Saint Jorge

Somewhere, right now, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras a man named Jorge Mahomar is doing his best to push back the darkness. If you passed by Jorge in the streets, you very likely wouldn't even notice him. He is a fairly thin middle aged man, not very tall, and not strikingly handsome. His clothes are nothing special, and the truck he uses for transportation wouldn't even pass for drivable in most parts of the U.S. No, you probably wouldn't even notice Jorge at all. But I'll tell you who does notice Jorge -- all the poor, the downtrodden, the prostitutes, the drug addicts, the street kids, the homeless, and the all the other hopeless people in that broken city.

Jorge came from one of the wealthiest families in Honduras. After graduating college and getting married to the lovely Laticia, a restlessness began stirring in Jorge...a restlessness brought on by his faith in Jesus Christ. As he looked around his broken and despairing homeland, he could not square the life that Jesus called him to with the life that was presented to him by Honduras's elite. So, he did what any regenerated and born-again follower of Jesus would do -- he began selling all that he owned, quite literally, and giving it to the poor.

Initially, his family thought he was crazy. They had him flown to a mental home in Miami, Florida. But, after a few weeks, the doctors determined that there was nothing wrong with Jorge at all. He was perfectly healthy, and perfectly happy, and perfectly ready to go back to Honduras. As soon as he was able, he was back on a plane to Tegucigalpa and back on the steets with the poor and the sick. His family absolutely could not understand why he was squandering all his wealth on such a lost cause.

Over the years, Jorge has been arrested dozens of times for standing up for the rights of the poor, homeless, and drug addicted. He has opened dozens of orphanages, half-way houses, and homes for the unfortunate of his country, and continues to run them with the small staff that he has recruited to his cause. You may not know who Jorge is, but ask any street urchin in Tegucigalpa and they will tell you. Walking into one of the orphanages with Jorge one day was quite overwhelming. From every direction, half dressed little boys came running, screaming and laughing along the way, to Jorge's side. They quit their soccer games, they ran out of the classrooms, they put down their food, and they ran. They ran to be near the only man in the world who seemed to care about them. As he sat down with a cell phone pressed to his ear tying to arrange for more water to be brought up to the orphange that day, the boys climbed all over him like little monkeys, happy to just be near him. This was the man that had saved them.

Sitting in Jorge's house later that night, exhausted by a week of what Jorge considered "just regular days", I remarked about the cruise ships that come to port in Honduras asking if Jorge had ever been on one. He said, in that he had not, and I suggested that he should take a short cruise with his wife one day. "I guess I should," he said smiling. "How long has it been since you had a vacatation Jorge?" He sat back in his chair, looked up at the ceiling, and thought. "Well, I don't guess I've ever had a vacation," he remarked as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "Never had a vacation!" I stammered. "How long have you been doing this?" He sat back again, and after thinking for a few seconds responded, "Twenty three years."

As the conversation unfolded it came to light that not only had Jorge not had a vacation in twenty three years, but the only time he had even taken a day off was when he was so sick that he had to be hospitalized for a week nearly a decade ago. Not a single day off in twenty three years! He was not moved at all. With all sincerity and humility he told us, "I do what I do because of Jesus and with Jesus' help. Without Jesus I do nothing."

Jorge starts every one of his days, seven days a week, with prayer at the church before daylight, and then heads out to push back the darkness. His days are filled with visiting the orphanages and half-way houses, delivering supplies, meeting with politicians to loby for the rights of the poor, picking up street kids he sees during the day, and handing out money to the poor (he carries a wad of One Limpiera bills everywhere he goes). While we were there, he had to get up during the night several times times go break up gang fights or pick up street kids with no place to stay. His days were exhausting for us, and we only did it for a week. I can't imagine doing it for 23 years without even a day off. Jorge is truly a saint.

As I sit here very comfortably in a coffee shop, I'm sure that Jorge has carried on his day much as he has carried on evey day for the past 24 years now -- loving the unlovable and pushing back the darkness. I pray that God would bless him in all that he does, and that God would give me the grace to push back the darkness and proclaim the good news with all the life that He grants me. I pray that all followers of Jesus, where ever they may find themselves, will live lives that count.