CRAZY HAPPENINGS IN COMAS...
Listen to this...
So the other night we were doing our drama and evangelism thing as usual, in front of a church in the street, when a weird looking drunk guy came stumbling up and started talking to some of us girls. We immediately called over one of the guys, and this man started telling them he would destroy this church because he had legions of demons encamped around it, he hated them and would kill them, and he knew all about their past. So by then we realized that not only is this man drunk, but he is definitely possessed. He was making really creepy signals to us girls, like pointing at his eyes then pointing at us, and we called over the guys with the church to get him out of there. We had already started the dramas, so we switched over to a drama that shows the power Jesus has over the power of darkness, and this man started coming closer and closer to our group. After a guy from our team explained the drama, he asked everyone to pray for more of the Holy Spirit´s power over the church and over the place we were at, and when we were praying our whole team was praying directly at this man. The whole time he was making these weird signals and looking DIRECTLY at me and my friend Tere. So we started praying even louder things in Jesus´name, and every time we said Jesus´name this man would kind of cringe and shake his head and put his thumbs down.
By this point some of the girls were getting freaked out and upset, but the man turned away and walked down the street. We could just feel this spiritual struggle going on as we finished up the program, and Tere and I saw the man watching us from around the corner one block down. Sure enough, when we started leaving, all walking very close together with guys out in front, the man jumped out in front of us and started speaking really weird, slurred language that was barely even Spanish. Andre, Mark, Felipe and the pastor with us blocked him from us girls, we went around the corner down the street with other members of the church who were with us, and the guys started talking to him. Basically they started rebuking the spirit in him and praying over him and telling the spirit to get out of him. The man wasn´t acting dangerous anymore, he was kind of weak now and on the ground rolling around sometimes, but this went on for about an hour while us girls were praying around the corner.
In the end, the man actually accepted their prayer, rebuked the spirit inside of him, and prayed a prayer accepting Jesus as his Savior. Our God is THAT big! There is so much power in His name!! But even though this guy prayed with them, he was still acting weird and trying to follow us when we left. There were even police nearby that told us they would take care of him if he followed us, but when we turned around, they were gone and the man was still behind us. So we kept walking faster, and Felipe took us girls back a different way to the church, while Andre and the pastor went a very long way hom to lose the guy. We prayed A LOT that night over our team, over our safety, over our minds and spirits after seeing all of that happen, and over our sleep and dreams. After seeing something so intense and so spiritual, if you have a spirit of fear it can definitely open doors in your heart and mind for the enemy to attack you, but God has been protecting us so much, both when that happened and since then.
It was such a crazy experience that opened our eyes even more to the reality of the spiritual warfare going on around our team. Sometimes the enemy is attacking our unity, sometimes our health, sometimes our energy, sometimes our willingness to serve, but this time the enemy was directly attacking us through this man, and the power of the name of Jesus was really our only weapon. But the victory is already ours, and His name is all we need.
Besides that crazy night, we have had lots of other struggles here, including lots of sicknesses (all of us Americans are still sick and having problems with the food), sick of living out of the suitcase and always being sooo dirty from the dirt roads and lack of real showers here, LOTS of sleeping problems, a hard time working with the pastor of this church, and just tiredness. We are SO tired. Seriously pray that God gives us energy!! Doing two or three programs every day, plus not being able to eat what we want, when we want, plus being sick, plus getting poor sleep for the past two months has taken it´s toll. Also pray that God decides to strike dead the roosters here. There are actually three or four gigantic roosters living IN this church with us. Yes, you heard me right. The live inside the church with us, and the only thing separating the room where we sleep from the rooster´s home is a tarp which is supposedly a wall but really its a tarp. And that guy I told you about earlier is not the only thing demon-possessed around here, because I am convinced the roosters have evil spirits inside of them because they DO NOT STOP CROWING. It´s actually incredible how much they crow. Like every five minutes from 3 am until midnight. It´s insane. That´s why we havent slept much here! We are definitely learning how to rely on His forces and asking for the joy of the Lord to be our strength.
