Last month we had friends here from Atlanta. We spent one day at the dump in Tegucigalpa. The dump has a big effect on almost everybody that we take with us and the Atlanta group was no exception. One of the group - Sherri Hubright was so touched that she wanted to write about the experience. She submitted her writtings to New Wineskins Magazine and it was accepted for the May/June 2009 edition. You can read it online at this link. http://wineskins.org/filter.asp?SID=2&fi_key=219&co_key=1820
Please take the time to share this with others.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc L Tindall
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Lots of confusion!
I think that there is a lot of confusion about a lot of things - especially in things that people have never personally experienced and have only heard about. I may actually be confusing you right now. Here are some of the things that I'm talking about -
I think there is a lot of confusion about the poor - for example, I grew up thinking - and for a long time as an adult, had the thought that people that were poor were mostly poor by their own choice. I thought that anybody with a little initiative and work ethic could change their situation and could "choose to no longer be poor". Well, I was completly wrong (see Terri, I can say I was wrong). Here in Honduras - where the poor are also the hungry, the children are set up for a lifetime of being poor because the families aren't able to provide proper nutrition and without proper nutrition, the kids brains are permanently damaged. There are many many folks that grow up without the capacity to learn. Without the capacity to learn, there is little hope to break the cycle of poverty. That doesn't mean that they are unable to work, it just means that the work won't be the sort that will ever move them to the next level. Food and nutrition is one of the keys to breaking the cycle. We pray that the feeding center in Santa Katerina will play a role in helping to break this cycle.
Another confusing thing is the thought that you cannot be happy unless you have lots of stuff. That is a lie and I am pretty sure that Jesus tried to drive this point home with the "rich young ruler". Some of the most happy, kind, and generous people I have ever met are those with nothing. There are many folks that have nothing that would gladly give up their last bit of food to help a neighbor. I have seen that happen with my own eyes. I have experienced this in a very personal way - when a man offered me his only food - just because he though I was hungry.
Many people are confused about some of the business that use workers that are from poor nations. Here most of these businesses are in the clothing and textile business. The media in the states call them "sweat shops". Here - they are considered great jobs. I have a friend that owns several of the companies that provide jobs to the women that grew up with poor nutrition and would have a difficult time finding work - other than that of a domestic worker. My friend provides transportation, medical care, help with school for the children of the workers, and many other benefits. The work isn't easy but, it feeds families and helps the workers that are 90% single moms. Remember, in Honduras, the average age that young women begin to have babies is 15. Don't believe everything you hear about "sweat shops".
Sometimes there is confusion about the reasons we want to help people. It is really a simple proposition - we just want to show people a little bit of the unconditional love that Jesus showed us.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
I think there is a lot of confusion about the poor - for example, I grew up thinking - and for a long time as an adult, had the thought that people that were poor were mostly poor by their own choice. I thought that anybody with a little initiative and work ethic could change their situation and could "choose to no longer be poor". Well, I was completly wrong (see Terri, I can say I was wrong). Here in Honduras - where the poor are also the hungry, the children are set up for a lifetime of being poor because the families aren't able to provide proper nutrition and without proper nutrition, the kids brains are permanently damaged. There are many many folks that grow up without the capacity to learn. Without the capacity to learn, there is little hope to break the cycle of poverty. That doesn't mean that they are unable to work, it just means that the work won't be the sort that will ever move them to the next level. Food and nutrition is one of the keys to breaking the cycle. We pray that the feeding center in Santa Katerina will play a role in helping to break this cycle.
Another confusing thing is the thought that you cannot be happy unless you have lots of stuff. That is a lie and I am pretty sure that Jesus tried to drive this point home with the "rich young ruler". Some of the most happy, kind, and generous people I have ever met are those with nothing. There are many folks that have nothing that would gladly give up their last bit of food to help a neighbor. I have seen that happen with my own eyes. I have experienced this in a very personal way - when a man offered me his only food - just because he though I was hungry.
Many people are confused about some of the business that use workers that are from poor nations. Here most of these businesses are in the clothing and textile business. The media in the states call them "sweat shops". Here - they are considered great jobs. I have a friend that owns several of the companies that provide jobs to the women that grew up with poor nutrition and would have a difficult time finding work - other than that of a domestic worker. My friend provides transportation, medical care, help with school for the children of the workers, and many other benefits. The work isn't easy but, it feeds families and helps the workers that are 90% single moms. Remember, in Honduras, the average age that young women begin to have babies is 15. Don't believe everything you hear about "sweat shops".
