Every time I’ve been into a dump site it has been both a trying and rewarding experience. Trying simply because the conditions are horrendous and I can’t understand how people can live in these places. And rewarding, well, I’ll get to that….
Seven of us set out yesterday for Managua on an ATL mission. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, ATL stands for “ask the Lord” which basically means we haven’t the slightest idea or clue what we’re gonna do in this place. When we arrived at the dump site La Chureca, we separated into two groups. Molly, Seth, Kari, and Pastor Manuel went one way while Krystle, Jeanette and I went another. We were told not to be wearing any jewelry and not to bring any valuables with us. There are many “ladrones” that live in the dumps and they will rip off whatever they see that interests them, at least that’s what we were told before entering.
The place reeked of rotten stale filth. Kids as young as 8 and 9 years old were working alongside adults sifting through the trash to find the plastic, glass, and paper products that they could sell as recyclables. This was how they were going to survive. Day after day of searching for the valuables in a pile of garbage. When Krystle, Jeanette, and I separated from the others, we prayed in our hearts for the Holy Spirit’s guidance and direction. We honestly had no clue why were we there or what we would be doing but our hearts were open. After a little bit of walking, we were getting a little restless and felt like we could be wasting our time. Then Krystle said, “it feels as though we’re here just watching them and seeing how they live and not really doing anything.” Literally, moments after she said that, a woman yelled at us from across the way. She was asking where we were going. So I responded by asking here if she wanted to come with us. She immediately threw her trash down, ran over to us, hugged and kissed all of us and introduced herself.
Michelle is her name. She is 27 years old, married with twin daughters. She moved to La Chureca with her family when she was 7 years old and has known little else apart from it. Michelle is full of energy, vibrant, and joyful. You would hardly guess that she works as hard and as long as she does day after day. She walked us over to see the lake that bordered the dump. It was gorgeous to see a beautiful lake set behind such a garbage heap. Over and over again I’ve seen how God’s creation has been used as a reminder to people who live in terrible living conditions. It’s like it’s his way of saying, “I’m here too, not just with the upper-middle class city people.” Just after seeing the lake, it started pouring down rain. I don’t mean just a sprinkle either. We were stuck in the middle of La Chureca without umbrellas or rain jackets. Upon seeing this, Michelle quickly ran toward a trash pile in search of something. She dug out a small blue tarp and proceeded to brush the dirt off of it. She returned to Krystle and held it above their heads to protect them from the rain doing all of it with a smile on her face. Michelle had already given Krystle a ring as a token of friendship, now this. While we were huddled under the tarp, she continued to tell us about her situation. Michelle is anemic and malnourished. She lost a nephew who died because of anemia. Her family has nothing, I mean really nothing. Her daughters go to school where they at least get one meal a day. Michelle needs vitamins in order to aid her stomach so she can eat some things. Her husband works hard almost all day it seems to provide for his family. He is a sweet man as well.
She then walked the 3 of us over to her house. It wasn’t much to look at and was falling apart. Upon entering, we could see one double bed that took up nearly the entire room. Her twins would sleep on that bed while her and her husband slept on the floor. She also offered the girls bread (the last load she had) and dry shirts to change into. How? I seriously don’t understand God’s grace. I mean, it’s wonderful and great, but what in the world?!?! I’ve seen this story over and over again about how short-term mission teams go to a place with a mindset of blessing the people and they walk away 100 times more blessed. It always happens. Still, even knowing that, I’m broken. Michelle had absolutely nothing, not only that, it’s not like we “deserved” anything that she offered us. But she was willing to give it to us freely. She informed us that she was a Christian and showed off her Bible and how she had been learning to read it for the last 3 years. She has a heart of gold. We prayed over her and her family, gave her our sandwiches that we had for lunch and departed in hopes of seeing her again on Thursday.
We went to La Chureca only knowing that we were going to a garbage dump. But what we found in there was beautiful. It was God’s love in action toward us. It was selfless, pure, and honest. It was Michelle.
