Human life is human life. Sometimes people make choices we may not agree with. Sometimes those choices land them in dangerous, even life threatening situations.
At that point the decision is yours. Do you let someone who is on the verge of death die because you don't agree with the decision the person made which caused them to be in this horrible situation? Or do you give blood. Because it is a life. And because your pint of blood can make the difference between life and death for that person. (In Honduras a person can only receive as many pints of blood as are donated in that person's name if they are in a public hospital. There is no free blood.)
I recently had this conversation with someone. The person told me, "Well, (so-and-so) knew better. They knew if they chose to do (x,y.z,) they could die." I was shocked. Maybe it was a bad decision. Maybe the person had really done the stupidest thing ever. But did the person deserve to die because they made a bad (or possible uninformed, or maybe a desperate) decision??
To me, the answer is no. They did not harm anyone else. The decision affected only themselves. In fact I believe the person thought they were making the best decision they could. But that is my point of view.
Why am I ranting and raving about decisions and death? Because for a few months now Fany, who if you couldn't tell already, is my closest friend in Honduras, has been struggling as she watched her brother make a life and death decision.
One morning few months ago, Fany came to me very upset. Her brother left in the middle of the night to begin a long journey in attempt to cross the border into the United States illegally. In the end, he was captured by regular police in Mexico who figured out what he was trying to do, and sent back to Honduras.
He arrived thin and weak, hardly able to walk. The journey to Mexico had gotten the best of him.
Immediately his brother, who paid for the "coyotes" to guide him to the US, started nagging. The trip was already paid for. He could attempt it again. But they could not get a cash refund. His manhood was challenged. He was mocked and criticized.
His wife even pressured him to attempt the trip again. He has not been able to find a job in over two years. They have four kids. The youngest is five. Often they cannot eat. What other option does he have? He is not going to find work in Honduras, she said. Take advantage of this opportunity your brother gave you, she told him. Try again.
Fany and her parents were very, very against the idea from the beginning. They know the man gets sick easily and is not very strong. That trip is hard on the toughest people. They did not want anything to happen to him.
But eventually, with pressure from the wife and brother, Fany came to me again. It was the day after Mother's Day, May 11th. Her brother had gone. In the beginning of this week he made it to a place in Mexico where they were "storing" people until they thought it was safe to send them across the border. He was not chosen in the earlier groups. Then they had a close call with border patrol and had to lay low for a while.
Last night Fany's brother left the storage unit with the group he was assigned. They had eaten their famous final meal of jeuvos rancheros and three tortillas. They had only the clothes on their backs. It was pouring rain as they crossed the river in a blow up raft. They were drenched and cold. They started hiking across a desert. I am not sure how long they had walked when a helicopter came and they all scattered. Fany's brother hung close to two Guatemalan guys. He was able to get cell reception for a brief moment last night, just long enough to call his brother and say that he was lost in the desert.
As you can imagine, Fany is beside herself. She doesn't know what to do. She can't eat. Her parents don't know that their son is lost. They have been fasting since he arrived in the storage unit. Her mother said today that she feels like something bad happened. The brother who paid and provoked his brother to try again doesn't want anyone to know that his brother is lost. He tried calling the coyotes to rescue his brother. First the contact didn't answer their phone. Then they said that someone had been sent to get them. I find that difficult to believe.
Fany said she is praying that immigration finds her brother and picks him up. That is the only way we can imagine him getting out of the desert safely. We are thankful that he is not alone.
I was talking to some people at my church about the situation last night, before he got lost. The man I was talking to knows two women who are currently on the same path. One is the daughter of a lady from our church. This has been happening all around me for years. But I don't talk about it. Because I know it is controversial.
Some people may say that Fany's brother deserves to die in the desert. He made a bad decision. I am praying that he doesn't.
