another busy weekend

Today I went on my first bike ride around the island (sorry mom...). The road was pretty bumpy and I felt like I was bouncing around like a pinball, but I didn't really mind. It gave me a chance to be alone with my thoughts. Yesterday when I was reading my Bible, I came across a passage in Psalms. It said, "For He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight."(Psalms 72:12-14). The part that struck me the most was the very end "...for precious is their blood in his sight." As a society, how often do we look at the needy and regard them as precious. Instead, it seems that the needy are pushed aside and forgotten. Instead of addressing the problem, our society tends to turn its head and look the other way. But God sees their value--He understands their importance. In His eyes they are viewed as precious. In a world consumed by greed, it's critical to stop and address those who are suffering, instead of pretending they don't exist.

This morning in Sunday school, the lesson was on fasting. The leader of the group made a comment about how blessed they were that they had food to eat. She went on to talk about those who are suffering to such an extreme that they aren't sure where their next meal will come from. This idea is still one that's hard for me to handle. Even though I'm in a place where the people don't have much, they are still able to cook meals on a daily basis and most of the time aren't wondering how they will survive from one day to the next. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to live in such poverty that made it nearly impossible to survive. I'm sure that as I continue on this journey and encounter different towns throughout Honduras that I will come face to face with this reality. Being in a place like this constantly reminds me of how blessed I am and how much God has given me.

This past weekend I was able to spend a lot of time with the people from this community. I attended Bible study in someones home and helped out with kids club on Thursday afternoon. On Friday, I spent the day observing different classrooms in the school across the street from my house. School here is much different than school in the States. There are no shiny, new workbooks and laminated name tags on individual desks. Instead, the kids pile into a semi-chaotic, non-air conditioned room and copy their lessons into beat up notebooks. Some of the teachers shout at the kids to get their attention, which works about half of the time. Friday night was youth group for the church. Right before it was about to start, the power went out in town. This happens quite a bit, since there is a limited amount of power on the island. So, instead of cancelling service, we had a bonfire outside the youth center. There was a time of music and a few people gave their testimony. Afterwards we all played games around the fire. Half the time I had no idea what was going on, but I would catch on after a while. Even though it was difficult to understand at times, it was still a lot of fun and it gave me a chance to connect with the youth on a different level. Yesterday was another busy day spent driving around the island to run different errands. The power went out again, so Sarah and I had to make our dinner in the dark. Living here is definitely different, but I'm really enjoying the experience. I'm supposed to sing tonight at church, so let's hope the power stays on!