Below is one of the journal entries Diane sent from their last trip to Honduras. It gives us another glimpse into their activities when they are out of the country. At this moment, you are probably aware that they are in Medellin, Colombia. Please be praying for vision and direction as they take on a new role for OMS in that country.
Thursday
A visit to El
Progresso prison and then return to Tegucigalpa to pack for the trip home
tomorrow.
First some
observations about El Progresso the town. It is very poor. We saw some of the
worst conditions of any town. Much poverty and very sad
conditions.
Before the prison we went to Sister Lillian's house.
We did not know why. Then it was explained to us that
they were
presenting her with the equipment necessary to run the The Prisoners Journey,
or TPJ program, in the prison. They provided her with a TV, a DVD player, and
the necessary things to run the program. This was given to her at the house so
the prisoners did not misunderstand that it was for them. It is for them, but
it is on loan from Prison Fellowship to run TPJ. This will be
exciting to hear how many become involved by it's use.
Sister Lillian's
house, while nicer than many in the area, is in disrepair and there are only
rafters for a ceiling. And yet she spends many, many hours working in the prison and for
the prisoners of El Progresso. She has been very dedicated for many years and had a
wonderful group of T&M disciples. Many of them plan to be baptized in the
coming months. We look forward to sharing in that with them. if not in person then on Facebook.
I have said before that El Progresso is
the worst prison for conditions of all the ones we have seen here. But I realized today as we drove back the road to get there, that as the community
goes, so goes the prison in that community. That had not struck me before.
There is construction going on both inside and out of the prison.
And that adds to the turmoil of the place. It may make it
better inside in the future, but now it is just a mess. Very difficult to even
walk to the room where they meet. The floor is torn up and there are holes and
trenches everywhere. You really had to be careful not to fall! Also, we got our
feet all muddy and then tracked it all over the car. [Anyone who knows Diane will know that this must have driven her nuts to get that dirty and track it everywhere!! :)]
But as I have stated before about El Progresso, the
Lord is doing a mighty work there! These men are very dedicated to the program
and to the Lord. They thanked us for coming and many wanted to shake our hands.
The head man then spoke a few words and then Herasmo gave a short message. Gary
also spoke and told them how happy we are about how well the program is doing.
He said we bring blessings from the United States and prayers. While we were
shaking hands with them, one man came up to us and was telling me something
about his wife. (That was all I could understand of it). Then when he knew I
was not immediately understanding, he went to get a man who could speak English
to translate. The man said that this inmate had a wife who was pregnant and
needed a test. He was asking for money from us because he had none for her to
get the test. It was sad. I told him I would pray
that the Lord would provide the money for her to have the test. I guess that is
one reason they don't want us to take money in. There is always a story, some
may be true and some may not, but we would certainly be tempted to give them
what they asked for.
It is a very sad
place to visit but the spirit of the Lord is there and they are rich in love
for Him. They really have to believe that this world is not their home.
Diane also adds:
As always when we visit the prison, we are blessed to
be a small part of what the Lord is doing in the prisons of Honduras.
