We just returned from our third day at the city dump. When we arrived, some men were playing with a ratty soccer ball. Matt, Justin, C.W. and Drew began kicking the ball with them. People began to line up up quickly and they reverently listened to Rachel give a devotion. Drew led in prayer and we began feeding. Becca, Rachel, Jessa, Chelsea and myself helped serve the food. Others passed out bags of water.

It rained hard last night so the smell at the dump was much stronger than yesterday. It was hard to walk without getting your shoes muddy.  Today many thanked us and praised Jesus as the food was distributed. When Drew was praying the young man next to me was also praying in Spanish.

We saw many of the same family members today who were there yesterday. We visited a couple of their homes. The mother who had a beautiful six-month-old little girl was living in a dryer box. The two children were standing inside while the mother was working outside.  Justin said, “People shouldn’t have to live like that!”  “We have no idea how good we have it,” said another student.

Their filthy hands, clothes and faces lit up as they approached the van to get food. We asked each his or her name and tried to recall the names of others. They could feel the love from our students. We could feel the love and respect from them. “Amor de Jesus” was the line they heard over and over from our people.

Some of the residents were getting to know us by name and greeting us. We feed another 200 today and held another VBS with children.  Several parents came as yesterday. We played some soccer with some older children and shared the Gospel from the colors on the ball. The ball was left with the kids to share with others.  Each of the children was given a bracelet with the colors that represent the gospel story.

The elderly man, Aldofo, who revealed a sore on his shoulder yesterday came up to our VBS for Chelsea to check him. The open sore was about the size of a baseball and was infected with maggots. He could barely move his right arm.  He had been diagnosed with skin cancer two years ago and received treatment. Unfortunately the sore has grown over the last two years to this massive open wound. One of our translators became overwhelmed and had to get back in the bus. Rick came and helped interpret for Chelsea and she treated the wound. Then she put a bandage over it. We gave him medicine to treat it. Cathy and I are going to see that he gets the antibiotics we brought with us on the trip. He was very thankful and he said his shoulder felt better from the medicine. Rick asked him about Jesus and he said he knew him and was going to church. Adolfo said, “I have lived a good life and I don’t rob and steal.”  What a powerful moment as he was treated with dignity. Chelsea cared for him with great tenderness. You could see the Love of Christ!

When we left the dump a young man was pushed into an 18 wheeler on the highway right in front of our group bus. The driver said he was dead and refused to stop. Our leadership compelled him to pull over and they went to check on him. His arm was clearly broken and he was bleeding from that arm. Police arrived almost immediately and they pulled pistols on a man on the side of the road.  They arrested him for pushing the man in front of the truck.  Chelsea checked his vital signs and made sure he was not in a life-threatening situation. We reboarded and continued our trip back to Tegucigalpa. A few minutes later as rain was pouring the police passed our vehicles with the handcuffed man and the injured man sitting in the open bed of their pickup. What a way to deal with such issues!

Our group served well and represented Jesus in a powerful way. Thank you for the prayers. Everyone is safe.

— Danny Sartin

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We just returned from the city dump. Several hours at that site is overwhelming. The smell. The shock. The animals. The filthy people. Smutty faces and hands. Numerous men were high on glue to kill the hunger they felt. The first one in line was so high he could hardly stand up. He sat on the ground at my feet until we started serving food. It appears that constant use of glue has damaged his brain and he was struggling to comprehend his surroundings. But he knew there would be food. He found a piece of hard candy in the garbage at my feet and opened it and ate while he waited.

There were some who helped organize the lines of ninos, women and then the men. They had an interesting reverence around the Beck’s van.  There was little shoving and pushing. They seemed to control the unruly ones. They listened carefully as Matt Nowell shared some Scripture and Ashley Merritt prayed.

We fed over 200 and many said, gracias with gratitude on their face.  I shook many hands, welcoming them as they came through the line and then handed them a small plate of food. An older abuelo (grandfather) was near the front of the line. He lifted the collar of his shirt to reveal a open wound and grotesque infection on his right shoulder. He asked for prayer and I prayed for him. When his plate of food came he responded with an immediate muchas gracias.  The moment was charged with his toothless smile and a pat on my shoulder.  Then the words of scripture were filled with meaning and came to life, I was sick and you visited me. I was hungry and you fed me. 

Little children were so precious. Mothers, some even pregnant. One little boy was only months old. A little girl less than a year old. Our feeding went on for so long that we ran out of plates at 150 and began using pieces of plastic to place some rice and liver with a small amount of gravy.  Even near the end they were thankful for those small portions of food. We gave out 250 water bags that were consumed in only minutes.

Jessa, Becca, Rachel and Chelsea helped serve up the plates from the back of the Becks’ vehicle. Justin, C.W. and others went down the line helping pass out the small bags of water. Still Ashley and Melissa helped mothers with small children. Drew kept an ever watchful eye on each of our young people.

Beside our van dump trucks pulled up and dumped their fresh garbage. Workers dove in the pile immediately looking for plastic bottles, morsels of food, and other items that had some value. Working among them and beside them were vultures and cows. Everyone was looking for anything of value, mostly food.

Once feeding was completed the group loaded on our buses and moved to a less busy area to spend focused time with more than 30 children, 12 mothers and a number of teenagers.  A few of the missionary interns walked with me as we followed the vehicles and invited little children to come with us to the VBS site. One girl told me that she had a quota of bottles to gather and she couldn’t come. Later I noticed she made it anyway.

You could look around the dump and see dozens of homes made from cardboard and plastic. One may lay sleeping inside his refrigerator box.  That was home. All of the hills around the area were clearly made from piled garbage.

This new area was marked by our three vehicles to give us control of any unruly men from the dump. The area became our stage and the group sang, led by Drew, Matt, Jessie and others. From there we went into some drama, crafts and stories.During the skit I noticed C.W. pulling his shirt over his nose to help dampen the smell. Ashley Merritt held a little baby in her lap. I was proud of our group and the way they handled themselves in such a difficult place.

One teenager who was clearly high kept following our group. I watched and engaged him as I had done at our feeding station. He responded and we played several games. I noticed him closely observing my watch so I removed it and placed it in my pocket. It took him over ten minutes to realize it was gone and he acted alarmed. He acted as if he would find it for me. Yet he smiled and promised he would see me tomorrow. Hasta manyana. 

I stepped back to the group and one of the mothers was breast feeding her small boy. It was all was so different than what we experience back home.

The children and mothers made maraposas (butterflies) from coffee filters and pipe cleaners. They pinned them to their shirts with great pride and then listened to a story of how Jesus transforms us just like the butterfly.  What a moment!

As we prepared to leave I noticed a dead German shepherd just to the right of our van. I didn’t see it when we came up. For me It was another reminder of the valley of Gehenna. That was the garbage dump outside Jerusalem where animals and criminals were burned along with refuse. That was the picture of hell (Greek word Gehenna) Jesus referred to when he talked of the eternal flame, worms, etc. I feel like we visited hell today and shared the gospel in words and deeds. Our pictures will tell the tale. Thank you for your prayers!

— Danny Sartin

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Yesterday was great as our group finished a VBS in a poor barrio in Tegucigalpa.  More than 100 children showed up for the final event. When the gospel presentation was made, many hands were lifted. What a joy to watch.

Matt Nowell did flips with one of the neighborhood teenagers. Everyone gathered around and watched. Ashley Merritt must have given dozens of rides to children on her back. Many of the young people fell in love with a small two-year-old Mayan girl who was in a dress. A number of our young people were holding her and cuddling with her. When the pictures come, they will speak volumes.

At lunchtime I drove the missionary interns to the dump to prepare for today’s VBS at the city dump. We fed more than 150 people yesterday. There must have been more than 30 small children. We talked with the mothers letting them know that we would be coming today to spend time with their children. It was amazing to watch the men respect the women and children when the food was shared. They formed a separate line and let them go first. Thank you was on the lips of many men as I handed them a small plate with spaghetti and rice. They were also given a small bag of water. We will do the same today and tomorrow.

Yesterday the dump was crowded with vultures, cows, men, women and children raking through the garbage for food. There was one large lean-to constructed by the families who live there. Filthy hands, clothes and faces from scrounging in the garbage. Pray for our youth today as they see it for the first time and reaach out to them.

Thanks so much for the prayers.

