Feeding His Lambs

By

Michael Franklin

Honduras has been a destination for me for the past eight summers. I began going on the medical mission trips to Limon at the age of thirteen. Upon falling in love with the scenery, the people, and the lifestyle, I have made it back every succeeding year. My very first time going to Honduras also happens to be the first time Christ UMC sent a team there. Maybe it is because I am a trailblazing member, or maybe it is because I associate growing up with continual visits to my Central American home. But it never fails that from the time I first meet with all of the team’s members until I arrive in Limon, a calming force surrounds me, and I never want to leave.

This year’s venture to Honduras left me with a different feeling. Previously, I had always worked as the assistant pharmacist, dispensing prescriptions of varying sorts. I began school at Millsaps College in 2003 with an interest in medicine so for the past two trips I acted as a nurse for the doctors. However, for now I have given up my ambitions to become a physician so this year I assisted the greatest team leader in the world, Danny Arnold, simply acting as a “runner.” This means we did whatever anybody needed us to do at any time. I took blood pressures, transported patients, sent smiles wherever they needed to be, took pictures, and essentially helped to maintain the flowing of the clinic. Without a firm job title I was able to relax and contemplate the great services we provide. We have been stomping out disease; we have started a sewing and woodworking school in an attempt to eliminate poverty. We, however, looked over a very important service we weren’t providing.

After last year’s mission trip Danny Arnold felt a tug at his heartstrings. He had no idea why but his body and mind yearned to go back to Limon without a mission team. When Danny explained to me that he and his wife Brenda were planning to go back alone to Honduras just to talk to the people I knew our entire missionary network was about to broaden beyond our wildest dreams. When I asked him what exactly they were going to investigate he told me they were going to ask the people of Limon what they wanted and needed. Upon going down there they discovered that about a hundred orphans and widows could not afford to feed themselves. So with tears close at hand Brenda and Danny realized why they had been called.

As a result this year our missionary network founded a soup kitchen to feed the hungry, to serve. The first half of 2005 was dedicated to collecting pots, pans, stoves, silverware, food, and drink to stock the soup kitchen. Many people willingly donated or purchased these supplies. It always amazes me just how much people are willing to give. Upon arriving to Limon on Sunday, it was decided that we would provide the first meal on Wednesday. Monday morning as we sat sipping coffee on the front porch, Dr. Tom Camp, the reason I can call myself a missionary, gave a heartfelt devotional concerning miracles. He told us to look for miracles that day, and before lunch we realized we were the miracle. God had brought us to Honduras this time to feed the hungry stomachs and souls in Limon.

Before the team broke for lunch that Monday the team leaders held a meeting with Christina, the lady who would be heading the soup kitchen. I was not invited, nor was I not invited. I simply entered the filled back room and listened in on the meeting. The discussion concerned the first feeding on Wednesday as well as the long term goals of the program. Christina expressed her dear appreciation of this service, and told us she had been praying for this soup kitchen for the past five years. At that moment Danny realized who called him back to Honduras. All of our hearts melted. Tears fell, and we all prayed for the success of the soup kitchen. We never asked what Limonians wanted; we only kept providing the services we thought they needed. That day God showed us the importance of listening to others, of not assuming.

Wednesday we held a clinic; it was the lightest clinic in which I have been involved. God made it light for a reason. We needed to focus all our hearts and minds on feeding the orphans and widows. The menu was red beans and rice, macaroni and ham, vitamin fortified fruit drink, and apple sauce with peanut butter. As random as it sounds it looked like a wonderful meal. About forty people filled the church. The children had plates, fork, and cup in hand. We had a small dedication service giving Christina baby formula to stock the soup kitchen and enough money to keep the kitchen going for three months. She began to cry, and then the tears spread. After a heartfelt prayer and blessing of the food some of us began filling plates, others filled cups, and others stood in awe of the precedent being set. Children from the ages of three to nine sat down with plates piled high with viddles. I never would have imagined their small bodies would hold all the food that they were served, but almost every child cleaned his or her plate. It reminded me of thanksgiving when I pile my plate as high as it can go. In vain I always try to eat every bite, but there is always a bit of congealed salad or piece of gravy-soaked roll leftover. Nothing was leftover. Older kids helped feed the smaller ones because they knew this was a rare occasion. It was apparent everyone filled themselves to the brim because they were starving, and the arrival of the next meal could not be predicted. God gave us this wonderful opportunity to feed the hungry, and in return we were humbled. Again we were humbled through serving others, and again we were nourished by our act more than we could have ever fed. Everything was put in perspective once again.