... What if the truck is not there, what if they ran out of money to feed us, what am I going to tell my baby girl? How will she react when she sees that empty space, no one to feed us. No one to give her a morsel of food to hold her over until the next time they come. What if I have to dig through that dump again? What if the food is not enough? What if they bring so few, that my baby girl doesn't get any. What if? What if? What if...
These could be many of the numerous questions that run through a parents mind of a child in Nicaragua... I am unsure. But if I were in this situation, these would be my worries. What if? That questions always lingers near... what if those precious kids do not get any food for that day. That one strikes near my heart, as I continuously remember the faces of the children at the dump.
Yes... that's right. The dump.
The place where trash goes. The place that reeks of unimaginable smells. The place that animals scavenge. The place where you see vultures flying around. The place no human should live. The place no human should have to search to find food.
That is where these people are. That is where these people camp out to see if maybe that truck will come. Mothers, fathers, children, and grandmas. All waiting to see if that one truck will come, if that one truck will bring them a morsel of food, just to fool their stomachs.
The dump, where no human should even step foot in because of how many disease may be found their. Where children are walking through, to get to the truck that is bringing them food. The miles of dump that these people have to walk through from their village far away, just to get food.
This is poverty. This is sickness. This is sadness. THIS breaks God's heart.
This. Breaks. God's. Heart.
Do you want God's heart broken?
Or do you want to change the world for Him?
Me, I want to change the world... and that is what I will devote my life to. THIS is what I will devote my life to.
As we pulled up to this place, there were no words I could think of to describe it, and months later it is still hard for me to form these words. We pulled up and there were kids running all around this vacant land. These kids who saw us, they smiled ear from ear, they were joyous, not happy, joyous. As we got out of the bus, we were told to help with materials. Then, words were spoken that we did not understand, and the kids began to form two lines, boys and girls, youngest to oldest. We were handed soap, water, and a towel, and told to wash their hands.
Now imagine this happening in America. We would hand the kids the soap, wait, then hand them the towel. Right? Its that simple.
Not in the most poverty struck part of Nicaragua, these kids had no clue how to wash their hands. Not an idea. Most likely because they have never had the opportunity to do it.
" So, if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other's feet. I've laid down a pattern for you. What I've done, you do. I'm only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn't give orders to the employer. If you understand what I'm telling you, act like it- and live a blessed life." John 13:13-17
We lived like Jesus. We served like Him. There are not enough words to express the feelings I had while washing these kids hands and watching my friends do the same, as well as hearing many of my friends tell each and every child "Jesus te amo." Jesus loves you.
Although this was the hardest part of the trip, it was impact-full. It made me realize that His work is never done. That these kids, this country, needs Jesus more every year.
As we continued to serve these kids, they went from washing hands to getting their food that some of our team prepared earlier at the feeding center. They were timid, because they did not know who we were, but they were joyous at what we handed them. As I stood back and saw my team dive into serving these kids, I took a moment to look at where we actually were. It was empty. There were no buildings or any sign of civilization in any direction. But, as I looked closer to where we were, I saw an old lady, maybe in her late eighties or early nineties, sitting on the grass. Waiting. As I looked at her, she just smiled at me. This smile took me aback, how can she be happy here? I was baffled. I went up to the leader in charge of distributing food and made sure it was okay if I took food to her, he gave me two bags of food and drink. I walked over there, and again her smile shown down upon me. She couldn't talk to me, nor I to her, but the smiles were enough exchange.
After all of the food was given out, we went to see what the dump was, what these people had to walk through to get their food... As I described above it was awful. Something no human should be happy with. But as I looked pass the dump and the smell, I saw kids skipping, laughing, and running. They were not happy, they were joyous. Someone cared about them, someone loved them. Jesus loves them. They do not care about all those little things that are in life, they are just joyous. They now have food in their tummies and are going back home to play. They are alive another day. The parents are smiling because the truck came... it came. It did not fail them, Jesus did not fail them.
Yes... that's right. The dump.