On another note, we are all really excited because we´re leaving Monday and staying in Pachacutec with the last church we went to, until Tuesday when we leave for Ariquipa! By the end of our week in Pachecutec, we all fell in love with the people there and all us girls cried when we left, ha! They were the most generous, loving, fun, welcoming church we had been to, and I really didnt want to leave. Basically the whole church is one big family, literally, because the pastor has 12 kids, and along with half of them being married and having kids, the whole church is all related. Plus they all loved us a lot and didnt want us to leave, all the kids in the town loooved us and we had so much fun working with them. The last night there was the most fun - after a concert by a Christian rapper from Dominican Republic which was amazing and brought 15 or so gangster kids off the streets and converted to Christ (so cool! I am bringing a CD home, don´t worry you will all be rapping in Spanish soon), they had a goodbye party for us and taught us all the traditional Peruvian dances and games. It was such a great time of sharing stories with them, learning more about their culture, and feeling like a part of their church family. A few of them actually drove here (two hours away!) just to visit us yesterday and conviced our leader Felipe to agree to come back to Pachacutec Monday until Tuesday night :) It will be a huge relief to leave here even one day earlier, especially because the church here consists of nine people in TOTAL and the pastor has been really hard to work with. Pachacutec here we come, then onto the home stretch of the outreach in Ariquipa!
If there is one thing this outreach has been showing me, although there are thousands of things I am learning, it is APPRECIATION!!! It really is true that you don´t know what you´ve got till it´s gone... even just a hot shower in a clean bathroom would be an unbelievable luxury right now. Having toilets that work, having clean clothes, going out to eat in a restaraunt, walking down clean streets that aren´t covered with barking dogs, dead dogs, dog poop or tons of trash, watching real, non-bootleg movies in English... all of these are simple things I will definitely be ready to enjoy again when I come home. But on the other hand, these are the conditions that these people live in every day, and they won´t be able to escape this reality at the end of the outreach and go home like we are looking forward to doing. They are home. This is their life.
Sometimes that makes me feel really hopeless, sometimes I feel very snobby and almost superior against my will simply because I can say ¨Only one more month then I can go home and be clean again¨ and they will never live in a clean place. In the end, the only thing we can do is our part. Love them while we are here, serve them, bring them the gospel that will never leave them hungry, and keep praying for them when we leave. Sometimes is doesnt feel like enough, but we are called to do our part and God is also showing us that we can´t save the world and it´s in His hands. Thank God for that! He is holding our team together, He is working in us and through us...
Ok time to go because I am finally talking to Kels on Skype. Love you sister!!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Pictures!
Finally pics loaded!
The graffiti in Lurin was beautiful!
Working with the church, painting in Lima.
We visited an anorexia and bulimia rehab center for young girls. It was so cool to talk to them, pray with them, share more of God´s perfect love for them in their time of healing. By far one of my favorite experiences.
Yep, dead dogs in the road. Watch your step.
The church´s feeding center for children in Lurin. Sometimes the only meal they eat all day.
Freedom!
This is what the streets looked like in Lurin, lots of dogs, brick houses side by side, and dirt roads.
Wow. The buses in Lima... wow.
The graffiti in Lurin was beautiful!
Working with the church, painting in Lima.
We visited an anorexia and bulimia rehab center for young girls. It was so cool to talk to them, pray with them, share more of God´s perfect love for them in their time of healing. By far one of my favorite experiences.
Yep, dead dogs in the road. Watch your step.
The church´s feeding center for children in Lurin. Sometimes the only meal they eat all day.
A fun day swimming in our clothes at the top surf spot in Pichilemu, Punto de Lobos, before we split up into our outreach teams. Les extrano!
This is what the streets looked like in Lurin, lots of dogs, brick houses side by side, and dirt roads.Wow. The buses in Lima... wow.
Pachacutec
Ok, I admit these pictures aren´t mine, but they will give you an idea of what it looks like here...
