To think of all the injustice in the world can be overwhelming. There are countless orphans, widows, prostitutes, drunk men roaming the streets, families who haven’t eaten in a few days. To try to “fix” everything is a little unrealistic. Even Jesus said, “the poor you will always have with you…” (Matt. 26:11) So as I go from country to country these next 10 months, instead of seeing the big picture and everything that’s wrong with the world, I want to concentrate on ONE. Touching one family, holding one baby dying of AIDS, loving on one orphan, building one house. If I do more than that, great. But if everyone concentrated on touching one, this world would be a different place.
My team this month has really connected with one family. This family consists of Carlos, Miriam, Carlos Jr. (14), Abraham (11) and Isai (4). Not too long ago they lived in a tiny room made of pieces of scrap metal found in the lake. Two years ago Miriam had a dream that a missions team would come and build her family a new house. To be a part of that dream made reality is unbelievable. We started out just going over to do construction but through the work we didn’t just build a house, we built relationships with them. Now they are not just some random family in the middle of Guatemala. They are a part of our family.
Thursday night we were invited to join them at their house for a meal. I was able to go with Miriam to the market and to see her spend what little money they have to feed us was so very humbling.
She was so proud to be able to bless us in that way. We cut fruit and vegetables, laughed, cooked; no one cared about the language barrier. They borrowed a table from a neighbor so we would all be able to sit together. We squeezed 15 people around a table and ate. I played guitar and we sang worship songs, showed off special talents like whistling through our hands and making funny faces. It was beautiful. There were no distractions like TV, cell phones going off or people rushing off to other plans. It was just 7 Americans and 8 Guatemalans enjoying life together. We ended the night by playing soccer in the dark and what a great ending it was. I am going to miss this family so much but I am blessed to have been able to meet them and be a part of their lives.