Sometimes there is confusion about the reasons we want to help people. It is really a simple proposition - we just want to show people a little bit of the unconditional love that Jesus showed us.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Thursday, May 07, 2009
$$$$$$$$$11,500.00$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Everybody thought that the top top top of the Trey Morgan drive for feeding people at the dump would be maybe $7500. And that was a big maybe.
WRONG
As of this morning -
$11500.00
ELEVEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
WRONG
As of this morning -
$11500.00
ELEVEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
MAY 5 For The DUMP!
I met a guy last year that travels the world doing nothing except helping people with cleft lips and pallets. In the USA my friend could make close to $500,000 a year doing the same type of medical work - instead, he chooses to go to some of the poorest places in the world to work for free. Every time he does a surgery, he asks the family this question "Why do you think I do this?". Most of the time, the people answer - because you want to do good. He tells them that that is only part of the reason. He tells them "Jesus loves me so much that there isn't anything that I can ever do to make him love me more - nothing! I help people so that I can show them just a little bit of the love that Jesus has shown me."Today, you too can show just a little bit of the love that Jesus has shown you. How? You can do this by sharing a little of what you have with people that have literally NOTHING.
Every Wednesday for more than a year we have been feeding people in the Tegucigalpa Dump. There are more than 300 people there every day and they are all hungry. All of them.
We have a friend in Texas that is leading a drive today May 5th, 2009. His name is Trey Morgan and he is working to help us fund the purchase of food for the work at the dump.
Today, there is already one person that has agreed to match up to $2500 every dollar raised over the first $2500. That means that if we are able to raise $5000, the total will actually become $7500.
You can join the fund raising drive at www.treymorgan.net
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc Tindall
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Planning
We are planning a couple of events for the end of 2009. The first will be during Thanksgiving week.
We want to start planning earlier in 2009 for a way for everyone that can to spend Thanksgiving in Honduras. We can easily sleep 11 or more in our house and we hope to fill it up with people that want to come and build houses during Thanksgiving week 2009. We tried this in 2008 and had a few takers but, we really didn't start the planning until October. Hopefully bu starting the planning in May, we can fill up the house and build 10 or more houses. To make this easy and to help everyone that comes to stay busy building, we are inviting everyone that comes to be our guests. All we ask is that you buy your airline ticket and your mission insurance (about $1.50 t0 2.00 per day depending on your age). We also ask that everyone that comes help us raise funds for building houses. We will take care of everything else including an amazing Thanksgiving Feast. If we fill up the house, we will add more beds. Make your plans and let us know.
In December we are planning Christmas at the Dump. There are friends at Trace Crossing Church in that are planning to return with gifts for everyone - especially the children. We want to make the day extra special so, our plan is to have some type of special meal for everyone that day. Wouldn't it be amazing to have some sort of "sit down" meal where we could serve a banquet to people that never expected to be invited to a banquet? That is the vision. I will nail down a date for this within the coming weeks but, wanted to let you know to make plans for the most amazing Christmas party that you can imagine.
Be a blessing to somebody today,
Marc
We want to start planning earlier in 2009 for a way for everyone that can to spend Thanksgiving in Honduras. We can easily sleep 11 or more in our house and we hope to fill it up with people that want to come and build houses during Thanksgiving week 2009. We tried this in 2008 and had a few takers but, we really didn't start the planning until October. Hopefully bu starting the planning in May, we can fill up the house and build 10 or more houses. To make this easy and to help everyone that comes to stay busy building, we are inviting everyone that comes to be our guests. All we ask is that you buy your airline ticket and your mission insurance (about $1.50 t0 2.00 per day depending on your age). We also ask that everyone that comes help us raise funds for building houses. We will take care of everything else including an amazing Thanksgiving Feast. If we fill up the house, we will add more beds. Make your plans and let us know.
In December we are planning Christmas at the Dump. There are friends at Trace Crossing Church in that are planning to return with gifts for everyone - especially the children. We want to make the day extra special so, our plan is to have some type of special meal for everyone that day. Wouldn't it be amazing to have some sort of "sit down" meal where we could serve a banquet to people that never expected to be invited to a banquet? That is the vision. I will nail down a date for this within the coming weeks but, wanted to let you know to make plans for the most amazing Christmas party that you can imagine.
Be a blessing to somebody today,
Marc
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