BRIEF REPORT ON HONDURAS – February 2012
by Alfred Adams – Tampa, FL
Obviously a brief little report like this is not able to convey the very depth and moving aspect of the things that I will now describe. Perhaps, it will cause the reader to just take a moment to thank the Lord for your past, present and even what yet might occur in your life.
I was only off the plane about 45 minutes and Noe [Noah] Suazo who is and was the mastermind of Proyecto Betesda in Honduras drove off the main highway and down a dirty, narrow, muddy lane. We pulled up in front of a green house. A young boy called Joan [Pronounced Yo-Han] came to the iron gate and said in Spanish: “Hi Don Noe!” But when he looked at me he said in perfect English: “Hi Sir!”. This 11 year old speaks English so perfectly that it is amazing. He doesn’t even have a Spanish accent.
This home left me lying awake every night and I can honestly say I woke in the middle of the night two nights in a row as I lay thinking about what I had seen. Joan’s mother’s name is Lydia and his father’s name is Erick.
Erick was a very active evangelist and a man whose whole life was dedicated to the things of his fellowship and the Lord’s business. Lydia, is a woman who supported her husband in every spiritual endeavor that he took on. But three years ago they had a serious accident in their car. Erick is now a quadriplegic.
Lydia led us into the bedroom. Erick was lying on a hospital bed that was sent down from here. The room was hot. There was a shelf high up on the wall above the foot of his bed. There was a little TV on it. The room was somewhat dark but there was an open window right next to his bed. Several small trucks drove only a couple of feet away, making their deliveries. Erick was lying there with a huge smile on his olive colored face that was topped with jet black straight hair. We said our usual courtesies and introductions. Lydia left us with him.
Erick asked me several questions about my trip. He never once mentioned himself. Noe informed him of some of the events that had happened since his previous visit. I then decided to ask him about his past. He told me very little about himself but told me that he was told after a period of therapy that the doctor very coldly told him he would never improve. Erick said: “I realized quickly that I could either get bitter and angry or accept it from the Lord and be grateful.” I could hardly take it in. I don’t know much about this sort of injury but somehow I think that he might could have walked again if he were in our country. He said: “You know Al, I used to love singing and preaching the Gospel but the Lord has taken that from me for now.” I asked him if he had seen the video of the man without legs and arms but preaches all over the world? He said: “Yes I have seen the video and I admire him.”
I had brought an engine computer for them. Their 1997 Dodge Caravan had stopped and wouldn’t run. Lydia was told by the mechanic that there wasn’t one anywhere in Honduras and that she would have to get it from the States. When I gave it to her she hugged it as a child would a teddy bear. The only way she can transport Erick is in the van and it hadn’t been running for weeks. Erick never misses a service at the fellowship. Lydia literally carries him in and out of the car. He does have a wheelchair but getting in and out is hers to do. Unfortunately, we learned later the car also needs an electronic module. That too can only be acquired in the States. It already is on it’s way.
Noe left me in the room alone with Erick. I told him that perhaps his ministry now was to be at a higher level. I suggested to him that I had noticed that the only time angels move on behalf of believers in the New Testament was when people prayed. I asked him if he would be willing to take on a very tough project I had for him. He said he would. I gave him the task of praying for a situation that to me seems impossible and extremely painful because of sin. On my way we visited him again and he told me; “I have prayed about your project. Let me know because I will continue on it until there is resolution.”
