An encounter with Samaritan's Purse staff transforms the life of a nurse in Honduras.
Sometimes our greatest heartache can lead us to our greatest accomplishment. I realized this after hearing Rosario Flores’ testimony.
Rosario was recently hired to become nurse manager for the Village Samaritan program. But it wouldn’t have happened had our staff not picked up a heartbroken hitchhiker in Center Lucia, Honduras.
Rosario was working as a nurse at a hospital, but she didn’t own a car and barely had enough money to take the bus to get to work in the morning. Most of the time she tried getting rides with friends, family, or random strangers.
One day, as she was standing at the roadside, she saw a Samaritan’s Purse vehicle approaching. Carlos Chinchilla, an SP agronomist, lowered his window and asked if she needed a ride. Rosario had heard good things about Samaritan’s Purse and gladly accepted the invitation.
At the time, she was severely depressed, and had even thought about suicide. Rosario’s husband had abandoned her, and her five kids were either grown or in school. She felt sad, lonely, and worried about where she was headed in life.
Carlos noticed Rosario was very quiet, so he asked how she was doing. The scared, single mom opened up her heart and shared her problems. He responded with grace and the Gospel. He told her she wasn’t alone, and that God was with her; He was her father and counselor.
“He told me beautiful things about God and gave me a Bible,” she remembered. “The people from Samaritan’s Purse told me to ask God for strength and to read the Bible and invited me to visit church. They said to me, ‘We’ll be praying for you’ and after that I became close friends with them.”
Carlos and other members of the SP staff continued to give Rosario rides to work. As Rosario interacted with them and learned more about Jesus, she decided to give her life to Christ.
When we began the Village Samaritan program in Honduras, our staff thought she would be a perfect pick for nurse manager.
“I knew the Village Samaritan job would help me in a spiritual way,” Rosario said. “I went to the pastor of my church and told him that the job I had was what God wanted for me, and I put a lot of thought into it. I feel peace in my heart.”
Now Rosario can always be found with a big smile on her face. The once heartbroken hitchhiker has a new joy and purpose in Christ. Her greatest heartache is not over her past hurts anymore, but for the people in her country who are suffering because of the lack of medical care and their need for Jesus Christ.