For those of you who would like it in writing, here you go:
There is just something about having a
conversation when either of you know little of the others native language.
There is just something about playing ball with that one little boy in the
field. There is just something about driving an hour to the mountains to find a
family desperately needing a new face. There is just something about receiving
food from a family that has absolutely nothing. There is just something about
playing silly games with kids all day. There is just something about touching a
man that possibly hasn’t been touched in years. There is just something about
giving your dinner to a woman that sleeps in the same exact spot every night
and day because she has nowhere else to go. There is just something about
seeing a grown man beg with all of his might for us not to leave. There is just
something about driving through a community and someone yelling your name at
the top of their lungs because they are excited that you have come. There is
just something about praying over a man that hasn’t been able to walk in years.
There is just something about seeing your new pastor/friend silent in his own
tears. There is just something about saying, ‘Thank you.’ There is just
something about saying goodbye…. There is just something about it all that makes
you take a step back and wonder, “What’s going on here?â€� … “God, where are
you?â€� … “Have I done what I came to do?”
After much thought and prayer, I have witnessed
one month of the fact that there is just something about finding joy in pain,
hope in affliction, glory in trial, peace in chaos, much in little, and
abounding thankfulness when there is absolutely nothing else to rely on. That is
what sets a heart on fire.
The answers to those questions were answered a
long time ago, in one place, an empty tomb. …God is singing a never-ending song
of redemption over the village of Las Charcas. He is pulling in their favor and
sending it in form of servant love, in the form of seven Americanos that simply
want to love them with the pure heart of an unexplainable, abundant love.
I sometimes think that I have acted more out of
will than faith but the more I think about it, I see that it was faith that
brought me here. It was faith in something bigger than us that brought all 76
here. You are the love of God right where you are. You, dad, are the hands and
feet of Jesus. You, mom, are a mighty heir to the throne of God himself. You,
my friends, are the presence of the living God, here and now. You are the work
of HIS hands. You are more than conquerors. You are the warriors that scripture
talks about. You are more powerful than anything this world can slam down. You
bring heaven to earth. You ARE the will of God….
