Wednesday afternoon and I am nearly finished packing. It is with heavy heart that I pack to leave the wonderful people of Honduras.
I have been given the extraordinary gift of not one but 3 very special going away celebrations! Clearly far more than I deserve, and am most humbled and honored by everyone's special outpouring of love and encouragement. Many Bible verses have been quoted on the value of friendship, many songs have been sung by staff, teachers, and children about love and friendship. Today at El Cordero the tiniest of the nursery folk sang "Jesus Loves Me" mostly in English! Each grade level had a special presentation they had been working on. Then I was presented with two beautifully engraved plaques, one mostly appropriately dedicated to Holy Family, without whose help and support I could never have had the pleasure of serving here for the past three months. It is through their generosity that I have been able to buy and demonstrate many teacher resource materials. The church members and my friends have diligently watched my house, cat, car and property while I have been away. I've had the pleasure of seeing the eyes of both the teachers and the children light up with pleasure and delight when using many of the methods and materials I've introduced. That is my reward. To see their excitement in learning has been my great delight.
The care and love with which they have sent me off deserves a special mention. The teachers and staff made decorations, the children and teachers made hand made thank you cards and much attention was given in saying thank you in song and verse, hugs and cards, and, of course, a few tears along the way. I think we can learn from them not about gratitude, but about giving fully of oneself to someone else. The heart, the dedication, the toil, the time, and the sincerity of saying thank you and please come back is not to be taken lightly. I think we would all be better off by taking some significant time to tell each other just precisely how much we appreciate all the care and love that has gone into the work they do, whether it is family or co workers. I know that being the recipient of so much attention is not easy for me, but the feelings run deep and strong and I am most honored by that all that was said. And what else could I do but promise to return? Next time knowing more Spanish so I could be a bit more productive!
It is with heavy heart that I leave so many friends. The LAMB organization is my extended family now and I will pray for their safety and well being every day. Dilcia, the young woman who translated for me, told me that her brother has been shot at and attempts have been made on his life for his motorcycle. she has been robbed at knife point, and her family have been witnesses to murder in the streets. She lives in the poorest part of Tegucigalpa, and has lived with this violence for all her life. Yet she is intelligent to the point of having a scholarship to go to a college in Wisconsin for two years! She deserves the chance to finish college and make a better life for herself and her family. Maribel, the young woman I wrote about in an earlier blog, is still living in danger and poverty. Her future is very uncertain at this point. She made a surprise visit to Casa LAMB yesterday reselling some shoes she had acquired. At least she is trying to stay away from the drug culture she had once been a part of. The director of the school where I spent most of my time was asking for prayers for her husband. He has an engineering degree and had a job, but was fired 3 months ago and still has no prospects. Two of the teachers there have or will have new babies to try to support on the less than minimum wage they earn there. There are teacher strikes in the public schools that have been going on most of the three months I have been here. No resolution is in sight. Meanwhile, children are not being educated. I do not know what will happen to the family we took food to last weekend. They have enough food for a month or more, but then what? There is still so much to do, and so many people in dire need. Caring, loving, strong and gifted people who deserve more than the scraps they have been thrown.
With so much more to do, and so many opportunities to serve, how can I leave? How can I sleep in my spacious house and have so much and so many privileges? I do know I will be back and will serve again as long as I can. When the world was hurting and in so much pain Jesus came into the world. He didn't eradicate all sickness and poverty. For most of his ministry, he helped, one person at a time. That is my model. and I will serve one at a time for as long as I can.
miércoles, 13 de abril de 2011
domingo, 10 de abril de 2011
God Provides
Are you sure that miracles don't happen any more? I just had a front row seat in experiencing one.
Maria, a part of Suzy's extended family, is a Lencan Honduran. She has a little girl named Evelyn, who will soon be 3 years old. They live with Suzy and her girls. She comes from a tiny village in Lenca territory, called La Paz. A few days ago she was talking with Amanda and told her there was a famine in her family's area and people were starving. She has a 7 month old nephew who was getting weak from lack of food. Amanda was ready to go get food and take it to them. When she asked if I wanted to go along, I was all for that. We went to a super store, similar to a Sam's Club, or Costco, and bought about 250 pounds of staples-corn meal flour, called maseca, rice, red beans, baby formula powder, and several other staples. Saturday morning we loaded up the car and Mari, Maria, little Evelyn, Amanda and I were off.
