During our first mission trip to Honduras, God revealed many things about Himself to us. We traveled on foot many miles to a very impoverished village known as La Ceibita. We had plans on washing and doing the hair of the women and children as well as an adaptation of a VBS. When we arrived though, we found that there were only two spigots for running water for the whole town and one of them didn't work. So much for our plan to wash hair! However, one of our guys proved to be a handyman and got the town spigot running again. We lined up the ladies and children and took them one by one and to wash their hair. The people of this town are Lenca Indians and many of them still use a very traditional dress, including head coverings for their hair. It was such a humbling experience as we removed the head coverings. Most of these ladies had never had their hair washed with shampoo before or brushed either. As we lathered the shampoo and placed our fingers in their hair, lice began crawling up our arms. For us North Americans, we were mortified! CULTURE SHOCK!!!! Thoughts like, "How can these people live like this and these people are so dirty," crossed my mind. The differences between my culture and that culture were glaring at me! While washing that first lady's hair, I remembered that Jesus washed the nasty, dirty feet of His disciples, so why shouldn't I be able to wash this hair? I quickly pinned up my own and continued. I was more and more humbled by the actions of my Savior with each head that I washed and brushed. As I washed the hair of each mother and child, I prayed for them. I prayed that God would reveal Himself to each individual in the village and that La Ceibita would be forever changed by the Word of God. Initial shock can be overcome by seeing the greater picture. I have since learned that for these people, lice were and are simply a part of their life. It isn't such an awful thing when everyone around you has the same way of life. As my relationship developed with the people of this village and others in the same region, lice became such a non-issue because I grew to love them just as they are.After we left the village and arrived back to the nearest city, we bought lice shampoo and treated our own hair "just to be sure." A couple of weeks later I found myself in the hustle and bustle of my wedding week and all the last minute details that includes when my fiance looked at me with a strange look and asked, "What is that in your hair?" He then began to move my hair behind my ear only to discover more "somethings" there. I quickly ran to the bathroom to discover my own infestation of lice right before my wedding! Yet, somehow, I wasn't totally disgusted because I knew that wouldn't be the last time. Our journey together was about to begin and we knew that would include many more trips to these villages and possibly many more times of fine-nit-combing. Sharing the life-changing message of Jesus with them was worth it and still is!
