Giving Hope

Nearing the end of the long, dimly lit hallway, I rounded the corner and almost tripped on a girl sitting against the wall. She had her head down so I assumed she was praying or something. Not wanting to stare, I kept walking and went out to the backyard to do my laundry on the washboards. Quite a while later (it takes a long time to scrub all your clothes by hand and hang them up to dry), I headed back to my room.

Turning the corner where I saw the girl before, I was surprised to see her still there. This time, though, her head was up and I could see mascara running down her tear-stained face. I stood there for a minute, trying to decide what to do. I wanted to comfort her and pray with her, but I didn't speak any Spanish beyond "What's your name?"or "Where is the bathroom?", and I realized that this was not a time for either of those questions.

I didn't want to be rude and invade her personal space, but as she looked up at me, her chin quivering and no glimmer of hope in her sad eyes, I felt my legs buckling and my arms encircling her in a hug. I said nothing, just hugged her close and prayed silently. I longed to ask her what she was going through and to assure her that God could help her through it, but I couldn't.

We sat there in silence until I spotted Ruth at the other end of the hallway. Calling her over, I asked her to find out what was wrong. As they babbled in Spanish, I noticed some serious tension in the conversation. Ruthie was shaking her head and trying to talk some sense into her. After a while, I felt that I should leave them to talk. I squeezed the girl's hand and made my way slowly to my room at the other end of the hallway.

My mind was racing. What was this girl going through? Who had hurt her? She seemed almost suicidal, and I desperately wanted to let her know that there was hope. Only I didn't speak Spanish, so I prayed that Ruth would have the right words. I know that they talked for a long time and Ruth shared God's love with her.

So many people in life are struggling. They live their lives to achieve earthly goals, and are disappointed time and time again. They see no hope. We pass by these people every day. Maybe we pass them in the grocery store, or sit by them on the plane, or maybe just brush by them in a crowd on the street. The question is, do we stop and help them?

We have the power to bring hope to these individuals. We weren't given light to keep it to ourselves. We must reach out to those around us who are struggling.

How have you shared hope with someone today?

Hello Honduras

For the past two weeks, I have been in Honduras. Being here has taught me a lot. I thought I'd share the main thing that God has shown me while I've been here.

When we first arrived, I was pumped and ready. I mean, this is my senior class mission trip, and we landed in this dreadfully hot country with the mindset of saving souls and changing lives. We loaded our stuff on a rickety, beat-up bus and hit the pot-hole-filled road. As the bus driver raced through the dusty streets, blasting music, I watched the road go by through the holes in the floor. I have to be completely honest and say that culture shock hadn't hit me yet.When we finally got to the CEA campus, we unloaded our luggage and settled in. 

We got dressed and went to vespers, ready to change the lives of these teenagers around us. There was just one problem. Although CEA was a bilingual school, there were hardly any students who spoke English. We sat through the whole vespers, Spanish flying back and forth between the loud teenagers. That was when culture shock set in, and that is when I ran smack into the language barrier. 

It seemed like a big problem at first. How do you witness to someone if you can't talk to them? How do they know you're a real Christian if you can't share your devotions or your testimony with them? I worked hard on my Spanish, but I still could not even carry on a basic conversation, let alone a deeply spiritual one.

But as time went on, we heard back from the students. They were really impressed with how close to God we were. They're hearts were touched simply by the way we lived our lives. And when they left for spring break, they said that they were really going to miss us. I know that I will really miss them.

This past Thursday, we left Peña Blanca and went for some down time to the beach town of Tela. This place is crazy! We are staying in a hotel on the outskirts of town, but we still hear constantly thumping music and lots of car horns (they love using their horns down here, probably more than even driving). Anyway, we've been going to the beach and going to and fro, but we've also been having worship in the hotel. And, as always, we always sing to start group worship.

Yesterday, we found out that the hotel workers, when we would sing together, started wondering where the beautiful music was coming from. The front desk lady snuck away from where she was on duty because she said that she felt called by the music. None of the hotel workers speak very much English, so they don't understand the lyrics of what we sang to them, but they have told us that they are going to change they're lives. They have been moved through the Holy Spirit and the gift of music.

You don't have to tell someone your conversion experience for them to find God. In fact, if you don't live what you tell them, they might convert in the opposite direction. But if you live your life dedicated to God's service, they will be moved, their souls will be stirred within them.

What an awesome God we serve!