June 27, 2009

The end of our first week in Roatan, Honduras (four more to go)


We had a tough time trying to put into words what our day on Friday was like, so we decided to think a bit before putting pen to paper...

Friday morning we met up with Henry and Frances of LW4R and they took us up to the colonia for the first time. This area is land that the people have squatted on and now call home. There are now about 2,900 people that live in the colonia, in other words, it looks like a small city of little wooden houses and shacks all on top of each other throughout this little valley. The people that live there decide among themselves who gets what 20X20+/- spot to build their home on and are for the most part very proud of what they do have and take care to keep it as tidied as they can. Anyway, it was a bit overwhelming and we didn't even take any pictures because of how powerful the moment was. And literally, all we did was drive to where the water well and open air church is and walk up some really steep dirt roads and checked out the public water lines that are run to each house. Every 8 days, those that have a tie into the water line, get to fill up as many containers as they can to drink, bathe, wash clothes/dishes, etc. Doesn't sound that great, but at one time they had a public water well that quit working and the government turned their heads for nine months and let sickness and even death take its toll on these people. Two little babies died because of the sicknesses in the unimaginable water they were drinking, bathing in, washing clothes in, fecal matter, e-coli, etc.

So this is where Henry and Frances knew they had to help and thus Living Water for Roatan was born. We will tell more of their story, it is well worth the read, also check out their website linked above if you haven't already.

Everyone there knows Henry and Frances and are so thankful for all that they have done. A little boy ran up to Henry saying, "Mr. Henry, Mr. Henry, how are you doing today?" and Henry replied, "very well, and you?" The boy's English was perfect and very proper, "I am doing fine, thank you for asking." So, it was at least 100 degrees when we were there, it is the dry season so it is very dusty, there are some quite awful smells (no plumbing at all), the houses are on the sides of this extremely steep valley that you have to walk up and down, driving is impossible, we were drenched in sweat and trying not to complain, and that little boy chased down Henry just to say hi and let him know he was 'doing fine.' Amazing that we had to "think" about not complaining and this sweet little boy, with what most would consider nothing, actually has more than all of us, right in the middle of his heart. We should remember to be thankful for absolutely everything in our lives, especially the little things that we just don't think about and too often take for granted.
This was a very moving morning for us, sorry for the lengthy story, however, we were just totally in awe of all that God has blessed these people with including blessings through others, like Henry and Frances.

Saturday, Trey met up with Henry and took a friend of the caretaker of the house we are renting to give him a bid on the foundation work for the storage building that the July 4th mission team will be building. Labor is a large part of concrete work and the labor here is more than half what it is in the states. Exciting things here in Roatan.
Sunday is the big election in Honduras, they say there should not be anything for us to worry about, maybe some extremists will blockade roads, but nothing violent. Please keep us in your prayers.

Take Care and God Bless....

1 comment:

  1. Connie, what a moving illustration of the village ... it makes me wish that we could send something to THAT village, to THOSE people. I will check out Henry's site to see if we can. Thank you for sharing your experience ... I love reading your daily updates. Be safe. :)

    ReplyDelete