We went to a village the other day called San Antonio, a village that has never seen white people before. I have been on the Race for 11 months before and this village was different. It was the same kind of poor I have seen before… no running water, no shoes, and recreation takes place on dirt piles and hills.
The people in this village had a kind of joy and contentment that was both convicting and inspiring. They were not intimidated by a group of white people walking around, and they were not embarrassed. They didn’t pull back from us, yet the engaged and welcomed us in. I was starring at a group of little kids playing, “wash time” with an empty bucket, looking at them taking turns pushing the other one’s head down in the bucket to scrub their hair. To be quiet honest, the “hair washing” looked painful! I kept thinking the child being washed would start screaming in pain. They didn’t. They just laughed and popped their dreaded head up when their turn was over. These children were resilient.
I turned my head when I started laughing and out of the corner of my eye I saw a young lady who looked about 8 months pregnant. I have a very tender heart towards pregnant ladies and more so, young pregnant girls. I wanted to go over there but my North American mind thought, “That could be offensive! Don’t talk to her about her pregnancy, what if she isn’t actually pregnant!” From the words of Brian Regan, “That is something you never guess on… ever… ever….ever!”
Thankfully, God nudged me enough to get out of my head and I walked over there. Her name is Maximilia. She is 9 months pregnant and is due any day. Maximilia was doing dishes that morning, which consisted of much more than placing them into a washer… she would go over to the wash bay with a huge bucket, fill it up, carry it down the stairs and into a little shack. There she spent all morning bent over washing… then after 10 dishes, she went and got more water. These people are resilient. I got to pray for Maxima. I prayed from her baby, her family, her health, and in that same prayer, I prayed that my soul would soak in the resiliency of these people. To catch even a mustard seed of their joy and contentment.
What makes people maintain a posture of joy and contentment in every situation? They have so little, yet they live in a manner that seems as though they are lacking nothing. I’ve recently reflected on the fact that often times, the very blessings of God is what makes us feel entitled to more. We some how adapt the idea that comfort comes with the kind house we live in, the clothes we wear, the electronics we have, the money in our bank account, being in a relationship, having children, and many other things. We have been trained into that mindset. But to be playing with children and to be praying with people who have not been trained into that mindset yet is convicting. May I learn to find joy and contentment in areas beyond the tangible things in life and learn daily to live my life with an eternal mindset.