Maria had told us vaguely that her family lives outside Marcala, in the La Paz Dept. of Honduras. La Paz is where the indigenous Lencas have lived for hundreds of years. We were ready, we thought for anything, but the goal was to deliver the food as quickly as possible. We drove to Marcala without incident. As we were eating lunch we tried to get clearer directions of where to go from there. Maria had been there many times, but only by bus, as she doesn't drive and doesn't have a car. So I can understand why her directions were hazy at best. What we couldn't get clear was how far from town it was and exactly how we would actually get to the house.from the town of Marcala. Well, Amanda went next door, to a gun shop no less, to ask for help to get the food delivered. No less than a Red Cross volunteer was working there and she volunteered another Red Cross volunteer to drive the food there in the Red Cross truck! His name is Israel and he was as helpful and cheerful a young man as you can imagine. He drove us and the food there-a journey we had thought might be a few minutes turned into an hour and a half on dirt roads. Maria suddenly called out stop! and we said where? It was in the middle of nothing visible but trees and hillsides. Israel stopped the truck and we looked for a house. Turns out the house we were looking for was down a steep ravine that dropped precariously in places. Undaunted, Israel put 100 pounds of maseca on his shoulders and scampered down the ravine (off the roadside and into the woods) and made 4 trips while Amanda, Mari, and I took a single tiny load cautiously down the hillside and into the house. Once there we noticed, without looking too carefully, there was not a scrap of anything resembling food to be found in the two room house. It was neat, but barren of anything edible. The journey up into the mountains had been considerably longer than we had anticipated, but the amazing thing is that we had no idea of how to get there, and yet God provided. Israel was exactly what we needed at the exact moment we needed it. He was strong and sure footed and an excellent driver. He was friendly and accommodating and happy to be useful. What a wonderful day it was. The best thing of all is that Maria's family got the food that was so needed. The baby desperately needed the formula we brought, as he was a seven month old the size of a small 3 month old. I don't think he could have weighed 12 pounds.and the others really needed that food. In all it had been about a 6 hour trip, one way, and worth every minute of it. Best of all is how people just came to our aid at the precise minute it was needed. We could never had taken all that food down steep hillside by ourselves. It was not a trip carefully orchestrated in advance down to the last the most minute detail. We just had a general idea of getting food to people in need. God showed the way in the guise of the Red Cross volunteers at the gun shop and Israel and the truck. We didn't and couldn't have planned it that way.
This is not the first time God has provided. I was not always so quick it recognize it as God's work. Many times in my life I could have easily been ineffective or even harmed by being too ignorant or naive in my actions. There have been times I didn't see the miracle of God sending me help when I needed it or that the someone who stepped in or "just happened" to be where I needed someone to be was God's work. I am glad God is teaching me to see with eyes of faith. Thanks be to God! Miracles do happen.. God does provide.
Maria, a part of Suzy's extended family, is a Lencan Honduran. She has a little girl named Evelyn, who will soon be 3 years old. They live with Suzy and her girls. She comes from a tiny village in Lenca territory, called La Paz. A few days ago she was talking with Amanda and told her there was a famine in her family's area and people were starving. She has a 7 month old nephew who was getting weak from lack of food. Amanda was ready to go get food and take it to them. When she asked if I wanted to go along, I was all for that. We went to a super store, similar to a Sam's Club, or Costco, and bought about 250 pounds of staples-corn meal flour, called maseca, rice, red beans, baby formula powder, and several other staples. Saturday morning we loaded up the car and Mari, Maria, little Evelyn, Amanda and I were off.
