A banquet for the blind - our second day in Honduras

Lydia’s guesthouse has many rooms. The rooms have essentials, bunk beds, pillows, bathrooms and showers. We all were thankful to God last night for providing us with a safe and comfortable place to sleep and we awoke to a new day full of lending a helping hand to the people of Comunion Iglesia Bautista, better known to our American friends as Comunion Baptist Church in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

After a delicious and bountiful breakfast of oatmeal cake, milk, fresh bananas and Honduran coffee we got together our supplies and headed to Comunion for a program with the children. Saturdays are busy at the church and the children had gathered in excited groups and were practicing programs that they had put together for us.

As they finished we arranged more of the supplies that had been delivered to the church. The packages of food that we are distributing, water filtration systems and devotional books had to be unpacked and there was some business to attend to in finding some wood for the woodworking program tomorrow evening.

Pastor Cesar had spoken to a neighbor of the church who said that he had part of a tree down in his yard that we could have for the woodturning class. This man has a house next door to the church with access through an alleyway behind the church. Pastor Cesar said that the man has never had interest in the church or any affiliation but his interest in things made of wood has given us an opportunity. He is planning to come to tomorrow evening’s program. We ask that you pray that this man, this neighbor of the church, is reached through our mission and that a new relationship is created between him and Comunion, a relationship that leads him to the church and through the church, to Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile, the children of the church finished their practicing and we joined them for their program. A group of young girls sang a song proclaiming that with your love of Jesus you have to open your heart. The girls were dressed as mimes and their message was to not pay attention to them but to give the attention and love to Jesus. Filling your heart with the love of Jesus is what is important, not who you are or where you are from.

A group of boys followed the girls with a short play depicting David slaying Goliath. They were dressed in robes and carried cardboard swords and spears. As David brought down Goliath with his sling they cheered and laughed as they took a bow. You could tell they enjoyed putting on the performance and showing what they had learned from the bible story.

After the performances the children washed and readied for a meal. Part of the feeding center program is to teach the children about hygiene and manners. After washing they gathered around some tables and the women of Comunion fed them a meal of pork, beans, fried plantains and a cup of milk. You could see that the children were very thankful.

Please pray for the continuing commitment and patience of the ladies at Comunion. They are providing a healthy meal and a good foundation for children that otherwise wouldn’t have it.

After working with the children at Comunion we returned to Lydia’s for lunch and preparation for the banquet we were providing the blind in the evening. All of the gift bags we put together last night were packed up and ready.

Luke 14:12

“Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Tim Synder is blind. He’s a member of our mission team and he had a vision. His vision was straight out of Luke 14:12 and this evening his vision became a reality. Over 200 people were brought to Comunion from churches at Agua Blanca, Sacramento, Cataluna and other mission churches and they were treated to a banquet. This included people that were part of the mission churches and those that were not part of the church.

Fresh tablecloths, cloth napkins and silverware adorned the tables. Again, the women of Comunion prepared food for those less fortunate. The bounty of our table was provided to the guests and they enjoyed a first course of soup, an entrée of chicken or beef with rice and a fresh salad, and finally a scoop of ice cream and cookie for desert. This was something that you’ve seen time and time again at Wednesday night suppers or Sunday afternoon meals in American churches but you could see by the looks on some of the peoples faces, this was something new for them.

The mission team served everyone each course. Before and during the meal two Honduran gentlemen provided musical entertainment. One gentleman was blind and sang some beautiful songs praising Jesus and thanking God. The other entertainer was in a wheel chair and played a number of songs on a handmade pan flute. What is amazing is that he has limited use of his hands due to an accident but used to play the guitar. He started making these instruments when he was searching for something to replace his guitar that he was now unable to play. His presentation and slide show on how he made these instruments was and inspirational and uplifting experience.

As the meal came to a close each guest was given a gift bag with personal hygiene items. Also the blind guests were fitted and given a new cane.

In one case there was a man holding an old and worn cane. He explained that it was almost broken. It was bent and there were dents and dings where the finish once was. As he stood there with a brand new cane he tapped it on the floor listening intently to the sound that it made. He ran his hands up and down the handle feeling the new grip and “seeing” what it looked like. It was truly moving to see how much it meant to him to be provided such a gift. A big smile was across his face as he expressed his thanks to Tim and other members of the team.

As the crowd finished and left we helped the people of Comunion clean up and set up their sanctuary for tomorrows services. We then headed back to Lydia’s to our own supper. A pot of chili with corn chips, fresh guacamole, cheese and lettuce waited for us.

Chip Phillips held a devotional after supper and discussed the miracle that Jesus performed in Mark 2, curing a man of palsy. We each discussed the miracles we had seen today and in previous missions and prayed for our continuing mission before heading to bed.

Continue to pray for us please. Tomorrow we will worship with the people of Comunion and more programs are planned. Thank you for supporting us in your thoughts and prayer. God bless you as well.

Tomorrow, I promise we’ll catch up with some pictures!