— Danny Sartin

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Dear TLC Family, 

I only have a couple minutes, so I´ll have to make this quick. After leaving early on Friday morning, our team arrived safely in San Pedro Sula, Honduras with only minor complications with motion sickness. No baggage was lost (as we are praying is the same with our return trip!) We stayed the night in San Pedro and travelled to Tegucigalpa late Saturday morning. God blessed us in all of our travels and is continuing to bless others through our work. For the past two days we have been leading a vacational Bible school for the Honduran children in a small park near the Beck´s house. God has touched the lives of those children. I know that´s the truth everytime I see their smiles. We had a meeting last night that Danny led mainly to discuss our impressions and thoguhts so far, and for the most part we agreed that the language barrier was frustrating. The majority of our Spanish vocabularies are limited to the words “Hola!” and “uno”. Before dinner and the meeting, though, Danny had shared with me that 85% of communication is nonverbal. Our team is now more open to the way God is moving in these kids despite the fact that we can´t hold a long conversation with them. We are learning to let God be our smiles, laughs, hugs, and piggy back rides (which by the way, we have given probably close to 10,000 piggy back rides and the kids absolutely adore it). We are also learning to have true child-like faith. One thing I shared at the meeting was that I knew I was here for a reason when I saw the kids look at me like I had everything in the world to give. Imagine how amazing it would be if we all looked to Jesus like that because He HAS everything to give and already gave it for us. 

Ok, real quickly because I am pretty sure everyone is waiting on me, but this is funny. Apparently Drew´s cell phone had not switched to Honduran time, so yesterday he comes knocking frantically on everyone´s doors to wake us up at 6:45 in the morning! So Chelsea asked him what he was doing and he said, ” It´s 7:45. I just figured we should all be getting ready to eat breakfast since we have to leave at 8.” Chelsea just started laughing hysterically- keep in mind that Drew and CW were in the hallway with backpacks on, dressed, and doors locked ready to leave- so Chelsea looked at him and said “Drew. It´s not even 6:50.” CW looked SO angry and said, “You woke me early didn´t you Drew?” The whole situation was prcieless, but if it´s not funny to you then I guess you had to be there… 

Anyway, Sunday the church service was great! Entirely in Spanish. Then we went to the prison and did a skit and shared testimonies for the girls. Just continue praying that God change lives through our team. Tomorrow we finish up our Bible school and then Thursday we will be passing out food and supplies as well as leading a VBS at the city dump. It has been fun chatting with you, but unfortunately I have to sign off. Gracias and yall are excellente!

 -Ashleigh 

1 John 3:1 “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

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You would be so proud! I just left the VBS a few minutes ago and our team of students were connecting with over a hundred children in the poor barrio near the Beck home. They were playing games, giving horse back rides and hugging children all over the park. Their singing, skits and sharing has been incredible.  Every parent has great reason to be proud of these young people because they are preaching without using words. They are showing the Love of Christ in such tangible ways that every child is showing excitement.

I just held a two month old baby from a 15-year-old mother. The parents are coming to see what is going on. Today they made paper mache butterflies to represent the change made by Jesus in each heart. Does that remind anyone of Camp Create? Tomorrow we will be celebrating one of the children´s birthday, but we are praying that it will be the spiritual birthday for many. The gospel will be shared.

On Sunday our group visited Koinonia Church and the Youth Prison outside Tegucigalpa. Two girls and one boy accepted Jesus as their savior. Dana, these young people will have many candles to light when they arrive home next week.

The culture shock has been very strong. Their arrival in Tegucigalpa was delayed until Saturday morning and the ride had the group witness a deadly crash with a school bus and small car. Monday they began ministry in the barrio (neighborhood that is very poor). This afternoon they will be watching the End of the Spear movie about the ministry of Jim Elliott.

Everyone is safe and no one has gotten sick so far. Cathy says that this group is so mature, so loving and are a powerful testimony here in Honduras. I won´t be surprized if several missionaries are born from this group.

Thanks so much for your prayers. We will send pictures when the Internet is turned on for the Becks. Right now we can only access the internet at internet cafes. They are not real convenient. We will report as often as we can.

— from Danny Sartin

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Tuesday night was the arrival time for all of the TLC group from Honduras. Unfortunately, all of us couldn’t get home. Drew Thomas had a problem with his ear on the island Sunday. Apparently he busted his ear drum. This meant that he and Annalisa had to remain at sea level until his ear could be checked by a doctor. Any flying could have cost him his hearing. They saw Dr. John on the Island of Utila on Monday while the rest of the group flew to Tegucigalpa. The good news was that his injury was in the 1% group that can adjust to pressure and he will be able to fly home on Friday. Cathy, Kim Beck, Annalisa and Drew flew back to Tegucigalpa yesterday. Currently they are scheduled to fly home on Friday. Cathy will remain ten more days with Kim Beck for some down time.

I know that we were unable to post while we were on the Island and when we returned to Tegucigalpa the internet was down. We couldn’t even call home. But, Andrew Key, Rachel Van Hersh, Brianna McClannahan, Matt Nowell and myself flew back on Tuesday night. Tired and deeply moved by the whole experience. I will post information about our time on the Island soon. Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

Danny

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This has been an incredible trip. Just before coming to the big Island of Utila, we saw a school of dophins that would breach and spin in the air. How beautiful! We have snorkeled the entire island in two days. We saw an Octopus last night and everyone got to see and touch it if they desired. We are in town to enjoy a lunch together and hang out before returning to the island.