This is our view from the top of the hill in Pachacutec. I got this picture off google images because it takes an hour to upload from cameras onto these computers, but this is exactly what my pictures look like so here you go. It looks like this as far as you can see, these shacks absolutely cover the hills all the way down to the beach and in the valleys.
A beautiful view of Lima´s main City Hall type building. Some sort of government building. Or maybe it was a Catholic church? Actually I never found out exactly what it was, but I know it was pretty!
Mototaxis! These things zip around Lima sooo fast and nearly knock you off your feet if you step off the curb without looking. Next time you´re in Lima, I advise you to look both ways, and keep any wayward children on a leash.
Obviously I did not take this picutre, but we went to this plaza above the beach and I actually had a STARBUCKS FRAPUCCHINO. Thank you God.
Here is a picture of the pastor and some people from the Calvary Chapel church in Lurin we stayed with... their website is http://www.calvarychapelvida.com/Lurin-eng-donde_estamos.htm if you want to look them up!
Update wishes granted....
Last week we were in the city of Lima, living in the church downtown, which was really fun! We slept on these thin pads, which was not good for the back but oh well, and families from the church would bring us food at the church. The pastor and his family were soooo wonderful, their son and daughter both did their EDE in Pichilemu, so they totally understood what our purpose was there and set up a whole agenda for us to do. Which was really really helpful and effective, I was thankful for their planning so we could use our time more effectively. We went around to lots of elementary schools and did kids programs with dramas and teachings and dances and stuff, The pastor really liked me though and kept telling me how his son was single and was a man of God and is praying for his wife and wants to marry a gringa, and I was just like ´take it easy pastor Luis!´ But don´t worry mom, I made it out of there single, with no plans to move here for good. Plus none of them could even say my name so that might not work out so well.
Then again, the pastor at the other church still thinks my name is Bread because he couldnt say Brooke, and my friend Tere thinks Chase´s name is Cheese, Blake is Black, Ron is Rum, Cheryl is Cherry and Kelsie is Calcium, so basically she thinks its the funniest thing in the world that the weird American families name everyone after food (and one color) and altogether we make a complete meal. Everytime we talk about my family Tere starts laughing so hard and asking me if I am talking about Cheese, Cherry, Rum or Calcium. Hahah ohh man.
So now we are now in a town called Pachacutec, which is about an hour outside of Lima. Its such a crazy place with a short history, there are thousands and thousands of blocks of these shacks and small homes all built up on hills which are kind of more like sand dunes because this whole place is a desert. But its also near the beach, we have a great view of the ocean and of the faraway mountains in the distance and its actually really beautiful. The whole area was purely desert, with no houses, no anything, only nine years ago, and the government opened up the land to build homes for people who had no homes or couldnt make a living in the cities. Then nine years ago they all moved here and within about one year the whole valley was filled with houses as far as you can see. They have only had electricity and water for a couple of years, before that they used lanterns and generators, and a truck came around and pumped water into cisterns for them each week. Seriously life is hard here. But the church we are living at has been growing, and they are SOO excited we are here. Every day we go eat our meals at a different house, and they are so welcoming and generous. It´s actually kind of heartbreaking because you know they are giving to us from what they don´t have. Like they might not eat the next day because they are bending over backwards to give us everything they have today. We pray over their houses and for their families, and they are always really thankful for our prayers and for just having us there.
Gos has been teaching me a LOT about seeing things through His eyes, and how privileged we really are back home. Some of these people work so hard all day, and the fathers don´t even see their children because they all leave to go on a bus at 5 am for two hours to start work in the city at 7 am until 7 pm them get home at 9 pm when their kids are asleep, all so they can buy enough food just for the next day. But the church here is building up the community and they people are encouraged, it´s been cool to just hang out with them, encourage them, do some drama programs for them and bring in some new teachings for them. The church is mostly pretty young, they have a rock band and seriously BLAST their spanish versions of Jeremy Camp and Hillsong and Chris Tomlin louder than any church I have ever been to because its a small room but they play it soooo loud! Its fun though. You can hear the services starting from a mile away, literally. We are trying to get the youth here more grounded and firm in their faith so when we leave they will still be dedicated, because a lot of them are coming just to see the gringos or to hear the music.