Maria had told us vaguely that her family lives outside Marcala, in the La Paz Dept. of Honduras. La Paz is where the indigenous Lencas have lived for hundreds of years. We were ready, we thought for anything, but the goal was to deliver the food as quickly as possible. We drove to Marcala without incident. As we were eating lunch we tried to get clearer directions of where to go from there. Maria had been there many times, but only by bus, as she doesn't drive and doesn't have a car. So I can understand why her directions were hazy at best. What we couldn't get clear was how far from town it was and exactly how we would actually get to the house.from the town of Marcala. Well, Amanda went next door, to a gun shop no less, to ask for help to get the food delivered. No less than a Red Cross volunteer was working there and she volunteered another Red Cross volunteer to drive the food there in the Red Cross truck! His name is Israel and he was as helpful and cheerful a young man as you can imagine. He drove us and the food there-a journey we had thought might be a few minutes turned into an hour and a half on dirt roads. Maria suddenly called out stop! and we said where? It was in the middle of nothing visible but trees and hillsides. Israel stopped the truck and we looked for a house. Turns out the house we were looking for was down a steep ravine that dropped precariously in places. Undaunted, Israel put 100 pounds of maseca on his shoulders and scampered down the ravine (off the roadside and into the woods) and made 4 trips while Amanda, Mari, and I took a single tiny load cautiously down the hillside and into the house. Once there we noticed, without looking too carefully, there was not a scrap of anything resembling food to be found in the two room house. It was neat, but barren of anything edible. The journey up into the mountains had been considerably longer than we had anticipated, but the amazing thing is that we had no idea of how to get there, and yet God provided. Israel was exactly what we needed at the exact moment we needed it. He was strong and sure footed and an excellent driver. He was friendly and accommodating and happy to be useful. What a wonderful day it was. The best thing of all is that Maria's family got the food that was so needed. The baby desperately needed the formula we brought, as he was a seven month old the size of a small 3 month old. I don't think he could have weighed 12 pounds.and the others really needed that food. In all it had been about a 6 hour trip, one way, and worth every minute of it. Best of all is how people just came to our aid at the precise minute it was needed. We could never had taken all that food down steep hillside by ourselves. It was not a trip carefully orchestrated in advance down to the last the most minute detail. We just had a general idea of getting food to people in need. God showed the way in the guise of the Red Cross volunteers at the gun shop and Israel and the truck. We didn't and couldn't have planned it that way.
This is not the first time God has provided. I was not always so quick it recognize it as God's work. Many times in my life I could have easily been ineffective or even harmed by being too ignorant or naive in my actions. There have been times I didn't see the miracle of God sending me help when I needed it or that the someone who stepped in or "just happened" to be where I needed someone to be was God's work. I am glad God is teaching me to see with eyes of faith. Thanks be to God! Miracles do happen.. God does provide.
martes, 5 de abril de 2011
Zip Lining
Last week Amanda and I headed off a much needed change of pace and setting. We chose Copan for its history and to see the marvelous ruins still being excavated. We also knew it was beautiful and a major attraction for many tourists. We saw many of those attractions, tropical birds, museums, and ate in fine restaurants. Despite nearly collapsing in the heat and humidity I thoroughly enjoyed our stay and was very glad we had chosen Copan.
One of our options during those few days was to do a "canopy tour." When I think of that term I immediately conjure pictures of a tropical rain forest just inches below the viewing area and a short and breezy flight over the tree tops. If you fall there are trees barely beneath your feet to break your fall, right? Not exactly! This was 14 courses of yards, meters, and miles (REALLY!) of cable stretched tautly between valleys and over a river! This was no granny or sissy site seeing event.
I now know why they call it zip lining. One zips along at break neck speed. To slow down one does the intuitive opposite by pulling down on the cable behind you to break. Before you go up to the top, you get outfitted with harness, cable, pulley, helmet and a very brief sample ride along a ten foot line that is pretty much horizontal. OK. Ready to go! I feel what it is like to be weightless for 2 seconds and think I can do this! After all, I used to enjoy roller coaster rides at Six Flags-even the completely 360 degree ones. Well, the whole trip was breath taking, and I let loose with some squeals and shrieks and enjoyed heart pounding views of the Honduran mountain area around Copan. The city and the ruins lay far beneath us. There was enough air between the cable and us and the trees for a small plane to fly through.
. I thought of my experiences on that zip line wondering what I can learn from them regarding my life. How does it relate or compare to my experiences here in Honduras? How does that inform my Christian life? Suzy has told of swinging out over the precipice for God. When there is a need, she does not first ask, can we do it? How will we pay for it? What will the cost be? What hurdles must be jumped to accomplish it? She says, where you lead, Lord, I will follow, and steps out in faith to do what God is calling her to do. Her work and the LAMB mission is testament to her faith and God's leadership. The lives saved and improved bear witness to God's love.
My own experience here is different, yet very instructive for me. I have been harnessed and helmeted in safety here, with guides to smooth the way through everything I have done or experienced here at Casa LAMB, in the schools, during shopping trips, running errands, even visiting Copan last week and riding that zip line and touring the ancient Mayan ruins. I have never felt threatened or endangered in the least. I knew that my harness was firmly buckled on and I was safe in God's hands. I felt the prayers of my fellow parishioners back home and new friends here and sheltering arms around my shoulders at every turn.
