Love is
one of those things that you just don't have until you're giving it
away. It requires a connection – a relationship – and it
requires that you do
something to build and sustain your relationship and the person with
whom you are connected.
I
spent a lot of time last week thinking about this week. I thought
about each of the people on my team, each of our needs and what each
of us brings to the table for a place and a people like El Hogar. I
thought about team dynamics and I thought about what my goals for
this week should be. I am very proud to say that my biggest goal is
being accomplished. I'm sure I'll write a lot about that here. I'm
also planning to share with you the moment I had this afternoon, when the
goals and the scope of El Hogar were put into perspective for me.
My
goal this week was for our team to connect with the people of El
Hogar. This trip isn't about what happens to you during the week;
it's about what happens to you for the rest of your life.
Relationships don't happen
here, they begin here.
The El Hogar Team is pursuing these long-term relationships in many different
ways, and each of them makes me proud to be involved with the
Cathedral and with El Hogar. God's love may happen one week at a
time, but it happens 52 weeks a year.
Something
unexpected happened for me this afternoon, and it may be the
highlight of my week. Due to various circumstances the team has
ended up staying in Honduras for an extra day (in the end, crazy as
it may seem, we save money by being here longer). This morning El
Hogar began a new campaign, “Sudando la Camiseta por El Hogar”
(Getting Our T-Shirts Sweaty for El Hogar), and our group got to
participate in the program. Frankly, I sweated through my t-shirts
for El Hogar every day this week so I feel like I deserve some extra
credit. But the big deal today was that El Hogar alumni of all ages
spent the day at the orphanage with the kids. They had several
nostalgic moments, some of them remembering when the used to line up
before every meal under the same tree under which the kids line up
before every meal today, or remembering the first day they arrived at
El Hogar and feeling Claudia's hug and hearing her say to them, “You
are beautiful,” for the very first time.
The
objective of the day was two-fold. The kids, alums and some of us
volunteers spent the morning “sudando la camiseta” by changing
all the light fixtures (not just the bulbs) in the school building
and by building and fencing-in a new vegetable garden for the
orphanage. I must admit that I'll be proud to say, when I return to
El Hogar next year, that I helped create the garden they'll be using
to provide fresh vegetables for the orphanage.
After lunch, Claudia gave the alums
an opportunity to speak to the current students. I apologize for not
having pictures of this part of the program; I was too caught up in
what the alums had to say to think about making sure someone was
taking photos. Many of the middle-aged men took advantage of the
opportunity to share with the kids (remember: the first ever class
of El Hogar girls is currently in the 6th
grade, so there weren't any middle-aged female alums at the event).
Each one, after explaining how important the lessons he learned at El
Hogar as a small child were to his adult life – how learning
discipline and values and the importance of having dreams and goals
for one's life gave each of them the opportunity to succeed as adult
members of Honduran society – returned to his seat and tried to
hold back his tears, but each one of them failed. Each one, when
given the opportunity to share with the El Hogar kids the importance
of what they are learning, took full advantage and poured their
hearts and souls into every word they had for the children. Each
one was brought to tears thinking about what El Hogar did for them
and what El Hogar is doing for today's students. I learned the power
of Love and Hope today.
One
of the men stuck out to me. He is in his late 30s, has a wife and
children of his own that are the same age as the kids at El Hogar,
has his own business (thanks to his El Hogar orphanage and Farm
School education) and has several employees and is obviously doing
very well for himself and for his family. I remember his name –
I'll never forget it – but for the sake of this blog we'll call him
Alejandro. Alejandro was one of the kids who, many years ago,
arrived at El Hogar as an abandoned child of an impoverished mother
who decided that she couldn't afford him any more. As a kid at El
Hogar he was a goofball and a troublemaker but he took the life
lessons that El Hogar teaches very seriously and now, thanks to El
Hogar, he has risen up to become part of the budding Honduran middle
class. What made Alejandro special to me was that every time he
spoke about his time as a child at El Hogar, I could see him as one
of the kids here. And as I saw him as one of the kids here, I began
to see each of the kids here as a future Alejandro. That's when it
all came together for me, and that's when I couldn't hold back the
tears either. After the program, I had a few minutes to say goodbye
to the El Hogar staff and to the students before we had to leave.
Every time I high-fived or hugged one of the kids, I saw Alejandro in
him. (I say “him” because all the girls were on a field trip
today, so there were only boys around when we were getting ready to
leave.) I saw that each of these children, born into extreme poverty
without any hope of a life away from the streets except for El Hogar,
will be able to rise up and be the hope of his country because of the
place where I have had the incredible fortune to spend the past eight
days.
Staying
at a four-star hotel doesn't feel the same, the day after you visit a
one-room house that you couldn't even park your car in and has been
home to a mother of three for fourteen years. Steak doesn't taste
the same after a week of rice, beans and tortillas when all you can
think about is how all some people will ever eat is rice, beans and
tortillas. Do I feel guilty about the life I live and the “things”
I have? No. But I am reminded why I have this life and what I am
called to do with my things and while it all feels like growing pains
today, tomorrow I will be taller and more ready to live out the life
that God has called me to live.
You
are a part of this story now. I mean, if you didn't care about or
feel invested in our church's relationship with El Hogar, then how in
the world did you make it to the end of this ridiculously long blog
post? I want to thank you, but I'm “that guy” who
thanks you for something you haven't done yet. Thank you for your
continued support of not only us, the Cathedral Summer Missioners,
but of the missions we strive to support as well. You are a part of
the El Hogar and Mountain TOP stories now, and I hope that you will
embrace your part in these stories and seek out ways to live the life
God is calling you to live through them. I expect big things from
you, the same way Claudia expects big things from every child who
hears her call him “beautiful” for the very first time.
See
you soon!
-Slocomb
Jenkins Reed
For
Sunday June 30th: O
God, our heavenly Father, whose glory fills the whole creation, and
whose presence we find wherever we go: Preserve those who
travel; surround them with your loving care; protect them from every
danger; and bring them in safety to their journey’s end; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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