Injustices

I debated long and hard as to where this blog post belonged--on my personal blog (which feel free to check out at emileeconnell.blogspot.com) or here. The content of this blog does not directly describe (though it does to some extent) the conditions and experiences of those working with SoloHope but it does directly describe the reason why I started SoloHope.

For 10+ years now, I have had the opportunity to be a part of missions in Honduras and a couple other places and I have come face-to-face with the ugliness of the broken world that we live in. I see children dressed in dirty rags with bloated tummies from malnutrition. I hear accounts of abuse and rape that leave me heartbroken and angry. I see sickness that I do not understand. These are injustices.

A few days ago, I went with some fellow mission friends to a home in a remote area on Honduras's beautiful mountainside. I've seen some really bad places over the years but this one had to be the worse. The home was more like sticks crisscrossed together to form walls. The dirt floor was scattered with rotting vegetables and dirty rags. On the floor, sat a piece of metal on top of a few blocks with a small fire beneath; this served

as a stove. Black smut caked the walls and ceiling. There in the midst of it all sat a beautiful little girl of 11 years. She sat alone at the time. A neighbor said her father had probably gone to find liquor as he is known for drinking too much and too often. Her mother died a few years before. This little 11-year old is not the only child trying to fend for herself. There are a few older siblings who work outside the home and then two younger children. I have since thought about that home and the little girl over and over again. The sad truth is she is one of many living in such conditions in this world. It is an injustice...

This past week seems to have also been a week for people to share with me deep heart hurts. The stories of abuse that have been entrusted to me make my heart ache and at the same time, infuriate me. In Honduras, who do you tell? Who do you report abuse? Or rape? This is never spoken of. In many ways, abuse is considered normal here. People in positions of authority, respect and yes, even those supposedly representing the Father, have stolen life, innocence and childhoods from their victims yet have received no punishment for their actions. This should never be. A child, a teenager should never be forced into a life of abuse. A child should never be beaten or sexually abused anywhere in the world. Under NO circumstances is this okay...EVER! Allow this to be public service announcement as well: research the organizations to which you give money. Do NOT under any circumstances assume that because someone is doing a "good thing" that they are a good person. I can tell you firsthand that such a belief is a falsehood. Judge the fruit. The horrifying reality is that many have suffered abuse by the hands of those doing a "good thing" and this can only be described as one thing...injustice.

Each day since I've been back in this beautiful country, I have gone to check on a good friend who loves the Lord with all her heart. For the past few weeks, she has laid in bed with sickness. She can barely speak. Each day a fever comes and she is tired. This friend has been like my sister and reminds me so of my mom. She has a heart after her Lord. She has a smile that lights up a room because within her lives the Light of the world. She has faith that moves mountains. And yet she has battled this disease that wishes to take her voice and her life for years now. I don't understand. We have prayed. We have seen her well and then a relapse or flare begins. We read Scripture that says she is healed because of the Son's sacrifice. I don't understand. She loves the Lord. She has served Him faithfully and wants only to be well so she can continue to serve the King and share with the people of the mountains the Good News. But still she is sick. Injustice.

All over this world are injustices. Truthfully it's easy to get overwhelmed and feel that you can do nothing of impact or to try to fix everything at once which is not good course of action. But we can all do something. That's why I started SoloHope. I wanted to do something. I can't do everything but I can do something. I look at the women I am working with and I have seen how much they have overcome themselves. The pains, the hurts, the loss that they experienced and yet they have overcome. I say it all the time but I am truly humbled that God would give me this opportunity. I am honored to have watched an idea in my head develop into a vision for the future and that vision gradually become a reality. It excites me to no end  to see Dilcia, Maribel and Karina begin to catch the vision of SoloHope and begin (on their own) a list of women they hope to see eventually come to work alongside them with SoloHope. I love seeing their eyes sparkle at new possibilities, new hopes, new dreams. I see a joy there that I didn't see before. There is only One who can bring that joy. No, life is not perfect but maybe, just maybe, life doesn't look so scary now.

No, I can't fix all the world's problems but I can't and won't sit back and do nothing. And neither should you. Go to the King. What is He speaking to your heart to do to fight the injustices of this world and to bring joy? It just takes a willing heart.

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. 

And what does the LORD require of you? 

To act with justice and to love mercy and 

to walk humbly with your God." 

Micah 6:8

Visit www.solohope.org to learn more about how we are fighting injustice, renewing hope and bringing joy.