So open my eyes wide as I
can, blind as I am, blind as I am. This is a lyric from one of the songs that
has become the “unofficial” song of our team which is Jesus in Disguise by
Brandon Heath. I was re-listening to that song recently as that part of the
lyrics stuck with me. It was part of my prayer to God, to keep opening my eyes
to things I may not see because a lot of times we can be “blind” not noticing
something that God is trying to teach us at a particular moment.
This was my prayer before my
trip and during it, every day. As this next day arrived which was a Tuesday, we
found out that morning that our team was going to be going into a village
called Pie de la Cuesta. From what we were informed, this village is not yet
sponsored by anyone. We were doing evangelism, passing out Toms shoes, and food
distributions (which was rice and manna). I was excited to be able to do the
evangelism part because last time I was there we didn't get to walk around the
villages before the distributions.
After breakfast, we loaded
up the van we drove on with all the necessities for the day. It took about
forty minutes to get there. It was remote, farther away from the “busier” area
we were driving through. We came to a
church that had music playing on speakers for the men who were working outside.
You can hear the music quite far away. As we got there, we unloaded the buses
with everything we brought, and there were some kids and men who came to help
us as well.
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| The Front of the Church |
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| Unloading the van |
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| The men of the village, working to build an addition to the church |
After unloading everything,
we had two very nice ladies who were our guides through the village. One of the
ladies names is Nelly, but sadly I do not remember the other one’s name. They
guided us house to house, family to family to meet and talk with. No matter
whose house we would come to, everyone was very welcoming. This is one of the
things that really stuck out to me throughout the day. Some were even excited
to have us there. I don’t know if it was because some of them never had white
people in their home, but you could just see the excitement on their face. That
made me smile so much. They were not scared. Nor were they shooing us away.
They welcomed us into their living areas. They stopped for the time begin what
they were doing, and took the time to talk with us. They tried to make us
comfortable by giving us places to sit, with the little they do have. Now you don’t get this in America, do we?
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| Visiting some families in the village! |
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| Making tortillas for her family |
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| Almost done! |
Why I say that about not
having this in America, is because many times, we can’t come to a somebody’s
house without giving them a warning at least a few days in advance, if not a
week. They need to make sure that their house is clean, well put together, and
have some snack/food ready. Now this is not a bad thing at all to be able want
to have a house clean and prepared, but how many times do people get upset if
someone drops by and the kitchen is messy, or you are in the middle of cooking?
Would you be happy to accept the company, or upset? Most times, people get
upset. Now I’m not putting everyone in one category, but I’m saying a lot of
times this happens.
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| Inside a home |
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| Twins we met |
If you look at what the
bible says, it tells us to show hospitality. Now I did a little more research
and looked up what the word hospitality means in Greek. The word hospitality is, philoxenia. This
word is made up of "xenos" which means stranger, and
"phileo" which is to love or show affection. So the word literally
means "to love strangers."
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| Mud home |
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| Another home in the village |
I have
learned what it really means to show hospitality by being in Guatemala at that
village, Pie de la Cuesta that day. They showed me what 1 Peter 4:9 really
means, which says: “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.”
Or in Romans 12: 13, where it says, “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek
to show hospitality.” But honestly, I still have a long way to learn and
practice this.
Now back
to what else we did that day. After walking house to house, meeting the
families, we headed back to the church to have our peanut-butter sandwiches or
turkey with cheese sandwiches. Then, we prepared everything for the shoes
distributions, which we did first. Before we started, the pastor of that
village, prayed. The prayer was obviously in Spanish, and man that was awesome!
I've been in different countries and heard people pray in different languages,
but I've never heard as much passion while praying as this pastor prayed. It
was simply amazing!
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| Feet washing |
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| My niece Venessa washing kids feet! |
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| People in the village awaiting their turn for their new shoes |
This
time around, it was such a different feel because we actually met most of the
people that came down to the church. The interactions were friendlier. They
were friendly before, but it was different now, since they have met us ahead of
time, so they “knew” us. The people seemed more open to us throughout this
time. It was nice to be able to make new friends. I absolutely love these people!
After
finishing the shoes, we headed over to the church to do food distributions.
Since, not everyone was able to pass out the food bags, I remembered that I had
stickers I brought and some candy left that I also brought. So on the side of
church, there is a huge window that was open and kids were looking in…so I went
over with the things I had and passed them out. More kids ran up to grab a
candy and stickers. Some tried taking more, trying to convince me that they
didn't get one.
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| Line outside the church for food distribution |
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| Receiving a bag of food that will supply a family for a month |
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| Kids outside the window receiving stickers and candies! They were so excited! |
Before
leaving I was talking with Nelly and randomly, she tells me she liked my
sunglasses. Just a quick lesson, if you ask someone if they want to try
something on, it means to them that you mean, “I can have it.” Just a thought
I’d throw it out there for who might go to other countries.. :P But on with the
story.. I asked if she wanted to try it on, as she said, “really?, oh thank you
so so much!” In a split second I had no idea what just happened. Then it hit me
that what happened. In that second, I didn't hesitate to let her have them,
because after all, I can just go to the store when I get back and get another
pair, just like shoes. But they don’t have that opportunity. So though I didn't
have my sun glasses for the rest of week, I knew that those sunglasses belonged
with Nelly. So as we were leaving, I said I’ll pray for her and asked what she
needed prayer for, as she told me to pray for her schooling and health. I pray
that God will really help her finish so she can help the people there too, or
where-ever God will send her! What a sweet girl she is! Hoping our paths will
one day cross again.
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| Nelly with the pair of sunglasses! :) |
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| The two that guided us through the village. |
After returning back, we had time once again to
spend at the rescue center. It was another great time spent, playing with Hugo,
Estelita, Demly, Esperanza, among the many others there. These kids, never
leave your heart. They have a tendency to grab your heart and you leave it with
them forever!
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| Love these two! |
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| Delmi |
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| Venessa with sweet Angie |
Stay tuned for some
interesting interactions, and having the Vice-President visit Hope of Life! Until
next time… God bless and always feel free to ask questions, or comments! J
