Joel lives all by himself so to him its ok to do whatever. He had clothes on him that literally look like they have been on him for weeks, maybe months. He reeked, and he also had a bottle in his hand with paint thinner sniffing it right in front of our faces. He was so high that the boys had to protect us girls and we had to leave from there and walk to Mcdonalds. As we were walking, it hit me hard because I realized that I’m ok he is not. I get to go back and literally have everything I need, and he will be still out there with nothing , no one, nowhere to go. I just sat there and wept until the bus got there because that is real life. God loves him just as much as he loves me. That’s the kind of people we would find Jesus being friends. It is nothing easy to look at when a little boy is right here trying to grab you when he is getting high right there in your face. I still am not over the fact that he is still out there doing who knows what. That’s NOT ok. It hurts me so much to sit here and still think about it, but that is how they live here.
This past week was my last week to be a teacher at the school. I was the third grade teacher who was supposed to teach spelling, science, and reading. Well when the principal finds out that you are musically inclined then you find something else to teach about, MUSIC. I taught my kids music all week and they absolutely loved every second of it. We taught from Monday through Thursday, so we never know what happens on Fridays. They always have music and chapel on Fridays. Well, since they found out that music is what I do best, they changed chapel to Thursday so that I can lead the kids in worship. I got to sing with four little Honduran girls who sang in English with me, and then they made me sing in Spanish. I’m not going to lie, it was real fun to be challenged one again. I also learned to play chess and beat all the boys in badminton while we were supposed to be teaching. Thursday when we were leaving, all of my kids made me cards and letters thanking me and telling me that they will miss me. That is when you know that you don’t want to leave when kids love you like that.
This past week alone, we have had to be extra cautious. This is the murder capital of the world, and I’m living in the middle of it. One of my teammates tent got sliced while she was sitting in it. They just decided to come and see what was inside until she said something, and then they ran. So from that, everyone and their tent had to move inside. So now for the next week and a half we are all sleeping together like one big sleepover. Who ever thought that a big sleepover is fun, it is. The night after that happened, we had worship. Normally we stay inside but this time we felt the need to go outside and let the enemy know that we have a God who is on the property as our guard. He will not let anything happen to us, so we just had to let them know.
This is real life. Everything that I have seen, done, experienced is everything that the Lord wanted me to see. He wanted me to see Joel so that I can honestly be brought to my knees, broken. He wanted me to sing to Him with the kids in their language to show me that if I just rely on Him He will always give me what I need, when I need it. He showed us that He is our bodyguard, shield, and protector when the enemy is trying his best to attack us. That’s the kind of God I serve and live for. We should thank him for a broken heart. We should thank him for giving us everything we need when we need it. We should thank Him for ALWAYS protecting us. We do not deserve it but yet He is so merciful and gracious to us that He just freely hands all of that to us because He loves us that much.
