Quiero Mirar Tu Hermosura

My favorite song that I've learned while here in Honduras.  The singing doesn't start until around 3:00 if you want to fast forward some.

Unfinished business

Construction here is pretty unrefined.  It’s not that it’s unsound; it just doesn’t have a finished feel like the US.  Many of the men who have gone on the construction trips with the church will be familiar with it.  It consists mainly of stacked cinder block with some rebar mixed in in places covered with plaster.  It goes pretty slow and is very manual.  I’ve only seen one real power tool the whole time I’ve been here and it was being used by a road crew.  They buy their cement and mix it with sand for mortar right on the job site.  It seems like almost everywhere you go there are the piles of sand and cement. 

The concept of “finished” work doesn’t exist in many places here.  If the outside of a building is painted, it’s a nice building and the people have a little money.  Many people never get to paint their houses.  That’s one of the things that can get a little bit depressing around here . . . so many gray houses, inside and out.  All cinder block gray.  It’s not too bad in certain parts of Tegucigalpa, but when you go to other parts especially out into the country a little bit, there are almost no finished or painted buildings.  People often build their house over a long period, buying materials as they are able.  I’ve seen houses with some cinder block walls and the rest is just basically a few wood panels or whatever they could find propped up.  They’ll build that part when they get some more money.  They may never get around to painting it.  It’s just a luxury that’s not necessary.

Once a building is plastered and painted though, as most businesses are, it can end up looking pretty nice like these below.  The yellow one is a private school.  The others are houses of fairly well off people.

Even on the inside, the concept of “finishing” doesn’t really apply.  There are so many things that would stand out as ugly in the US that are pretty normal here.  For example, here in our apartment, they have a couple of little wooden boxes right in the middle of the wall.  I wondered why such a weird thing would be right there.  When I pulled the front panels of the box open, I found some pipes there.  It’s almost like they don’t plan their construction.  They just start building and if in the middle of their building process, they need to put a pipe somewhere, they just do it and “Oh, we’ll just build a box to go around it.”  The unsightliness of it is unimportant.  It works.  Other pictures below ugly construction on the inside.

They save everything possible from construction though.  When we were moving the Bible school, there was a room full of construction materials that they had saved from the old site.  The people who bought the old building were going to tear it down.  So we took out all the doors, windows, light fixtures, etc, and saved them for the next building.  There in one corner of the room was a stack of doors and thresholds.  Expensive stuff.  Being able to save it was important. 

Two random pics

Hmo Benigno, pastor of the Tegucigalpa central church, holding Lucas.  His name means mild, kind, or even benign.  I accidentally called him Beninga on Sunday which is the feminine form of the name.  That got several smiles.  I told him he just can't get away from being referred to as a woman (see earlier November post about Lost in Translation)

Daniella.  We ate at her Mom's house on Christmas Eve.  He mom recently graduated from college with a marketing degree but has been unable to find a job.  I think she was 31 when she graduated which is somewhat too "old" to find a good professional job here.  For some reason the job market is skewed toward the really young.  And with unemployment in the 30%s, if you don't fit the bill perfectly you can go a long time without finding a job. 

Old time games

Things that occupy kids time have changed so much over the past couple of generations.  Nowdays, it's almost entirely focused on electronics like the Wii, DS, or other gaming systems.  We are not set up for electronics down here so the Christmas presents that the kids got this year were more simple.  Things they could actually use down here. 

Ashlyn got a set of jacks.  To my knowledge she had never played before, but she's been playing a lot.  This morning the maid came in and saw that she was playing.  So she played against Ashlyn for a while.  The lady could really play.  Sort of like the US 50 years ago, I assume this is the kind of thing that most people here grow up doing.  I haven't been in a home yet with a gaming system, although I have seen a couple of computers.  Anyway, the lady really rocked at jacks.  She could go a long time without messing up.

