March 27 Face of Poverty - 2 Feeding Centers and an Orphanage Later!

A couple of weeks ago while Pastor Tim Ingram of the Crossing Church in Celebration, Florida (http://crossingonline.org/celebration-campus ) was preaching he said everyone should go on a Mission trip.... not necessarily for what you can do for God or for people but what God will do to you during the trip. The message really struck home for me knowing my trip to Honduras was just around the corner and today I learned what he meant. I can only repeat what he said  "Everyone should go on a Mission trip!!"  Today really put a Face to Poverty for me. I realized that TV programs and pictures of hungry people or impoverished areas really do not do justice to the issue.

We started the day with a trek up to the first of two Feeding Centers run under the Ministry of Alvin and Nellie Anderson called Manos Extendidas - Extended Hands Honduras. CLICK HERE to find out more about their Ministry. Alvin and Nellie were our tour guides, security guards, translators and everything else you might need on a Missions trip to Tegucigalpa.

The road up the hills to the first Feeding Center gave new meaning to the word potholes. Our driver was not sure he would even get his vehicle close enough for us to make it to the Center. I think he was a little nervous about his vehicle being damaged. We arrived safely thanks to Alvin's guidance. The Feeding Center offers a preschool program for the children and lunch. Today was chicken, rice and tortillas as so proudly displayed by one of the cooks.

We ventured over to the second Feeding Center where a different group of children are taken care of. All the kids at the second center wanted their pictures taken.

After lunch we headed over to Tiny Houses which is a government run shelter/orphanage. The government workers and children have so much respect for Alvin and Nellie they call them Papa and Mama. Each Tiny House has 4 apartments which sleep up to 8 or more infants, children or adolescents. 

The thing that had the biggest impact on me today was what I call The Face of Poverty. As we were driving from the hotel to the hills where the Feeding Centers are, there were many sidewalk businesses and vendors but there were also many huge dumpsters right along the sides of the roads with men in them on top of the garbage rummaging for food or other salvageable goods. The other side of the Face of Poverty I saw today was it takes so little to make the children in these programs smile. They all had so little but  just a little love meant so much and Alvin and Nellie have huge hearts of God.

During the day, Derm mentioned The Gideons had donated a huge number of Bibles which they delivered to his hotel room when they were in Toronto on the way to Honduras. He asked what we thought about giving Nellie some of the Bibles. He was thinking somewhere around 10 or so. Later, while Alvin and Nellie were sharing their life stories and, as we were wrapping up today's session, Nellie mentioned she had been ministering to a group of women. Only a few of the women had their own Bibles and Nellie had been praying the Lord would provide 10 or 12 (she really wanted 12) Bibles. You should have seen Derm's face! So amazing how God hears and answers our prayers in the strangest of ways. Thank you so much to The Gideons in Canada. Here is Nellie with the Bibles...you can see her joy!

I took so many pictures today. If you would like to view those, they are in a Picasa Web Album. Just CLICK HERE to be directed to the Album. You can play a slide show of the photos or go through each one at a time. You do NOT have to sign up for anything to view this Album. 

Tomorrow we head over to two Learning Centers with 2 different Missionaries.

If you would like to read or view previous postings to this Blog, just click on the Blog Title under the heading "March" on the right hand side of this Web Page.