The last few days have gone fast. Our last ministry visit was to the juvenile prison for girls. Isabell, who lives with Rick and Kim, was there when they met. She and her brothers and sisters now live at the Beck home. Rachel and Brie have become big buddies with Isabell and Michelle. They came with us to the island. Our group did an outstanding job at the prison and they connected well with the girls. One had just recently been diagnosed with HIV. There is much work we could do at the prison in the future.

I can’t find words to describe everything we have experienced. The island has provided an outstanding opportunity to connect with the Lord and seek His direction. Thank you for the continued prayers. We leave the island early Monday morning and return to Tegucigalpa. This will be over all too soon. The memories and affects will go on for eternity.

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Hello Readers! First of all, thank you all very much for your continued prayers and thoughts. The past few days here have been busy, exhilarating, and humbling. You can see some of the pictures posted below from the city dump we went to on Monday… wow. Before we left, Danny and Rick had thoroughly explained to us everything that we would probably encounter there, but the experience itself was too much for words. It’s incorrect to say that people are “living” in the dump -they are “surviving,” “waiting,” “scraping by.” Any morsel of hope that is brought to them is consumed in seconds -their souls are as hungry as their bellies. I cannot imagine living in these conditions. I regret every time that I have ever complained of “starving,” “dying of thirst,” or being “unloved” -I have never known such things. I am infinitely blessed. But I believe God has blessed me in order that I share my blessings with others- they are not mine to keep, but mine to give.

We brought hope to the people in the dump in the form of smiles, touches, food, water, and words -please pray that this hope will remain and echo in their hearts. There was an article in The Miami Herald last year written about the Tegucigalpa municipal dump, and it reports that Honduras has the highest rate of children working in its dumps: about 2,000. (This article is very descriptive in its account of “life” at this dump, and I believe you can read it online and view the pictures at www.MiamiHerald.com , entitled “Throwaway Children” dated Monday, November 13, 2006.) Praise God that attention is being brought to this problem, because it is a huge one. As Rick said, it is a problem that “has to be attacked spiritually, physically and emotionally.”

We spent yesterday at the womens’ prison, which was quite a change of atmosphere. The women there were very welcoming, and I think they enjoyed the time we spent there. Rick and Kim had shown them “The Chronicles of Narnia” a little while ago, and Rick wanted us to do a follow-up with it, illustrating parallels from it to the Christian life. This was fun -I love this movie! And the Becks said it would help the women think allegorically. We also sang some music, and Brie shared a short testimony while Rick translated. All in all, the time we spent there was was very warm and enjoyable, and the women were so receptive and cheerful!

We’re preparing now to leave for Little Key (the island) and things are kind of hectic around the house! But everyone is looking forward to a few days of rest and fellowship. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, as we will be spending this time discussing ways to incorporate what we’ve learned here into our roles as leaders among the youth back home.
-Annalisa

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Our team is doing a great job of keeping us up on what they are doing in Honduras. Here are some more photos — be patient if it takes a bit of time for them all to load — it’s well worth it.
— beth

Ministering in the city dump

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Monday was a typical day for Honduras. Our trip to the dump was delayed from lunch until dinner. I spent most of the day trying to purchase our tickets for the Island trip on Wednesday. When we arrived to purchase the tickets they could not accept a credit card due to the system being down. So, we went to the bank to exchange American Express Traveler’s checks. Simple huh? It took four banks and two grocery stores before we could get the cash needed to purchase the tickets. At one bank they said that we had to open an account to cash the checks while another said their personnel who handled those wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. It is the kind of frustration the Beck’s face each time they try and pay bills. The group got to the dump in the late afternoon. They prepared the food for the group. Andrew was offered some glue by some of the boys at the dump. They use it to mask their hunger when enough food is not available. Brianna said, “I had to fight tears back the whole time.” The buzzards, the smell, and the life they live. What a wake-up experience! Drew shared scripture at the dump and Rick translated for him. It was a frustrating and blessed day. The day ended with an incident at the house. The sink fell and shattered in one of the bathrooms and spewed water all over the place. It took Rick and I a while to get the water up and close the pipes. What a day. Keep praying. We just met and made our plans for visiting the Juvenile Prison in the next hour. Each member of the team is taking part in a presentation using the movie Lion, Witch and Wardrobe.

Danny

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