“Bien” — This is Love
"Bien" — This is Love
by Joey Soto
One minute you’re in the friendly confines of an upper-middle class hotel, and the next you’re staring poverty and all its friends in the face.
It’s humbling and heart-breaking. You’ve seen the pictures on TV and seen the infomercials about helping feed a starving child for only $.10 a day, but you don’t really believe what you’re seeing can be real. You can’t fathom such devastation when you’ve only known of luxury.
Walking down an uneven, trash-filled, grass-barren path surrounded by barbed wire for who knows that purpose—they had little to protect—you have no idea what is about to hit you. It feels like a commuter train hitting you head-on at 60 mph. But it’s not. It’s worse.
It’s the sight of what most Americans would assume to be an over-sized outhouse with tin and other loose materials hanging to keep out rain and sun. But it’s not. It’s the home to 10 kids, several adults, and eight dogs.
And in an instant those infomercials are a lucid reality.
The stomachs of the children are deceiving. Their stomachs bulge like a beer belly but it’s not because of obesity—it’s malnutrition.
Even when it’s right in front of you, sometimes you can’t help but question if what you see is reality. Probably because you don’t want it to be. You wish it were only a nightmare.
Without much Spanish-speaking capabilities, it’s hard to communicate freely, but the pain and anguish is portrayed in a universal language.
The puffed-out tummies. The dirty, torn clothes. The sight of more than 12 people living in a house no larger than most compact mini-vans.
If I were blind, I might be fooled. Every time I asked the children how they were doing I received the same reply: “bien.” With each “bien” my heart sinks further. Another part breaks. Good?
Malnutrition. A broken home. Sanitary conditions don’t exist. Good?
That’s humbling. Even with a language barrier, the smile on the children’s faces and the laughter they elicit and we share for only moments makes it clear.
They are “bien” because somebody appears to care. Someone will get dirty and play soccer. Someone will ask them, “como estas” and actually show their words aren’t empty.
The Body of Christ came alive at the Ortez Families’ shack. Nineteen Americans left the land of good and plenty and land of comfort to personify Christ’s love in Honduras. And none of them left unchanged, unbroken.
For myself not only was it immensely humbling and heart-breaking, but a time to rejoice in the power of my Lord Jesus Christ.
I felt God tugging at my heart for the past few months. I felt him leading me toward my calling. I felt him altering my path. But I wasn’t sure where he was leading me.
When I arrived in Honduras, it felt like a homecoming. My heart was finally at peace; I finally felt as though Christ was unveiling my lot in life for furthering His kingdom.
Whoever says the course of a week can’t change the course of a life has never met my God, the God of the Universe. The God that is always faithful. Always perfect. Always gracious.
Throughout the week, growing in community with fellow local Honduras believers and even those I went on the trip with, I felt as though God was giving me a taste of what he has in store for me.
While it would be irresponsible for me to speak for God and claim that my lot in life is as a missionary in Honduras, I feel as though God is leading me down the path of missions—something I may have never truly realized without a 10-day heart-renovating experience.
While I don’t know where I’m going, I now know where I’ve been. And I know our God is faithful.
I learned you can’t always fix the problem, but a little Christ-like love and attention can turn a bad situation into a smile and a cheerful “bien” reply from the heart.
And God looks at the heart: “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7.
This is love. Austin and Melvin sharing a smile.
These kids are on their way to a healthy life thanks to the Malnutrition Clinic. It’s beautiful to see how Christ is living through his people.
Robby’s spiritual gifts include being tall. It’s truly a gift. The kids LOVED him. And he loved them.
These are two of the Ortez Family Children. Day 1: I sat with the girl in the white shirt standing up and was broken because she could barely muster a smile. By day Three Christ love was beaming through his people so much that this little girl couldn’t STOP smiling. This is love.
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