Wow! What a crazy couple of weeks it has been. I am
splitting up everything into different blogs for the sake of your time (and
attention span), so hopefully it will be a little bit easier to follow.
Everyone loves going to new places and on vacation, so I’ll start out the
string of blogs with the trips we’ve taken in the past weeks.
Because we are here to minister to the entire country of
Honduras and not just Tony’s Ministry in Tegucigalpa, we spent about three days
near Olancho at “Gracie’s.” Since we arrived
here in Honduras, we have been hearing about Gracie’s ministry, but no one ever
really told us what it was. Before our
trip, I think I almost viewed Gracie as some sort of phantom person because I
just heard vague tidbits about her and what she does here in Honduras. Basically, I knew she was a Gringa and that
her ministry was working with women…not a whole lot to kick-start a three day
visit.
At our orientation, I learned that Gracie’s ministry is called the Heart of Christ. Not only does she work with women, but she works with women who are victims of rape, abuse, domestic violence, and prostitution as well as the children they have had as a product of rape. On top of that, Gracie has three little girls who have cerebral palsy and three little boys who were left by their mothers. Essentially, Gracie is Mother Teresa for the special victims’ cases in Honduras.
A bit about some of the kids staying at Gracie’s: The three girls with CP were all given to Gracie by INFHA, the country’s adoption agency, because they had all been abused and were in critical conditions. Gracie put it candidly when she said the girls were each given to her separately so that they had a nice place to die. Of course, God had other plans. Within just two or three weeks of being there, each girl began to thrive; all they needed was A LOT of food and A LOT of TLC, both of which they found at Gracie’s. One of the little boys, Moises, was also given to Gracie for his last weeks by INFHA. Moises developed an 18-pound tumor on his side by the time he was 2 years old, and no doctor in Honduras was hypothetically skilled enough to operate on him. It was planned that Moises would be able to travel to the states for his operation, but because of lack of funding, the planning fell through. As a last resort, Gracie prayed and prayed and went back to one of the hospitals and begged them to operate. By the grace of God, Moises made it through. Now, he is three years old and a normal, happy little boy…with over 100 stitches down his side. The remainder of the girls living there, 4 in total, range from 12-18 years old and have all given birth as a result of rape. At Gracie’s, they each live in a separate room with their babies. Because three of them are still so young, they attend school each day of the week for four hours in the morning in order to get back on track.
A bit of side information about INFHA: INFHA is sort of like the adoption agency that you would tend to see in a horror movie. Any time a child under the age of 18 is found on the streets without a parent, they are taken to INFHA, especially if some sort of crime has been committed. If a child is claimed by a relative afterwards, he/she is allowed to leave; otherwise, INFHA becomes home until the age of 18. Unfortunately, INFHA is also the end of the line for most children, both special needs and otherwise, who have been taken out of homes due to domestic violence. With this mix of children, those with special needs do not get anywhere near the right amount of care, and the ‘violent’ kids are left to run free. Many times, victims are brought to Gracie’s property for 72 hours and then are sent back to INFHA, because she cannot currently take in any more people. Carlos and Josue, our boys from the property, both were at INFHA for a time when they were living on the streets. Luckily they were claimed by their mother after a few weeks, but they both say that it was an awful place to live. There was never enough food and the conditions were a nightmare. Unfortunately, one of the boys we have become friends with in La Kennedy, Jovani, has been taken to INFHA because he was on thinner and was involved in violence during a protest. Because he is only 16 and parentless, he will have to stay at INFHA for 2 years.
At our orientation, I learned that Gracie’s ministry is called the Heart of Christ. Not only does she work with women, but she works with women who are victims of rape, abuse, domestic violence, and prostitution as well as the children they have had as a product of rape. On top of that, Gracie has three little girls who have cerebral palsy and three little boys who were left by their mothers. Essentially, Gracie is Mother Teresa for the special victims’ cases in Honduras.
A bit about some of the kids staying at Gracie’s: The three girls with CP were all given to Gracie by INFHA, the country’s adoption agency, because they had all been abused and were in critical conditions. Gracie put it candidly when she said the girls were each given to her separately so that they had a nice place to die. Of course, God had other plans. Within just two or three weeks of being there, each girl began to thrive; all they needed was A LOT of food and A LOT of TLC, both of which they found at Gracie’s. One of the little boys, Moises, was also given to Gracie for his last weeks by INFHA. Moises developed an 18-pound tumor on his side by the time he was 2 years old, and no doctor in Honduras was hypothetically skilled enough to operate on him. It was planned that Moises would be able to travel to the states for his operation, but because of lack of funding, the planning fell through. As a last resort, Gracie prayed and prayed and went back to one of the hospitals and begged them to operate. By the grace of God, Moises made it through. Now, he is three years old and a normal, happy little boy…with over 100 stitches down his side. The remainder of the girls living there, 4 in total, range from 12-18 years old and have all given birth as a result of rape. At Gracie’s, they each live in a separate room with their babies. Because three of them are still so young, they attend school each day of the week for four hours in the morning in order to get back on track.
A bit of side information about INFHA: INFHA is sort of like the adoption agency that you would tend to see in a horror movie. Any time a child under the age of 18 is found on the streets without a parent, they are taken to INFHA, especially if some sort of crime has been committed. If a child is claimed by a relative afterwards, he/she is allowed to leave; otherwise, INFHA becomes home until the age of 18. Unfortunately, INFHA is also the end of the line for most children, both special needs and otherwise, who have been taken out of homes due to domestic violence. With this mix of children, those with special needs do not get anywhere near the right amount of care, and the ‘violent’ kids are left to run free. Many times, victims are brought to Gracie’s property for 72 hours and then are sent back to INFHA, because she cannot currently take in any more people. Carlos and Josue, our boys from the property, both were at INFHA for a time when they were living on the streets. Luckily they were claimed by their mother after a few weeks, but they both say that it was an awful place to live. There was never enough food and the conditions were a nightmare. Unfortunately, one of the boys we have become friends with in La Kennedy, Jovani, has been taken to INFHA because he was on thinner and was involved in violence during a protest. Because he is only 16 and parentless, he will have to stay at INFHA for 2 years.
God really tested me
while we were at Gracie’s, because I have never really had any experience with
this sort of ministry. I have heard
about it and know that it exists, but never have I been right in the middle of
it and witnessed first-hand the effects of domestic violence, rape, and
neglect. Given that giant lack of
experience, I was thrown in to feed the CP girls one day. WOW- what a task! We
worked with a six-year-old girl, Evoña. As a result of not being fed at all and
being a victim of abuse in her previous home, Evoña strongly dislikes to eat,
yet she is on a diet of over 3,000 calories a day. Fisher, Becca, and I sat
with her in shifts (realizing it was not a one person job) for close to two
hours until one small bowl of oatmeal was gone. By the end of it, I felt 100%
comfortable with Evoña and the other CP girls. Considering that Fisher and
Becca both study early childhood education for special needs, I was definitely
the odd girl out, but I know that’s why I was there. God pushed me way out of my comfort zone so
that I could actually delve into Gracie’s ministry.
Fisher and I feeding Evoña.
Gracie took us on a tour of her village one
afternoon and Carlos took it upon himself to find
flowers for all of the girls. He proceeded to put
a flower in our hair and called us all his girlfriends.
Nothing like a big, sloppy, wet kiss on your cheek
by a 14-year-old Honduran boy.
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