hospitals and handshovels

Today was our second full day in Honduras, and in the spirit of foreign based flexibility and missions based challenges, we found this morning to be one of the hardest emotionally that we will face. Honduras has a serious lack of proficient medical institutions, and so the hospital in San Pedro Sula is vastly understaffed, overpopulated with patients, and in varying states ranging from disarray to serious dishevel. We spent the morning meeting ill children, and blessing them with homemade beanies, scarfs, toys, stickers, smiles, coloring pages, hugs, laughter, stories, and best of all... bubbles. Nate Baron, a junior at Canyon Crest Academy and lifelong GPC member, had this to say about the experience. 

                "As I walked into the hospital I noticed how it was not like any hospital I had ever seen. The first thing I noticed was that it was just as hot if not hotter than it was outside. The hospital didn't have that "sterile hospital smell" and there seemed to be a major lack of supplies. We went room to room bringing presents for the kids. In each room there were about 4 or 5 kids and at least one of their family members. As we gave the kids presents they'd light up! It was super cool to see. In one of the rooms we went to there was this girl about 2 years old. Both her and her mother had a serious look on their faces. It was a sad serious look. As I started talking to them I learned that her name was Genesis and that they were in the hospital because she was having problems breathing. I opened my bag and gave her a light up bouncy ball. At first she was hesitant to take it but finally took it and started to play. Eventually she bounced the ball on the ground and I caught it. Immediately she lit up and burst out in giggles.  We continued playing this game for at least 20 minutes as her mom told me that this was the first time that she had smiled in a long time. That day I realized no matter what's going on a little blessing like a bouncy light up ball or stickers or even bubbles can totally make someones day. It was awesome. "

We spent the second part of our day getting our hands dirty. "10 holes, 8 feet apart, 1 foot wide and two feet deep." These are the instructions that I gave to the boys as they started digging. sounds easy enough, but with only one pick axe, 90degree plus weather and 90% plus humidity, it is a real good time. Centro Desarrollo Integral is a school that serves the poorest of the students in the Barrio we are working with in San Pedro Sula. They have one mission, to love and share Christ's love with the least of these, the poor children. We spent the afternoon preparing for the rest of the week worth of work there. Tomorrow we are building a 24foot by 16foot shade structure, and finishing painting a 100 foot by 10 foot brick wall. It was amazing to see our group work together and accomplish greatness as we sought to give a gift of effort to these little kids that we are falling in love with.  I asked Emelie to share about our afternoon painting. She had this to say.

                "Once we started painting, the children rushed to help us brighten the white walls with orange, lime, and red.  The girls and the children began dipping rollers and paint brushes in the paint pans and with in a few minutes the bland wall became a mural of color. We could here children screaming, " Mas pintura!" (More paint!) and "Quiero pintar tambien!" (I want to paint too). A few of us lifted the small children above our heads so they could reach the high parts.  The relatively small courtyard became a place of laughter and smiles. What struck me was what a difference a few buckets of paint could do to an entire atmosphere. The courtyard is home to hundreds of children in El Rio Blanco. They eat, they sing, they play soccer, basically everything starts in the courtyard.  Overall,  it was nice. "

Today was amazing! We got pushed, helped out, and ended the evening with a service at a small church outside of town. I got the opportunity of share about fear and courage. The children of the church blessed us with songs and skits that made us feel that (becoming) all to common conflicted feeling of disappointment and connection. Disappointment that we don't understand the language and miss the nuances of conversational humor, and a feeling of connection that makes it clear that even language can't keep God's children from showing and receiving love. It was an amazing day, and I cant wait for tomorrow. 

Lastly, I am disappointed to share that pictures will not be available until sunday after we get home. We are having a bit of a computer connection issue, and this will not be able to be resolved until I get to a different computer. I am sorry, but believe me, the photos are worth the wait. 

Kyle Colin Kerchner