Tragedy. Perspective. Gratefulness

Last week we had a group from Baton Rouge. 

Friday was one of those days.  My car is down.  Luis's car is down.  Emma vomited all over the store.  A couple of the kids from the group were sick.  Keys were locked in rooms.  There were errands to be done.  And reports to be typed.  We were trying to take care of the sick ones and take care of the details for the day.  It seemed like nothing was really going right.  I did not get back to Casa until almost 10.00.

The group was going to the market.  They were going to do a huge food buy and Nicole had to buy the food for the feeding center.  After the group left and went to distribute food, Nicole bought the food for the feeding center and then put it in her car.  She and Haley were going back into the market to the food court. 
They heard a loud boom and people began to pour out of the market.  Everyone was yelling and screaming and telling her to run.  She really did not understand if the explosion was accidental or on purpose.  It did not matter.  She turned and ran to her car.

A propane tank exploded in the food court, causing a chain reaction.  The food court.  That is where Haley and Nicole were going.  A matter of seconds, they would have been there.  Right there, where it happened.  Nicole was pretty shaken the rest of the day.  So was I.  Just 20 minutes earlier the group would have still been there.

Between 70 and 80 people were seriously injured with 2nd, 3rd and 4th degree burns.  No hospital in Tegucigalpa can handle that many people.  People were taken every where.  Some have already died.  And more probably will.  A little girl died and her mother was so severely burned that she could not leave the hospital for her daughter's funeral. 

Some of the vendors in the market have lost everything. 

Something of this magnitude made me realize that broken cars and keys locked in the room and vomit in the store are pretty minor things.  And, when I finally saw Nicole and Haley on Friday night, I was so thankful to be hugging their necks.

Please pray for all the families effected by this tragedy.