I think of Maribel and Fernando on their own again, trying to make it in a dangerous world, and
Francesca in her fragile home, robbed last week of her few possessions while staying in the hospital with her daughter. I think of the Mayan Chorti children in their village, and the beggars on the streets of Tegucigalpa. I think of the orphans and trafficked young girls locked away in misery and exploitation. Where is their safety harness as they swing through the air with no solid ground under their feet? Where is their shield and their helmet? Where is their support? Do they know there is a loving God who cares and wants them safe in His arms? Where is their guide? We each have a part to play in this work. Knowing that our safety harness is firmly buckled on in the arms of God's love, can we do less than step out in faith?
One of our options during those few days was to do a "canopy tour." When I think of that term I immediately conjure pictures of a tropical rain forest just inches below the viewing area and a short and breezy flight over the tree tops. If you fall there are trees barely beneath your feet to break your fall, right? Not exactly! This was 14 courses of yards, meters, and miles (REALLY!) of cable stretched tautly between valleys and over a river! This was no granny or sissy site seeing event.
I now know why they call it zip lining. One zips along at break neck speed. To slow down one does the intuitive opposite by pulling down on the cable behind you to break. Before you go up to the top, you get outfitted with harness, cable, pulley, helmet and a very brief sample ride along a ten foot line that is pretty much horizontal. OK. Ready to go! I feel what it is like to be weightless for 2 seconds and think I can do this! After all, I used to enjoy roller coaster rides at Six Flags-even the completely 360 degree ones. Well, the whole trip was breath taking, and I let loose with some squeals and shrieks and enjoyed heart pounding views of the Honduran mountain area around Copan. The city and the ruins lay far beneath us. There was enough air between the cable and us and the trees for a small plane to fly through.
. I thought of my experiences on that zip line wondering what I can learn from them regarding my life. How does it relate or compare to my experiences here in Honduras? How does that inform my Christian life? Suzy has told of swinging out over the precipice for God. When there is a need, she does not first ask, can we do it? How will we pay for it? What will the cost be? What hurdles must be jumped to accomplish it? She says, where you lead, Lord, I will follow, and steps out in faith to do what God is calling her to do. Her work and the LAMB mission is testament to her faith and God's leadership. The lives saved and improved bear witness to God's love.
My own experience here is different, yet very instructive for me. I have been harnessed and helmeted in safety here, with guides to smooth the way through everything I have done or experienced here at Casa LAMB, in the schools, during shopping trips, running errands, even visiting Copan last week and riding that zip line and touring the ancient Mayan ruins. I have never felt threatened or endangered in the least. I knew that my harness was firmly buckled on and I was safe in God's hands. I felt the prayers of my fellow parishioners back home and new friends here and sheltering arms around my shoulders at every turn.
I think of Maribel and Fernando on their own again, trying to make it in a dangerous world, and
Francesca in her fragile home, robbed last week of her few possessions while staying in the hospital with her daughter. I think of the Mayan Chorti children in their village, and the beggars on the streets of Tegucigalpa. I think of the orphans and trafficked young girls locked away in misery and exploitation. Where is their safety harness as they swing through the air with no solid ground under their feet? Where is their shield and their helmet? Where is their support? Do they know there is a loving God who cares and wants them safe in His arms? Where is their guide? We each have a part to play in this work. Knowing that our safety harness is firmly buckled on in the arms of God's love, can we do less than step out in faith?
miércoles, 30 de marzo de 2011
Risk and Acceptance
I am beginning the book, The Hole in Our Gospel, and I feel jerked up short. I worry about some things I am seeing here, and wonder what can I do and how? The need is so great and resources so short. Then I witnessed a great occasion for real and genuine Christian love.
Mirabel is the young woman who is Lucy's mother, Suzy's youngest adopted daughter, now with 19 month old Fernando and another on the way. A recent ultrasound showed it is a girl. She has had a tragic life on the streets and has experienced horrors that no one can truly imagine, nor should ever have to. Mirabel was abandoned as a tiny child and she has had to make her own way in the underworld of Tegucigalpa. Recently Suzy and Amanda took her in to live at Casa LAMB for awhile, until something better could be found for her. She accepted Jesus in her life in very moving circumstances. For awhile she tried to adapt to a drastically different way of life. But yesterday she snapped. She became out of control with emotions we can only guess at, and made the decision to go back out on her own. The worrying part of it is that she has Fernando, very severely underweight at 10% of the norm, and only 22 pounds, and the new baby on the way. It is possible she has pregnancy related diabetes, so her health and the health of her unborn child is at risk. Amanda spent a whole day Monday taking her and Fernando to doctors and getting medicine for both of them. The cost to LAMB was a full month's wages for minimum wage earners here-about $350. Even that is much more than Mirabel has access to-there are no social services for those in poverty here. The regimen the pediatrician prescribed for Fernando is stringent and complicated, and expensive. How will she manage on her own? What is Fernando's fate?
