Hard work in Honduras

It seems like forever ago, but it was merely 18 days ago that I returned from my second trip down to Honduras with our church. This one was a little different - instead of doling out medicine and vitamins, we sanded and painted and did electrical work. "Finishing work" is what I liked to call it. Mainly because when you say "construction" people always think of building something. We did work to structures that were already there, and it was pretty cool.

One of the things that you quite quickly experience when in Honduras, or in any 2/3 world nation, is the disparity between what you have and what others have. Heck, I took more stuff down with me than many people I met there had at all. There seem to be 2 natural reactions. The first is to give everything away - when we went to one particular community (I'll share about later) that was definitely the response of many of us. The other reaction, of course, is to say something to the effect of "that's just the way it is" - and do nothing. I've seen that neither reaction is particularly healthy. In the first, the needs are so great that it would suck you dry. In the second... well, do I even need to say how cold and unlike Christ that response sounds?

The appropriate response, I think is to recognize what you are doing with what you have. What purpose is your wealth serving? Is it only serving your ease and pleasure? If so, it's probably polluting your soul. However, if you can use what you have as a tool to bless others - now you're on to something. While not in anywhere the same way I experienced this in Honduras, part of the vacation I'm just returning from is a testament of those with something, sharing with those without that something - and I can tell you, as one who was on the receiving end - it was a GREAT blessing...