No pressure . . . really

OK.  You may have noticed that I've added a donate button over to the right.  I hadn't really planned on doing this, but we've had a lot of readers and nice comments thru facebook, so I thought I'd give people the opportunity to give something if they want to.

There is of course no pressure.  I've never accepted donations with paypal, so I don't even know if I'll be able to tell who it is that is giving.  I do make the promise not to keep any of the money myself and will pass it on 100% to the work here.  I'm not sure how to prove that to you.  I guess if you don't know me well enough to take my word for it, you probably won't be giving anyway. :)

We don't have much longer here and will be coming home soon.  There will be a few more posts.  Thanks to all the readers.  I hope there have been some enjoyable things in here for you.

Una medida que llega a también hasta vosotros

Segunda Corintios 10:13 Pero nosotros no nos gloriaremos desmedidamente, sino conforme a la regla que Dios nos ha dado por medida, para llegar también hasta vosotros.

Yo quiero enseñarles hoy que los regalos grandísimos todavía están disponibles hoy. Usted no está excluido de las cosas mejor que Dios ha ofrecido en cualquier tiempo. El Diablo quiere que usted piense que usted está excluido y que las cosas grandes de Dios están pasado o terminado. Pero no es verdad. Las cosas más grandes que han sido disponibles para cualquier persona están disponibles para Usted hoy. Hoy, vamos a leer en las escrituras sobre las personas más grandes en la Biblia yyo demostraré para usted que usted tiene a su disposición cosas más grandes que ellos tenía. Mi español es limitado pero yo quiero mucho que usted comprenda lo que un gran regalo que Dios ha hecho disponible para Usted.

Un día, Jesús estaba enseñando. Y entre la multitud había una mujer que le escuchaba. Mientras esta mujer le escuchaba, ella se dio cuenta que ella estaba escuchando al Mesías. Ustedes pensarían que eso le haría muy feliz saber que el Mesías había venido por último y que ella lo estaba viendo con sus propios ojos. Pero no la hizo feliz. En lugar, la puso triste. En aquellos días, era el deseo de cada joven virgen judía ser la persona que daría a luz al Mesías. Todas las mujeres jóvenes esperaban que ella sería la persona que sería tan altamente favorecida de Dios y que ella sería elegida para traer el Mesías al mundo. Ellas querían recibir ese alto honor. Y mientras esta mujer escuchaba, ella se dio cuenta que esta oportunidad la había pasado por alto. Se dio cuenta que otra mujer había sido elegida para este honor grande y alto. Y cuando ella se dio cuenta de esto, se sintió completa y totalmente excluida. Y en su tristeza y su dolor, ella levantó la voz y le dijo (Ustedes pueden leer esta historia en Lucas capitulo once y versículo veinte siete) “Bienaventurado el vientre que te trajo, y los senos que mamaste.” Y cuando Jesús oyó, él se dio cuenta que esta mujer estaba triste pero que ella quería dar honor a María. Y Jesús se volvió hacia ella y le dijo algunas palabras y yo quiero decirles esas mismas palabras a Ustedes hoy. “Antes, bienaventurados los que oyen la palabra de Dios, y la guardan.” Y esa es una medida que llega a también hasta vosotros.

Había un honor más grande que esperaba para María y hay un honor más grande que está disponible para Usted. Ustedes pueden leer un poco más sobre María, la madre de Jesús, la persona que recibió ese honor grande y alto como la madre del Mesías, en el libro de Hechos, capitulo uno. En este capítulo, lista todas las personas que esperaba en Jerusalén en el aposento alto por la promesa del Padre, la promesa del Espíritu Santo. Y lista en versículo trece los discípulos. Entonces en versículo catorce, dice “Todos éstos perseveraban unánimes en oración y ruego, con las mujeres, y con María la madre de Jesús, y con sus hermanos.” Por qué lee así? Por qué lista María separadamente? Por qué no dice simplemente “con las mujeres”? María fue una mujer. Podría sólo incluirla así. Yo te diré por qué. Porque Dios quería que el mundo supiera que para María la bendición más grande no estaba en el pesebre, pero estaba en el aposento alto. Dios quería que el mundo saber que ella estaba allí para recibir el Espíritu Santo y esa es una medida que llega a también hasta vosotros.

