Go Beyond

La Mosquitia, Honduras

La Mosquitia is one of the most beautiful and yet unforgiving slices of geography on the planet. Spanning the coastal regions of Nicaragua and Honduras, this thick rainforest forms a natural barrier between the Miskito Indians and the rest of the world. The Miskito know what it means to be marginalized and neglected and have come to refer to La Mosquitia as The Land of the Forgotten People.

Reaching the Miskito presents its own challenges. There are no roads in and out of this region. La Mosquitia is, therefore, best accessed by small planes that can land on dirt runways or by boat. We chose to travel from La Ceiba to Puerto Lempira by plane and arrived in the midst of a rainstorm.

We arrive safely in spite of the storm but our luggage did not. Because the airline sold two extra seats there was not enough room for our luggage. We received an apology and a promise that our luggage would arrive the following day. No problem. After more than a hundred trips around the world I have moved beyond being flexible to being fluid. We picked up our luggage the following sunny morning.

My team and I traveled to Puerto Lempira to visit with our friends at Reach Out Honduras, our newest ministry partner. Alex and Laura Waits left their comfortable lives in Texas and followed God’s call to Puerto Lempira to start a school for Miskito children. Believe me when I tell you that there is nothing comfortable about living in Puerto Lempira. Intense heat and humidity are only two of the challenges of living here. The devil himself might be tempted to move to a cooler place.

I have great admiration for Alex and Laura and their kids. They are serious about loving the Miskito people as Jesus would and making it possible for these kids to get a good education. What they have accomplished in such a short time is nothing short of amazing. They currently have an enrollment of three-hundred kids in grades seven through ten with plans to add more grades.

Today, we traveled by boat across Laguna de Caratasca, the largest lagoon in Central America, to the remote village of Uhí. Travel time was about an hour and a half one way. We traveled there with a single Miskito woman, a mother of four kids, to see her home and hear her story. I am so glad we did. Today was one of the best days I have spent on the field.

Ovendilia sat in the doorway of her home and shared her emotional story — basically the story of her dream of seeing her kids get an education. She wept as she spoke and we wept as we listened. This amazing woman became a champion for her kids and stormed heaven with her prayers for God to make it possible for her kids to go to school.

Through a series of divinely orchestrated connections, sacrifices, and provisions, her dream came true. And, to make matters even better, the Waits employed her as one of four cooks at the school. Her day begins at four in the morning everyday when she joins her team to prepare breakfast and later lunch for three-hundred students and faculty. She counts it the greatest honor to serve in this way and to be near her girls.

Ovendilia is beyond grateful to God for remembering her — something she treasures as she lives her life in the Land of the Forgotten People. She has become a friend and encourager to the Waits and to the students. And although she and her daughters live in a small rented room, she has opened her door to other girls from Uhí to come to Puerto Lempira to get an education.

In June, we will challenge the kids who attend our Vacation Bible School to raise funds so that the Waits can add another classroom to their Instituto Vida Abundante (Abundant Life Institute). We will share Ovendilia’s story as well as other stories to help our kids understand how they can help change the world for kids who live in a place so remote they feel forgotten.