It is easy to walk down the streets with your head down ignoring the world around you. But once you look up and observe your surroundings, everything can change. Our lives are so often consumed with our own selfish ambitions, and we fail to take into consideration the needs of everyone around us. But I have found that some amazing things can happen when we simply look up and search for those who are lost.
Juana is only 38. She has been forced to sit along the sidewalk of Antigua, Guatemala day after day for 8 months now. When you pass her by and say “Hola” she doesn’t even bother to move her head to see who is talking to her as she quietly whispers an “Hola” under her breath in response or sometimes doesn’t even acknowledge the fact that someone is even taking the time to talk to her. By her body language and the way that she huddles at the back of the sidewalk against the wall with her empty bowl barely stretched out hoping someone will place just a few Quetzals in it for her, it is clear that she feels worthless. It seems as if she is invisible to society. Everyday people are constantly passing by, and every day I see her sitting there all alone with her face buried in her clothes, hiding it from the views of those who pass by her every day.
Juana is one of the sweetest people I have ever met, but because of her circumstances no one would ever know that. She is a beggar, worth so little in the eyes of the world. But I have had the privilege of stopping and talking to Juana a few times now. At first the conversations consisted of a simple hello and one prayer for her hurting knee. But I have been back to talk to her with my broken Spanish twice now, and each time I see her, she engages in our conversation more.
My team and I have been able to bring her some pita bread and bananas each time we have gone back. The first time Maggie and I brought her food she looked up enough for us to make eye contact as we tried our best to talk to her. And I swear I saw the beginning of a smile that almost came across her face. It was at this moment that I knew that this relationship between us was something that God was calling me to continue building. Juana needs something much more than physical food, and over these next few months I am so excited to see what those needs are and how we are able to help her.
The next time we went to visit her, my entire team came along. Abby Nass and Lily were able to talk to her more because they are more fluent in Spanish, and simply being there and watching this interaction between my team and her was truly amazing. In the small amount of time that we spent talking to Juana, she looked up for more than a few seconds and began to tell us a little bit about her life. The look on her face as she was talking is something that I will never forget. She had a look of pain and shame when she first glanced up, but as she continued to talk to us those emotions that were written so clearly on her face began to melt away. Her eyes began to soften and once again, a smile was so close to coming across her face. It was during this conversation, I believe, that she began to realize the love this team has for her. When we told her we would come back the next day her smile became a little more evident, and she then reached out her hand to each one of ours in sincere gratitude.
When I first met Juana she was broken and invisible to the world around her. No one bothered to look up and see her as they passed by. Walking past her would’ve been socially acceptable and so easy to do, but taking the time to stop, talk to her, and pray for her each time we were with her has made a world of difference in not only her life, but mine as well. I hope to see my relationship with her continue to grow over these next two and half months, and even more than that I pray that Juana is able to see the love of Jesus through us. I pray that she knows how much God loves her despite her situation and the way that others treat her, and that she knows just how valuable she is in His eyes because she is more valuable to Him than I could ever imagine and I absolutely love that!