Monday we leave for Lima again, and then moving onto Ariquipa, which is farther north. I think it´s more in the country and kindof a poor area like here. Supposedly it will be colder there, which is good cause its soo hot here during the day.
Keep praying for our team unity, we´ve definitely been dealing with some cultural issues lately. We have seven different cultures on our team of 12 people, so its been interesting. Some little tiny things that you dont normally notice about your culture, like how comfortable you are with interrupting, or pointing out other´s faults, or how you view hospitality, are all magnified when we´re living and travelling together in a new culture. For example, some of the South Americans are a lot more comfortable interrupting or being more open and confrontational than North Americans or Europeans are used to being, so we´ve had to all give and take a little to not have tensions or have an ´us and them´ situation. There are so many things we have to renounce about our culture and we´re all trying to live above our cultures. Sometimes people use their culture as an excuse for a character flaw or even a sinful attitude or habit, and there are lots of things God is teaching us all about ourselves and our cultures as we live together and learn from each other. Sounds corny, but its really a big part of what we´re learning!
Also pray for our health, someone on the other team, Alex from Canada, had a bad fever a few days ago and we thought it was yellow fever but I guess it´s not and he is improving. Four of us here have gotten pretty sick from the food, myself included this week, and we lived in the bathroom yesterday, which is super fun with all 12 of us have only one bathroom, haha! But God is healing our group, the pastors prayed over us and today we´re all alot better.
One other thing that has been sooo funny here is riding the buses! Way more than half the cars on the road are either taxis, buses or vans converted into mini buses, and seriously they drive like CRAZY people. And the buses dont really have bus stops, route numbers or anything, you just read on the front of the bus where its headed, and wave it down and it stops for you, then the little man who stands in the entry way yells SUBE SUBE SUBE which means GET ON GET ON GET ON, and you cram into this tiny bus and usually youre standing up, holding onto the bar with your armpit in the face of some Peruvian person sitting down, and when they drive youre falling all over everyone cause traffic laws are more like guidelines here, and then when you get to your destination the little man yells BAJA BAJA BAJA which means GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF and you get off as fast as you can cause they take off after like two seconds. I am so glad I have made it on and off every time our team all crams onto a bus, cause sometimes if youre the last person youre literally running next to the bus, jumping on as its moving. Ahh South American public transportation, there is nothing like it!
Alright I will try to put on pictures soon but it takes forever to upload here. thanks everyone again for your prayers, they help in ways we will never know. Yesterday I was feeling horrible and not loving being here sick, but even then I had a sweet time in God´s presence and seeking Him for our team, and later at night the pastor prayed over us and I could feel His presence again. Then today I had an email from my sister telling me she took a walk yesterday and prayed for me to specifically feel God´s presence radiating out of where I was. How cool is that? God cares for us so personally and intimately! Thanks Kels I love you!
Jesus is King over Lima and Pichilemu, Poway and Santa Barbara, Chicago and Montecito, today tomorrow and forever :)
Last week we were in the city of Lima, living in the church downtown, which was really fun! We slept on these thin pads, which was not good for the back but oh well, and families from the church would bring us food at the church. The pastor and his family were soooo wonderful, their son and daughter both did their EDE in Pichilemu, so they totally understood what our purpose was there and set up a whole agenda for us to do. Which was really really helpful and effective, I was thankful for their planning so we could use our time more effectively. We went around to lots of elementary schools and did kids programs with dramas and teachings and dances and stuff, The pastor really liked me though and kept telling me how his son was single and was a man of God and is praying for his wife and wants to marry a gringa, and I was just like ´take it easy pastor Luis!´ But don´t worry mom, I made it out of there single, with no plans to move here for good. Plus none of them could even say my name so that might not work out so well.
