I Have Been To The End Of The Road

We travel a lot of different roads in our lives. In and out of our driveways, places of work, and school pick-up zones. We know I-80, Capital Parkway, and South 40th Street very well. We love green lights and passing lanes, and we detest detours, road construction, and people who stop when they see yellow.

But sometimes we learn the most about ourselves when we are willing to travel a new road. For instance a road that leads us to someone else's home or a road that leads us into someone else's pain. A mission experience can often take us down those roads. Over spring break Southwood sent a mission team to Honduras, they took with them a group from First Plymouth, many of whom had never been there before. They had the opportunity to travel a new road - riding in the back of a pick up, bouncing over gravel, and battling the dust and wind they arrived at the end of the road. They arrived at someone's home, they experienced someone's pain - they were led down that road to "the poorest of the poor." Here is what one person wrote about this experience:

I have been to Honduras.
I have been to the “end of the road”. The end of the road is where the poorest people live.
Life is hard at the end of the road.
Women wash clothes on a rock, pouring water on them with a bowl from a barrel.
Life is hard at the end of the road.
Small children have to grind corn with a hand grinder so their mother can make tortillas in a wood fired oven that runs all the time.
Life is hard at the end of the road.
There are few older people because the constant smoke from the ovens fills their lungs and kills the lung tissue.
Life is hard at the end of the road.
A mother and her seven children, along with the grandfather, lived in a one room house that is no larger than 10’ by 12’. Her husband deserted her.
Life is hard at the end of the road.
The water comes directly out of the river and flows back in after using it for cooking, bathing, etc.
Life is hard at the end of the road.
Many bathrooms consist of four poles with plastic sheeting wrapped around them.
Life is hard at the end of the road.
The school is missing half of its roof. The students and the books get wet when it rains. The swings are gone. The slide has a rusted sheet of metal sticking up at the bottom One side of all the teeter totters is missing.
Life is hard at the end of the road.
There is no electricity; therefore there is no refrigeration.
Life is hard at the end of the road.
There are no stores. You can’t buy anything, even if you had the money.
Life is hard at the end of the road.
You know you need to do something to help the people at the end of the road.

Think about the roads you travel every day, the paths you take. How often do you walk along side someone in need? How often do you have the sense that you need to do something to help?

Have you been to "the end of the road?" What was your experience like? What changed in your own road because of "the end of the road?" Life is hard at the end of the road, but just about every time - that is where we will find Jesus.

Thanks to our Southwood mission team for taking this adventure and thanks to Mike Aron from First Plymouth for writing about it!

Pastor Sara