El Chapernal

An excerpt from a narrative I wrote after visiting a community that had sustained severe flood damage...


El Chapernal, located outside of Marcovia where brother Elvin Espinal preaches, near the Choluteca River, is a small community of 26 families. Last week this community was flooded after unusually heavy, unpredicted rains that dropped 36 inches of rain on Tuesday alone. On Sunday October 14, as the rain continued to fall and as the rivers continued to rise, the Choluteca Fire Department decided to evacuate the more than 120 members of Chapernal to dry land. The Choluteca River had been steadily rising for 5 days and a branch of the river had broken free, flowing east and turning Chapernal into an island. The families of Chapernal were trapped between the rapidly moving Choluteca River and the steadily rising branch of the Choluteca River. The water from the rivers had already flooded their homes. On Sunday morning firemen started by evacuating the children and women first. With the frightened faces of parents all around them, the firemen loaded up the small flat bottom boat to maximum capacity. As they got deeper the firemen were forced to get in the boat as well. Shortly after the firemen boarded the boat, it capsized. The few adults that were on the boat began to help children grab onto branches of near by trees to stay afloat. Sadly three siblings, Roxana, 14 yrs, Ricardo, 11 yrs, and Michael, 5 yrs, were unable to get to safety and drowned. Another women, Jasmin Jakeline, managed to get her 2 year old son, Jonson, to a neighbor and rescued her niece before she was hit in the head by the boat and drowned as well. A total of 4 people lost their lives on Sunday while trying to escape the flooding of the Choluteca River.

When the team members of Mission Lazarus, both Americans and Hondurans alike, arrived at the renegade branch of the Choluteca River on Tuesday morning, it was a sight to behold. The steady rains from the night before had made it impossible for us to cross. We spoke to community leaders across the river and promised to return with food provisions in the afternoon. Hoping that the river would be down in the afternoon we returned and still were unable to cross. A few members from Chapernal volunteered to swim the flooded river to collect the food so that the people of their community would have full bellies for the first time since before the rains began, exactly one week earlier.

On Wednesday morning our team from Mission Lazarus returned and was able to get across the river. When we arrived at Chapernal the somber mood was immediately evident. As we started to interview families and create a list of need we began to hear peoples first hand accounts of how the incident had occurred on Sunday morning. Of how the rivers had risen, how none of the children could swim and the terrible events that lead to the drowning of four of their own. We met many families who had children on the boat when it flipped and they told us with sadness in their eyes how their children’s friends had died. We met the mother, father and sister of the three children who had drowned. We watched as the mother grieved for her children, comforted by her sisters and cousins. We hugged their grandfather while he struggled to fight back tears. We met the husband and son of the woman who had died. They seemed as if they were in a trance; going through the motions, but not quite knowing exactly what they were doing. We met Jasmin's sisters and listened to their stories about what a good mother and sister she was. We met the uncle and cousins of the children who had died. We watched as the boys clung to their father and began to cry as he volunteered his account of what had happened to his niece and nephews. We walked through people’s homes and listened attentively as they described how the water had risen and how it had washed away their mud walls leaving their families exposed to the elements. We saw many collapsed walls, disintegrated mud fires stoves, and leaky roofs, all due to the flood waters. We were moved when a man explained to us that he had taken the remaining clay roof tiles off of his own house so that he could provide a roof for his sister’s home. We met many children with out shoes who had developed foot fungus from being barefoot in the mud for the past week. We also met the miracle baby, an 11 month old girl named Vivian, who by God’s grace alone was some how able to remain in the boat as it capsized and flipped back upright again...


When I got home on Wednesday I was absolutely exhausted. At first I thought it was physical exhaustion from walking house to house taking a census and recording lists of personal needs. But as I began to unwind and think about the days events I realized that I was experiencing mental, emotional and spiritual exhaustion. There were so many times that day when I wanted to break down and cry. I wanted to hug the mother that lost 3 of her children and cry with her. I wanted to cry with the grandfather as he tried to be strong and fight back his tears. And I wanted to cry every time I looked into the big brown eyes of a malnourished child, plagued with raw weeping fungus infested feet. And as I fought back my tears I did what I could. I prayed. I know we are going to help these families. I know that rebuilding homes is a process. But I want to do something now. I want to take away their hurt and pain. I want their bellies to be full. I want them to be dry, warm and fungus free. Not in a couple of months when we get their houses built, but now! So, I prayed that God would ease their pain. That He would comfort them in their time of grief. That he would supply us with the funds so that the houses could be built quickly. But most importantly that He would show the suffering people of El Chapernal His amazing and everlasting love.

Please join me in praying for the families of El Chapernal.

PS There are more photos that I want to post, but the internet is being very slow. I will continue to update the slideshow over the next few days.