Then again, the pastor at the other church still thinks my name is Bread because he couldnt say Brooke, and my friend Tere thinks Chase´s name is Cheese, Blake is Black, Ron is Rum, Cheryl is Cherry and Kelsie is Calcium, so basically she thinks its the funniest thing in the world that the weird American families name everyone after food (and one color) and altogether we make a complete meal. Everytime we talk about my family Tere starts laughing so hard and asking me if I am talking about Cheese, Cherry, Rum or Calcium. Hahah ohh man.
So now we are now in a town called Pachacutec, which is about an hour outside of Lima. Its such a crazy place with a short history, there are thousands and thousands of blocks of these shacks and small homes all built up on hills which are kind of more like sand dunes because this whole place is a desert. But its also near the beach, we have a great view of the ocean and of the faraway mountains in the distance and its actually really beautiful. The whole area was purely desert, with no houses, no anything, only nine years ago, and the government opened up the land to build homes for people who had no homes or couldnt make a living in the cities. Then nine years ago they all moved here and within about one year the whole valley was filled with houses as far as you can see. They have only had electricity and water for a couple of years, before that they used lanterns and generators, and a truck came around and pumped water into cisterns for them each week. Seriously life is hard here. But the church we are living at has been growing, and they are SOO excited we are here. Every day we go eat our meals at a different house, and they are so welcoming and generous. It´s actually kind of heartbreaking because you know they are giving to us from what they don´t have. Like they might not eat the next day because they are bending over backwards to give us everything they have today. We pray over their houses and for their families, and they are always really thankful for our prayers and for just having us there.
Gos has been teaching me a LOT about seeing things through His eyes, and how privileged we really are back home. Some of these people work so hard all day, and the fathers don´t even see their children because they all leave to go on a bus at 5 am for two hours to start work in the city at 7 am until 7 pm them get home at 9 pm when their kids are asleep, all so they can buy enough food just for the next day. But the church here is building up the community and they people are encouraged, it´s been cool to just hang out with them, encourage them, do some drama programs for them and bring in some new teachings for them. The church is mostly pretty young, they have a rock band and seriously BLAST their spanish versions of Jeremy Camp and Hillsong and Chris Tomlin louder than any church I have ever been to because its a small room but they play it soooo loud! Its fun though. You can hear the services starting from a mile away, literally. We are trying to get the youth here more grounded and firm in their faith so when we leave they will still be dedicated, because a lot of them are coming just to see the gringos or to hear the music.
Monday we leave for Lima again, and then moving onto Ariquipa, which is farther north. I think it´s more in the country and kindof a poor area like here. Supposedly it will be colder there, which is good cause its soo hot here during the day.
Keep praying for our team unity, we´ve definitely been dealing with some cultural issues lately. We have seven different cultures on our team of 12 people, so its been interesting. Some little tiny things that you dont normally notice about your culture, like how comfortable you are with interrupting, or pointing out other´s faults, or how you view hospitality, are all magnified when we´re living and travelling together in a new culture. For example, some of the South Americans are a lot more comfortable interrupting or being more open and confrontational than North Americans or Europeans are used to being, so we´ve had to all give and take a little to not have tensions or have an ´us and them´ situation. There are so many things we have to renounce about our culture and we´re all trying to live above our cultures. Sometimes people use their culture as an excuse for a character flaw or even a sinful attitude or habit, and there are lots of things God is teaching us all about ourselves and our cultures as we live together and learn from each other. Sounds corny, but its really a big part of what we´re learning!
Also pray for our health, someone on the other team, Alex from Canada, had a bad fever a few days ago and we thought it was yellow fever but I guess it´s not and he is improving. Four of us here have gotten pretty sick from the food, myself included this week, and we lived in the bathroom yesterday, which is super fun with all 12 of us have only one bathroom, haha! But God is healing our group, the pastors prayed over us and today we´re all alot better.