Hay otro lugar in la biblia donde Jesús dice una declaración poderosa. Es una declaración que podría ser difícil de creer. Él estaba hablando sobre Juan el Bautista y él dijo “Os digo que entre los nacidos de mujeres, no hay mayor profeta que Juan el Bautista”. Es una declaración poderosa, no? Lean en el Antiguo Testamento y piensen en todos los profetas grandes. Ustedes pueden hacer su elección sobre quien es su favorito: Moisés, Isaías quien tan maravillosamente dijo sobre el sufrimiento de Cristo en Isaías capitulo cincuenta y tres, Jeremías el profeta llorón, Joel quien profetizó sobre el día de Pentecostés. Pero de todos estos, Jesús ha dicho enfáticamente que no hay más grande que Juan. Pero las palabras próximas de Jesús fueron “pero el más pequeño en el reino de Dios es mayor que él.” Y hoy yo sé que “el reino de Dios no es comida ni bebida, sino justicia, paz y gozo en el Espíritu Santo.” Y esa es una medida que llega a también hasta vosotros.
Él dijo “el más pequeño”. Ustedes pueden pensar de sí mismo como una persona muy sencilla aquí in este lugar hoy. Simplemente normal. Nadie especial. Pero si usted ha nacido de nuevo del agua y del Espíritu, usted es privilegiado al recibir la bendición más grande que el mundo ha conocido. Usted tiene algo que Juan no tenía.

Juan vino para preparar la camina de Jesús. El Espíritu Santo no estaba disponible en su día. Se acuerda de la historia en Juan capitulo siete, la biblia dice “En el último y gran día de la fiesta, Jesús se puso en pie y alzó la voz, diciendo: Si alguno tiene sed, venga a mí y beba. El que cree en mí, como dice la Escritura, de su interior correrán ríos de agua viva. Esto dijo del Espíritu que habían de recibir los que creyesen en él; pues aún no había venido el Espíritu Santo, porque Jesús no había sido aún glorificado.” Y Juan fue el precursor de Jesús y cosas que vendrá. Pero él no podría participar in esas cosas. Pero yo creo que él quería participar. Por qué creo eso? Porque cuando Juan estaba bautizando mucha gente en el rio Jordán, Jesús le vino y quería ser bautizado de él. “Pero Juan se le oponía, diciendo: Yo necesito ser bautizado por ti” De que hablaba Juan? Quería Juan ser bautizado en el rio? Creo que no. Porque? Por qué Juan nunca predicó que Jesús bautizaría con agua, pero Juan dijo “Yo a la verdad os bautizo en agua para arrepentimiento; pero el que viene tras mí, es más poderoso que yo; él os bautizará en Espíritu Santo y fuego.” Y Juan dijo “Yo necesito ser bautizado por ti.” Él quería ser bautizado con el Espíritu Santo. Él quería tener eso don hermoso del Espíritu Santo que Usted y yo podemos tener.

Hay otro lugar en la Biblia en el libro de Juan donde los discípulos estaban se sintiendo un poco tristes. Jesús les decía que él va a salir. Que la hora se acercaba cuando él les saldría. Y la Biblia dice que tristeza llenó los corazones de ellos. Pero Jesús les dijo algo para animarles. Él dijo “Pero yo os digo la verdad: Os conviene que yo me vaya” Os conviene! Significa es beneficioso para Ustedes. Esta es otra declaración que es difícil para creer. Pero Jesús dice que es mejor para Usted si yo me voy. Pueden Ustedes imaginar estando en este tierra durante el tiempo que Jesús estaba aquí en carne? Viendo los milagros y escuchando a su enseñanza. Pueden ustedes imaginar que podía ser mejor que Jesús caminando con Ustedes y hablando con Ustedes? Pero Jesús dijo “Os conviene que yo me vaya”. Porque, Jesús, porque? “porque si no me fuera, el Consolador que es el Espíritu Santo no vendría a vosotros; más si me fuere, os lo enviaré.” Jesús dijo que el Espíritu mora con vosotros pero estará en vosotros. Cuando Jesús estaba aquí en carne el Espíritu estaba con ellos, pero cuando el Espíritu vino en el día de Pentecostés, el Espíritu estaba en ellos. Y esa es una medida que llega a también hasta vosotros.