What complicates things even more is her depressed state. I think it must be very hard to suddenly be the recipient of so much generosity-even in Christian love-without fearing what strings may be attached? I think it may feel embarrassing and frightening to be in such great need with nothing to give back. The idea of someone offering help just because someone needs it must be overwhelming in the extreme for some recipients. When a person has never experienced anything but exploitation and misery, how can a sense of trust be established? I have a lot more questions than answers. I really cannot put myself in her shoes and try to see things from her point of view.
I have seen Amanda and Suzy with both of them over time and up close. They have nothing but the best for her in mind. They have gone to great lengths to show that being a Christian means acting as Christ's hands and feet in a very personal way, even in a sacrificial way. I have seen and felt only love and a huge effort to be understanding and willingness to teach her things she could not have learned on the streets, and to show true Christian love. There is no hole in their gospel-and no willingness to let things or people just slide by.
It has been difficult to witness. It has been harder for me to actively be a part of their love and witness to her. I am ashamed of being so squimish and reluctant.
Christ came to minister to all of us-the clean and the unclean, the rejected and the outcast, the rich and the poor-but especially to the poor, the "untouchables" of society, the helpless. I have seen how that works-even when rejected. A most humbling part of my "Lenten study." They took a huge risk in reaching out to her. My prayer is that the love they showed to her and Fernando will grow like a seed inside her greater than the baby girl growing inside her, and will give birth to a new and redeemed Mirabel in time. She has taken a risk in accepting as much as she could tolerate for now. Unconditional love, especially for those who never experienced it before, is a hard, hard thing to accept. Love is hard to accept from human or heavenly sources. My prayer is that she will be able to accept, in time, the love she is due. She is a precious lamb of God as are all God's children, even when they do not acknowledge it. It has broken my heart here in Honduras. I imagine it also breaks God's heart in Heaven. Yet His love is still free and available to all who will risk accepting that walk with him. My prayer is for Mirabel, Suzy, Amanda, and me-that we will all continue to serve God, respecting the dignity of all human beings in new ways as we are led. To be open to rejection and to risk saving the loveless, the homeless, the downtrodden and show that God loves his children and wants us to live with each other. To patch up that hole in our gospel. To risk and accept that my gospel needs patching.
Mirabel is the young woman who is Lucy's mother, Suzy's youngest adopted daughter, now with 19 month old Fernando and another on the way. A recent ultrasound showed it is a girl. She has had a tragic life on the streets and has experienced horrors that no one can truly imagine, nor should ever have to. Mirabel was abandoned as a tiny child and she has had to make her own way in the underworld of Tegucigalpa. Recently Suzy and Amanda took her in to live at Casa LAMB for awhile, until something better could be found for her. She accepted Jesus in her life in very moving circumstances. For awhile she tried to adapt to a drastically different way of life. But yesterday she snapped. She became out of control with emotions we can only guess at, and made the decision to go back out on her own. The worrying part of it is that she has Fernando, very severely underweight at 10% of the norm, and only 22 pounds, and the new baby on the way. It is possible she has pregnancy related diabetes, so her health and the health of her unborn child is at risk. Amanda spent a whole day Monday taking her and Fernando to doctors and getting medicine for both of them. The cost to LAMB was a full month's wages for minimum wage earners here-about $350. Even that is much more than Mirabel has access to-there are no social services for those in poverty here. The regimen the pediatrician prescribed for Fernando is stringent and complicated, and expensive. How will she manage on her own? What is Fernando's fate?
What complicates things even more is her depressed state. I think it must be very hard to suddenly be the recipient of so much generosity-even in Christian love-without fearing what strings may be attached? I think it may feel embarrassing and frightening to be in such great need with nothing to give back. The idea of someone offering help just because someone needs it must be overwhelming in the extreme for some recipients. When a person has never experienced anything but exploitation and misery, how can a sense of trust be established? I have a lot more questions than answers. I really cannot put myself in her shoes and try to see things from her point of view.
I have seen Amanda and Suzy with both of them over time and up close. They have nothing but the best for her in mind. They have gone to great lengths to show that being a Christian means acting as Christ's hands and feet in a very personal way, even in a sacrificial way. I have seen and felt only love and a huge effort to be understanding and willingness to teach her things she could not have learned on the streets, and to show true Christian love. There is no hole in their gospel-and no willingness to let things or people just slide by.
