Honduras: Day Four

Most of the research that I have done this week has been with boys, so I was looking forward to gaining some perspective from girls today (so, too, was Julie since she's been traveling around with our group of men all week). I have been looking at how Christians can work toward transforming the lives of at-risk youth, and today I was able to speak with girls who are pretty far along in the process of transformation at a transition home for six girls run by Buckner International (a Christian nonprofit that does a lot of work with orphans here in Honduras similar to the other organization that we have been spending time with, Orphan Helpers). The girls in the transition home were former residents at Casitas, which is a government run orphanage for tween and teenage girls. We visited Casitas in the afternoon. I was able to interview all of the girls at the Buckner transition home, and five or six girls at Casitas. There was a stark contrast between the two places we visited today. The girls in the transition home seemed to have much more hope for a healthy life and future, compared to the girls in Casitas who seemed to just be in full on survival mode as they tried to get through each day. The girls from the transition home were hand-picked to go there because of their leadership potential and their willingness to improve their lives. In my time with them I tried to capture what it is that is the difference between them and the girls at Casitas who are still struggling so much. The only real reason that the girls could tell me was "God!" I know there is much more to it than that, but clearly God is at the center of the life change that is happening in the girls in the transition home. Also, several Christians from Buckner have discipled and supported the girls to help them learn how to follow Christ and lead a more healthy lifestyle. Several of the girls from Casitas mentioned that they prayed and sang songs to God, but I could tell in talking with them that they still had a hard time applying their faith to their lives considering the extreme circumstances they lived in. I am hoping and praying that more Christians, as mentors, will be able to visit the girls in Casitas every week and spend time with them.

Many of the girls I visited today, at both locations, have been victims of sexual assault, abuse, and neglect. In a way it was difficult for me to spend time with them, because I am a father of two daughters and I can't even imagine my daughters having to endure the pain that these girls have had to go through at such a young age in life. When I think about the pimps and men who took advantage of the girls here, the only word that comes to mind that really does the situation justice is "evil." Any man who would hurt or abuse an 11 or 12 year old girl is evil. Several of the girls had babies with them at the facility, and it was heartbreaking to think about how their babies are going to struggle given the rough start they've had in life. I know that there are short term mission teams who come to spend time with the girls at Casitas, but I am really hoping that a church-based mentoring program can be started here. Just like the boys, the girls told me that they don't get regular, weekly one on one visits from Christians in San Pedro Sula. I know that Christ-centered mentoring would go a long way toward transforming the lives of these girls. If the body of Christ would rise up in San Pedro Sula, in Pittsburgh, and around the world, we could collectively have God work through us to bring His light to the most vulnerable people in our world who suffer needlessly. Instead, we are often indifferent to the plight of orphans, widows, and the poor. It honestly breaks my heart. My prayer is for the hearts of people who are too busy, or too distracted, or too popular, or too caught up in material things, or too caught up in work, or too afraid, or too consumed with their own nuclear families, or too comfortable, to be broken by our God who is on mission to reach the billions of people who are suffering in this world. As God's heart breaks for injustices and indifference, let my heart break also.