Today I hit my two-month mark of time spent here in Honduras this summer.
I had seriously been considering going to build a house today (just for my personal sanity since it's been since Thursday that I've gotten to build one), but they offered a clothing distribution center opportunity in Sector Ocho and, fearing that I don't have much time left to be able to be with the kids in my favorite community anymore, I jumped on that opportunity. Several other Starkville people did as well, which made for a good, fun day. Plus, Maria Phillips organized the clothing center and she is AMAZING at organizing, so it all went extremely smoothly and we clothed the whole community. What a great day!
But let me tell you where I saw Jesus today. I think this was the firs time, all summer long, where I spoke up at "Where Did You See Jesus Today" at devo.
When I got there, there were a bunch of kids that remembered me that ran up to me crying out, "Arroz! Arroz!" like normal in Sector Ocho. But today, one kid came up to me, calling me "Arroz," whom I had never even seen before. And normally that wouldn't phase me, but this kid was just crazy about some "Arroz." He was kind of chubbier, maybe 9 years old, and he was just hanging all over me, wanting hugs, wanting me to talk to him, not wanting me to give him anything but just wanting my attention.
His name was Manuel.
And at first I got a little annoyed. It doesn't take long for one kid to hug you a little too much before you start thinking, "Okay, go find you another Gringo, kid." But in Manuel, I just saw this great need for love. I saw this need for attention. So I kept trying to give it to him all day. But let me tell you, it was he who returned the love back to me.
I used to blow tons of money on the kids in Sector Ocho, buying them drinks and food. But two months of living here has depleted my money supply, and I have a little bit left to get through the rest of this week on. But Manuel and a bunch of his friends ran up to me, asking me if they could go with me and all buy some Cokes. I apologized to them, and explained how I'd been here for so long that all I have left is 50 lempiras (about $2.50) to get me through the rest of this week.
At first, they all just nodded their heads. But then something amazing happened. Manuel reached in his pocket and pulled out
one lempira,
a little less than a nickel,
and tried to hand it to me. I started saying I couldn't take his money, and then all of his friends reached in their pockets and pulled out their lempiras, and tried to give them to me. I had about 5 little hands pushing no more than a dollar in my face. I turned them all down, thanked them profusely, but tried to assure them that I would be okay.
Today I saw the widow who gave to the temple treasury out of her poverty in Manuel. And, if I came on this trip for no other reason, I'm glad that I saw Jesus in Manuel today. Because I think that that had to be one of those "you'll-never-forget-this-moment" kind of moments that will change me forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment