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Dear friends,
Moved by the devastation in Central America wrought by Hurricane
Mitch, Rev. Carolyn Gillette, wrote a hymn
entitled "The Storm Came to Honduras.". From a letter dated 11/2/98
to members of First
Presbyterian Church in Pitman, where she and her husband Bruce were co-pastors,
the congregation's mission chair, George Gruber, wrote:
"Two years ago this November Pastor Carolyn Gillette
went on the Church World Service trip to see our church's
work in Honduras. She saw many wonderful
ministries where the rural pastors were offered creative educational programs,
the poor were shown new farming techniques, and women were shown how to do
home-based small businesses in bread baking and weaving....
Our church decided to support a fresh water project for
a rural Honduran village as part of our 75th anniversary....
"Sadly, Honduras and several other Central American countries have been
in the news this week. Hurricane Mitch was one of the strongest storms
ever recorded. The storm's damage has left over a thousand people dead
[the number is now some 9,000 dead] and more than one million people homeless....
Carolyn wrote a hymn in response to the suffering of our southern neighbors."
THE STORM CAME TO HONDURAS
Lyrics:
The storm came to Honduras,
To Nicaraguan towns;
El Salvador felt anguish As rains came crashing down.
O God of wind and water Who made the sea and sky,
Amid such great destruction, We ask a mournful, "Why?"
Great walls of mud and water Swept homes and towns away:
A thousand Rachels weep now For children lost today,
A million madres mourn now As rivers flood the shore--
O Jesus, friend and Savior, You suffer with the poor.
A weaving loom is shattered, A school in ruin lies,
A bridge is washed down-river, A lonely child cries;
O Spirit, send your comfort-- And give us faith that dares.
For when our neighbors suffer Our lives are bound to theirs.
Biblical
References: Romans 12:13, 15; Matthew 25:31-46; I John
3:17-18
Music: "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" by
Hans Leo Hassler, 1601, Harm. Johann Sebastian Bach, 1729
Text: Copyright (c) 1998 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All
rights reserved. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette gives free one-time use of this hymn
to congregations that support Church World Service.
Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is the co-pastor of the Limestone
Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware and author of Gifts
of Love: New Hymns for Today's Worship is a collection of 45 new
hymns published by Geneva Press. A complete list of her hymns can be
found at http://firstpresby.org/hymnlist.htm .
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