Another mission, done! During the whole summer, we have
groups come from the US for missions in the mountains. Each of these missions
typically lasts 12 days, and we just finished the second one. For me, this was
the most spiritually intense mission I’ve ever done. I’ll recount just a few stories
from our week in the mountains.
Our
group of 8 went to a village in the mountains called Laguna del Rincon (Lake of
the Corner, literally). There were over 300 houses, which is pretty large for a
village in the mountains. And in this village of 300 families, there were nine
churches. Nine! How that’s even possible, I have no idea. The division amongst
the people was so sad. The dynamic between Catholics and Protestants in this
country is very different than it is in the US. Honduras is traditionally Catholic,
and up until recently was about 100% Catholic. Here, when someone leaves the
Catholic Church to join another faith, often times they cut off the rest of
their family – families divided within themselves and against each other. We
visited so many families that were torn apart, devastated that their own
brothers or mothers or cousins won’t even speak to them any more, just because
they have remained Catholic. Because of all this division, there was so much
violence. Again, almost every family had a son or husband or father who had
been murdered. So much sadness and anger…
So
this is what we were entering in to! We always try to visit as many houses as
we can in a village, to meet the people, find out about their life and their
problems, see if we can help in any way, and pray with them. One day, we
visited the house of an old woman named Olympia. She was so utterly filled with joy, and even though she had a hard life,
she was so thankful to God for everything. Several of her kids, grandkids, and
other relatives were at the house, and it was a visit filled with joy and
singing. God was preparing us for what was to come.
Immediately
after, we went to visit the house of a man named Don Pablo. He used to be one
of the leaders in the Church, but after tragedy struck, he and his family went
through a very dark period and almost lost their faith. They have a son, Pablo
Antonio, who was unjustly committed of a crime and put in jail in Comayagua
(2.5 hrs away) at the age of 18. He was there for 6 months. About a year and a
half ago, there was a huge fire at this jail and it burned down, trapping about
200 people inside, all of whom were killed. Pablo Antonio was one of those who
perished in the fire. There was so much sadness in this family, it was almost
unbearable to be there. The father and mother were telling us this story and
just crying and crying. But through it all, they were sure that their son was
in heaven and that God had a purpose everything. We stayed with this family for
more than 2 hours, praying, talking, crying. I felt so strongly in that moment
that God really wanted me there, and
that He was using me for some purpose. We were just there to meet other human
beings, our fellow brothers and sisters, and to share their suffering. I felt
like St. Paul, who said that he rejoiced with those who rejoiced and mourned
with those mourned. I’ve rarely felt that before so directly, and it was kind
of scary. Why would God ever choose to use me? But then I have to remember, He
wants to use all of us, to bring His
presence and Love to the world, if we are only open to Him. It was so beautiful
just to be a presence to this family, to show them that there are others who
care, to try to bring the love and mercy of God.
Right
after this, we visited the house of a 44 year old man, Santos, who has been in
bed for 3 years. He was so destroyed- with his wife and 6 kids, he felt so
useless in life, a burden to everybody. It was terrible to witness. He broke
down in tears almost immediately when he began to tell us about his life. We
could all feel his pain so much, and again we were all just crying. I had never cried before while visiting a
house, but I think God was just allowing us to enter in to the pain and
darkness of other people’s lives. One of the girls on our team, Ana Maria (from
Honduras), felt an impulse, so she went on her knees before Santos and put her
hand directly on his heart, and began praying, tears streaming down her face
and his. It was one of the most powerful moments I can think of: being there so
tangibly for another human being in need; and not just another human being- a
brother, separated by distance but united in God’s Love. In that moment we all
felt as one, and we carried his pain in our hearts.
We
didn’t find out until later that, the next night, Santos almost died. He
actually stopped breathing for awhile, but later he recovered. His wife found
him and thought that he was dead. When he “came to” again, he started asking
for a priest. This village only receives a priest once a year. So the chances of a priest coming to visit this man…basically
zero. But, in God’s amazing and
Almighty Plan, a priest was coming to say Mass the very next day!! So the next
day when Padre Gregorio arrived, I told him about Santos, and he went to visit
him, hear his confession, and give him the Eucharist and the Anointing of the
Sick. So beautiful. Jesus came to visit Santos in his hour of need. Jesus came.
And He comes for us too.
As
one of our team members put it, if we weren’t crying out of grief and
compassion, we were crying out of joy! There were so many joyful and hilarious
moments that we shared during our mission, which gave us the strength we needed
to help carry the crosses of others.
We
had a crazy adventure home, in the back of the truck for several hours as it
poured down rain. I never imagined I could be shivering in Honduras!
It
was such an intense week. I felt used by God in a new way. He allowed me to
enter in to the sufferings of others, and hopefully plant some little seed of
hope. It’s definitely not easy, but it’s worth it.
We’re
leaving today for the mountains again! Who knows what God has in store this
time. Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be an adventure! Please pray for us!
Que Dios los bendiga! (May God bless you all!)
Eric
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