Painting the Town!

Last month, I had the privilege of chaperoning one of our 7th grade classes as they completed a community service project in our hometown of Guaimaca. The project took 3 days, and it involved cleaning up and refreshing the town's central park (pretty much every Honduran and possibly Latin American town has one). The first day, the children used their expert cleaning skills (we clean a lot at Emmanuel) to rake and pick up trash around the park. I was pleased to see an elderly man joining in the process (I think there might be one or two Guaimacans who care about the cleanliness of their environment). They also painted all of the benches in the park, and by the end of the project had painted a monument, the lamppost bases, all of the parking lot curbs, and a yellow line around the park (?). We worked in conjuction with the mayor's office, so we basically did what they told us to. The students did an excellent job. They worked diligently and offered few complaints, which made me very proud. It was a little disheartening to see the ground covered with trash again on the second day, as well as places where people had carved their names into our fresh bench paint, but just like anywhere else, there are those who protect and those who destroy. There were two elderly women who were very protective of one bench in particular and made excellent security guards, watching that noone sat on it. At the end of the third day, we had enlisted half of the jobless, stray men hanging out at the park to protect other freshly painted areas, so it really did become a community project, which was fun to see. As some of us discussed, we did our service...it's up to the others whether they appreciate it and care for it or destroy it. My prayer is that the townspeople saw Jesus in the children and that they learned a little about serving and taking care of what they have been given.

"You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16