Loretto was one town over from Camiaco–our home for most of the month of April. Loretto was 25 minutes away by motorbike, 1 hour by car, or 2.5 hours by the broken-down truck we took to get to Camiaco! Loretto was the unicorn of Camiaco—the dream-thing just beyond grasp. Loretto was the next best thing, existing just close enough to mock the inhabitants of Camiaco that others had it better.
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But let’s back up. There truly is not a way to over-exaggerate the amount of mosquitos in Camiaco. Each of my teammates and I have over a hundred bites just on our legs. Going to the bathroom was dreaded because those thirty seconds would bless our tushes with 5-7 more bites. It wasn’t just the mosquitoes, though. Many days in Camiaco, there simply was not food. “No hay pollo. No hay carne. No hay pan. No hay nada” (There’s not chicken. There’s not meat. There’s not bread. There is nothing”),the shopkeepers would tell us some days when we went to buy dinner. The water we used to bathe and wash clothes with was brown and either came from the river or the mostly-stagnant ponds. Electricity, if it came on, lasted for maximum 2 hours in the evening.
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When we went to Loretto for a weekend of ministry, people from Camiaco were jealous. Loretto doesn’t have a river, and therefore, a plague of mosquitos. Loretto has electricity for more than 1.5 hours a day, sells oreos, and has cell service. There’s a plaza in Loretto, and the school has 2 covered fields.
Yet when I talked to the people from Loretto…they all dreamed of Trinidad. Trinidad, the “big city” a few hours away had things to do, restaurants at which to eat at, internet, nice parks, etc.
And then you get to Trinidad….and people there dreamed of living in La Paz.
In La Paz…people dreamed of living in other South American countries. Sheesh.
Everybody’s got a Loretto. A Trinidad. A La Paz. An “other” that is used to justify self-pity, ingratitude, or complaining. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming, hoping, and working for better life circumstances, of course. But let’s just relearn this often-shared / rarely-believed truth: If you aren’t content (or at least able to give thanks) where you are now, you won’t be content when you get to your “Loretto” either.
Help us break through, God, from the dark lie that whispers in our ears how bad we’ve got it. Help us to be happy for people who have it “better” than us, and help us to love our Camiacos. To love our right now and not just wish it away!