It has been difficult to witness. It has been harder for me to actively be a part of their love and witness to her. I am ashamed of being so squimish and reluctant.
Christ came to minister to all of us-the clean and the unclean, the rejected and the outcast, the rich and the poor-but especially to the poor, the "untouchables" of society, the helpless. I have seen how that works-even when rejected. A most humbling part of my "Lenten study." They took a huge risk in reaching out to her. My prayer is that the love they showed to her and Fernando will grow like a seed inside her greater than the baby girl growing inside her, and will give birth to a new and redeemed Mirabel in time. She has taken a risk in accepting as much as she could tolerate for now. Unconditional love, especially for those who never experienced it before, is a hard, hard thing to accept. Love is hard to accept from human or heavenly sources. My prayer is that she will be able to accept, in time, the love she is due. She is a precious lamb of God as are all God's children, even when they do not acknowledge it. It has broken my heart here in Honduras. I imagine it also breaks God's heart in Heaven. Yet His love is still free and available to all who will risk accepting that walk with him. My prayer is for Mirabel, Suzy, Amanda, and me-that we will all continue to serve God, respecting the dignity of all human beings in new ways as we are led. To be open to rejection and to risk saving the loveless, the homeless, the downtrodden and show that God loves his children and wants us to live with each other. To patch up that hole in our gospel. To risk and accept that my gospel needs patching.
viernes, 25 de marzo de 2011
Water
Francesca is a loving, generous and gracious woman, maybe in her 70's, who used to take in laundry for a living. There are no social services here for the elderly, so there is no retirement and no safety net for the poor, sick, that have no family to take of them. Last week a team of about 6, plus some youth from the Alonzo Movement did a service project for her. (The Alonzo Movement is an organization of young people dedicated to teaching about Christ and preventing them from the dangers of drugs and gangs.) Francesca has been quite ill for a period of time and things have literally piled up on her. Her tiny hut (maybe 8X10) was filled with plastic bags full of dirty and mildewed clothing she had meant to wash and sell. Her ill health was now preventing her from completing this task.
The team finished their task of emptying her house of unwanted clothes and junk and wanted to mop her cement floor and wash her dirty dishes and sheets.. But alas, there was not a drop of water in the house-not even to drink. She had been too ill to leave her hut for some time and had no one who could/would get her water or to learn of her need. The team bought her two 5 gallon jugs of drinking water and left her house cleaner than when they had arrived. Sadly this scenario is more common than I would like to think about.
An interesting thing happens here when the cisterns (called pilas) are empty-as they were this morning. Amanda has found out that she can call the water company and call for a pick-up truck full of water that is then pumped by hose into the cistern in back of the house. Then a pump inside the house pumps it to the pipes that furnish water for all the faucets. The 2 big water containers in back of the pick up were emptied just now and it has gone back for more water. The cistern is only half full. The pick-up truck has now returned and is pumping more water into our cistern. The 2 large containers appear to be about 3X3X4-2 that fill completely the bed of the pick up. I hope to find out from Amanda how much water the cistern can hold, and how much it costs. Our household of 28 can now shower and the kitchen has plenty of water for cooking and washing dishes. I can't help but think of Francesca and her need. How different things are when there is money and resources. Doesn't Francesca deserve the same?
Because it is Lent and Suzy's devotional this morning have me thinking about reconciliation, I am drawn to the image of water. A good symbol of reconciliation for me is that of water. The Bible speaks eloquently of thirsting for water-in the desert, in our lives, and in our spirits. How thankful I am that God's love reconciles me to him as water quenches thirst, and washes the soul clean. How humbling to know that God's gift is free and available to all.
The team finished their task of emptying her house of unwanted clothes and junk and wanted to mop her cement floor and wash her dirty dishes and sheets.. But alas, there was not a drop of water in the house-not even to drink. She had been too ill to leave her hut for some time and had no one who could/would get her water or to learn of her need. The team bought her two 5 gallon jugs of drinking water and left her house cleaner than when they had arrived. Sadly this scenario is more common than I would like to think about.
