Larry Pitts: A friend of mine, a friend of AHMEN, and a friend
of Honduras.
By Dr. Tom Camp
A little over a year ago I got a phone call from
a fellow. He said he thought God wanted him to work in Honduras
and someone
told him to call me.
This began a relationship/friendship that is hard to describe.
He was the kind of fellow who thought the best of you, overlooked
your “glaring” shortcomings, and makes you do just
a little better than you would have otherwise. I am one of the
folks he called “hermano”. He thought of all of God’s
children as his brothers and sisters. Not only that, he treated
us like brothers and sisters and made the rest of us try a little
harder to become functional members of the family that God longs
for us to be.
On hearing of his death, I was talking to my wife
Judy about him. She asked me “Just what all did Larry do?”
Wow:
1. Working with Ellis Wade he “found” a warehouse
in Arlrey for AHMEN, which completely changed our effectiveness
in Honduras.
2. He organized the materials from 13 teams from Alabama as well as teams from
Tenn., S.C., and N.C., Cruzado and Sister Eleanor, Carolina Foundation, and
whom ever else sent materials for Honduras.
3. He went to Honduras and organized our warehouse in La Ceiba, greatly improving
our efficiency there.
4. He befriended “his girls” at the girl’s dorm. Probably
as much as anyone, he made these young ladies see a potential future for them
thru his acceptance of their friendship and his encouragement to them.
5. He started two mission projects I personally know about:
1. Prison ministry: I think his goal was to get sleeping mats for prisoners
in Honduras. Apparently they sleep on concrete floor.
2. Home building of grandmamma with their grand kids in the mountains. The
parents are gone, mostly from AIDS. The homes are continuously leaking with
rainwater. Larry not only built homes, but also taught the local folks how
to make concrete blocks and build their own homes.
6. He spent the majority of the past year working in Honduras
on AHMEN projects, Cruzado projects, or looking for other ways
to get AHMEN involved in the work Larry thought God had lined
up for our organization.
7. He called me to tell me about this wonderful couple he had met who “needed
to be in the AHMEN organization” name Brady from Utila. Subsequently
he introduced the Bradys and AHMEN and he was working on plans for a joint
project with all of us for the Utila Island. Larry called it the “forgotten
island” and had a vision of serial teams coming to work on the island.
Doing medical work for ½ day then evangelism and “Sunday School” for
the afternoon.
Over the past year or so, I have been on missions with Larry,
have
Have been to meeting with Larry, have ate with Larry, have traveled
with Larry, have prayed with Larry, and am privileged to call
him my “hermano”.
I cannot imagine the gap Larry has left in our work with AHMEN,
but I am sure that Larry feels like he is where he is meant to
be and will be “looking down” on us with encouragement
and will continue to help us be better people and do the work
God has planned for us.
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