Ustedes pueden leer sobre de los héroes de fe en Hebreos capitulo once. Los nombres listados allí son de personas grandes. Nombres de personas grandes en la biblia como Noé, Abraham y Sara, Jacob, Moisés, Gedeón, David, y Samuel, y los profetas. Esos son nombres de gente grande, no? Todos los de que yo he hablado hoy son excelentes. María y Juan el Bautista. No son personajes de poco talla en el Espíritu, no? Gente para admirar y gente que usted podría decir “Yo quiero ser como eso.” Pero los versículos últimos del capítulo dicen “Y todos éstos, aunque alcanzaron buen testimonio mediante la fe, no recibieron lo prometido; proveyendo Dios alguna cosa mejor para nosotros” Dios ha proveído alguna cosa mejor para nosotros. Usted no está excluido!” Dios ha proveído alguna cosa mejor para Usted.

A veces cuando alguien estaba hablando del Espíritu Santo, él dice “usted tiene que recibir el Espíritu”. Eso es verdad, pero no me gusta decirlo así. Hoy yo quiero que usted se dio cuenta que el Espíritu Santo es un regalo. Y usted puede decir mucho sobre el regalo por el dador. Si Hermano Josue le da un regalo, será algo, pero tal vez no será muy caro. Si Hermano Brad le da un regalo, tal vez será un poco más mejor. Si un hombre que tiene muchas riquezas le da un regalo, será un regalo grande y caro. Pero el Espíritu Santo es el regalo de Dios. Y cuando Dios le da un regalo, es el mejor regalo del mundo. No tiene sentido preguntar “Tengo que recibir el Espíritu Santo?” El Espíritu es un don de Dios. Por qué no quería usted recibirlo? Dios ha proveído alguna cosa mejor para Usted.

Esta salvación, el regalo del Espíritu Santo, que podemos tener hoy es el regalo grandísimo. Esos profetas viejos profetizaron de eso. Pero ellos no tuvieron el privilegio de tenerlo. Primero Pedro nos dice “Los profetas que profetizaron de la gracia destinada a vosotros, inquirieron y diligentemente indagaron acerca de esta salvación, escudriñando qué persona y qué tiempo indicaba el Espíritu de Cristo que estaba en ellos, el cual anunciaba de antemano los sufrimientos de Cristo, y las glorias que vendrían tras ellos. A éstos se les reveló que no para sí mismos, sino para nosotros, administraban estas cosas; cosas en las cuales anhelan mirar los ángeles.”

Dice “la gracia destinada a vosotros”. Cuando Joel profetizó, él dijo “Y en los postreros días, dice Dios,
Derramaré de mi Espíritu sobre toda carne.” Eso excluye Joel. Joel no estaba en los postreros días. Esos profetas maravillaron a que ellos decían. Ellos lo querían. Pero ellos no tuvieron el privilegio de tenerlo. Cuando alguien recibe el Espíritu Santo, aún ángeles quiere mirar. Pero aún los ángeles no pueden participar en esta salvación.

Y hoy ustedes lo tienen. Y si usted no tiene, usted puede tenerlo. “Porque para vosotros es la promesa, y para vuestros hijos, y para todos los que están lejos; para cuantos el Señor nuestro Dios llamare.”

