afriad for discouraged...with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight out battles."
2 Chronicles 32:7-8

"Give me an answer, give the way out, give me the faith to believe in these hard times"- NeedtoBreathe Lyrics

This morning we began by reading John 3:16-17. It's our mission statement for the trip. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son." So likewise, how do we not give everything we have to God and the people of God.

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We went to the CTC, Community Transformation Center, and got to see their facilities. The CTC is where Buckner and it's volunteers help give people within the community and ecucation and supplies they need to provide for their family. The lower part of the building is designed to teach girls, and I'm sure guys, how to do hair so that they can have an oppertunity at a job. The also have a room where they teach english classes.

 Above are the incredible people who helped Doctor Granger set up and run the clinic. They tested women and children for diabetes at both the orphanage and the CTC. They also looked at kids and adults who were sick and even brought some perscription glasses. Needless to say, they were awesome!

The rest of us however went to visit our first Hondurian school. The Private school called the Hosanna. 

So prepare yourselves for the MOST adorable thing you have ever seen. The little kids carrying in chairs to sit in. I almost cried it was so precious.

 Peyton and Frank shared their testimony with the adorable punch, with thanks to one of our very sweet translators Carla.

 We did a fish making craft. This was my sweet group of girls. They love having their picture taken...and taking mine.

After the craft it was sort of a free for all. CJ and Chelbie started a game of soccer, which the boys LOVED

The we got to take a tour of the school. It was pretty cute, minus no AC. Every time we walked into a class room the kids would start singing to us.

Being in the CTC was always fun. Sometimes I wish we could have just picked one school and visited them everyday. It sucked only getting to meet the group once, establish a somewhat friendship, then leave. Even so our visits there were always filled with chatter and laughter. It was always a source of joy.

I looked up at the sky through my hotel window this morning. It was breath taking, the way the clouds winded through the moutains and rested before they reached the top. The thick clouds only submitted some rays of light to pass through. The hills are covered in small brightly colored houses that look almost like flowers against the bright green grass and trees. Despite the beauty there is still an element of gloom. Perhaps from the rain, or fog. That's how the rest of Honduras is. Such beauty followed by such sadness. 

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A lot of the kids there suffer from extreme emotional and psychological problems. If I were to see the same girls at my school I would almost expect them to be in a special needs class, or at least under some kind of adult super vision. A lot of them are filled with such anger and violence. I can't say I wouldn't be the same after getting a glimpse of some of what they go through.

Walking into the orphanage I was bombarded with two most terrible sites.
1) A girl with what looked like writing in purple marker down her calf. Someone is the group asked "Is that a that a tatoo." I quickly retorted "No it's just marker." The girl snapped back "No it's a tatoo." When I looked closer I could see the marker running over scars. The girl explained to the translator that a tatoo is a 10 day process. One in which they get something sharp like a needle, knife, or even fork and cut into themselves whatever design or word they wish. Each day they go over it again with the same tool diped in tatoo ink. This girl was on day 7. My first thought was where are they getting tatoo ink from? The girl explained that sometimes they have visitors who come in and sell them stuff. Firstly, they're begging for an infection. Secondly, it's not even a tatoo, it just colord scars.

2) Literally two minutes later a sweet girl comes up and engages each one of us in a hug. When she hugged me I noticed she had a black eye. She told our translator the older girls gave it to her. We met another girl named Francee who had been there six days and she was scared because the older girls wanted to jump her. It broke my heart to see the fear they lived in.

We played duck duck goose in spanish. The game somehow turned into all the little girls running away from us. I finally caught one girl, who's name was Adri. She looked up at me and smiled, the opened her arms, signaling me to pick her up. I soon learned I was not allowed to put her back down. At first I was a little frustrated because I wanted to meet some of the other girls. But this girl was desperate for affection, and who am I do deny her? That was our mission after all. To love all with all. So I let her sit in my lap, and I skratched her back as I prayed over her. I could already she her developing emotional problems. She went from smiling and bouncing around to sulking. One little girl came to borrow our crayons and Adri bursted into tears. I tried to tell her it was okay. But the intense need of these little girls to have something, anything of their own, is real. So I held her, I prayed over here, and I skratched her back. I tried to tranfer all the love I had in my heart onto this little girl. I whispered in her ear "Te'amo".

Never under estimate the power of your affections, the power of your words. Sometimes we long to give more, when that is all that is needed. These girls don't need money, food, or clothes. They need people who care about them. People willing to invest in them. People willing to show them they are worth something, when all their parents and family have done is show them that they are worthless, and forgetable.

Dear God,
I pray that your word and supreme truth would make into to the hearts of these little ones. I pray you provide them with the things they need and long for. I pray that the love I'm giving them makes a difference in their lives. I pray that the cycle would stop with this generation. God your hands are the hands that hold the world. You and you alone have the power to save. I pray you save these girls. Set their longing hearts on you.