The place where trash goes. The place that reeks of unimaginable smells. The place that animals scavenge. The place where you see vultures flying around. The place no human should live. The place no human should have to search to find food.
That is where these people are. That is where these people camp out to see if maybe that truck will come. Mothers, fathers, children, and grandmas. All waiting to see if that one truck will come, if that one truck will bring them a morsel of food, just to fool their stomachs.
The dump, where no human should even step foot in because of how many disease may be found their. Where children are walking through, to get to the truck that is bringing them food. The miles of dump that these people have to walk through from their village far away, just to get food.
This is poverty. This is sickness. This is sadness. THIS breaks God's heart.
This. Breaks. God's. Heart.
Do you want God's heart broken?
Or do you want to change the world for Him?
Me, I want to change the world... and that is what I will devote my life to. THIS is what I will devote my life to.
As we pulled up to this place, there were no words I could think of to describe it, and months later it is still hard for me to form these words. We pulled up and there were kids running all around this vacant land. These kids who saw us, they smiled ear from ear, they were joyous, not happy, joyous. As we got out of the bus, we were told to help with materials. Then, words were spoken that we did not understand, and the kids began to form two lines, boys and girls, youngest to oldest. We were handed soap, water, and a towel, and told to wash their hands.
Now imagine this happening in America. We would hand the kids the soap, wait, then hand them the towel. Right? Its that simple.
Not in the most poverty struck part of Nicaragua, these kids had no clue how to wash their hands. Not an idea. Most likely because they have never had the opportunity to do it.
" So, if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other's feet. I've laid down a pattern for you. What I've done, you do. I'm only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn't give orders to the employer. If you understand what I'm telling you, act like it- and live a blessed life." John 13:13-17
We lived like Jesus. We served like Him. There are not enough words to express the feelings I had while washing these kids hands and watching my friends do the same, as well as hearing many of my friends tell each and every child "Jesus te amo." Jesus loves you.
Although this was the hardest part of the trip, it was impact-full. It made me realize that His work is never done. That these kids, this country, needs Jesus more every year.
As we continued to serve these kids, they went from washing hands to getting their food that some of our team prepared earlier at the feeding center. They were timid, because they did not know who we were, but they were joyous at what we handed them. As I stood back and saw my team dive into serving these kids, I took a moment to look at where we actually were. It was empty. There were no buildings or any sign of civilization in any direction. But, as I looked closer to where we were, I saw an old lady, maybe in her late eighties or early nineties, sitting on the grass. Waiting. As I looked at her, she just smiled at me. This smile took me aback, how can she be happy here? I was baffled. I went up to the leader in charge of distributing food and made sure it was okay if I took food to her, he gave me two bags of food and drink. I walked over there, and again her smile shown down upon me. She couldn't talk to me, nor I to her, but the smiles were enough exchange.
After all of the food was given out, we went to see what the dump was, what these people had to walk through to get their food... As I described above it was awful. Something no human should be happy with. But as I looked pass the dump and the smell, I saw kids skipping, laughing, and running. They were not happy, they were joyous. Someone cared about them, someone loved them. Jesus loves them. They do not care about all those little things that are in life, they are just joyous. They now have food in their tummies and are going back home to play. They are alive another day. The parents are smiling because the truck came... it came. It did not fail them, Jesus did not fail them.
Let's ruffle some feathers!
ReplyDeleteTrue learning does not come from sitting in a classroom learning what someone else learned from a person who learned from another person... True learning comes from living life: seeing what really goes on in the world.
Textbooks can't stimulate the same senses/emotions as seeing something first hand. The sounds, the smells, the heat of the environment on your bare skin brings life (for some) into perspective. Your goal as a young adult is to absorb life's lessons. Then, and only then, real learning begins.
You have a small notebook. A major part of your education process is creating ways to impact the world. All it takes is to start coming up with 10 ideas a day. Write them in your notebook. Then relive them at a later time: look for ways to expand your ideas to impact the world.
Confining yourself to any set of four walls (literally or figuratively) will leave you feeling empty. Don't be what everyone else is because everyone else is doing it.
Create. Innovate. Implement. The world is depending on it!