This past weekend, we flew to Houston to speak at Conroe Church of Christ about foreign missions. While we were nervous about speaking in front of so many strangers, we are always thrilled to share our passion for mission work.
God totally took care of us through the amazing folks at that church. We got the royal treatment - it was really humbling.
One story that came up Sunday morning is one that I want to share with you. It's about my little friend named Lourdes.
My first trip to Honduras was in 2006. We went to Tegucigalpa and worked with a clinic there. Our duties included medical, VBS, construction, and food delivery.
One morning, after a rambunctious VBS experience, we loaded up the bus to head to a school for the blind. On the way out the door I noticed a piece of pipe cleaner that had been left on the floor after our VBS craft. I wasn't near a trash can, soI just wrapped the pipe cleaner around my finger.
When we got to the school, I immediately noticed a darling little girl with no eyes. (I later found out that her mother had been so malnourished during pregnancy that the baby's eyes never developed). She wandered over to me and grabbed my hand, immediately discovering the soft pipe cleaner on my finger. She stroked the soft "piece of trash" and kept calling it a ring as she settled down in my lap for a long while.
We didn't understand much of what we said to each other, but we still communicated about the ring and her hair and the breeze - me in English and her in Spanish.
After a while, we went into the main room of the school where Lourdes settled back into my lap while most children sat in chairs at the tables.
They began to sing in the most beautiful voices I've ever heard. Tears immediately filled my eyes. Lourdes must have heard me crying. She reached up and wiped my tears away - over and over. Of course, I cried more!
Then they asked us to sing. It was nowhere near as beautiful as their singing. Lourdes kept reaching up and pulling my mouth to her ear. And that little girl told me it was beautiful. I don't know how she heard beauty in my cracking voice, but she did!
Then we had to leave. It was awful.
First I cried.
Then I sobbed.
I didn't want to leave her. I wanted to see her again.
Then it hit me.
I WILL SEE HER AGAIN!
We will be together again with Jesus.
She will have eyes to see.
I will have a beautiful voice.
Lourdes got me hooked on foreign missions. I've been back to Honduras 11 times since and plan to continue as long as God allows.
If you'd like to be involved in the mission work in Honduras, please visit www.MissionLazarus.org
We are all called to be missionaries - I promise that you are able!
To see our talk from Sunday click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment