As I sit down to write this Chronicle, it has been two days back from our trip to Honduras, so the Lencas are still central in my heart and head.
One of our leader’s goals for this trip was to prepare all of us first timers to lead trips in the future. And there are plenty of projects for us to help with. Finishing the guest house, adding indoor plumbing, adding tanks for water and engineering runoff into those tanks…I could go on and on. But more than any of these things, there is one thing that must be a priority for our church. That is what I would like to begin to talk to you about.
Pastors Angel and Claudia are deeply called to serve the Lencas. Claudia initially felt this calling, and you just look into this woman’s eyes and can feel her love and respect for these people. She is an amazing cook and loves these children as if they were from her own body. She leads the women, mentoring and teaching them to care for their families. And when she sings, the birds stop to listen. And you couldn’t ask for a better set of gifts in a man to work with Lencas than Angel has. A skilled welder by trade, this man can fix just about anything that breaks. He can play guitar and preach, but even more so he has a humbleness that draws men to learn from him. Their respect for the Lenca culture shines through in all they do.
Currently, Angel and Claudia ride a motorbike 4 hours up to El Pinar on Fridays and back down to their home in the capital city on Mondays. This makes for a complicated life, a split life. It also limits their ministry to Saturdays and Sundays. They do a lot with those 2 days…they teach 95 kids in 3 classes on Saturday. Some of these kids travel by foot as far as 3 hours away. Then on Sunday, they lead worship services. But it is only 2 days. Claudia and Angel’s major goal is to train leaders and missionaries among the Lencas. Angel would like to eventually start teaching his trades to the Lenca men. But all they have to do this is 2 days a week. 2 days! The Lencas need their leadership more than 2 days a week.
We can build and engineer all we want on that mountain, but the biggest resource we can give them isn’t buildings, it’s Angel and Claudia full time. To give up their jobs in the capital and live full time among the Lencas, Angel and Claudia would need a salary of $600 a month. Every month. It’s not a one time gift. It would be harder than building. But the most important things are never the easiest things.
I shared with our team, and I share with you, I don’t know how to get Angel and Claudia on that mountain full time. I just know it is what needs done. So I am praying that God will make a way for Angel and Claudia, and that somehow he will use us in the process.
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