One other thing that has been sooo funny here is riding the buses! Way more than half the cars on the road are either taxis, buses or vans converted into mini buses, and seriously they drive like CRAZY people. And the buses dont really have bus stops, route numbers or anything, you just read on the front of the bus where its headed, and wave it down and it stops for you, then the little man who stands in the entry way yells SUBE SUBE SUBE which means GET ON GET ON GET ON, and you cram into this tiny bus and usually youre standing up, holding onto the bar with your armpit in the face of some Peruvian person sitting down, and when they drive youre falling all over everyone cause traffic laws are more like guidelines here, and then when you get to your destination the little man yells BAJA BAJA BAJA which means GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF and you get off as fast as you can cause they take off after like two seconds. I am so glad I have made it on and off every time our team all crams onto a bus, cause sometimes if youre the last person youre literally running next to the bus, jumping on as its moving. Ahh South American public transportation, there is nothing like it!
Alright I will try to put on pictures soon but it takes forever to upload here. thanks everyone again for your prayers, they help in ways we will never know. Yesterday I was feeling horrible and not loving being here sick, but even then I had a sweet time in God´s presence and seeking Him for our team, and later at night the pastor prayed over us and I could feel His presence again. Then today I had an email from my sister telling me she took a walk yesterday and prayed for me to specifically feel God´s presence radiating out of where I was. How cool is that? God cares for us so personally and intimately! Thanks Kels I love you!
Jesus is King over Lima and Pichilemu, Poway and Santa Barbara, Chicago and Montecito, today tomorrow and forever :)
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Some things to think about...
As we walk around the dirt streets here and see shacks made of cardboard in litter-filled lots right next to huge, air-conditioned, gated houses, where kids are walking around in shoes two sizes too small, with nothing to eat for dinner and no one to clean the dirt off their faces, there is a lot to think about and lots of questions flooding my mind.
One of my Westmont buddies from Page Hall days, Ryan Zoradi, recently went down to El Salvador for a few months after graduation to discover for himself how he can make an impact on the poor and needy, and an email he wrote expressed a lot of what I am thinking and figuring out here. So instead of trying to re-write it, I am going to share some of it with you all. I you are impacted as much as I was.
¨I would love to insert a clean little conclusion here about all that I have learned over the last six and a half months, how I figured myself out with all this time to think, and how I can tangibly measure all that I have done in this community. The reality is living in poverty, and poverty itself, is messy. I'm always asking myself: What is the best way to help my friends in need? When does charity become reliance and manipulation? Is it ok to even call my friends here poor? Likewise, judging my personal growth is equally challenging. Have I become more selfish or less since arriving? Will I indulge in American comforts more or less when I've gone this long without them? Why can I only see how far I have to go as a person when I feel like I´ve come so far?
Clearly I will leave with more questions than answers, but I prefer questions because they elicit dialogue—and this is where you come in. I would rather talk to you one on one about my questions and what I've learned than try to explain it all here. Dialogue is a two-way street and allows both of us to question, receive feedback, and see themes from a new angle. And honestly, a one-way sermon via email will so quickly turn into me pretending like I have life figured out and/or you swiftly hitting the "back to inbox" button, so let's not go there. With dialogue in mind, I am going to list off a few questions that we can try and answer together next time we talk or email. Also, they will help you avoid the ole "How was El Salvador?" question (but don't feel bad if you still ask it).
What is the importance of consistency in relationships?
What is the difference between top-down community development and bottom-up?
Why is it so important to do the little things well?
What is competition's place in the world of nonprofits?
Can we grit our teeth and force ourselves to act more like Jesus through habit or a change in environment?
Why is serving others so unnatural?
What is a biblical view of globalization? Where do the cross and outsourcing
meet?
I want to leave you with a quick story, something to hold onto until we get a chance to talk more in depth. It is a story of God redeeming me and working through me, of Him taking a heart that has been hardened by wealth and apathy, and softening it through one pair of big brown eyes. I have to back up a bit and first clarify that I came to El Salvador to learn how to care about the poor. Because honestly, I don't think I used to care. Halfway, three-quarters of the way through my trip, I desperately wanted to dwell with the poor, I really wanted to care, but I avoided them. I knew which neighborhoods were most impoverished and I just didn't go there. I picked up Mother Teresa's My Life for the Poor, which can be read in an hour, and didn't finish it for almost three months. The book was too convicting, too true, too simple, and too messy. Even starting to love like she did would turn my life on its head. I want to control things and surround myself with people who make me feel loved and popular, who have something to offer me, not those who drain my energy and take advantage of me—the outcasts, the dirty, the needy, the weak, and the abused.
