Honduras Journal part 8

1-5-11 – 3:32 a.m. After visiting El Zapota we drove to another village called Otuta. We met a young pastor named Elias. He serves as the pastor of a church in his village. He had to walk a good way to meet us at the church which appeared to be about half way up the mountain.

The church in Otuta actually has a concrete building with a roof over it. Compared to what I saw in El Zapota this is a nice building. Inside I counted 60 green plastic lawn chairs. The attendance is around 20 each week. They have a small stage with an old wooden pulpit. I climbed the stage to stand behind it to get a feel for what it must be like to preach in that church. There are no glass windows. The windows are closed with wooden doors and the only ventilation in the building comes from opening the windows and the door. I bet it gets sweltering hot in there during the summer.

There were three old guitars leaned against the wall up on the stage. They had no piano. Outside the church is another outhouse. The sewage runs out on the ground near the church. You flush the toilet by turning on a water faucet directly over the toilet. The water runs into the toilet eventually pushing the sewage outside. I actually saw chickens drinking that sewage water. (No more chicken for me.)

Otuta consists of 180 homes. Many of these homes have more than one family living in them. In these tiny homes there could be 8-10 people cramped in these small living quarters. Teenage girls begin gettting pregnant here as early as 13-14. Most of these girls live in common law marriages because the government only recognizes marriages held in the courts officiated by government employees. Church weddings are not recognized as official. Most of the Chorti cannot afford the legal fees for a government-sanctioned wedding.

The Chorti people are not held in high esteem by the Latino community. There is a great prejudice against them. I cannot imagine the hard lives they live under physically and emotionally. I saw another family rummaging through a dump again today. The difficulty of life here is hard to imagine and to describe. Trash is littered throughout the villages even worse than we see in West Texas after a windy day.

Elias has only been the pastor in Otuta for a little over a year. He cannot read. Either his wife reads the scripture for him during the week and he memorizes the text or God did a miracle where he can read nothing else but the scriptures. Jase and Steve seem unclear as to which is the case. Regardless Elias is a remarkable young man filled with joy and kind eyes.

Due to the fact that Billy and Mary Collins had to leave so unexpectedly, most of the Chorti people have felt abandoned. Elias said through an interpreter they felt they were alone. He appreciated us being there. He went on to say that even though they felt alone they had decided as a church they would keep up the work. Our presence in the village proved to be a source of strength and encouragement to them.

I had Marcia read [Gal 6:9] to Elias and his fellow church members who were in attendance. “Do not grow weary in doing good for you shall reap a harvest in due time if you do not lose heart.” He smiled when she finished reading the passage. Many groups have come from the States in the past promising many things but they never show up again or keep their promises. Steve and Audra have been coming back for 20 years and have developed a respect among the Chorti people. I cannot promise to deliver money to build a hospital and then not follow through. They have come to expect such. Steve and Audra are inspirational. Steve is nearly 70 years old. He is no young chicken but he keeps coming back. He and his wife plan to come back in February and stay for two months. They will go back home and then come back again for another two months during the summer. He is not even a staff member at their church, just a retired salesman who loves the Lord and loves the Chorti people. Their story should inspire the rest of us to do more for the Lord.

Through their church, Parkwood Baptist Church in North Carolina, they have signed a two-year lease on the mission house to keep it open. They have been given power of attorney over the vehicles and bank accounts to keep the work going. Their presence here is a source of comfort and stability. Accompanied by all partnering churches, they will head up a council to continue the work around Copan Ruinas.

Our meeting with Elias concluded with a prayer meeting as we gathered in a circle and held hands. Elias prayed in Spanish and I prayed in English. A great joy filled my heart as I prayed for Elias and the flock he shepherds. Before we left he told us he had a great joy in his heart because of the ongoing relationship we are committing to.

By the time we drove back from Otuta and made our way back to Copan Ruinas it was nearly 6:00 p.m. We had to hustle to Jim’s restaurant and wolf down our food before getting back to the mission house for a meeting with the doctors. Just as we started on our walk to the restaurant the electricity went out all over town leaving us walking in the pitch dark on cobblestone streets with many potholes. No problem for big Jim. He cranks up his generator and continues business as usual. He does a great job on burgers and pizza.