An interesting thing happens here when the cisterns (called pilas) are empty-as they were this morning. Amanda has found out that she can call the water company and call for a pick-up truck full of water that is then pumped by hose into the cistern in back of the house. Then a pump inside the house pumps it to the pipes that furnish water for all the faucets. The 2 big water containers in back of the pick up were emptied just now and it has gone back for more water. The cistern is only half full. The pick-up truck has now returned and is pumping more water into our cistern. The 2 large containers appear to be about 3X3X4-2 that fill completely the bed of the pick up. I hope to find out from Amanda how much water the cistern can hold, and how much it costs. Our household of 28 can now shower and the kitchen has plenty of water for cooking and washing dishes. I can't help but think of Francesca and her need. How different things are when there is money and resources. Doesn't Francesca deserve the same?
Because it is Lent and Suzy's devotional this morning have me thinking about reconciliation, I am drawn to the image of water. A good symbol of reconciliation for me is that of water. The Bible speaks eloquently of thirsting for water-in the desert, in our lives, and in our spirits. How thankful I am that God's love reconciles me to him as water quenches thirst, and washes the soul clean. How humbling to know that God's gift is free and available to all.
lunes, 21 de marzo de 2011
Lenten Discipline
Just how hard is it to put oneself in the place of another and walk a mile in their shoes? How hard it it to forgive and admit mistakes? Two stories this week illustrate the grace of parties on either side of different issue in real and stunning ways.
Earlier this past week a woman was angry over her child's getting sick. She didn't really understand the causes of his illness, and that didn't matter to her. He was so sick he was hospitalized, and here one does not go lightly into the hospital. At 18 months of age he could not tell how he felt, but the fever and dehydration were all too evident. The woman was terrified for his life. She made some threats towards those she held accountable. The threats were scary and real. Then Suzy sat down with all concerned parties and feelings were aired. The mother apologized to the daycare caregivers that she had overreacted, and the caregivers and staff admitted that the situation could have been better handled. Both sides made mistakes. The big thing to me is that they said out loud and to each other what they did to hurt the other and admitted they were wrong. Both prayed for forgiveness and wisdom in the future. That takes major courage and grace. And healing follows.
At SBV the teachers at the Children's Residence had a chance to air some frustrations with the way some things work there and not knowing fully about procedures and how some things are done. They also had a chance to tell some successes they have had so far this year. Although they all admitted to being so frustrated early on that they considered resigning, they all kept going and are now seeing how the children are warming up to the routines and learning processes of the school day, and to each other-teachers to students, and students to teachers. Some children have some learning issues and emotional or behavioral issues that make for challenging days. Others need extra doses of TLC to get through the day. The head of the Residence and the counselor, both steeped in psychology and Christian love admitted that the school year had had a hurried start and they had made some mistakes in not preparing some children for the transition back to school, or, in the case of the youngest students, into school from a very limited living space. It was just too much change too quickly for a smooth transition. So all parties were able to agree to drop back a bit and start over anew this week.
Sometimes when we get off on the wrong track, how freeing to step back, examine what we have done, admit to not being on top of things and try again. How much more freeing when people are able to face each other and say some hard things and still have a chance to begin again.
Isn't God very much like that? Over and over we come up short. When we are willing to examine our hearts and ask forgiveness, we receive it bountifully. I think this is my Lenten discipline this year. To examine my own heart and attitudes and be willing to say aloud I am sorry and to try again to start over. Repent-change my way of thinking: stop, pause, rethink, and return to a right pathway.
Earlier this past week a woman was angry over her child's getting sick. She didn't really understand the causes of his illness, and that didn't matter to her. He was so sick he was hospitalized, and here one does not go lightly into the hospital. At 18 months of age he could not tell how he felt, but the fever and dehydration were all too evident. The woman was terrified for his life. She made some threats towards those she held accountable. The threats were scary and real. Then Suzy sat down with all concerned parties and feelings were aired. The mother apologized to the daycare caregivers that she had overreacted, and the caregivers and staff admitted that the situation could have been better handled. Both sides made mistakes. The big thing to me is that they said out loud and to each other what they did to hurt the other and admitted they were wrong. Both prayed for forgiveness and wisdom in the future. That takes major courage and grace. And healing follows.
At SBV the teachers at the Children's Residence had a chance to air some frustrations with the way some things work there and not knowing fully about procedures and how some things are done. They also had a chance to tell some successes they have had so far this year. Although they all admitted to being so frustrated early on that they considered resigning, they all kept going and are now seeing how the children are warming up to the routines and learning processes of the school day, and to each other-teachers to students, and students to teachers. Some children have some learning issues and emotional or behavioral issues that make for challenging days. Others need extra doses of TLC to get through the day. The head of the Residence and the counselor, both steeped in psychology and Christian love admitted that the school year had had a hurried start and they had made some mistakes in not preparing some children for the transition back to school, or, in the case of the youngest students, into school from a very limited living space. It was just too much change too quickly for a smooth transition. So all parties were able to agree to drop back a bit and start over anew this week.