Pottery barn

After we took the food and stuff to the people yesterday, we stopped in Ojojona to do some shopping.  Ojojona is sort of famous around here for being the place where they make all kind of pottery stuff. They have a ton of it there.  It’s pretty and is dirt cheap.  I’ve mentioned before that anything for which a major part of the price is labor is likely to be cheap here.  For example, mine and Brayden’s haircuts cost $3.75 each. 

I went into one of the shops and picked up one of the little pitchers to look at it.  I turned it upside down (to see if the price was on the bottom – which is really hilarious because none of this stuff is priced).  There was a little top to the pitcher that I hadn’t noticed and when I turned it upside down, it fell on the ground and broke.  So I’m thinking “Oh, great.  Now I’ve got to buy this.”  When I asked how much, it was 150 lempiras (which works out to be $7.50) for the set of three.  See pic below.

Needless to say we thought that we pretty cool.  We bought a few sets.  I think the most expensive set of three was $9.  Ashlyn bought a little set for $3 (the purple set below).  Ashlyn kept telling me she would pay me back when we got back to the states and I kept saying "Baby, don't worry about it.  It's not enough to worry about."  When you see what they are making and hear 60 limps, it seems like it's more than it is.  It's hard to believe that it costs $3.  We would have loved to have bought more.  Unfornuately, although it is cheap, it weighs a ton and we have weigh limits on the bags that we can bring back to the US.

It's a very poor place though.  Many of the shops were not able to make change for a $25 bill. 

Truly more blessed to give . . .

What a phenomenally great day today!!

We went to take some food and a few other things to some families in Ojojona.  This is an out of the way place . . . very small, and by far the poorest place I have ever seen.  Houses made of adobe bricks (mud and straw) covered in cement on the outside, dirt floors, two chairs, one bench, one bed, no electricity, bathrooms are outhouses, cooking is on brick ovens over a fire. 

We took of lot of basic food (rice, beans, etc) along with a few more fun things.  I was in for some surprises.  We took a piñata filled with candy.  Ironically, it was a snowman piñata but it was probably 75 degrees outside.  Beautiful, up on the mountain about 1500 meters up. 

I learned that most of these kids had probably never tasted American candy (like Snickers, Twix, etc).  There is some cheaper Honduran candy that these people probably get about once a year here.  They had to explain to some of these kids what a piñata even was and how it worked.  They had never seen one before.  And this is a country that is full of piñatas . . . you see them at almost every party.  True poverty.  After it was all over, the pastor here of the central church told us a little about his upbringing.  He was from one of these out of the way backwoods places too.  His hometown just got electricity about 5 years ago.  He was 13 or 14 when he saw he saw his first piñata and 15 when he saw his first cake.  The whole neighborhood came out to look at and taste the cake.  Believe me, the poorest people in the US live better than most of the people here.

I learned one of the ways to tell if a family has enough to eat.  Look at the dogs.  If the dogs look OK, the family has enough.  If the dogs are skinny, they don’t.  I saw some ribs on the dogs today.  I also saw a few kids with swollen bellies.  All the men and women are of short stature.  I’m some of this is genetic/cultural, but some of it is because of malnutrition as well. 

When the piñata was finally broken, it was quite a sight.  The kids went for the candy with a vengeance.  It was really a gratifying sight.  I had told Ashlyn and Brayden before we arrived to not participate.  That these people only get candy once a year and you can take a pass for one day.  Until you’ve seen a small Honduran girl take from her small bag of candy that she gets maybe once a year and hold out her hand to give your kids a piece, you’ve never lived.  This girl really had a spirit of giving.  She tried to give to everyone.  Me, Joy, the Schrecks, everyone.  I’m telling you in all of these kids there was nothing like greed.  Lucas was running around in the dirt and dust, petting the dogs and just playing with the kids in general.  Every time I would see him he would have a new piece of candy in his mouth that those kids there kept giving him. 

