red and yellow, black and white

While I was in Tegucigalpa, Honduras a few years ago, I was surrounded by many stark reminders of just how good we Americans have it... In this huge central American metropolis there are very definitely two distinct classes of people: the affluent and the poor. And by poor I don't mean poor by American standards...

I mean those trapped in abject hopeless poverty. Most of the 'have nots' live in shanties with dirt floors and no indoor plumbing at best ...and a very large portion live in houses made of scrap lumber and refrigerator boxes...

The wealthy of Honduras' capital city do not want to be bothered with the poor. Their pristine mall (worthy of any large U.S. city) is surrounded with large walls topped by concertina combat wire. Armed guards stand sentry at the mallwall gates as if they were protecting Fort Knox.

Yeah I saw a hundred heart-breaking things and heard as many soul-rending stories.

But by far the most dreadful story was one where a group of wealthy store owners paid the police to rid their 'side of town' of the street urchins...

for years the rumors had run rampant about children disappearing from the street never to be seen again... the rumors were confirmed about 5 years ago when a mass grave was discovered outside the city. It was filled with dozens of tiny decomposing bodies of these street kids...

When I returned from that trip, I remember standing next to Cassie's bed one night before I kissed her good night. And I wept and I sang...

"red and yellow, black and white

they are precious in His sight"

Tonight I am blessed with the opportunity to sing with my First Day brothers for the children of Honduras...

We are helping to raise money so they can be rescued from the street... so they can go to school and learn to read and write... so they can grow up to be productive citizens of their home country...

please pray for our efforts and those of the Mt Comfort Church of Christ...

Jesus loves the little children of the world