Lydia came back in the room with Noe. She sat on the edge of the bed and with watery eyes told us about how after three years she recently [1 week previously] had told the Lord: “I can’t do it anymore.” You see Lydia has to go out into the street and sell clothing, underwear and shoes to feed the family. Joan goes to school and Erick lies all alone in the bed in the house. Please remember he cannot move his hands or legs. She can’t stand to think of him alone! HE IS TRAPPED IN HIS BODY! The night before she had told the Lord she can’t do it anymore was the day a young lady had walked by selling vegetables. Lydia was sweeping the front of her house. The young gal asked Lydia if she would like to buy? Lydia said: “No thank you.” The next day the young lady came by again but this time she wasn’t selling anything. She stopped and looked a Lydia and said: “You need me to help you.” Lydia asked her: “How do you know this?” The young lady said: “Because when I walked by yesterday I saw your face and realized that you were in need of someone.” They chatted and the young lady said that she would like to come and help or work for Lydia as a maid. Lydia told her that she could not pay her because she had no money. The girl said: “I don’t want any money. I just want a safe place where I can lie on the floor and sleep. I will help you with your housework and cook for you if I can sleep on the floor?” Lydia told us she went to Erick in the bedroom [this really impressed me] and asked him if he thought it would be alright to let her stay in the house with them. He said: “She needs a place to sleep. Let her stay.” The girl then said: “There is something else though I have to tell you. I have a two year old daughter that would have to come and stay with me.” Lydia said: “I will need to check with my husband and see what he says.” Erick said: “Bring the child too.” Lydia now feels freer to go and sell clothes on the street as she knows that someone is in the house looking after Erick. The story of the girl is fascinating but I won’t take the ink or paper to record it here. But the Lord has brought a believer to a believer. The little child sings choruses and is learning verses of the Scripture. Lydia is teaching the mother the value of discipline. What a blessing! Lydia said: “Isn’t it amazing that the night I told the Lord I couldn’t do this anymore the girl came by selling vegetables? Isn’t it amazing the day the girl was desperate for a place to sleep with her child God gave her the insight to say something to me? God is amazing!”
The young lady is extremely polite, attends a local church and is very excited about having a mother-figure in her life. Her husband ran-off and left her. Her parents told her to get out of the house when she came home out of need. Her grandparents allowed her to stay with them but they were very mean and rough with the child so she in desperation left for the streets.
When I was alone with Erick he told me something that left me feeling like someone had kicked me in the chest. He said: “You know brother what really hurts me more than anything is that when the accident happened the brethren acted like I wasn’t even a part of their fellowship.” I asked him if they come to visit him? He said: “No brother no one comes.” Later I asked Noe if the assemblies in the area help them financially and he said: “Alfredo I am embarrassed to say this but none of them have helped.” Proyecto Betesda has.
Here is a country where I realize there is much poverty. I just didn’t want to believe what I was hearing. Then I thought of something that had just happened in my own circle of friends. It isn’t just in Honduras. I don’t need to remind any reader what the Lord’s half brother said. But it has something to do with faith without works is as good as being dead.
If some are dead, I am happy to say that Mr. Noe is anything but dead and neither are the brethren of the committee which oversees the works of Proyecto Betesda. They have taken on this couple as a project. They are fully aware that this is a long-term need but they will have help from folks like us. So I pass on this story to assure you that just as on other occasions folks or fellowships in this country are most definitely a blessing to others of “whom this world is not worthy.”
There is another great story of another car accident that has turned death into a prison ministry. But I will refrain and pass it on perhaps in the days to come.
It gives me tremendous satisfaction to inform you we were able to leave $20,000.00 with Proyecto Betesda to help with: 1. School that teaches women how to sew and develop a career, 2. Support a prison ministry, 3. Re-roof chapels, 4. Build new chapels and 5. Help Lydia and Erick. The gratifying thing about all these works is to see that all of the above mentioned items are being done by natives! So “helping natives help natives” is something the Lord does with 100% of the funds we receive. Thank you for your confidence in us.
If any of this keeps you awake because you aren’t trapped in your body ….
Remember Erick!!!
Remember Lydia as she sells in the streets
Remember the young lady who serves all day
Remember the little child who is now in a loving atmosphere
Remember Joan {Yohan} a boy whose father can’t walk, run, throw a ball.
[One of the brethren who lives 1 hour away is trying to take Joan places. He has been a A+++ student but has suffered from depression. He told his teacher at school that his grades were dropping because it was about his father. So please remember this 11 year old boy in your chats with the Father.]