After the piñata, we handed out apples.  We had bought 88 apples for these folks.  My kids got to pass them out.  All those Honduran kids got into a line to get their apples.  One of my hopes in coming here was that my kids would develop a new perspective and in particular become more grateful.  Today I think we took a huge step toward that.  Watching your kids hand out apples to poor kids is a great experience.  Especially when you realize that they realize that these kids getting an apple for Christmas is a big deal to them.  They were really moved.  After seeing how those kids lived, I don’t think I’ll ever hear another gripe about Christmas presents or their room at home. 

We didn’t stay for the meal since it takes quite a while to cook over the fire. 

Still it was a great day.  The best $200 I’ve ever spent.  



The girl who kept trying to give away her candy.



This type of mismatched clothing (left) is typical of kids.  They wear what they have.  It's often too big. 

Airlines

I had the opportunity to fly on a local airline here in Honduras, TACA.  They do fly to a few places in the US but mostly just here in central America.  There are a lot of jokes about the local airlines here and when we booked our flight the missionaries teased us a lot about it.  Supposedly the central American airlines are dangerous and not nearly up to the safety standards of the US.  We're still alive so no problems but, there are a lot of jokes about these airlines that I think are worth sharing.  They make up nicknames for what the airlines stand for.

TACA: Take a Chance Airline

TACA: Take a Coffin Along

There’s another airline called SAHSA (now out of business)

SAHSA: Stay at Home, Stay Alive

How comforting . . .

Accomodations

If I had to guess I would say our apartment here is about 800 sq ft.  We have five people.  There are times when it seems small.  But we had the opportunity to go on sort of a road trip the other day.  We spent a few days driving thru the country and visiting other churches.  We made stops in Siguatepeque and San Pedro Sula.  While on this trip we stayed in motels.  Now Honduran motels are basic to say the least – certainly more basic than a Motel 6.  There are some US brand hotels here like the Marriot, but they cost usually above $100 per night.  The places we stayed are not chains.  They are just motels owned by a Honduran family (for example El Almendro – it means the Almond Tree).  The cost is usually around $35 per night.  There are places that are cheaper than this.  $15 per night for example.

$35 is about as low as you want to go.  It’s reasonably clean (I think my wife would argue that I’m being generous) and reasonably safe.  Any lower and you start to jeopardize those two things.  Here’s a pic of one we stayed in in Siguat.  5 people, 5 beds, $35.  A tile floor is a mark of a good hotel.  They pretty much have the bare minimums: beds, sheets, pillows, sink and shower, towels, no rags, maybe a fan, no extras like pictures or anything. 

Anyway after staying for several days in rooms like this, we got back to our apartment on a Sunday night.  We had 10 people and one dog in our vehicle on the way back, a 6 hour drive.  The vehicle was a Toyota Prado, a diesel mini-SUV that they don’t sell in the US.  It’s about the size of a Jeep Grand Cherokee.  After getting out of that vehicle and out of those hotel rooms, I felt like our 800 sq ft apartment was huge.  I mean we have two bedrooms and a living area.  My kids may have to share a bedroom, but at least it’s only two in the room, not five.  We all felt really great to have so much room to move around. 

After this, my wife was flipping thru pictures that were tagged as her on facebook.  We came across a picture of the living room of our house (see below).  She showed it to me and we just stared at it for a few minutes.  I kid you not when I say I felt like I was looking into the house of a king.  Carpet, matching furniture that is soft and stylish, sheetrock, colored walls.  You don’t see any of that in Honduras.  We hadn’t really been thinking about the house, but when that picture showed up it was really amazing. 

Minimum wage

I realize I didn't publish a Thanksgiving post.  But since we are supposed to be thankful every day of the year anyway, here's something to help you.  Before you get too down about the economy being tight and maybe Christmas being a little tighter this year than before, consider the following.

