Saturday, July 20, 2013

Summer Mission Adventures


          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