Breakfast is often referred to as the most important meal of the day. It is the initial provider of energy you need for all your physical and mental activity. Imagine though, that you have to work an entire month to afford just one box of cereal. This is the reality for many Venezuelan families we have met throughout Latin America. As we’ve encountered extreme poverty it has made me question why some of us are able to enjoy bottomless brunches while others see a box of cereal as a luxury item. Exposure to this divide between the wealthy and the poor is a process I definitely underestimated going through.
Throughout our travels the past ten months, God has protected me from homesickness and worrying about my future. It has gratefully allowed me to be focused on our present times. As an opportunity arose to consider what I wanted to do and where I wanted to live after this trip though, I began to imagine transitioning back to the U.S. An unhealthy perspective started to develop as I thought about all of our resources at home while simultaneously seeing struggles of impoverished communities and refugee families. It left me wondering what more could I do and how could I wake up others to also help.
The burden I was feeling lifted one day during worship we sang lyrics “there’s no need to worry for the Lord is right by our side, He holds us all in the palm of His hands.” It was in this moment that God gracefully reminded me that the poor, the sick, the hungry, and the homeless are all in His hands. He taught me that in the same way that I am confident that He is my provider, I must trust that He is the provider for everyone else as well. This gave me a better feeling of freedom from the unhealthy balance that was starting to cloud my mind. Even if I never see it directly, I trust that His promise is to provide and that He will fulfill it. That is the very definition of faith as described in Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Furthermore, it is not on us individually to care for others, rather, God designed His people to all be members of one body. Therefore, we all serve some purpose in the bigger body that cares for one another and we are never alone in those efforts.
The more I learn about God’s character and design for the world, the more I feel comforted in knowing His answers and plans are enough, even if I may never have the opportunity to hear or see them for myself. This faith has transformed my perspective on life as He offers to take all the weight off our shoulders. Psalms 55:22 says “cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you.” This lesson of faith was directly applicable during our ministry in Colombia. While in Medellin, we partnered with an organization called Ciudad Refugio. Their main focus was to be a light in the darkness of drug addiction that is all too common in Colombian culture. We learned that Colombia has six different social class levels and most churches cater to a specific social class. At Ciudad Refugio, however, they strive to create an environment that is welcome to all social classes. This was yet another glimpse of heaven as we worshiped with people who weren’t labeled as rich or poor, but rather a son or daughter of Christ. We were able to live in their center that housed men and women for drug rehabilitation programs while also sheltering homeless men every evening. It was a blessing to see the work that God is doing in the lives of so many through this ministry.
Amidst this environment of encouragement and hope, we also encountered one of the darkest environments any of us have ever been in. Every Wednesday night we did outreach in an area of town called “The Bronx”. This block was fair game for people to sell and abuse drugs and human lives. It was a surreal surrounding as we witnessed people smoking and shooting up drugs right in front of us. We saw young and old, male and female, new users and veteran abusers. In the midst of this absolute horrific and heartbreaking scene, I couldn’t help but feel a supernatural feeling of peace and security. It was a shocking sight to see but at the same time I remembered the promise that God taught me and that He is their provider too. Without learning the lesson that He just taught me, it would have been a much different story. Instead I recalled how Philippians 4:19 promises that “my God will supply every need”. We were able to assist in His provision of needs by providing food for this forgotten people group. We were able to pray healing over open wounds and other people with AIDS. We were able to talk to people who won’t remember our conversations knowing that God will remember our prayers for them. We were able to claim that street as Holy ground and trust that He will answer that prayer.
The struggle is real my friends. Darkness exists that is intense and heavy. The faith of God is just as real too though and even stronger than any struggle. The peace and comfort that He offers is inexplicable and no person or situation is too far gone to be exempt from it. His hope far outweighs any fears. Since the birth of this blog, there have been two shootings back home in the U.S. It is my prayer that whether we are facing extreme poverty, drug addiction, mass violence, or any other from of darkness in existence, that we continue to have faith for God’s peace and provision to reign and rule. May we be available vessels in His plan for this as we identify our role in the body to care for one another. Let us never forget my favorite verse that is all-too applicable during these moments. “For I consider the that sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us” Romans 8:18.