Sometimes when we get off on the wrong track, how freeing to step back, examine what we have done, admit to not being on top of things and try again. How much more freeing when people are able to face each other and say some hard things and still have a chance to begin again.
Isn't God very much like that? Over and over we come up short. When we are willing to examine our hearts and ask forgiveness, we receive it bountifully. I think this is my Lenten discipline this year. To examine my own heart and attitudes and be willing to say aloud I am sorry and to try again to start over. Repent-change my way of thinking: stop, pause, rethink, and return to a right pathway.
sábado, 12 de marzo de 2011
Blasted or Blessed Balance?
We have had a bit of rain here in Honduras this week. For many it is a welcome relief from the dryness and holds the dust down a bit, for a while. Not all have benefited from the rain though. Suzy's house, currently almost roofless, was not helped by being open to the rains that so many welcomed. Still I was glad for the plants that were so thirsty for water.
Yet too much water can be so destructive. The hurricanes here that devastate and erode so much land is too much. The walls of water caused by tsunamis are horrendously destructive. The videos and photos we are getting via the internet of the massive waves and damage in Japan are horribly mesmerizing. Watching a wall of water sweep away cars, trucks, houses, large warehouses is one thing-until you realize with a sickening feeling there are people in those houses and cars. Old women and men, young children and babies, mothers trying to keep their precious children safe while they themselves are so terrified. The waves of destruction that follow- fires, flooded fields growing this year's food, possible nuclear meltdowns. The circles of destruction widens.
Several years ago I was in therapy with a very special woman who taught me many life lessons. The one that keeps coming coming back to me is the dreaded, blasted "B" word-balance. Finding the balance between too little and too much of any thing, the balance between extremes is not always easy or self evident. How much water is enough? The results of too little or too much destroys life. Only the right amount is beneficial.
Likewise with other resources-sun, light, food, fuel, wealth, power, influence. I believe Jesus came into the world to show us the way God wants us to live, to point the way to his Father God.. I believe Christ wants us to live and work and share and live and grow in the fellowship of community in God the Father, Son and Spirit, ever seeking the balance that brings us closer to the life we are meant to live. The blasted balance word is becoming the blessed balance of abundance in Christ Jesus.
The teams that come to work here, at LAMB and elsewhere, as well as myself, wrestle with the question of balance. We are blessed with enough resources to be able to come to help a bit, or a lot as our resources and talents allow. The people here share their abundance of spirituality, of love, of faith, of joy in the Lord. May God grant that our sharing what we have alllows growth in the Spirit and love of Christ.
Yet too much water can be so destructive. The hurricanes here that devastate and erode so much land is too much. The walls of water caused by tsunamis are horrendously destructive. The videos and photos we are getting via the internet of the massive waves and damage in Japan are horribly mesmerizing. Watching a wall of water sweep away cars, trucks, houses, large warehouses is one thing-until you realize with a sickening feeling there are people in those houses and cars. Old women and men, young children and babies, mothers trying to keep their precious children safe while they themselves are so terrified. The waves of destruction that follow- fires, flooded fields growing this year's food, possible nuclear meltdowns. The circles of destruction widens.
Several years ago I was in therapy with a very special woman who taught me many life lessons. The one that keeps coming coming back to me is the dreaded, blasted "B" word-balance. Finding the balance between too little and too much of any thing, the balance between extremes is not always easy or self evident. How much water is enough? The results of too little or too much destroys life. Only the right amount is beneficial.
Likewise with other resources-sun, light, food, fuel, wealth, power, influence. I believe Jesus came into the world to show us the way God wants us to live, to point the way to his Father God.. I believe Christ wants us to live and work and share and live and grow in the fellowship of community in God the Father, Son and Spirit, ever seeking the balance that brings us closer to the life we are meant to live. The blasted balance word is becoming the blessed balance of abundance in Christ Jesus.
The teams that come to work here, at LAMB and elsewhere, as well as myself, wrestle with the question of balance. We are blessed with enough resources to be able to come to help a bit, or a lot as our resources and talents allow. The people here share their abundance of spirituality, of love, of faith, of joy in the Lord. May God grant that our sharing what we have alllows growth in the Spirit and love of Christ.
Suscribirse a:
Comentarios (Atom)