Depending on where you live, minimum wage in Honduras is somewhere between 4450 Lps and 5500 Lps per year.  The exchange rate is about 19 Lps per USD, so that works out to be $2,810 to $3,475 per year, which works out to be $1.35 to $1.67 per hour.  That would mean working all day for between $11 and $13 dollars.  A lot of people earn this amount.  And given extremely high unemployment here, some people don't earn anything at all except what they can pick up in odd jobs.  Compare those figures to you salary or hourly rate and see if you don't feel better now.

Happy Anniversary . . .

to Waylon and Joy who celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary yesterday!

Illuminating conversation with Taxi driver

When I’m going somewhere with my taxi driver, I always try to have conversations with him in Spanish. It helps me improve my Spanish because he doesn’t speak any English.  Here is a picture of him and Lucas.  I wish I had a pic of his car.  It’s quite a sight.  I’ll gave to get one before I leave. 

The other day when we were going somewhere we got into an interesting conversation.  I don’t remember how it came up, but he started telling me (all in Spanish): In this country it is very important to be bilingual.  (This is certainly true.  The wealthiest kids go to schools where they speak English all day.  By the time they are seniors in high school, they speak it very well.  Some of these schools are accredited in the U.S.  The goal of most of these kids is to get accepted into an American university when they graduate.)  The other day my daughter told me “Papi, I want to be bilingual.  I want so bad to be bilingual.”  But I am a poor man (definitely true as well) and I can’t afford to send her to one of these bilingual schools.  I want to but they are very, very expensive.  (They are about $200 - $400 a month which is out of sight for most Hondurans).  So I told her, “I wish I could send you but I just can’t.”

I can’t tell you the sadness that this awakened in me.  It so happens that we know his daughter pretty well.  She’s one of Ashlyn’s friends from the church.  She is a very sweet girl, beautiful and with a beautiful attitude.  (pic below - the girl on the left) She came over to the apartment the other day for a few hours.  They played Jenga and some other games that didn’t require a lot of communication.  It was heartbreaking to know that she realized how important this was but that she couldn’t do it.  And truthfully, it’ll probably never happen for her.  I wish that wasn’t true, but barring some miracle that’s just the facts. 

It’s really sad to know that you can’t help everyone in the way that you want to.  You could make a true financial different in maybe one person’s life, but that’s about it.  My language coach told me a story the other day about some group who came down here one time and spent a ton of money on rice and beans for the people.  They were moved by their hunger and this was how they wanted to help.  The reason she told the story was because in about 3 days and obscene amount of rice and beans had been distributed, but the basic condition of the people – and certainly the basic condition of the country – remained unchanged.  It struck her as somewhat futile. 

You feel sorry for everyone, but when you really get to know someone your heart goes out to them even more.  I know it shouldn’t be this way, but I would love to help the daughter of my taxi driver more than anyone, because I know her.  Hearing her dad tell me this and knowing that it was a dream that would probably never come true for them made me sad beyond belief.  I relayed the story to my family. They all almost cried. 

Then again, those emotions cause you to really examine yourself as well.  Why is it that our chief hope as Americans is to make other people as wealthy as we are?  We feel “sorry” for other people who we know will probably never get there.  But that’s our driving force and our purpose – to help them financially.  Then you realize you really can’t.  Not in the way you want to.  You just don’t have enough resources.  So what then?  I came to realize after this whole episode that there are better ways to help people.  The gospel is the best help that you can give.  And truly if they are God’s children that’s the best help and security that they can have, and God forgive us for focusing on money all the time and thinking that’s what matters the most.  It’s almost like if we could raise their standard of living and get them into an American college with a nice income stream, we’d feel better than if we could present them with the gospel.  Remember the story in Acts about the lame man at the gate called Beautiful.  They had no money, but they gave him what they had.  (If you’re not familiar with the story you should read it in Acts 3).  Maybe if we’d all build up our spiritual tanks and give the kind of help that they gave this man, we’d worry a lot less about what we couldn’t do financially.