By the time we finished eating the electricity was restored and we had to hustle back to the mission house for a meeting at 7:45 p.m. with Dr. Franco and Dr. Maritza. They are the only two doctors for an area that is the primary medical facilities for up to 20,000 people. They are overworked treating patients out of two small clinics. They are ill equipped with medical equipment to treat people adequately. They serve an average of 900 patients a month charging $20 for Latino patients and $10 for Chorti patients.

There is not a single x-ray machine in the town. They do not have an ultra sound or MRI machines either. It is not uncommon for these doctors to treat patients who come from as far away as two hours away.

The closest small hospital is a hour away and the closest major hospital is located in San Pedro three hours away. Neither doctor can speak English even though Dr. Franco can understand some English. He is single and I am not sure if he is a believer. Dr. Maritza is married and is a believer. I came to love her deeply as we visited concerning her faith in God and dedication to treat the people. She was late to the meeting having an emergency case to attend to before coming to join us. They are both burdened for their emergency cases because often the patients are not well enough to make the trips to other hospitals. These patients do not survive the trips but their lives could be saved if there was a hospital in Copan Ruinas. The more they talked the more God burned the dream and call on my life to raise the money to see this hospital built.

I found myself ashamed for taking our hospital in Seminole for granted and the care they give to patients. I am humbled even owning a truck that I can use to drive to Lubbock to minister to people who are hospitalized there. I have so much to be thankful for.

Dr. Franco and Dr. Maritza are only able to administer the most basic health care to their patients. Maritza commented that if we ever had to come to their clinic for medical treatment there would be no privacy as we were treated due to lack of space.

Both doctors have dreamed about having a hospital but it has seemed like an impossible dream. The dream started when they met a doctor from the States who has a foundation that will give up to one million dollars in medical equipment for free as well as train people how to use it. This foundation does not purchase property or build hospital facilities though. They strictly provide medical equipment. That is why raising this money is so important. All they need is a facility and they can have better medical care than they have ever had in the history of the town. So I trust God for $140,000 to purchase land and to build the facility but I cannot do it alone.

This is where I come into the picture. God has prompted me to raise the money to build that hospital Dr. Franco and Dr. Maritza have dreamed of for so long. They both see the dream as nearly impossible and this is when I began to talk to both of them.

I had Marcia tell them the hospital will be a gift from Jesus to the people of Copan Ruinas. I told them when people see that hospital constructed they will know God did it and He will get all the glory. At that point I had Marcia read [Matt 5:16] to them. “Let your light so shine before men that when they see your good works they will glorify God in Heaven.” I went on to explain the great challenge that lies before us. Trusting God for this is hospital is like a great mountain or obstacle. I had Marcia open the scriptures again to [Mark 11:23-24]. “Truly I say to you whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you received them and they will be granted you.”

Dr. Maritza confessed she had been afraid to have such a big dream. She heard her pastor preaching about Peter getting out of the boat and walking on water. Her pastor preached about not being afraid to get out of the boat and walk on the water with big dreams. She said in that moment she began to believe the dream of building a hospital. Two thousand miles away God put the same dream in my heart even though I do not know how the money will be raised other than a great deal of prayer.

The land needed for the hospital will cost $40,000. We will see the land tomorrow. The hospital will cost $100,000 to build. $140,000 is not a big deal for God. I believe God wills for this to happen. I therefore have confidence God will bring it to pass. [I Jn 5:14-15]

As the meeting ended I told the doctors this dream is like an embryo conceived in a mother’s womb. In essence we are all pregnant with this dream. In due time the dream will mature and through prayer we will labor to give birth to this miracle. I had Marcia read [Heb 11:1], “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” We hope for the land and the hospital. I am convicted we shall see God provide for both.

After closing our meeting with prayer both the doctors, I sank into a rocking chair in the living room with mixed feelings of elation and grave concern. The elation came from my getting to exercise faith and believe God for something impossible. I was born to do this. The grave concern came as the enormity of the task began to set in. By far this is the biggest step of faith I have ever taken. The weight of this responsibility began to set in. I made a promise to both of these doctors that I am not able to fulfill in my own ability. Only God can do it. Only God can move this $140,000 mountain. I will be tenacious in asking Him to do so.