Then God starting doing that thing that He does. I went to Nicaragua and saw sons of prostitutes, daughters of drug dealers, and children who just couldn't safely go home anymore, cared for and loved. I read Robert Lupton's For Theirs is the Kingdom (a very highly recommended, brief read) and listened to my friend Micah say at the Thanksgiving table she was thankful that "God is with the poor, that they are special to Him." I ran into some kids I used to hang out with whose mom can't consistently put food on the table. Then I saw those big brown eyes. They belonged to a dark-haired twelve year-old girl and I don't even know her name. Tattered clothes. Dirt from head to toe. Knees bent unnaturally inward. Huge smile. By her mumbling, I could tell she was mentally challenged, she couldn't make out a word, but her eyes spoke for her. She was fixed on me, maybe because I'm a gringo, but I think because she was hoping I would love her. I then watched in disbelief as her little brother beat her over the back with a three-finger-thick stick. The other kids laughed, claiming it was ok because she didn't cry, and therefore, she must not feel pain. I ran to her, fighting through the stench of feces and threw my arms around her, saying "No, ella es bonita…ella es bonita." I then noticed a piece of string resting on her foot. At first, I thought it was just a piece of rope that got caught on her while she was running barefoot. Then, I realized it was tied around her ankle and there was another piece attached to it, dragging a few feet behind. Her family kept her tied up. She didn't feel pain and she needed to be tied up, I don't think they considered her fully human. I do think that she needed that hug, and so did I.
Mother Teresa once said, "It is Christ you tend in the poor. It is his wounds you bathe, his sores you clean, his limbs you bandage. See beyond appearances, hear the words Jesus pronounced long ago. They are still operative today: What you do to the least of mine, you do it to me. When you serve the poor, you serve our Lord Jesus Christ." I´m convinced it wasn't me running to help that girl, it was the Holy Spirit answering my prayer and working through me. The Holy Spirit in me tended to the presence of Christ in her. The perfect love of the Trinity, in action, right before my eyes. Because of this experience and countless others, my time in El Salvador, was worth it. ¨
Wow. I have many similar quesitons and experiences that have been swimming around in my head, and Ryan you put them into words far more eloquently than I ever could. We are Christ´s hands and feet on this earth, and when we care for the lost, forgotten, lonely, dirty, hungry and unloved, we are caring for Christ Himself. Thanks for your example and words Ryan, I needed them all the way down here in Peru...
One of my Westmont buddies from Page Hall days, Ryan Zoradi, recently went down to El Salvador for a few months after graduation to discover for himself how he can make an impact on the poor and needy, and an email he wrote expressed a lot of what I am thinking and figuring out here. So instead of trying to re-write it, I am going to share some of it with you all. I you are impacted as much as I was.
¨I would love to insert a clean little conclusion here about all that I have learned over the last six and a half months, how I figured myself out with all this time to think, and how I can tangibly measure all that I have done in this community. The reality is living in poverty, and poverty itself, is messy. I'm always asking myself: What is the best way to help my friends in need? When does charity become reliance and manipulation? Is it ok to even call my friends here poor? Likewise, judging my personal growth is equally challenging. Have I become more selfish or less since arriving? Will I indulge in American comforts more or less when I've gone this long without them? Why can I only see how far I have to go as a person when I feel like I´ve come so far?
