Same storm...

I had the pleasure to listen to Mike Rowe this week.  He has the voice and wit to read the phone book and make it interesting.  He was talking about safety in general, relating it to COVID, and then discussed the refrain that we are "all in the same boat" and discussing that while we are all currently in the same storm...we are all actually not in the same boat.  Different boats, same storm. 

And that hit me like a ton of bricks.  

Worldwide, there are changes, impact, and suffering related to COVID19, but how those take shape are definitely different.  Add to that..how we perceive that impact for others is also skewed from our own perspective.  I may have grown up in the USA...but I don't think I really understand well how people are dealing with this there in general, and in different areas of the country and dynamics.  Then again...sometimes I am not exactly sure I understand how I am dealing with it myself. 

We have been shifting gears here as you may know, trying to raise funds to buy food to feed people.  We have a presence in eight different communities around Honduras now, and trying to get food to those different areas, something is becoming increasingly difficult.  All the while...the need for such food is becoming increasingly important.  

That is somewhat frustrating.  The whole situation is frustrating, and I am not talking personally, but more for what I see for others.  The future is especially murky right now, but it can be seen that in fighting one battle, there is another being waged...hunger, which is tied to the economy, or just being able to work, earn money, buy food.  

Honduras has a population that lives in its majority on less than $2 per day.  Take away most people's ability to work or leave their homes for two months, and the results of that won't just go away whenever quarantine restrictions are lifted, just as the results of this in general aren't going away anytime soon, in a myriad of ways.  But I won't go on about that here.

How about some stories from today before I close with some clarity?

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There is an area we know well, just a mile or so away from us, an area with many members of the Church next door that live there.  They had a flood last night...like almost chest high.

If we hadn't been already gearing up to do more food distribution, we wouldn't really be in a place to help.  

But this morning Jorge and some of the staff fit into the Ambulance with clothing and 20 bags of food to give to them.  

They lost food, clothes, and more.  Plus, they will probably lose the peace of mind for a while when it rains.  (the flooding was caused by a creek running there that had two massive tree limbs fall into it, damming it with other debris, and spilling over into the neighborhood.)

Schools are closed...but Honduran schools are trying to do online classes.  The only problem...most kids here are not online, and they don't own a computer.  The only internet they can get is via cell phone, but they don't have the money...you get the idea.  

Maria has been helping the kids print out tons of things for them from these online assignments, as everyone struggles not to loose the school year (school here runs February to November, so this all started just a month after starting school)

Now...I may have problems getting more ink for her to continue to do this, since this was not something we were planning would go to this level, and no office supply stores are open.  


We are trying to keep the coffee farms going, and at least keep the guys there employed as they can certainly social distance up there, and farms don't wait well through pandemics.  

The fertilizer we can only sparingly apply once a year should go on right before or right as the rainy season begins.  We are behind, by about a month.  

Today Darwin trying to take the fertilizer that we amazingly were even able to purchase, faced a self-imposed community roadblock (notice though...forgetting socially distancing) trying to get to Sampedrana.  A normally four hour trip turned into eight...but praise God they found a way to get through.​  Although somehow the back window of the Ford imploded...that will be fun to try to replace.

Clairty.  It is lacking.  It certainly plays a part in conspiracy theories.  We want it, we crave it...we want an ordered and orderly world.  But...it isn't there.  At least not in the way we want it.

Very little seems clear right now, making plans or even anticipating anything more than a week ahead.

What is clear, through Christ, is that God is in control.  I don't have anything to fear...because while murkiness abounds for me, I follow Him who sees all.  He sees every boat in the storm, as well as the calm that will come.  

Now I can take a deep breath, glance around virtually at dates, plans, hunger, problems, and more...and give it over to God, and try to play my part taking baby steps day by day.  Now I just need to remember this every day.