“I am all alone now. It is only me and the Lord now,” she said with tears welling up in her eyes. This 92-year-old Bolivian woman is left to take care of herself in a poverty-ridden tiny village called Aten. The mud huts with grass roofs and open windows to allow the malaria-diseased mosquitoes to freely flow in and out are not the worst of it. Aten has absolutely no medical/dental care or hospital. It doesn’t even have a grocery store to buy fresh food. Many of the people in Aten have rotten and missing teeth. The running water is so scarce that the children often go without bathing for days. I was there for 3 days and I saw the children in the same outfits for all three days. I saw the same piece of hay and clumps of dirt sticking out of their unbrushed hair. Once their baby teeth fall out, a lot of times their grown-up teeth don’t come in due to the lack of nutrition in their diet. Many of the older people suffer from loss of eye-sight, and lack the physical strength to take care of themselves properly. But this 92-year-old woman was not one of them. She was a strong and able woman. One would never guess her to be such a ripe old age.
I was passing out dulces to the children after doing “Hora Feliz” with them where we taught them songs, dances, skits, and games. After each child had one, I began to pass out the rest to their parents who had come to watch them, and after I thought I had reached everyone, she caught my eye. Sitting on a small rock on the top of a hill overlooking the little cement square we were playing on with the children, sat a tiny old lady who couldn’t have been more that 4’2’’ tall. She was wearing a long floral skirt, a green sweater, a checkered shawl, and a brown knit hat. I walked up to greet her to offer her a dulce, but as soon as I reached her, she grabbed my hand into hers and pulled me close to give me a hug and a kiss I will never forget. She began showering me with endearments, “Ay, hermosita, chiquita, bonita, muneca, amorcita, preciosa, linda, bonitos ojos verdes…” The words just kept flowing from her lips like sweet honey. She began to ask me where I was from, and began to thank me over and over again for coming to Aten to help her people and to be a blessing sent from Heaven. With my hand tightly clasped inside of hers, she began to tell me the story of her life. Within an hour I had learned of the heartache she had been through with many deaths amongst her family and friends from illness or drowning in the nearby rivers. Her husband died years ago leaving her desolate and alone. Her children are strewn all over the world living in different countries with their own families. With tears, she poured her heart out to me. It was evident that she was desperately thirsting to talk to someone. She was crying out for human affection and conversation. Yet through her many hardships and tribulations, she somehow found a way to thank God. She thanked Him for never leaving her nor forsaking her. She thanked Him for her children and for her grandchildren. She thanked Him for taking care of her and allowing her to live a long life. She somehow found laughter through her pain. She somehow found His strength in her weakness. This woman, Sara Miranda, had a heart of gold. With purity and sincerity, she shared with me a gift I could never repay her. Her grateful heart and her unfailing faith in her Lord and Savior, held such an innocent and rare beauty that I’m not sure I have ever encountered before.
The children of Aten climbed up on the bars of our window like little monkeys and were peering through this window every second we were in our room. They kept laughing and pointing with curiosity at the “Gringitas!” Most of these children had never seen white people before and apparently they found us quite fascinating haha. They literally watched everything we did with wide eyes, huge grins, and belly laughs. I will never forget their precious faces!
Baby laughs coming out of toothless smiles filled the air constantly as the children ran around laughing and playing together. With nothing but the clothes on their backs these children carried an unconditional joy that I will never forget. No matter their circumstances or lack of necessities, these children were so happy. They didn’t need a playground, they didn’t need toys, or nice things, because they were content to have each other and to have fields, mountains, and swamps to play in. The eyes of my heart were wide with wonder and desire to learn from these children. They had nothing materialistic, yet they had everything they needed. They had laughter, joy, love, curiosity, creativity, friendship and they knew how to have fun! Before I left, several children ran up to me to give me bags of fruit and fresh peanuts they had picked. They wanted to share everything they had with me to thank me for coming. Immediately I was reminded of the widow Jesus talks about in Mark 12:41-44 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” These children were like this woman. They were not just willing, but excited and overjoyed to give everything they had out of a heart of gratefulness. My eyes welled with tears and my heart was so full as I experienced such a selfless and generous love from these precious children. I came to Aten to pour out Christ’s love on these people. I came to minister to them, teach them, and serve them. Little did I know that these people had so much to teach me. They blessed me in more ways than I can describe and I think I learned more from them than they learned from me. Thank you Sara Miranda for sharing with me your testimony of faith, thank you sweet children for sharing with me your unquenchable, infectious joy, and thank you God for allowing my heart to be changed and filled by Your love through these people.
This was a typical home in Aten…
This is typical dress for the women of Aten…
This is the church we ministered at in Aten…
My favorite day when we had “Hora Feliz” with the children and did a Bible lesson, a drama, songs, dances, and games! Their favorite song/dance was “Melodias” 🙂
