When Solidarity is Needed—Situations We Can’t Control

(Carolina is a Virtual Assistant who does much of my transcription, setup of website content, editing of video, etc. She lives in Intibucá, Honduras, where they have recently experienced significant difficulty. I invited Carolina to share her thoughts about their recent challenges.)

Most of us have our daily routines planned down to the “T.” We know what we will be doing for the next few weeks. Work, school, social engagements, church, dinners, all of this is planned weeks in advance. But what happens when God puts in our way a situation that cancels all of that.

For the better part of a year, our lives have changed drastically due to social distancing. COVID-19 shut our entire planet down in a way nobody ever expected. It seems like everything was cancelled and our towns and cities seemed like ghost towns. It was devastating on all levels, from economic to social.

Tropical Hurricanes in Central America

In early November, as COVID-19 cases were growing in Central America, and we were going through school shutdowns, distancing, and major job losses, we had two more tragedies.

On November 3, category 4 hurricane Eta hit land on Nicaraguan territory. A day later, Eta arrived in Honduras. The hurricane affected these two countries the most, but caused damage in Guatemala, Panama and Mexico. Nicaragua alone had 10,000 people relocated while their city, Puerto Cabezas, nearly disappeared under water. Hundreds lost their homes. In Honduras, the city of La Lima also disappeared under water. Again, thousands lost their homes.

The aftermath was huge. Landslides made transportation nearly impossible. Downed trees caused more damage. Electrical wires came down from the combination of rain, downed trees, landslides, and water damage. Major parts of the country were without electricity for days.

Two weeks later, category 5 hurricane Iota hit Central America. Again, there was damage all over, but mostly in Nicaragua and Honduras. For these countries, who were just barely starting to recover, the fear was real. Although Iota moved through more quickly it caused even more damage. Again, cities were flooded, additional thousands lost their homes, and the countries suffered long days without electricity.

Many things have changed in these countries. The people who had plans for the next day, and lost their home overnight are devastated. This is when we, as Christians need to come together in prayer.

1 Peter 4:8  “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves…”

Time for Worldly Solidarity

The world is changing. The work of God must be done. Coming together in prayer in these situations, and letting Jesus handle our schedules for us is something we must do. He is the one that will guide our every move.

Although Central America is slowly recovering, I encourage you to reach out. If you know someone who has family in any of these countries, pray for them. Pray with them. Reach out to anyone who might need a word of encouragement in his or her time of need. And let’s keep in mind, that when it comes to life, Jesus and He alone is the one that will make our schedule for us.