Clearly I will leave with more questions than answers, but I prefer questions because they elicit dialogue—and this is where you come in. I would rather talk to you one on one about my questions and what I've learned than try to explain it all here. Dialogue is a two-way street and allows both of us to question, receive feedback, and see themes from a new angle. And honestly, a one-way sermon via email will so quickly turn into me pretending like I have life figured out and/or you swiftly hitting the "back to inbox" button, so let's not go there. With dialogue in mind, I am going to list off a few questions that we can try and answer together next time we talk or email. Also, they will help you avoid the ole "How was El Salvador?" question (but don't feel bad if you still ask it).
What is the importance of consistency in relationships?
What is the difference between top-down community development and bottom-up?
Why is it so important to do the little things well?
What is competition's place in the world of nonprofits?
Can we grit our teeth and force ourselves to act more like Jesus through habit or a change in environment?
Why is serving others so unnatural?
What is a biblical view of globalization? Where do the cross and outsourcing
meet?
I want to leave you with a quick story, something to hold onto until we get a chance to talk more in depth. It is a story of God redeeming me and working through me, of Him taking a heart that has been hardened by wealth and apathy, and softening it through one pair of big brown eyes. I have to back up a bit and first clarify that I came to El Salvador to learn how to care about the poor. Because honestly, I don't think I used to care. Halfway, three-quarters of the way through my trip, I desperately wanted to dwell with the poor, I really wanted to care, but I avoided them. I knew which neighborhoods were most impoverished and I just didn't go there. I picked up Mother Teresa's My Life for the Poor, which can be read in an hour, and didn't finish it for almost three months. The book was too convicting, too true, too simple, and too messy. Even starting to love like she did would turn my life on its head. I want to control things and surround myself with people who make me feel loved and popular, who have something to offer me, not those who drain my energy and take advantage of me—the outcasts, the dirty, the needy, the weak, and the abused.
Then God starting doing that thing that He does. I went to Nicaragua and saw sons of prostitutes, daughters of drug dealers, and children who just couldn't safely go home anymore, cared for and loved. I read Robert Lupton's For Theirs is the Kingdom (a very highly recommended, brief read) and listened to my friend Micah say at the Thanksgiving table she was thankful that "God is with the poor, that they are special to Him." I ran into some kids I used to hang out with whose mom can't consistently put food on the table. Then I saw those big brown eyes. They belonged to a dark-haired twelve year-old girl and I don't even know her name. Tattered clothes. Dirt from head to toe. Knees bent unnaturally inward. Huge smile. By her mumbling, I could tell she was mentally challenged, she couldn't make out a word, but her eyes spoke for her. She was fixed on me, maybe because I'm a gringo, but I think because she was hoping I would love her. I then watched in disbelief as her little brother beat her over the back with a three-finger-thick stick. The other kids laughed, claiming it was ok because she didn't cry, and therefore, she must not feel pain. I ran to her, fighting through the stench of feces and threw my arms around her, saying "No, ella es bonita…ella es bonita." I then noticed a piece of string resting on her foot. At first, I thought it was just a piece of rope that got caught on her while she was running barefoot. Then, I realized it was tied around her ankle and there was another piece attached to it, dragging a few feet behind. Her family kept her tied up. She didn't feel pain and she needed to be tied up, I don't think they considered her fully human. I do think that she needed that hug, and so did I.
Mother Teresa once said, "It is Christ you tend in the poor. It is his wounds you bathe, his sores you clean, his limbs you bandage. See beyond appearances, hear the words Jesus pronounced long ago. They are still operative today: What you do to the least of mine, you do it to me. When you serve the poor, you serve our Lord Jesus Christ." I´m convinced it wasn't me running to help that girl, it was the Holy Spirit answering my prayer and working through me. The Holy Spirit in me tended to the presence of Christ in her. The perfect love of the Trinity, in action, right before my eyes. Because of this experience and countless others, my time in El Salvador, was worth it. ¨
Wow. I have many similar quesitons and experiences that have been swimming around in my head, and Ryan you put them into words far more eloquently than I ever could. We are Christ´s hands and feet on this earth, and when we care for the lost, forgotten, lonely, dirty, hungry and unloved, we are caring for Christ Himself. Thanks for your example and words Ryan, I needed them all the way down here in Peru...
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